Having decided to not pursue the Scamp (dammit!), I thought perhaps sharing the first-hand experience of a Scamp owner could at least illustrate the delights of driving one. Many years ago, Packard’s slogan was “Ask The Man Who Owns One”. Common sense told me to forget it since I already own four vehicles, but my pictures to share with you had already been captured. I kept telling myself that the little lady cost less than $2,800–barely above its original $2,528 base price–and probably with a slant six attached to the automatic transmission. As I stood in that basement, I tried hard to figure out how I could fit both my ’63 Ford Galaxie and the Scamp into the available space if I bought the house. The house had been built in the 1940s and had a single-car, tuck-under garage and an unfinished basement. I found that out one evening during our seemingly never-ending relocation process, when my wife and I went to view a new-on-the-market house. Soon after I found the Scamp, the pesky little thing infected my brain. This one is quite nice, wears a great color combination, and is for sale. In any case, it was a fine example of a model I hadn’t seen in a very long time. ![]() Or perhaps I’ve matured (something truly painful for me to admit). ![]() I admit being in awe when I encountered this particular Scamp about two months ago…but why was I? Perhaps time does indeed heal all wounds. When I think about it now, my tail-light prejudice doesn’t make much sense, does it? My parents had a base 1973 Ford Torino, in the same fecal-brown metallic as this one. Gee, those tail lights are stuck into the bumper, aren’t they? Two clumps of three rectangles? How inspiring! My maternal grandparents had a 1970 Chevrolet Impala similar to the Caprice pictured above. To wit: Although as a four-year-old too young to know about cognitive dissonance, I nonetheless recall automobiles of that part of my life that simply did not jive with my Scamp-phobia. My disdain even encompassed the Dodge Dart, which donated its 1970 tail treatment to the Scamp.Ī child’s mind is a thing of wonder and bewilderment. They looked cheap, geriatric, and like the afterthought they were. I simply could not stand such small, uninspired excuses for tail lights–and stuck into the bumper, no less. ![]() ![]() Why did I never like them? This may sound superficial, but I hated the tail lights. A total of 49,470 Scamps were built for 1972.Īs a ’72 model myself, I have vivid memories of seeing these while I was growing up. Introduced for the 1971 model year, the 111″ wheelbase Scamp joined the Valiant sedan and Duster two-door as the third variant of Plymouth’s Valiant series. As proof, I present Example One of Jason’s Theory: This 1972 Plymouth Scamp. Thus am I challenged to apply the principle of the ever-changing palate to other venues: Specifically, can one’s taste in automobiles evolve in a similar way? While that assertion seems odd at first blush, I find it credible based on personal experience. ( first posted ) A gastroenterologist once told me that a person’s taste in food changes significantly about every seven years.
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