Let me tell you a story.

A week after Typhoon Ketsana (Ondoy), my Dad asked, “Son, why don’t you buy a newer, better car?”

At that point, my car was downstairs, a casualty of the heaviest floods our city has seen, and I was looking to replace her heart… the engine. Transplanting a new motor is a massive undertaking, not to mention an expensive one, and this particular instance is going to rack up a price tag that would cost well over half the residual value of my car. From a logical point of view, it doesn’t make sense to spend that much, especially since I could have just sold her as-is, add the money for the new engine and get a newer, better car…. like my dad said.

My response was simple: “I love that car, Dad.” And he understood. Perfectly.

It’s a strange statement coming from someone who has the privilege to drive and sample some very nice, expensive, fast and stylish cars for a week at a time, but no matter how good a car or how expensive they may be, my beat up 1993 Lancer will always be the one I come back to every day.

My love affair with this particular model stretches back to when I was just 11 years old. A little kid in Japan, I’ll never forget that first time I sat inside the Lancer Evolution while my uncle was signing the papers to purchase a Mitsubishi Chariot 4WD Turbo (Space Wagon, locally). And when the time came for me to buy my first (albeit used) car, the 1993-1996 Lancer was the one I had my eyes on in the classifieds.

We’ve been through so much together. Holidays. Dates. Girlfriends. Kisses (just kisses, mind you). Drive-thrus. New jobs. Sunny days. Good days. Bad days. Fair weather. Heavy weather. Everything.

Many will never understand the relationship between a man and his car. Many will not understand how we can pour so much money into our cars or spend hours outside to wash, wax and buff, only to sit on the sidewalk afterwards and wish that those dark, rain-heavy clouds in the horizon would stay where they are or fly off in a different direction.

There were days that I wake up and she wouldn’t start, and I did everything to get her running, including getting mildly electrocuted which, no doubt, woke me up better than any cup of brew.. There was a time that I was stuck on a 2 lane bridge and did a very quick 5 minute tire change after I blew a tire. There were also the nights that I’d have Livin’ on a Prayer blaring through the speakers as I’d let my vocal chords loose in the privacy of her doors, oblivious to the world around and those staring at me. I miss the days when I pop down the windows and drive with the sun in my face. I miss the nights that, when I feel down or just plain bored, I’ll just drop by a gas station, load up on fuel and go for a drive to wherever. There was even a time that I refused to let 3 girls ride in the back because my low-riding suspension can’t take it. Imagine that, three girls.

When the floods subsided, I ran to the garage and saw her there, covered and filled with muck, mud and everything else in between. For a car guy, it was one of those saddest moments you just know they don’t make Hallmark cards for. Losing a car is like losing a part of who you are. It’s like losing family.

So I told Dad no, I won’t get a newer, better car because so long as my car can be fixed, overhauled or rebuilt, I won’t trade being behind her steering wheel for anything else. No hesitation. And even if the time (and money) came for me to get a new car, my car will always be in my garage, right where she belongs.

Now, just a few weeks after I was finally reunited with her and her new heart, I’m excited. I may be broke because of the bills at the onset of the New Year, but I’m sure it’s going to be a happy one.

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Vince Pornelos

Associate Editor

www.autoindustriya.com

Tags: car, ketsana, mitsubishi lancer, ondoy