Dan Steinberg with Sarah Kogod
DC Sportsbog
washingtonpost.com
A few months ago, Mazda offered to refurbish “Bentley,” Redskins running back Alfred Morris’s beloved 1991 Mazda 626, in an effort to keep it running and reliable. Morris said goodbye temporarily and took a 2013 model loaner in the meantime.
Mazda sent Morris updates during the process, and they were pretty shocking.
Seeing his car stripped down was a lot for Morris to handle.
“I was like, ‘Oh, wow.’ I didn’t know they were gonna go that deep,” Morris said. “It was weird seeing her like that. I was like, ‘No! They took her apart!’ It hurt, just a little bit.”
Morris was reunited with Bentley on Tuesday at an event set up by Mazda. When he pulled up to the dealership in his loaner, Morris found a horde of media set up in front of his beloved car, which was covered with a drape for dramatic effect. When Bentley was unveiled, she looked exactly the same from the outside. But on the inside, she was new and improved.
A total of 275 man hours of labor and more than 450 new parts were involved in the refurbishment. In addition to the basics — an overhauled engine, new brakes, exhaust system – the car had some added features not typical of a 1991 Mazda 626. Leather interior, new sound system, and back-up camera were among the options Morris now has at his disposal.
Despite the overhaul, Morris insists his car is still the same Bentley.
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