This Walt Disney short was the inspiration for the anthropomorphic vehicles in Pixar’s ‘Cars‘ such as The Fabulous Hudson Hornet and Lightning McQueen himself. The eyes are the windows to the soul, but in this cartoon, the windshield (not the headlights) are those eyes.
Susie’s story will bring a tear to any gearhead’s eye. A man, smitten by Susie, picks her up right from the showroom floor. She’s the cutest one around and the man just loves her. Susie drives all over town, gets shown off, and even has a warm garage to sleep in at night.
But Susie gets old and is traded in for a newer model. Her new man doesn’t treat her well, drives drunk and even makes her sleep out in the cold on the streets of skid row. Sadly, Susie turns to a life of crime. She’s stolen, gets wrecked during a a robbery, then ends up in the junkyard where she and the other old cars go to die.
But one day, Susie is saved by a teenage boy who sees her beauty hiding under her worn out exterior. He buys her for $12.50, takes her home to fix her up and rebuilds her into a fast hot rod!
Taking an old car and restoring it is not just a way to get a nice ride on the cheap, but an act of kindness to the car itself. Just look at how Susie gets her big smile back once she’s fixed up by the red-haired boy. Instead of just rotting away, she gets to zip around town once again. Letting your car slowly fall apart doesn’t just increase your risk of breaking down on the side of the road… it breaks their heart!
After watching this movie, I thought a lot about my own little blue car. When I bought my Subaru, she was covered in dents, had a bunch of mechanical issues, and had spent years just parked on somebody’s driveway …going nowhere.
Since I got her, things have really changed. She’s done laps around Mosport, Shannonville, and Cayuga, driven the snowy rallycross at Crazy Farm, and even competed on the oval-track at Sunset Speedway. I can only imagine how much happier she is now.
~ by Daniel Demaras ~
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