My Baby

Yes, it is true that many men have a particular fondness for their car. I am no different in that it is almost like my car is an extention of me. My cars have oftentimes reflected their owner's particular station in life.

The first cars, bought during the undergrad and grad school days, were inexpensive and functional. When I got my first professional job I bought a Chevy Nova from my sister. It had a piece of crap straight six engine that produced just over 100 horsepower. It was slow and lethargic. However, I was able to save some money and bought the coolest car I ever owned -- a 1979 Trans Am. It was a beauty -- pearl white, 6.6 litre (403) engine, faster than hell. It looked something like this:

 It had T-tops that weighed a ton! The pearl white color was great. The car looked white, but when the sun was shining on it, it gave off a gold glow. I never found out exactly how fast it would go. One day I was on a country road and pushed it a little. There were too many hills on the road and I decided that I shouldn't exceed 115 mph. The accelerator wasn't even to the floor yet. Dang but that was a great car!

However, about the time I was getting married I decided that I should go a little more conservative and got a ... Honda Civic! Man -- talk about a change. My brother worked at Honda, so the Civic started my collection of Hondas, which later included a couple of Accords. After driving them for about fourteen years, I decided it was time for a change. My midlife crisis? Maybe. I wanted a Mustang convertible -- red, it had to be red! They seemed to be in short supply in the area, so I went online and found exactly what I was looking for ... in Louisville, KY, about 250 miles away. I arranged with the owner to meet in southern Indiana so I could look at and drive the car. A few days later we made a deal via e-mail and I drove with a friend to Louisville to pick up my new car. It was two years old and had only about 8,000 miles on it. Yowsa!

I have now had the car for almost ten years and have put another 70,000 miles on it. It was recently hit in my workplace parking lot, and I used the opportunity to have a little additional clean up body work done where I or my family had gone astray in our driving and had damaged the car. The body shop gussied it all up, and it looks great again. Considering that I have had it for almost ten years, I have put virtually no money into it. I had a minor mechanical problem fixed today. It is back home and ready to serve its master.

Some purchases haunt you for years while others might be listed under the catagory "wisest purchases you have ever made." Chalk the Mustang up under the latter.