I've bored with this story before, but we picked up a Fiat Punto on our honeymoon. It was tiny, and I can drive stick, but I was wild-eyed negotiating the streets of Paris in it. When we were leaving, an American couple were getting into a comparatively huge Ford Mondeo. He says "Hey, it's stick" and she says "Can you drive stick?" and he says "Ah...I'll figure it out." The parking garage was like four stories below one of the Gare and it was like an arcade game to get up and down the ramps.
Announcement
Collapse
No announcement yet.
Your First Car
Collapse
X
-
Originally posted by Ray de Galles View PostIn Rome last week my 11 year old son (who is far more interested in cars than me) was fascinated by how tiny nearly all the cars were. It seemed to be almost exclusively Smart cars or the very smallest Fiat models. As there was a Metro strike a couple of days and there were five of us, we got an Uber "van" a few times and when he saw how much it struggled to negotiate many of the streets and would have had no hope of parking anywhere he understood why the locals chose the cars they did.
Originally posted by San Bernardhinault View PostIt's because you grew up in a country where, to pass your test you need to be able to drive around the block. Where you don't need to show that you're actually competent to drive a car.
Comment
-
I had a cousin who bought a Corvair* for his honeymoon, only to have it sandwiched by two tractor trailers on the Turnpike after he and his bride left the reception.
They spent their wedding night in the hospital and the car was a complete loss.
*yes, this was a very long time ago
Comment
-
Originally posted by Femme Folle View PostSometimes I'm surprised about that too. My dad put a foam rubber pad in the "back back" of his station wagon and that's where my sisters and I liked to be on family trips. Seatbelts? What seatbelts? I'm thankful that my parents and grandparents were very good drivers.
Comment
-
As I've mentioned before, a friend who lived in Central Rome brought a US-sized SUV with him from the states, with the intention of using it to go back and forth to the house they were renovating in Tuscany.
He couldn't get it within several kilometres of the flat, let alone park it anywhere.
Comment
-
- Mar 2008
- 9761
- Tyne 'n' Wear (emphasis on the 'n')
- Dundee Utd, Gladbach, Atleti, Napoli, New Orleans Saints, Elgin City
My dad had a Morris minor that was the 1st car I remember, but it was crashed by a drunk mate of his and I remember going with him to a hangar where various bits of it were arranged on the concrete. After Singapore we had a Ford Anglia in Cupar and the huge black and white valve telly we bought at the Auchtermuchty auction sat on the seat between me and big brother. Got home just in time to set it up to watch “Its a Knockout”, which I loved.
Ms Felicity learned to drive long before me and she had an old Fiat Panda that always struggled in the wet/cold but managed to take 6 people to the Timex mass pickets in Dundee (from Sunderland). When we traded it in it had a temporary clutch cable- the 1st garage drove it and said no; by the time we got to the Elswick Citroen dealer, just getting dark, he was so desperate to sell one of his older saxos, he took a look out of the showroom window and gave us £500 for it!
So that maroon saxo was my 1st as a driver
Comment
-
The first car I drove after passing my diving test (I took my test in a Hillman Imp) was my dad's Vauxhall Cresta. My dad got home from work and asked how the test went. When I told him I had passed he tossed me the keys and said "Don't scratch it'"
It was about three times the size of the Imp, column change, It was huge. I drove around gingerly for about thirty minutes. I was thrilled, really.
Love FF's tales of automotive adventures.
Comment
Comment