18 | July/August 2016
BILL DUDLEY
Riding in the rumble seat
Bill Dudley's father had eight cars when he died, but Bill and his brother, Duke,
decided to keep only one: the 1929 Model A Roadster. It wasn't for reasons of money or
fame but simply because it meant something to them.
"is is the one I remember sitting on my father's lap in." While sitting in the same
spot, Bill motions to the space between him and the steering wheel. "You can see how
small I must have been since there's not much room."
Bill can remember, long ago, his father detailing the car, adding a thin orange stripe on
the rose-beige paint with a wheel, a small pencil and a roller. He's not sure if he'll ever re-
paint the car, since it would erase the evidence of his father that means so much to him.
He likes to drive Suzanne, his wife, and their two daughters around town. In the back
is a "rumble seat" where the girls sit. Years ago, during a long drive, Bill and his brother
were riding in the rumble seat. ey got in trouble for pulling insulation from inside the
car, holding it up to the wind and watching it disappear. eir father wasn't happy, but
obviously it's the memory that stuck.
Down the road
It's not about the color
of the car or the shape it's
in. Men today continue
to find both passion and
purpose in acquiring and
maintaining and shar-
ing the story of the drives
they've taken. Will anyone
ever know what mile was
on the odometer when
man and car, the two souls
fused? We can only guess.
at mile came, and that
mile went.
CV
DUDLEY AND HIS
WIFE SUZANNE
