My Favorite Ride: Can you identify this mystery car with almond-shaped taillights?

SMITHVILLE — It was early when I arrived at the Smithville in the Park Labor Day Car, Truck and Bike Show. Participating vehicles were arriving, lined up at the town park entrance and out onto the road.

A 1971 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. A vintage two-tone tan Saab. A 1963 Mercury, possible a Comet, convertible. A 1968 Pontiac Catalina convertible. A pristine late 1960s GTO, pale yellow. A lovely early 1960s Chevrolet Corvette. Several rat rods.

A sea of great cars converged beyond the old school and near Smithville Park's baseball fields. I set off in search of my favorite vehicle on site. I figured I would know it when I saw it and was right. After just a few minutes of strolling, there she was: Pearl, the car Celeste Pitts purchased four years ago at a Mecum auction in Indianapolis.

This is where I usually would identify the car I'm writing about. But last week, I promised to provide photos of my favorite car at the Labor Day show challenge you to identify it. Here goes.

The car closely resembles the used car Pitts had received when she turned 16 and got her driver's license, the car her ex-husband later crashed and totaled during the Blizzard of 1978. "We had horses and sold one to get the car," she said. "It was light blue, and we bought it from a local veterinarian. I loved that car."

The summer before her senior year in high school, she and two of her girlfriends took the car on a road trip west to Colorado. "We drove up Pike's Peak, and I had just two lug nuts on one wheel and three on another one. It was second gear all the way, screaming up that mountain. Coming down was scary and I rode the brake all the way."

Such happy memories. "I'd still have that car today if ..." she sighed.

When her now-husband, Robert Pitts, saw a car like his wife's first one at a 2020 Mecum auction, he texted her a picture. She went the next day and followed the rust-free Arizona car for hours through the auction procession line, where cars eventually drive onto the auction block for selling. The car, she knew, was meant for her.

Pitts jumped up and shouted with joy when the gavel fell after her $5,500 winning bid. She and her husband paid the auction fee and price, and she drove it home to Martinsville that day.

It's pretty much all original, even the rust-free paint. Pitts had the headliner replaced and the door panels re-upholstered at Jim's Trim in Martinsville. Other than that, the car is like it was when it was manufactured but, of course, I can't tell you when that was.

Her husband drives his bright green 1939 Plymouth custom truck to shows and this week's mystery car is often parked alongside. "The younger generations go right past my car," Celeste Pitts said. "What I hear a lot is, 'My grandma had one of them,'" she laughed.

Pitts is considering replacing the vintage automobile's windshield glass, which is pitted and rough around the edges with old trim glue. There's no power steering, and the manual 3-speed transmission shifter is on the floor, an unusual feature. The car had snow tires on the back when she bought it, and she's kept them on.

The tiny disappearing ashtray for backseat smokers was an option back in the day.

And Pitts is a fan of the front vent windows and cool latches that keep them closed. "Why did they stop making these?" she asked.

The exterior of her car has unique and interesting chrome features that disappeared after this model year.

Pitts was spraying window cleaner onto a cloth and making the metal shine when I spotted her car in the bright early morning light. We sat in the back seat for a quick interview, because she had to get Entry No. 176 spruced up and ready for the judges.

I have given you many clues, in words and photos. So, what make, model and year is the classic vehicle Celeste Pitts drives to car shows? Let me know your best guess: llane@heraldt.com. The reveal comes in next week's column.

Have a story to tell about a car or truck? Contact My Favorite Ride reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com or 812-318-5967.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: My Favorite Ride: Can you identify Pearl, a mystery car from decades ago?