Kathy Ball Corral HHS71, sharing her story about the Ball family's
beautiful 1964 El Camino
I wanted to share my Family's 1964 Chevy El Camino with the members of Cougartown.
My Dad and Mom, Ray and Vivian Ball, purchased the vehicle brand new in 1964. I was 11 years old and my Brother Bobby (HHS Class 1968) was 15 years old. From that day forward memories have been carried throughout my childhood and into adulthood in that truck. It carried Girl Scout camping gear to Del Aire Park to meet up with Troop 348 off on camping events. It carried a topographical map of California made by 4th graders at Jose Sepulveda Elementary School, which seemed almost life size to a 4th grader, to Mrs. Leventhal's home for long term storage. It transported us to and from School and Park Dances, to Inglewood and Westchester to the movies and countless after dinner trips to Foster Freeze for a cone. I don't know how many times the bed was filled up with neighborhood kids being dropped off and brought home from the HHS Swimming Pool, all sessions. Always with my loving Dad behind the wheel.
Some folks in the neighborhood may remember the Troll Doll (which I bought for my Dad on a Del Aire Park trip to Disneyland) that he mounted and wired in the rear window. The head of the Troll would light up with the brake and flash with the blinker.
I know for a fact that first my Dad and later my Brother Bob had been known to drive her too fast on a deserted Aviation Blvd or the 120th Street under the 405 underpass. But never with my Mom in the car.
When my Dad passed in 1995, although still owned by my Mom, Bob took over the care and maintenance of the El Camino. This included a new engine, a new paint job (Daytona Sunset Orange) and new leather interior. Bob and his Girlfriend, Bonnie Hattemer HHS 1971 took the El Camino to many car shows and enjoyed sharing an old friend with a new facelift. I mean the car not the girlfriend, Bonnie is always beautiful.
When I lost Bobby in 2007, the El Camino came home with my Husband, Joe and me to Boonville, California. We enjoy driving her and appreciate all the memories she still carries today. We plan on driving her forever and wish that Allstate would give us a discount on her insurance considering they have insured her non stop for the past 51 years and counting.