In with the Old, Out with the New

04/18/2012

For the past five years—ever since we bought our mid-century modern ranch—Jason and I have been buying old things to replace our new things. We found a set of vintage end tables at a thrift store, came home and put our new-ish IKEA tables on craigslist.  We found an old dresser on the side of the road and gave our new-ish dresser away to some friends. And we kept going and going. Most recently we traded in our new-ish sofa and bed frame for 1950s sofa and bed frame replacements. It’s not just because we love the style of the vintage replacements; but also because of the quality. Things from that era were made to last. Why buy new, more expensive furniture that doesn’t stand up over time when we can spend less on vintage wares that just need refinished or cleaned up?

Well, I’m afraid we’ve taken our philosophy one step further…we’ve entered into the realm of classic cars.

It’s not a mid-century car. We’re not that brave yet. (Maybe someday we’ll have something as sweet as this 1963 Falcon!) We got ourselves a 1988 Mercedes-Benz 300SE. Quite a contrast to the all practical suburban workhorse we bought last spring, our Silver Bullet.

Fun fact: when this car was new, it cost 3x as much as the home Jason’s parents bought in the 80s. And much like furniture from the golden age, this car was built to last with style and quality would couldn’t find in a new-ish car…at least not for the same price.

I’m not going to lie…we were sort of wooed by the design. We love the boxy navy blue exterior and the tan leather interior—and it’s in amazing condition for the age. It has all kinds of fun buttons that we’re still figuring out, a huge sunroof, a thermostat climate control dial, ashtrays and cigarette lighters in the back doors.

In with the old…that means it was time to kick out our new (10 year old) Ford Focus. It’s a little bit sad to say goodbye to the ole’ Green Meanie. It’s taken us a lot of places in the 8 years that we owned it and it’s been a good little car, but it is time to move on. We’ll let someone else eek the last couple years out of it.

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Our Little Focus

12/01/2010

I took a picture of our car. While we were in Pigeon Forge in October amidst the beautiful trees I had an impulse to take a photo of our car. We’re not car people and we’re not in love with our car; it just needs to get us where we’re going. So, we didn’t really have any intentional pictures of it.

This little green Ford Focus has taken us on a lot of journeys; about 150,000 miles worth. She was Jason’s and my first big purchase (read: first big loan), six months after we got married. This car drove us from Erie to Nashville and back many times before our move in 2004. It drove us up to my parents house in Pennsylvania for holidays, to my sister’s wedding reception in Philadelphia, on vacations to Virginia Beach, Hilton Head Island, Cincinnati and many a day trip to Atlanta. The weekend of this photo it took me halfway across the state to spend a much needed 3-day weekend with my husband. It has carted many friends and family members around to work, to church, to homes, to stores, to the airport and back. It’s carried amps and guitars, groceries, lumber, straw bales, 100s of pounds of rocks, loads of IKEA purchases, packages, luggage, dogs and moving boxes. It’s had it’s share of problems through the past seven years but our little vehicle has been good to us.

In the season of thankfulness, I’m extending some gratitude to our little engine that could:

Dear Green Meanie,

Thanks for running strong these seven years, for carrying us and our treasures all over the place, for stopping on a dime and taking off fast, for not quitting us even after two hit-and-runs, for turning sharply enough to parallel park in one try, for chugging along despite your bolted-up rather than truly fixed back windows, missing lug nut cover, cracked and dented front fender, dashboard stickiness from many a drink spill, and overdue oil changes. You’ve been the setting for many kisses and fights and important conversations. You’ve been sung in, slept in, kicked, washed infrequently, snowed on, rained on and hailed on. You’ve been worth ever payment we made, the chili cheese fries we ate in celebration of paying you off, and for every dollar we’ve paid for repairs and maintenance. Yes, you’ve been a good little car.

This year you got a new battery, a new alternator, a new driver’s side mirror, a new fender, new tires, new brakes and some other new parts I can’t remember the names of. Now, please accept this long overdue tune up as a token of our appreciation … and continue on for the next seven years!

Sincerely,

Your Drivers

 

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Posted by mahlbrandt