The Little Black Car

Some time ago we found this cute little car dumped by the side of the road ready for the garbage collector. It wasn't working but it was still clean so we salvaged it as we thought that just sitting in it, the kids would have fun. That they did, but with a recycled battery and some loving fixing, Daddy got it working again! "Grandma, we fixed the car!" Ethan proudly claimed. He had such great fun driving it around. It was most fun to see him driving Talia around in the little car.

Around that time, I came back from my long 7 week overseas study trip. Mummy and Ethan had made this fantastic "Welcome Home Daddy!" poster. It got me thinking...

Why not have a father-son project together? If Mummy and Ethan had such a wonderful time hand painting (and Daddy doesn't like arts and crafts) then Daddy and Ethan can have a father-son project. And what better project than fixing up a car? Sure, Ethan's car was moving but we could spruce it up a little....

Some of the electrical work was done without a 3 year old toddler pulling at everything, but we did other stuff together. Ethan loves fiddling with tools while Daddy fixes things. It really is doing things together and he is always careful to say later that, "Daddy and I did it!" We don't have enough pictures to cover everything, but in the end the whole body was dismantled and repainted so we had lovely black and silver convertible!

Photos of Ethan and Talia were printed and cut to fit on the steering wheel and the rear boot. It was their very own car and they loved!

Below is the picture that is on the steering wheel, though on the steering wheel it also has the caption "Ethan and Talia's Car." When Ethan first saw it he yelled, "Talia it's yooouuuuu!" And when Talia was a passenger for the first time she kept pointing at it saying, "Ethan... Ethan!"


The project was completed during the school holidays so for about 2 weeks after that, Ethan would drive the car every opportunity he got. In fact, he would often jump out of bed and run to the car. The corridors outside our apartment were totally safe at that time, so we would often awake to happy sound of the whirring electric engine and squeals of happiness going up and down the corridor. He very quickly became an excellent driver with only one hand and very good spatial judgment, managing to maneuver his car through doors and into elevators and go very close and fast but just miss doors and walls! Needless to say, he made his Daddy very proud!

It gave us an extra kick when we saw the same car selling brand new in the shop for $230. Of course, our black and silver custom model was priceless as were all the memories that have been tucked away with it.