Lenny Hemann and his 1973 Pontiac Ventura.
Rural Linden man and his Ventura have enjoyed long days together and traveled many highways.
By Rich Wicks | Panora Times
A 1972 hit song by the band America is titled “Ventura Highway,” and the lyrics state, “Ventura Highway in the sunshine, where the days are longer, the nights are stronger than moonshine.”
Those lyrics are fitting for Lenny Hemann, of rural Linden, and his 1973 Pontiac Ventura Custom, which he has owned and enjoyed for nearly half a century. Hemann and the Ventura have enjoyed long days together and traveled many highways.
Hemann recalled how he came to own the car.
“I was driving my dad’s old 1968 Chevy, and you could throw a baby bull calf through the back fenders, it was rusted out that bad,” Hemann said.
Hemann was living in northern Iowa (Staceyville) at the time. He and his dad went to Holiday Cars in Austin, Minnesota, and traded the old Chevy in on the Ventura. Lenny paid his dad the difference.
“I bought this in August of 1976. It had 61,127 miles on it when I bought it.” Hemann said. “It’s got just over 144,000 on it now. At one time, there were three of us up in Staceyville that had Venturas: a ’72, ’73 and a ’74.”
With that many years and miles, any vehicle is bound to have a few issues, and Hemann told of a good news/bad news issue with his Ventura. The transmission has had a tendency to leak transmission fluid from time to time, but that’s helped keep the underside of the car from developing as much rust as it might have otherwise.
“It’s the plain Jane. No air conditioning. It’s got power steering, power brakes, no cruise control, no electric windows. I put new carpeting in there way back in the late 1980s.”
Hemann explained the biggest problem he has had with the car was years ago when mice found it to be a comfortable home.
“They made a nest behind the seat, and they chewed on the new carpeting, but you can’t really tell it,” he said. “I don’t know how they got in. I always keep the vents shut.”
Popping the hood, Hemann showed the original color of the car. It was a drab olive green, but he has since painted it a shinier shade. He doesn’t drive the car at all during the winter but gets it out on the road fairly often during the warmer months.
“I try to burn a tank of gas out of it every summer,” Hemann said. “I’ve had this car for 48 years, and it’s been a really good car. This is the car I was driving when I met my wife.”