Road T Adrian Meissner’s


Red


Lil’ A


drian Meissner’s Lil’ Red was the perfect shuttle vehicle. Adrian picked up his ‘89 Mazda B2200 in Kingston, Ont., for $3000. Living between Kingston, Toronto, the Ottawa Valley and road trips to rivers, Lil’ Red and Adrian shared the best four years and 100,000 kilo- metres of both their lives. It seemed to all who knew them that this couple would last the test of time. But that was before Lil’ Red met Bambi.


Then what happened?


Rapid staff: How did it happen? Adrian: Lil’ Red and I left my grandfather’s 78th birthday party in Port Hope early in the eve of Aug 23, on my way to the Upper Gatineau River Festival. I was driving alone, heading north on Hwy 41 just past Griffith at about 9 p.m., Steppenwolf’s “Magic Carpet Ride” playing on the radio. There she was on the right-hand shoulder, just standing there, head sticking into my lane and just in view of Lil’ Red.


Lil’ Red never would have strayed, she was faithful. But Bambi at the last minute threw herself into the road and Lil’ Red had no choice but to knock her down. Bambi took a skid for about 50 metres, nearly getting run down by oncoming traffic, then got up and ran, crashing around in the bush for a few seconds before lying down. Lil’ Red blew her guts. Rad fluid pooled on the shoulder, shattered headlights and grill spread down the road, her fan still spin-


ning but stuffed with bent truck parts and fur.


Did you get to the river?


An oncoming car picked me up. I called a tow truck, got towed to Palmer Rapids, left Lil’ Red there, borrowed a car and arrived at the Upper Gatineau at 5 a.m. ready to paddle. Yes, I left Bambi behind. I didn’t think she’d be looking too pretty. What about Lil’ Red?


Since I had no comprehensive insurance coverage there was no claim to be made. This process took three months but after


Mechanical history


Adrian bought Lil’ Red from a family friend mechanic. In four years she started every time and never broke down. The only repairs he made were to replace the alternator and fix a clutch fluid leak (for a few weeks he had to use a string to pull the clutch off the floor after every shift). Lil’ Red’s four-cylinder, 2.2-litre engine averaged about 12km/L. She drove beauti- fully on the highway and in the city—like a small car with lots of storage space.


Lemon-Aid Used 4x4s, Vans and Trucks guide rating “Above Average (1984-93). The best and least expensive of the ‘gang of three’ Japanese pickups (Mazda, Nissan, and Toyota).”


Best features


Comfy bucket seats and self-cleaning car- pets. Seatbelts for four. Tons of space for any wet, dirty, stinky, rotten items under the protective white canopy (a.k.a. “the


Master bedroom sleeps two.


master bedroom,” optional). Fairly comfy sleeping for three—two in master bed- room and one in guest bedroom behind the seats. Indoor boat storage in master bedroom for boats under two metres.


Adrian’s custom installations Hand-me-down stereo from Ford Econoline van, custom console ($5.99), custom roof racks ($169.99), master bed- room set ($35), anti theft custom locks on canopy ($8.99).


J.Y.D.


gathering a few opinions of people who know about this kind of thing I came to the conclusion that Lil’ Red had made her last journey.


I had a hard time letting go. During her sedentary life I would go and have coffee with her some mornings. How did you finally decide? One day in December $150 sounded pretty good, so I called up the guy and he took her away. It was an emotional time but he gave me cash. I still haven’t got a new vehicle. Lil’ Red was one of a kind. 


Worst features


The heater could have been hotter, took a long time to defrost during the winter.


Fondest memory XXX—Censored


Maximum load tested 9 boats and 6 people.


Random quote from Adrian’s mom “I always felt like he was at home when he was in his truck.”


“Good bye Lil’ Red.”


est


46 www.rapidmag.com


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52