I was stationed in Germany for three years while I was in the Army. We didn’t have much luck with cars while I was there. We lost two cars in accidents. Another blew a hole in the side of the engine. I was always fixing something on one of these junkers.

Most of the cars we had over there didn’t make it to the next inspection. Vehicle inspection over there is very stringent. A lot of things that are ignored here in the states were considered a priority over there. Germany is very much into protecting the environment and if your car had a leak, it didn’t pass inspection.

The last car we had in Germany was a Nissan. I got it from a Sergeant that let me have the car for $200 even though I didn’t have the money to pay. He told me to pay once I had all the money and he warned me that the transmission had a leak and he expected it to break down.

I wrote to mother and she sent me what I needed to pay off the car. In the mean time, I had to get that car to pass inspection. I was worried since the transmission leaked. I talked with some others who had dealt with such a problem and was advised to steam clean the engine the morning I get it inspected. I steamed it and then drove right over for inspection. It passed with no problem, but the inspector said I better get the transmission checked cause it was beginning to leak and he doubted it would pass next year.

I got this car during the summer. My wife and kids were visiting family in the states and I had that car all to myself. The weekend after I paid off the car I drove it down to Hanau and most of the day there at AAFES and the PX. It was getting dark when I headed back with the back seat full of groceries. I wanted to hurry and get back before the ice cream started melting.

The car was doing just fine until I was off the autobahn. The night was very dark on this two lane road when I started up a hill. I was half way up when I heard a loud clunk. Then the engine began to rev up, but I was slowing down. It was obvious, that the transmission was now out. I pulled over, got my flashlight and checked my fluid level and it was fine. I looked all around and saw nothing where I was at.