Rebound cars
A rebound car is the car you own after the previous one fucks you over after much investment and angst. I've had two.
My first rebound car, a 1982 Oldsmobile Omega was lent to me by my parents after my 1977 Saab 99 was rear-ended and totaled after a tortuous summer rebuilding the engine and transmission. Technically it didn't fuck me over, but the experience did. I hated the Oldsmobile, but it was my means of transport until I could save enough money to get something else. I was terrible to that car, and it was terrible to me, but we needed each other. This car was actually a hand-me-down from my Grandparents to my Mom before she bought her Saab (with my recommendation). In that way, it was my Mom's rebound car as well.
The Omega was one of GM's attempts at blending luxury with economy in their new front drive x-platform. My car had wire-wheel hubcaps, white-wall tires, and a very sumptuous crushed blue velvet interior that I could never see as ironic. The power steering pump was loose, so when I tried to steer the car quickly, the assist cut-out, causing the wheel to jerk and rebound in my hands. Every dollar spent on that car was one dollar less than what I needed to get another Saab, so I left it unfixed. Fortunately, the car wasn't very fast, so my propensity for speeding tickets began to diminish.
My second rebound car, a 1990 Acura Integra LS. My parents helped me buy this after my 2nd Saab, a 1980 Saab 900 Turbo that I also built back from the dead at great expense, later developed a unsolvable fuel-injection problem that left me without the money to fix it.
I decided I wanted a reliable Japanese car, and picked the Acura as a sporty, economical front-drive hatchback that offered some of the joys of my Saab 900. I enjoyed 2+ years of complete reliability, only spending money on service items and tires. It handled well. was quiet on the highway, and I never surrendered to the impulse to modify it in any way.
When I moved to New York, I left it with my parents. I was good to that car, but admit it never had the soul and style of a Saab.
My first rebound car, a 1982 Oldsmobile Omega was lent to me by my parents after my 1977 Saab 99 was rear-ended and totaled after a tortuous summer rebuilding the engine and transmission. Technically it didn't fuck me over, but the experience did. I hated the Oldsmobile, but it was my means of transport until I could save enough money to get something else. I was terrible to that car, and it was terrible to me, but we needed each other. This car was actually a hand-me-down from my Grandparents to my Mom before she bought her Saab (with my recommendation). In that way, it was my Mom's rebound car as well.
The Omega was one of GM's attempts at blending luxury with economy in their new front drive x-platform. My car had wire-wheel hubcaps, white-wall tires, and a very sumptuous crushed blue velvet interior that I could never see as ironic. The power steering pump was loose, so when I tried to steer the car quickly, the assist cut-out, causing the wheel to jerk and rebound in my hands. Every dollar spent on that car was one dollar less than what I needed to get another Saab, so I left it unfixed. Fortunately, the car wasn't very fast, so my propensity for speeding tickets began to diminish.
My second rebound car, a 1990 Acura Integra LS. My parents helped me buy this after my 2nd Saab, a 1980 Saab 900 Turbo that I also built back from the dead at great expense, later developed a unsolvable fuel-injection problem that left me without the money to fix it. I decided I wanted a reliable Japanese car, and picked the Acura as a sporty, economical front-drive hatchback that offered some of the joys of my Saab 900. I enjoyed 2+ years of complete reliability, only spending money on service items and tires. It handled well. was quiet on the highway, and I never surrendered to the impulse to modify it in any way.
When I moved to New York, I left it with my parents. I was good to that car, but admit it never had the soul and style of a Saab.