The Grey Lady passed over the donation bridge this afternoon under situationally appropriate ‘Ohio Gray’ skies surrounded by her parents and her forever backseat companion, Whitney. Born August 8, 2007, in Gothenburg, Sweden as a titanium grey metallic Volvo S60 weighing 3,501lbs with matching gray leather interior. She sported a Premium Sound audio system just barely capable of playing local NPR news broadcasts at levels to drown out passing semi-trucks. While she may have lacked in electronic amenities comparative to her brethren of today, she held strong fast to the in-dash CD player and dual power front seats with electronic seat warmers.
She traveled across the Atlantic Ocean before being adopted by Brian & Crystal a month later. Upon arriving home in German Village, she immediately became the first ‘grown up car’ of the family and served her purpose impeccably. She played invaluable roles in commuting Crystal to work for 4 years amongst several family trips to Cleveland and then served as a moving transport when the family moved to Cincinnati in 2011 where she quickly became Brian’s daily driver to and from the hospital. Upon the return to Columbus in 2013 and after a family meeting, it was decided that The Grey Lady had proved herself trustworthy and was elected to become the driver for the new daily 120-mile commute to and from Wilmington for Brian’s new surgery practice. Her 2.5L 5-cyclinder 6-speed automatic transmission poured out 300hp daily serving in her mid-life years where she really racked up her mileage. Over 11 years of the 5-day per week commute, she quickly climbed into the Volvo High Mileage Club ranks excelling past 100k, 200k, and 300k miles without blinking. She always appreciated her oil changes and tire rotations every 5,000miles and the religious use of Lucas Oil Fuel Treatment to every gas fill up.
Many memorable times were spent within her spacious 107.9 cu ft cabin and several outside of it including a few flat tires (rectified with the upgrade to run-flat tires in 2013) and a particularly festive occasion of locking the keys inside the trunk in the middle of a snowstorm in Michigan. The top corner of both front doors never closer perfectly ever again, always allowing a bit more wind noise into the cabin to remind the inhabitants of that fond memory. Her sunroof was also a noteworthy option as the spring mechanism gradually loosened over the years requiring the insertion of a blue towel from the operating room to keep it from adding to the joy of wind passing over the roof at highway speeds. Oh, the fun times that the family enjoyed with The Grey Lady. While they may be too numerous to recount here, The Grey Lady was often referred to as a Tank and that for sure she was. Reliable, road worthy, and dependable were words regularly credited to her service to the Santin Family. Due to unforeseen circumstances and at 359,772 miles on the odometer, she encountered an unexpected loss of a tire while on the freeway several weeks ago and despite the replacement of an axel, wheel, tire, and ball bearing a fatal electrical issue led to her ultimate demise.
The Grey Lady will be greatly missed by many, but none more so than her family. Through thick and thin her family loved her with all their hearts, and though the pain they feel without her is great, it in no way would compare to having never had her in their lives.
At the wishes of The Grey Lady’s family, give your family members an extra wash, oil change, and pat on the hood today.
In loving memory of The Grey Lady Santin
Born August 8, 2007 – passed into NPR’s Charitable Car Donation hands April 3, 2024
Brian donated a 2007 Volvo S60 to NPR through the Car Talk Vehicle Donation Program.
Thank you, Brian!