This genius trick made grandma's car UN-stealable!

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Christopher Michaels tells the story of his grandma-in-law at the time.
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#Family #GrandmaCars #Security

[@mattmayo3539]

Grandma driving stories are always hilarious. My marine veteran grandma (Grammy) drove a 93’ park Avenue ultra. You could hear the supercharger whine from around the corner. I yelled out “light em up!” one time when she was leaving our house for dinner. She did a burn out to the end of the court. My dad came outside and yelled out, “don’t tempt her!”

[@robertovargas3205]

OH HELL YEAH!!! granny knew how to party

[@adrien2323]

Lol

[@lilredexptsc]

She sounds awesome!

[@meengreen52]

🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@pdennis93]

🎶it's the little old lady from Pasadena 🎶

[@Logankampa]

Anytime I see Chris is telling a story, I KNOW it’s gonna be something good.

[@kennorcott7074]

There’s gonna always be drugs or murder involved even though he apparently doesn’t do em.

[@otreed2311]

Facts

[@dalefarmer.568]

Yeah was a good story

[@mountainmandale1587]

Naturally, he doesn't partake in the stories he tells.🤣🤘

[@lakerat4817]

Funny, anytime I see Chris I KNOW it is a story! 😂

[@ExUSSailor]

A cooler full of beer, a roaring bonfire, and, Christopher telling a bunch of his stories sounds like a good time to me.

[@billmadison2032]

Don't forget the killer green bud

[@williammorgan5987]

I’ve had worse ways makin a fart

[@raiderjohnthemadbomber8666]

Don't forget the jerky!

[@billmadison2032]

@@raiderjohnthemadbomber8666 ahh yes something for the munchies.

[@raiderjohnthemadbomber8666]

@@billmadison2032 duh huh!

[@steveobarnes]

A true car guys protecting his grand-mother-in-law-at-the-time's car from not only the thieves out in the world, but also from the thieves within.

[@SamNatal]

Well said

[@thebrassmonkey100]

@@SamNatal same to you lol

[@sallevadorradman1938]

Such a kind soul he is.

[@violinmiata]

Christopher does it again! Here’s another on for you: My uncle John had a sweet 2002 SE Miata that he had put Bilstein PSS coil overs on, swaybars and a full exhaust. Sweet car. Flash forward to 2009 and John is in assisted living. He had been complaining about a pain in his side and instead of talking to the nursing staff decided without telling anybody to drive himself to the hospital. Turns out his appendix was about ready to explode and had an emergency surgery. It took my mother and I 12 hours to find him. The man drove himself to the hospital with a ruptured appendix in a Miata on coil overs while suffering from dementia. That was also the last time he drove. I bought the car off of him the next week and still have it. Freaking legend

[@Cammi_Rosalie]

Since we're having story-time.... Years ago, probably about 2007, when my dad was doing odd-jobs and lawn care for a living, he met this old man who had a yard full of old cars. About 50 cars just scattered across his 3.5 acre property. He had the idea to get them all running again and sell them off. So he gets my dad and his cousin to work on these cars. Most were a total lost cause and when told so, the old man would always say "Well the damn thing ran fine when I parked there." My dad would ask, "When did you park it there?" "Oh about '74 I reckon. It ran great, but i had another car i drove, so I parked it there and covered it up with tarps." The car in question was a '70 Cadillac. The tires were flat, of course, Wheels sunken into the ground until the frame itself was sitting right on the dirt. Entire lower body was just barely holding on by the more firm bits of rust. Something like 5,000 miles on the odometer. That was one of many cars like that. Another was a 1966 Buick Rivera. No more than 4 or 5 k on the odometer. A '68 Cadillac Calais in the shed, sunken into the gravel floor, all the wiring chewed out by mice. A '66 Mercury Monterey wasting away, But that one still ran and moved, miraculously.But all in all, so many cars. Barely used, parked, covered and left to rot. Some of the newer cars were able to be saved and slowly, those sold off. The hopeless cases just continued to sit. My dad and that old man became really good friends over the years. So much so that he asked my dad if he wanted to be left the house and property in his will. My dad declined that and told him. "If you want me to have something, give it to me while you're still alive and well." So that's what he did. The property was signed over to my dad with the agreement that the old man lived there for the rest of his life. No rent, no interference. it was like the old man still owned the place. HE made the decisions. Only the name on the deed changed. That went of for about 4 more years. Then the old guy had a stroke. He recovered and was able to come home. However, he would now just get in the car, a 1992 Buick Park Ave Ultra 3800SC. Take off and get God only knows where. My dad would get calls in the middle of the night. The old man would drive up to some house and ask to use the phone and he'd call my dad "Hey, I'm out here at the auction. But there's no cars! I think these people are hiding them, But I can't figure out how to get home." My dad would get the address and drive out there. Have the old man follow him back. Eventually he had another stroke and this one left him hospitalized for a few months. During that the dept of health said that before he comes home the house needs a few things. So my family and some others all pitched in and fixed up his house to make it more accessible. Bathroom downstairs, cleaned out some of the old junk (he was a hoarder) And the hardest pill for the old man to swallow was that he had to get rid of all of the old cars. My dad handled that. He had a scrapyard come in and haul them out paying scrap metal price for them. That 70 Cadillac.. When they went to winch it up on the flatbed, the engine, transmission and half of the frame pulled out. They eventually got that car in 4 separate pieces. with again, only 5,000 or so miles on it. In fact, we even found the original bill of sale, all water stained and half mouse-chewed ,still in the glove box. * sheds a tear * They had to strap the pieces down and cover it all to keep chunks of rotted bodywork from blowing off. I tried hard to get the 66 Mercury. I had money stashed back to give to the old man for it. I had been fixing some of the chewed wiring, and getting it all tuned back up, But someone else showed up that day they were taking them all out and bought it out from under me. I was PISSED! The next big thing for the old man to handle was the fact that he was no longer allowed to drive. Having to get rid of the cars upset him. Losing his license, broke his heart. Sure, between me, my dad my mom we'd take him anywhere. He'd toss one of us the keys to the Buick, and off we'd go. But there were times when we'd come over to check in on him and find him, and the car gone. So we just hid the keys. But he would just keep calling asking if we had seen them. After about a month of that, and him getting all worked up about it, I came up with the idea to pull the fuel-pump relay out and replace it with an old dead one that I had gutted out. That worked for a while, but the old man was getting upset that his car wouldn't start. He'd sit out there and crank the battery dead. Once he called the auto-parts store and had them bring out a new battery. And he cranked that one dead. So I hatched another plan. I re-installed the proper fuel-pump relay but this time I disconnected the shift cable from the transmission. He could go out and start it. play the radio, Run the AC or heater but when he went to shift into Drive, nothing happened. Eventually he had to be moved into my parents house. And after he got real bad, into a old-folks home. He hung on for another year or so. When he passed on, everything now belonged to my dad. We used that Buick for a few more years until the digital crap inside began to go haywire. We sold it to someone as a fixer-upper for a few hundred dollars. The house, has since been fully remodeled and it is home now. Sometimes, I think I can hear that old man poking around, or hear a faint "thump... thump... thump" of a cane on hardwood floors.

