The Long Life and Sad Demise of My First Car Page 1 Page 2 Page 3

These are the sad images of what happened to my first car.  This one  is what my first view of my car looked like in daylight.  I had only seen this on the rain driven and headlight drenched nighttime highway at the time of the accident.  This was the first I had seen of my vehicle since then.  A sad sight.

Walking a bit around my car to its front, I took this shot.  I measured the depth of how far the bumper was pushed in on the left front side.  I think it was something like a foot or so.  The engine was popped from its mountings and the battery either crushed or disconnected.  I know that because everything went out as soon as we collided.  The crumple zones designed into this car worked as intended.  The passenger compartment was not affected at all.   Even the windshield remained intact.  That is not just "farfegnugen" but rather good design.

Still though, it was sad to look at.  I removed the stereo, took the speakers which I had only installed a month prior, and cleared out everything else that was mine.   I made sure to take the plates off after taking this picture.   You'll notice that the VW emblem is missing from the front grille.  It should be where that black circular opening is just above the license plate.  Surprisingly the emblem had remained intact despite the impact.   It was loose enough that I was able to pry it off without any further damage.   The emblem now graces part of a wall in my home.  Macabre?  Perhaps but I think it looks pretty cool as a piece of "industrial art."

After packing away everything that was mine, I turned for one last time to look at my machine.  I had driven that car for all my time in California to date.  It was MY car.  All paid for and all mine.  I had been over every inch of that car and had sweated quite a bit to keep it going, and go it had.  At the time I was driving a Buick Skylark that I had borrowed from a friend.  The difference between those two machines could not be more striking.  I really missed the qualities of this car.   Whatever its problems, and problems it did have, it was MY car.  Even the way the finish had begun to fade, and the rust ate through the windshield frame all lent it an air of individuality.

This last picture is what my car looked like the last time I ever saw it.  Stripped of everything that made it mine, including its license plates, it now looked like the dead machine it was.  I have since learned that the title was transferred over to a salvage company up in LA.  By now I don't think there is even scrap left of my machine.  All long and gone.  My dead car.

This Page Was Last Updated On: 27 February 2003