Post by ccasteel on Sept 15, 2017 13:20:08 GMT -8
My wife and I were recently given her great grandfathers 1975 Courier that has been sitting untouched in a garage in NM for the last 16 years. Her great grandfather, whose name was Porter, bought it new. As the story goes, after buying it and upon opening the hood to check fluid, or some other reason, he was furious to realize it was built by the Japanese and not the Americans. Of course the "war" was still fresh in his memory. He eventually got over that fact and it became a much respected and well maintained vehicle for him. He put most of the 82,000 miles on it that it currently has. But after a stroke in '87 left him unable to drive, it was used sporadically by his daughter’s family. After getting the oil changed in July 2001, they moved it into an empty garage. I can’t bring myself to take the oil change sticker off the windshield.
Move to June of 2017. My wife's grandmother met us in NM to pick up the truck and take care of some other family business after my mother in law passed. Opening the door to the garage we were met with 4 flat tires and a thick coating of dust. There were no attempts to start the truck, even if we had possessed a set of keys. The brakes and clutch were clearly not working except for the parking brake, and when I tried to put a charger on the battery it rejected it as though I had just tried to hook it up to mattress. We filled the tires, rolled it onto the rented U-haul trailer and strapped it down. My soon to be 16 year old daughter was to be the intended recipient of the mighty courier. After an uneventful 1000+ mile trip back to Kansas City, the triage began. I won’t detail all that’s been done in this thread, but maybe another day. Suffice it to say sentimentality will drive a person to do things that are less than logical.
Cut to early August when a cleaned up, but not yet running Courier is presented to now 16 year old daughter. Being very sentimental herself, and a lover of old cars and trucks, (except Jeeps, again a story for another day) and being from a “car guy” family I think she somewhat figured her first car would not be an accord. She didn’t know exactly what was coming, but she knew something was up as we headed to the shop under some strange excuse. As we arrive the Courier is sitting in the drive in all its glory. She loved it at first sight, but after hearing how it was her great great grandfathers from new, she gave it a big hug and decided to name it Porter after him.
She wants to keep it as original as possible. Including the AM radio. Imagine that! A 16 year old girl who wants a one speaker AM radio. As of today she still needs a little more time with the 4 speed to take it on her own, but I love to see her smile every time we take it out for a drive.
If you’ve stuck with me this long I appreciate it. I look forward to learning, and sharing what I learn along the way.
Peace & Lug Nuts
Move to June of 2017. My wife's grandmother met us in NM to pick up the truck and take care of some other family business after my mother in law passed. Opening the door to the garage we were met with 4 flat tires and a thick coating of dust. There were no attempts to start the truck, even if we had possessed a set of keys. The brakes and clutch were clearly not working except for the parking brake, and when I tried to put a charger on the battery it rejected it as though I had just tried to hook it up to mattress. We filled the tires, rolled it onto the rented U-haul trailer and strapped it down. My soon to be 16 year old daughter was to be the intended recipient of the mighty courier. After an uneventful 1000+ mile trip back to Kansas City, the triage began. I won’t detail all that’s been done in this thread, but maybe another day. Suffice it to say sentimentality will drive a person to do things that are less than logical.
Cut to early August when a cleaned up, but not yet running Courier is presented to now 16 year old daughter. Being very sentimental herself, and a lover of old cars and trucks, (except Jeeps, again a story for another day) and being from a “car guy” family I think she somewhat figured her first car would not be an accord. She didn’t know exactly what was coming, but she knew something was up as we headed to the shop under some strange excuse. As we arrive the Courier is sitting in the drive in all its glory. She loved it at first sight, but after hearing how it was her great great grandfathers from new, she gave it a big hug and decided to name it Porter after him.
She wants to keep it as original as possible. Including the AM radio. Imagine that! A 16 year old girl who wants a one speaker AM radio. As of today she still needs a little more time with the 4 speed to take it on her own, but I love to see her smile every time we take it out for a drive.
If you’ve stuck with me this long I appreciate it. I look forward to learning, and sharing what I learn along the way.
Peace & Lug Nuts