[@agentmueller]

Love that story. Your dad must have been a special guy for that old man to basically adopt him as his son, im glad your dad was there for him and he had somebody that loved and cared for him during his golden years, we can only hope to be that lucky ourselves.

[@deankruse8751]

I literally spit up laughing at the "I'm at the auction!" part. The reality of his situation is sad but sometimes you just can't help but laugh at the funny moments

[@scawarren]

Your Dad, all of you actually, are A+ in my book. Thank God he had you guys!

[@Cammi_Rosalie]

@@scawarren The old guy had a choice. Let it go to some lawyers, my Dad, or his Niece that had not been around in 25 years. We met his niece once. After his first stroke, she came out with her teenager son But she thought that (at the time) the old man was senile. He certainly was not. She's walking around the house and saying to the boy, "Someday soon, this will all be yours." The boy was not impressed. The Niece was also half drunk off her ass at the moment. Another thing the Niece figured is that an old man would have hearing loss. Turns out, that she took the boy into the kitchen, and told him something along the lines of, , "Don't worry, He's got one foot in the grave already. He'll die soon. When that happens I'll have this shack bulldozed, have that dog of his put down, and I'll put in some low-income apartments here, and you will be the landlord." Old man didn't say a word. After Niece and boy left, he called my Dad and made him the offer for the house, property and everything in/on it. "She pissed me off thinking I'm some stupid old man. Then really pissed me off with that horse-shit about bulldozing my Mom & Dad's house. But what put the final nail in her coffin was saying that she would kill my dog! It's not going to happen. I want you (my dad) to take everything when I die. Just please promise me that you'll give Suzy (the dog) a good life, or find her a good home. and Please don't tear my house down. I know it needs work, but it's a good house and there's now way anybody is putting fcuking apartment here. (The old man didn't cuss) And she's not going to touch my Suzy! I'm re-writing my will. She can go jump off a cliff!" After he passed away, My dad honored his promise. Suzy went to some really nice people about 2 blocks away. As I said in the original comment, We had the house totally remodeled, but still, saved from destruction or rot. And the Niece, yeah she had a fit, had lawyers contacting us, but everything was all legal and the will was specifically worded so that she could get nothing. She died of alcoholism about a year later. Never heard squat from the boy.

[@Reman1975]

This makes me think of a friends dad. In his late 70's his wife and kids decided that, dispite him still having pretty good eyesight and motor skills, he had started to get flustered too easily by other traffic on the road. Apparently he would sometimes freeze up on things like cross roads or T junctions if traffic was coming from multiple directions. He was so worried about doing the wrong thing and having an accident that he'd sort of start panicking and just sit there afraid to start moving. He really didn't want to stop driving though, but eventually agreed to do it just to "Get um all to quit whinging at him about it". :D For his birthday that year his son paid or him to go on an "exotic car experience day" (One of those things where you go to a track and the organisers lay on several sports cars for a small group of people to take them out for handful of laps in each). Because the organisers don't want anyone to actually race on these days, they never had more than 5 cars on the track at a time, and they staggered the starts to try and keep anyone from seeing the back of the car in front and getting tempted to chase it down. He felt like he was the only driver on the circuit. He absolutely loved it because it was JUST driving, with none of the rules of the road or other traffic to get worried about. After that, for every Christmas and birthday his kids would club together and get him an open ended ticket so he could call and arrange when to go for his next car experience day. He did several single marque days with Ferraris, Aston Martins, Porsches, and Lamborghinis, plus several more days with a mix of car brands. He eventually died from a heart attack in his early 90's, But was still going to these days right up to the end. I remember once asking if he ever missed driving on the roads, and he said "Nope, not at all. I do LOVE driving, but I never really got to properly enjoy it before. I think it was because I had to share the road with far too many arrogant ar*eholes" (A wonderful sentence to hear coming from a man who looked exactly like the stereotypical Christmas card image of Santa by that time. :D).

