Sexy European? Not in 1982 — Chris Iannuccilli
Monday, June 05, 2023
EDITOR'S NOTE: This column is written in response to Dr. Ed Innnuccilli's column titled "A Sexy European with Four on the Floor."
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My dad penned another great GoLocalProv piece, this one on his 1973 Mercury Capri (“A Sexy European with Four on the Floor"). I’d like to offer a different side to the tale: what it was like to get that car in 1982 when he handed it off to me.
Of course, I was thrilled to get a car, any car, and my Dad is right when he says that zipping around in a 4-speed with a leather shift knob was pretty cool. But by the time I got the Capri, its better days were in the too-small rearview mirror. And there was nothing European about it – just a mud-colored, clearly American car (AMC!) with a bad heater and sketchy brakes.
At sixteen, I was tasked with taking my brother and our buddy from our East Greenwich home all the way to our school in East Providence. Navigating 95, the Thurbers Avenue curve, then 195 and weaving through Seekonk was pretty daunting with two knucklehead passengers and nothing to distract them: just an AM radio and talk shows completely lost on teenagers.
My first step was to save for a stereo. The sheer joy of that Pioneer radio with cassette player and new speakers made it a game-changer – a heavy dose of classic rock now became the everyday experience.
Dad handed over a car that Rhode Island winters had ill-treated, particularly 1978’s epic blizzard. Driving to work on the day the snow began (no weather reports back then?), the doctor reconsidered and turned around to come home. Eight hours later he piloted into our neighborhood and there the Capri’s journey ended, abandoned at the top of our block.
The next day we walked up to find it. And couldn’t. It was buried completely, out of sight. The same goes for the snowplow that hit the Capri and crumpled it against a pole. Even after the repairs, that door never closed right.
As a stylish 2-door the Capri sported two, rear portal-like windows…big in Europe, for sure. You don’t see this much anymore, for good reason. While on 95 one of the three guys in the back leaned against the window and it crashed onto the highway. The look on his face was priceless, the winter air streaming in less so.
Then there was the time at school that I got in to start the long drive home. The key wouldn’t turn so I jiggled it. And the whole unit fell out, its little pins onto the floor. No cell phone to call for help – just a ride home, a AAA tow, and no car for a week.
On occasion, we took a teammate and fellow EGer home after basketball. He was a big guy, and he just crushed that backseat divider; indented it so much that it never recovered, a shell of its former European self.
I learned to drive on that Capri and savor my great memories. But Dad, there’s another side to the story.
Chris Iannuccilli is one of Dr. Ed Iannucilli's sons and an executive at Google.
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- Sexy European? Not in 1982 — Chris Iannuccilli
