Chapter 60 The Legend of the Blue Tank
“I can’t believe this is really the same car we saw back then.”
Noah stared at the Volvo we had just brought back from the paint shop.
The jobs we had taken on since he started working had involved restomods or engine repairs, so this was his first time seeing a complete restoration covering everything from the exterior to the interior.
“Yeah. Maybe it’s the design, but it looks especially impressive.”
The clear sky-blue paint, reminiscent of the Swedish flag, was flawlessly smooth, while the abundant chrome trim used throughout the car reflected the light and asserted its presence.
The interior touched by Mateo’s hands also looked perfect, as though we had taken a time machine back to the 1960s.
The torn sections of the seats had vanished without a trace, to the point that it was difficult to find where the damage had been, and the headliner reproduced the original material’s appearance with astonishing accuracy.
“Huh? There’s something in the seat pocket.”
“Ah, that. Mateo said he found it while dismantling the interior. Leave it there. We’ll return it to Alex later. Now, shall we see whether it starts properly?”
At last, we had reached the final stage of the restoration.
Judging by the values in the status window, there naturally should not be any problems, but this moment always made me the most nervous.
Before waking the old engine, I sprayed oil into the cylinders.
I manually cranked the engine to check how smoothly it turned and to begin pumping oil through it.
Finally, after connecting the battery terminals, I climbed into the driver’s seat.
When I inserted the key and turned it to ON, the instrument cluster lit up.
With the clutch and brake pedals pressed, I turned the key farther.
Whirrr, whirr, whirrrrr—
The powerful sound of the starter motor echoed through the warehouse.
The oil I had sprayed into the cylinders burned, sending out white smoke.
“Jason…?”
“Yeah, don’t worry. It’s part of the normal process.”
Without panicking, I released the key slightly and turned it again, this time pressing the accelerator pedal a little as well.
Whirrrrr—bang! Rumble!
A rough explosion burst out once, and at last, the engine began turning under its own power.
The sound was somewhat harsh at first, but after I adjusted the choke valve, which helped with cold starts, it quickly settled into a steady rhythm.
“See the droplets coming from the exhaust? That’s a sign that combustion is complete. This engine really is durable.”
“Whoa…”
When I caught one of the droplets dripping from the muffler and showed it to Noah, he let out an amazed exclamation.
“I’m going to deliver the car now, so you can head home. I’ll contact you when the next restoration vehicle arrives. You can look forward to it.”
“You mean that strategic partnership or whatever you made with Sterling Selection, right? Hehe, got it. I’ll prepare myself mentally!”
After confirming that Noah had driven away in the employee Ford Ranger, I started the Chevy truck with the trailer carrying the Volvo attached behind it.
My destination was not Alex’s home in North Central, but his family home in Prescott.
“Yes, Alex. I’ve arrived. You can come outside now.”
In front of a house in the highland city of Prescott, where the breeze was considerably cooler than in southern Arizona, Jason unloaded the fully restored Volvo PV544 from the trailer.
A short while later, the front door opened, and the client, Alex, appeared with his father, Benjamin.
Between them, an elderly woman with completely white hair carefully walked while supported on both sides.
“Wow, Jason. This is practically a brand-new car!”
Alex shouted excitedly when he saw the car from a distance.
Benjamin, on the other hand, had been frowning heavily from the moment he stepped outside.
He did not even look at the car.
Supported by the two men, the elderly woman approached.
Her gaze drifted aimlessly through the air, her eyes blank and unfocused.
But the instant her eyes touched the sky-blue Volvo, a faint spark of life miraculously returned.
“Oh my…? Where have you been all this time, my pretty little baby?”
The elderly woman shook off the hands supporting her and threw her arms around the car.
She ran her hands frantically over the body as though reunited with a lost puppy.
“Have you been eating properly? Weren’t you cold?”
Her dementia was severe.
Benjamin watched his mother and turned his head away entirely with a pained sigh.
“Grandma, isn’t the car beautiful? Why don’t you sit inside?”