[@racerx8410712]

Great story!

[@thebrassmonkey100]

@@racerx8410712 agreed

[@cctoronto]

Good tale, glad to hear he was kickin’ it til the end!!! Slid into home base sounds like!

[@odeo5691]

Similar feeling mid Covid on the highway at 3am. road was just empty. Driving without the rules (sort of) due to lack of anyone on the road. Until I hit the interstate where there was tons of semis and people traveling to other states

[@LewisTheFly888]

What a wonderful story of love and care for a family member. Great idea...

[@ogeenext]

Chris is an absolute legend. Shout out to Ed for having such an awesome crew!

[@willkeating461]

Man that’s what I love about Ed and these story’s. to be fair Chris doesn’t seem like the type to hang out with Ed, but as I’ve learned from car meets, is a love for cars is a love for cars, a guy I consider a good friend of mine is 65, I’m 25, but we share the same love for old ford torinos, and I’ll hold that forever.

[@DunnDifferent]

That reverse kill switch is genius. I was thinking that removing the drive shaft would work. Then I realized it would just roll away 🤣

[@bwofficial1776]

My thing, if I'm going to park a car for an extended period, is to replace the fuel pump fuse and some of the other critical fuses with blown fuses. No thief is going to think to or take the time to go through the fuse box and check all the fuses.

[@n.mcneil4066]

Back in the 60's My sister had a boy friend whom I didn't trust. I had a second car which I parked at my mom's place. Before I left the car I lied down on the ground beside the car & reached the transmission an unhooked the neutral switch. The next time I visited my mom she said, "Johnny says your car won't start." I told her, "It didn't start because it wasn't supposed to." "

[@ChauncyFatsack]

My brother had a 68 Camaro and old 73 gmc Sierra and he would take a long bike chain around the front leaf springs to keep people from popping the hood and messing with his hot roded engines

[@BCaldwell]

I had to do this to my grandma's car about 10 years ago also.... She damn near disowned all of us for it! She was bouncing that poor little S10 off every mailbox in town 😂

[@mountainmandale1587]

It probably had the tiny motor, too!

[@BCaldwell]

@@mountainmandale1587 4.3...... I still have the truck actually

[@TheCobruhAlienat0r]

My great grandfather at least admitted it was time to hang up the keys after he wrecked his truck. Of course neither him nor my great grandmother believed in seat belts and they were driving back home after heading into town to shop for groceries and we guess that when the road curved that he just didn't notice or react in time to the curve and they drove off the side of the road and landed sidways in a ditch. He landed on her and she was a tiny woman, barely 100lbs, and he fractured her spine,broke several ribs and broke her arm. I think he broke a couple of ribs too and was all banged up. I guess the good part was that the ditch they landed in was in front of the house of a doctor who just happened to be home and heard the crash.

[@rwdplz1]

We inherited a 96 Blazer S10 4.3 from my Great Grandmother with 25,000 miles on it, it was mint, but the car was a complete lemon, constantly fixing things on it. After 10 years the brake lines rotted out, an I refused to fix them.

[@5.43v]

​@@rwdplz1sounds like it was a lemon just because you lived in the rust belt

[@chasm9557]

I still remember when my grandmother stopped driving. We would store her car for the winter (we have very harsh winters where I live) and drive her wherever she wanted to go until spring. In the spring one year, she asked me to get in the car with her and show her how to put it in reverse. It was at that point that I told my dad, her son, and he decided to sit down with her and have a talk about how she didn't need a car any more and he would drive her wherever she needed to go. She wasn't happy at first, but it was definitely for the best.

[@robertjustis6998]

"There will unfortunately be someday that all of us drives our last" I haven't cried this hard in some time.

[@MishraArtificer]

I hope that, when that time comes, I'm still aware and able to drive myself to either assisted living, or my own funeral.

[@clifbradley]

We put my grandmother on a donut tire, That way she couldn't go fast or far. But we didn't count on her baking skills. She was a phenomenal baker and southern cook and especially breads. She convinced the guy across the street to buy her a new tire and bribed him with homemade oven hot breads, fried potatoes and country style slices of fried ham. So this guy bought her a new tire and off She went. Straight into the back of a Toyota. Well,her car was a tank amd had minimal,damage to the headlight surround, and her grill was scuffed. Nobody knew about the accident. Then she hit another car, totaled her car amd gotta check for a replacement. Nobody would take her to buy a new car, except the guy across the street. That fool would do anything for her food. He craved southern cooking. Grandma wound up,p with a used Buick Century. Her 'limo' she called it. So everyone was mad and we made the guy across the street go driving with her to get the point across. That dd it. He wound up driving her around in exchange for food for years until she died.

[@theanomalous1401]

There is no better bribe on God's green earth than down home Southern cooking! Just like Momma used to make.

