Greetings, fellow K-Car lovers!
Incidentally -- The Webmaster has the TARDIS as their avatar?? Freaking awesomeness. Now I REALLY love this site. Tom Baker is literally my absolute favorite actor. Many of my profiles on various sites list Gallifrey as my location as well. Haha!
Anyway... I have a long story of my love of these cars...
When I was a teenager, there was one of those butter-yellow Mark Cross LeBaron convertibles which used to park near where we lived and I thought it was the best looking car ever. I once left a note on it telling them to call me if they ever intended to sell it. I actually named it, "Yella", due to its color, and checked daily to make sure it was still there -- I was determined to get my hands on that car. My parents gave me a white Honda Accord as my first car. It was quickly ruined by my little sister, who stole it and destroyed the suspension and rack and pinion. So we went out in search of a new car for me. While we were at the Dodge dealership looking at newer LeBarons, I happened to glance across the street and spotted a dark red K-car type LeBaron on a tiny used car lot. I immediately requested we check it out. It was a 1986, with a white top and maroon and white interior, with 34K mi on it. It was $4300. The dealer told us that someone had already put a deposit on it, but that he would take our names in case they didn't come back to pick up the car. Well, as fate would have it, he called a few days later to say that the car was ours. I will never forget driving out of there, I had brought my best friend along and we immediately put the top down and headed for A1A. We drove until it was dark out and a cop pulled us over because I couldn't figure out how to turn the headlights on! Luckily he was kind enough to just show me rather than giving me a ticket...
My high school boyfriend at the time liked to say things in Italian and when he saw that car, his first response was, "It's bella, baby." And so Bella got her name. That car had more personality than any inanimate object should ever be capable of having. Bella was literally one of the gang -- I was the first of my friends to get a car and Bella went with us on every adventure. I saved up and had her painted two-tone, white on the top to match her convertible roof and dark red on the bottom half. I paid way too much for custom canvas seat covers with the Chrysler logo on them, and gave her a white leather steering wheel cover. My grandfather joked that I was going to wind up polishing the paint off her, I washed and waxed her so frequently. Bella was my baby. She had a strange habit of somehow turning street lights off one by one as I drove under them. Several times, I bumped into various items (including once rear-ending a Jeep at a stoplight) and none of it ever left a single scratch on that car. When her timing belt finally went, she made sure it was right in front of my sister's apartment. Drove all the way to my dad's house with no coolant left (unbeknownst to me) and didn't suffer a single ill effect. She once took me safely to Gainesville, where my mother had moved, after a bad breakup -- with a broken ECU, and never ever left me stranded.
I got married young to an older man who was, in hindsight, actually jealous of my car. He refused to have it repaired, and wouldn't allow me to work to pay for it myself. The breaks failed and Bella began to show the effects of generally not being cared for. When I had my daughter, my husband insisted we get rid of her because she "wasn't safe for the baby". Finally I relented and sold her to a coworker of his. It was one of the most tragic days of my entire life. I've spent the last 15 years searching in vain for her. If any of you EVER see a two-tone maroon and white 1986 LeBaron, PLEASE let me know as I will do everything in my power to get her back!!! My biggest fear is that she was a victim of the "Cash for Clunkers" deal. I don't even want to THINK about it.
Fast forward to now. I was feeling a bit nostalgic and did a search for 1986 Chrysler LeBarons in the hopes of seeing Bella for sale. Instead, I found a very nice white one, same year, same interior, with an $800 starting bid on eBay. Knowing these cars usually go for far more, and dumping most of my disposable income into my Honda Civic, which is on its last legs, I fell victim to wishful thinking and put the lowest possible bid on the car, knowing full well it would wind up going to someone with more money to spend. And then I forgot about it.
Days later, I was at work when I noticed an email from eBay, "You have won an auction!" 'Oh, those $.99 work pants, great...' I thought. But it wasn't the pants. IT WAS THE LEBARON. I was thrilled and horrified at once. I texted my new and truly wonderful fiance, expecting to be admonished, and instead he wrote back, "Awesome. When do we go get it?" I think he knew, having been told of the legendary Bella, that was pretty much the only correct response.
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif)
We are now awaiting delivery... My old friends were beside themselves over it, my high school boyfriend insisting that this somehow MUST be Bella, repainted and a bit older now, and my best friend ordering me to "Put on your spiked collar and come pick me up!" (I used to be a punk... lol) I am so excited. I know it's NOT Bella -- it's a turbo and she notoriously took about 5 minutes to get from 0-60. But in the photos, you can see that this car is maroon under the white paint. And it has the same small hole in the upholstery near the rear passenger seatbelt. Regardless, this one will be loved and I never plan on getting rid of it. They can bury me in the thing. And I'll never stop looking for Bella. She has to be out there somewhere.