Car #5: Sept. 1996 - Aug. 1998
1983 Ford Econoline Van

EIGHT MILES PER GALLON

In 1996, my electronic music demo tape was so completly KICK-AZZ (or so I thought), I quit my cushy animating job, sold my nice new car, and bought this completely foul van so I could drive out to California to try and "make it." Unfortunately, this old twin-gas-tanked Ford needed so much work getting it through inspection, that by the time is was registered, I didn't even have enough money left to make it outta the driveway, let alone the state. Three weeks later, I begged for my job back. On my first day, the boss saw the van and said, "nice ride." It was one (among many) of the lowest points of my life. This particular Econoline was originally used to cart around mentally handicapped schoolchildren (what was once insensitively called "the short bus"). On the upside, having removed three of the five rows of seats, I was able to fit ten of my closest friends in it for excursions, and I even set up a drumset in the back when the stereo blew (no, really). It took a lot of kicking and screaming, but I eventually fell in love with this van; it was among the most by-God reliable vehicles I ever owned. Oh yeah. I mildly rear-ended a lady driving the van too fast in the rain. $5,000 settlement. DAMAGE INFLICTED: Dented front fender & bumper; interior soaked with cat urine