Rallye Star!

	May 20, 2005 It is both a time for tears and new hopes for my crew and I. Last weekend was very difficult for me. That weekend, May 14, 2005; Prince entered immortality. His body was committed to the Ecology Recycling plant in Hesperia. We were given $43 for his lifeless shell. I am glad I was not there for I had spent the whole crying and mourning the loss of my Prince Charming, who surely was priceless in my estimation. This last adventure started before we even got back from Rim. Leon and Aaron decided to immediately begin transplanting Prince’s running gear into the New Car, a 1982 Corolla shell that had been prepped with a roll cage by Toyota expert Tony Dela Cuesta and his brother. What they told me was that we would get a new engine for that car and Prince would become the practice car. I did not fully understand the extent of Prince’s fatal injuries at the time and no one had the heart to tell me that Prince would be no longer. I got a call from Aaron that if I ever wanted to see Prince again I’d have to come up soon. But first I had to sign over his pink slip. It felt like I was signing a death warrant, and in all honesty, I was. My brother took me up there. A big blue tarp covered my baby. He had no feet! No face! My name was still on the car. So were the millions of stars I had cut out so lovingly by hand so that my poor old car would look beautiful, that so many people remembered us for. He was just a shell and he looked so sad, so hurt. I had betrayed my baby after all of the love he’d given me. I talked to him and petted him and thanked him for being such a good car. Could he ever forgive me for driving him so hard? The holes where his eyes had been looked back at me and I think he was forgiving me and hoping that he made me a better driver. I covered him back up and wished him a peaceful afterlife where the roads are all smooth and a 140 HP Corolla could run with the WRC cars. I went back into the garage to look at the New Car. He was new and he was strong. But Prince’s character wasn’t there. There were no battle wounds, no lopsidedness, no dents. In all, that was probably a good thing, but that’s just what made Prince Prince. I couldn’t even think about naming him. While I was there Aaron put my seat (Prince’s seat!) into the New Car and I sat in him for the first time so we could figure out where to put the seat anchors. The whole car had been stripped and was getting a new dash and windshield. It felt strange, but I liked it. Aaron had done some reinforcement to the existing cage and it was a tight squeeze getting out. As I pulled myself out, my hand slipped and I grabbed the a-pillar where the windshield had been. Glass cut into my hand! I hit my head pretty hard on the car and luckily my brother and Aaron caught me before I hit the garage floor! My hand was bleeding and luckily Aaron’s girlfriend Jessica had a good first aid kit in her truck. I decided to go home after that and I sadly handed over Prince’s pink slip to Aaron. I also took home his grille and one of his eyes, the other one having been smashed! (Apparently, some people Aaron-cough-Leon saw Prince’s passing as a good thing and had no respect for the dead!) A week later, I was feeling better. I did get pretty attached to Prince, especially since he was the first car I’ve ever owned on the street or for rallying. I kept thinking about New Car and how nice having power steering, a straight body, and new suspension, not to mention Aaron and Leon’s new wiring system. New Car would be pretty cool. This was also the week that Star Wars Episode 3 came out. Yes I will admit I am a nerd, I love Star Wars and yes I used to play the Star Wars RPG with my friends in high school in the garage because houses in California don’t have basements. All of the horrible dialogue aside, there was an important message in the movie. Anakin Skywalker goes to Yoda to ask about some bad visions he’d been having about his wife dying. Yoda says “Natural it is to return to the Force. Mourn not the loss for mourning leads to jealousy. Jealousy and fear of loss lead to the Dark side.” If Yoda said it, it had to be true especially for my little ‘Yotas. It was the natural progression of rally cars to be reabsorbed into the Force, to be claimed by that sixth sense that allows car and driver to do perfect Scandinavian flicks, to avoid terrible obstacles and crashes, to know where to turn in early, to manipulate the laws of physics, to keep running despite terrible injuries, to press on regardless, to brake deep and drive by the seats of our pants. Having lived long enough to see all six Star Wars movies and even to have raced against George Lucas’ Fiat back when he used to race in the dry lake beds in Modesto, I think it was time for Prince to rejoin the Force. I think he was ready. Looking back at New Car, I could see he was jealous. Our relationship didn’t start off well (shoot, I still have the cuts on my hand!) and it was probably because I couldn’t love New Car yet and he was jealous of Prince. Why was all of my attention going to a poor old car who had given his life so that New Car could run when New Car was sitting there, ready to love? So I went up again to Aaron’s garage with Leon and made my peace with New Car. He was looking pretty snazzy, a complete upgrade ready to kick ass! I started things right by first giving him a name. Anakin. Like his namesake, he is the chosen Toyota, hand picked by the Dela Cuesta brothers and prepped for strength, chosen to carry on Prince’s legacy with his awesome Techno Square engine. Yet he isn’t sure if he is going to use his powers for good (keeping the 4A-GE engine) or evil (rocking the supercharged 250 Hp 4 AG-ZE engine). And we all know that Anakin becomes international badass Darth Vader, so here’s to Anakin the rally car living up to his name and showing those other G5 cars who’s boss! And lest we forget, in Episode 1 Anakin was the fastest pod racer (I guess that’s rallying in 3475937854 billion years) on Tattooine (or is that the Jean lake bed?), so let’s hope I can harness some of that power. And a good start would be to stop watching Star Wars and study some rally footage from the Pacific Northwest… So to Degoba- er, Olympia Rally 1985 I go! May the Force be with you! Back to Diary of a Driver.

May 20, 2005

Prince's lifeless shell. The horror!

It is both a time for tears and new hopes for my crew and I. Last weekend was very difficult for me. That weekend, May 14, 2005; Prince entered immortality. His body was committed to the Ecology Recycling plant in Hesperia. We were given $43 for his lifeless shell. I am glad I was not there for I had spent the whole crying and mourning the loss of my Prince Charming, who surely was priceless in my estimation. This last adventure started before we even got back from Rim. Leon and Aaron decided to immediately begin transplanting Prince’s running gear into the New Car, a 1982 Corolla shell that had been prepped with a roll cage by Toyota expert Tony Dela Cuesta and his brother. What they told me was that we would get a new engine for that car and Prince would become the practice car. I did not fully understand the extent of Prince’s fatal injuries at the time and no one had the heart to tell me that Prince would be no longer.

Yeah, I look really happy.

I got a call from Aaron that if I ever wanted to see Prince again I’d have to come up soon. But first I had to sign over his pink slip. It felt like I was signing a death warrant, and in all honesty, I was. My brother took me up there. A big blue tarp covered my baby. He had no feet! No face! My name was still on the car. So were the millions of stars I had cut out so lovingly by hand so that my poor old car would look beautiful, that so many people remembered us for. He was just a shell and he looked so sad, so hurt. I had betrayed my baby after all of the love he’d given me. I talked to him and petted him and thanked him for being such a good car. Could he ever forgive me for driving him so hard? The holes where his eyes had been looked back at me and I think he was forgiving me and hoping that he made me a better driver. I covered him back up and wished him a peaceful afterlife where the roads are all smooth and a 140 HP Corolla could run with the WRC cars.

Anakin bit me!

I went back into the garage to look at the New Car. He was new and he was strong. But Prince’s character wasn’t there. There were no battle wounds, no lopsidedness, no dents. In all, that was probably a good thing, but that’s just what made Prince Prince. I couldn’t even think about naming him. While I was there Aaron put my seat (Prince’s seat!) into the New Car and I sat in him for the first time so we could figure out where to put the seat anchors. The whole car had been stripped and was getting a new dash and windshield. It felt strange, but I liked it. Aaron had done some reinforcement to the existing cage and it was a tight squeeze getting out. As I pulled myself out, my hand slipped and I grabbed the a-pillar where the windshield had been. Glass cut into my hand! I hit my head pretty hard on the car and luckily my brother and Aaron caught me before I hit the garage floor! My hand was bleeding and luckily Aaron’s girlfriend Jessica had a good first aid kit in her truck. I decided to go home after that and I sadly handed over Prince’s pink slip to Aaron. I also took home his grille and one of his eyes, the other one having been smashed! (Apparently, some people *Aaron-cough-Leon* saw Prince’s passing as a good thing and had no respect for the dead!)

Anakin bears all!

A week later, I was feeling better. I did get pretty attached to Prince, especially since he was the first car I’ve ever owned on the street or for rallying. I kept thinking about New Car and how nice having power steering, a straight body, and new suspension, not to mention Aaron and Leon’s new wiring system. New Car would be pretty cool. This was also the week that Star Wars Episode 3 came out. Yes I will admit I am a nerd, I love Star Wars and yes I used to play the Star Wars RPG with my friends in high school in the garage because houses in California don’t have basements. All of the horrible dialogue aside, there was an important message in the movie. Anakin Skywalker goes to Yoda to ask about some bad visions he’d been having about his wife dying. Yoda says “Natural it is to return to the Force. Mourn not the loss for mourning leads to jealousy. Jealousy and fear of loss lead to the Dark side.” If Yoda said it, it had to be true especially for my little ‘Yotas. It was the natural progression of rally cars to be reabsorbed into the Force, to be claimed by that sixth sense that allows car and driver to do perfect Scandinavian flicks, to avoid terrible obstacles and crashes, to know where to turn in early, to manipulate the laws of physics, to keep running despite terrible injuries, to press on regardless, to brake deep and drive by the seats of our pants. Having lived long enough to see all six Star Wars movies and even to have raced against George Lucas’ Fiat back when he used to race in the dry lake beds in Modesto, I think it was time for Prince to rejoin the Force. I think he was ready.

Anakin Skywalker gets down with the Dark side.

Anakin Skywalker gets down with the Dark side.

Looking back at New Car, I could see he was jealous. Our relationship didn’t start off well (shoot, I still have the cuts on my hand!) and it was probably because I couldn’t love New Car yet and he was jealous of Prince. Why was all of my attention going to a poor old car who had given his life so that New Car could run when New Car was sitting there, ready to love? So I went up again to Aaron’s garage with Leon and made my peace with New Car. He was looking pretty snazzy, a complete upgrade ready to kick ass! I started things right by first giving him a name. Anakin. Like his namesake, he is the chosen Toyota, hand picked by the Dela Cuesta brothers and prepped for strength, chosen to carry on Prince’s legacy with his awesome Techno Square engine. Yet he isn’t sure if he is going to use his powers for good (keeping the 4A-GE engine) or evil (rocking the supercharged 250 Hp 4 AG-ZE engine). And we all know that Anakin becomes international badass Darth Vader, so here’s to Anakin the rally car living up to his name and showing those other G5 cars who’s boss! And lest we forget, in Episode 1 Anakin was the fastest pod racer (I guess that’s rallying in 3475937854 billion years) on Tattooine (or is that the Jean lake bed?), so let’s hope I can harness some of that power. And a good start would be to stop watching Star Wars and study some rally footage from the Pacific Northwest… So to Degoba- er, Olympia Rally 1985 I go!

May the Force be with you!

Back to Diary of a Driver.