My Favorite Ride finds a man and the Pontiac he's had 46 years

Have you seen Jim Biddle's 1951 Pontiac Chieftain driving around Bloomington?

I had not until a recent afternoon when I noticed the backside of a really cool old car just ahead.

Yes, I followed. When the driver turned west from Walnut onto Sixth Street, I did too. Fingers crossed the driver's destination was close by, the Pontiac's right turn signal started blinking two blocks later and the old sedan veered into the Bloomingfoods' grocery parking lot.

"Eureka," I said, or something to that effect. I wouldn't have to stalk the car and driver across town and beyond, which I certainly have done.

Behind the wheel was Jim Biddle, with wife Holly in the passenger seat. The Bloomington man explained he'd had the Pontiac 46 years, really, and that it had stayed with him through several moves a