Kit's father has for some time been engaged in doing sporadic restoration work on one of these ancient, venerable and rather goofy-looking automobiles -- a 1958 Edsel Pacer -- during the events of SYWTBAW.

As a beginning specialist in dealing with (apparently) inanimate objects, Kit gets into a conversation with the old car, and -- for luck, it says -- the Edsel makes him a present of its original antenna, which at that point was just lying around on the ground rusting (it had been replaced by Kit's father some time previously). Kit performs several wizardries on the antenna to clean it up and remind it of the forces involved in its creation -- turning it into a useful weapon for their journey into the Dark Manhattan. (SYWTBAW)

(See also: Rodriguez family: Rodriguez, Juan C)