First, it was Nehalem Mayor Shirley Kalkhoven saying good-bye to her trademark purple pickup. Now, it’s Manzanita City Manager Jerry Taylor finally letting go of his Toyota Celica. What is the world coming to?

Normally, when an individual buys a new car – make that a new used car – it’s not news, but Taylor is a special case.

Since 1981, he has driven a Toyota Celica, a car he purchased brand new back then. Twenty-seven years and 120,000 miles later, Taylor, who has been Manzanita’s city manager for over 10 years, knew he had to do something, as rain water was beginning to find its way inside and he could no longer enter the vehicle from the driver’s side.

While he withstood many a joke about the condition of his vehicle in recent years, as age and rust took its toll, it was, in the end, the little things wrong with the car that prompted his decision to finally let go.

Now, instead of “Ol’ Rusty” in Taylor’s parking spot at city hall, is a shiny 2007 green-colored Ford Focus that his wife Mary helped choose. The new joke around town is that the city manager has gone ‘green.’

And, what happened to the Celica? Taylor laughed when asked if he traded it in. He still owns it and intends to sell it. Despite a few issues, as previously mentioned, the engine has relatively low miles, as Taylor used the vehicle primarily for commuting back and forth to work all those years.

How long will the Ford Focus last? Good question. Chances are, this reporter won’t be around long enough to file that story.