Farewell, My Dear Valiant.

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As some member on WP know, I've been driving a 1963 Plymouth Valiant for over twenty years now. Well, as much as it pains me, keeping up with one problem after another is just too expensive and heart rending. So, my wife and I decided we unfortunately need a new car. But what car could possibly replace the Valiant? We decided if we got another vehicle, it would have to be a kick ass car like a Mustang. So we did. We got ourselves a '97 Ford Mustang just this evening after being okayed for a loan this very morning. Now to find a buyer for the Valiant who will actually try to restore her rather than using her for parts.

The day I get rid of my 74 Valiant is the day I cry for the whole day.

After years of me visualising you trailing smoke around town in that old Valiant it will take a while to adjust.
A Mustang, eh?...

Sorry to hear about the old girl.I hope you find a restorer.Its amazing how attached we can get to pieces of metal.My old car is still pretty low mileage,only 79,000 some odd miles on her.It was an single owner little old lady car,she had passed and her son sold it,only 35,000 on her when I made the purchase,like a new car to me.Still runs like a bat out of hell.
Hope you love the new car as much and you get good service.

Actually, the Valiant didn't have an exhaust problem - - no coalroller here.
But yeah, gots me a Mustang. The trick now is living in worse poverty paying almost a hundred dollars a month for the auto loan.

You know what the craziest thing I'm feeling right now? That I've left the Valiant feeling hurt and betrayed.
I know, we Aspies often anthropomorphize inanimate objects, and it's doubtlessly just a matter of that. But I can't help but recalling Stephen King's short story Trucks, in which trucks around the country - perhaps the world - come to life and take over. As the narrator surmises, perhaps we humans had given them a collective consciousness. A great story that had inspired a sucky movie (Maximum Overdrive).

Makes sense to me.When my relative commandeered my car and drove it pretty rough, when got it back,all the electrical gauges went haywire.First it would say no oil pressure,than it would max out,all the gauges were acting up,a day or two later it went back to normal .I think the car was pissed. When my daughter borrowed it,that's when it decided it was time for the battery to die,I don't think it likes strangers driving it.

Does it behave properly for you?

Yep, I go through that same thing anytime I replace something of any significance. Example: After I replaced my clock/radio/phone (which I'd been dragging around for years) with an iHome over a year ago for my bedroom I still kept the old clock/radio/phone in the same place right next to the iHome even though it was unplugged and no longer served a purpose but to collect dust. It was only last month that I finally tossed it, albeit with reluctance. I still have my old cell phones and my first iPhone. I'm the same way with replacing vehicles, too...
I become attached to daily use items where I only have one of them at a time. If they've been loyal to me I feel like I owe them the same loyalty.

It's been a good car,I've had the car around eight years and it only twice have I been stranded,once in a parking lot at the county shop, and here at the house.Never on the road,thank goodness.The exciter wire to the alternator was bad,and the last time the distributor had to be replaced.The rest has just been standard maintenance ,brake shoes,tune ups,etc...
I need some rear shocks and the AC recharged right now.

I've terribly misjudged you - you are human after all!

No you haven't, either.
I have empathy for dogs, some other animals, and to a lesser degree even some inanimate objects as illustrated above, but not much for most people. So you were right afterall; I am still a heartless conservative.