Made in the USA

1. I am very frugal...I rarely buy anything that's not on sale or clearance and I NEVER make expensive, unneccessary purchases...never.
2. I love late 1960's, early 1970's muscle cars...I know, it's strange but it's true.

This is my absolute favorite of the muscle cars...this is a Dodge Challenger circa 1973. It's absolutley gorgeous, don't ya think?
I think I get that from my dad...I was born in 1968 and all the cars I knew growing up were the American made muscle cars...we had (almost this exact) Dodge Super Bee, it's the first car I remember growing up...and the second car I remember was a Mustang...then there were a slew of other Dodges and Chevy's.Tom and I were in the market this summer for a vehicle to replace his old, barely breathing, Chevrolet Silverado (plus the gas costs for that beast were outrageous). I, being the frugal one in the marriage, knew we should buy something reasonable, safe and practical. Why on earth we ended up at the Dodge dealer looking at this beauty is beyond me.

This is a 2011 Dodge Challenger R/T in Blackberry Pearl (it looks black until it hits the sun then it has a blue/purple shimmer.) See the matte black stripes down the side?
We ended up test driving one very similar to this (since this one was on the showroom floor we couldn't drive it)...next thing you know we're knee-deep in negotiations with the salesman and Sales Manager...WTF? They lowered their price but we couldn't get them to lower it to what we wanted to spend so we walked away. As the days passed, all we could think about was that car...but we knew someone else probably scooped it up days after we walked away...about a week and a half later this is what our driveway looked like:

Yep...I (we) made the most ridiculous, unneccessary, frivolous purchase of my life. Tom was ready to buy it the first day we were negotiating but I just couldn't wrap my head around spending that much money on a vehicle we were only going to be able to drive maybe 7 months out of the year...but I fell in love, I literally became obsessed. We've had the "black pearl" for 3 months now and I don't regret a thing. Our neighbors thought we had lost our minds (and they were probably right)...afterall, we still NEEDED to get Tom a vehicle but what can I say, lust is a very wicked thing. Perhaps we could get Tom this car?

1968 Chevelle Malibu SS

Ok...I'm just kidding (sort of). We did end up getting Tom a very practical, reasonable and safe vehicle...at least now we're not fighting over who gets to drive the black pearl, she's been all mine for the last week, and I have a feeling I'll be the one driving her until we have to cover her up and put her away for the winter! So far no speeding tickets! =)