Wednesday, July 4, 2012

This is the end

...well, not quite.

It was a moment that was a few months in the making:  I sold my car last night.

Since last fall I have been on the fence about selling my NSX.  It has been a battle between two voices on each shoulder.  One says to sell it, it just sits there all day doing nothing.  You don't drive it, it collects dust, you are paranoid taking it anywhere, you hate the attention, it's too flashy.  The other side tells me to keep it. You've put all this money into it, it's still the sweetest driving machine you've ever owned, it's unique, it's irreplaceable, nothing under $50-60K will even come close to it.  Of course it doesn't help that every time I consider selling it, I pull myself back from the precipice by throwing more money at it, hoping the cash spent will make me want to keep it.  Since coming out of storage it's had the ball joints replaced, steering wheel changed, harnesses and bar removed and valve covers replaced with the Type R ones I've always coveted.

In the end though, I got an offer I couldn't refuse and I accepted it.

Blackbird is going to a very good home, to a young owner (23 years old...holy crap, when I was that age my DD was a mountain bike!) who loves it and will give it the proper attention she deserves.  He's already got plans to bring it to Importfest in Toronto this August.  I could never do that with my busy lifestyle, so I'm glad  the car is finally getting its day in the sun.

There was some controversy though. I had a solid buyer in Toronto who was ready to make the trip up to Ottawa to take it, and I had a standing offer from a close friend for it too. In the end I think the right choice was made.

So yesterday I drove it to work for the last time, snapped this pic:
...and enjoyed my last day with her.  What's funny is that my OCD-ness with the NSX made me uncomfortable with bringing it to work...despite the fact it was my last day with it!  On top of that I wanted to wash it the night before as it was dusty from the construction work that happened at my house the week prior. Oh man, was it ever time to let it go.

After work I drove it to the new owner's place of business, exchanged the keys for the cheque, said a few words and hopped into my wife's waiting Odyssey with the kids in tow. My 7 yr old daughter Hanna figured out what was happening and started crying! The new owner tried to tell her, "don't worry, your dad will buy a faster and better car!". :)

And so my blog with JH4NA1158NT800035 ends here.  I hope to maintain it with more updates because in my heart I believe I will own another one again.  I have owned many cars since entering the workforce but I've had this the longest. I know it pales in comparison to many people out there but for me this was a record.  If I can find myself back into a GTR again, I know if the right NA2 2002-2005 vehicle came up at the right time I will be back.  There's also the possibility of the second-gen NSX, but the jury is still out on that.  In the meantime other ex-NSXers are trying to convince me to join them in their post-NSX choices (namely Porsches or R35 GTRs) but I'm not going to rush into anything.  I'll prob pick up the NA1's little brother, the AP1 S2000 as a fun toy for track days and summer drives.  I've always liked them.