![It seemed like a good idea at the time. And it wasn’t premeditated – no, this happened quite without planning, almost by accident. Quite innocently. I had gone to a […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/IMG_5949_1200.jpg?resize=115%2C115&quality=75&ssl=1 "COAL: 1988 Volvo 780 Bertone – The Italian Swede")
![Not the car. That’s not the complicated part—in fact it could be argued that the Crown Victoria is one of the less complicated cars of modern times (if you can […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/16169280898_fe5f4dad18_h.jpg?resize=115%2C115&quality=75&ssl=1 "COAL: 1997 Ford Crown Victoria LX – It’s Complicated")
![In the fall of 2011, I had reached the difficult decision to trade in my beloved but thirsty Marauder in on something newer and easier on gas, which would become […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/2012-05-10_17-26-33_634.jpg?resize=115%2C115&quality=75&ssl=1 "COAL: 2012 Kia Forte Koup EX – Bad Spelling, Good Car")
![If you don’t want to form an irrational emotional attachment to a car, don’t name it. That may be the lasting lesson of this car. I wasn’t even the […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/6416843967_5b7db71ef4_o.jpg?resize=115%2C115&quality=75&ssl=1 "COAL: 2000 Oldsmobile Alero – By Any Other Name")
![Just as I was thinking I had a long-term future with my Lincoln, fate intervened and it was totaled. Back to the hunt… I briefly thought about simply getting another […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/AUT_0809.1.jpg?resize=115%2C115&quality=75&ssl=1 "COAL: 2003 Mercury Marauder – Quicksilver")
![In fall ’04 I’d had enough with the beater ’82 Malibu that I had been driving for the past two years. I was finally feeling like an adult–a couple years […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/RearQuarterHouse3.jpg?resize=115%2C115&quality=75&ssl=1 "COAL: 1996 Lincoln Mark VIII – The Would-Be Keeper")
![After the Honda handoff, I found myself looking for another car in the fall of 2002. I had graduated college a few months earlier, but the job market for Information […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Malibu2Side2.1.jpg?resize=115%2C115&quality=75&ssl=1 "COAL: 1982 Chevrolet Malibu Classic – Deja Vu All Over Again")
![After the unfortunate demise of my ’91 Crown Vic, fall of 2001 found me looking for new wheels once again. I had a little more cash to spend thanks to […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/AccordFrontQuarter1200.jpg?resize=115%2C115&quality=75&ssl=1 "COAL: 1991 Honda Accord LX – More Than An Appliance")
![In early January 2001, I returned to college after winter break as a passenger, my Malibu having decided that it would retire on the last day of the year 2000. […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/FrontQuarter.jpg?resize=115%2C115&quality=75&ssl=1 "COAL: 1991 Ford Crown Victoria LX – A Brief Fling with a Panther")
![(please welcome our newest COAL series contributor, Chris M. This is a wonderful start. PN) I have a confession to make. I’m one of those people. The kind […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Malibu1.1.jpg?resize=115%2C115&quality=75&ssl=1 "COAL: 1979 Chevrolet Malibu – A Lifetime of Memories")
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