A dear friend of the family is lost to us...
The Nova, after 18 long years and 86 thousand miles of service, has passed on to a different stage of ownership. In its early days the Nova brought many of us happy memories of driving to various destinations with Grandma or perhaps going on a fishing trip with Grandpa. Later in life, I was graced with the opportunity to command its mighty engine, to sit in the hallowed driver's seat. It took me anywhere I wished to go in Lafayette, it took me often to Indianapolis last summer, and on one legendary occasion it even took me to Ann Arbor, Michigan at up to 85 miles an hour.
Gone are the days of pumping the gas pedal so its engine will start. Gone are the days of starting its engine, putting it in drive, having the engine die, putting it back into park, starting the engine again, putting it in drive, and we're off!--oops, no lost it again, back into park, start the engine, into drive, and away we go! Gone are the days of listening to tapes through the one good speaker that the Nova had left. Gone are the days of idling at a traffic light only to find that the engine has suddenly died. Those days are gone, but they will never be forgotten.
We can only pray that any future owners treat it with the respect and admiration it deserves. Below are some pictures of the Nova in its final moments, without a doubt the diamond in the rough of Firestone Auto Sales.
But let's not dwell on the past. Let's dwell on my new truck:
A 2000 Ford Ranger XLT. It's a stick shift, which I had never driven before. Dad took me to the stadium (which I'm sure has a name, and I'm sure I should know what it is, but it's eluding me) parking lot and had me practice there. I'm learning pretty quick, but still having trouble starting from a stop and shifting from 1st to 2nd at the right time.
It's got 96,000 miles on it already, which is a little worrisome, but it seems to have suffered little wear. It's not exactly loaded...power nothing, no extended cab, but it has a CD player which is a luxury I've been without for far too long. I wanted a small truck with a small engine (it's a 4-cylinder) because I still wanted pretty decent gas mileage and I don't plan on moving anything huge with it. It's also Flex-fuel capable, which we don't have in Lafayette yet, but I'm expecting Flex-fuel gas stations to sweep the nation any time now. It's nothing flashy but I'm really happy with it so far.
Gone are the days of pumping the gas pedal so its engine will start. Gone are the days of starting its engine, putting it in drive, having the engine die, putting it back into park, starting the engine again, putting it in drive, and we're off!--oops, no lost it again, back into park, start the engine, into drive, and away we go! Gone are the days of listening to tapes through the one good speaker that the Nova had left. Gone are the days of idling at a traffic light only to find that the engine has suddenly died. Those days are gone, but they will never be forgotten.
We can only pray that any future owners treat it with the respect and admiration it deserves. Below are some pictures of the Nova in its final moments, without a doubt the diamond in the rough of Firestone Auto Sales.
But let's not dwell on the past. Let's dwell on my new truck:A 2000 Ford Ranger XLT. It's a stick shift, which I had never driven before. Dad took me to the stadium (which I'm sure has a name, and I'm sure I should know what it is, but it's eluding me) parking lot and had me practice there. I'm learning pretty quick, but still having trouble starting from a stop and shifting from 1st to 2nd at the right time.It's got 96,000 miles on it already, which is a little worrisome, but it seems to have suffered little wear. It's not exactly loaded...power nothing, no extended cab, but it has a CD player which is a luxury I've been without for far too long. I wanted a small truck with a small engine (it's a 4-cylinder) because I still wanted pretty decent gas mileage and I don't plan on moving anything huge with it. It's also Flex-fuel capable, which we don't have in Lafayette yet, but I'm expecting Flex-fuel gas stations to sweep the nation any time now. It's nothing flashy but I'm really happy with it so far.
posted by Anonymous at 10:11 PM
5 Comments:
So where is the weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth? Are Phillip and I the only ones who feel nostalgia about the Nova?
I recall that some of the younger generation asked about owning it some day!! And remember when Max, Phil, Paul and Matt told me they had actuallly gotten it up to 45?
Little did they know. It took some of us safely to Mo. and to Virginia and I preferred it down town because it was easier to parallel park. And in its hay day it was more dependable than our olds was.!!!
So--let us be grateful to Phillip for taking care of it and leaving us with a pictorial remembrance!
Is this the car I borrowed one week while working in Richmond and took the greenhouse cat to the vet in? It peed in the back seat. Mom said on the radio (during her weekly Volunteer Bureau promotional spot) that she'd rather I'd wrecked it. Some guy called in and told her he could get rid of her son--I mean the cat pee smell.
We actually got it up to 50. We also were able to get it up that steep hill by Happy Hollow Park, and even tried to pick up some chicks in it.
The latter was a failure, of course.
It was a wonderful DeathCar, and because of that I think we should go steal it back and give it a Viking funeral.
Oh, and those are some swank wheels you got there, Phil.
*soooooooobsooooooobsoooobchoke* nice truck! *sooooobsoooob*
Oh, and those trucks need to have oil added to the engine every now and then...
Uncle Rob
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