ReNault LeCar

I used to work at Long Furniture back in the mid-eighties hauling furniture. Brook rarely showed up at my work but he couldn't wait to show me what he had seen at a foreign car lot down on West Meighan Blvd. So during my lunch break we drove over to look at a little limited edition 1979 Black Beauty Renault LeCar that was selling for $2,400.00. A small plaque on passenger side dash indicated that there were only 2500 of the Black Beauty LeCar's made that year. I drove back to Longs that very day with my new cool LeCar. I quickly sold my yellow 1973 VW Beetle and paid off the LeCar in a very short time. I really enjoyed that little car while I had it.

The images above were found on-line. My LeCar had fog lamps on the front that really made the look.  If you scroll down the page of the hyper-link you'll see what the dash looked like. I really loved this little vehicle. I remember getting a lot of comments from strangers because the car looked so unusual. The 1979 Black Beauty handled exceptionally well and was a fun drive.

I totaled the car back in 1987 while I lived in Atlanta, Georgia. The car was so little that the front crushed like a soda can. It was a rainy day and I was driving down an unfamiliar neighborhood in Cobb County. I hit the crest of a hill and the road took a sharp right and I didn't. There were no warning signs or light visible upon approach. I was driving the speed limit but too fast for conditions - meaning - I wasn't really driving the limit. I took out a brand new 1987 Oldsmobile that had come from the other direction. I tried to make the turn but it was too sharp and I was too late. I turned the car at an angle to miss the on-coming vehicle but we both crunched down along each other's sides. After impact, the LeCar slowly rolled down a hill and eventually scraped the pavement until it stopped. It was a bad day.
My car door was jammed up and my friend Jim sat motionless in the passenger seat, I guess, he was still in shock. I remember flipping open the canopy above me and jumping out the top. It was a very surrealistic moment. Jim later laughed at me for exiting the car that way. I remember I had a cassette of Tear For Fear's Song From The Big Chair playing SHOUT.

"Shout - Shout

Let it all out

These are the things I can do without

Come on - I'm talking to you - Come on!'

So anytime I hear that old song I think of a particular bad moment in time - when the road went right and I went wrong.