KILE, PAUL D wrote:
> There's been a lot of discussion about what cars have a "soul", even
> whether or not this is a correct concept.
I agree that it's a very correct concept.
However, I sadly must admit that I think that having
a soul is directly related to how many times it has
broken down, how much of the car is jury rigged, how
much is held together by chicken wire and ingenuity, and
so on.
This is just something that a brand new flawless car
just isn't going to have for a while.
My MG has a soul. Definately.
My Toyota Celica doesn't have as much of a soul, YET. It's
still too new, the only breakdown it ever had was a simple
coolant loss from a leak. Quick fix with easily attainable
factory parts, and back on the road.
But I really don't beleive that "soul" has any link
to style, value, country of origin, or anything else so
superficial.
For an example, when I was younger I had a pair of
Toyota Corolla SR5s. One was my daily driver, and
one was modified, brutal and rude, and only went out
for late night illegal trips around the block.
Both had an incredible amount of soul, the kind of
soul that makes you cry to see them break. The kind that
makes you stop everything you are doing and cancel all
your plans if they need you. The kind that makes you sad
to see them go even when they were never going to
drive again.
Those cars were old when I got them. So many saturdays
spent working on them so I could get to high school a little
faster on monday, or sometimes just so I could get to
school at all.
Most of the bodies were fiberglass patches that I put
on with my own hands, bondo that I laid down myself,
wire holding parts on, screws I found in the jars in
my basement that just worked great at holding
that old part together for another few miles.
Even though selling those two cars when I did
didn't raise enough cash to buy a new top for
my MG, it was a sad experience to see the cars go
because they were almost human.
Soul isn't the sole property of one country
of origin, or one body style, or one age group.
--
Trevor Boicey
Ottawa, Canada
tboicey@brit.ca
http://www.brit.ca/~tboicey/
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