On Being A History Buff

I can’t help it; I am fascinated by the history of well ….just about anything. Part of my interest in cars is the amazing social and business history each model reveals. Each a microcosm of the nations events and tastes.

I lived in a confusion of naivety about being transsexual for much of my life. Like many I knew there was something terribly wrong but I couldn’t be one of those people could I?

Like the mainstream media I lumped drag queens, homosexuals and sex changes all together, not even sure I had even heard the term transsexual.

Clearly there have been transsexuals since the beginning of time but our history is something still in living memory, particularly in North America where surgery didn’t become available until the late sixties. As the majority of transsexuals want nothing more than to live “normal” lives as female the successful completion of surgery means going stealth and blending back into society. An unfortunate result is that much of that history is lost as on one is there to speak on behalf of those pioneers.

Transsexual history has also been subsumed by the greater LGBT (the T is silent) narrative. Transsexuals were at the forefront if not the vanguard of the gay rights movement. More so than being gay or lesbian being transsexual was, if one chose to try and live in ones true gender, impossible to hide. The very act of wearing appropriate clothes was illegal, their world shrunk to the size of whatever gay ghetto they could find a place to live. The only means of employment were if passable as a female impersonator or prostitute.

With nothing to loose and suffering so much oppression from without and within their own community it was no wonder the first shots in the revolution were fired by transsexuals (known as hair fairies), the battlefields, 1959 Cooper’s Donut Riots in LA, Compton’s Cafeteria 1966 and finally Stonewall. Yes transsexuals started that riot too.

With the advent of surgery by the end of the decade the opportunity for a new life and greater horizons was at once within reach. Perhaps here we see a partying of the ways, Transsexuals individually perused their goals to be accepted into mainstream society and traditional gender roles while the gay rights fought to be recognized as a new addition to what is normal. I am making no judgment here.

A few links for you:

Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton's Cafeteria clip from Frameline on Vimeo.

Here is some riotous female rockabilly from 1959:

Tobogganing in Three Inch Heels

First real snow of the season here in this corner of Southern Ontario, also the first day I actually shovelled though could likely have left it to melt. Unfortunately our driveway is a little like the secret garden and never seems to get any sun.

To answer the question you are all anxious to know, yes it is possible to shovel snow in three inch heels. No not trying to show off its just that my only pair of winter boots are heels.

Saturday the children were getting "squirrelly" being cooped up so we took advantage of the snow to hit "murder mountain" the name kids have given the local hill. Retrieved sleds from the garden shed and hit the slopes so to speak.

There had been a rumour that the city had posted a sign forbidding sledding at this site but when we arrived the usual crowd was there and teenagers attempting to shoot down the east side and sail across the frozen stream. The sun had melted the snow on the opposite slope so everyone was forced to use the long steady grade facing south.

The children had a great time as the snow had been packed and polished by everyone and some good speeds were attained. I was freezing after an hour and to take my mind off my frozen toes I hitched a ride on the last few runs, yes in heels.

Despite the minimal snow the salt trucks were out in force spraying rock salt and calcium chloride brine with abandon. I wrote an article on rust proofing last month and will hopefully be able to share an excerpt with you dear faithful reader as soon as it is published….yeah I know you can't wait.

Little work done during the day as the youngest was sick, seemed like a whole day at the doctors then the pharmacy. Better get caught up on the contract work I took on.

Photos, children on the slopes, I know it is a real Mark IV but not so sure about the handbag.

Something to warm up with:

The Girl Can't Help It

Jayne at home

Jayne at the wheel of a 1959 Cadillac series 62 convertible

I must have been an odd teenager (or really cool as I prefer to think of myself), both feet planted in the 1950's a decade before my parents experiences, my mother listened to the Beatles, while I maintained that rockabilly was king and no new good music had been made after 1965.

I was obsessed with tail finned Cadillacs and begged my parents to go see each rusty example I could find advertised for sale.

Besides Elvis and Gene Vincent my idols were Mamie Van Doren, Jayne Mansfield, Bettie Page and Wanda Jackson. No not Marilyn, everyone liked her just too common for my tastes. I even met Wanda once and Mamie is still with us.

Poor Jayne was killed in a car accident (Buick Electra not a Caddy) in 1967. We certainly shared a taste in cars if not physical attributes, mores the pity. There are lots of photos around of her with custom pink Cadillacs, Lincolns and even Jaguars.

Her Hollywood house was the Pink Palace and the interior decoration would appeal to anyone with Elvis like sensibilities, so of course I love it! Unfortunately it was demolished in 2002 by some woman who is an investment banker, even the heart shaped poor is gone... unbelievable. Look at the photos I wouldn't change a thing....perfect!

Here is my favourite clip of her walking down the street to the sounds of Little Richard screaming the Girl Can't Help It. Try to imagine how mind blowing this was in 1956.

Hugs,

April

A Rare Case When I KNOW I Passed

Last Wednesday I had a meeting with the editor of a car magazine I am doing some contract work for. I wore a long grey skirt and purple patterned blouse and black tights, boots, black fur jacket and gloves as the cold weather demanded.

