Number Two and Number One

This is the one—although this is Number Two. This is the '98 Subaru Outback that convinced me that Outbacks are the greatest cars ever made for the modern action sports hero or heroine. Got snowboards, surfboards, paddleboards, skateboards, or bikes (but please, no stupid hybrid toys) you need to haul up the hill or down to the sea? This is your steed. One hundred and seventy three thousand miles, and still running strong. OK, there's an issue with the thermostat this week, but that's a minor detail. Minor. This sweet baby saw it all and handled it all, and is still ready for more. (And she's for sale, inquire within.) I named her Number Two because...

There was one before her, a Sub Wagon, before they were called Outbacks, and that one was gnarly... a vicious little red menace that never needed oil (until the day she died from lack of oil) and tore it up in the snow and got purposefully slammed into snowbanks and she just kept running and running. I can't remember how many miles Number One had; it was a lot. I bought her for eight hundred bucks, sold her for eight hundred. Three plus years of service without so much as a legit wash with soap or a fresh quart of oil. I was mean to her but I loved her and I learned my lesson. Things were different with Number Two. I'm not even sure I can sell her. Make an offer. She and I will discuss it.