At Alex’s gentle suggestion, she opened the passenger door by the handle with complete familiarity and sat down.
Alex quickly walked around to the driver’s side and climbed in as well.
Crank, crank, crank—
As the manually operated window rolled down, the elderly woman extended one hand outside.
“Ben! What are you doing? Hurry and get in. We have to go on our trip. Your father will be waiting.”
Benjamin’s shoulders trembled faintly at her words.
His mother, calling her son in his sixties by his childhood nickname and telling him they needed to leave on a family trip.
Her memories seemed to have leapt backward once again.
“I’m not going. You ride, Mother.”
Benjamin turned away.
But from behind him, her voice continued calling, “Ben, Ben, hurry!” stabbing into his chest again and again.
“Whew…”
In the end, wearing an expression mixed with anger and sorrow, he reluctantly climbed into the back seat.
Clunk.
The instant the door closed and he sat inside, Benjamin flinched.
The smell of leather brushing against his nose.
The texture of the seat beneath his fingertips.
Even the manual window crank.
Everything was perfectly identical to the way he remembered it.
This is rather impressive…
At that moment, Alex, seated in the driver’s seat, curiously touched several things before starting the engine.
Whirr—vroom!
“…!”
The instant the sound struck his eardrums, Benjamin’s eyes shook violently in the back seat.
It was unbelievably identical to the sound from that time.
And so was the familiar vibration.
Before he even had time to marvel at Jason’s flawless restoration, Benjamin was drawn back several decades as though being pulled into the past.
In the driver’s seat sat his father in his youth, broad-shouldered and happily gripping the steering wheel.
Beside him, his beautiful mother wore her long hair loose and hummed along to music playing from the radio.
“This can’t be…”
It was the image of his family during the brightest period of his life, the time Benjamin had longed for so desperately.
Was Father’s back really that broad? Yes. Mother used to comb her long, straight hair so beautifully.
Seeing the two of them without a single wrinkle overwhelmed him.
As Benjamin stared in a daze, he noticed something bulging from the seat pocket.
As though entranced, he reached inside and pulled it out.
“Ah… This…”
It was a small toy car whose color had completely faded, with paint worn from the corners to reveal the silver metal beneath.
It had been his greatest treasure when he was around four years old, something he had cherished like an extension of himself.
At that moment, his mother turned around from the passenger seat and smiled brightly.
“Oh, Ben! You said you lost that toy. You finally found it.”
The instant he heard her words, a tremendous shock struck him as though someone had smashed him over the head with a hammer.
At the same time, the dam sealing away his memories collapsed.
A hot summer day during a family trip.
“Vroom, vroom!”
That day too, he had been rolling the toy car around the back seat as he played.
Then it slipped from his hand, rolled forward, and disappeared somewhere beneath the front seat.
He climbed down to the floor and reached for it.
But he could neither touch it nor see where it had gone.
Eventually, young Ben burst into tears.
His mother turned around and patted his knee.
“There, there, my sweet boy.”
When Ben still did not stop crying, his father also turned around to comfort him.
“There’s a gas station just ahead. Once we get there, Dad will stop the car and find it for you. I promise.”
That was the moment.
As his father looked away from the road, a massive truck came charging toward them from the front.
Crash!
The next scene was extremely familiar to Benjamin.
He saw it often in his dreams.
The world turned upside down.
Glass shards scattered everywhere.
His father hanging inverted, bleeding as he stared at him.
It was because of me. Because I cried… because of this toy.
A hot tear ran down Benjamin’s cheek.
Longing for his father and guilt surged violently through his chest.
At that moment, his mother in the passenger seat turned around.
Her face had once again become old, white-haired, and deeply wrinkled, but life remained in her eyes just as before.
“Benjamin. It wasn’t your fault. It was only an accident.”
She extended a bony hand and wiped away his tears.
“But… because of me, Father had to live the rest of his life with such an impaired body…”
When Benjamin could not continue, she smiled kindly and finished for him.