After the meeting I stopped at a hobby store to pick up a gift for my father (diecast Mark II Cortina GT like he used to have). I have known the stores owner since he opened and we have had many conversations about cars and I have bought a good number of birthday presents and gifts even some stuff for me at his store over the years.

Clearly he didn't recognize me. I paid for my purchase and even asked if he had the Hot Wheels Cadillac Seville as I had just bought the real thing recently. Still no sign of recognition. By this time another customer had come in so I asked if I could see an item at the back on a high shelf.

After he showed me the Autoart MGB I finally said, I should introduce myself. Yes he replies expectantly.

Didn't you see what I drove up in? Don't you recognize me? Oh the Lincoln, still no sign of recognition. Feeling a tinge of exasperation at this point I say I am (insert old name here). Still confused he says, Oh you're his wife?

NO I was HIM! Finally I see the light of comprehension in his eyes. He was cool with it and we had a quick chat before he had to get back to work.

It can be frustrating not knowing when we pass, are people being polite or did they assume that I was the woman I was presenting as. Was that odd look because I am not doing something right that is giving me away, did my voice betray me, the way I walk? Endless second guessing.

I am much better than before, earlier I would be terribly self conscious and have little confidence. Going full time helped immensely and more often than not I find myself having left the grocery store for example realizing that I had not worried about whether I pass or not.

That is not to say I don't make my best best effort to pass every day but April is now who I am and that is how I live my life every day.

The photo I took turned out super washed out my the noon day light but I think it gives it a real faded seventies vintage look. And no I am not eight feet tall, the Lincoln has been lowered significantly with custom made springs by Eaton Detroit.

Here is Hillbilly Moon Explosion with my new favourite version of Chick Habit:

Hugs,

April

My Kind of January

Thought I would share a photo or two to demonstrate how on and off warm our January has been in Southern Ontario. Now that I write this we will no doubt be snowed under.

This is my 59 series 62 convertible Cadillac, which I have had since I was 16. The 59 Cadillac was my first and still number one dream car. It has travelled to Gettysburg, Nashville, Memphis and Graceland, it served as our wedding car, it has been rebuilt twice. The 59 has the rare Q engine option, a 390 V8 with tri-power carbs. My father and I rebuilt the engine, well mostly him. I assembled the Caddy from a trailer full of parts without an manual, I know every inch of her like the back of my hand.

There was the time she broke down coming back from seeing the Blasters in Toronto and my friend Tony and I had to leave her by the side of the road as it was two in the morning. The next morning I called a tow truck and the driver said yep saw her on that back road out side of Peterborough already, have her home to you in an hour. True to form she started right up.

Saturday was my first drive in the Caddy as April (though I was dressed to work on cars not to impress). I may end up selling her to pay for FFS or even SRS if the provincial government changes what surgeries they cover. It will break my heart and I don't think I could ever look at another 59 Caddy again.

In other old car news….and you thought this was one of those trans type blogs….silly girls and boys.

Coming back from the grocery store, I noticed that the Lincoln was pulling to the right when braking, hmm think I have a sticky LH calliper. The 75 and 76 Lincoln Mark IV's have four wheel disks, best stopping ever on a large car but need a little TLC from time to time. Urgh time to get dirty again.

Really you must think this is a FtM blog, don't worry I will confirm to stereotype tomorrow and talk about some recipes I have had success with and what I wore to my meeting.

Here is Dave Alvin:

one time I took it like a man…..and I am never coming back in a long white Cadillac

Extra bonus version:

Hugs,

April

Recognized?

Or the perils of owning unique cars and being transsexual.

I have spoken before of the dangers of driving vintage cars and being outed before I went full time.

On Saturday I zipped over to the gas station to fuel up the Mark IV Continental, sans makeup just jeans, flats and a black jacket (LuLu Lemon, but unisex). As I am pumping gas a cream coloured Lincoln LS pulls in slowly drives around me, the driver is starring, perhaps a Lincoln admirer so I smile back.

The Lincoln LS is now on the other side of the pumps and comes to a stop, minding my business I continue to feed the Mark crushed dinosaur juice and self consciously strike a girly pose (is that possible while filling up your car). I don't hear anyone get out so I turn around to see that the guy I thought was starring at me was actually female (it is hard to see through the dark glass) as the Lincoln pulls away I notice the vanity plate. OMG it is the wife of the guy I bought the 76 and 72 Mark IV's from!!!

I kept in touch with the previous owner and often consulted him for advice but have not informed him of my transition as we have not spoken for over a year.

Was she concerned the car was dirty and the paint faded (although she looked good when I bought her the Florida sun had done a number on the paint and it has not faired well over they past 15 years of my ownership…..yes you are right I was only 14 when I bought her HA HA.

In my defence the Mark IV received an expensive custom built 460, transmission upgrades, dual stainless exhaust, custom made coil springs to lower the ride height and two sets of mag wheels amongst numerous upgrades and mechanical repairs. She has also been rust proofed every year and remains sold as a rock.

