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March 11, 2009

Ghosts

Editor

My 75-dollar Concord is a true little old lady car; it belonged to a woman who was married to an AMC dealer, and she drove it until she passed away in February 2007. I’ve learned a few things about that little old lady in the time I’ve owned the car. She was trained as a mechanic (probably in the service) and she did her own maintenance. She disconnected the A/C compressor to improve the Concord’s fuel mileage. And that car clearly meant something to her–I’ve found evidence that she waxed it religiously, even the door jambs.

The other day I was clearing out my Concord’s glove box for the first time since I’ve owned it (lazy, I know–for some reason I detail-cleaned the entire interior and dash before I thought to tackle the glove box)–and I found a startling thing. Neatly folded up to about the size of a cocktail napkin, it was one of those retro clear-vinyl lace-up bonnets that little old ladies wear when it rains to protect their styled hair. The trim was pink ribbon. It’s exactly the kind of ordinary thing an elderly lady would keep in her glove box, but for some reason, it struck a chord. I’ve already come to feel that the car, which I got for next to nothing, is somehow entrusted to me–that I owe a certain psychic debt to this little old lady, whom I of course never met, and who cared so meticulously for this car for its entire life so that I might someday receive it in the mint condition it’s in. I owe her, and I totally believe that whatever else I might keep in the glove box, the vinyl rain bonnet gets to stay. I realize that any ride you get second-hand is going to come with its share of ghosts, and that people have found some weird stuff in the cars they buy. At risk of sounding morbid–how about you? What ghosts did your car come with?

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Posted at 2:08 pm in AMC, Concord, Jen Dunnaway

Comments

retroman
Mar 13, 2009 at 5:09 pm

My Spirit R/T came with all the original paperwork + the original warranty + an extended warranty from 1996 + all the manuals still in plastic + a detailed history of all the owners and repairs made. She even has all of the factory chalk marks and stickers that weren’t exposed directly to the elements. I couldn’t asked for more. Every time I’ve gotten behind the wheel or have looked at her, it’s like it’s 1992 all over again.

DaveyBoyo
Mar 12, 2009 at 12:00 pm

Well, let’s see:

When I purchased my 2000 Silverado, I found roaches (not the insect kind) under both the driver & passenger side kick pads, a Christmas card from the previous owner’s girlfriend, unopened, with a $30 Harvey’s gift certificate inside, a blue plastic coat hanger, and the CD deck operations manual.

dgaf88
Mar 12, 2009 at 6:55 am

Dozens of empty frito bags, crushed redbull cans, cig butts and empty packs and a big glob of what appeared to be axle grease under the seat. The chick I bought the thing off of was a complete slob.

David Clarke
Mar 12, 2009 at 6:44 am

I once had a customer rant at me for a half hour about how her brand new (then) 06 Corolla was possesed and she was in the process of haveing us buy it back. We didnt buy it back, but funky electrical problems did plague the car with no definite answer as to why.

phattacorider
Mar 11, 2009 at 10:05 pm

I’ve owned two cars both brand new. My current is a 2007 F150 but my old one is a 2002 Tacoma Xtracab. Some lucky fucker is going to get my ghost, $6k worth of audio gear that I didn’t remove since the box was fiberglassed to the body and it would take 5 hours to remove everything with two people.

Lawdog1911
Mar 11, 2009 at 9:51 pm

In my ’69 Catalina convertable, I dropped the gas tank and found where they kept the original build sheet for the car. It had all the options and stuff like that in a plastic baggie on top of the tank. I was like, “Score!” lol.

moparornocarman
Mar 11, 2009 at 9:23 pm

While redoing my heater box on my 68 Newport I found a Mountain Dew bottle inside the heatrer box. I hope the previous owner didn’t make it a habit to leave his trash behind when he worked on the car:-)

DangrRangr
Mar 11, 2009 at 9:04 pm

Brand new, came with nothing. It now has a .270 round, a half chewed piece of gum, a french fry, and a multitude of change that has been dropped and never appeared again. I’ve looked everywhere i could, i even used a flashlight and looked in every nook and cranny without actually removing the seats, and i found nothing. I have a Bermuda triangle somewhere in this truck that i have yet to find. I mean the gum and change aren’t so bad, but i don’t like a live round hidden somewhere in my interior.

