A Humble Eulogy To My Favorite Car

Dedicated to 2T1CF22P4XC174834
(2005-2010)

You were 1999 Toyota Camry Solara, and I was just a 23-year-old boy. It was the love at first sight. For over five years you granted me shelter along the highway of my life. My favorite car. My ONLY car!

You were more than just a piece of machinery. Just like in Bon Jovi’s song I’m “a cowboy, and on a steel horse I ride” – you were my steel horse, my steel bronco. Two hundred of them as the matter of fact, shaped in a glamorous V6, were hiding from indecent gazing under your hood. From the very first time we met I was fascinated by your Toyota Racing Development (TRD) suspension and shiny 17-inch Lexus wheels.You well deserve those Lexus wheels for being so Trustworthy, Relaxing, Dependable (TRD). I have to admit I got a really good deal on you. Yes, money was a big issue back then, well you know…

Yellowstone National Park

I remember the time we were together in Yellowstone National Park. It was summer and it was blazing hot. One thing I’m especially thankful for is your restless A/C, it saved my life numerous times in Vegas and in the Death Valley as well. You’ve put on a lot of miles over the years as we traveled all over the West: Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, Arizona, California, Oregon – but that’s OK, they are mostly highway miles.

Antelope Island

There were nights when we couldn’t go to sleep racing until sunrise on the Antelope Island. Those were the nights when we conceived the true life in your engine compartment. I’m so grateful for your transmission not being automatic!

Solara is in Provo now. However, this is not the time to grieve, but the time to celebrate her new life with other people. Perhaps we will reunite again in my dreams some night. You will be sorely missed.