Opinion : Farewell, Old Purple

It's a tough day when you realize that the day has come to lay to rest an important member of your family -- even if that family member is a minivan that you once said you would NEVER buy.

Old Purple (technically Chrysler calls it "Deep Cranberry") died this week.

It ran out of wiper fluid.

Of course, that wasn't all. A taillight cover was broken. And on that same left side, the headlight only worked on high-beam. We replaced the bulb, but it didn't work.

So, we had to put Old Purple out of his misery.

His front end was going out, making horrible noises. The back suspension, too.

Despite, all that, we kept driving, even though the engine was clearly knocking.

Finally, about three miles from our home, the engine knocked for the last time.

We pushed the minivan to the driveway, where the junkyard hearse will arrive to haul it to its final resting place.

Someone will probably be able to repurpose parts of it that haven't failed yet.

We had a good run, Purple and I.

It was surprising when I saw it at the Chrysler dealership (which has since closed) and I knew that was the car we wanted.

I used to hate minivans. Those first cracker-boxes designed by Lee Iococca's crew were ugly, slow and unsafe.

But they were practical, comfortable and more economical than some of the large cars that could carry the same number of people. So the minivan makers started making them better, and safer.

Purple is a Plymouth Grand Voyager; the 'Grand' means it is about a foot or so longer than the Voyager, allowing more storage space.

And we needed it.

I found out that Purple was big enough to haul (although not always in conventional manners)

* 14-foot 2 x 6 boards and even a 12-foot-long 4 x 6;

* Dozens of 8-foot 2 x 4s;

* Washing machines;

* Even, once, a riding lawnmower;

* 4 x 8 ceiling paneling, although I had to cut it in half;

* The 6-foot-long boards I used for my porch renovation project;

* 12 x 20 foot carpet (taken off the roll);

* And, of course, the most important commodity: People. Kids. Grandkids.

Thanks to modern technology, we could use E-85. Thanks to government subsidies, E85 is 75 cents to $1 per gallon cheaper than most other fuels (so, thanks to all of you who pay federal taxes).

Being able to use the minivan for those projects meant my gasoline expenses were roughly half of what it would cost to use the pickup.

It wasn't always easy. The back door was non-functional for many years, so we had to load everything, including three six-foot tall bookshelves, in via the side doors.

But I don't think there was ever a time when I couldn't fit whatever it was into the van.

I am sure I was not the best friend a minivan could have. I suppose the shingles were too much -- about 10 bundles, or 800 pounds. And there is the infamous night when I spilled an entire gallon of dark brown paint inside.

And then, there are the dents. I backed into a big vehicle on a street, causing only damage to the van, and that door. A deer ran into our front right fender, and the door never did open quite the same after that. At least we managed to keep it out of ditches.

However, between gravel roads and our driveway, we used and repaired more tires than I can count. Once we had a brand new tired that lasted a week before we arrived at home with a rock poking all the way through the treads.

But like that persistent fellow in "Oh, the Places You'll Go," our van went on: To events all over Iowa. To building supply stores and camp sites and even a time or two to the river banks of Benton County.

Now, our travels are ended. One more ride to the junk yard, and Old Purple will join hundreds of others.

I have an old car, a 90-something sedan, that has been sitting in our driveway, waiting for its chance to take me all the places I went with Old Purple.

But it just won't be the same.

As I told a Jeep owner the other day: It's a minivan thing; you just wouldn't understand.