1988montecarloss
Mar 11, 2009 at 7:20 pm

one of my friends cars had wet dog-food under the seat

1lowscort
Mar 11, 2009 at 6:52 pm

Most of my cars have had their fair share of ghosts. Also, most of the cars have been sitting for over 5 years. My favorite part I think is figuring out why they were left it to sit. We discovered that my friend’s 1957 Citroen DS had been sitting for over 25 years and almost crushed because a wire from the crank trigger to one of the coils broke….

I also like to imagine the feeling of pure joy when somebody drove these cars off the showroom floor, and what series of events caused the car to become in the state it was in when I bought it. I have seen several low mileage (under 40k) cars that had been sitting for many many years. I always want to know why.

SickWhip909
Mar 11, 2009 at 6:23 pm

I guess i got lucky in my 02 mountaineer. In the 2nd row middle seat compartment i found roughly 10 fresh (from 2005) Miller lites and in the rear side pocket a gently used bong. hrmm go figure!

bitchnbobb
Mar 11, 2009 at 6:20 pm

Awesome story Jen! When I first got my Monte Carlo I would not get in it at all. Two weeks befor I got it, the owner had to cut a trail through the woods to get the car to his shop. I let him drive it up on the trailer as I wasnt touching it. After getting it home I openend up the trunk for the first time and almost crapped. Inside was a mess of small bones and a snake skin that went across the trunk and under the seat. Yes it was scary and Im a dude! I payed $1800.00 for it with no title. Upon pulling out the dash I found the title and the first owners death certificate. I thank the snake for eating the mice and preserving my title. Its now registered but not yet built.

sarahsmile90
Mar 11, 2009 at 6:04 pm

Well I can’t say that I have found anything that interesting or meaningful in a used car I bought. I did sell my Honda civic and left for the new owner the shattered glass in some mysterious cavity of the car, to enjoy every time they turn the corner. They will not have the memory of the one year old locked in the car on a 90 degree summer day.

Great post Jen, enjoy your new used concord, and when it rains don’t be tempted to reach in the glove box.

Killersharq
Mar 11, 2009 at 5:43 pm

Lets see: Cigarette burns in the carpet, cigarette tar on all the interior roof plastic, and an anthill under the back seat.

___nes___
Mar 11, 2009 at 4:37 pm

Mine came with make up (that powder stuff) all over the carpet on the drivers side, some lipstick and a bunch of change that I can’t get out because my big hands don’t fit. Oddly enough everytime I’m short on change at the car wash I always manage to find the exact change I need next to the drivers side seat rail. Oh I also found the original factory description paper of the car.

Monk73
Mar 11, 2009 at 3:13 pm

I bought a 1981 Honda Accord from a son whose mother had recently passed away.

Sometimes the only way to get the car to start or run properly was to talk to it. Mostly stuff of encouragement, or “how are you doing today”, or telling the car about where we are going and why. Odd? Yes.

Even weirder, On a regular basis the radio(no matter what station I had it on) would instantly switch over to oldies. Eventually I just started leaving it on there, and let the “spirit” have what it wanted.

snowboarding125
Mar 11, 2009 at 3:11 pm

When I bought my Chevelle I found a lighter in the ash trey. It was the nicest looking lighter I had ever seen so I looked it up on the internet and it was some fancy $300 cigar lighter, too bad I dont smoke but it does come in handy on the 4th of July.

I_Drive_TOYOTA
Mar 11, 2009 at 3:04 pm

old cigarettes and the DUI papers that caused her to lose her license and sell the thing to me….

ha, that, and makeup all over the place, cigarette ashes, grossness… oh god. took me forever to clean it up.

I love my 4Runner

Bick66
Mar 11, 2009 at 2:52 pm

Great write up Jen, I love it! When I purchased my 1975 firebird I was the second owner other than the little dealership where I found the car. When I did my first detailed cleaning of the interior I found that the original owner had put his name on the dashboard with one of those old style label makers. You know the ones with the black plastic strips for the label maker to imprint the characters into turning the raised area white. Anyway, I peeled the sticker off the dash but I kept it in the glove box the entire time I owned the car. I wish I had never sold that car, I miss it very much.

audiobahnv8sho
Mar 11, 2009 at 2:13 pm

Burger wrappers and old cigarettes, I’ll take the old lady stuff over 10 year old stinky wrappers anyday.