The first year Chevrolet produced the Beretta they had a print ad in Parade Magazine. I fell in love with the car right then and there. It was a nice sporty-looking car. So I started shopping. I wanted a red Beretta with A/C, radio-tape deck. I found one at Aronson's Chevrolet dealership near Cedar Rapids, got the financing and took it home.
On day 20 of ownership of the Beretta, I left LeFebure's parking lot to drive home. About a block from the LeFebure entrance is a "road" that is more like an alley. As I came even with it, this car pulled out and hit the Beretta on the rear quarter panel and knocked the hubcap off. I was in shock. I hadn't had the car even three weeks and it got smacked! I took it to a local mechanic. He told me the quarter panel was only scuffed and he could fix it up to "look like new." I told him the car was new and I wanted a brand new quarter panel. That's what I got.
There was another interesting adventure. Several years later, I had it in for service at the dealership. Another lady in the customer service area asked me if the red Beretta was mine. Then she pointed out a white Beretta. She told me she had driven it into a Casey's parking lot. She opened the door and the hinges sheared and the door fell off the car. She said it was very heavy to pick up that door and put it back on the car. I think she had adrenalin working for her!
Some time passed. One Saturday evening I parked in front of our church, opened the door, reached for the music on the seat - I was accompanying Tony as he sang a solo that evening. I started to push the door open and noticed the space between the door and the frame looked strange. I was on a one-way street and parked with the driver's side near the curb. I remembered the white Beretta! The top hinge had sheared. So I crawled over the console to get out the passenger door. I walked around the car, grabbed the bottom of the mirror and the door handle, and used my hip to help me get the door closed. I locked the door.
After the church service, I crawled over the console, looked the driver's side door and drove home. When I got there, I crawled over the console to get out the passenger's side again.
The following Monday I drove to work, called the service department to tell them about the door. The service manager gold me it was impossible for the hinge to shear. That really made me angry because I knew what had happened - and the dealership had fixed the white Beretta so the guys in the service department would have known about it. I hung up and called back to talk to the sales managed. I knew him and related the story. He assured me he would send a "loaner" for me and the driver would drive the Beretta to the dealership and they would fix it with new hinges. The driver started to open the driver's side door but I stopped him, explained he would have to crawl over the console and that he should not open that door under any circumstances. They fixed the door.
Several months later there was a recall notice due to a bad batch of hinges. Impossible to happen???? It must have happened more than once or there would not have been a recall. So the hinges had to be exchanged again so Chevrolet would be happy with the dealership.
I did enjoy driving that car for about ten years. The photo of the car below is the only one I can find.
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