[@runner3033]

Sounds like it worked out well in the end good. Grandma still had her independence (safely) and some purpose in life, and the neighbour got a bellyful for his time!

[@openyoureyes3113]

He was getting to eat the cookie 🍪 🤷‍♂️

[@jfan4reva]

Win, Win, Win! Grandma's safe, the guy across the street gets Southern Cooking, and you all get to stop worrying!

[@Jonathan_Doe_]

Wholesome af

[@spyone4828]

My mother's father bought a new car when he was 69 years old with the expectation that it would last the rest of his life. 20 years later he admitted that he had been wrong about that and bought another new car. ... and three years later he sold it. He realized that the only time his car got used was when my mother would drive him to an appointment with his doctor, and they could easily use her car for that. He said it was time to admit that he was too scared to drive, and that meant it was silly for him to have a car. I hope, when my time comes, I handle it that well.

[@DiscGolfDom23]

Chris is one of the best storytellers of all time

[@gickneorge]

Great story, it reminds me on the time my grandma drove over a curb (missing the actual exit of the mall parking lot). Myself and my cousin were dying of laughter in the back seat and grandma says “let’s maybe not tell anyone about that” with a pleasant smile. Of course being an obnoxious 10 year old, I promptly told the whole family at Sunday dinner. There was a ton of laughter, with lots of love. Thanks for telling your story and bringing back this Awesome memory.

[@davidgleason3379]

You do the right way of handling this situation. You put her feelings of still wanting that independence of have her car years ago. My neighbor had his son and daughter in law move in because he was starting to have health issues he was in his late 80"s well he always drove .because he was alone. Well one day I just happen to be near my kitchen window and noticed the son and his father getting ready to go out somewhere and the father was heading over to driver side well I could tell the son was talking to his dad about him driving instead and the father still had keys as if he was going to drive well you could tell there was more discussion from the son saying he did not want the father to drive well finally the father did hand keys over but I could see even from a distance there was a little different walk from the father it was like he aged 20 years. I know the son meant well with his intentions but it could have been handled a different way. I like how you handled this because you let grandma make that decision to give up driving. It showed respect for her feelings. And she was able to keep her pride it was a fine line to straddle. But you did it in a right way.

[@Jdowling357]

"there will always be a day when we drive our last" Man, that hit me in the feels.

[@FullThrottleAxolotl1]

This is one of the sweetest stories I’ve ever heard

[@misters2837]

The gentlest way of protecting grandma without her even knowing....Awesome!

[@g.w.customcreations3534]

Never has there been such a wholesome fellow as Christopher. Love this man.

[@kenleppek]

Always a great story with Chris! It's always a sad point in life when it comes time for someone to turn in the keys. There's no way of doing it without somebody coming off as "the bad guy", but no one's truly the bad guy when it's Grandma's or Grandpa's safety in mind.

[@jaykoerner]

I don't think we are too many decades away from that not being needed, self-driving cars and all that, pretty sure no one cars if Grandma has a car, if the car drives itself

[@starkyslp16]

Being a good story teller is a unique skill... and this guy has it!

[@christophermichaels]

Thank you for the kind words Starsky!

[@samleeroy5638]

Thats the smoothest way to convince a senior to let it go ive seen yet. 11/10 pure wholesomeness

[@neilhoogendoorn8045]

My Grandpa would drive to McDonalds everyday for coffee then the manager would call the police to help him find his way back home. Not sure how long that went on but it makes me happy to know that they were willing to do this for him.

[@albmata14]

This man is a legendary story teller. Give this man a slot at masterclass for story telling. Every time I see him pop up I make time to sit down and listen bc I know it’s going to be good

[@yeanah2571]

My wife-at-the-times grandpa had a brown 98, that he gave me. Looked similar to that, but had skirts and a beige pillow top interior. I had a daily, a project car, and a project truck at the time, so I sold it to my best friend from high school, and gave a large portion back to grandpa. Within a year, my friend had pulled off the bumper, muffler and struck the oil pan somehow, and had seized the underwhelming 307 V8. I really really wished Id yanked the LT1 out of my junk Caprice project, and just put it in the Olds and kept it. Definitely solidified my love for body on frame cars, and my current obsession with my 2 Crown Vics

[@phillhuddleston9445]

Another way if you have an electric fuel pump as most modern cars have is to run the hot wire going to the pump through a toggle switch located in a discrete location that can be reached from the drivers seat, on the floor under the driver or passengers seat or even under the back seat in some cars is easily accessible. This will allow the car to start due to the remaining residual pressure already in the lines but only for a few seconds. This will lead the car thief to believe that they are starting it correctly but have either flooded it or there is a mechanical failure going on. This is cheap and easy and works regardless of the direction (forward or reverse) the thief is trying to go.

[@rrpgarage]

Never a bad story from Mr. Micheals - had rhe pleasure to meet him a few weekend ago at the Backyard 400. Glad I got to meet him and have him as a friend!

[@TheRealTomLauda]

Chris's stories are always a treat, but this one is special ! The reverse kill switch trick is pure genius ! Try to convince an elderly to quit driving for their safety is very difficult, and for good reasons, like Chris said. This trick is actually a very kind attention to this grand ma. It shows how a good hearted man Chris is.

