The Mav

It was Jan 1994 and my trio friends and I in high school were just getting into the groove of the driving thing. C. was one of the youngest of us and was about to turn 16 and anticipated getting her license soon. Her parents were planning to surprise her on her birthday with a "new" car.

C. was pretty nervous about what her parents definition of "new" was. She wasn't expecting the latest model of a 94 Grand AM or even a early Geo Storm like it seemed everyone else showed off in the parking lot. Sadly C. didn't have very high expectations at all. Yet we kept encouraging her "It's a car!" "How bad could it be?" Besides Jean sails drives her boat around. I had a 1985 Chevy Caprice Classic, 4 doors. It was all in out a big car. Everyone for some crazy reason loved it cause we could literally pack a boat load of people in it and still ride in comfort.

Anyways the night of C's birthday we took her out for a spin probably in the boat and celebrated her birthday like any other 16 year old would do..we went bowling..yeah that's it. We brought C back to her house as her parents were ready for the unveiling of the "new" car. We rounded the corner to her house and there it was in all its glory. It almost looked like the heavens had parted and a glow basked down upon a 1978 Ford Maverick painted black and yellow. We picked our jaws from the ground from shock and her parents paraded around us in excitement. "Look at your new car C!" "Isn't it awesome?!" Yeah sure awesome if you were some muscle car driving dude from 1978! We had to support our friend so we gave her all the encouragement a friend can get with a car that looks like a bumble bee and literally has an 8 track in the dash.

Believe it or not as "uncool" a car as this was, at least from a girls perspective..cause I think every guy in school had some kind of fixation to it. We actually enjoyed cruisin around in the old Mav. It did bring some kind of attention we never really had before. You always could find it in a crowded parking lot which is always a plus. She was after all probably the only girl in school to say she had an 8 track..who needs a stinkin C.D. player? You always knew C. was barrelling down the road coming a mile away. I think it was the black and yellow that would give her away.

Sadly the T-birds never challenged us at Thunder Road for pink slips. Probably cause they knew we would kick their a**. The old Mav just grew on us and although C. hated the car with a passion. The rest of us thought it was pretty cool, maybe cause we didn't have to drive it.

We had some good memories in that car, like when C. and I got pulled over by a cop. I honestly don't remember why she was stopped, I think he just wanted to check the car out. The officer asked C. how old she was cause at that time there was curfew enforcement and C. said 16 sir. I told her no C. your 17 now. I think he let her go with a warning..after all we were in a bad a** car.
After high school C. got another car and allowed her brother to drive the old Mav. If memory serves me correctly he wrecked it or something. Every time I see an old car that's similar body style and age as the old Mav, I always take a trip down memory lane with good friends and a sweet car.