Help Please
“I need a practical car for my daily commute,” you say, so you summon your local used car classifieds page, set a few parameters, and see what you get. Four doors, six cylinders, no more than six years old, highway miles per gallon in the mid-20s, maybe $25,000 or so. Cast a net like this and you’ll catch dozens of Lexus, Infiniti, and Buick sedans, maybe an S-class with a salvage title, and one 191-mph Italian sports sedan: The 2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio.
The Giulia Quad is a 505-horsepower M3 slayer with a twin-turbocharged and intercooled 2.9-liter DOHC V6 and a knack for causing trouble. It was a $75,000 car when new, but that was in 2017. Used examples are now cheap. How cheap? Cheap enough for well-off high school kids with new Honda Civic money to get into one.
But danger lurks beneath the Rosso Competizione paint. You see, the earliest Giulias are now out of warranty (4 years/50,000 miles). This is bad news if you’re buying second-hand, and even worse if you’re the third owner following someone who gave up on regular service intervals after the warranty ran out. Your Giulia will require plenty of parts and labor, neither of which are cheap or easily found. Without warranty protection, you’re on your own.
If you’ve ever felt like asking for help, there’s an ancient song that might give you some guidance:
“I lift up my eyes to the hills – where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” (Psalm 121:1-2)
Hills – immobile, immovable, indifferent – could stand for a dozen different things. Perhaps the psalmist is creating a distinction between the God who helps and the little human-made gods who are helpless in all circumstances. People in neighboring countries praised gods believed to reign within certain mountain regions (see 1 Kings 20:23) and were represented by statues and altars displayed on mountain tops. He could be thinking of a battle scene where ally troops come running to the rescue over a mountain range and join the battle. Or he could be referencing God, creator of majestic mountains and every valley between them. God spoke to Moses on Mount Zion, which was visible from Jerusalem. Perhaps the psalmist was gazing at Mount Zion and thinking of God.
Interesting. But back to the car. How does this help a person who’s elbow-deep in a fancy red engine bay? Three points:
False gods do not help. Cars cannot fix themselves. Alcohol or drugs won’t help either.
Friends can help. If you’re part of your town’s Alfa Romeo owner’s club, call up some pals and see if they have advice. Unless your problem is buying the Alfa in the first place, in which case they’re the last people to help you out of that, and thus,
God ultimately has ultimate power to fix everything. God created you, the air that your Giulia Quad breathes, and all the elements that those hardworking Italian engineers used to create one of the best sports sedans ever made. God created the mountain on which he spoke to Moses, whom he created, and gave him laws he created to protect the people he created from messes they frequently create.
Okay, and a bonus fourth point: Lift your eyes up to the hills. You’ve been staring at that plastic cam cover (or the owner’s manual, or DIY repair videos) for hours. Take a break. Go for a walk. Think of something else. Keep something in your shop or garage that reminds you of God’s majesty and ability. A picture of a hill or mountain, or of someone you know whom God rescued from sin or sickness. God may or may not send in troops to help you with this particular problem, perhaps because this pickle is right where he wants you to be for your growth and his goodness. You might not have expected that kind of help, but it might be exactly the help you need.
If automotive journalists and early buyers had one complaint about the Giulia Quadrifoglio, it was about the car’s always-on attitude. This is especially true with the optional Sparco race seats, backed in carbon fiber. They were a $3,500 option, but unlike the rest of the car, they don’t require much maintenance.
John V16 is the intersection of God and cars. Please support our work and donate a V16-powered 1940 Cadillac Series 90 Sixteen to John V16. Or share this article with a friend.