[@the_frankc]

Grandma's are always sneaky when they start getting dangerous behind the wheel. In college my grandmom came home with damage on her fender which I knew she did. Knowing she'd never admit to it, I ran inside yelling, "Gram, someone hit your car!". She said it wasn't a big deal and don't worry about it. I said, "I'm going to call the doctor's office and get their camera footage and see who did it so they can pay for it". She then admitted she ran into a parked UPS truck making a delivery in the parking lot, and she got out and yelled at him for stopping there. She was lucky he let her leave without filing a report.

[@theanomalous1401]

From what I've heard, the only thing worse than a UPS driver being involved in a accident is being a Clinton associate who got a subpoena!

[@willkeating461]

By far the best story teller there is, maybe it’s his personality but I have to watch the video the whole way thru every time, honestly man, you seem relatable, no bullshit, what you see is what you get

[@RobsNeighbor]

My grandparents gifted me their Diesel Delta and it was mint I could baby it and pull 40 mpg however at 19 yrs of age it didnt last long, I wish I would have kept and stored that car. What a historical car that was.

[@mountainmandale1587]

Switching them out for a gas engine wasn't too tough. I worked at a little buy here pay forever place that did a lot of them.

[@joeg5414]

My grandparents tried to give my their 72 VW bug about 10 years ago. I turned it down. For some reason I was embarrassed by the car. I'm kicking myself now. So stupid of me

[@pdennis93]

Ah the infamous diesel Oldsmobile... My dad bought a brand new 1979 Custom Cruiser diesel wagon, canary yellow with woodgrain because my mom said the diesel Mercedes he wanted that was a few grand more was too expensive. That car's engine blew up in late 1982 or early 1983 with 50k miles on it. Olds fixed it under warranty and he traded it in on a leftover new 1982 Buick Regal 4 door with a gas engine. After he wrapped that Regal around a tree in 1987, he tried the diesel 350 again with a used 1984 Caprice 4 door since he heard they were better in the 1981-85 cars. Even that one blew its headgaskets at a little over 100k miles in early 1991 and he gave it away. My mom once said, in regards to the Olds wagon "if I'd have known how bad that olds diesel would end up being, I'd have let him get the damn Mercedes" 🤣🤣🤣 Funny note about the 84 Caprice. Several years after my dad gave it away, my mom found a set of GM keys that did not fit the 85 Cavalier we had at the time. For some reason she didn't throw them away. We got a call from someone a week or 2 later asking if we had ever owned a brown 1984 Chevy Caprice diesel 4 door. Apparently this guy was buying it from a landlord at some apartment complex where the guy my dad gave it to had skipped out on rent and abandoned the car. It was still titled in my dad's name but they had no keys for it and he was calling us to ask if we had any keys. In addition to the diesel, we also owned a 1984 caprice wagon for several years that my sister had totalled in 1993. My mom told the guy she had recently found a set of keys and was sure they belonged to one of those 2 cars and that he was welcome to come get them. He did and called back sometime later saying they fit the diesel he was buying.

[@robs1852]

@@pdennis93 That diesel Caprice was technically still your dad's car when they called looking for the keys

[@pdennis93]

@@robs1852 correct. Although it's possible the landlord had filed for a mechanic's lien or something. My dad had signed it over to the guy who abandoned it, but apparently he had never retitled it.

[@YTjndallas]

Nice story. My Dad is 92 and he could still drive except he has cataracts that he’s too scared to have surgically removed. I swear, he’s still sharper than I am, and I’m almost 55. He still walks a mile, twice every day. However, he had an entitled sense of his driving vs. the rules of the road which “entitled” him to roll through stop signs, etc… Because he was obsessed with saving gas. Lol !!!

[@briansalway9529]

It's really nice of you to go out of your way and help that lady out most people today would not have done that

[@stephen3164]

Chris needs a podcast just telling stories. Heck, he can come over to my place, relax on my sofa, and record the podcast from there if he’d like! Just seems like the nicest guy and greatest storyteller.

[@tsherwoodrzero]

Always a good story from Chris. I had something similar happen with my uncle 3 years ago. My aunt was in the hospital for some heart-related issues and my uncle had gone to see her. At some point, he left the hospital, got in their CTS, hit a car on the way out and drove off with no clue what happened and couldn't remember how to get home. Ended up in the parking lot of a bar about 15 miles away from home. Not in the bar, in the parking lot because he's an amputee veteran in a wheelchair. Bar called the police who thought he was drunk, took him back to the same hospital my aunt was in and my cousin and I got the car back home. He eventually gets released and I bring him back home, after the keys to the CTS were secured just in case. He's still not acting quite right though, couldn't remember who I was and kept saying some rather odd things that didn't make sense. So another call to my cousins, they convince him to go to the VA Hospital to find out what's going on since it had all the signs of Alzheimers. What happened was that sodium beyond a certain amount triggered the whole episode of confusion and disorientation (Hypernatremia). Once the hospital got it straightened out, he was back to normal. It was a large chili from Wendys that did it, 1300 mg of sodium put him over his daily 1800mg limit according to the doctor. It did happen again about a year later, the same sort of weirdness, calling me by the wrong name, talking about some really bizarre things that weren't happening and saying he had to catch a plane at 2am. After the hospital got him straightened back out again, we all had a good laugh about it. RIP Uncle George.

