Dale Earnhardt Intimidator #899 at 100,000 Miles

 Chevrolet made donations totaling more than $660,000 from the sale of each Monte Carlo SS Dale Earnhardt Signature Edition to the Foundation for the Carolinas, a charity selected by the Earnhardt family. Earnhardt died on February 18, 2001 in a crash during the last lap of the Daytona 500 - just months before a limited production run of 3,333 of these cars was to begin. My car was built in November 2001 and is #899.  



According to legend, and who knows if its true or not but it's fun to talk about, the original owner of my car, who lived in the Dayton, Ohio area, bought it and used for it approximately 18 months and then mothballed it believing the car would appreciate in value.  After six years of somewhat slower depreciation than normal, due in large part to the car's pristine condition as much as anything else, the original owner traded the car in with not even 15,000 miles on it.

 

 

The car was then purchased by, now again, according to legend, a Cleveland area nightclub owner who bought it as a gift for one his "dancers" who was a big NASCAR fan. Apparently, that dancer was either not fond of the car or the massive gift in general so she traded it into a Buick dealership in Akron. That dealership had difficulty selling it for the premium price it was asking so it sat on their showroom floor as a decoration. There it sat until I came along more than two years later looking for a relatively inexpensive car with low mileage. Ironically, as much of a car guy as I am, I have no interest in NASCAR or, no disrespect intended, Mr. Earnhardt. I just like the car (I had a 2001 SS years ago) and I even went so far as to ask for these "3's" on the C pillars to be removed. The dealership refused for two reasons; out of respect for Earnhardt and also it would have left shadows on pillars.

 

 

It was, frankly, a gamble paying $11,000 cash (plus trading in my Taurus for $1,500) for an at the time eight year old car. I paid cash for it since I couldn't get a loan that made sense for a car that old with a book value so low - and a retail price so high. Not a good combination. The gamble was that if I wrecked it, I'd be out at between $4,000 and $6,000. No gap insurance was available either so yeah, that was a real leap of faith. My wife and I were diligent in paying ourselves back for the car and did so inside of two years.

 

I've had the car now going on six years now so it's amortized itself quite nicely. My cost of ownership has been absurdly low since the car is totally paid off and any repairs it needed I've done myself. The only time it left us stranded was when I first got it; the original battery needed replacing at a most inopportune time. So, there we were - that white trash family working on their car in a mall parking lot.
 

Over years there has been some additional drama. There was the short circuited ABS hub (no ABS and no traction control) and the busted wind shield wiper transmission that would leave the wipers in the up position when off.  I recently replaced the driver's side power window switches too. Currently the check engine light comes on but that allegedly is due to a faulty thermostat that I have yet to get around to replacing.

 

If you're wondering, I have no plans to get rid of this car since, as cliched as this may sound considering it's NASCAR trimmings, it's been such a  winner. The jacket will go when the car goes too and with two kids in college, that's not going to be for a while. Here's to another 100,000 miles. Rest in peace, Mr. Earnhardt. 

"The Dale" crossed over 100,000 miles back in October east bound on 480 by Hopkins airport.