My Life with Cars: New and Used

It all started when our new car, a 1987 Dodge Van, had its gas cap fall apart. The car had only 30,000 miles and this was the last straw in a series of mechanical problems. We traded straight across for another new car, a 1969 brand new Subaru 360 van. This was a new car in many ways; a car this small was new to the U.S. It had a 2 cylinder 25 horse engine and could get up to 60 miles per hour only by going downhill at full throttle. It had ten-inch tires and looked like a baby Volkswagen van. But this nice new car could hold a foam mattress for camping, although our feet stuck out the end.
We called the car Blossom.

Blossom moved with us from California to Washington State. It worked well for about two years but then developed some mechanical problems. The mechanic took a month and built the engine backwards and, a lawsuit and action by the Attorney General later, we traded her in on a used, normal sized Subaru wagon. The novelty of the little van had also worn off. We named the used car Big Blossom. Big Blossom went through graduate school and three years on the road hauling heavy musical equipment for my husband who was in a rock band. Big Blossom racked up close to 200,000 miles of very hard driving and she was a great used car bargain.

Big Blossom died on the Grapevine when we moved to LA and we traded her in on a 1977 Subaru wagon. This was a new car, a boring tan colored car that we called the Tan Torpedo. The Tan Torpedo hauled musical equipment all over the LA area with strength and dignity. When she was about a month old we took her on the Angeles Crest highway and a bolder rolled down and smashed her pristine side. It would be many years before we drove on that highway. At around 200,000 we felt she had done her duty and we traded her in on a used 1986 Subaru 4-wheel drive station wagon. This was one sweet car: she was comfy and roadable; got about 30 miles to the gallon and went off road with ease. We called her Whitey and she was the great car love of our lives. On day I was driving home from work and, a block from home, a car ran a light and broadsided Whitey. I was ok, but Whitey was totaled. We both cried as she was towed away for the last time.