442

I kept the 442 through my last year of college. I drove it a lot and drove it pretty hard for the most part. I was driving to West Virginia to my parents' for the Christmas break and was at the intersection of I-84 and 209 in PA when I noticed a grumbling in the rear end. I didn't carry much money in those days, didn't have much. The noise got worse the further I went so I stopped in a small gas station. Gas stations repaired cars back then, amazing concept. The owner went for a ride with me, listened to the noise and told me to wait outside. He went in and took another car off the lift and motioned for me to come in on the lift. I thought this would be a great time to tell him that I didn't have much money on me. He said we could work things out somehow. He listened to the rear with a stethescope and told me that an inner axle bearing was bad. He then proceded to change the bearing which involved running down to a local machine shop to get the new bearing pressed on and, of course, the labor in his garage. When he was done, he backed the car outside, came in and handed me the keys. When I asked how much I owed him he told me that there was no charge, he had a kid going to college and that he'd like to think that somebody would do the same for his son.