Cars and Boys

Put father, son and cars in a story and a dreamlike image emerges of an extraordinary bonding experience taking place in the garage over cams and carbs. Reality can be very different.

There is the precision driving empire being built by Darlington's (U.K.) Paul "son of Russ" Swift. His father encouraged him to tip a lawn mower on two wheels, which was the start to creating his team of precision driving. At the heart of it all, however, is a parallel parking trick his dad was doing nearly 25 years ago.



There is also the story with a happy ending of a father and son who both drove their cars off a pier. Fortunately, after son Jon followed father William into the drink, he was able to roll down his window. He rolled down his window, swam over to the van in which his parents were trapped and managed to break them out before they went down with the ship.

An unhappier conclusion completes the story of a Palm Springs, Calif., dad, who stuck his 10-year-old behind the wheel of his truck. Somehow the father got in front of the vehicle right before sonny Jim trapped daddy dodo against a wall, seriously injuring the brainy pa. Bet he wishes he never left the garage ...