WTB #1

When I'm not hating on society, I'm scouring the web trying to find that elusive "barn-find," the cool car that's been sitting, unused but rust-free, in someone's garage, outhouse, barn, etc., that needs some restoration and is now on sale for next-to-nothing. Sadly, everyone else is looking for such a car: everyone wants something for nothing (including yours truly).

Luckily for me, I have relatively cheap taste. Or, as Bourdieu says, "Because the dispositions durably inculcated by objective conditions … engender aspirations and practices objectively compatible with those objective requirements, the most improbable practices are excluded, either totally without examination, as unthinkable, or at the cost of the double negation which inclines agents to make a virtue of necessity, that is, to refuse what is anyway refused and to love the inevitable" (1977: 77). In other words, I think cheap cars are cooler than expensive cars because, well, it's no fun to lust after a Maserati that I'll never have.

There is one exception, of course: the Porsche 356 coupe. I'm a sucker for curves and simple lines, and this car has both. It's too bad that this is a Porsche--I'm not looking for a performance race car, just a daily driver I can stare at for hours, spend time fixing up, and, you know, define me as a person. There's nothing too flashy about this car (which my father refers to as a rolling bathtub). The most expensive of these models, the convertibles, sell for $185,000, but I think the coupe looks better. A decent coupe can be found for around $20,000, and some go as low as $10,000. Is it too much to want one for $2,000?

If I had a straight, rust-free 356 with no engine (cheaper that way!) I'd throw in a rebuilt VW 1600cc 4-cylinder. Great gas mileage, and it'd fit right in the engine bay. This is the DREAM car. If you can help me find such a car, I would LOVE you forever. And ever. Amen. If I already love you, I would love you more.