1950-1966 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
The best SAAB ever made was a dark blue 1963 GT-850 that I bought out of a farm lot in Comstock, Nebraska for $40 in 1977.
This was the best SAAB ever made... in fact, the best car ever made... because it supplied not only a fun PHYSICAL drive but satisfied what psychologists tell us are fundamental MENTAL drives as well:
-- Celebrity: Everyone in town recognized me wherever I drove. People would point and wave (and sometimes laugh.) When the key starter failed, I had to replace it with an older cable-operated one which, lacking the cable, I rigged up to operate via a handle under the front bumper. Starting the car this way invariably produced strong reactions, including a spontaneous ovation from a crowd of 50 people when I picked up a friend at a family reunion.
-- Sex appeal: The cute little mouse-faced GT-850 was a babe magnet. I once parked it on the street and returned to find under the windshield wiper a note from a woman named Maria DiMarco, saying what a neat car it was and urging me to call her (phone number supplied) if I wanted to discuss selling it. I admit that I did not call the number, which is probably the stupidest thing I did during my college career (and there is a LOT of competition for that title!)
-- Financial success: The GT-850, as I said, cost me $40, including a trunkload of spare parts that had been walled up in a turkey house on the farm where I bought it. One wet day when I was stopped at a stoplight, I was rear-ended by a car doing about 30mph --no injuries, car still drivable. A few days later the rear-ender's insurance company called; they wanted to total out the Saab because they couldn't find it in their valuation book. How much did I think it was worth? "Oh, I don't know," I said, "I'd think the parts alone would be worth at least $250." "We would be HAPPY to pay you $250 for the damage to your car," said the insurance lady, and a check arrived soon after. Meanwhile, I had repaired the body damage by tying a hefty rope to the rear bumper, tying the other end to a big tree in my yard, and letting out the clutch a few times, so I just kept driving it. Eventually, after I bought a more 'adult' car, I sold the GT-850 to a college chum... for the original price of $40. So not only did I recover my original investment, I earned a 600% return.
QED. What else could you want in the perfect car?
posted by 68.13.13...
, Sat, 9 Aug 2003 21:18:27
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