Yesterday, I donated the Time Eater to Father Joe's.
I've owned that car since 1985. I bought it because I barely knew how to change oil and I wanted to learn how to work on cars. What was a better car to fix than a British sports car? They constantly need repairs!
I rebuilt everything on that car except the transmission, which I bought and installed. Most things I rebuilt more than once. I rebuilt the electrical system wire by wire. For that reason alone, it was unsellable. The thing had a drag race ignition in it by the time I was done.
To get her to the point where she was cherry would have been $8,000 minimum. Her wire wheels were out of shape so she shook like crazy over 60 MPH. The interior was a horror.
I never bought her so that she would rule my life. I didn't think, almost 40 years ago, that I'd still own her when I was in my 60s. All I wanted was a shop car to teach me.
And then I fell in love.
She was my baby. I freely admit that I sat in the garage and sobbed when they carted her away. I'm tearing up right now. It was the right decision. She took up a slot in the garage and she was never going to be perfected or even made freeway-suitable.
Wife kitteh asked how I felt. I told her I felt like an Aztec sacrifice. My heart was cut out of me and I watched it go away while I was still alive.
It was the right decision and I know that for certain, but, by God, it was painful.
5 comments:
Noooo. Im sorry hear this. I have a friend who rebuilds Porsches from the 1970s and lets
them go, one at a time. I don't have the skills or the patience. Respect, sir.
So sad to see it go. It was a good car. I've had mine 22-23 years now. Maybe this year I'll have some time to do some body work. It's very minor, just some dents.
The cost of painting a car now is so astronomical, it scares me off.
Is there an El Camino in your future or are you done with old stuff?
Galveston
Galveston indeed, MN.
The old cars I'd like to buy and rebuild - an El Camino or a Chevy C10 - are simply too big for the garage unless I kick wife kitteh's car out of it for a while. I don't see that happening in the near future, particularly while I'm still working full time.
Now that the Chronovore is gone, it's nice to be able to get around in the garage. Truth be told, the B had become little more than a table with wheels. It always had junk piled on its hood and trunk.
Anon - thanks for your sympathy.
*sniff* *sad*
That's a nice looking car you raised there, sir!
Thanks, Ilion!
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