The tragic tale of La Camina
I've been borderline-obsessed w/ El Caminos since sometime in highschool. In middle school, it was bat-wing Caddies, in HS, Elkies. I grew out of the Cadillac phase, but not so much the Elkies.
In 1998, I bought my very own Bitchin' Camino (that, in itself, is quite a story... I can't recall if I've written about it here... maybe I'll do that before much longer). Anywho, a 20+ year old car that's been excessively tinkered with by drunken rednecks & then purchased by a girl who sometimes has difficulty remembering to get out of bed, much less change the oil in the car, is bound to have problems at some point.
Nearly 4 years ago, La Camina stopped wanting to run, much. All this time, I've been adamant that I wouldn't sell her, that I'd eventually get around to getting her fixed.
Nevermind the fact that I really couldn't afford the gas & insurance to keep her running, much less all of the mechanical work she needed. I was still convinced that SOMEDAY I would fix her up the way she deserved.
Thus began the semi-annual tradition of towing La Camina to some new place (either our new rental space, or a friend's house).
Recently, we were forced to tow La Camina back to our place (why is it that homeowners' associations & county code enforcement & whatnot are sooooo very put out by derelict cars? Pigfuckers, all of them!). The tow-truck driver offered to buy her (he'd offered to buy her when we towed her the year before, too). I was still kindof clinging to the idea of her being in better shape than she actually was, & turned down his offer of $500 so that I could list her on eBay.
Yeah. I'm sure you guys can see where this is going.
I never got around to listing her on eBay, and we got a notice from our rental company that we had 4 days to get rid of the car or they'd tow it at our expense.
Call the tow-truck driver. He's not sure he still wants it, but is willing to come take another look at it. Another look reveals that the whole bottom of the car is nothing but rust (including an actual hole in the floorboard that I didn't notice), the engine has locked up, & the carburator is spitting gasoline everywhere.
Tow-Truck Driver no longer wants the car. Squeezums convinces him to take it for $150.
I realize that I have no idea where the fuck the title is (I think there's a good chance it's in my ex's file of Important Papers, but he says he hasn't seen that particular file for some time). We paid $36 to get a duplicate title before I can sell the car...so I'm fully expecting a call from my ex in a few days saying that he found the original title. ;P
So. We paid Tow-Truck Driver $90 to tow the car here back in October. We paid $36 today for a new title. Tow-Truck Driver paid us $150 for the car.
In other words, I basically just sold my Bitchin Camino, my dream car, for $24.
I seriously feel like crying.
On the bright side, that's better than having her towed against our will & junked, or having to pay $200 or so to get her back after she was towed against our will, & then still have to find somebody to buy her.
The thing that really gives me hope is that Tow-Truck Driver buys & sells cars all the time, he has connections, & has a really good chance of finding somebody who's willing to buy this car for only slightly more than $150 & then nurse her back to health. I'm going to cling to the idea of my poor car zipping around the streets again, like she's meant to be.
God, I'm pathetic. Why the fuck didn't I do something with this car 3 years ago?
Of all of the stupid crap I've done in my "adult" life, this is my third big regret (that doesn't include human relationships):
Horse. Violin. El Camino.
Fuck.
In 1998, I bought my very own Bitchin' Camino (that, in itself, is quite a story... I can't recall if I've written about it here... maybe I'll do that before much longer). Anywho, a 20+ year old car that's been excessively tinkered with by drunken rednecks & then purchased by a girl who sometimes has difficulty remembering to get out of bed, much less change the oil in the car, is bound to have problems at some point.
Nearly 4 years ago, La Camina stopped wanting to run, much. All this time, I've been adamant that I wouldn't sell her, that I'd eventually get around to getting her fixed.
Nevermind the fact that I really couldn't afford the gas & insurance to keep her running, much less all of the mechanical work she needed. I was still convinced that SOMEDAY I would fix her up the way she deserved.
Thus began the semi-annual tradition of towing La Camina to some new place (either our new rental space, or a friend's house).
Recently, we were forced to tow La Camina back to our place (why is it that homeowners' associations & county code enforcement & whatnot are sooooo very put out by derelict cars? Pigfuckers, all of them!). The tow-truck driver offered to buy her (he'd offered to buy her when we towed her the year before, too). I was still kindof clinging to the idea of her being in better shape than she actually was, & turned down his offer of $500 so that I could list her on eBay.
Yeah. I'm sure you guys can see where this is going.
I never got around to listing her on eBay, and we got a notice from our rental company that we had 4 days to get rid of the car or they'd tow it at our expense.
Call the tow-truck driver. He's not sure he still wants it, but is willing to come take another look at it. Another look reveals that the whole bottom of the car is nothing but rust (including an actual hole in the floorboard that I didn't notice), the engine has locked up, & the carburator is spitting gasoline everywhere.
Tow-Truck Driver no longer wants the car. Squeezums convinces him to take it for $150.
I realize that I have no idea where the fuck the title is (I think there's a good chance it's in my ex's file of Important Papers, but he says he hasn't seen that particular file for some time). We paid $36 to get a duplicate title before I can sell the car...so I'm fully expecting a call from my ex in a few days saying that he found the original title. ;P
So. We paid Tow-Truck Driver $90 to tow the car here back in October. We paid $36 today for a new title. Tow-Truck Driver paid us $150 for the car.
In other words, I basically just sold my Bitchin Camino, my dream car, for $24.
I seriously feel like crying.
On the bright side, that's better than having her towed against our will & junked, or having to pay $200 or so to get her back after she was towed against our will, & then still have to find somebody to buy her.
The thing that really gives me hope is that Tow-Truck Driver buys & sells cars all the time, he has connections, & has a really good chance of finding somebody who's willing to buy this car for only slightly more than $150 & then nurse her back to health. I'm going to cling to the idea of my poor car zipping around the streets again, like she's meant to be.
God, I'm pathetic. Why the fuck didn't I do something with this car 3 years ago?
Of all of the stupid crap I've done in my "adult" life, this is my third big regret (that doesn't include human relationships):
Horse. Violin. El Camino.
Fuck.