Photo courtesy of Airman 1st Class Nick Muller Airman 1st Class Nick Muller's 2005 Chevrolet Monte Carlo LTsparkles on a sunny day outside his homein Bath, N.Y.

Muller purchased the car used in 2007. ‘‘I bought it when on Recruiter’s Assistance in March of last year,” he said. Muller was fresh out of technical school and felt it was time to treat himself to a nicer automobile.

The ebony paint job on the Chevy resembles pristine black lacquer, a far cry from his rusty Oldsmobile. Muller has grown to love black on cars, as many car enthusiasts do, and it’s a tradition he intends to continue with future vehicles. ‘‘Since I got it, I favor black cars now. I think from now on, I’ll buy black cars,” he said.

In the spirit of tradition, it turns out owning a Monte Carlo is like a rite of passage in the Muller family. ‘‘When my dad joined the Marines 30 years ago, he bought a Monte Carlo as his first car, too,” said the Airman proudly. ‘‘That’s pretty cool.”

Muller’s Monte remains mostly stock under the hood, since he concentrates more on the outside look of the car and leaves everything else to the experts.

‘‘I guess it’s just about the way (a car) looks to me. I have an idea what I want it to look like,” he said. ‘‘I haven’t really done any performance upgrading; I’ve just been trying to make it look nice.”

Muller’s first change to the Monte was a new set of rims. It now sports 20-inch rims that are black with a chrome lip. A new Alpine sound system, including subwoofers and an amp, followed shortly thereafter. Window tinting rounds out the car’s Darth Vader look.

‘‘Just trying to make it black and chrome, I guess,” said Muller nonchalantly.

It’s his daily driver, and it has made several trips to his home state of New York and back to Bolling comfortably. After all, LT does stand for Luxury Touring. When the Monte isn’t dodging bumps and potholes, Muller says it runs great.

‘‘I’ve been trying to look for a suspension upgrade just because of the D.C. roads. You have to be on the lookout all the time. It’s terrible,” he said.

The future of the Chevrolet Monte Carlo is uncertain. In 2007, its maker, General Motors, announced that they were stopping production of the American classic. ‘‘It’s too bad. I won’t be able to walk into a dealer and buy a new Monte Carlo off the lot,” said Muller sadly at the car’s demise.

It’s had a good run, considering it’s been around since 1970. Chevrolet’s answer to the Ford Thunderbird has racked up an impressive resume in its time. The Monte Carlo has the most wins in NASCAR history and has been featured in several movies, including ‘‘Training Day” and ‘‘Collateral.”

Chevrolet’s luxury coupe will always have a permanent place in automotive history, not to mention in the Muller family history.