I knew it was true love the first time I laid eyes on her in that field.  Even from a distance, I could tell she was really something special, like nothing I'd ever seen before.  Her open, inviting features, and all of her beautifully rounded curves -- I was hooked.  Her name was Minnie, and although she had certainly seen better days, you couldn't have convinced my eight year old self of that.  All I could see was her potential, and how stunning she could be with just a bit of loving care. 

Minnie was a 1951 Studebaker Commander Starlight Coupe, and restoring her was my stepfather's project the summer I was eight years old.  We spend long hours together sanding the rusty spots off of that car.  It was on Minnie's widely curved flanks that I learned how to use body filler correctly, and learned about the troubles that can result from taking short cuts on doing things the right way.  Minnie taught me some incredibly basic but valuable lessons:  if you put your tools back where you got them, you'll always know where that socket is next time you need it; paint sticks best when you take the extra time to make sure your surface is clean, dust free and dry; and sometimes it is more important to go "original" than to do it just your way.  Minnie also taught me how much I love working with my hands, being tired and dirty, but seeing something tangible of which I can be proud at the end of the day.

Once she was clean, straight and rust free once again, it was time to give Minnie her new paint job.  I can remember afternoons spent on a stool sitting at the counter of our local parts store, looking at paint books in anticipation of ordering the paint for Minnie.  I didn't just want to look at Studebaker colors; I just couldn't see then sense in limiting the range of possibilities.  I picked out incredible color after color that I would have loved to have seen Minnie wearing around town. Liberty Blue from Pontiac's 1969 color chart would have looked sharp, or maybe even the "notice me" flash of color of Ford's Candy Apple Red -- I just wanted her to look sharp.  When I was told no, we were definitely going to paint Minnie an original 1951 Studebaker color, I was disappointed.  The colors on that page just didn't have the "pop" of the colors from just a few years later, but arguing was useless.  She was to be painted an original color.  After looking all the colors over, I decided on Maui Blue.  I couldn't wait to see her, with her cool blue exterior and light gray interior.  But alas, it was not to be; I was overruled, and Minnie was painted Shenandoah Green.  I never quite got over it.

I do not know that everyone has a defining moment like mine, a point in time that they can pinpoint as the moment a passion was ignited.  I lost my heart all those years ago to a beautiful older gal with generous curves, and although she certainly has not been my last love affair of that kind, Minnie will always have a spot deep in my soul as one of my first loves.

By Bailey

Bailey is a freelance writer.