I found a buyer for my Trans Am. He’s offered me $11,250 and will be flying down from Virginia Beach this Friday morning to pick it up and drive home, assuming it passes muster anyway. I advised him to stop by the DMV afterwards and get a temp tag to drive home on, but he said he’d take a chance driving home with my plates on it. Most likely I’ll try to convince him again to get a temp tag, as I’d feel better about it if he did, but ultimately I guess it’s up to him. I just asked him to mail me the plate back once he gets home. I’d sorta like to have the old BJS WS6 back, so I can display it on my shelf with my old plates from Michigan, QKA 259 and LQS 407.

Speaking of “Locutous,” as we were fond of calling the car that wore that plate, somebody on the GTO board posted a link to a form where you can get a free AutoCheck report on any VIN number. I already have a report for my other vehicles, but I decided to run one for my old Grand Prix and see whatever became of it. I admit I clicked the button with a little trepidation; when we traded that car in (for a whopping $500) on my wife’s Pontiac Vibe in 2002, I had little hope for it other than proceeding straight to the junkyard. Especially in Florida, since the car’s A/C system needed a total replacement. I believe I once posted something to the effect of “I don’t want to know where it is” it on this very site.

To my surprise, turns out that the car went to an auto auction in August of ‘02, was purchased and has been registered to an owner in Lakeland, FL ever since. They apparently had to get a loan to buy it, because a lienholder was reported on the title, but it looks like it was paid off this summer. They still have it, it seems — the registration was renewed again this past July. Wherever that car is, I hope it’s doing right by someone…and that they are deserving of the same loyalty that it has given me.

On Friday, it’s most likely that my second car will go to meet its next destiny. As it has been better cared for than my Grand Prix, I feel that it is going to a home where its owner will appreciate it as I have. And I’m lucky to be able to say that the event is cause for celebration as well, because it means the arrival of my next trusty steed, a step up the performance ladder and the ownership of another in a long line of beastly, black V8s wearing arrowhead badges. Yep…I’m keeping the spirit of Detroit alive here in my own little corner of the world.