Zippy, Best Little Car Ever

Marne was the queen bee of the clay group: a long standing gathering of women who loved to work with their hands in clay, rolling, molding, pinching, smoothing, and finishing items made from a variety of clays from around the country. Marne was part of the original group that moved from Visalia, California, to Three Rivers, California when the founder of the group passed away and bequeathed her supplies and kiln to  the group, and my sister happened to have a place for a kiln and supplies.

 I happened into the group when I joined them one day, and that circle of long time friends welcomed their friend's sister as one of their own. "How thick should I roll this type of clay out to form the body of a coffee mug, Marne?" She had the answer. She'd watch me fiddling with the handle, trying to get it to adhere, and then ask 'Did you score the clay on the cup and handle first?" And "Stick a ball the size of a pea under the edges of the handle to make it stronger." And "Before you put the cover on that for the day, you might want to smooth that top edge, because it won't smooth out later."  We loved her.

Marne drove a light blue Toyota Matrix. It had rear view mirrors on both sides, and in the center of the dash, of course, but in her later years, Marne drove by feel instead of using those mirrors a lot of the time. While the fiberglass, or plastic, or whatever they use on those cars for bumpers was still in place, the valences that give the bottom profile of those dandy little economy cars a smooth appearance were all gone but one. I say gone: they were no longer on the car. Let's say that. Some were in her car port, like pale blue trophies from competitions with curbs and rock ledges in driveways and probably another car or two.

Marne passed away suddenly last summer, and the items in her estate were distributed among her closest friends. The larger, more significant items, like her blue Matrix were bequeathed to a non-profit she loved, to be sold for their fundraising efforts. I asked one of the ladies of the group who was helping disperse items about Marne's Matrix. "If you're interested in it, I'll get you in touch with the person handling her estate."  I heard from the attorney in a few days, and arranged to test drive the car after doing some research on reliability and safety, and what the Bluebook might be on the 17 year old car. Low mileage, considering the year, solid mechanically, straight frame, good tires, everything but the A/C worked. I was prepared to make a fair offer based on Bluebook and what the repairs would cost. I asked the lawyer what she thought was a fair price, and she asked if 1000.00 sounded fair. I paid cash.

I fixed the A/C myself, changed the wiper blades, evened out the tire pressure, and I had a car to drive to the barn daily (a 100 mile round trip, which was a killer in my 12 mpg truck, and a breeze in a 35 mpg car.)  When someone needed something dropped off somewhere, I'd volunteer to do so in my car, which I named Zippy.  Great mileage was a heaven sent gift.

Car snobs can look down their noses. I laugh at car snobs. If I drop the back seat, I have a six foot long cargo space that holds almost as much as the bed of my Ford F250, but enclosed. Zippy fits into parking spaces I used to look at longingly.  No car thief is going to target Zippy. She won't end up in a chop shop getting her vin number filed off to sell to a drug lord.

Will I ever replace the decorative valences? Naw. I love Zippy the way she is, and think lovingly of Marne every time I drive: Using my rear view mirrors, of course. Thank you Marne, for Zippy. I'll take excellent care of her.