GLASGOW, Ky. — Life has a number of memorable milestones. One is when a young man in high school — after turning 16 and passing his driver’s license test — gets his first car. Another is when he celebrates his 50th birthday. For a Kentucky man, the two were forever linked last month when he received a 1971 Chevelle Malibu from his dad — his first car from over 30 years ago.

Chris Lawrence and his family gathered in June at a local restaurant to commemorate several family milestones — daughter Emmalee’s graduation and three birthdays including his 50th, his wife’s and his stepmom’s.

Bernard Lawrence, Chris’ dad, had already given his son one gift that day — a shirt. But when he dangled a set of car keys and said, “Here’s the rest of your present,” it became a moment Chris Lawrence will never forget.

“We met at A Little Taste of Texas for my birthday,” he said. “I drove up with my family and parked and I saw my dad and stepmom’s car. They gave me a gift while we were eating, then he brought out the car keys.”

Bernard Lawrence had parked the car on the other side of the restaurant so his son wouldn’t see it.

The very first time Chris Lawrence ever saw the Malibu was after his father and grandfather found it for him.

“It was a nice car. It was fairly new. At that time, it was only 12 years old,” he remembered.

The car cost $750 or $850 back then — both men have different recollections of the price — and had around 80,000 miles on the odometer.

More than three decades later, the Malibu has been driven more than 136,000 miles and was $9,500 to buy again.

Chris Lawrence only had the car for about a year and a half when he was in high school. After that, he drove a newer model Monte Carlo. The Malibu was sold to a local couple who kept it for 30 years before then selling it to an Allen County man, according to Bernard Lawrence.

“Within the last few months, my dad had seen this car on Craig’s List and it looked very similar to the car I originally owned and he actually started doing some research on it and contacted the person who owned it and confirmed that it was the same vehicle that we first bought in 1983,” Chris Lawrence said.

The Malibu looks a little different now than it did back then.

“When I first had it, it had a black soft top. Now, that’s gone. The interior has been redone. It has a new interior — new carpet. But it has the same engine — the 307,” he said. “It’s in good shape. It has new tires and wheels.”

That engine took a little getting used to when Chris had the car back in high school. Chris was one of the first boys in his class to get his license and a car, so he gave a lot of guys from the neighborhood rides. One of his classmates was David Kinsman, who remembers riding with Lawrence.

“Chris was such a cautious driver, but because it was an original muscle car, anytime he stepped on the gas, even though he tried to be gentle, he’d peel out. It had a lot of power, but he never used it that way. Sometimes he couldn’t help it,” he said.

Kyle Jones was another one of the boys who rode in the Malibu in high school.

“It was a great car. The heater never worked, but he had an 8-track player — an oddly optioned vehicle at the time,” Jones said. “Lots of ’70s cars just had a radio. To have a factory 8-track stereo was kind of an unusual option.”

The 8-track player is gone now.

“Currently, it doesn’t even have any radio in it. We’re going to get one, but it doesn’t have a radio in it at all,” Chris Lawrence said.

Kelly Lawrence, Chris’ wife, also has fond memories of the car. The two dated “a little bit” in high school when he was a senior and she was a junior.

He played football in high school and she was a member of the band, so he would follow her home on “Football Fridays.” She had her own car.

“I remember [the Malibu] being parked in my driveway a lot along with my dad’s state trooper car,” she said.

Kelly says she hasn’t gotten to drive the car yet, however.

“No, not yet. I don’t know if I’m going to get to, but I’ve ridden in it,” she said. “The question is — will he let the girls (Emmalee, 18, and Ella Kate, an eighth-grader) drive it.”

For now, Chris Lawrence doesn’t plan on taking it too far from home.

“My kids, they enjoy getting in it and riding. I don’t go very far — just around the square,” he said. “I might go to Bowling Green for a cruise-in.”

Bernard collects and shows old cars, so Chris says that may be something they will do together now — like entering the Glasgow fall cruise-in and parking their vehicles next to each other.

“I think it’s ironic how it came back to him — his dad finding it,” Kelly Lawrence said. “It’s pretty sweet.”

Strange writes for the Glasgow, Kentucky Daily Times.