A Package of Matchbox Cars

On Saturday, I went shopping. I was checking out the clearanced toys, when something caught my eye. It was a car in a package of Matchbox cars. I thought, "no, it can't be...", but it was a Citroen DS.

I looked at it again, and again. I decided I "needed" to buy the package of cars, so that my boys could see a Citroen DS. The more I thought about it, the more sentimental I got (I know that sounds crazy to be sentimental about a Matchbox car, but what can I say). The Citroen was part of my childhood. A part of my childhood that I can not share with my boys (except with this little car - there are probably pictures somewhere too). I wish that the car was white, or maroon, or even blue - but I will take gold.

Like I said, the Citroen was part of my childhood. My dad had a foreign car repair shop, Harbor Auto Imports, on Hill Street (now Pacific Coast Highway) in Oceanside California. Boempa (my grandfather) also had one, Riviera Motors, in downtown San Diego. There were lots of unique cars that went through our shop - Citroen DS, SM and 2CVs, Jaguars, MGs, Triumphs and Midgets - that is all I can think of off of the top of my head (this is from a child's memory), I think at one point there was some type of old black taxi cab too. We had a white station wagon DS when I was really young. In my teenage years, we again had a couple Citroen DS' and a gold SM.

It is strange to think that my boys will not know what it is like to ride in a car that turns heads (we drive Toyotas - I love them but they are generic). They won't know what it is like to watch someone stare as the car is turn on, and starts to raise in the front, back and then even out (yes hydralics). To start the car a key was put in, and then a button was pushed - no turning of a key in a Citroen. I have obviously thought about this a lot over the past couple of days. It has brought back fun memories of my family and childhood.

That package of Match box cars got even better. It not only had a Citroen DS, but it had an old Jaguar like the one that sat in the Harbor Auto Imports showroom for years. Boempa had a Jaguar similar to this one (the blue was a little darker). I can't even recall how many years it sat in the showroom. I spent a lot of time at the shop with my parents as a small child. I played in the car countless times......