Parked and Forsaken...

When I completed the restoration of my 180b in 1995 I was left with some small unfinished details. Among them was the missing outside mirror that was considered an extremely rare item!

One day in 1999 I detected by chance in Achrafieh a gray 190b still being used as a cab. The first thing I noticed was the original mirror on the front left fender. I parked next to it, looked at the driver and asked him if he would sell me the mirror of his car. The old man, surprised by my freaky question said he would give me the mirror only if I could get him any other one. Without hesitation, I went to a used car parts store and got him a Peugeot 504 mirror. I helped him install it, took my newly acquired mirror straight to the re-chroming shop and “hop” within a week the mirror was installed in my car.

Later on, in 2004, I saw the same car and driver waiting for a “client” at the same place…This time I decided to use his taxi services…I jumped out of my (now ex) girlfriend's car (I paid the price for leaving her alone) and asked him to take me to ABC Achrafieh. The ride was pleasant, the driver funny – a typical old service driver – and the car was running smoothly though it was relatively “tired”; something normal for a 40+ years old car…

Years passed by, and I started seeing this same car parked in Karm El Zeitoun next to my friend’s house. I wondered what happened to the driver since the car seemed to be disintegrating under the sun and the rain…I asked Youssef (since he knows the neighborhood) to check if the car is for sale…I had, and continue to have, a strong desire to acquire it and restore it!

As I expected, the owner of the car had passed away…Normally the ownership would have been shifted to his heirs – his wife in this case, since he had no children – unfortunately this did not happen because of some legal and financial disputes the owner had with the previous mayor of the region who also passed away…!!!
A bit out of reality story…but until now, the car is sitting at the corner of the street…waiting to be junked or to find a new owner…I’ll do my best to find the new owner or to be the new owner myself…my desire to restore it is getting stronger every day…

Follow me; the journey has just started…