One of the greatest joys in life is getting your driver’s license. You finally feel like an adult and don’t have to rely on your parents to drive you places. With a license comes great responsibility — but also a great burden on your parents.
I know my parents were terrified when my brother and I got our licenses. My brother got his in an era when a beeper was the only “communication” you had outside your parents’ house. My parents even bought him a calling card so he could use a pay phone to call home for free.
I got my license in 2002, when cell phones were just starting to become an everyday thing. I can’t even tell you how many calls my mom made to that darn Nokia I had. This was back when you worried about how many minutes you had left on your plan — though Mom didn’t care because she was paying the bill.
I didn’t turn 17 until the end of November during my senior year of high school. Everyone — even juniors — had their licenses before me, so I had to hitch rides to school with my buddy DJ. Then came Nov. 26, 2002 — my 17th birthday.
I have to preface this by saying that The Fast and the Furious had come out the year before, and my buddies and I were obsessed. We needed one of those cars. Street racing cars were the coolest thing imaginable. Anything else wasn’t even an option.
There was just one problem: money. My parents weren’t rich, and even if they were, they weren’t buying me anything out of their price range. Luckily, I’d been working as a busboy at General’s Quarters Restaurant at Trenton-Mercer Airport since I was 14 and had a “ton” of money saved.
Let’s talk about my dream car. It sat right in front of a dealership on Olden Avenue. Whenever one of my friends drove to Wendy’s, we’d see this red car staring at me — a Mitsubishi 3000GT parked next to the Boston Market. A guy in my neighborhood had the same car in green, and I’d fallen in love with it when I was maybe 8 years old. It became my dream car.
When I was turning 17, that red Mitsubishi 3000GT was still on the lot — and it was in my price range. Dream car acquired! I was still 16, so I couldn’t even drive it off the lot. It sat in my driveway for about a month, taunting me. When my brother came home from college for Thanksgiving break, he begged to drive it. Request denied.
The day finally came to take my driver’s test — and I was sick with mono. I was out of commission and out of school for about three weeks. I took the test in my mother’s 2000 Toyota Corolla, sick as a dog, but still passed. Even then, I wasn’t driving anywhere until I recovered.
When I finally got better and slid behind the wheel of my dream car, it was magic. Music blasting, windows down, I thought I was the coolest dude in Ewing. That shiny red 3000GT and I were inseparable. My four-minute drive to high school was a daily parade of pride, and I made sure everyone saw it.
I don’t want to toot my own horn, but a few years ago, a girl who was two grades younger told me that all the girls she knew wanted to be a passenger in that car. My ego was larger than life every time I was behind the wheel.
Unfortunately, dreams end. That beautiful car turned out to be more nightmare than fantasy. It lived on the back of a tow truck more often than in my driveway, thanks to constant engine and mechanical problems.
Here’s my lesson: looks can be deceiving. Do your research before spending all your hard-earned teenage money.
Was it worth it? Absolutely. Why? Because the girls liked it.
Donnie Black was born and grew up in Ewing Township. He currently works at radio station XTU in Philadelphia as a producer, on air personality and promotions director.
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