My Daily Driver



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by Mike Furtado
Copyright (c), 2003, My Daily Driver -- All Rights Reserved

I was driving my "new" car a few years ago. I had just purchased a 1974 Plymouth Scamp. It wasn't bought as a daily driver, but as a second car "just for fun". It was a fairly cheap car, not a show winner or anything, but it was a small block V-8 in the days of 85 horsepower four-bangers. I planned to have some fun with this one. It quickly usurped my 1998 whatever as daily driver and has become my all-time favorite car.

I bought the car on a Thursday, and now Saturday had finally arrived. A chance to get out for a drive and really check out the new wheels. My buddy who found the car that I eventually purchased was ready to hit the road with me to share this "getting to know you" date with my new car.

We changed the oil, and took it to the car wash. The old paint shined right up! We stopped by the parts store and picked up a few screws and some zip-ties. The application of these devices promptly eliminated a few annoying rattles and squeaks. We got it out on the highway and "blew the carbon out" <evil grin> We remembered immediately why I wanted to buy a car like this. There's nothing like the feeling of a V-8 under your right foot. We were having a great Saturday afternoon reminiscing about cars we've had.

My buddy interrupted me and said, "take a left here!" I did, and didn't ask why. We had no particular destination. We continued on our way, immersed in the conversation and I continued to follow the occasional direction given by my buddy. "Turn in here." "Where are we going?" I was being guided into an office park, completely abandoned on a Saturday afternoon. I though maybe this might be a quiet spot out of the way for the obligatory "wheel spin test" that all our cars have to endure upon acquisition.

"Pull into this lot." It was a small single-story office building. I hardly noticed that it was entirely covered in mirrored glass. As I turned in front of the building I received further instruction from my buddy. "Slow down and look in the mirror! We're Window Shopping."

He proceeded to explain that this ritual is usually performed on a test drive, prior to the purchase of a vehicle. You see, this way you know if you look "cool" driving down the road in the prospective new ride. I turned around at the end of the building and slowly passed the building, now on my left, looking closely at the reflection of my new ride. It passed the test. My new car looked cool moving down the road with me at the wheel.

When I'm in the car I notice lots of places where I can see my reflection. And every time I think "Window Shopping". A couple of years later I took a trip to see a '70 GTX for sale. I took the car out for a test drive and learned all I needed to know to purchase the vehicle. You see, I had seen the mirrored office building along the road about two miles before I reached the sellers home. A quick trip back there for some Window Shopping and the deal was settled. It looked very cool.

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