The story of the car

A long time ago, on my way to high school I would see, what I know now to be, a 2GB Mitsubishi Eclipse parked in a parking lot with a for sale sign. What trim it was I will never know, but that’s neither here nor there. It stole a little more of my heart every time I passed it. As a matter of fact, I was almost run over by a school bus from a bad case of the rubbernecking. I wonder if Mitsubishi would have lost that law suit…I digress.

I live in a part of Canada where oil is on everybody’s mind. Instead of seeing hundred thousand dollar Mercedes’, BMW’s, Audi’s and the like, you see hundred thousand dollar pickup trucks with ninety inch lift kits and hula-hoop-sized exhaust. Every young male has either dabbled in the business; soon realizing it’s not the job for them, or have made successful careers out of the oil industry…allowing eighteen year old kids to pull in more money thank neurosurgeons. Believe me, though, they earned it.

My older brother, Ben was one of these kids. The ones who wanted to take advantage of the money to be made. He was quickly promoted to a driller. For those of you who aren’t aware, driller is basically second command of a crew of five. It will go the tool push, the driller, the derrick hand, and two roughnecks (on service rigs, anyways). Ben made short work of roughneck, and derrick hand, making him the youngest driller in the history of Precision Drilling.

With all the money he was making, a nice car was in order. He purchased a 1996 Eagle Talon TSi AWD, arming it with a Evo III 16G, Apexi N1 exhaust, Injen downpipe, Injen intake, Autometer boost gauge, Autometer pyrometer, and Greddy e-manage. I think I was 15 when he took me for a ride when he first got the car. Of course I thought it was fast then, but after he modified it a little I was hooked. The first car I purchased, at sixteen, was a 1992 Nissan 240SX. All young guys want to modify every car they come into contact with. So of course I thought about throwing in the SR20DET. However, all young guys right cars off too…which I did. My next car was a 1989 Mazda MX-6 GT. Finally, my first turbo car. The guy I bought it off did some stuff to it. Lowered, exhaust, and intake. I was stoked!

Soon after I got the car, Ben got into a very serious accident at work. A cable struck him in the head. The situation is hard for me to explain, but basically think of a fly on the neck of neck of a guitar, now think of someone pulling back the B string, using is as an elastic-type-devise to the fly. Ouch. He was in a coma for about a month. Having to learn to walk and talk for the second time.

I groggily road the elevator down from a hotel room in Edmonton, which was about a mile from the hospital my brother was staying at. You can imagine my surprise and dismay when I found an empty parking spot where my beloved MX-6 used to be. Perplexed more than anything, I did a couple laps around the hotel parking lot; wishfully thinking that maybe I parked somewhere else. Nope. Definitely stolen.

With a newly found addiction to the whistling, whooshing feeling of boost, I promised myself my next car would also be equipped with a turbo. Flipping through the auto trader on afternoon, my eyes fell upon a 1992 Plymouth Laser RS. A boosted, all wheel drive car within my price range. And it was a DSM, like my brothers! The little black and white photo in the magazine quickly became my new ride.

Also being a speed demon, my brother decided the Talon wasn’t fast enough and the lemon juice it sprayed in his eyes was irritating, to say the least.

Talon: parked, Street bike: purchased.

Not even a year into having the street bike, he ran into the side of a Hummer H2 on a hair pin corner…killing him instantly. All of his possessions were then left to me. Determined to make the Talon into a kind of bifarious extension of Ben, I undertook it as my own project car. In less than two years, between repairs, maintenance, and modifications I’ve managed to sink close to $30, 000 into the green, money gobbling vortex. Recent leak down testing revealed a 13% leak down in cylinder 4. I’m now at a decision making pinnacle. Do I swap the engine out and keep heading towards my track ready dream car? Or do I sell it, cut my losses and give up?