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A week in a proper car.
I've been driving Womble for exactly a week now, and some things have occurred to me. I thought I'd share them, in no particular order.
It's a cliche, but it's seat-of-the-pants driving.
I drove Kitewife's Focus a couple of days ago, it was a disaster! Taps the brakes, do an emergency stop - steer with two fingers, weave all over the road. There's no feedback, nothing to tell me by feel exactly how much braking I'm doing, or how fast the wheels are turning. I had to look at the dials to check the speed and watch the revs before changing gear.
Modern cars, I have decided, are only one step short of video games.
If you have abdicated all responsibility for your safety to a mindless mechanism, who do you blame if something goes wrong? Where do you direct your anger? The only target left is the other driver.
Every single one of them waved, flashed their lights or otherwise said "hello" as we passed. I have never seen drivers of other kinds of car do that. It's pretty good, getting a friendly wave from a stranger. It lifts your day, puts a smile on your face.
It's like we share a happy secret.
People might wish they could afford a supercar, but they are genuinely jealous of people who actually own a proper Mini.
OK, so the old Minis don't meet modern safety rules. They're slow, utterly lacking in luxuries (my heater has two settings - on or off), but if somebody started building them new, using the original molds for the panels and frames (they still exist), and charged five or six thousand pounds a pop, they would make an absolute fortune.
- I enjoy driving again.
It's a cliche, but it's seat-of-the-pants driving.
I drove Kitewife's Focus a couple of days ago, it was a disaster! Taps the brakes, do an emergency stop - steer with two fingers, weave all over the road. There's no feedback, nothing to tell me by feel exactly how much braking I'm doing, or how fast the wheels are turning. I had to look at the dials to check the speed and watch the revs before changing gear.
Modern cars, I have decided, are only one step short of video games.
- Maybe that's part of the reason for the rise in roadrage?
If you have abdicated all responsibility for your safety to a mindless mechanism, who do you blame if something goes wrong? Where do you direct your anger? The only target left is the other driver.
- I seem to have joined a sub-culture.
Every single one of them waved, flashed their lights or otherwise said "hello" as we passed. I have never seen drivers of other kinds of car do that. It's pretty good, getting a friendly wave from a stranger. It lifts your day, puts a smile on your face.
It's like we share a happy secret.
- Minis attract comment more than cars that cost fifty times as much.
People might wish they could afford a supercar, but they are genuinely jealous of people who actually own a proper Mini.
- Everybody has a Mini in their closet.
OK, so the old Minis don't meet modern safety rules. They're slow, utterly lacking in luxuries (my heater has two settings - on or off), but if somebody started building them new, using the original molds for the panels and frames (they still exist), and charged five or six thousand pounds a pop, they would make an absolute fortune.
Comments
11 years ago
Now that I have read this, the only thing holding me back from driving an old school car is that its old when I'm 16 and people will laugh.
I need to soup up a 1998 Honda Civic later on
Reply 10 years ago
Is this laughable?
Reply 10 years ago
In the UK, it would be illegal.
Reply 10 years ago
Why?
Reply 10 years ago
Wheels have to be enclosed by arches.
Reply 10 years ago
Well, what's the point of that?
Reply 10 years ago
Some little thing about not tangling pedestrians in your running gear if you hit them.
Reply 10 years ago
Don't you think they would get hurt anyways? Lol
Reply 10 years ago
Compare the bruises and contusions of bouncing off a wing to the inconvenience of having limbs stripped of their flesh and/or ripped clean off.
Reply 10 years ago
Not really. No, I knew the answers I was just confirming them.
Reply 10 years ago
I'd take loosing the limb. :)
Reply 10 years ago
That actually looks pretty good!
Reply 11 years ago
Dude, my first car is an 88 reliant k. stop complaining.
Reply 11 years ago
Thats the one I am driving, it has fantastic mileage (22mpg) even though I floor it on the way to school, I'm a gas waster with my little 4 cylinder is hammering away. True the odo doesn't top 85, it will still get going fast, I just haven't had a long empty strip to fully test that on. All in all, even though it doesn't look sweet (yet) on the outside, I can still put a mattress and some curtains in the back ;-D
Reply 11 years ago
it has fantastic mileage (22mpg)
You can tell you live near Detroit! I get more than that in the Mini, on pure urban cycle, and Kitewife's Focus gets around 40mpg on her mixed (urban/rural) driving.
Reply 11 years ago
How many litres is a gallon? Australia's a bit out of wack with the rest of the world.
Reply 11 years ago
The rest of the world (aside from the US and some other country) uses the metric (base10) system, we americans you the imperial system (grrrrr metric is sooooo much better)
1 US gallon = 3.78541178 liters
Reply 11 years ago
Ahh thanks, I thought England used imperial as well. :P Thanks for clearing this up.
Reply 11 years ago
I am not old enough to drive, I am not complaining, Kiteman has 99% convinced me to drive old school cars, but I am just afraid people will laugh.
Reply 11 years ago
If its a cool old school car, people won't laugh.
Reply 11 years ago
OHHHH, ok. Yeah, people wont laugh, at least not directly.
Reply 11 years ago
Since when is 1998 an old school car?
Reply 11 years ago
Well, I was just saying it works just like Kiteman says his car works above. No fancy driving helpers, no weird gizmos, etc.
Reply 11 years ago
Heh.
