Wow, that's a great post! I know very much how you felt that day. My father and grandfather were both mechanics. Although I'm not a mechanic by trade, I still must have inherited the gene because I love maintaining cars, repairing cars, buying cars, selling cars, learning about cars, and looking at cars.I often find myself emotionally attached to a particular model.
Recently, I had a similar experience while at a local "U-Pull-It" where I was looking for some parts for an '84 Fiero that I was toying with. I came across a cream yellow 1976 Monte Carlo with a black landau roof that looked exactly like the one my grandparents purchased new in 1975. After opening the trunk and finding a switch for a homemade burgler alarm that my grandfather made, I was certain this was the car! I was too young to remember the actual purchase, but I do remember growing up with the car in the family. My grandmother drove the car until my grandfather passed away in '94 at which point the car was sold to a friend of mine. Shortly after my friend took posession with 110,000 miles, the tranny started to slip, the inside door handle broke, windshield wipers quit, radio went, radiator sprung a bad leak, and a few other issues. I lost touch with my friend and the car shortly after that, but was reunited with the car almost 10 years later. The engine and tranny had been removed and there was some body damage, but the black vinyl seats were still in decent shape. I pocketed the "Landau" logo off the dash. I remember being intrigued by that logo as a kid - wondering why it didn't light up for some odd reason, hehe. Anyway, my grandmother passed away last year, just a short while before I discovered the car in the junkyard. I remember laughing to myself with a tear in my eye remembering once - years ago - that grandma said she "loved that car so much she wanted to be buried in it". I wished my grandmother had made it just a few more months. Even though she had been in bad health for some time, I think she would have enjoyed seeing pictures of her old Monte.
Okay, I'm all sad now. I remember how that car still looked showroom new and how meticulously it was cared for all those years until it was sold. Sometimes it's funny how you don't miss a car until you don't have it anymore. It's even more odd why some of us become so emotionally attached to cars.
Roger
"Harry Face" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@storefull-2113.public.lawson.webtv.net...