[@AllAmericanGuyExpert]

My grandma took me someplace in her Caprice Station Wagon once. I didn't know if I was going to live to tell about it as she decided to floor that thing, going up a hill, passing a slower car... on a 2-lane road. My grandma didn't have a Bible handy, but I sure was praying that no one came over that hill in the opposite lane!

[@flipppy83]

At 6:05 I literally spit out my drink at that "after driving the same road for 122 years" line

[@christophercripps7639]

My father-in-law, Bill, was just like her. He was in assisted living and did the same thing ... Just wanted to sit in his car. However, his was a 1978 C3 Corvette Indy Pace car (special edition). Unfortunately Bill lived in Florida on the coast. Years of salty air, humidity & neglect do terrible things to the steel parts -frame, battery box,.... Body looked good.

[@615AL]

Wow, what a great true story and you told it very well. I have listened to a few of your stories but it's been awhile. Until now I had not subscribed but now I will be listening more often. My wife and I love the elderly folks and enjoy their tales. Paige sat with a 95 year old lady who described her first car as very quiet and you didn't have to hand crank the engine like everyone else. She said she just got in it and pushed a lever forward and the car went quietly. I said that almost sounds like it was electric. I got to looking into this and sure enough there were a lot of electric cars as early as 1910 or maybe earlier. Jay Leno has a beautiful example of an early 1900's electric car.

[@NickAlati]

I did a very similar thing very similar thing with my mom's Last vehicle. Felt horrible isolating my mother from Driving but was for her own safety and the safety of the surrounding vehicles

[@josephmccormack6910]

Like him more and more. Humble and calm. Great story teller.

[@christophermichaels]

Thank you for the kind words Joseph. I appreciate you watching!

[@radfoo72]

"Why would somebody do that?" 🤣🤣🤣 There are bad people out there, Mrs. Ethel🤷🏻‍♂️

[@ericfaley9019]

Nice story. Shorty after my dad passed away. My mother had a trip and fall accident walking in a parking lot and shattered her left upper femur and shoulder. She ended up living with my sister. She could no longer drive do to her injury and how frail she was. But she was determined that she needed her car and was going to drive again. I retrieved the car for her old house that was for sale. I got the car to my house and my brother in law flew and drove the car from California to Alabama. My mother never drove again. My brother in law would chauffeur her around in her car. It made her happy to HER car!

[@zachharlow6745]

I love how i can always tell if Christopher is tellin a story just from the title of the video and they never disappoint

[@crustycurmudgeon2182]

That is quite seriously the coolest and sweetest story I've heard in a few decades! I prefer pickup trucks, but I'd be willing to buy that lady's Oldsmobile-- looks like a classic! My best to Grandma!

[@nicktalarico5524]

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Chris needs his own channel. I could listen to him and Rob all day.

[@kattcasel9730]

After I got through LAUGHING, I realized grandma wasn't the only saint in this family. What an awesome solution, THANKS!

[@tankacebo9128]

chris and rabbit make this channel 100% more awesome than it already is.

[@alfonsourquidez8871]

OMG, I LOVE the way this guy tells a story... He gives Mr. Ballen some storytelling comp.

[@CarswithNash]

The reverse kill switch idea was genius! Great story Chris.👍

[@TheTsunamijuan]

i must say, i never thought of kill switching the car that way. This is actually extremely help. Going through a similar thing with my mother right now. My sister and I have been doing our best to try and stop ontop of stuff. But the idea of her getting in one of the vehicles and trying to go somewhere. When she can;t even remember her name, or what day it is. Let alone what shes doing. scares the crap out of us.

[@Meditech509]

An easier way than wiring in a relay. Is pull the wire on the transmission interlock on the brake pedal. She can step on the brake all she wants but it will never go into gear.

[@plektosgaming]

@@Meditech509 +1 Even sneakier is to get a small mount and a relay from a junk yard (to the brake interlock) - get it old looking and slightly covered in dirt and oil like the rest of the bay and mount it there so it looks like any old relay. Except it's just a shunt to complete the circuit - but as and actual relay won't trip. Even most mechanics won't spot an old crusty out of place extra relay that shouldn't be there. They can even test it and yep, it's a relay. Just the 3rd wire goes off to under the dash/nowhere. Swap in a tester relay that just closes the circuit to re-enable the car. In many cases your electrical fuse box will have a space for a spare relay as well, to store it.

[@nickzigrang2664]

All the cool stories that come from this channel, it's nice to see a wholesome & humble one with the best of intentions; as subtle as they are.

[@AaronSmith-kr5yf]

My grandma got to where she couldn't turn her neck to the right all the way(ie to look to the right all the way when you are turning left onto the main road by her house). So she just went to places she knew that mostly had right turns lol. AKA the dollar store, the grocery, her hair dresser, church, they were all less than 5 miles from her house. Well eventually her neck got so bad to where she could hardly look to the right at all. Ended up getting into a place where she had to make a left turn and just pulled out in front of somebody. Luckily nobody was hurt but it tore the whole front end off her Oldsmobile 88. She insisted on getting it fixed despite it being totaled/tweaking the body to hell cause it was easy for her to get in/out of. After that she quit driving and had everybody drive her around.

