My Gremlin. Awhhhhh. Brings back so many good memories. In early April 1970 a grasshopper green stripped down Gremlin showed up in our local AMC dealer's showroom. I had just graduated from high school and wanted to buy "my own car" since I had been driving my dad's hand-me-down 1965 Comet. There she was - this off the wall one-of-a-kind strange little vehicle. It was love a first sight. For less than $2,000 I became the proud owner of one of America's first sub compact cars.

She carried me to college, to work, on dates, and saw me through my wedding and she traveled with my bride and I on our honeymoon. I drove her until our first child was born and we needed a bigger car - a '74 Plymouth Duster. Suddenly my Gremmy began to sit more and more. The less I drove her the more she rusted til finally she wouldn't even start anymore

For years she sat at the end of my drive as a token of my youth. We had her moved over so we could build a garage where she previously sat. The rain and weather began to take its toll yet my son and daughter still sat in her and played like they were driving. Finally she was dragged to the back of the garage in belief that someday I would have the money to refurbish her to 'like-new'. It never happened but the years went by and I kept her in that firm belief.

The 80s came and went so did the 90s and my grasshopper green Gremlin sat there collecting rush and insects - her tires flat, her engine locked in motionless rust, her fuel tank empty. The new millennium came and went with no future it store. Gremmy sat behind the garage and locked away behind a wood fence - a silent memory of beach trips, weekend picnics, anniversaries and births.

In 2005 hurricane Rita ripped through our town causing fences to topple, houses to flatten, and trees to fall. An 80 foot oak crashed through my garage with branches smashing my friend. She was moved again to make way for tree removal and garage demolition. She was dragged to an open part of the yard. An offer to take her away for scrap brought an end to my original Gremlin.

I came home the next afternoon to find my friend gone. Only a pile of broken, shattered glass lay mingled in the grass where she once stood. She was gone forever. A cruel death that I didn't even want to dream about. Tears came to my eyes ans I remembered the past 35 years.

Two years later I stumbled onto a pretty, 1974 royal blue Gremlin on eBay. I had to have her. Everyone says I am in my mid-life crisis - with 17 years experience and in love again with my 'new' Gremmy.

Do I like Gremlins? You bet I do and no amount of jokes or name calling will stop me from enjoying my new best friend - that sawed off little sub compact.

Learn more about this author, Greg English.
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