A boy and his ride...

The Ride

Saturday morning. 1AM.

The phone rang, waking me up. Mary was still awake out in the living room. She came in to tell me that Jordan's car was stalled up on SH20. I came fully awake, pulled on my clothes and shoes, then went to the garage for a gasoline can.

Minutes later, I was in the car driving through the night to find my son. Last weekend, he called to say, "Can you meet me at the hospital?" This was another of those moments that parents dread despite their seeming inevitability.

Sure enough, his car sat on the roadside with hazard lights flashing. I pulled up behind him with my flashers on too. Within seconds, a police car did a u-turn and went by us. I figured he either had a call or he presumed we had the situation in hand.

Jordan and I pushed the Supra about a hundred yards - slightly uphill all the way - with me huffing and puffing to keep the legs working. A big oil puddle was under the car. We moved it off the roadway onto a farm ramp. Obviously, it had electrical power but it would not crank. There's little I can do to fix a car in the dead of night, so we went home.

Yesterday, I went up after work to check it out. It wasn't surprising to find that the car didn't have a drop of oil. The engine was seized. I left a note on the windscreen saying that the motor was trashed and I'd call for a wrecker. I left my phone number too.

Someone left a message on my phone offering to buy the car! Steve has a business restoring old cars down in Tulsa. He saw Jordan's Supra and called me about it. This afternoon, we met him on SH20 and he bought the car.

Happier Days

This was a good first car for the kid and he really liked it. The Supra came from a co-worker who retireed. It had about 250,000 miles and as you can see, it was pre-disastered. Jordan didn't mind the flaws. I think he may have the sports car bug now. We'll see what he chooses for his next car.

In the meantime, maybe I can get him back on his bike!