HOW DO I GET THIS CAR OUT OF SECOND GEAR?

One of the first "Beep-beep" roadrunners
Was the fifty-four Nash Rambler,

It's very seldom seen today --
As rare as the Kaiser Traveler,

Everyone has seen the Nash Metropolitan --
Convertibles were rather common,

They looked like something from a comic strip --
Smoky Stover might have driven one,

Many remember the song, "Beep-beep" --
About a race between a Rambler and a Caddy,

It was about the same vintage as Mister Warbucks --
An orphan's rich, sugar daddy,

I saw a nice Rambler yesterday --
Originally underpowered and economical,

But something snarling from under the hood
Made it seem, to me, almost comical,

When the light went green a two hundred inch Ford
OHV must have been waiting,

There were two smoking tires -- the rear ones, of course,
A scene of incongruity creating.

by D. Edgar Murray 06/03/2000.