An Unstealable Car

Robert Wolf, “Robert Wolf’s Corner,” Other Scenes (New York City), vol. 3, no. 17, December 1969, p. 5. Note: issue wrongly stated as no. 16. “A friend of a friend had an old rattletrap of a car that he wouldn’t, out of altruism, palm off even on a used car dealer. The car had a reasonable amount of insurance on it, so he drove it up to Spanish Harlem, parked it near a corner where lots of kids hang out, left the keys in the ignition, left the doors unlocked, left the windows rolled down and walked away. Three days later he looked up the address of the police precinct nearest that corner, took a taxi to the corner and was about to walk to the precinct house to tell his sad tale, when, forsooth, the car was still there. He went closer for a look. Someone had rolled up the windows and tucked the keys above the sun visor.”