1978 Chevrolet Beauville G20 Van

In October of 2003, just a few short months after I married my wife, I started a relationship with someone just a few years younger than me. For now, we’ll call her Wilma. We met at the PickNSave parking lot in Germantown Wisconsin, and it was love at first site. Life had kicked her around a bit, and she was in need of someone to show her some love and affection. I knew I was that person. My wife was aware of our relationship right from the start, and while she wasn’t always very excited about it, she was very tolerant and understanding. Wilma knew that she needed me, and I needed her. We’ve been together for almost 13 years, and as with many relationships, things change and people grow different. With all of the changes in my life over the past year, I haven’t been able to give Wilma the love and attention that she needs, and that’s just not fair to her. That brings me to the difficult conclusion that I’ve come to. I believe the time has come for me to turn Wilma over to someone that will love her and care for her the way I have. She’s getting up in years, and needs someone that understands how to care for her. With unlimited resources I would have loved to have seen her on “Overhaulin’” or “Garage Squad”, but that just didn’t work out.

Additional Details:

I purchased her from the original owner who included all of her service records and original purchase documentation. She originally came from Martz Chevrolet on Appleton Avenue in Menomonee Falls. All of that documentation will be included with her.

Since she came to me, I have performed all of the service and maintenance on her. No other hands have ever touched except for mine. It’s time for her to have a tune up. I’m including a new set of plugs, wires and a new cap and rotor. There is also a new chrome air filter unit that I meant to install some time back. A lady such as her deserves some jewelry.

She has always started and ran. I just had to put a new battery in her in March of this year. The previous battery lasted for 9 years.

The front shocks were replaced a couple of years ago. I am including a set of new rear shocks.

The backup light switch is broken. All that means is that her back up lights don’t come on when she’s in reverse. I tried to install a new switch, but it was either the wrong one, or something else is wrong. Either way, it’s not a big issue.

Her carburetor could use a rebuild or a replacement. When she sits for more than a couple days, it takes a little while to get her started. I believe the float bowl on the carb is leaking and allowing fuel to leak back down into the carb.

Tires are about 10 years old, but have less than 20,000 miles on them.

I always treated Wilma with the kindness and respect that she deserved. She was never abused or beaten. I can’t even begin to list the number of projects she helped out on. The last big one was where we made several trips to Home Depot over the summer of 2014 to pick up gravel, sand and bricks for a driveway project. The HomeDepot guys would come out with everything on a fork lift, and then see Wilma and look at me and say, “Are you sure she can handle it?”. To which I would confidently reply, “Of course she can!”. And she always did.

She has a lot of life left in her, but she needs someone that can care for her. It’s not a first car for your kid, or your spouse’s daily driver. She needs someone that knows how to care for her, and understands that at her age, things may go wrong. Our relationship became so strong, that if something was about to go wrong, I knew it before it happened, and most importantly, I knew exactly what needed to be done to get her up and running again. A few years back I was getting ready to leave Menards, and I couldn’t shift her into gear. I knew immediately by the feel of the shifter that the linkage had come loose. I got under the hood and tightened the loose bolt and we were on our way home. Once we were home, I fixed the problem in a more permanent fashion, and it never happened again. You need to be the right person to handle situations like that, because at her age, they are going to happen. Of all the little repairs and examples like the story I just told that happened over the years, none of them ever cost a lot of money. Putting new tires on 10 years ago was the most expensive thing I’ve ever had to do. She’s never put me in a situation where I needed a tow truck. She was just never that type of girl. She always came to the rescue, rather than requiring rescue herself.

Clearly I care very deeply for Wilma, but sometimes when you care about someone, the best thing to do is let them go. I know there’s someone out there that has the skills and the willingness to give her a good home and a good life. With unlimited resources, I would have cleaned up the motor, added some chrome, put headers and side pipes on her, fixed up the rust holes and given her a new paint job. Hopefully her next caretaker will have the time and the ability to make that dream come true.

Wilma will not be available for pick up until Sunday June 5th. She is safely stored in Menomonee Falls, WI. I currently live in Virginia and June 5th will be the only day that I will be in town to complete the transaction.