Hecho en mexico, it keeps on running

A few months before I turned 16, way back in 1993, I became obsessed with the automobile. More specifically, I was obsessed with how I would come to possess my own set of wheels. With no savings or other proof of financial wherewithal, I approached my parents with a request for what I considered the most important stepping stone of my young adult life. The proposal I made was quite simple: You buy me a car and I will cease to irritate you with incessant calls to pick me and my rag tag friends up from the mall or after school activities.

Surprisingly, they were astoundingly receptive to the offer. However, I did not let up or relax at that juncture. Just any old car would not do.

I lived in a school district where most kids over 16 had cars. And they had nice cars - some even had their mom's old BMW or something. With no spare luxury vehicles lingering in our garage, my car would be coming from the outside - thus began my tutelage of the used car market.

In sum, the two cars that made the final round were a light blue 1986 Honda Civic sedan 5-speed and a blue-grey 1989 VW Fox, 4-door, 5-speed manual WITH A CD PLAYER. Note: In 1993, cars with CD players were rare catches indeed for any type of auto consumer. For a high school junior, even more so. So my decision was made - I was set on the Fox. It didn't hurt that there were only 43K miles on it. With an obvious tinge of reluctance, my mother forked over the $4000 for the Fox. And thus began my automobiled life.

June 1993-August 1997: Good years with the Fox. Good years indeed. No collisions. Just a lot of good times. Once the radiator acted up, but nothing else of concern.

September 1997-May 2005: I willed the car to my older sister when I moved to D.C., who held custody of it for approximately 5 years. After that, the car was given to my stepbrother Brian, who "puts that car to the test, day in day out" according to my mother. Basically, he's been using it to haul rockclimbing gear and supplies for his housepainting business.

June 2005: I was talking to my mother this week and she told me there is a good possibility the Fox could again come back to its "rightful" owner - namely, myself. But the car needs a clutch before it is drivable. And who knows about how it might pass the CA emissions test. But who cares, that's more steps down the line than should concern me right now.

I am totally stoked about the possibility of getting the Fox back. I can almost hear its sputtering engine now...