06/30/08...Have you noticed? Suddenly older economy cars are hitting the highways. For years I have seen a green early 70's VW Karman Ghia sitting in a garage-shed nearby. Gosh, two years ago it sat out by the road with a For Sale sign on it. No takers apparently. The other day I met this car coming down Main Street.

Then over near Doggett Gap I met a 66 VW Beetle that I had never seen before. It has 1966 NC plates so is registered as a collector car. I have seen it twice now, perhaps doing daily work.

Yesterday, I met an amazing vehicle near the skating rink. It was a late 60's Citroen 2CV truckett in beautiful restored condition. I am not sure I have ever seen one of these in the USA. Of course, there were a few sedan versions imported to the US. I owned a 1962 and have a picture of it somewhere. Maybe I should post that picture.

And, oh yes, there are bunches of old Toyotas, Ford Festivas, Nissans etc. running around with red hoods, yellow doors and blue hatches accented with duct tape and coat hangers.

06/25/08...I got out of the skating rink late and ran to the Miata. It was dark and I was eager to get home. Just as I pulled the ignition key out of my pocket, the key slipped out of my hand and down between the transmission tunnel and seat. You couldn't put something down there if you tried.

"Oh no, it's dark; I can't see it or feel it.  Maybe if I move the seat, tilt etc. I can get it."  And, then, "Oh wow, there it is just on the short rear floor behind the seat. What great luck!"

 I inserted the key . "This key isn't working. What's wrong here?" I pulled it out and looked at it and laughed.

After a bit of fumbling I managed to find the Miata key and was on my way with the long lost Toyota pickup key.

06/24/08...Well, I'm pretty laid back and don't utter too many bad words; however there is a certain parking garage in Asheville that really hates my money. The coin op used on weekends refuses to take my single dollar bills and it takes two of them to get out of there. One Sunday several months ago I was there and as usual it was not taking my money and a growing line of cars behind me was getting very impatient. Finally, I put in a five. It took it pronto and ching, rattle, ching and out came three coins. I knew it! It screwed me out of $2.25. I threw the change into the ashtray and hauled out of there.

A couple of weeks ago I found three shiny new $1 gold coins in my ashtray. Who put these in here? Did one of my good little deeds get rewarded with this great little treasure? Is someone playing tricks on me? Then..it came to me. The parking garage didn't screw me after all!

03/17/08...Richard was a couple of years behind me in high school. We were and still are friends. I saw him the other day at the post office and he was obviously waiting for me. We exchanged pleasantries and started talking cars.

"Is that your black Saab Turbo in the front parking lot?" he asked.

"Yep," I answered, "Never thought I'd own another one, but I drove by the supermarket one day, having no need or thought of buying a car, and there it was with a For Sale sign on it so I whirled into the lot for a look: very nice body, front seat cushions ratty, cracked dash (all of em do) and an almost cheap price. Long story short, I offered $300 less and the owner took it."

Rick smiled and pointed to the post office side lot and a Saab hatchback like mine except it was silver, non turbo and an automatic.

In the late 60's I introduced Rick to Saab. My first one was a 1964 3-banger oil-burner "Bullnose" 96 series. His first one was a 1965 3-banger with oil injection and it was a series 95 (Wow, that is a rare wagon today!). My second Saab was also his second Saab--a 1970 series 99 which I bought new as the first titled owner but which was a year-old demonstrator with about 10,000 miles . I sold it to him a year or two later. We subsequently had one more Saab each.

Anyway, Rick had decided that the Chevy Suburban that he totally likes was too expensive to operate on a daily basis in his land appraisal business. He wanted an older economy car.

Interestingly, Rick's 1992 Saab was priced identically to my 1988 Turbo and he paid exactly the same for it as I paid for mine and this all happened around the same time.

Our lives run in cycles, I suppose.

03/16/08...About a week ago for no reason I was thinking about a promo that was stolen from me many years ago. It was a 54 Chevy 2-door sedan in Shadow Gray with a white stripe on the side. I was wondering about the real car it represented. I don't ever recall seeing one exactly like it. I do have a vague recall of one that was almost the same but with a matching white top (instead of the gray top on the promo).

Well, yesterday I was on the Interstate and saw a Shadow Gray 54 Chevy far ahead of me on a car trailer. A major intersection was coming up ahead. Man o man, don't take the off ramp. I am guessing that this Chevy will be a 210 as the gray color at that time was a more conservative color and more likely to be found on a lower priced model. I speed up. The guy doesn't take the off ramp. I finally catch up and run alongside. It is identical to my promo of long ago! What are the odds of thinking about something and within a few weeks having the question answered at random?

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