Second time's a charm

Jason Leever of McCook, holding high his bidder number card, wins the back-and-forth bidding for a 1997 Pontiac Firebird at an auction conducted by the City of McCook Thursday afternoon. Jason's wife, Laura, and 4-year-old son, Evan, (standing in front of Jason) attended the auction with Jason. Will Evan get to drive the Firebird when he's 16? "I MAY let him touch it," Jason chuckles. (Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Gazette)

McCOOK, Neb. -- Thursday afternoon, Jason Leever bought a 1997 Pontiac Firebird. For the second time.

After paying $1,900 for the fire-engine-red muscle car at the City of McCook surplus auction Thursday, Jason said he's going to restore it.

Sure, a Firebird's powerful. Sure, it's classy. And that red makes it look fast even when it's sitting still. But why restore the 19-year-old car?

Jason Leever shares the photograph of the day he bought the Firebird in 1997. (Courtesy photo)

"Because I am the original owner of this car," Jason says, with a grin spreading from ear to ear. "I bought this car brand-new in Lincoln in 1997."

How did it get away from him?

"My wife at the time didn't like the car," Jason said. "She couldn't drive the six-speed, and she said I didn't drive it enough ... soooo, I sold it, in 2003." And it broke his heart. Selling favorite cars can do that ... car people understand.

Well, Jason's marriage ended, and he started hunting that Firebird. The hunt led to a "near identical twin" in New Hampshire, and Jason drove that car home in February 2011. "It was the closest I could find to my original car," Jason said. But, in his heart, he knew it wasn't "the one." In the back of his mind, he kept looking.

In an odd twist of timing, it was in 2011 that the City of McCook bought a Firebird -- Jason's original Firebird -- from Deveny Motors in McCook, who had acquired it as a trade-in with a McCook man.

The city's police department used the Firebird in its DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) school program. Equipped with a killer audio system and decked out with flashy MHS BISON and DARE decals, the Firebird was a sure-fire attention-getter, especially for the young, impressionable kids that DARE targets.

For some, the regret of letting go of a treasured car or pickup is going to last forever. Others, like Jason, get lucky.

"It was pure dumb luck that I found it," Jason said. "Driving down the street one day, I recognized it as McCook's DARE car." When the city got ready to sell the car as surplus, Jason confirmed that the VIN (vehicle identification number) of the DARE car matched the VIN of the Firebird he bought in '97.

People attending the auction at the city impound lot Thursday may have suspected something was up, because most of the other cars and pickups at the auction had brought a couple hundred, maybe three, four hundred dollars. But this guy wasn't backing away from the challenge issued by another bidder.

The other bidder finally slowed down, and then quit. Jason bought his beloved Firebird for $1,900.

It needs some work. "I'm going to restore it," Jason says. "It may take me a while, but I'll get 'er done."