Terrific story, David, and kudos on a long-relationship with that wonderful axe. That Series shape four-string in natural has always been an icon to me.
I had to laugh . . . . about the same time (old guys rule!), I had a VW Beetle convertible, and was in a quandary about how in the hell was I going to move my then-new Peavey Bass head and 215 cabinet around in said-same vehicle. Got a call for an unexpected one-nighter that night, and I knew no one in the group well enough to know if any of them had a van or pickup. Gotta go now, then it dawned on me, so I went out in the driveway and dropped the top. Got the 215 up on the back bumper and tipped it over the folded top into the back seat. Ta Da ! ! !
Got some strange looks, especially driving it back home like that at 3 AM !
It gets even better later: I bought one of those Acoustic rigs with the 415 cabinet (for our younger readers, bass playing in the 60's thru the 80's was a MANLY profession, what with moving all those Coke Machine sized cabinets) right after I traded the Bug on . . . . wait for it . . . a new Honda Civic !
Joey