1997 Dodge Neon 2 Door
Have you ever owned a car that you hated?
For me that has happened precisely one time in my life. The summer of 2005, in-between my Freshman and Sophomore years in college I was selling books door-2-door (don't hate me) in SouthWest Missouri. Unfortunately, on the last bit of the drive out from Kentucky the car gods decided to smite my Camry. The wipers stopped working, then started crashing into each other. Then, even more alarmingly, the Oil Pressure light came on. It seemed like
A trip to the local Toyota dealership confirmed my fears. Low oil pressure, and told me it was only going to get worse, and that I need a rebuild or replacement. Long story short I ended up getting talked into a deal where I traded the Camry, plus a few hundred $$ for '97 Neon that I hadn't even seen. Being a stupid teenager I went along with it. Giving up my 1st car, which I loved. For a Red 2 door Neon, that I hated.
It was Cherry Red, with a large Black vinyl strip at the top of the body line, and a tiny "flames" pinstripe vinyl that was either above or below. The stripes didn't look too bad from 30 ft, but once you noticed the flames it looked stupid.
It wasn't an especially terrible car even if everything about it was pretty cheap feeling. In fact since I hated it, it was also the only car of mine that I've ever really abused. It took pretty much all of it without a hiccup. I once ran over an actual boulder doing a U-turn in legitimate middle of nowhere, ripped the oil filter off and lost all the oil. I did shut it down immediately, but after a tow, oil filter, and some fresh oil it started right back up. I also went through like 9 tires on the Neon that Summer. The thing dealt with all of it, and returned something like 32-34 mpg.
I had the Neon for about a year, driving it around College throughout the Winter, but as soon as Spring hit I took it home and parked it. Instead I took the Trans Am back to College. In fact I don't think I ever even saw the Neon again, as my father handled the sale. It went to some 16-17 year old girl, as her first car. Exactly who I always thought it looked like that car was meant for.
Looking back, perhaps the Neon was a pretty decent little car. It's definitely an ugly little donkey though.
