Hamachi vs. Winston

Being a SoCal native my relationship with my cars have been a decade-long love-hate relationship. My first vehicle, a Toyota Corolla, was named the Love Bus by one of my high school friends (for reason unbeknown to me) and survived a little over 2 years under my helm. Unfortunately, it was totaled on the way to school when another driver decided to place her car squarely in the middle of the two oncoming lanes of traffic. After that it was a variety of vehicles including the Volvo and Love Bus No. 2 which was a Chevy Prizm (but for all intents and purposes a Corolla).

In December of 2004, I bought my first car, Winston or Winnie the Mini. He was a beaut, in classic black and I loved him more than anyone should probably love a vehicle. I had such a good time driving him for those 60k plus miles, even though I know most of my passengers were not sorry to see him go. Unfortunately, Winston came with many manufacturer problems (don't ever buy a car the 2nd year it is made). I had so much replaced on him, from the window motors, steering wheel, steering fuel pump, batteries, tires, struts, etc., that by the time he decided his transmission wasn't going to be functioning for much longer I realized it was time to say goodbye. After four years of motoring across L.A., I kissed Winston goodbye and said hello to Hamachi.
Now, Hamachi is Japanese and practical, being a Subaru Impreza with All-Wheel Drive and has excellent safety ratings. He doesn't often turn heads, and I don't get a million questions about how fun is it to drive, but he's a good piece of gear. I've learned slowly to love Hamachi (very similar to how I learned to love sushi) and am now proud to say that I bought a car from a company that has managed to brave the economic turmoil of the past year. (Note: Mini also did very well last year.)

I may not fit the description of the average Scooby Doo driver, and definitely miss my greatest fashion accessory Winston, but at least I won't have to worry about Hamachi going kamikaze on me.