Le Baron

You think you know yourself and your needs, but hey, you might be surprised!

In 2003 the 7-seated Mitsubishi Space Wagon I had been transporting kids in for 15 years died. I had seen it coming and been researching for a new car. What did I desire? Well, I wanted a car that could pretty much only seat me. I needed my space!

My dream car is a Mercedes SL 450 1978 or so. Out of the question because of the winter conditions on the 64th latitude. An Audi TT Quattro would work though! But I had to let that one go too, the used ones were still way too much money for me.

Shopping around at the car dealers in Umeå I bumped into something unexpected. Sleek lines, beautiful navy blue and… a convertible. Now, my mind had never even been close to a convertible. I am a very cold person. I easily get cold and am constantly wearing more clothes than anyone else. Driving without a roof? Never. Why?!

The thing I laid my eye on that day was a Chrysler Le Baron 1990. I just fell in love. And I bought it. On my 47th birthday. My first own car. In March. Lots of snow still on the ground. Crazy.

Summer came and delivered convertible weather. A normal 64th latitude summer I am driving my Le Baron top down about 5 days. Yeah, it’s way too little but still, those days are worth it. Summer 2003 I didn’t push the top up button for three weeks in a row! And I got to know unexpected things about myself.

To drive an open car to me is a sensual experience. The wind in your hair, the birds singing, the smell from the harvested fields, the sun on your bare arms, the joy of the total experience, I just love it and I had no idea I would! I had no idea a convertible was what I needed!

2011 was another record summer, and the transmission broke during the first heat wave in May. The Baron was in a garage parking lot all summer while I was trapped in my winter Subaru trying to fix a new transmission for my darling. Which I knew would be a costly business and probably take time. I had no idea…

It turned out there were no pre owned transmissions in the country. And no new ones. Okay, I need to check over seas. It turned out there were no pre owned transmissions in the U.S. And no new ones. They weren’t manufactured anymore.

So, that’s when a normal person would have given in. Perhaps it wasn’t meant to be. I should be grateful for the years we had together. It’s time to move on.

But not me. Sometimes I drove by the garage parking lot and just watched it. I mean, it looked perfectly healthy! I just couldn’t accept that it was dead.

To make an extremely long story short, I finally managed to get someone in the U.S to BUILD me a new transmission and ship it over to Sweden! I won’t tell you the costs, but I can tell you that in early October, when it was time to put my Le Baron in winter storage it had a new transmission and ran like a a happy cat!

The money fro a new transmission on a 21 year old car was of course inexcusable. The car wouldn’t be worth the costs on the market. But for me it was. I learned that heat wave summer while being canned in a winter car that I absolutely needed a convertible. And there was no way I would find a different one for that money. I had also put a new top on some years earlier and I kept it in mint condition.

Filling up the tank on my way home that October day a man stopped and admired my car. I told him the story and was astonished at his story back. He had owned a Le Baron earlier but the transmission broke. As they do on this car, I learned. That’s why it was impossible to find a used working transmission anywhere. “You have no idea what you’ve accomplished” the man said, “I’ve never heard anything like it. And the engine will run forever, you lucky woman!”.

Wow, I had done the right thing being stubborn and persistent! Boy, was I happy when I drove back home and made the car all set for winter storage!

I told Audrey this story the other day as we were cruising through Umeå. For three weeks now we have been driving top down to all my treatments and appointments. And she is carved out for the job as a Le Baron driver in her French hair cut and head scarves. 

This record hot summer when my convertible has been our sanctuary and relief has given us uncountable moments with the wind in our hair, the birds singing, the smell from the harvested fields and the sun against our bare arms. Oh how we will cherish those memories when snowed in the coming winter. An oh how happy I am about my stubbornness and persistence. At least when it comes to my precious Le Baron.