We present Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) high-resolution near-ultraviolet (NUV) spectra of Car's central source recorded before, during and after the 2003.5 spectroscopic minimum. Our focus is on the narrow absorption lines formed in multiple circumstellar shells, superimposed on the broad P Cygni stellar wind features, and how they respond to the flux variations of Car across the minimum. Over 30 separate narrow-line velocity components are identified: three around 146km/s, many between 323 and 587km/s, and a few exceeding 1000km/s.