Cars

Mel had more cars than anyone else I know. Not all at once, but every couple of years he would trade in his old car for a new one. Cars and driving were a great pleasure for Mel.

Before I met Mel he had owned a big-ass Cadillac or Buick and a Chevy Monza. He may have had other cars, but I don't know for sure.

When I first met Mel he was driving an old worn out Toyota Corolla. A few months later the engine siezed up. Since I was traveling nearly every week I would let him use my '78 BMW while I was away.

Our first purchase together was a dark blue '82? Toyota pickup truck. We had that truck for about 6 months. I'm not sure why we sold it. I think Mel wanted a car instead.

The next vehicle was a white '78? Ford Mustang II. Mel liked it, I didn't. It was a piece of junk from day one. Mel drove that car for about 6 months. It just wasn't reliable.

Mel's first nice car was a dark blue '87 Volkswagen Fox station wagon. It was reliable and fun to drive. It fit Mel nicely. He was happy with it until he was hit by someone who took off after the accident. Extensive repairs where needed. He had that car for over a year.

We traded the Fox in for our first brand new car, a light blue '90 Hyundai Excel. We both liked it. It was fun to drive, reliable, and got great gas mileage. Mel put a sunroof in it and put a lot of miles on it. We had that car for a few years, until I sold it to my boss. He is still driving it.

I finally got rid of my '78 BMW. It was old and worn out in every way. Mel went shopping and bought me an '80 Chevy pickup truck. It was big, primer gray, rough looking, and a gas hog, but it was fun to drive and was very reliable. I drove that truck for about a year. I sold it because it was using way too much gas.

Mel took me shopping for a new truck. I was hard to convince, but Mel succeeded. We bought a new '92 Ford Ranger pickup. It was my first new vehicle. I sold it a few months after Mel died.

Mel traded his Hyundai in for a new dark green '94 Ford Escort. Mel wasn't happy with the Hyundai. He wanted a car with an air-bag. Plus, he thought it would be cute if we both drove Fords. The Escort was good looking. Mel put in a power sunroof, nice seat covers, and a few other custom accessories. He drove that car for a couple years.

Car shopping and getting new cars helped Mel deal with his anxiety from living with AIDS. Whenever he got real sick he would focus on getting a new car. It gave him something to look forward to.

Mel's dream car was a LeBaron convertible(see photo above). He had to have one, so we got one. It was a beautiful car. It was fun to drive and looked great. It was a wildberry '95 with a tan soft top. The only problem was the visibility with the top up. There was a really bad blind spot on either side. When Mel's eyesight began to fail he lost a significant portion of his peripheral vision. He just couldn't drive the car safely. He felt awful that we had spent so much money on the car and it wasn't working out. Mel drove the car for less than a year.

Mel's last car was a dark blue '96 Ford Escort wagon. No fancy accessories, no sunroof. It was a humble simple car, unpretentious yet handsome and very practical. I like it. Mel liked it. Mel put 15,000 miles on the car in 10 months. In October, on his way home from carving pumpkins with Mike and Wayne, a deer ran out in front of Mel on the highway and Mel couldn't avoid hitting him. I'm glad Mel wasn't hurt. He had the car repaired, but started thinking about his next new car.

While Mel was in the hospital, very sick with pneumonia, he decided he wanted a new car. The first choice was a Honda Accord. Second choice was a Toyota Camry. I brought him car brochures to look at. When he got scared he would take out the brochures and talk about getting a new car. It gave him hope, something to fight for. Both cars where a bit expensive, so Mel decided that a Ford Contour would be nice and affordable. If he had recovered he would have bought a new Contour, I'm sure. Everytime I see an Accord, Camry, or Contour I wish that Mel could have survived and could be driving one of those cars today.

I sold the Escort wagon after driving it for 2 more years. My new car is a 1999 VW Passat. I love it. Mel would have loved it.

I retired Mel's vanity plates PWASR5R.