Do you still remember your first car?

[Bun-Bun]

One does not forget one's first car. It was a faded red 1975 Super Beetle, $1500 in 1978 dollars. My fondest memory of it is chugging through a Houston flood, listening to the sound of the exhaust pipes going underwater. A cheery sound, and a great incentive not to let up on the gas. My unfondest memory is the many pushstarts it got, the battery being really bad.

Alas, my Beetle was killed by Channel 8. I was ripping along I-10 when a compact slid over three lanes and sideswiped me. I managed to steer the car to a halt out of a spinning skid, coming to rest mostly-sideways in the left lane. I was congratulating myself on my impressive skill as a driver for escaping that with nothing but a bent fender from the compact and a scratched bumper from the retaining wall, when I looked out the driver's side window. I thought to myself, "My, that's an awfully large Channel 8 logo!"

BOOM. The Channel 8 van slams into the Beetle, destroying the left rear wheel. Bye bye, bug. To add insult to injury, they pulled out the camera gear and got a live shot of the I-10 shutdown I caused. :(

My current car is a '98 Eclipse, currently in the body shop thanks to a hit-and-run a couple of weeks ago.

My rental is a Cavalier. I call it the Hamstermobile. :P

I miss my turbo. (sniff)