Easier Ride is a Marital Compromise

I can look back with fondness at the cars of my past but I don’t feel particularly attached to them. My first car was a 1980 Chev Monza. I’ve had Jeeps, a VW Golf, a VW diesel Rabbit, a 1987 Camaro, various SUVs and a van. The only vehicles I remember with any emotion are my motorcycles.

For Derek, a true car guy, there’s been a bond with all his rides. And he recently broke a bond with his classic convertible from 1967.

The Pontiac Le Mans is sometimes rebadged as a GTO. But Derek loved it as it was. This is the third season since he had it shipped up from California and straight into his little gearhead heart. Derek has a motorcycle and his beloved Hyundai Santa Cruz. The Le Mans often lost out on being chosen for a drive in its short season. It literally didn’t get out much.

THROWBACK: Miss Sugar’s diary entry on the arrival of the Le Mans: HERE

It’s no secret that I was never a huge fan. I loved that he loved it and that we were able to get it for him. But it was too big and cumbersome for my taste. I could certainly drive it if I wanted to but I really had little interest. It also wasn’t seaworthy for longish drives to visit friends.

Part of the problem was its size. It was five inches too long for our garage. As cars got smaller, so did new garages. I nicknamed the car Land Yacht, much to Derek’s chagrin. It took up a lot of driveway and leaked a time or two. I’m also not drawn to convertibles. I prefer to stay in the shade and even a hat and sunscreen don’t always do the trick.

However, I’ll admit that it’s awfully pretty and in amazing shape. Not a spec of rust. No paint chips. It’s been babied its whole life and it shows.

Baby Needed a New Home

We lost our winter storage facility for it. Our wonderful friends who let us use their garage are selling their cottage. That meant searching for another spot. Did we want to keep storing this vehicle off site somewhere? I patiently watched Derek come to the conclusion that it was time we found something else.

I have always loved the look of the Thunderbird. Not the original – the revival version that was produced from 2002-2005. We took one out for a test drive and it was just okay. Then we drove a 1999 Corvette. We both felt squished into that car although it was fun to let ‘er rip on rural roads.

But we both said “Ooooh” when we test-drove a 2005 Chrysler Crossfire. This little gem was made in Germany when Chrysler and Mercedes were merged. It has a Mercedes engine and can you ever tell the difference between it and other small cars. It feels substantial even though I could almost carry it around on my keychain.

And it’s a convertible which is my compromise to my wind-in-the-hair loving husband! It will fit in our garage, being almost four feet shorter than the LeMans. And I feel completely comfortable behind the wheel.

It also has the storage capacity of a change purse. But that’s okay because we can both throw small overnight bags in the back and be good to go. At this moment in our lives, we don’t have kids or dogs to take along. It’s just us and our toothbrushes.

We’re grateful that we can have a toy like this and look forward to tooting around in it. Apparently, they didn’t make a lot of yellow ones. We looked at a red one, too, but I had red cars for years. I’m quite tickled by the fun look of the yellow. Watch for us on a road near you, Derek grinning with the wind in his hair, and me, in cognito under a hat and sunglasses, but I’l be grinning as well!