1953 Cushman Model 62 - and a legacy of friendship.| Builds and Project Cars forum |

a_florida_man GRM+ Memberand HalfDork
6/4/23 10:14 p.m.

I just finished a long round trip to Lenoir TN, to pick up this:

1953 Cushman Model 62.

That's the Cushman.

Here's the start of the friendships:

This is circa 1950, Ft Pierce, FL.

From L to R

George Flavin, Jr.

Howard Murill

Robert Hofmann

a_florida_man GRM+ Memberand HalfDork
6/4/23 10:31 p.m.

Dad had a lot of adventures over the years. The cars in the background were always quality.

66 Corvette, 63 XKE 3.8 FHC, Multiple Austin Healeys...

And like the cars, the early 2 wheeled predecessors were as iconic:

Cushman, Famous James, Vespa, Allstate...

And, much like with the cars, the first one was always missed the most.

a_florida_man GRM+ Memberand HalfDork
6/4/23 10:43 p.m.

Dad (George), Howard and Robert had a LOT of adventures, but it seems the stories I heard (or possibly just remembered) the most were of Dad and Howard.

I'll leave some of the individual stories for later...

Dad and Howard stayed in contact over the decades, and later in life reconnected.

By then Howard had begun collecting and restoring scooters, with an emphasis on Cushman's.

a_florida_man GRM+ Memberand HalfDork
6/4/23 10:55 p.m.

The internet was in full swing, and both were approaching retirement, so it wasn't long until they were meeting up at Cushman meets in Georgia, and palling around once again.

Dad made a visit to Howard's house, and rode one of Howard's restored Cushman scooters.

He hadn't been on one on 50 years.

They had a blast.

oppositelocksmith Reader
6/4/23 11:15 p.m.

Very cool! Will be fun to watch this.

My father grew up riding Cushman Eagles. He rode his and used it as a pit steward at the SCCA championships at the Stuttgart Grand Prix. He rode people like AJ Foyt and others on the back of it from the pits to their cars at the races.

a_florida_man GRM+ Memberand HalfDork
6/4/23 11:20 p.m.

Howard came down to Florida to see dad in 2016, dad passed in 2018.

I kept in touch with Howard on facebook.

He was a couple of years older than dad, but in really good health in 2018.

Last time I checked in he was having an issue with a mild illness, and was slowing down. that was 2022.

A few weeks ago, out of the blue, Howard's wife sent me a text of some old pictures of dad and Howard.

Uh-oh. A quick search, and my fear was realized, Howard had passed in Feb2023.

I spoke with his wife, she's a wonderfully nice and engaging lady.

We talked about how much dad and Howard were alike, and how few people they each counted as friends.

Eventually the subject came to scooters, knowing that his sons were car guys, and had helped on the many restorations, I knew that the collection was well cared for.

I asked if there was a basket case or unfinished restoration that needed a home, thinking that it would be nice to have a memento of Howard and Dad's friendship.

I turned out that there was one scooter left, it ran, but was unrestored.

Most importantly, however, was that it was almost identical to the scooter that dad and Howard had spent so much time on in the early 50's.

Dad and Howard both said that they used to refer to Howard as low gear, because when the sand got too soft, Howard would jump off of the back and push the scooter until it firmed up!

That's the scooter I picked up this weekend:

Me, and Howard's wife and sons.

I had met Howard on a few occasions, but had never had the pleasure of meeting his family.

We visited for quite some time. I gave her some old photos she had not seen... she gave me some letters my dad had written, as well as some of Howard's Cushman Club t-shirts.

By the time, it was time for us to leave (I brought my boys along, as well), we were all close, like family.

It was amazing to feel so close to another family so quickly, but not surprising, knowing dad and Howard.