Craig’s List is a beautiful thing. We sold our old 1995 Ford Taurus today. The buyer’s call came in less than 24 hours of the original post…and the money came 24 hours later. In less than 48 hours, this car that had carried us so far was out of our lives. For good.
I never thought I’d feel emotionally attached to a car. When my car-loving brother talked about his emotions to their Subaru, I thought he was nuts. I just couldn’t imagine feeling sad to see an old car go away. After all, we got a new beauty.
But, after all, this was the car we got right before we were married. It was our getaway car after our wedding (sexy, huh?). We packed all our china and crystal and many other wedding gifts inside as we headed south to our new home where we spent the first few years of our life together.
In that car, we traveled all over Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. It had it’s share of “sugar” sand from the Florida panhandle coast vacuumed out more times than I can count. It went to Disney World, Busch Gardens, Jacksonville, Birmingham, Savannah, Atlanta, and more…all within the first few years! Then it carried us back through the Midwest and to the place we now call home in Boise.
The irony of all of this is the fact that the first car we sold as a married couple was my old 1980 Toyota Corolla…which went the exact opposite route – from Idaho, to the Midwest, to the south (which I can only presume became its final resting place). (That was a great car, too. It was a manual and FUN to drive believe it or not!…at least that’s the way I remember it…)
Despite its 13 years, that “old” car still seemed “new” to me, oddly enough. So I found myself somewhat offended when my husband said various people had made fun of it in recent months (I’m still convinced it was a ploy to get me to go along w/his scheme to sell it!). Needless to say, it was a good car. The first car I ever had that had power windows, power locks, power seats, and AIR BAGS!
As I cleaned out the glove box today, looking at receipts from various repair shops and places where we had the oil changed, it was an odd feeling to know that a significant chapter in your life was about to literally drive away.
The Taurus is on a new adventure now. We wish the new young owner good luck, good safety, and many happy years (and hope it at least gets her through high school!) riding around in that “old” new car.
Farewell…
1 Comment
May 16, 2008 at 5:00 am
My first car was a 1975 Chevy Vega. It cost $500, was puke green, and I had to add a quart of oil with every fill-up. But you know what? I wish I still had the car. I still have sentimental place in my heart for it.
And yes, craigslist is fantastic. I doubt that I’ll every pay for a classified ad again.