Auto-Biography 19: Beverly Hills 92404
By Paul NiedermeyerJune 2, 2007 -
Mercedes SL’s were as thick on the ground as mascara on an over-the-hill movie star. The teenaged scions of the local glitterati drove brand new BMW 320i’s and VW Cabrios. A red Ferrari 308 GTB was de-rigueur for the up and coming producer. If you simply HAD to have attention or score the prime valet-parking spot, a Rolls Royce Corniche convertible was the winning ticket. And what was I driving down Rodeo Drive? A beat-up 1968 Dodge camper-van. I looked like Jethro in “The Beverly Hillbillies”. Except that I actually was poor.
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Posted in Auto-biography | Editorials | 15 comments 
Auto-Biography 18: Vanishing Point
By Paul NiedermeyerMay 26, 2007 -
I followed the old maxim: “go west young man” to its ultimate conclusion: the California beach. I guess I missed an exit. I was looking for an opportunity to start a career. What I found instead was the clothing-optional Black’s Beach near San Diego. After spending two months watching pelicans skimming the waves and hang-gliders surfing the breeze off the cliff tops, I had a great tan. But I was broke. So for the last time in my life (fingers crossed), I defaulted to driving for a living.
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Posted in Auto-biography | Editorials | 7 comments
Auto-Biography 17: Bus we Must
By Paul NiedermeyerMay 19, 2007 -
It was the mother of all drifts. Forty feet behind me, the back of the passenger bus was coming around fast, threatening to wipe out a block’s worth of cars parked across the street. By the time I caught the first slide, I had overcompensated. My arms were a whirling dervish on the giant steering wheel, flying back and forth, until the bus straightened out. No need to stop for coffee THAT day; I was wide awake on a triple-shot of adrenalin.
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Posted in Auto-biography | Editorials | 19 comments
Auto-Biography 16: Bad Vibrations
By Paul NiedermeyerMay 12, 2007 -
I was one with the universe. Everything around me was aglow in the summer sunlight, twinkling with a profound luster. I was floating serenely in my VW bug through the time space continuum. My consciousness was wide open. And then, in an instant, everything went black.
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Posted in Auto-biography | Editorials | 13 comments
Auto-Biography 15: The Do-Dah Man
By Paul NiedermeyerMay 5, 2007 -
It was a successful launch, and I was going for the record books. The 534 cubic inch Ford V8 bellowed and roared through the two short pipes exiting under my feet. The wide-open Holley four barrel noisily sucked the cool morning air. The air-scooped hood rose and dropped on the passenger side with each banging shift, a visual testament to massive torque. As my speed approached record territory, I had my hands full keeping the snorting beast under control. I glanced down on the big round speedometer and confirmed my victory: ninety miles per hour.
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Posted in Auto-biography | Editorials | 11 comments
Auto-Biography 14: Bug-Eyed and Painless
By Paul NiedermeyerApril 28, 2007 -
In my early twenties, I went through jobs like a teenage girl trying on clothes at Abercrombie & Fitch: truck driver, actor, gardener, cook, bus driver, bicycle mechanic, painter. And that was just in the sales rack. My ADD extended to a seemingly endless succession of girlfriends. In fact, the only continuity in my life was my VW bug, a slow and steady anchor in those turbulent times.
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Posted in Auto-biography | Editorials | 23 comments
Auto-Biography 13: Wildcat!
By Paul NiedermeyerApril 21, 2007 -
They were both gorgeous, in that all-American wholesome, sexy, energetic way. Voluptuous, but athletic. Heartland traditional, but ready for a good time. Exhilarating and accelerative. And they were both mine to do with as I pleased. So why was I, a healthy young man, having a problem?
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Posted in Auto-biography | Editorials | 14 comments
Auto-Biography 12: Training Wheels
By Paul NiedermeyerApril 14, 2007 -
On a sunny February morning I left my family behind, hitchhiking west out of Baltimore. By Ohio I was barreling through a night-time blizzard in the cab of a semi. I reached Iowa the following morning. It was ten degrees; I needed to stop and warm up. California would have to wait.
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Posted in Auto-biography | Editorials | 15 comments
Auto-Biography 11: Gainful Employment
By Paul NiedermeyerApril 7, 2007 -
At seventeen, I finally joined the ranks of legally sanctioned drivers. I could have taught the drivers-ed class by then, including certain advanced techniques well outside the usual curriculum. Speaking of which, as part of this rite of passage, I retired the implements I’d used for hot-wiring the family Dodges. More importantly, I got a job where I could indulge my love of driving and get paid for the pleasure.
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Posted in Auto-biography | Editorials | 16 comments
Auto-biography 10: Strung Out
By Paul NiedermeyerMarch 31, 2007 -
Once I crossed the line, once I became a fifteen year-old driving addict, there was no turning back. Nothing could stop me from using my drug of choice. Like most addicts, I was willing to cross any line to get my fix. If my supply was cut off, I found another. Needless to say this is not my auto-biography’s most innocent chapter.
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Posted in Auto-biography | Editorials | 10 comments
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