Unruly Behavior

As I mentioned here previously, we have twins due in July.

So today I bit the bullet. I took my 1998 Countour SVT to the auto dealership and traded it in on a 2004 Mazda MPV. The twins will need the room, and we got a great deal on a LOADED vehicle. The Contour was also getting up there in miles, at 130,000 plus miles.

Today was a good day at work, I got to drive about 100 miles for work, so I got to spend some quality time with my baby. Just me and my big red machine on the open road.

This was the first car I ever bought outright, new on my own. It was loaded, with every option, and it was fast. I had many, many great times in that car. I had driven it from Pearland, TX to Sandusky, OH and back for a visit to Cedar Point Amusement Park, and all over Texas and Louisianna.

This car took me through four jobs, two wives, and my first child. It still looked great when I washed and waxed it, and the interior was still nice. It had a decent stereo that I had just finished installing, and removed on Sunday.

I'm not getting a bad vehicle in it's stead either, I had gotten my wife a 2002 Escape XLT that is pretty loaded for our first Valentine's day. I'm going to be driving it now, and she is going to drive the mini van.

But it still is not my baby. Ford only made 6535 1998 Countor SVTs, and mine was 791. I've got a certificate from SVT somewhere around here.

My wife has promised that somewhere down the road I will have another cool car. And I know she is probably right, but for now things are going to seem strange.

This car would have been replaced shortly due to age anyway, but I'll still miss the thing. Hard to explain love for a car, but of all the many things I have ever owned, it was my favorite.