[The_Blur]

When I went to Kansas, it was a long way from home. Little did I know that I would find a home there that would follow me.

I left my Saturn in St. Louis to be sold to the neighbor’s daughter. I cleaned it regularly by hand, although probably not to the standards we would expect here. The car had served me well in high school and had earned GM a lot of respect for its engineering and ability to endure incredible punishment over the years. The dealer told us that it was not uncommon for a customer to receive gifts for having service done there after joining the 300,000-mile club. You could tell who they were because their Saturns had been worn and beaten over the years but never replaced. The old Saturns would line up beside new ones in the service, and their age would stand out. She is still driving the Saturn.

At college, my roommate would drive me all over campus. I would repay my mileage debt in beer, shots, and mixers. A year later, I would get into a Cobalt coupe base model. It was my first new car, although it was obvious enough that my parents had bought it for me. I would take phenomenal care of it, and I would learn the basics of modifying my vehicle. By the time I was done, my Cobalt would have a full sound system, featuring deep Infinity speakers and a powerful pair of Alpine subwoofers in the trunk. My Cobalt would be treated with sound-deadening tar to absorb otherwise potent rattle. Riding on 16-inch MSR wheels and backed by the roaring sound of a full Magnaflow catback exhaust and AEM cold-air intake, this entry level Cobalt represented a start for me. It would be my entry into performance vehicle.

For many of you, the first performance car was a classic F-body or some muscle car. It used to be that someone could save up for a few years for a car, but technology, safety requirements, additional features, and styling trends made cars more expensive. When you started working at the age of 12, saving every dime, you could feasibly split a car with the parents at the age of 16. It might not be an even split, but it was fair enough. These days, a car doesn’t cost $3,000. It costs $23,000. Your cool Camaro back then might only have average performance today, but it was still cool. A lot had to be done to make this Cobalt impressive, but something about it kept it from ever being truly cool. It was cool enough for me, and I had goals.

I would, however, be limited by the lack of tuning available to the 2005 ECM. People were trying to piggyback forced induction through roundabout ways. When they talked about it, I wondered if this was safe, but I had not heard many complaints. I would never be so bold as to do this myself because my income while working through college was never sufficient enough to justify making such a crazy purchase as a warranty-demolishing turbocharger kit from even the most respectable company. I had to keep this car for a while, or so I thought.

I would be back home for the summer when a ride down a busy Manchester road would land my Cobalt in peril. There were two lanes going in either direction with a turning lane on either side of the road. In the center lane, I approached a green light. The new Honda Accord in the opposite direction charged across oncoming traffic in what clearly must have been a red light. There was no one to my right, so I aggressively spun the wheel to the right just late enough to get into that lane, but the airbag deployed behind my crumpled hood as the black import smashed my car. We came to rest inches in front of parking lot traffic waiting for a green light. No one stayed to be a witness. The other driver was fine, but my axle was clearly annihilated, and smoke billowed from my engine bay. Police faulted the other driver. It was all too obvious. Burns marked my left arm. They have since become substantially blended with my natural skin color. The worst burn would come later.

Insurance paid enough to get me into another Delta car, but my parents were not as cooperative as they should have been, instead throwing me the keys to my father’s beaten Subaru Impreza TS. By 100,000 miles, insufficient maintenance caused a new engine to replace the reliable Boxer engine under the hood. An accident had replaced the front bumper and crumpled hood. There were dents outside and coffee stains inside. It was an unforgiveable disaster. The worst part was that my ability to keep a job with my school hours was increasingly difficult, and maintenance had become a serious issue. I had to replace tires, suspension components, and a wheel all days before a trip I was to take with my girlfriend. You would not believe how hard it was to find the appropriate wheel. Subaru does its own thing, and that means not sharing wheel offsets, sizes, or bolt patterns with any other major manufacturer. It was a nightmare, but we made it.

I researched other options, hoping that my parents would get me the title so I could just sell this car. Among the options I researched were other GM vehicles. Another Cobalt, G5, or Ion would be familiar, but I never got my performance parts back, so I would be starting all over. I thought about used Caprices, Camaros, and Corvettes, but the cost was all too high. I came to terms with spending the rest of college in this collapsing garbage heap.

Rather than replacing it, I would set a goal. I came across the 2006 Camaro Concept. It was suddenly my sole objective to get this vehicle. Each day, I would peruse the forums in search of insight on the topic. When would they release it? How much will it cost? What will power this beast? On the eleventh day of November nearly two years ago, I made a decision to finally say something. It was small and meaningless, but it would be the start of giving back.

I would post long and short through the boards. This place would be my home. I would spend periods of class discussing topics far from the political science my professors had me reading, and then I would manage to bring that to the forum. That did not go so well.

There were stories about Shunt and test vehicles from GM insiders. We had posts about the Z28 that Chevrolet has still not produced. We speculated about everything, and I eagerly posted the facts. The place was growing, and getting exciting with new leaks and insider feedback. I would absorb this community and make it my home.

One day, I logged onto the forum to discover my name in red. It was a proud day for me. I would be able to help add to the facts in the knowledgebase and bring down those whose only purpose was to terrorize members with insults and counterproductive discussion. I could clean up the spam and stick threads worthy of being seen by all.

Every time I log onto Camaro5, I appreciate that this site is what it is. It is a community and a family. It is a home where we are all neighbors. It is a place with a purpose, and that place transcends the immense distances between our members. It is for all of these reasons that I have enjoyed posting here.

I hope you enjoyed my 10,000th post.