Hmmm! seems highly plausible, like something I might have done. I once owned a sand colored (after repaint from puke yellow), tobacco brown leather interior, 1977 Lancia Beta HPE, 5 speed, highly tweaked. It was the only non air conditioned vehicle I ever owned because i bought it in San Diego where I didn’t need it. After Fiat bought Lancia in the 70’s, I think, they started droppping 2 liter Fiat engines into them—not what that once venerable brand deserved, but a pretty bullet proof power plant none the less. So I had to give the proper massaging to make it worthy of the car—3/4 race cam, tri y headers with Abarth muffler and exhaust tips, shaved head to push compression to 10:5 to 1 and dual Webber 48DCOE side draft carburetors. Net result? Boosted power from 130hp to about 250. OMG, it was now a rocket and made those wonderful Italian sports car sounds. Of course, I had to add a bottle of STP octane booster with every fill up to keep the engine from self destructing, but who cared? It was now a proper Italian sports car. I took that car from San Diego to Washington D.C. to Florida. it was always more a play vehicle than serious transportation. I had a station wagon and later a minivan to haul the kids, but the Lancia was my mistress. It provided endless hours of entertainment on the weekend, balancing the carburetors and fiddling with the aftermarket Koni adjustable shocks and then ”testing” the adjustments on the local roads. It ultimately died an ignoble death. I left it in the garage while hurricane Elena churned in the gulf—a hurricane that was not really a hurricane, since it never actually made landfall on the west coast of Florida, but it did spend 5 days wandering aimlessly off the coast pumping water into Tampa Bay and ultimately flooding the water front property I lived on. We had been evacuated, and when I returned, it had been buried under 42” of water for 2 days. The mechanical parts were shot and the salt cancer was terminal. I got a check from the insurance company and they sold if for scrap. I’d like to think it was reborn as a corvette or some other vehicle worthy of its heritage. I hope it didn’t end up as shovels in Home Depot.

So is your story true? It’s certainly plausible. It echoes my own experience with a favorite car, but it may be an elaborately crafted fairy tale. I don’t know. i haven’t figured out your tells yet. I need to read more of your stories to get a proper read. For now, I withhold judgment. But, I have a question for you. is my elaborate response a pile of steaming… or actually true? Something to ponder. Hmmmmmm.