Friday, September 14, 2007

oh my goodness, didn't we do Friday once already this week?


I'm going to work late, and leaving early today, since I worked 11 hours yesterday.


I have the worst Crosby Stills and Nash song duking it out with a Britney Spears song in my head. I can't shake it, no matter how many times in inwardly howl "Jesu, joy of man's desiring" and the ABC song. Fatigue does strange things.


Here's a car I've always longed for - the 3 wheeled VELAM Isetta. Super-cute, but I'll bet the maintenance is a bear. I saw Fred Astaire getting out of one of these in Paris in the film "Funny Face" which also starred Audrey Hepburn. I'd probably manage to flip it onto its back like a turtle, though. Anyway, it's really cool because the door opens outward to the front, and I think you actually steer with a rudder-type stick, rather than a wheel.
I always wanted a Nash Metropolitan, but the maintenance was a discouragin' factor, so I never got one. There was a cool woman in Dallas about 15 years ago who'd taken the passenger seat out of her Nash Metro and drove around town with her Great Dane just sitting there where the other seat use to be. It was kind a freaky, and really cool to see all that dog flesh taking up half the car's interior.



11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cute as it is I have to have room for other people in my family. Is this the new way of saying sorry hubby and daughter you don't fit, I have to go it alone? LOL

Maybe that's why that lady you saw took out the seat for the dog.;)

Bet they get good fuel mileage, but heaven forbid something breaks. Cost could be high!

Anonymous said...

Wow, my Mom had one of those when she was first driving! She loved it to bits, her brothers, boyfriend (Pop) and father (who got stuck with keeping it moving), not so much. I believe hers was the BMW powered model. It was eventually discarded in favor of a 1956 Chevy Bel-Air when she needed to travel on LA's freeways.

Our family unit didn't have a "normal" car until the mid-80s when Dad broke down and bought a Chevy Malibu. The only car he ever bought new was a Fiat 850 coupe, which met its demise before my time, rear-ended in an intersection. It was replaced soon after by a 1971 Alfa Romeo Berlina, which I did roll in, but was too young to remember it.

The Berlina was replaced when we moved to Canada by a VW type 3 squareback. Thereafter, we suffered through a Ford Pinto, a Chevy Vega, Volvo Amazon and a Plymouth Volare, all of which were too depressing to link to.

Apparently oddball foreign car lust is genetic, the first car I bought and made payments on was a 1987 Alfa Romeo Milano. Damn, what a great car. I miss it much.

g bro said...

Time Magazine recently published their Worst 50 Cars list. I don't agree that they are all bad cars, but they are very interesting.
pdb, I think you hit on several or added to the list. Pinto, Vega and Volare! Why not add a Gremlin, Pacer and a K Car?

FHB said...

I've always loved those little Match Box type cars, but I'd have to be a double amputee to manage it.

Anonymous said...

One of the old timers who worked at the post office in my hometown had a Metropolitan. He swore he had 'plenty of room', but he a freakin' huge man. Of course, it helped that he rode around with a Scottie dog which didn't crowd him much.

Other times, he'd drive his '57 Chrysler Imperial (red, of course, with a hemi and fins!) to work.

Honestly, Nash parts are a lot more readily available than Isetta, Messerschmit or BMW 3 wheeler parts. Still, that's not saying a lot.

Consider a Honda S2000 or BMW Z4. It'd fit your personality.

Regards,
Rabbit.

Christina RN LMT said...

Cute!

I always wanted an Alpha Romeo Spider convertible when I was a kid.

Now I only care about reliability and gas mileage.

I'm gettin' old!

g bro said...

All I EVER cared about was reliability and gas mileage, regardless of my age. What does that make me?

Christina RN LMT said...

g bro, it makes you mature beyond your years!
That's a GOOD thing.

phlegmfatale said...

lainy - maybe a gal SHOULD have her own personal ride with no room for irksome family members? Just room for some shopping bags...

pdb - Wow. I'm impressed. You do indeed have a pedigree on oddball foreign car lust. It's a cool thing. I'm pleased there was no Citroën in your list.

g bro - I still remember that song from the Volare commercial:
Volare! Woh-oh
Volare! Woh-oh-oh-oh
Come try Volare today
Drive small the comfortable way

I think it starred Ricardo Montalban

fhb - I always remember seeing extremely tall men getting out of Opels and little MGs

rabbit - the z4 - isn't that what Tam drives? She calls it the Nazi rollerskate. I like that. I've been thinking about an FJ Cruiser, actually, in that gunmetal gray. I want a winch on the front and big tires and stuff, so I can drive into the wilds of NM and visit Lin properly.

christina - once had an Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce in the family - it was a really cool car. If I'd been smart, I would have insisted on being allowed to drive it more often, but I'm not known for my smarts. Those Italian horses can be temperamental

g bro - well, it makes you smarter than the average bear, but we already knew that of ye

christina - *nodding*

Anonymous said...

I'm also wondering out loud if that isn't the same vehicle Steve Urkel drove in Family Matters?

RobC said...

They had a steering wheel... that swiveled when the door opened. My Uncle had a BMW powered one. It was great fun to go for a spin in the car. They were sometimes called "Goggomobils' as well as I recall, because they looked like bugs. :-)