‘My first car’

     This is the fifth feature in a series about local residents reminiscing about their very first car. If you’d like to share your story about your first car, reach out to Express Editor Kim Brooks at kbrooks@monticelloexpress.com.

   At the age of 20, after graduating from college, Katie (Chapman) Farrowe bought her first car, a 1998 Chevy Camaro.

   “In high school, we drove my parents’ car,” she said as the oldest of five Chapman siblings.

   Following college in Missouri, Farrowe moved back to Eastern Iowa that summer to look for a job and save up some money. She had plans to move to Los Angeles, Calif., with her then-boyfriend.

   “We needed a car to drive out to LA, so I bought a car at a dealership in Cedar Falls,” recalled Farrowe.

   The Chevy Camaro was brand new at the time.

   “I liked Chevys,” Farrowe said. “I’ve always liked Camaros, especially older ones. I saw it and thought, ‘That’s what I want!’”

   Farrowe remembers thinking she was riding in style because the car had Bose stereo, as well as a T-top.

   “It was really really nice! I liked fast cars!”

   As for how it felt owning her first car, she said she thought she was “an adult now!

   “It was a big decision. I felt pretty proud about it. This was my first step into adulthood.”

   Before the couple ventured halfway across the country, Farrowe said they filled the car “to the gills.”

   On the way to California, Farrowe stopped overnight in Colorado.

   The Camaro was all white. Farrowe admits now that it probably wasn’t the most practical purchase.

   Once in LA, she said she had to parallel park her car.

   “There would be less than an inch on each side,” she said of the tight fit. “I remember getting lots of (parking) tickets in LA because we just moved there and I didn’t have a parking permit yet.”

   Growing up, the Chapman kids always rode the school bus to and from school. Farrowe’s junior year of high school, she learned to drive with her dad’s pickup truck that had a stick shift.

   “It was impossible to drive,” she said. “I always prayed I wouldn’t hit a red light in town.”

   Her folks also had a large blue passenger van she drove as well.

   “There are some people in town who might remember riding around in that van,” hinted Farrowe, without naming names.

   Her siblings were young enough at the time that rode the bis to school.

   Farrowe recalled having her ’98 Chevy Camaro for a couple of years before she traded it in for a newer car.

   “That car was not as nice,” she admitted. “I wish I had never sold it, though. It’d still be fun to have today. It ran really well. It really was a great car!”