Rachel is not the only one with a lifelong love of a particular Mercury automobile ... I have another such story right in my own family. We brought home our very first Mercury Meteor almost 15 years ago, the exact same day that we finalized our adoption of our son Eliot. Eliot immediately fell in love with the old black 1963 Mercury, which we named "Mr. Venables" after the Anglican rector in Dorothy L. Sayers' 1934 mystery novel, The Nine Tailors . Here is Eliot, wrenching on "Mr. Venables", at a very early age: And, here he is, practicing his driving ... Time and Michigan winters were not kind to Mr. Venables, however, and he died from "rust cancer". It was one of the saddest days of Eliot's life when we dismantled Mr. Venables and had him towed away ... But, Eliot's love for this car never faded, and now we are pleased to say that Mr. Venables II, which is Eliot's first car, is now a living, breathing reality, and out on the streets of ...