[@kencramer1697]

For her 85th birthday my grandmothers present to us was her giving up her drivers license. Though with the onset of dementia a few years later, one day she "forgot" that she wasn't driving any longer and made a trip to the grocery store. However when she got home she left the groceries and her purse in the open trunk with the garage door open. My sister had been living with her to help her out and when she got home and saw the garage, car, and groceries she panicked. She thought something had happened and rushed into the house to find grandma just reading her book with no memory of every having gone to the store.

[@thewonderfulwizardofcodsaq3472]

Ethel sounds like my beautiful grandmother such pure souls

[@johnh1273]

When I see Christopher it a thumbs up 👍 my favorite storyteller.

[@dalehobgood9419]

Every time I hope to see Chris again, so happy to have a video to watch at work. We need to get him his own channel

[@kalrandom7387]

I've met other Ethel's on the road. The best one is, I was doing cable installation, seen her that morning, driving on the wrong side of the road, reported her, and then later that day I had a install for her son. He actually thanked me.

[@radfoo72]

"I wear this shirt periodically" I Need that shirt🤣🤣🤣

[@getchasome6230]

How can this story make me laugh and cry at the same time?

[@InsaneTreefrog]

"got the car back, even got to keep the shovels"

[@isaiahjohnson2532]

Christopher is my absolute favorite. I could listen to his stories for hours and hours.

[@christophermichaels]

Thank you Isaiah!

[@markmahoney5255]

Chris has to be one of the best story tellers you have on the channel. I always enjoy it when I see he’s on.

[@BillBlast7372]

*I LOVE MY MAN CHRIS'S STORIES.....* it reminds me of all my crazy wild car stories & yrs of repoing all kinds of veh's mostly in the craziest violent cities on the east coast!!!

[@Wolfe_No.13]

Chris usually has the best stories. i am always excited when i click a vin wiki video and see him in the chair

[@pdennis93]

I inadvertantly found a similar anti theft system on my old 1993 thunderbird SC one time back in the mid 2000s. One day I was driving it and I noticed the bright indicator was on on the dashboard. I didn't even have the headlights on so I couldn't figure out why. I got out and looked and sure enough, the brights were on, but no taillights or marker lights. I figured that somehow a wire inside the multifunction switch must have shorted out and that's why the flash to pass was activated. I had planned to go to the junkyard the next day to get a used one, but I didn't want to leave the brights on overnight and drain the battery, so I went under the hood and found the relay that controlled the lights and removed it. The next morning, I jump in the car and start it up to go to the junkyard and it won't shift out of park. No matter how hard I try to pull on the shifter, it won't budge. I then remembered the relay I had pulled the night before to turn off the headlights and shut the car off and go put that relay back. I then jump back in the car and start it and it shifts out of park just fine. Apparently that relay also controlled the safety switch that requires you to press the brake to shift out of park and with it removed, the shifter is locked in park. So if I needed to leave the car parked somewhere and was worried about theft, I could pull that relay.

[@abpsd73]

I had a similar problem with a 96 F250 while doing a wide load move. The brake light switch failed, so the brake/park interlock solenoid wouldn't release. Turned the key just enough to unlock the shifter, pulled to neutral, then started the truck.

[@wymple09]

My Mom got too old too drive, but wanted her car available afraid of being stranded in an emergency. Her Cadillac sat in her garage for about 3 years & only moved when I came to see her & we would go cruise in it for her. It was OK all around.

[@dave3657]

I bought a car years ago where the owner didn’t want his family members to drive it. He installed a push button contact in the ignition so you had to hold the button in while you started it. Worked a charm. Great story!

[@bookaufman9643]

I love the way I southerner tells a story. Being a long-winded southerner I definitely appreciate people of the same ilk.

[@nickozanich101]

I loved this story. He let her down easy and lovingly with some smart wiring n a few switches. Just beautiful. Back in 1995-1998 I installed a many rocker switches under the drivers seat edge or under the dash to cut subwoofer amps off if you passed a cop, lol. It was all stealth installs. Of course if they opened the trunk they'd probably notice it was way smaller than it should be but I always sealed the trunk from the cabin and made the box fire thru the rear seat and cut the original carpet to cover the subs. And no rattles. It's very hard to determine where bass is emanating from but your license plate rattling like maracas a dead give away. Wow, totally unrelated car stereo flashback. Anyways, I love switches, wiring and great, loving people.

[@robertkustos2931]

My friend had a old land rover . There were no central locking or electronic alarm system at that time . He was a fitter/welder at a coal mine . His deterrent to car thieves was to fit a hand valve to the drop pipe from the manifold . Whenever he parked up , he'd pop the hood and turn the valve .

[@paulchilders9969]

In the 80's my mom had 2 of the 8'th gens. Royale Brougham coupes with the 307. Most comfortable car I have ever ridden in. Like a couch on wheels. Any extended period of time in those cars would result in sleeping passengers. To understand the level of comfort, those seats were literally pillow top mattresses with all the stitching and sewn on buttons etc.

[@sgtaaronp]

Christopher is becoming one of my favorite guests!

[@dsmith383]

This guy is a born storyteller! Once again great job Christopher and VinWiki.

[@christophermichaels]

Thanks D!

[@briangibbs3774]

Great story! I had three of the '80 to '85 Delta 88 Royale Broughams. Wonderful cars. Your story brought back many happy memories.

