An Arkansas man who raised eyebrows after revealing he was in an intimate relationship with his car has been left devastated after his ‘soulmate’ was written off.
The motorist, who goes only by Nathaniel, detailed how his relationship broke down with his beloved 1998 Chevy Monte Carlo, named Chase, after it was destroyed during a routine check up four years ago.
His lost love
His unorthodox affair captured headlines over a decade ago after it was featured on an episode of the TLC’s ‘My Strange Addiction’, where he was seen expressing his love for the classic motor by getting intimate with its machinery.
But while he admitted he had even had sex with his car, he said in an update shared by TLC’s Instagram last month that their love ran out of fuel.
Although he has tried to move on with several new cars, Nathaniel admitted he can’t replace Chase and feels his latest fling is ‘more of a friends with benefits’ situation.
Nathaniel broke down in tears as he gave an update on his life, saying: ‘I think people will be surprised to hear that Chase isn’t a part of my life anymore.
READ MORE: 711 workers TAKE MATTERS into their own hands as they stop brazen burglar
‘When you last saw me a decade ago, I was in an intimate relationship with my car Chase,’ he said.
In the archival footage from the original show, Nathaniel proudly smooched the 1998 Chevy on the bumper and steering wheel while telling the car how much he loved ‘him.’
He said after meeting Chase at a resale lot, it was ‘love at first sight’, as he was drawn to the car because its parts ‘just seemed to fit and I felt a connection.’
However, Nathaniel ominously cried as he thought about what he would do if he ever lost his lover, saying his ‘heart would just stop’.
Broken love
The beloved motor was involved in a serious accident four years ago after it went in for maintenance, with an image from the tragedy showing a metal structure collapsed on the car.
‘I still think about it a lot and it breaks my heart that he’s not here,’ he said in his update. ‘I felt like he deserved better.’
Nathaniel is one of the rare people who experience objectophilia or objectum-sexuality, a condition that sees people attracted to physical objects over people.
Among the items people have fallen for over the years includes a Boeing-737 plane and a bundle of balloons.
As a way of coping with the gut-wrenching loss, Nathaniel seems to have turned his room into a shrine for his former partner.
Chase’s bumper has become his bed’s headboard, and nostalgic pictures of the two of them together are found throughout the room.
‘The bedroom is just a special place and I felt like that was the perfect place for him, and to have him close to me,’ he added.
Among the ‘cute’ pictures he chose for his walls and bedding included the couple embracing in a field and the car ‘getting a bath’.
‘You look back and realize the things you take for granted, until its too late,’ Nathaniel tearfully said.
Although he said he ‘still thinks about Chase’, he said he’s moved on with several other cars.
He said he went out looking for new lovers, when he came across his ‘baby girl’ Lex – a Lexus ES330.
He ran through a fleet of cars in his collection, as he admitted that Lex is ‘not the only love I have in my life, I have expanding the family.’
