Marilyn Siebeneck is at home sitting in a 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air, similar to the one she once owned.
Submitted photos
OTTAWA – It was an adventure in which memories were made.
Four young women from Putnam County – all in their 20s – crowding into a one-year-old 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air and heading south for the beaches and sunshine of Florida.
The year was 1956. It was rare at that time for a woman to own a car. But Marilyn Duling Siebeneck had a good job and her father encouraged her to buy the car from a first cousin who was stationed overseas in the military.
He didn’t have to do much convincing.
Marilyn had $1,500, enough to buy the car, and three friends who lived by the motto, “if an opportunity presents itself, grab it.”
Next thing you know she was driving a car full of women through the Smoky Mountains, on to Daytona Beach, Florida, and to a final stop of Miami. They even managed to pick up two sailors who were hitchhiking “in their shiny white uniforms.”
“I loved that car,” said Marilyn, who turned 90 Tuesday.
Her daughter, Ann Selhorst, has heard Marilyn talk about that 1955 Bel Air many times. It almost always comes with a glow in Marilyn’s eyes.
Last December, while reading The Lima News, Ann noticed a Real Wheels feature story on a 1955 Bel Air owned by Kenny Poling, of Elida. It was a car just like the one her mom often talked about.
A plan was being hatched.
Ann didn’t know Poling, but she thought if she contacted him, he might be willing to take Marilyn for a ride.
Bingo.
“How could I turn down a 90-year-old woman who would love to ride in a Bel Air just one more time?” Poling said this week. “You just don’t do that.”
Last Sunday, Poling and his wife, Joanne, met with Marilyn and family. He and Joanne took Marilyn and Ann for a ride around the Putnam County countryside.
“We talked cars. She showed me a picture of her Bel Air. It was a fun time,” Poling said.
Marilyn purchased her Bel Air before she married. She and her husband owned many cars over the years, but the Bel Air and all of its memories was her favorite. She said she learned something from that.
“Men may not like what I’m going to say, but when a man and woman get married, the first car they sell is the woman’s car. That seems to always be the case.”
Ann said she was reminded about something when she met the Polings.
“We didn’t know each other and I wouldn’t have been surprised if they didn’t want to mess with this. It just goes to show you there are many good people doing good deeds without asking for anything in return. It gives me hope for this crazy world.”
GET YOUR CAR FEATURED
The Lima News publishes photographs of vintage cars, 20 years or older, free of charge in Real Wheels. It is easy to get your car featured:
• Mail: Real Wheels, Newsroom, The Lima News; 205 W. Market St., Suite #100A; Lima, OH 45801.
• Email: [email protected]
• Include: Photograph of your car; year of car, make and model; how many years you have owned the vehicle; car’s history; best memory of car; your name, address and telephone number (the phone number will not be published).
If you have further questions, contact The Lima News newsroom at 419-222-6397 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays.
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Check out cars we’ve featured and discuss your memories on the Real Wheels page at LimaOhio.com/tag/realwheels.
