WHITEY

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:” (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

First of all, I want to make it very clear that this posting is NOT about James “Whitey” Bulger, the notorious Boston criminal who has been hiding from the feds for over twelve years.  This is about a CAR!

Whitey was the name we gave to our 1993 Oldsmobile Cutlass station wagon.  On Thursday afternoon, Whitey was hauled off to the junk yard.  I know a car is really nothing more than a pile of rubber, steel, plastic, and stainless steel, with oil and gasoline and power steering fluid, brake fluid, and other stuff pumping through its various systems.  But Americans are very personal and emotional about their cars.  Some of you know that I sell various auto collectibles so I find myself at a lot of car shows, and even with the increase in gas prices, car shows are as popular as ever.  There’s something about seeing the ”gull wing” design of a ’59 Chevrolet or the cool, sleek, innovative look of a ’49 Ford coupe that puts many a baby-boomer in a pleasant, nostalgic mood.  Maybe it’s because my father was SUCH a big “car person” that (although I’m not mechanically inclined) I notice cars and I tend to form sentimental attachments to cars.  I was pretty attached to Whitey.

I’m actually not a big fan of General Motors cars (with the exception of Saturn cars).  I tend to prefer Ford products, and for minivans, I prefer Chrysler products, but due to the economic situations I’ve found myself in throughout my life, if a car was reasonably priced and in good mechanical condition, I’d buy it despite the make.  I’ve owned an AMC, a couple of Fords, a Plymouth, a Dodge, a couple of Oldsmobiles, and let's not forget my 1989 Volkswagen!  I DO like station wagons very much.  I’m sad that there are fewer and fewer station wagons available today.  They’ve been largely replaced by SUVs, “crossovers”, and minivans.  In 1995, I was junking my 1986 Plymouth Caravelle sedan and I needed a cheap, reliable replacement.  At that time, I bought a dark blue 1985 Oldsmobile Cutlass station wagon.  I really liked the car.   It was GREAT for the first year that I owned it, but after that I did start having a lot of mechanical problems with it.  In late 1997, the ’85 Oldsmobile was at the stage to be junked, and I did not know what to do.  For those of you who don’t believe in miracles and answers to prayer, I want to testify that in late ’97 I had an answer to prayer and a “sort-of” miracle.  To my total surprise, a guy I know offered to sell me his 1993 Oldsmobile Cutlass wagon (book value $5200.) for one dollar.  He had just purchased a new Chevrolet truck, and he just plain wanted to do this to help me out!  I bought “Whitey” (yes the car was WHITE with gray interior) for one 1972 Eisenhower dollar coin.

I did not have any serious problems with Whitey for many years.  In fact, my wife and I owned Whitey for over ten years and six months.  That’s the longest we’ve ever owned any car.  Two of my kids learned to drive on Whitey.  I took my father to a number of doctor appointments in Whitey.  In those days, he was still at home but quite senile.  I remember my daughter Amy and I taking him to the barber shop for a haircut in Whitey.  I was regularly driving Whitey during the crises when each of my parents died.  I could go on and on telling stories about Whitey and boring you.  I do remember the time one of Whitey’s side windows was shot out with a B-B gun.  I was in the church building at the time and the perpetrator was never caught.  I also remember hosing Whitey down one hot day and cracking the windshield in the process.  One of the wheel covers kept falling off, and finally I just kept it off and hung it in our basement where it still hangs to this day.  

In September of 2005, Whitey broke down with my daughter Rachel driving it.  I had AAA haul it to our driveway.  Whitey had several serious problems which I could not afford to fix for quite awhile.  Whitey sat in our driveway from September of 2005 to August of 2006 when it was repaired.  After that, we started down the cycle of some sort of major repair needing to be done about every three to four months.  Rachel had become Whitey’s principal driver and had also become even more emotionally attached to the car than I was.  In early January of 2008, we got the diagnosis that Whitey needed MAJOR work, and a key part would have to be ordered through a General Motors dealership.  Rachel did not take the news well, but I made the decision that Whitey was coming off the road for good.  It took until April for us to find a 2000 Saturn sedan which became Whitey’s replacement.  After Whitey sitting in the driveway for six months, it was time for it to go.  I called a Brazilian guy who hauls away junk cars.  He and his partner came and got it and paid me $200. for  it.

The afternoon before Whitey was hauled away, Rachel posed for a few pictures in front of it.

Yes, it’s the “circle of life” and it was finally time for Whitey to go.