“Your father never complained about it even once. Instead, he was grateful to this car. He said you were not hurt at all in the accident. He said it truly was a ‘Blue Tank.’”
Alex, who had been watching from beside them, quietly added,
“Father, do you know what Grandpa told me when he left this car to me? He said it was our family heirloom and that I must never sell it. Even if you hated it.”
In the end, Benjamin burst into tears again.
A man over sixty, sitting inside a sky-blue car more than sixty years old.
Like a four-year-old child clutching an old toy car in his hand.
“Ahem. I showed you an embarrassing side of myself despite meeting you for the first time. But I wanted to tell you this. Your skill is truly remarkable. It was so identical to what I remembered that it gave me chills.”
The man who appeared to be Alex’s father approached me and offered his hand.
His voice was dignified, but the skin around his eyes was still slightly red.
“Hm? Who are you? One of my husband’s friends? Come inside and eat with us!”
The white-haired grandmother also approached and took my hand as though she recognized me.
The brief clarity she had shown earlier seemed to have faded once again.
“No, Mother. You’re coming inside with me.”
Alex’s father escorted her back toward the house.
Alex helped his father for a moment, then returned and stood before me.
“Jason! My goodness. What just happened? I’ve never seen my father cry like that.”
“Haha. Still, I’m glad he seems satisfied.”
“Of course he is. I never saw this car when it was new, but from Father’s reaction, I can tell without seeing it myself. It must be exactly as it was.”
Alex ran his eyes over the blue Volvo’s body once more.
“Whew… As you saw, this car holds an extraordinary meaning for our family. Grandpa cherished it his entire life, while Father hated it his entire life. Still, seeing that knot inside him finally loosen like that makes me feel completely relieved. You have no idea how great a gift this is.”
Now that his father was out of sight, Alex himself seemed close to tears.
Apparently, their weak tear ducts ran in the family.
“Whew. In any case, I’ve already wired the remaining balance. Ah, and I didn’t mention this before because I was worried you might mistake it for a sales pitch…”
Alex removed a business card from the inside pocket of his jacket and handed it to me.
“I understand that tax reduction for an automotive restoration business can be difficult and complicated. If you ever need my help, please contact me without hesitation. For you, Jason, I’ll personally roll up my sleeves and take care of everything.”
The name of an accounting firm was printed prominently on the card, with the title Chief Executive Officer and Certified Public Accountant written beneath it.
(Translator’s Note: Certified Public Accountant (CPA) — A state-licensed professional accounting designation in the United States. Requirements vary by jurisdiction but generally include specified education, professional experience, and successful completion of the Uniform CPA Examination.)
“Alex, you’re a CPA?”
I had thought the way he reviewed the contract during the restoration agreement seemed unusual, but I had never imagined he was an accountant.
“Haha, yes. Our firm specializes in corporate accounting, but personally, I’m extremely knowledgeable about taxes for sole proprietors as well. I spent plenty of time working in the field when I was younger.”
Lately, taxes had actually become one of my greatest personal concerns.
Especially because my revenue had been increasing rapidly.
I had not known before starting this work, but running a private business involved countless minor matters beyond the main job itself.
I would probably hire more people besides Noah in the future.
Then it would become even more complicated.
Hearing Alex’s words made me feel as though an entire army had arrived to support me.
“That’s excellent! I actually have many questions about taxes related to the restoration business. I’ll organize everything and contact you.”
“Anytime! I’ll take care of you as though you were family, Jason. Hahaha.”
Watching Alex laugh heartily, I thought that the man destined to become my accountant was someone who cried easily and laughed just as easily.
—————
[Restoration Complete]
Vehicle: 1964 Volvo PV544
Vehicle Appraisal Skill Enhanced
$Accident Survivor$
(You can determine measurements related to major structural deformation, including frame distortion.)
Coins Acquired: 4,200
Total Coins Owned: 34,255
—————
[Benjamin’s Toy Car]