I’ve had a passionate love affair for 22 years with Squeaker, a 28-year-old Geo Prizm, possibly the last of its kind on the roads of North America.
I bought her second hand for $6,000 in Los Angeles in 1996. That was a year before I immigrated to Canada from California, to return to the land of my mother’s birth.
She was built in 1990, the product of a four-year liaison between General Motors and Toyota that produced this hardy U.S. version of the Toyota Corolla. Of that line, Squeaker is surely the crown jewel.
She isn’t glamorous. No electronics or frills. You have to roll her windows up manually, and she is Plain Jane White. But she works! She also has terrific gas mileage, low insurance rates, and requires minimal maintenance. In short, she is a gem.
She traveled twice from Mexico City to Prince Rupert, B.C. – a journey of some 6,000 kilometres – without a hiccup. During those journeys across the flaming deserts of New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana, we often tootled past SUVs, Mercedes Benz’s, and cars of rare and more recent pedigree, boiling over and stranded by the side of the road. Once into Canada, the plucky Prizm ascended and descended the tortuous mountain roads of Alberta and British Columbia, with equal panache.
I have no idea how many miles she has on her! My husband had the habit of turning her odometer back to zero to calculate the length of new adventures. Only Squeaker knows how many klicks she has travelled. And she isn’t telling. A true lady never owns up to the mileage she is carrying.
Her Achilles heel is her hubcaps. Her original metal shoes bit the dust many years ago.
Unable to find or afford anything similar to fit her, I bought her a set of plastic hubcaps around 2000, which lasted until last year. Then, one fine day, her left rear hubcap split, and spun away on the highway where I couldn’t retrieve it.
Disaster! I tried to find a new set. I enlisted the help of Johnny and Kory Aylward, owners of Johnny’s Automotive Services in North Vancouver, who’ve maintained Squeaker for the past 20 years.
For the first time, they failed me.
“We’ll just have to let it go,” Kory conceded, regretfully. “There are no replacement parts for her anywhere in British Columbia. Probably nowhere in the world!”
I couldn’t accept that. Squeaker has served me well for more than 20 years. The least I could do was find a new set of shoes for her.
On Nov. 23, 2017, I wrote to Mary Barra, chairwoman and CEO of General Motors in Detroit, Mich., asking her for help. I included with the letter a photograph of me, standing beside Squeaker, pointing to her naked left rear wheel, imploring her help.
You never know. Miracles can happen!
Nothing happened.
Then, on Jan. 3, 2018, the phone rang. It was Chad Ogden, product manager, chief of collision parts, and one of GM’s Customer Care and Aftersales Team. He was laughing.
“We’re enjoying your letter about Squeaker at Head Office!” he said. “I’ve been commissioned to find her a new set of hubcaps, and I’ve finally found them. They aren’t plastic though. Metal. Is that OK?”
“Of course!” I agreed hastily. “That’s what she started off with. Happy to have them!”
“Good,” he said. “They’re a bit tarnished….”
“That’s OK,” I said. “So is Squeaker. Me too for that matter. I’m thrilled! Can you ship them to Johnny and Kory in North Vancouver? They’ll be putting them on. How much do I owe you for the hubcaps? I’ll want to pay for shipping too, of course, when you know….”
“Not a cent,” said Chad. “We got such a kick out of your letter. Your enthusiasm and passion for Squeaker are contagious. We want to spruce her up for the next 27 years!”
And that was that.
Chad is a busy man, but he made time to launch a search through their entire inventory of old parts to find a new set of shoes for Squeaker. I will always cherish his cheerful emails.
I am also grateful to GM’s Mary Barra, the first woman to head up a global car company! I thought she might understand my love for Squeaker, and she did. She has restored my faith in the humanity of iconic corporations.
And they say that big business doesn’t have a heart!
A few weeks ago Johnny and Kory installed Squeaker’s new hubcaps.
YOU GO GIRL! With your “new” hubcaps, you’re surely good for another 28 years.
