Polly has a new coat.
I joined PCCA in 2007 when I learned there was an "organization" of ....well, Pinto people. I haven't been on the website for ....a long time. I was figuratively tickled to see "Jade" on the home page. I had the priviledge of meeting Jade at Dave's house during the 2007 Tulsa Pinto gathering that Dave hosted. It is interesting to think about the variety of Pintos represented in this outfit. That summer, Jade, the forever NEW Pinto was resting in her air condition living room while venerable old '74 Polly rested in the sun on the street with ordinary classics. Though Jade and Polly traveled very different roads, there is absolute kinship. Jade's history is one with uniqueness and increasing dollar value, while Polly's is a history even richer than the little car in the coloring book.... with a dollar value that might surpass the original $2,900.00 with the help from inflation. Jade has had a few owners, but Polly has been loved, hated, used, abused, and simply part of the same Kansas family since she was that shiny new red wagon. Her 169,000 mile engine has been rebuilt twice. She has been an organ donor once (light switch), but a recipient many many times.
In her golden years she has done a few things younger more flashy vehicles would envy. Last Memorial Day, she joined the Pinto Stampede and did eight laps around the mighty Kansas Motor Speedway. ....85 MPH and climbing ...with a lowly 2.0 engine. Just last month she flawlessly drove to Houston and back, a workhorse loaded with equipment. While in humble Humble, Texas she received a shiny new red coat. (I'll not tell all about the overspray on the interior.) Now my wife will ride in Polly some times, but I think it will take more decades for her to forget how hot black vinyl seats get in the Kansas summertime.
And now I can be sure I'll never be lonely. In Polly, someone will always strike up a conversation that starts with something like, "Oh, we used to have (color) Pinto just like that..." Yes, Shiny is GOOD!
PollyAl