Wednesday, June 17, 2020

The End Of A Very Brief Era

     Well, I did it. I terminated my “affair.” No, not a sexual affair; you should know me better than that by now, Gentle Reader. This was a far more serious involvement, centered on fibreglass, a retractable roof, and big horsepower. The fulfillment of a yearning I’d felt since I first got my driver’s license.

     Joy the 2009 Corvette Convertible has been sold to another owner.

     I couldn’t justify keeping her, for three reasons:

  • Beth (a.k.a. the C.S.O.) refused to drive her, so we couldn’t go on long trips in her.
  • I have another beautiful car – Milla the Mercedes S550 – that’s more versatile;
  • We’re beginning to “pare down” for a planned relocation to North Idaho.

     Yes, it’s a sad moment. I’d wanted a Corvette for many years, and my purchase thereof in 2017 brought me much satisfaction. But as Chad and Jeremy have said, all good things must end someday, and this is merely one instance among many.

     So commiserate with me briefly, Gentle Readers. My dream machine has gone into other hands, hopefully to be driven more, and with more pleasure, than I was able to drive her. But every old man must eventually acknowledge that he is old, that his time has come to “put away childish things,” and that there are too many pleasures still available to him to obsess over one he can no longer enjoy.

     But for this evening, the flags are at half-staff and the Fortress is swathed in somber black bunting. I shall remember her fondly.

11 comments:

Manu said...

Noooooooooooooooo!

SWVAguy said...

My son had one of the same vintage. He liked it alot, even though it was prone to leaks. It was modified to produce 450 HP. If it had wings. He then bought a C6. 50 less HP, but he's going to soup it up a bit to have about the same HP as the '99. No leaks on this one.

Backwoods Engineer said...

"We’re beginning to “pare down” for a planned relocation to North Idaho"

Good move. Even though there are still a lot of good folks in upstate NY, it's only going to get worse there as this civilizational collapse unfolds.

JWM said...

We all need at least one dream machine in our lives. Mine was a 1991 Harley FXSTS Springer Softail. I customized it to my liking, had it painted up to match my 1950 Schwinn B6, and crossed the continent ten times on it. Best toy I ever had. I never went down, never so much as scratched my knee riding. But after five years I knew there was only one way to preserve that record, so I sold it, and bid farewell to motorcycling. Good times, and great memories. But I don't miss it.

JWM

daniel_day said...

My earnest sympathies on the parting with your Corvette. That would be a hard one to let go.
Save the money you got for the Vette, you'll need it for your new 4-wheeler in Idaho.

Linda Fox said...

For now, I'm still keeping my Tiburon. I just love driving it, despite the strain on my knee joints, and the difficulty of getting my oversized body in and out.

Keeping it has been a powerful spur to deciding to get into shape. I'll make a decision next spring, as I re-evaluate how well it fits into my life.

Unknown said...

Last night was our first night in our new home. We decided last spring that California’s Bay Area is too expensive and dangerous to live.
The wife and I fell in love with Idaho and don’t miss our former home one bit.
During recent events I’ve come to appreciate how toxic our former home was.

I’d recommend getting out sooner rather than later. As we ramp up to the election, we will see more societal unrest.

Bitter Apple said...

As a person living in North Idaho down 4 miles of dirt road, I can attest to the fact that your low-slung speed machine will have less worth than mammary glands on a boar. An old 4wd Tahoe with a big deer bumper will serve you well, however... Best of luck relocating!

Oldfart said...

I think I have an idea as to how you felt when you parted with "Joy." Yesterday I turned my driver's license in and accepted a new I.D. card in return.

I had held licenses from Oregon, Guam, California, Oregon again, Washington, Alaska and returned to Oregon for my last one which I surrendered yesterday. My first license was issued to me in 1950 but after 70 years I realized my eyesight was no longer adequate for that job.

My wife has been driving me around for most of the past year so there's no problem there and I still have my little electric scooter.

Cederq said...

I moved back to Idaho a couple of months ago from South Dakota and love it here, why I left I will never know unless I do some deep soul diving... I moved into the Central Northern part and it is fine.

Amy Bowersox said...

Sigh...you reminded me of "The Gray Ghost," my father's beautiful silver '59 Corvette. He bought it and was working on painstakingly restoring it, but had to sell it as a result of divorcing my mother. And then he got ripped off on it by the dealer he sold it through.

You had some time with Joy, though. Perhaps that will be enough.

(North Idaho, huh? That would put the New Fortress of Crankitude within feasible road-tripping distance from Erbosoft Global HQ! :) )