Little Red Escort

My first car, a brand new, red Ford Escort, cost about $8000.  Thankfully, my mom did most of the automobile buying research. All I had to do was drive it home and pay my $125 a month.  As a first-time car owner I didn't have all that many wants in a new auto.  I believe I told my mom all I was looking for was a tape player. 

Yea, that was silly.  It didn't take me long to realize that a few other things would have been nice.  My first hot summer had me wondering why I didn't have air conditioning.  Then winter came and as I scraped and scraped at the ice on the rear window I dreamed of rear-window defrost.  Four doors certainly would have worked better than two; and even though I learned to drive using a stick shift an automatic transmission would have made for a nice upgrade.

Dreams of a better vehicle never kept me from driving that little red car everywhere I could.  There was always a tent in the trunk and a toothbrush in the glove compartment just in case.

That Escort and I logged a lot of miles together and then I drifted her down Superman Hill to the junkyard where I left her in exchange for $75.