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A
friend of mine, who was helping me with my transportation needs
immediately following my accident, took me to visit a used car dealer who
was kind of buy-here pay-here. All based upon his prior experience with this
dealer. There, I saw a little white sports car with only 2 seats: A 1986
Toyota MR2. It was a car with a low profile and its engine located in the middle, right behind the
cockpit. It had a small trunk at the front and a smaller one at the back,
tinted glass moon roof, a naturally aspirated 1.6 liter inline 4 engine
with a 5
speed manual transmission. I took it for a test drive and I liked it. It
had some things that needed attention like the exhaust pipe and tires, but
it seemed good to me. I checked it with a friend who worked at an auto
repair shop and decided to get it. I only needed to work out the details
of the financing.
I
called a very close friend of the family, who had served me in the past as
a co-signer on other loans, and explained the situation to him. Without
hesitation he made an appointment with the dealer, and soon enough, I found myself a
proud owner of a 2 seater. My first ever.
All
of this happened in early 1996. When I thought about the car I had just
bought, it downed on me the irony of the case: Back in 1990 I saw
for the first time the Honda CRX, a cute little 2 seater with curved
shapes. I fell in love with that car since then, and had it in mind when the
time would come to replace the Celica. At the time I thought that the
MR2's design was too linear (compared with the CRX). My friend however,
liked the MR2 better. The case was that, when the time to replace the
Celica came unexpectedly; instead of what was desirable, I had to get what was available from the sources that would
make it easy for me to acquire it. And
there I was, buying an MR2.
Since
the cockpit was relatively small, the air conditioning was more than enough
to keep me cool even on the summer, despite the considerable amount of
glass area. So, I did not applied tinted film to
the windows. I wanted to be seen in that car. To understand this desire,
you need to know that cars, even used ones are not that affordable in my
country. The problem is that imports are priced in US dollars while wages
are priced in local currency; and because the exchange rate is high (the
dollar being expensive), having a car is almost a luxury. A 2 seater is
not a "practical" car. If it is one's only car, then it is
convenient only if you are single. Now, the typical single guy is starting
out in life and most likely can't afford such type of cars; and the guys
who could
afford it are for the most part married ones. Now, no wife on her right
mind would let her husband have such chick-magnet set of wheels.
Therefore, 2 seaters are a hot commodity. It would be the equivalent of
having a very expensive exotic car here in the US.
The
acceleration of this car was much better than that of the Celica, and its
lower profile helped it to achieve a better cornering also. I was now
enjoying even more my trips back and forth between Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula. I
no longer feared an encounter with buses and large trucks. I was more
patient when it came to pass them. I lowered my travel time to about 2 hours
and a half. Of course that gaining some minutes was not a matter of saving
time. NO! It was not worth the added risk and mental energy. It was all
about the adrenaline rush, the exhilaration of high speed, the thrill of
acceleration, you know, that nice pressure on your back that you feel as
soon as you depress the pedal.
I
also had some fun in the city. Tegucigalpa's topography is full of hills
and most of its streets are curvy; a combination that makes for a very fun
driving experience, provided that you have the appropriate car; one that
has good acceleration and handling, just like mine.
As
I stated in my previous story, it was my intention to restore the Celica
to its former glory and keep it as a second car. May be I could re-sell
it, if I found someone willing to pay my price. Now, you don't keep a 15
year old car just sitting in the garage. You have to take it for a ride
every once in a while if you want to keep it operable. So, I did continue
driving it from time to time. However, the only advantage it had over the
MR2 was its customized stereo. I drove the Celica only the minimum
required in order to keeping it in good shape, or, when the MR2 was in the
maintenance shop. In 1996 I had my office (which I shared with other 2
colleagues) outside my home and that gave me a daily opportunity to
enjoy my new ride.
The
dark clouds started covering the story of this car around my birthday. I
traveled to San Pedro Sula to celebrate it with my parents. When I was
near my destination, a rock, picked up by some truck, hit my windshield and
made a large crack on it. It was fortunate that I did not have money for the
repairs because a few weeks later, the police came to my office and told
me they had to take the car away. They did not give any details other than
tell me the car was involved in a lawsuit, and the name of the judge who was
handling the case. I went to the courthouse to inquiry and found myself
immersed in a case between the dealer who sold me the car and a person who
lent money to them.
To
shorten a long, long tale, I will say that both parties were crooks and
were trying to outmaneuver each other. Unfortunately for me, the lender
had accomplices in the government and there was nothing I could do. They
"legally" robbed my car (I put the word legally inside quotes because
they used fraudulent papers to substantiate their claim). I could not even
retort to stop the payments on the car because of two things: First, the dealer
had sold the obligation to a local bank, thereby recovering all their
money; and second, there was my co-signer; a
friend who always was there for me, signing anything I asked him to sign
for me. It was understood that such signature was a mere formality. He
never expected to make good on his legally-binding promise to pay upon my
default and it was my duty to honor that gentlemen's pact. Although I was
devastated, I decided to continue honoring the payments.
I
was back to the old Celica for a while. A short while…
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