Flashback Friday - My First Car

My first car was a blue 1984 Volkswagon Quantum. It was a family heirloom, of sorts. My Grandpa Siebach bought it when it was brand new (in fact, he bought 3 of them, and then some of his kids got them from him, and subsequently a few of my cousins eventually inherited the other ones, too).

I loved my Quantum. I loved that it was from the year I was born, and I loved all the little quirks it had by the time I got it. The cloth on the ceiling of the inside was gone, and what was left was a mustard-yellow, spongy material that, if touched, would rain down in bits and pieces all over everyone. Sometimes, when I braked or turned on my turning signal, my horn would go off (and wouldn't stop until I took my foot off the brake, or turned off my signal). The radio would also turn on or off randomly, which was hard to fix because all the knobs were gone. Oh, it was fun to drive. And, in comparing my Quantum with that of my cousin's, it turned out that hers had exactly the same quirks as mine.

Here's an experience I remember well. It happened as I was driving home from Church one day, and I believe I had Molly, Emma, and my cousin Elza in the car:

(as we were driving across an intersection, we heard a suddenly loud noise)

Emma: What's that loud noise?

Molly: Is that the car?

Me: No, it's the all the construction going on down the road.

Emma: Oh, ok.

(about 10 seconds go by, and we are driving away from the constuction)

Molly: Umm... it's still really loud.

Elza: Maybe it is the car.

Me: It's my muffler!! My muffler fell out and it's dragging under the car!! Aaaaaa!!!

See, with a car like the Quantum, things like that just happen, and it's ok. My dad jimmy-rigged the muffler back up with a wire clothes hanger, and it was ok again. That's the beauty of having an old car. You just let things slide without really fixing it, and you drive it anyway. Crash into a snowbank? No big deal! Oh, the driver's side door won't open? Fine, just climb in through the passenger side! Only one speaker works? So what? The horn goes off the entire time you're sitting at a stoplight? How exciting! What chaacter!

But alas, all good things must come to an end. I drove the Quantum through one New Hampshire winter and it turned out to be horrible in the snow, and I did a 180 on the road a time or two (I was only going about 15 mph because it was snowing so hard, and thankfully no cars were coming the other way). My dad decided that we needed a newer car - preferably one that wasn't 16 or 17 years old. I think he sold it (or gave it?) to a coworker, who in turn gave it to his teenager. In fact, several months later, I saw my beloved Quantum in the parking lot at Hilltop Fun Center. I happened to have an old key on me, so I opened the door and looked inside. The new owner, whoever it was, was taking good care of it.

I will always miss my Quantum. What fun times we had! I think it's good for teenagers to have old cars, if they have a car at all. Hopefully someday I can give Abby a car from 2007. I can hear the complaining now: Mooom, the GPS is sooo outdated! And what are these metal key things? WHAT?!? IT RUNS ON GAS ONLY?? It's not a hybrid?? It doesn't fly??