Free Car! Contest

I wanted to get rid of my car because I hardly ever drove it and owning it had become more of a burden than an asset. Unfortunately I was having a hell of a time trying to sell it in Norfolk because of its less-than-perfect exterior (rust, dents, cracked windshield) and lack of a Virginia inspection. I came to the point of almost selling it for scrap, but that would've broken my heart, because it still ran...so I decided that I may as well try to give it away to someone needy.

Acting fast (trying to have it gone by June 30, since that's when the tags expired) I threw together a poster, (some of my first "print" design work in almost two years!), got some bids on printing, and finally settled on "'88 Mercury Sable Blue" one-color offset on FPC Speckletone Starch Cloud recycled paper. I also rented a P.O. Box for the entries to come to, so that it would remain anonymous.

The gist of the contest was that people had to write me a letter telling me why they, more than anyone else, deserved a free car. The most needy-sounding entrant would win, provided they were assuming to accept the car and all of the responsibility that came with it.

I spent a few days scootering around town to the poorest neighborhoods and hung about 150 posters on telephone poles. I put the posters out and waited...and waited...and waited. No, it wasn't that bad, a few entries trickled in, less than 10 in total. Most of the people sounded fairly needy, but this was the best, and the letter I chose.

In the end, I picked a winner, tidied the car up, and drove it to the their address. I would've called to check them out, but they didn't seem to have a phone, so I decided to just go for it. Tal followed me in his car since I planned on not returning home with mine. Fortunately they were at home, genuinely needy, and so very appreciative (and shocked!) that it was a wonderful experience all around.

As a postscript, I sincerely hope that the car treats them well and that they get as much use out of it as I did...they certainly needed it worse than I did. (The disabled husband was walking miles to work and they literally had to carry their poor daughter to the hospital once a week to have her head drained or something...) Here is a photo of me and them together... Just as I predicted, the damned digital camera decided to corrupt all of the shots except this one, so it'll have to do.

(Special thanks to Mom for the idea, Dad and Grandpa Coffinger for lots of car stuff through the years, and Tal for helping me out. :-)