Marvin, Earl, and Ilsa

I've been wanting a 4-wheel drive vehicle for quite a while, especially since I've moved out here to Colorado. Hiking, camping, even just driving around town during a snowstorm.... not so easy in "Marvin", my little 2000 Toyota Corolla. (I'll explain his name later.) The ridiculous price of gas has been holding me back, though; Marvin gets around 35 mpg or more, while 4-Runners (the gas-guzzlers I've had my eye on for a while) get around 20 mpg, if you're lucky.

In swoops my fair damsel to rescued me from distress. Eva-Lynn has a 2003 Honda Civic (recently dubbed "Ilsa") that she'll be bringing out with her in August. Since we'll have Ilsa for fuel economy, I figured I could finally trade Marvin in for something more... brawny (no offense, Marvin).

Val and I shopped around when she was out here over spring break, and we ended up snapping up an awesome deal on a 2000 Toyota 4-Runner. We decided to sell Marvin ourselves, rather than take the rather low trade-in value we were offered. I just got around to getting him cleaned up and put on craigslist this week; within three days, he was sold, for a full $1,300 above Kelley Blue Book value!

And so... goodbye Marvin, hello Earl.

Marvin. He was named from a movie line that I tended to shout when I was in a hurry: "Drive, Marvin! Drive like you've never driven before!"
(Props to anyone who can name the movie....)

Earl. Named after his color... he's halfway between silver and white, a shade technically known as "pearl." After we bought him, as we were thinking about names, Val's first suggestions were "Pearlie" and "Pearla".... I quickly and firmly vetoed both as being waaaaay to wussy for our macho mud-machine. (Although, admittedly, I've encountered very few "pearl"-colored macho mud machines....) Her next suggestion, Earl,
ended up sticking.

I have no pictures of Ilsa, but she's one sleek little hottie (just like her owner). She was actually unnamed until we got Earl, and we figured Val's car needed a name too. We'd recently watched Casablanca for the first time, and discovered that the heroine's name is Ilsa "Lund"! So the car is named after the subject of some of the most famous lines in movie history. Tweaked to fit our circumstances, we have:

• Here's looking at you, car.
• We'll always have Newberg.
• Eva-Lynn, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
• Of all the Science Departments in all the colleges in all the world, she walks into mine.
• Round up the usual used car salesmen.
  
• Play it (again), Val. (In the movie, no one actually says "play it again, Sam.")
  

Marvin and Earl... friends for so brief a time. Meh, they would've been rivals for Ilsa's affection anyway. Just like the guys in Casablanca.