Comments on A wayfarer’s notes: Downsized

ok just for you I have written a new post

2008-06-22T18:07:00.000+01:00

ok just for you I have written a new post

oh Vincent, could get annoyed with you. So many st...

2008-06-22T09:52:00.000+01:00

oh Vincent, could get annoyed with you. So many stories and anecdotes associated with my list of motor Vehicles (i don't dare try to remember the list of female names).. but also thank you. Proves that i still have a memory .. heh.

Davo, I had a Morris Minor too, in the Seventies. ...

2008-06-22T06:01:00.000+01:00

Davo, I had a Morris Minor too, in the Seventies. Paid a hundred for that to a friend. My very first car cost £120 in 1966. I was robbed, but sold it at a profit. Had a 100e engine, so it was related closely to the Model Y Ford in my picture. It was one of the last of the generation of cars that could be maintained indefinitely, like the Fifties cars that they keep going in Cuba and of course

Paul as I think I remarked before, the English For...

2008-06-22T05:57:00.000+01:00

Paul as I think I remarked before, the English Ford Granada is different from the American one. though they may be cousins under the exterior styling.

With this one, all I have to do is not throw money away on it, and put a bullet in its head, so to speak, when it can't jump over the hurdles any more. Horse-racing metaphors.

I had the idea of calling it the Gift Horse. I am not

Lady in Red, Sophia. Foolish of me to mention wome...

2008-06-22T05:53:00.000+01:00

Lady in Red, Sophia. Foolish of me to mention women in a perfectly sensible discussion about cars. Now there is talk about romance. Glad to be an inspiration and all that, but ...

As for the air-conditioning, it has a button for that, and it may work, but I haven't troubled to test it yet, anyhow the fan rattles insanely.

mm, i must be a fickle fool as far as motor vehicl...

2008-06-22T03:04:00.000+01:00

mm, i must be a fickle fool as far as motor vehicle ownership goes. 1st, a Morris Minor, then Austin Lancer MkII; Bedford van with Vauxhall motor and fat wheels; Wolseley 24/80; Holden something or other; Toyota Corona MkII, Volvo DLL; two feet for a long time; Falcon XF; and now a Holden VN wagon.

Romance? What did I miss?You're a lot better off ...

2008-06-22T02:12:00.000+01:00

Romance? What did I miss?

You're a lot better off than a lot of people if you have air conditioning in your car. :)

I'm glad you were able to find a cheap set of wheels. Personally, the idea of walking to the grocery in this heat makes me cringe.

I have enjoyed reading this, it reminded me off we...

2008-06-21T15:29:00.000+01:00

I have enjoyed reading this, it reminded me off weaning my grandfather off driving when he was 91 after yet another little incident.
He finally agreed that he couldn't drive any longer, he was becoming too frail to work the hand brake or put the car into reverse.

It also reminded me of my beloved Vectra that I had bought with the insurance payout when I had cancer. SF was always too

Oooh... Ford Granada... Good luck with that...I ha...

2008-06-21T03:51:00.000+01:00

Oooh... Ford Granada... Good luck with that...

I had the worst car experience of my life with one. Took more and more money, kept thinking "If I just fix this..." then another thing would go...

And it didn't have anything like Charles' 200k, was definitely less than half that.

And at the time I lived in northern New England, and it had the clunkiest, most awkward

Charles, why don't you trade in that Honda now? Ma...

2008-06-20T08:37:00.000+01:00

Charles, why don't you trade in that Honda now? Make a stand against the irrational sentiment. I say this after realising my own grief for the dear departed Volvo has been forgotten with indecent speed, as I have plunged into an affair with the stately Ford, battered as it is, with no spare wheel, numerous unnecessary things not working, but at least more luxurious than the last. Good thing I'm

BBC: that Austin Bantam does look extremely simila...

2008-06-20T08:31:00.000+01:00

BBC: that Austin Bantam does look extremely similar. I never knew that Austin made cars in America till now. It's funny how you can date a car exactly by the styling. It's the same with old radios, which I was looking up the other day. I was going to write about my 1936 radio, which I bought for two shillings and sixpence in my teens, but it never happened.

Timjamz, yes, I can understand your grandfather. M...

2008-06-20T08:28:00.000+01:00

Timjamz, yes, I can understand your grandfather. My "new" car suits me so well that I can't motivate myself to go out and look for a "proper" car.

and thanks for the compliment. As you know (I'm wa...

2008-06-20T08:26:00.000+01:00

and thanks for the compliment. As you know (I'm waiting for more input) I trust you as a critic.

Ghetu, I was subverting the meaning of civilised. ...

2008-06-20T08:25:00.000+01:00

Ghetu, I was subverting the meaning of civilised. In a country like India there is no limit to the planet-friendly things that can be done because there is always someone willing to do the meanest tasks to earn enough to survive. Here for example the tasks of recycling and keeping the place clean are inhibited by the high cost of wages. People use cars too much. Life is less rich in colour and

I checked out those pics on your site, Jim, very i...

2008-06-20T08:18:00.000+01:00

I checked out those pics on your site, Jim, very interesting indeed & have commented there. I checked out the American Ford Granada. It's a completely different car, but mine seems equally grand to me, as it was top of the range in its day. I can't decide whether to keep it, as there are so many aspects which appeal to me. If I do I will have to "restore" it, by for example fixing the rust on

I am involved in a huge conspiracy (as the victim ...

2008-06-19T16:23:00.000+01:00

I am involved in a huge conspiracy (as the victim or mark) which is a governmental sting operation personalized to myself (something like a whistleblower sort of thing), of course 'government' are individual beneficiaries of the incomes those offices provide, not to mention the pleasurable power and side benefits. It just happens to have to do with these automobile subjects.

I could and

great writing vincent. it was such a refreshing re...

2008-06-19T12:49:00.000+01:00

great writing vincent. it was such a refreshing read.

congratulations on your new car. but india is not that much civilised as you think. depends, if your luck is good.

I love it! Not letting go of a car is something I...

2008-06-19T05:37:00.000+01:00

I love it! Not letting go of a car is something I also inherited from my own grandfather. He'll pick up a "cheap old beater" that someone is just "getting rid of," and drive the thing for ten years! I can remember to this day his 1982 white Toyota station wagon... with more than 300,000 miles on it, points where pavement was visible from inside, and which he drove every day to his engineering

That car looks a lot like the first car my dad got...

2008-06-19T02:21:00.000+01:00

That car looks a lot like the first car my dad got us when teens. It was a little Austin Bantam.

I own a 1992 Honda Accord. It has 213,000 Miles o...

2008-06-18T19:27:00.000+01:00

I own a 1992 Honda Accord. It has 213,000 Miles on it now.

We have spent more on repairs over the course of the last 9 years that we owned it than we originally paid for it. I'm not sure what it is worh at the moment if we were to try and sell it.

It gets great gas mileage, a necessity these days, and it is the first car my wife and I bought. We even named it. "Harold" has

Thanks Scot. Glad you enjoyed. Half the time the s...

2008-06-18T19:08:00.000+01:00

Thanks Scot. Glad you enjoyed. Half the time the stuff I plan to write isn't enjoyable at all. Most of it doesn't get past the internal censor.

Vincentenjoyed the story and the tie in to the pas...

2008-06-18T12:27:00.000+01:00

Vincent
enjoyed the story and the tie in to the past