The White Queen

“The White Queen” is how Jim refers to my classic roadster; a 1986 Mercedes Benz 560SL white convertible.   It was one of my personal goals to acquire an SL convertible as my 50th birthday present to myself.  I had seen a butter yellow one with a tan ragtop in a movie back in the late 1970′s and made up my mind that I would own one someday.   While I didn’t find the car of my dreams for my 50th birthday, a very strange thing happened a few months after my 55th birthday.
I was at my local auto body shop having my ten-year old Saab hatchback repaired following a minor fender bender, when I mentioned to Wayne, the owner, that I would soon be leaving NJ and moving to Tucson, AZ.  I explained that once I was settled in Tucson,  my plan was to sell my black Saab and replace it with my dream car; a butter yellow classic Mercedes Benz SL.  While I loved my Saab, it and I had not been a match made in Heaven.  On the other hand, Wayne and my Saab had  spent much more time together over the past few years than I liked to think about.  I had never owned a car that had more minor collisions with stationary objects than this one.   Wayne agreed that driving a black car in Tucson was probably not a good idea with all the heat and desert dust.  Replacing it with a convertible was not a bad idea, either.  He promised to be on the lookout for an SL for me.  Wayne also served as a used car finder for clients and friends.  I scoffed at the prospect of him finding my dream car any time soon.  I figured I’d be living in Tucson by the time he found me anything resembling my dream car in NJ.  But he was unfazed.
Two months later,  I was at work one afternoon when my cell phone rang.  It was Wayne, from the auto body shop.  He said that he had found my car, and I should arrange to come by his shop that night to take a look at it before someone else grabbed it.  I was sure it couldn’t possibly be my dream car.  “Is it butter yellow with tan leather interior and tan rag-top?” I asked.  Wayne told me it was white with blue leather and it was a a 1986 560SL!  He said it was in pristine condition with only 42,000 miles on it.   I was disappointed.  Yes, it was in the correct year range, but it was not yellow and I certainly didn’t need a 560 engine model.  Wayne insisted I come look at the car.
Here I was planning to move to Tucson in a matter of  weeks.  Arrangements had already been made to ship my Saab across country to Tucson.  How could I purchase a car while I was in the middle of moving? When I mentioned it to Jim and the lunacy of me even considering buying a car this close to our move, he convinced me to go take a look at it.  If it was as pristine as Wayne claimed it to be, I should quickly make a deal and have the car shipped to Tucson.  Jim was tired of listening to me talk about my dream car.  Who knew how look it would be before I found another one in AZ that came this close to my description?
So, after work, I drove over to Wayne’s shop.  He took me through the front office into the garage.  There in the middle of the body shop floor sat the white 560 SL with its top down.  Under the dim lights of the garage and with the fading afternoon sunlight filtering through the windows, the car glowed; and I swear I heard a choir of angels singing.  Wayne handed me the keys and invited me to test drive it.  His good friend and neighbor was selling the car.  The owner and his wife had a baby on the way and they were planning to move to a farm in Virginia situated at the end of a mile-long dirt driveway.  The Benz no longer fit his lifestyle.  Wayne’s friend, Jimmy, had bought the car in Long Island, NY from its original owner.  He had owned the car for 4 years and garage kept it.
I anxiously got behind the wheel and drove it around the block.  After driving my front-wheel drive, four-cylinder Saab for so long, the Benz.  seemed huge and amazingly powerful.  As I gazed out the windshield, the front hood seemed to go on forever. Wayne was right.  It was pristine.  It was perfect, even if it wasn’t butter yellow with tan leather and top.  I made my offer.  The next day, Jimmy counter offered and I made him a second offer.   We had a deal.   By the end of the week, Wayne had a buyer for my Saab.  I contacted the moving company and changed the description and serial number of the car to be shipped to Tucson from my old Saab to my new classic 560 SL; “The White Queen.”
I had the pleasure of driving my Mercedes SL for several weeks before leaving NJ for our new home in Tucson.  The car, along with Jim and me made our last appearance in NJ in the annual Middlebush Village 4th of July parade.   It was the perfect send off.  In the four years we have lived in Tucson, the White Queen has taken us to Pine Top, AZ and all over Tucson.   She has 60,000 miles to her credit now, and has also appeared in two local car shows.  With my dream fulfilled, it is now time for me to find another Mercedes Benz SL

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