Escort, something's wrong here

((This is part of a series that I'm uploading on dA: The Gran Turismo cars that have a special meaning for me, and why they mean something))

_{- And, for me, this music fits to this pic/description: [link] -}


Continuing with my story, now we are somewhere between 2000 and 2001. Years passed since I first played Gran Turismo. I got used with the game. And got used with other games with cars in it, as well.
I definitely fell in love for the automotive world. I was 9, 10 years old, and for me, the car was more than a "tool" to get you from point A to point B. Cars were a piece of art too.

My Gran Turismo 2 profile had all the license tests done, and most of the races completed. I already knew that I couldn't own more than 100 cars, or else the game would say "Garage is full".
And I knew I could try different ways to win a race, including clean laps.

By the year 2000, my dad bought a Ford Escort SW [link] and we still consider it as one of the best cars we ever had. Because we loved that Escort, I thought "I need to get a Escort in GT2!".
And of course I got the only Escort available in GT2, the WRC version.
And it was one of my favourite cars in the whole garage.

...one day, I took the Escort WRC, and decided to try something different. I went to the 'Machine Test'.
Nothing much to say about the test itself, it took place in Test Course, and I don't even remember what was the top speed of the car.
But I remember what happened after I went back to the garage.
"Uh-oh, something's wrong here."
"Is this a game feature...?"
"Something is terribly wrong here! WHAT HAPPENED!?"

If you played GT2, or read about the game, you know what happened. The most infamous glitch of GT2 just attacked my garage.
All the cars I owned just vanished. All of them. There was nothing left in the garage. Even the car I used in the 'Machine Test', the Escort WRC, wasn't there. The game was showing I was using the Escort, but nothing appeared in my garage.
I had no money to buy a new car. But I could use the Escort. I knew if I got off from the Escort, it was going to vanish too.

So I had no choice, but going with the Ford on every race I could. And because I wasn't going to see the Escort for a while, I spent the most time I could with it. I still remember that day.
When I say "I had no choice", it's because I was too young -and too confused at the time- that I didn't thought I could turn off the game, without saving, and get my cars back.


...still, the glitch was going to be nothing, compared to what happened some months after my garage was erased.
In 2001, some "folks" broke into our home. And they took away a lot of stuff.
Innnnncluding the PlayStation, including the Memory Cards, including some games (damn it!).
I don't know why, but they left my SEGA MasterSystem there. It wasn't working, ok. But they got all the coins I had in my little safe lock. Why the hell they didn't took the MasterSystem too!? No one will understand thieves...

My Gran Turismo world came to a halt.
But it was going to change, and it was going to change a lot. By the end of 2001, I was getting a PlayStation 2. And I was getting a GT3 cd.
A new "Gran Turismo era" was about to start.


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BROETTO'S 'SPECIAL GRAN TURISMO CARS' LIST:
Mitsubishi Eclipse: [link]
Honda Beat: [link]
Mercury Cougar: [link]
Suzuki Escudo Pikes Peak Version: [link]
Ford Escort WRC: [link]
Volkswagen New Beetle: [link]
Pagani Zonda S: [link]
Dodge Viper GTS: [link]
Lotus Carlton: [link]
Audi RS4 'The Queen': [link]