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After a recent week of rain, my wife, Julie, and I were anxious to begin the annual task of refreshing the landscaping for what remained of the spring season\u2014you\u2019ll understand what I mean if you spend time in the upper regions of New England\u2014and the summer to come. As always, it necessitated a trip to the local, family-run garden center for things like hanging annuals, some perennials, and nutrient-rich soil to rejuvenate the raised vegetable garden boxes. I admit it: I have a green thumb when my hands aren\u2019t covered in old 10W-something motor oil. I thought we\u2019d discuss what crops to plant while on our way there; however, Julie instead surprised me with an automotive question. <\/p>\n
\u201cIs there a way you can search for a car by the VIN?\u201d <\/p>\n
Well, that threw me for a loop. Usually, she asks what the next cover story is going to be in this magazine, or what show I\u2019m going to next. But this was something completely different. I offered, \u201cIt\u2019s kind of easy if the car is, say, a rare 1971 Plymouth Hemi \u2019Cuda that\u2019s bounced from one public auction to the next. The same for serial numbers found on Duesenbergs, where recent decades of sale information have been permanently etched into digital cyberspace. Details beyond that are much harder to come by; it\u2019s not as easy as it used to be. Why?\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cI was thinking about my first car and what happened to it,\u201d Julie replied. <\/p>\n
Full disclosure: I\u2019ve made it obvious that I love station wagons, particularly a mid-Sixties Buick Sportwagon with the \u201cSkyview\u201d roof\u2014the only GM equivalent to Oldsmobile\u2019s Vista Cruiser. When I bring up the notion of buying one, even if it\u2019s something from another brand built in the Seventies, I get that look we car types are familiar with: \u201cWhy?\u201d In defense of Julie\u2019s questioning, she knows me well enough to understand that I also yearn for a sporty two-seat convertible-anything that she says will better suit me. Whenever we get into the conversation, I laugh to myself knowing the basic story of her first car: a late-Eighties Volkswagen Fox three-door hatch (station wagon), which was plucked from the used car lot for a song. It was the kind of basic transportation that may or may not get one through college years. <\/p>\n
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Julie\u2019s Fox was exactly that<\/em> type of previously well-used transportation, which had already seen a fair share of Vermont winters by the time her four-season commutes began. She couldn\u2019t remember exactly when, but soon after securing the VW\u2019s title the driver\u2019s door locked itself shut permanently, forcing daily access through the passenger door. Taking it in stride, she soon discovered the heater controls were not going to release their grip from \u201cfull blast furnace\u201d setting; it was windows down all the time during the summer. As an added malady, the radio didn\u2019t work; however, the cassette deck functioned perfectly\u2014 the ancient precursor to Spotify. <\/p>\n As one could guess, the list of operational issues grew from there, including the horn. One day, the simple, electrically controlled device in the Fox alerted everyone in town that Julie had left her apartment and was taking a very loud and unscheduled detour to the local mechanic to alleviate said cacophony. She was met with laughter, and soon enough the wire was unceremoniously severed. So, too, was a brake line, though that was the fault of rust. Julie was an hour\u2019s distance away from the safety of home. Initially urged to continue driving with a dubious, \u201cYou\u2019ll be fine,\u201d Julie\u2019s inner voice of reason prevailed, and she left it. It was the only time the Volkswagen left her stranded. <\/p>\n Her experience with the Fox has become entertaining in hindsight. It made me reflect on my own exploits at the helm of my first car, and countless others who have kindly shared their \u201cReminiscing\u201d tales, whether it be a cobbled-together first car, or something deemed suitable for a cross-country trek.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat would you do if you found your first car?\u201d Julie asked.<\/p>\n I would drive it one more time as it was, and remember the ownership lessons of responsibility and maintenance it taught so subliminally well. Restore it back to new. Or, perhaps, do what so many others did on \u201cDay Two\u201d\u2014personalize it with period accessories. Maybe, as so many owners have done previously, give it far more, such as character and power, as found in this month\u2019s cover feature. <\/p>\n \u201cI wonder what happened to mine,\u201d she asked, staring out the window on a warm spring day. <\/p>\n\n \u7acb\u523b\u8a3b\u518a\u53ca\u5831\u540d\u96fb\u8166\u88dc\u7fd2\u8ab2\u7a0b\u5427! <\/a> www.ITSec.vip<\/a> www.Sraa.com.hk<\/a> Commercials Cooperation Advertisements:<\/b><\/h2>\r\n
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