BrewMaster

I am an avid reader of Rick Reilly in Sports Illustrated (the last page every week). This weeks installment is a must read for car lovers, especially those with a Vette fetish.

Click here, or for the lazy, here it is:

She was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. We would go everywhere together -- games, golf courses, long drives to nowhere at all. I'm sure my wife was insanely jealous, but this hottie was worth it.

We used to have so much fun, just the two of us, soaking each other with the hose, going to the park and staring at each other for hours, pulling into the drive-in and hearing the other guys whistle. Yeah, she was high maintenance -- and expensive. I was forever buying her stuff I was sure I'd bought her only the year before.

Everybody, though, said she was the most gorgeous beauty in town -- with her cute little rear end, sweet headlights and succulent curves. Damn, you should've seen her with her top off.

She was my little red 1961 Corvette. Rag top, white coves, 283 fuel-injected engine, big white sidewalls, gleaming chrome, big steering wheel, fuzzy red dice. Lord, she was fast. She could get rubber in all four gears.

We were together for 10 years, and every day with her was a joy. I could park her anywhere. Nobody messed with her. That car seemed to cut across age, sex and race lines. Old people ("I remember when those came out!" they'd say), middle-aged folks ("I was born that year!" they'd screech. And I'd reply, "Yeah, but most of her parts are still original") and kids ("Cool car, mister! What kind is it?") all adored her.

I remember the day I had to have one -- 11 years ago, at the Miami airport. I was schlepping my bags out to the curb when a Coppertone blonde wheeled up and her J. Crew husband jumped over the passenger door, into the seat. They sped off, laughing, kissing, the wind in their hair, the road opening up into rainbows just for them.

Once I had her, I took her everywhere. Drove her in parades. Lent her to photographers. Used her to chauffeur my brother-in-law and his bride from the church, the long veil spread out over the trunk. They sat up high on the back while the people threw rice. Uh-oh. My baby was going to have more rice marks than Elizabeth Taylor. So I punched it, and the bride fell backward and nearly out.

That car was a slice of Americana. If I happened to be in a bad mood, I knew not to take the Corvette, because people wanted to talk to me at every stoplight. People love classic Vettes like no other car ever built. That's classic Vettes. When you drive a muscle Vette, you look as if you're on your way to pick up your Viagra prescription.

Did women like that car? Does Homer like beer? Single men, take my advice: Forget hair clubs, cool lofts, partnerships at the firm. Just get a '61 Vette and you will have more women than a Tupperware convention.

But I let her go. It all happened so fast. We weren't speaking. I think she blew another water pump. Doesn't matter now. We were both hot over it. So I put money down on a sleek new Lexus coupe, walked into the kitchen and said to the wife, "Well, looks like we'll have to find a storage unit somewhere for the Vette because I just bought a new car!"

My wife looked at me as if I had said I'd boiled our three children and was now adding carrots. One sports car is all I get, she said. Sullen, I put the '61 Vette up for sale. Every guy who called about it said the same thing: "I've been looking for a '61 ever since the day I sold mine!"

"When was that?" I'd say.

"Twenty-two years ago."

She sold on eBay in eight days, and the next thing I knew a huge flatbed truck was idling in front of my house. I had to bundle her up as if I were sending a child away. I had to fasten on the hard top, which I'd never used. "She doesn't like to wear this," I protested to the truck driver as he pulled away, window closed.

It felt like somebody had stored my chest in dry ice. I went back into the garage and couldn't believe how empty it was, how ugly it was, how useless. I stood there, and, for a few seconds, I cried. I realized how stupid I was being and that there was only one thing I could do to get on with my life.

You know anyone who wants to sell a '61?

Issue date: December 10, 2001

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respect beer.

whitak24

brew, thanks for posting. imo, reilly is one of the best current writers in america, bar none. he can take almost any subject and project such deep feelings about it. unfortunatly, i don't get sports illustrated anymore, so it's nice to get a chance to read his work.

johnnymk

I had a '62 Corvette that I bought about 25 years ago as a basket case for $1800, sold it for $5500 a few years later after I put it back together. Everytime I see one, I kick myself in my butt a thousand times for getting rid of it. I can't even find a decent basket case for a reasonable price anywhere!!
To me, the '62 was the finest looking Vette ever made, especially with the right tires and wheels.

BrewMaster

you can still read his stuff on the internet, that's what I do. he has a really funny one about lists.

whitak24

thanks for the link brew. now i will get no work done until i've read every column in the reilly archive my boss will love that

BrewMaster

glad i could be of service...