It's a big black Volvo station wagon outfitted with flashing blue lights, the interior littered with cans and bits of trash. But its name is Black Shampoo, and it is the pride and joy of Joshua I. Weiner '03.

Weiner doesn't use his car every day--he spends most of his time on campus, and it can be inconvenient to retrieve the car from the garage. But having his own transportation has proved useful in a pinch.

"Black Shampoo's most memorable moment was when it carried Sen. Alan K. Simpson (R-Wyo.) and his wife Ann from the IOP to Harvard Yard when they were running late for an event last year," Weiner writes in an e-mail message. "Since the emergency car ride was not expected, the inside of the car was very messy.

"Although they tried to be good sports about it, Ann, riding in the back, looked frightened of the empty cans on the floor, and the senator ended up sitting on a bunch of melted M&Ms while trying to squeeze his tall body into the front seat," he added.

Weiner is one of the elite minority of students who keep their own cars at Harvard. They suffer the everyday hassles of car ownership: expensive parking permits and minimal curbside space, unpredictable traffic and fearless pedestrians, even too-close encounters with wild animals.

But Harvard's car owners say the annoyances are well worth it--having a car can save time, cut costs and provide expanded opportunities.

"I love my car," Weiner says. His fellow car owners couldn't agree more.

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