The car is special because it is what he drove when I met him. We drove it on all our dates, except the first one when Steve his brother let us take his Mustang. I have always called it the race car even though I have been informed that it is not really cut out for racing : )Robby drove this car all over Texas. On one trip, a rider in the passenger seat unlatched the lock for the T-top & it flew off & landed on the side of the highway when they were going quite fast. They returned to it & put it back on the car....unharmed (the T-top & any other cars on the road).
He drove it when he moved back to Dallas one summer packing just about everything he owned in it. The story goes that the only place for his goldfish to ride was in a milk jug between his knees for 6 hours.
He drove it from Rowlett to Lubbock with our two little puppies in it (when they still fit in a car that size). The size of our dogs greatly contributed to the purchase of the F-150.
Once Rob moved to Australia in Fall 2003, I did a lot of visiting at his parents house. This picture was taken to send to Rob to let him know we were both doing alright. I didn't feel the urge to jump on the roof.
We left our wedding in the Firebird. Steve got it super cleaned up & it was great minus the Armor All on the interior that left black streaks all over the right side of my wedding gown.
My mom took this picture as we were crossing over the Lubbock city limit sign headed back to school as The Valentine's. Right after this picture was taken my Dad got pulled over for speeding up so my mom could take the picture. Haha! So glad we have it though!
When we got married, Robby brought the Firebird & I brought my Mazda 626. My car was a bit older than his so when we purchased the truck, we sold the Mazda...tear : ( I then became the primary driver of the Firebird. At this point it was still in great shape. From this point on is when it's little life began to go down to tubes....at a fairly fast pace.
First of all, Robby says I drove this car like it was a tank. Within the first 2 weeks of being the primary driver, I made my first mistake. I was leaving my friend Brooke's house who lived in an older part of Richardson where the driveways were really narrow & had a large curb on either side. I apparently was not paying too much attention when I heard the big crack. I had backed onto the curb & once the wheel hit the road, the ground effect on the front of the car cracked...very loudly. I still remember Brooke's face. I told Robby later & he kindly said I needed to pay more attention : )
Over the next year of driving the ground effect would dangle & make a rattling sound until I stopped the car, got out & put it back in the right spot. Robby was driving it from Downtown Dallas to Rockwall in a torrential rainstorm headed out to a rehearsal dinner for my cousins wedding. He went through lots of puddles & when he arrived, the ground effect was no longer there.
We talked about getting a new one then we decided we didn't care so this is what it looked like for the rest of it's life with us....
Following my careless driving off the curb, I really shaped up & paid much more attention. One afternoon I was getting home from work before Robby. I opened the garage, had the window down, the music off, & I was NOT talking on my phone. I pulled in as slow as humanly possible in a race car & right as I got all the way pulled in I heard an awful sound. I turned the car off, jumped out & saw that a camping chair was wedged around the low light. How on earth that happened I do not know but, I tried to pull it out. It was wedged SO tight there was no hope in covering up my mistake before the hubby got home. I heard him pulling in so I ran as fast as I could to catch him before he saw it but when I opened the door to the garage he was stepping over the chair towards me. It still makes me laugh to think about how long it took for him to get it unwedged. He was pretty impressed with my expert aim at the camping chair.
The driver side window starting giving me trouble a few months before we moved to Orlando. I would unroll it to badge into the garage at work & then it would roll up really slowly. Sometimes I would have to turn the car off & back on to get it to go up. I failed to ever mention this to Robby.
Fast forward to the day we packed up the moving truck in May 2008. Steve & Jenny had helped us that evening. Robby unrolled the window as he pulled the car up onto the car carrier behind the moving truck so he could here Steve direct him. We then took the picture below...such a happy moment.
The next moment, not so happy. Robby pushed the button to roll the window up & nothing happened. I opened my big mouth & said "oh yeah, I forgot to tell you that I have been having trouble with that window for 3 months." You can imagine how the rest of that conversation went : ) End of that story, it rolled up eventually that evening.
Once we moved to Orlando, it struggled to roll up for about 6 more months before completely dying. I started to become deathly afraid of being pulled over by a police officer for this very
reason. At this point I was pregnant with Charlotte. I pictured getting pulled over. The officer would say "Ma'am could you unroll your window please?" I would say, "it doesn't unroll sir." Then he would make me get out & lay face down on the concrete with my pregnant belly while he searched my race car with tinted windows for drugs or something. I know this is far fetched but I was really scared. Rob along with my brothers found this hilarious. Just for the record, this might be the most uncomfortable car to drive with a 9 month pregnant belly.
Soon after Charlotte was born, a good friend of mine was coming to visit & she & her husband were going to use the car while they were in town. I was being a good hostess & took it to the Mobil station to fill it up with gas. I then thought it would be nice to get the outside washed. As I was pulling in, I remember thinking "I can't remember the last time I took this car to the car wash!" I was QUICKLY reminded why when the water started pouring in the crack at the top of the driver side window from it not rolling up all the way. I ended up with my shirt off holding it against the window praying that no one was looking. I along with the driver seat & dashboard was soaking wet by the end of the ordeal. Chalk that one up to sleep deprivation with a newborn.
A couple other quirks- it had a funny stench because of the water that would sneak in when it rained (everyday in Florida), the gas gauge didn't work so I would fill it up all the way then set the mile counter & know I could go to 300 before filling up again, the defroster was worthless- I kept a pile of towels in the back seat to wipe down the exterior windows & interior front window for every trip to work.
I can't even count how many times I would be at a light and the teenage boy next to me would be revving his engine like he wanted to race me. I should have taken at least one of them on before trading the ol' race car in!
So, we have debated on when to replace it & the day finally came. Here is Charlotte & Rob outside of the Firebird before taking it in!
Char enjoying one last imaginary race
The new ride, a 2008 Ford Expedition with lots of growing room
I didn't notice when I took the picture but you can see the reflection of the Firebird in the Expedition....kind of neat!Farewell Firebird, you served us well (when we took good care of you). We are enjoying your replacement & hope you find someone who will race you against teenage boys at street lights. You might enjoy the rush in your old age ; ) Someday the girls will ask about that ol' race car I used to drive around & I will show them this blog post.
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