Reply 11 years ago
My first car, when I turned 17, was also a Mini (a 998cc Mini City), and was also old. Nobody laughed at it, partly because I was one of only two daily drivers in the school, and partly because I, in my 998cc Mini, could beat the other driver across town in his three-litre Capri Sport.
Reply 11 years ago
I want to drive a 98' Honda civic when I can drive. It does exactly what you want, and I can mod it to look frickin awesome.
11 years ago
steer with two fingers, weave all over the road.
That is kind of a good thing, it makes it easier for you to drive.
Taps the brakes, do an emergency stop
Something is likely not tuned right...
There's no feedback, nothing to tell me by feel exactly how much braking I'm doing, or how fast the wheels are turning.
Speedometer anyone?
Reply 11 years ago
Speedometer
If you need a sensor-reading to know what the car is doing, you are too isolated from the driving process, and treating it like a video game.
Reply 11 years ago
Sensor-reading would be more accurate...
Reply 11 years ago
Define accurate- a ruler will let you judge distance more accurately than your senses alone, but a ruler isn't much good for judging distance when I say "here, catch this brick".
Reply 11 years ago
that is entierley different...
Reply 11 years ago
No it's not different at all. When you catch or throw something your brain does the calculations with absolutely no numeric relation what so ever because it can FEEL the weight and judge the speed and angle required. If you can feel how fast your car is going or feel the RPM's and the grooves in the road you can respond alot better as you have more direct inputs that can help your brain make a decision without looking and converting numbers in your head to a logical decision.
You clearly have NO idea what your talking about and doubtfully any experience with standard or older cars.
Reply 11 years ago
Well, it's an analogy so will never be identical, but I hope you appreciate the point I am making- sometimes you need to be able to quickly judge something without using a meter to actually measure it. I'd rather have my sense of balance to ride a bike than a spirit level on the handlebars. When someone pulls out in front of me on my motorbike, I don't look at the speedo to see how hard to pull the brakes, I can tell how fast I'm going by sense.
Reply 11 years ago
Can you double-de-clutch non-synchro gearboxes? L
Reply 11 years ago
I've never had to, but I may have to soon - the synchro is giving up in second gear, and it's a big/expensive job to fix.
11 years ago
I know what you mean by seat-of-the-pants driving. My first car was a 1969 Mercedes 220D. 4 Speed manual with less power than a lawn-mower, but awesome to drive :)
11 years ago
comment
11 years ago
Hey wait...I have seen that car before(except in a different color)!
Reply 11 years ago
They're around - 25,000 on UK roads.
Reply 11 years ago
Windscreen? Wow that is strange, Over here it is called Windshield.(and ironically both are spelled right by my spell checker O_o)
12 years ago
thats really kool, the other day i saw one driving and not one of those new ones, just straight up kool little cars.
12 years ago
That is a really nice car...
Reply 12 years ago
I think so.
12 years ago
Very Nice!
12 years ago
The electric truck that I drive to school everyday has no power steering and no power brakes (keep in mind that this truck weighs 3,750 pounds without people). Our heater has two settings though-we put a ceramic space heater in place of the heater core, so it has 750W and 1500W settings. It's always strange when I drive our family's Escort for going out of town--the wheel hardly turns around, and you barely touch the brakes, and get this: you don't have to shift gears all the time. I got >40 mpg on the last trip from KC, though...not too shabby for a 10-year-old station wagon.
My mom's car beats even your Mini, though--even smaller, and one wheel less. Its heater also has two settings-Useless and Total Joke.
Reply 12 years ago
You like your EVs, huh? :)
I like that car you linked to- with four wheels that wouldn't look at all out of place on UK city streets- apart from the bullet-train nose and "unusual" factor it would hardly warrant a second look. The back end looks suspiciously Suzuki Swift/Geo Metro... sadly I doubt it will ever do that well here because three-wheeled cars will forever have their reputations tarnished by the Reliant Robin and Reliant Regal. It's rather a shame, I'd quite like on of those Xebras otherwise.
Reply 12 years ago
It seems that they don't ship outside the US yet. The chassis is built in China, then they are shipped to California, where the electric components are installed. If you happen to stop by Topeka sometime, we'll gladly give you a turn. ;-)
12 years ago
You enjoy driving, feel more in touch with your vehicle, have joined a subculture where people will talk to you about your car or their own adventures and give you a nod when they drive past in one? Now you know why bikers are bikers. (Or now I know you know, if you already know, if you see what I mean.) Every one of those points is what makes biking an abject joy for me. FWIW, I think there is a company in Brazil that does produce new Minis, VW Beetles and camper vans from pattern parts- you can import them but it's a bit of a nightmare. I think it's a massive shame, but there you go.
Reply 12 years ago
the old presses from the mini plant in england were bought up and are doing good as original parts still, don't know about shipping to US though. Don't know about Mexican mini's but they're still churning out beetles as I understand it. Every old beetle or camper waves at my girlfriend when she's out in her bug. I used to get the same from mini drivers when I owned one. Even the odd porche waves at her! air cooled is awesome :) as for bikes, I think there was a time when bikes were cheap and all people could afford and that probably brought together a sense of community. Enduring the elements together. Now that weekend riders have them as toys to kill themselves on and give us all a bad name, hand waving head nodding gestures seem to fading out. Go to france and they shake there leg at you! its a crazy country, no head nodding for them :D
12 years ago
Cars scare me. Cars and credit cards. SCARY.