Post by dirtbean on Nov 28, 2004 19:14:33 GMT -4
About a year or so ago I made the mistake of selling my good old friend ('87 XJ). Now, I'm on the hunt for a new rig, and I've been doing the newspaper hunt and travelling the sidestreets in search of a good truck, probably a jeep.
This afternoon, I noticed an ad for an '87 XJ for $600, it was in town, so I thought I'd give it a call and swing by; you never know, it could be a low km old man's prize truck gem, or maybe a decent parts car if I could bring them down to 200-300. Four-door, blue, she said on the phone... could it be mine>? At this point, my curiosity pushed the old rig from the bottom to the top of my list of trucks to visit.
When I arrived, I was quick to notice that it was mine, unfortunately. The back window was smashed in, with vapor barrier hap-hazardly taped over the hatch. I parked the car on the street and, for a moment, considered leaving without taking a closer look. Then, I turned the escort off and stepped out of the car.
Parked in front of my ailing friend was a black mid-90's grand, it was wearing the clean alloy rims and new tires that were on my rig when I sold it. The tired flaking gold rims and mis-matched tires that, I assume, came on the grand, were proping up my old XJ. As I approached, I noticed that the front windshield was also cracked badly. My carefully executed spray bomb paint job had, it turns out, not lasted as long as I had expected, but then, it didn't look like the poor jeep had had an easy life since we parted ways. Inside the cab, smoke butts overflowed the ashtray, rusty drivetrain parts lay bleeding rust into the backseat, my neatly installed stereo was nowhere to be found, and the odometer had rolled ahead... a lot.
This ruined my afternoon.
This afternoon, I noticed an ad for an '87 XJ for $600, it was in town, so I thought I'd give it a call and swing by; you never know, it could be a low km old man's prize truck gem, or maybe a decent parts car if I could bring them down to 200-300. Four-door, blue, she said on the phone... could it be mine>? At this point, my curiosity pushed the old rig from the bottom to the top of my list of trucks to visit.
When I arrived, I was quick to notice that it was mine, unfortunately. The back window was smashed in, with vapor barrier hap-hazardly taped over the hatch. I parked the car on the street and, for a moment, considered leaving without taking a closer look. Then, I turned the escort off and stepped out of the car.
Parked in front of my ailing friend was a black mid-90's grand, it was wearing the clean alloy rims and new tires that were on my rig when I sold it. The tired flaking gold rims and mis-matched tires that, I assume, came on the grand, were proping up my old XJ. As I approached, I noticed that the front windshield was also cracked badly. My carefully executed spray bomb paint job had, it turns out, not lasted as long as I had expected, but then, it didn't look like the poor jeep had had an easy life since we parted ways. Inside the cab, smoke butts overflowed the ashtray, rusty drivetrain parts lay bleeding rust into the backseat, my neatly installed stereo was nowhere to be found, and the odometer had rolled ahead... a lot.
This ruined my afternoon.
. Some hunters who knew my neighbour found it a year later and it was stripped and destroyed. The only good thing in finding it was that the XJ I currently have; had a bad exhaust. I replaced the one on the 88 3 days before it was stolen and the dumb asses forgot to check the underside before they took the tires off... So bonus to me I got a new exhaust for free (well kinda, almost... maybe not 
). The point is, seeing the first vehicle I ever bought in that state of disrepair was heart breaking so I tend not to think about it that way and think about all the cool things I did with it. ;D
you get way too much stuff stolen!!! LOL 
Not only the 88 XJ but in the summer I parked up by the HFX Commons and had my CD player ripped out. Then the very next week they broke into it again but didn't take anything. I guess they didn't like the stock radio casset player.