When I go to car shows or cruise in's I hang a " for sale" sign on my. '87 GN just for shitzngiggles. One time a fella walks up to me and asks " How much do you want for it ? " I told him "Thirty". He then chuckles and goes on to say "Well, I can find one that good for 20." I said "Okay" , turned and started to walk away. He stopped me and then said "Where you going? " I said "I'm not going to get into a pissing match with you if that's what you want, but I'll say this. If you can find a STOCK , untouched / unmolested except for vacuum brake conversion, new stock body bushings , next to perfect original paint, perfect interior, everything works, no rust anywhere, doesn't rattle or shake, reliable, 31k mile '87 GN as clean as this one is , and drives as well as this one does in this part of the country , then have at it my friend". He then said "Well I know a guy that does have one for sale like yours, and it's *every bit* as good too" . I then asked, " Well then, why don't you go and buy it?"
He then turned and walked away slowly shaking his head.
So, I go and wander around looking at some of the other rides. I look back at my car and see another gent with his wife and daughter and he's looking at it closely. I recognize him as he happens to live across the street from us. He looks underneath, stares at the interior and gazes under the hood., He pulls out his cell phone and calls my number on the sign. I tell him "Hang on for a sec I'm only a hundred feet or so away I'll be right there."
I get there and we start a conversation. He compliments my car on how clean it is and how good it looks. "Does it run as good as it looks?" , he asks. I tell him it runs as good as a stocker does . He told me he owned one when he first met his wife. "A lot of really, really good memories in that car" he goes on to say. He asks how much will I take for it and I tell him. "Worth every penny", he says.
It was getting time for me to leave so I ask him if he wants to go for a short ride. With a big smile on his face he says "Are you kidding me? Of course I'd like a ride!"
It was just us two as I don't have a car seat ( plus I don't like people sitting in the back seat anyway), and as we approach the periphery of the parking lot I stop.
Now, let me preface this next statement by describing this fella. Clean, neatly dressed, very pleasant and a family man much like myself. Added to that I consider myself a very good judge of character. After all I've been a psyche professional for 16 years and I'm very good at spotting goofballs. Plus , one day I was cutting my grass and my tractor caught fire. I'm trying desperately to put it out and he comes running across the street with a bucket of water and douses the flames. One heluva goodguy neighbor he is. Now, every time it snows I take the initiative and clear his driveway when he's at work. (Hell, I have a heavy duty snow blower and it only takes me maybe 15 minutes and I have it out clearing mine, anyway) . That being said I ask him "Ya' wanna drive it?" Another smile on his face, this time noticeably bigger. "Really? Man, don't do that to me. Don't say that unless your serious", he says.
I take the keys out of the ignition , we swap seats and get buckled in. I hand him the keys and off we go. He started out driving like a grandma apologizing for going so slow . He says "I just don't want anything to happen to this beautiful dream car , and it's been a long time since I've had the pleasure of driving one. I guess I'm not quite used to it anymore." "No problem at all, man ", I say, " But when we make this turn ahead ( onto a nice wide straight section of road) light the turbo a little to see what you've been missing."
With that he goes about half throttle , gets into a little boost and gets a sweet "chirp" from the first to second shift. "Oh man...geeeezz! I'm sorry about that ! I totally forgot how hard they sometimes shift. Mine used to do the same thing " he says. "So whatchyu sorry about dude?" I say. "THAT is one of the sweetest sounds ever! in my opinion" I tell him.
We get back to the cruise in where his wife and kid were waiting. Windows down, engine idling with that awesome TB rumble, he's grinning from ear to ear and he tells his wife " Honey, look what we just bought!! " Her eyes got really big and he says " Hey.... I'm just dreaming. Can't blame a guy for dreaming , can ya?" With a smile on her face she says , "Baby, you do look kinda hot in that thing ".
Kinda funny, but before that day I didn't even know his first name. Thanks to my GN, I do now. It was a good day.
I think "TurboT guy" said it best of all. "Those that know, they know. Those that don't, they never paid attention". Damn, I wish I'd said that !
