Larry Penkava
Staff Writer
ASHEBORO —
A sailor on leave plus a girl in a pretty car equals love at first sight. That was the formula that brought Otis and Ann Nelson together for a relationship that’s lasted more than 50 years.
Nelson had that jet-black 1950 Chevrolet DeLuxe on Saturday at the 20th annual car show held by the Zooland Chapter of the Antique Car Club of America. Held at Bicentennial Park, the show draws antique and specialty cars from all over the Piedmont.
Many of the old cars hold special memories for their owners, but none sweeter than Nelson’s.
“I was in the Navy, home on leave,” he said next to his Chevy. A friend picked him up and they went to Tommy’s Drive-In on North Fayetteville Street, where Nelson spotted “two girls in a pretty black car.”
He walked over and tapped on the driver’s window. When the young lady spooled down the glass, Nelson said, “May I introduce myself?”
The guy he rode over with told Nelson he was “acting like a sailor,” but the woman relented to the introduction.
Nelson identified himself and then made an instant proposal: “I want to marry you so I can get this car.”
Her response? “Somebody’s bumped your head.”
But respite his audacity, Ann took a liking to the sailor.
“My heart was ticking like a loose valve in a V-8 engine,” Nelson recalled.
Of course, in those days a respectable young woman had to take a fellow home to her parents for their approval before she could go steady. Fortunately for the seaman, he passed their inspection.
But he still had his Navy responsibilities to fulfill, and that meant dating long distance for about 18 months, then coming home and finding gainful employment.
Finally, on May 6, 1961, Otis and Ann were joined together in holy matrimony.
“That was the best day of my life,” he said.
You wonder if that day would have come about without the black Chevy. Indeed, Nelson’s line about marrying Ann to get her car meant there was no way he could get rid of either.
So, he’s kept them both.
“That’s how it all got started,” he said.
And to hear him tell it, the affair that began at Tommy’s Drive-In has only gotten sweeter with age.
