Barbara Terry grew up on a small ranch in Texas with six older brothers. They weren't exactly the playing-with-dolls types.
So Terry did what any resourceful farm girl did, she adopted the families love of working on cars.
"I may not know everything," she said, "but I know a lot."
She became passionate in learning about how cars work, beginning with her first engine-rebuilding session when 7 years old. She went on to auto shop classes and
Terry is a columnist and speaker who stopped in the Houston area to talk about cars, especially in this era of skyrocketing gasoline prices, and a television series, "In the Driver's Seat."
She uses common sense in telling people what they can best do to stretch the most out of a tank of gasoline. Her suggestions include:
* Always have proper air pressure in your ties.
* Remove excessive weight from cars.
* Change the air filter every 15,000 miles. You can achied up to 15 percent better gas mileage, she said.
* Avoid excessive idling. "You're getting zero miles per gallon when you're idling," she said.
* Have your car properly tuned.
"Properly maintain your car," Terry said. "We need it to run right. You want to keep it in good shape, just like your body."
She also stressed using high-quality gasoline in your car.
And for those people who feel lucky, Terry directed them to the Shell Web site and stations where a current giveaway will award a lucky person gasoline for life. Patrons can ask for game cards at Shell stations. Additional gas-saving tips are available at Shell's Internet site.
By: ROY N. KENT, Managing editor
About Barbara
