A Goodbye to Shotty

It's sad - but true. My faithful '98 Mustang, affectionately "Shotgun" or "Shotty", took a beating during TS Fay at the end of August (reference our 20 Aug posts).

I bought Shotty at the end of my junior year at USAFA, May '04, I think. And there have been many memories since then. Speeding tickets in Colorado. Trying to take a rear-wheel drive out in the CO snow. Giving someone a yard job as a result. Keys locked inside, during an ice storm, with Shotty running. Several cross-country trips, the longest from CO to BOS, three straight days of driving. Hauling more than anyone ever thought possible, thanks to the convertible top - desks, 7' oak bookcases, dressers, seven people at once. Shuttling friends all over Boston. The airport run right down Storrow Drive. More tickets in Boston - for parking and speeding. My million dollar smile that swayed the better judgment of the young blonde parking clerk in downtown Boston who should have made me pay most of those eleven parking tickets. Moving friends, every six months. Nick and Joelle taking Shotty out on their dates. Shotty and I braving the Boston traffic - through the thick and thin. And then on out to FL, via Chicago. Thankfully no more tickets - but several tours of the Cape. And not a single break in stride the whole way through.

But on 20 Aug, I had backed Shotty into our drive the night before the TS Fay, hoping to protect her soft top from the winds and any blown objects. Not expecting the rain to be the kicker. By the time the waters were rising, there wasn't anywhere I could take her. And besides, at that point we were getting ready to leave and putting everything possible in our house up. So the water rose - and flooded Shotty's engine block and got inside. Flooded the exhaust system too.

We had to leave for Phil and Cathy's wedding (yay!) before I could have the insurance inspector come out - so I left a key. When I returned, the inspection showed everything was fine. So I tried to fire her up - and Shotty wouldn't even turn over. So we went through the drama of having her towed to the dealership, authorizing an inspection, then discovering that the chip in my key got busted, so dropping $200 to have new keys made, and then finding that my car actually didn't work. Ridiculous, right? Anyway, Shotty was declared a total loss due to water penetration through the seals in the engine block - and repair was going to cost more than she was worth. So ends the saga of Shotty and I.

Here are a few pics of Shotty, Cecilia, and I.




Farewell, Shotty!