Welp.....my 2nd and only remaining AWD STE departed early today, and I have quite the queasy feeling in the pit of my stomach right now, which actually comes as a surprise. I thought I was past this. These cars have been sitting there, completely useless for so long, that I thought I was completely detached from them at this point. They had me at wits end, constantly worrying about the tires being inflated, and registration stickers being up to date, always stepping outside in the morning, or coming around the corner from work at night with my heart in my throat, hoping they hadn't been towed away for one reason, or another. I love ALL my cars, but.....they also put me through an immense amount of stress (or I should say, the rules and regulations of apartment managements have).

I had dreamed of the moment I would finally be free of these things. The moment where I don't have to worry about these cars anymore, PERIOD. Every year, $78 per car for registration stickers. Every week or two, having to inflate the tires with a weak ass inflater that took 7-10 minutes per completely flat tire. Talk about raising stress and blood pressure. Imagine the feeling of not having to ever deal with, or worry about that anymore. With 3 cars down, one to go, this should have been a monumental moment.

But....something strange happened. I didn't feel anything, or think anything of what was going on while we were getting the car on the flat bed, or I was putting all the spare parts together. It didn't even hit me while we were signing the bill of sale, or I was giving him the title. It certainly didn't occur to me while he was counting out the money (other than I was a bit upset about how cheap I had to let this car go for). But when I went back outside, and the buyer got in the truck and started pulling away, it kicked in. A sudden melancholy feeling of loss. I looked at her, still sitting up there proud and resilient, despite how I had neglected her and left her dilapidated......and I couldn't help but think she's still plenty savable.....and those after market wheels look so good on there right now......and despite all the rust and paint peeling, that blue is fantastic.......and man, remember how people would be in awe of the dashboard and options on this car? And how about those ridiculously comfy seats? I was just hit with a flood of memories about how much I loved these cars. The 6000 STE sparked my interest in cars, and the '89 AWD is what sparked my obsession with rare edition FWD GMs. And there it was. The last of my sparks, being hauled away like some piece of scrap metal.

Right now, the voice in my head keeps trying to remind me that I'm GLAD it's gone, and I don't have to deal with all the headaches anymore, but......right now, that's not the way I feel. This actually feels like a sad day, not "the moment I've been waiting for". :cry:

Some pics of the car during its better days








This was at one of our meets a year or so ago. You could see the rust had already started to set in...








And the reason I fell in love with these cars (STEs in general)...