Car thoughts by Kajagugu

I love cars and I love to drive. The longer the drive the better, I say. And I was just thinking the other day about my current car situation. Functional, but no fun. We have a Yukon and an MDX and it's mostly for safety and size.

Our last fun car was a BMW. My wife actually bought it for herself when her Ford Explorer lease was up, but then I ended up driving it because the MDX was easier for her to get a baby seat in and out of. That beemer was awesome with all the sports package upgrades and a stick shift. It was a sad day when we turned it in at the end of it's lease.

I've never really owned any fancy cars. My first car was my grandfather's Suzuki Swift, which is probably similar to a Geo or Kia(read: crap). It was great to get around in and had amazing gas mileage, but it was nothing to write home about.

What I did write home about were all the awesome cars I drove while working at a pawn shop in LA. We had an auto pawn license and people would just leave their cars for cash. Then it was my job to take these cars to our massive parking lot in the valley. So here's a list of my top 3 favorites:

1. '55 T-Bird: This thing was beautiful. It was brought to the store by some lady who took it from her husband in a bitter divorce settlement. She didn't care about it at all and pawned it right away, not ever intending to pick it back up. So after a few months it became store property and I got to drive it around on weekends. Cherry red, convertible, two-seater - what else could you want when you're broke and 23 years old in LA?



2. Porsche Carrera S4: Some Russian thug brought it in because the dealer delivered it in the wrong color. So he pawned it with about 25 miles on the odometer for about $50K. I actually had to go to the bank in a "nice" part of town to get the cash. With two big Rottweilers by my side. We drove it slow on the freeway and parked it indoors, then covered it with a silk parachute so that nothing bad happens to it. Was still a great experience.



3. Big-ass Monster Truck: Some redneck showed up with this beast and told me that the gas guage was broken, "so just fill it up everytime before you drive it." I drove that thing up the 405 in traffic and had everyone get the hell out of my way.



So now I'm driving my good 'ole MDX and thinking about what my next car will be. I'm in no rush. In the meantime I will leave you with a an old favorite. Take it away, Gary: