I was recently reading an article saying how no one forgets their first car…
My first car was affectionately known as the Mule Mobile. My parents “bought” it for me when I was 17. My mom told me we were going to look for cars when we strolled up to a car lot in Duluth. She pointed at a luxurious 1988 gold Toyota Corolla and said “its yours”. I had all these questions floating through my head: “My folks bought me a car?” “Am I gonna get LAID in this thing?” “Does it have A/C?”
The answers, in no particular order:
No.
No.
No.
At about the same time that my mom handed me the keys, she handed me the car note. Hey, i’m glad I paid for my first car.
As for the A/C, the car didn’t have that either. Nor did it have power doors, windows, or steering (power steering? Really? you youngsters out there have no idea how good you have it). The real charm though was the amazing electrical short the car developed in its elder years. I had to tote around one of those battery chargers, hook it up while I went into wherever I was going, and pray that the battery was charged when I returned. This same car battery (or series of 15 of them) led to some quality encounters over the years. Such as:
Getting a clown to help me change the alternator. The restaurant I was working at when I was in college hired a clown to come in and entertain kids while they waited. Aside from being one of the creepiest guys I’ve ever met (he ended up getting fired for hitting on a patron wearing a sailor’s outfit. seriously), he was a skilled redneck. So one day, before our shift began, I recruited him to help me change the alternator to my car. So there we were, me wearing overalls (I worked at a Roadhouse Grill), he dressed as a clown, under my car changing the alternator.
“Did I just lock the keys in the car?” In Holly’s senior year of college, we were headed to one of her formals when we stopped at the local target to pick up some things. Of course, I didn’t have the battery charger and when we came out, the car was dead. Over the years, I’d gotten good at using my wily charm (or undeniable body) to get old ladies to give my car a jump. This incident was no different. A very nice, but forgetful, old lady agreed to help. She got out of her car, I popped the hood, wired everything up, and voila, got my car running. Now HP and I were ready to run off to her formal.
But not quite.
The nice old lady had left her car running. And locked the doors. That’s right. Locked doors and car running. Not necessarily a combination you want to occur at the same time. So even though we were running late, we had no choice but to take the sweet lady home to get her spare set of keys. She even invited us in for a cup of coffee. I had to remind her that her car was running at the Target and we were running late to college drinkfest.
I don’t even have time to get into when I totaled the car, recruited my mom to go to the junkyard and get spare parts for it, or the time the clutch went out in the middle of traffic on I-85, or how the passenger side door handle broke off and I had to rig it up with a literal shoestring to open it.
I drove this car til it had 190,000 miles and sold it a few weeks before we got married for $50. Oh the memories.
#1 written by Whit July 27th, 2010 at 01:41
TJ, you crack me up. lol…oh and overalls? i am SO glad that was not required attire when i worked at Roadhouse as a busboy.
#2 written by Jay July 27th, 2010 at 12:29
Not quite as impressive as my 1984 Chevy Cavalier…or as it was known to my friends – The Super Cav! What is the obsession in high-school to giving your beater car a what-seems-cool-but-really-isn’t name?
#3 written by Daphne Cox July 27th, 2010 at 20:53
I like the totaled story best. You left out the part where you were so happy that they totaled the car and gave you a check for $2,000! You were so getting a new car you thought. After looking at cars and the prices, you came back and took Dave up on his offer to pound your car back into shape and that’s where I somehow entered the picture and the junkyard! Still don’t know how I got rooked into that one but really proud that you held onto that car.
#4 written by B. Muehleman July 29th, 2010 at 17:13
Mine was a 55 chevy pink and grey ( which I quickly had painted black). A great car until we wrapped it around a telephone pole and I went through the windshield.
#5 written by Skelley July 30th, 2010 at 15:00
Fantastic post TJ!!! I have very fond memories of the Mule Mobile…perhaps the best being when we went to the baseball field by our apartment and were hitting / throwing the ball around and Mason unleashed a ridiculous throw that sailed over the fence and hit the Mule Moblie square in the headlight!!! At that moment, Matt “Mantequlla” Mason was born.
#6 written by Janessa Wedo July 4th, 2011 at 19:03
That is a fantastic article. Thank you quite definitely. I wanted to do that same analysis, but I did so not realize the complexness. I live in San Diego so everything change slightly. I know SDGE is actually considering a TOU option where period is all that matters for the pricing tiers. I hope they make it happen. Janessa Wedo