DEFEND YOUR RIDE: Michelle In Timonium

Q: Hi Michelle. Welcome to Defend Your Ride Baltimore. What can you tell us about your badboy vehicle? Does he have a name?

A: Blue Boy. He is named after my grandmother's beloved fish. She also called him Blue Boy, the late Blue Boy.

Q: So this is Blue Boy, Jr. Where did you get your car from?

A: This is actually an interesting story. My previous car was really on its last leg, or wheel, I guess. My great uncle actually was turning 87 years old. He had recently decided to stop driving. That was his car. He had bought it brand new, 1997, and in 12 years, he had put 17,000 miles on it. So I heard that he was going to sell this car and I said, can I buy it from you? Originally, he was asking $2,000 for it, but when he realized it was a member of the family that needed it, he sold it to me for one cent!

Q: Wow, that's very sweet of your great uncle.

A: I essentially got this car for free. It's completely paid off. I'm so lucky. So, so lucky. I've like tripled its mileage in four years.

Q: Where's the farthest place you've driven to with Blue Boy?

A: Blue Boy has made the trek from Baltimore, Maryland, to Miami, Florida, with four people in the car, 18 hours. Two-door car. Four people. One stop. South of the border. Yeah, it was insane. We went down for a Ravens playoff game.

Q: That's impressive. Although that's a little fast for that trip, I think. Are you a fast driver? Have you ever gotten a speeding ticket or any other tickets?

A: Yes, actually. My dear friend and I were trying to find a spot to park near Mt. Washington Tavern. We somehow wandered into the light rail parking lot nearby. I was just trying to find a spot, so I pulled down the first lane that I saw to find a spot and I parked in the very first spot. It's not like I was joyriding down this little lane. I found the first spot, parked and all of a sudden a cop's lights start flashing, and I'm like, oh my god, what did I do? I just parked in this spot.

A: This cop–well I shouldn't call him a cop–let me call him what he is, the transport authority officer, we'll say, comes up, knocks on the window and asks me for my license and registration and all that. Then he proceeds to tell me that I went down a one-way street. I'm like craning my neck trying to see what sign he's talking about because I did not see a sign. I just had to take his word for it. He then seemed to be asking us what to do in terms of the process of giving a ticket or a citation.

I went to court. The officer didn't show, so if you know anything about Baltimore City law, you know that if the officer doesn't show, you can plead not guilty and there's no one there to say otherwise. So that's what I did and I was then, you know, freed. I was acquitted. The judge said the officer had another court date scheduled that morning in Towson and couldn't be at both, but had actually written a request to postpone my court date to another time so that he could be there. The judge thought it was ridiculous. So this officer really took his job seriously!

Photos and interview by Staci Wolfson

View previous Defend Your Ride features as well as other great stories for people who love cars at CBSBaltimore.com/Autos.