One Friday night, during one of these browsing sessions, I spot an add. What is this? A 1959 metro in Needles, CA, hasn't been on the road in 4 years but it says its in good shape and its for a really great price! My gearhead boyfriend Ryan encouraged me to take down the information, but I was reluctant...for that price it had to be junk. After much prodding, I copied down the name and number, and we continued to browse. Later, we tried multiple times to view the online add, but for some reason after that first night, we could never find the add again. In fact we couldn’t even find a listing for the same car or the same town, weird. So Ryan says, "Lets go look at it Sunday" What?!? Sunday? That’s the day after tomorrow....hmm...well, I do like road trips, I have nothing else planned, and it’s his gas so...what the hell.
As soon as the garage door opened I knew she was mine! It had to be a sign, she was green and white, just like the vintage brochure and the two matchbox cars Ryan had bought me for Christmas. It was even from the same year as the brochure too! To top it off, there was a pinup girl suicide knob in the trunk! The owner also said someone else had looked at it but turned it down (were they on crack?!?) and I jokingly said something to the owner about not having to put the add back up online, to which he replied, "I never took it off"...weird.
When we purchased the car two weeks later, the owner hands me a file folder of receipts and handbooks. I hand over the cash, we sign necessary paperwork, load the car onto the trailer and wave good bye.
When we stop for gas, I look through the folder. Inside are two of the original owners manuals from 1959 (way cool!), an original factory service manual (way cool!), receipts and catalogs for metropolitan parts dealers (sweet!) and receipts for engine work totaling $9,000 done in 1996....holy crap. Keep in mind the car had been off the road for 4 years...This guy had no idea what he had! A pretty solid car, with tons of money worth of work done to it, and he let it go for a song! Ive seen cars in similar or worse condition go for over 5K at a few car shows!
On the way back to Phoenix, we pull into a KFC for dinner and an elderly couple admires her from the window. We get our food and sit down when moments later, the elderly woman starts choking, and I have to administer the Heimlich maneuver (no kidding!). On our way out she compliments my little car and thanks me again for helping her and being in the right place at the right time. To me it is yet again, another sign that this was meant to happen. The next day I wash and buff the car by hand, and replace the water pump and fuel filter. That night I tuck myself into bed with VERY tired arms and a huge smile on my face.