[@watcherofthingsthatrkekano5930]

Reminds me of my great grandmother who drove till she was 92 in a Ford festiva with no power steering to church work and groceries getting only thing that slowed her down was family telling her she was to old

[@davidremy4470]

What an awesome story, so glad I stuck around to listen to Chris tell it. Ethel was a woman after my own heart, God bless her.

[@wadeguidry6675]

I had a burgundy 1978 Delta 88, the pics in this video bring back fond memories of that old beast we named "The Brick".

[@mattlinthicum4207]

this warms my heart, yea you decieved her, but you loved her enough to keep her out of trouble.

[@CrackedCandy]

Welcome back Christopher. Don't be a stranger. Love your stories

[@abdullahejaz308]

I would legit hire this guy to tell me a story everyday 😂

[@Ryan57Garr]

Back in the day I used to swap in a dead fuel pump fuse whenever I had to park my Integra GSR outside. Only took a min to swap. It was broken into twice, but it was never stolen the the 3 years that I had it.

[@bwofficial1776]

I do that too if I'm going to leave a car for a long period of time, plus one or two other critical fuses. No thief is going to think to or take the time to check the fuse box.

[@MWR-lg9qp]

Great story. All of us will be forced to walk this path with our loved one. Someday, we will become Ethel.

[@VL1975]

I love that story. I once had a 1977 Delta 88. I miss that old boat.

[@johnytwotimes4072]

"My car was stolen, oh thank God"😂 reminds me of my Mom. Never watched this channel before but I am glad I did I immediately recognize this accent because I live in south Georgia. Ethel sounds like a pure treasure 🤣

[@disgracebook5708]

Glad she got her car back & no harm to this sweet lady. Those are great cars. If it becomes available, would enjoy owning it.

[@jeffwalther3935]

Almost all of us, especially the younger, grew up in a car environment whereupon, directly or indirectly determined our lifestyle. When the day comes we can no longer drive, is a BIG lifestyle or gamechanger that modern peoples have come to recognize as an invisible, beguiling and tricky transition challenge, common now to us all of age. The trick then is to know when to stop driving, while, at the same time adjusting and learning the new nondriver lifestyle that was SO determinant before. That's ALL ya gotta do to survive and thrive is transition, adjust and change as we have so many times before in life. Sane sort of challenges, different day, so to speak. This is a great and timely Heads Up! video alert.

[@roibrycker8897]

I come from 5 generations of volunteer firefighters in South Jersey,my late grandfather was number 2 of the five n had helped build the original fire home with his father my great grandfather when he was just a boy. My Uncle said the hardest moment ever between the two of them is when he had to tell him he could no longer ride on the engine with the rest of the firefighters to the scene. This was at a time when he still drove but because of the insurance he can no longer ride on the engine. Part of me wanted to hear he laughed in his face n continue to do it anyway but as they say “The only thing worse then getting old is not getting old!” Because then ur dead… R.I.P Joseph John Petsch Sr and Miss Ethel!

[@dogsoupblues]

My mom had that exact car in that exact color in the 80s. Man, this video brought back a ton of memories.

[@alexp362]

My grandmother literally had that same car. Same year 1985 I believe. Same color. Royal with the spoke caps. Sold it to my cousin in '93 and he drove it until there was nothing left.

[@DasNuk]

The prefect way to start hump day. Any story by Christopher makes the day better.

[@dannyisaacs7552]

My wife's grandmother was in an assisted living setup. She had her car and could drive to the supermarket whenever she wanted to. She even took other people who needed to go shopping. She still had her freedom and that is a big thing to her. THEN, the family found out that whenever she went shopping, she always took a certain friend with her. The family found out that grandmother could not tell the difference between the different color lights on the traffic light. So grandma could drive and her friend would tell her what color the light was when getting near an intersection. She drove and the other lady would say" red, yellow, or green. That is when the family had to take away the car, Her health went down hill after that. Freedom was everything to her.

[@dominickdolio2414]

“There will be a time when we have our last drive.” That… hit.

[@captainnapalm8207]

Got the notification, didn't think much of it. Clicked away. Thought to myself, there's no way that's not a Christopher Michaels story. Came back. It was. YES!!!

[@rushnerd]

>Click on a Vinwiki vid >immediately Chris is talking >"Boy howdy what's this kid gone and done this time?"

[@largol33t1]

"So we got the car back and even got to keep the shovels." LMFAO, I love hearing Chris' stories just as much as Ed's. Hope he keeps the stories coming. On a darker note, I think the car was stolen to dispose of a body just like in the movie "Goodfellas." I hope there was no dead body smell in the trunk as the scene where Ray Liotta (RIP) is struggling to wash the stench out is true. It is VERY difficult to get the smell of anything dead out.

[@largol33t1]

PS: I totally sympathize with Grandma Ethel about still wanting to drive. I always think of the old GM Goodwrench slogan "Remember: it's not just a car, it's your freedom." They had no idea how TRUE that was. I dread the day I will be in Ethel's position, not wanting to let go of my trusty manual VW. It must feel heart wrenching to no longer be fit to drive. I think she felt like she had been crippled. We take our cars for granted and it's when a car is lost or stolen that we realize how much it means just to have a set of wheels.

[@trevorcrane5271]

Another great well enjoyed video. Love this Guy and his story telling. I have no attention span but he never get old! More plz

[@unclemarksdiyauto]

What a nice cute story. Ethel sounds like a sweet lady. Thanks for sharing the story with us!