I wrote something along these lines yesterday, and then #$!@ IE crash ate it . Serve me right for not resurrecting or replacing my Linux laptop!

Anyway, you did not expect this old-timer to manage to refrain from adding some of his own stories, did you ?

I used to drive a long succesion of Citroën 2CVs, typically around 15 years old, bought for $100 or so. They were the most recent models, with a whooping 600ccm, 30HP 2-cylinder horizontally opposed air-cooled engines, and I once managed to attain the speed of 80mph (highway, downhill, favorable wind).

You never started a trip in one of these without few wrenches, screwdrivers and pliers, duct tape and some wire (copper and steel). However, it was all it took to repair any breakdown. I was never left stranded (not for long, anyway ) by this car.

BTW, they are still immensely popular. Take a Google search to see numerous clubs' and owner's pages.


Another example of user-repairable car was my cousin's Fiat 600. We once managed to drive it few miles with one of carburetor nozzles replaced with a stick fashioned from a twig. You would not expect such a car to be popular as a racer, yould you? Well, see photos at the bottom of this page.

(BTW, for a hilarious example of babelfish translation see this Fiat 600 club site)

Well, I now drive Renault Twingo. For me it has the same feel as my old 2CVs, but technologically cannot be more different. When you start it, first you hear whining, buzzing, clicking and whirling of various motors and servos, then you watch dozen or so self-test lamps extinguishing... The only problem I had in its 35000 miles is that occasionally, if on wet day I pass very closely to a strong radio emiter so that it is on my righthand side, one computer or another picks unbelievable data on speed of one of the wheels and switches ABS off .



(These are not photograps of my cars - I don't have a digital camera - but stolen from two of numerous club sites; I am sure owners would not mind ...)

(Aren't we good at drifting off-topic, eh?)