A saga of lost love, lost money and a car………… by Greg Woods

August 2000, 'The Wife" says thanks very much for the last 15 years but see ya later! Wow, am I an ignorant male or should I have seen that one coming?

Three months later in moves a shiny red Corvette. I always wanted one, never thought it would happen. What a great trade! Well, so I thought. Car looked good, drove nice and sounded fantastic. Shouldn't cost much to run and look after. People looked and some even said what a lucky bloke I was having a car like that!

Was I in for a shock. First service picked up a few things, so what's $1000 bucks, no big deal. Then it happened, 1st & 4th gear only, gearbox crapped itself and I'd only had the car for three months. A full rebuild and several thousand dollars later I have this beautiful transmission. Slick gear changes, rear steps out going into 2nd. LOVE IT!

A wise man once said "Good things never last long before going shitty." (Greg Woods. April 2001) mmm... think he was right! Digital dash boards, you gotta love 'em. I hated mine. It was the next thing to break, twice. More money. I found a great auto electrician. He's managed to fix dodgy fuel pumps, crappy wiring and numerous other things. In the meantime, other things either broke, wore out or just needed replacing and the money spent just kept going up, and up and up. This car's a money pit. BUT I DO LOVE IT!

Fast forward to 2008 and I'm still spending money. It's never stopped. There can't possibly be anything left to fix. I now just look at the bill, hand over the Visa card and think it might be less next time. Yeah right!

After all that I've come to the conclusion that owning a 'Vette is similar to having a wife. When they're running hot you're in for an awesome time. When they're not they're a bitch, and they can both cost plenty to run and keep happy. At least I can lock the 'Vette away, disconnect the battery, put a cover over it and forget it's there. And a wife, well I'm sure there are plenty of things that she can do that a 'Vette can't, however that's another story.

The important stuff…. My car is a 1986 Ruby Red Coupe from America via Japan. I'm the 2nd Australian owner. Front and rear bits have been updated from a '92. The wheels are ROH Venturo 3 piece custom made. It has a larger throttle body and D & T headers. No other go fast bits!

As a confirmed mechanical no-hoper I'd like to thank all those (and there are many) who have helped me with this car over the last eight years.

I DO LOVE MY CAR (sometimes)!