| Going nowhere fast |
 Blog For Free! Archives Home 2008 September 2006 March 2006 February 2005 August 2005 July 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2004 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 January 2003 December 2003 November tBlog My Profile Send tMail My tFriends My Images Sponsored Blog 
|
posted by: lindy (reply) post date: 07.27.05 (4:28 am) Oh! I miss them! Clearly, I never drove one. We had plenty of them in Germany. But... no one I ever knew talked about them much. Now I see why. posted by: SusanofPudlin (reply) post date: 07.27.05 (11:32 am) What beautiful imagery you have created with your deck chair illustrations! I think it looks like a perfectly splendid car. posted by: badaunt (reply) post date: 07.27.05 (5:33 pm) Hey, that's sort of shaped like a Morris Minor, only fancier! I don't like the idea of the deck chairs, though. My Morrie's seats were quite comfortable, really, except that the back of the back seat kept falling forward and if I stopped suddenly going downhill anything in the boot flew out and past my head, most memorably a large can of water one time, that almost took my head off. But I had the same problem with hills. There were some hills in Wellington that, if I didn't get a good run up first, or had to stop halfway, I had to back down, embarrassingly, because the car couldn't make it even in first gear from a stopped position. And I used to get passed by busses and logging trucks even on gentle slopes when I took it on trips. posted by: Andaloo (reply) post date: 07.27.05 (8:22 pm) Reply to: SusanofPudlin Aha! You see, that's how it all starts. posted by: Andaloo (reply) post date: 07.27.05 (8:25 pm) Reply to: badaunt Ohhh Morris Minors are a completely different story. They're lovely! Did yours have indicator lights which flip out from the sides of the car? posted by: badaunt (reply) post date: 07.27.05 (9:50 pm) Reply to: Andaloo Yes, but they didn't work. A friend installed proper indicator lights (required by law, boring old law), and he installed a light inside as well to let me know when they were on. I had a big black switch thing on the dash and a little bulb hanging from a wire under the dash. This meant that when I turned on the indicator light at night, the inside of the car lit up like a flashing Christmas tree, blinding me. Wonderful effect, but rather dangerous, so I would cover the bulb with my hand, turn on the indicator, and for a moment have both hands off the wheel. I bet you never knew a Morris Minor could be so exciting. When I took that car on a very long trip (from Wellington to Dunedin) it took four days, in the middle of winter, and the heating system consisted of a hot water bottle. Stopping at country petrol stations to fill up my hot water bottle was a feature of the trip I remember fondly. Most of the mechanics offered me a hot cup of tea as well, since they had the kettle on, while they tinkered with the engine. "Oooh! A side valve! I haven't seen one of those for ages! Do you want me to remove the spider?" (The spider stayed.) Ahh, memories. posted by: BerlinBear (reply) post date: 07.28.05 (12:05 pm) Haha! Great post. I have long been a lover of the 2CV, and I had heard that story about the original brief too (so it *must* be true). I have even driven one, once. It belonged to a friend and it was truly excellent, though it didn't have those canvas deckchairs you mention, but proper (if old and cracked) seats. One day, one day, I will own my very own 2CV, or "duck" as they're called here in Germany. No one can stop me, it's going to happen. But I won't make the mistake of having it be my only car. BTW, did you know that 2CV stands for "deux Chevaux vitesse" or two horse power, because the original ones had a 2 horspower motor. Nowadays, i.e. up until they stopped making them, they have a stonking 25 horsepower. :-) |
|