OR was she thinking who is that strange women driving our old car, I thought we sold it to that guy a few blocks over. About an hour later I am walking down our street with my youngest and her best friend, escorting them back to our house to play when I see the same Lincoln LS pull away from in front of our house.

"J" tells me some woman had stopped to look at my Mark IV and even tried to open the door to look inside.

Hmmmm, I think I better drop off a letter to both her and her husband, explaining some of the anomalies see witnessed. Funny thing she is cosmetician, I am sure we could have an interesting conversation.

Hugs,

April

A smooth rocker from Australian rockabilly guy Colin Cook:

Duraspark

No new job yet but offered some freelance work helping compile an automotive directory. Not as fun as writing articles but good experience and a high heel in the door so to speak.

Girls went to Build A Bear with "J" and came home with new outfits for their bears then treated me to an extended fashion show. Very cute!

Dropped off my Rust Proofing article at World of Wheels magazine this week, will be my second published article under my new name.

Temperature was above freezing so took an hour to recurve the distributor on the Mark IV. The 76 Mark always felt that you had to push it through the air while my 72 Mark felt much more lively. In fact I would often find myself well over the limit when I troubled to glance at the speedo. Does that mean I am a fast girl HA HA!

After some prolonged research I found out that the Ford Duraspark electronic ignition has a reversible distributor cam, unfortunately mine only had a choice of 21 and 16 L slot meaning the car had a 32 degree centrifugal advance. Combined with the 8 degree initial advance the 460 V8 had 40 degrees of timing not including vacuum advance. So no wonder she pinged when ever I tried to advance initial timing.

Apparently the trick is to reduce centrifugal advance to 20 degrees and make initial 15 for a much peppier engine. I did my best to limit centrifugal advance by making as bushing to limit advance and then reset timing. A test drive didn't reveal any pinging and the Lincoln was much happier. All by eye ball and seat of the pants need to track down the correct distributor cam or buy a digital calliper to set exactly.

If you want to see what it all looks like go here:

http://reincarnation-automotive.com/Duraspark_distributor_recurve_instructions_index.html

And here is my fav Lincoln burnout video on You Tube, not my car by the way.

Bad news, broke a nail…damn.

Kumpf Lincoln Mercury

After that flurry of pre Christmas posts I thought you might be sick of hearing from me dear constant reader so I gave you a well earned brake. Weired title but I had no idea what else to title this post.

What have I been up to? Not too much, at home with the children who are off school for another week.

On the automotive front the Seville is not back from the shop as the only pair of lower ball joints in Canada had to come from Quebec, really is 1985 that old?

While the Lincoln waits patiently for a new LH exhaust manifold gasket I took the time to catch up on a couple of mini projects, fixed and reinstalled the correct factory aluminum licence plate frames, made a custom surround for the aftermarket stereo (even added a chrome stereo button from an original 72 Ford Philco radio to give it a more vintage factory look. Set of vintage experimental GE halogen high beams.

Also installed a rare dealer plate from Kumpf Lincoln Mercury in Colorado (no longer exists) where Elvis bought a similar 1976 Mark IV:

Elvis often played shows in Denver, Colorado where he formed a close relationship with Jerry Kennedy, captain of the Denver Police Vice and Drug Control Bureau. Captain Kennedy was in charge of security for Elvis when he appeared in Denver. On January 14, 1976 while on vacation in Vail, Elvis visited the Kumpf Lincoln Mercury Dealership at 9th Avenue and Broadway in Denver. There he purchased a 1976 Lincoln Mark IV for $13,386.69 which he gave to Kennedy.

The actual car can be seen at the Tupelo Auto Museum, http://www.tupeloautomuseum.com/elvis.php

I met one of the museum owners at the first ever Stutz meet in Memphis in 2005 and even considered buying their Stutz before I acquired my 71.

One above freezing day I also tuned up the 460 adjusting timing, idle speed and air fuel mixture.

On Thursday the children and I accompanied my father and step mother to the pantomime at the historic Elgin theatre in Toronto. Hope you like the outfit, worried it was too short but not worried enough to change.

New Yeas Eve spent eating junk food and watching movies with the children, time to get back on the treadmill after too many helping of turkey and too many chocolates.

Yesterday was the coldest we have had in Southern Ontario this season at -14 (felt like -26 with the wind chill). Also the first day this season I plugged in the Lincoln. For you in warmer climates that means plugging in the block heater, which is like a kettle element that fits into one of the engines freeze plugs and warms the coolant and by proximity the oil so the darn car will actually start.

In Northern Ontario it is common for truck drivers to leave the trucks running over night as it would be almost impossible to start again in the morning. I spent some time at Laurentian University in Sudbury (about a five hour drive north of Toronto). Temperatures of -40 were common, what did I drive in that extreme environment…an Austin Marina!

Felt like a slob (with grease under my nails) the last few days at home so dressed up today for my electrolysis session today, grey dress, black fur coat and black gloves.

Very elegant if I so so myself.

Keep warm everyone,

April