[heimue]

• Friday, 8pm: The garage door opens in Dallas, TX, and a screaming orange, low and clean 79 Kadett C 2dr sedan blinks at me. I sit in it, turn the key and drive it out of the garage. It's love at first sight. Behind the front seats: a bottle of NOS, with a red warning banner on it "Remove Before Flight". That's exactly what I'll do now, "fly" this little racer home on I-20 from Dallas to Newnan, GA.
• Friday, 9pm: After getting familiar with the Kadett, I'm on my way. Going on the Interstate through Dallas, people giving me a "Thumbs-up" all over the place. Let's do something to stay awake and count 'em.
• Friday, 9:10pm: Memory overload - I stop counting the thumbs, it'll just be too much. I have to concentrate on the traffic.
• Friday, 10pm: Just outside of Dallas, I'm going about 5 over the speed limit, a state trooper jumps into his cruiser, turns on the lights, and goes behind me. Shoot, I didn't think they are that picky here! I stop, and here is about our conversation:
  Trooper: "license and registration please". I hand it to him.
  Trooper: "Sir, I see you have a Texas license plate, but a Georgia registration. How come?"
  Me: "I just bought the car in Texas, and my cardboard plate is taped inside my rear window." (hardly visible behind the tinted windows...).
  Trooper: "So I see that you are driving a ... let's see ... a 79 Opel. Who made that?"
  Me: "Opel did, the car was imported from Germany."
  Trooper: "OK, I've just never seen such a cute lil' car and was kinda curious what it was. Have a good trip, and drive safely!" I'm speechless...
• Friday, 11pm: I'm going around 60, a Honda with a huge front spoiler and rear wing comes up from behind, going probably 80 or so. Parallel to me, he steps off the gas, looking over, all of him saying "I'm a bored 18 year old, and wanna race your freakin' orange thing". He steps on the gas again, pulling off. I was thinking for about two tenth of a second (yeah, I'm getting old, I have to think about stuff like that...), then I was nailing the pedal down to the floor. A moment later, the ricer is next to me again, then I'm gone. He gave up at 120, I continued to 130 before I let it go because I didn't want to spend the night in a Texas jail. I know I have friends at the Texas police, but I didn't want to overdo it...
• Saturday, 12:10am: I'm crossing into Louisiana, and the Interstate is really bad. The suspension on the Kadett is like a brick, and my rear end feels like a test device for gravel roads. I don't see the truck tire on the road, and hit it with the passenger side of the front spoiler. "Nur fliegen ist schöner". It does a BANG like in a war zone, the Kadett goes airborne, I land a little askew with the front towards the right shoulder. That's where I wanna go anywhere, I stepped on the brakes and rolled out on the shoulder. Man, everything there including my right front wheel and tire must be gone! I check my passenger side, the tires are both OK and hold air, but the front spoiler is shredded. A few parts are dragged underneath the car, including the front license plate, and I just rip off the rest of the spoiler and the tag. The passenger fender is slightly dented, but I'll be able to fix that at home.
• Saturday, 12:20am: After I pulled off the next exit to check on the damage without fear that an 18-wheeler kills me, I go back on the Interstate. I see the pot hole on the entry ramp too late, and hit it full force. I stop again to check my tires and wheels for any damage, but I'm a lucky one again. I spontaneously love that little car!
• Saturday, 3-6am: I'm catching a little rest, soundly asleep in the car in a Walmart parking lot, just a mile after crossing the Mississippi river bridge.
• Saturday, 8am: Somewhere after Jackson, I'm going 5 under the speed limit, out of nowhere I see blue lights behind me. What the heck is it now? Do I need a large bumper sticker, saying "It is a 79 Opel. Opel made it!" or what? Here again, the conversation:
  Trooper: "Hi, how's it going? I was just noticing your beautiful Kadett C. Where are you heading?"
  Me: (speechless) "Ahem, home to Georgia, I just bought..."
  Trooper: "Yeah, you know, when I was stationed in Heidelberg in the military, I had just the same Kadett C, same body, just a different color. I liked it so much you wouldn't believe it. I never thought I would see one ever again. Is it for sale?"
  Me: "Ahem, no, like I said I just bought it, in Texas, and now I'm driving home to Georgia."
  Trooper: "OK man, well, have a good trip and drive safely!". I'm speechless again.
• Saturday, 2pm: I'm back home in Newnan, I had a good trip, I was driving more or less safely (except the truck tire incident), and yes, I'm still speechless... AND I DO LOVE THAT LITTLE GERMAN CAR!!! It's name will be "Jägermeister", and the tag that I applied for is "JGRMSTR".

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