LeRoy Larry and his then future wife-to be, Tirza, came to Costa Rica in 2012, never dreaming they would still be there 12 years on. At a certain point, LeRoy realized that it made no sense to hold on to War Pony, his 1989 4-door red Corvette. Though the car had been with LeRoy since 1997, the vehicle had now been languishing in an outdoor parking space since the couple had left for Central America. Leroy knew things couldn’t continue the way they were, with his beautiful ‘vette in California, all but abandoned. But after all this time, the car was in terrible shape.
Leroy has a brother in the States and asked him to take War Pony to a mechanic to get an estimate on what it would cost to get the car up and running. The car was too beloved by his owner to pass on at least trying to find a way to salvage the vehicle. Unfortunately, the fee for repairing the Corvette, was enormous—it just didn’t make reasonable sense to go ahead and with the repairs.
“Tirza being the awesome wife she is brought me to my senses,” said Leroy. “She also told me about automobile donation organizations which I didn’t even know existed. I got on the internet to look up organizations and found Kars4Kids.”
LeRoy got in touch with us, and between him, his brother, and our capable representatives, we got War Pony towed away to be auctioned off. The car, even in poor condition, is rare enough to be of some value, which is good news for the children we serve through our programs. It’s also good news for the world in general, because as LeRoy Larry rightly states, “The children are our future.
As to War Pony’s name, LeRoy explains that they’d been through a lot together over the course of 15 years. It was only then that the astrophysicist and his wife flew out to Costa Rica not knowing that they’d be there for the long-term. Having soldiered together with its owner through thick and thin, the name “War Pony” seemed a perfect fit.
In addition to its unique name, War Pony boasted a vanity license plate reading “IM7N11,” which means, according to LeRoy, “I am lucky.” “IM” seems self-explanatory, but how does “7N11” translate to “lucky?”
LeRoy explains: “I never learned how to play the game of dice also called ‘craps,’ but I always would hear that rolling the dice numbers 7 and 11 was a winning combination. The license plate was my expression of my feeling that I’ve been fortunate and blessed in life, and my wishful thinking and hoping that I would continue to be so.”
It couldn’t have been easing, saying goodbye from afar to a beloved car and friend, but all in all, LeRoy feels good about his experience with our charity. As LeRoy wrote in gratitude to this writer and the three customer service representatives who assisted him with this special donation, “My recent dialogue with you, Sheryl, Avigail, and Josh, have led me to know without a doubt that I truly found the best place possible for War Pony with Kars4Kids!”
