Family stumbles upon 1988 cassette tape with late dad's very specific instructions for son who borrowed his BMW 5 car for prom
Getting to drive one's parents' car might be a big deal for many kids around the world. But with great joys come great responsibilities and in such a case, instructions. However, when a now 55-year-old man took his dad's car to prom back in 1988, he was surprised by the instructions his dad recorded for him. The moment the man, Jody Weintraub, turned on the music, his dad's voice played in the car and explained the rules he must follow. Jody and his sister, Ami, recently found the tape and were glad to listen to their late dad's voice. Ami also posted the instructions on Instagram, where she goes by @ami_injoy. The clip received over 1.3 million views.
"We're going through old boxes and found this tape that our Dad made for my brother when he borrowed his car in 1988 for his prom," the caption read. Music played before the man, Philip, started talking to his son. "Congratulations. You scored Dad's car. You're going to have a great time, but there are some rules of the road I want you to pay attention to," the tape began. First of all, the man wanted his son to follow all the rules set by the "state of Illinois." He emphasized that his son should especially follow the "speed limits." He added, "No beer, drugs, or other intoxicating beverages, neither in, around, before, or through the car."
The dad also warned his son that he would be checking the mileage. He wanted Jody to refill the gas if he used up more than half of it. "Less than half, it's cool." Philip cautioned his son against ice creams, gum chewing, or anything else that could potentially get the seats dirty. Racing was not allowed and the dad would know as he was going to check the mileage. "No more than four people in the car at a time." No kind of pets were allowed in the car. "Lock it when you leave it." The dad instructed that the man was only supposed to use the car phone for local calls and no international calls would be entertained.
Philip shared around 11 rules before signing off with a "Have a great time, dude." The dad had passed away around 15 years ago, according to TODAY.com, so Ami was glad to find the tape. She shared that her dad owned a multimedia company and absolutely loved his car. He would have also loved the response the clip got on the internet. "The most joy that I have found from this is watching people's response to my dad. It's the coolest thing. My dad would love all this attention. People shared their thoughts on the dad's borderline hilarious instructions in the comments section of the video.
@the_zach_14 wrote, "Did everyone in the 1980s just have a random tape with a funky melody in case they needed to make an instructional announcement?" @daniellionarts commented, "Was your dad a DJ or a radio host of some type? Because back in the 80s, recording and mixing to this level was not typical for most households, nor were cell phones or/car phones, lol." In the caption, the woman had shared, "He was also a radio DJ in the Navy in the late 60s." @ajseguin remarked, "Please, properly digitize this piece of history."
You can follow Ami Weintraub (@ami_injoy) on Instagram for more lifestyle content.