Love at first sight [1]
Sunday, March 30, 2003 - 10:57. Updated on Friday, February 19, 2016 - 18:45.
From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 18, no. 1, March 2003.
When Gloria Guttenbeil (24) earned her Bachelor of Commerce (majoring in Economics) and her Bachelor of Law Degree from the University of Otago her proud parents showed their happiness by buying her a $15,000 V6, Mitsubishi GTO.
“I think my parents were just overwhelmed with joy that I had achieved so much in just five years that they offered to buy me a car, to make up for the sweat and late nights that I had been going through during my studies,” said Gloria.
When Gloria came back to Tonga in August last year she was in the process of ordering a car from Japan when someone told her about the red hottie parked at a Nuku‘alofa car sales yard.
“I went and took a look at it, and you can say it was love at first sight— ‘hot red’ is my favorite colour, plus the model was cool and the interior looked really nice. I wanted something different that no one had so I decided right there and that I had to have it,” said Gloria. “When I first took the car for a spin I felt really excited and sophisticated.” Since then she has installed speakers and an amplifier in the car, and will add a CD player.
Gloria, who is a lawyer at the Crown Law Department in Nuku‘alofa, said her typical days of work could be very tiring and hectic. The car gives a sense of relaxation at the end of a hard working day when she plays her music and takes a cruise, on her way home to Vaini, where she lives with her parents, Gustaf and Moana Guttenbeil, jewelry-makers and gift-shop owners.
Gloria admits that she can’t use the full speed of the car due to Tonga’ 65 kph limit, and she also confesses that she does not really take care of her car as well as she should. “Several times I just forgot to refill the oil and the water. Sometimes I forget to slow down when I am taking bumpy roads. So at the moment I am ordering new tyres from New Zealand because the current ones are being worn out,” laughed Gloria. ▲