We picked up our rental car after landing in El Paso. It was a Dodge "Labreeze"; is that right, the correct name? Don't ask me to remember all these yup names....
It looked like a bar of white chocolate cut off the belt from behind still warm and sloped in the front to the road. There was no bumper- it was a single front end made of plastic- cream colored plastic. This was the economy model. It had a 4 cylinder so I guess it was economy.
"Look it over and record any injuries to the vehicle you see now. Any not noted at this point you are responsible for. The company reserves the right to charge you the cost of repair and restoration to the condition of the vehicle at time of rental regardless whether it is actually repaired."
With that contract, it would behove them to rent low slung vehicles all day long in hopes you'd run over a stray dog and get front end damage. If you ran over a soft ball on the high way this car would scarcely clear it. One thing for sure though, it road like a dream. It was idiot proof. You could take a posted 30mph curve at 60. It simply would not leave the road. It would drive without hands on the wheel for hundreds of yards at 80 mph. I liked it. I sure wish it had six cylinders.
I get rattled with new things. I wanted my wife to drive. She was more rattled than I, and this proved to be a bad decision. First thing, she drove us an hour out of El Paso looking for El Paso. When we came to the Military base I surmised we'd gone too far. We went back and she missed our turn, three times. I got her headed on the freeway the right direction. After 20 minutes we approached the offramp to our hotel.
"Which way do we turn here?" I asked.
"I dunno. Let me look it up."
"We've been on the Freeway for 20 minutes; didn't you think we'd need to know that?" There was no answer.
"Turn Left." I said.
She turned Right and after several blocks drove us into a crowded mall. It was bumper to bumper in there.
We'd arrived in El Paso at 3 PM and now it was 6PM. Back down the highway she made a U turn. The car didn't make it and went over a driveway curb; one of those sloped curbs. Seems like this would have worked out pretty good but she didn't come off the curb gradual but all at once. There was a bad noise. We made it to the Hotel. After we settled in I went out to examine the car. She'd pulled the front end all the way up the sidewalk. Why, I don't know. Underneath there was a crack. This was bad. There was no segment to replace- the front end was one solid unit of plastic. Maybe we could glue it, I thought.
She freaked out when I told her. She reminded me I'd backed out into a van in a parkinglot a couple years ago. She was right. I did it. It cost, too. But our expensive vacation just went up 500 bucks deductable. I figured a new front end might cost 3000. Later I found out they cost only 400. Not too bad. Bolt a new one on every time you hit a melon or a bottle on the highway.
We ate at a place called Barregos, or something like that. Let me say something about El Paso; their crime rate is one of the lowest in the US today. Unemployment is down. They have smog. And they have the best Mexican Food I've ever had. I ate the very good stuff for years from within Southern Calif. But this El Paso was something else. How good? It is at least 50 percent of any argument for moving there. I'd go on vacation again through El Pase even if I had no further interest in Texas. Going to AZ? Go through El Paso first.
The crack got worse as we toured through the desert. I told her before we were through it would split the hood. Not funny. The good news was that at the end terminal of the trip they waved us on. No problem. Her prayers must have been good. I told them there was a crack and I honestly couldn't say if we'd done it, made it worse, or had nothing to do with it.
I'll always remember that car. I'f I'd had that car 20 years ago I could have driven drunk another year or two before total breakdown. Hell, what am I saying? I was lucky I came out alive in those days and didn't hurt anyone. But today's cars are miracles. Stable and smooth.
munk
It looked like a bar of white chocolate cut off the belt from behind still warm and sloped in the front to the road. There was no bumper- it was a single front end made of plastic- cream colored plastic. This was the economy model. It had a 4 cylinder so I guess it was economy.
"Look it over and record any injuries to the vehicle you see now. Any not noted at this point you are responsible for. The company reserves the right to charge you the cost of repair and restoration to the condition of the vehicle at time of rental regardless whether it is actually repaired."
With that contract, it would behove them to rent low slung vehicles all day long in hopes you'd run over a stray dog and get front end damage. If you ran over a soft ball on the high way this car would scarcely clear it. One thing for sure though, it road like a dream. It was idiot proof. You could take a posted 30mph curve at 60. It simply would not leave the road. It would drive without hands on the wheel for hundreds of yards at 80 mph. I liked it. I sure wish it had six cylinders.
I get rattled with new things. I wanted my wife to drive. She was more rattled than I, and this proved to be a bad decision. First thing, she drove us an hour out of El Paso looking for El Paso. When we came to the Military base I surmised we'd gone too far. We went back and she missed our turn, three times. I got her headed on the freeway the right direction. After 20 minutes we approached the offramp to our hotel.
"Which way do we turn here?" I asked.
"I dunno. Let me look it up."
"We've been on the Freeway for 20 minutes; didn't you think we'd need to know that?" There was no answer.
"Turn Left." I said.
She turned Right and after several blocks drove us into a crowded mall. It was bumper to bumper in there.
We'd arrived in El Paso at 3 PM and now it was 6PM. Back down the highway she made a U turn. The car didn't make it and went over a driveway curb; one of those sloped curbs. Seems like this would have worked out pretty good but she didn't come off the curb gradual but all at once. There was a bad noise. We made it to the Hotel. After we settled in I went out to examine the car. She'd pulled the front end all the way up the sidewalk. Why, I don't know. Underneath there was a crack. This was bad. There was no segment to replace- the front end was one solid unit of plastic. Maybe we could glue it, I thought.
She freaked out when I told her. She reminded me I'd backed out into a van in a parkinglot a couple years ago. She was right. I did it. It cost, too. But our expensive vacation just went up 500 bucks deductable. I figured a new front end might cost 3000. Later I found out they cost only 400. Not too bad. Bolt a new one on every time you hit a melon or a bottle on the highway.
We ate at a place called Barregos, or something like that. Let me say something about El Paso; their crime rate is one of the lowest in the US today. Unemployment is down. They have smog. And they have the best Mexican Food I've ever had. I ate the very good stuff for years from within Southern Calif. But this El Paso was something else. How good? It is at least 50 percent of any argument for moving there. I'd go on vacation again through El Pase even if I had no further interest in Texas. Going to AZ? Go through El Paso first.
The crack got worse as we toured through the desert. I told her before we were through it would split the hood. Not funny. The good news was that at the end terminal of the trip they waved us on. No problem. Her prayers must have been good. I told them there was a crack and I honestly couldn't say if we'd done it, made it worse, or had nothing to do with it.
I'll always remember that car. I'f I'd had that car 20 years ago I could have driven drunk another year or two before total breakdown. Hell, what am I saying? I was lucky I came out alive in those days and didn't hurt anyone. But today's cars are miracles. Stable and smooth.
munk
