enough said

Peter Stickney wrote:

In article ,
Alan Minyard writes:
On Sat, 17 Jan 2004 00:24:50 +0100, "ArVa" wrote:

"Jarg" a écrit dans le message de
om...
"ArtKramr" wrote in message


I'm a Mercedes man myself. 420 SEL as a matter of fact. BTW, do the
French
make cars?

Of couse the French make cars. Check out this beauty, gassed up and ready
to run (away)!

http://www.citroen-hy.com/kauppa/2cv-87-1.jpg

That is a press release from a french "auto maker". What do you expect
from such a biased source? Renault was run out of the US market, as
was Pugeot. Both lacked the quality to compete.

Working as a mechanic on the Renault 15 (Gordini) has been a leading
cause of cognitive disorders. (Not a Transverse-Engined Front Wheel
Drive, but a Reverse Engined setup. With everything else backward, as
well, Whoever thought up the idea that the coolant pump should be the
highest point in the cooling system must have received a Special Medal
from the Engine Block Caster's Union.

When I was instructing in Pursuit and Protection Driving, we used
Peugeots as our school cars. They were cheap, handled reasonable
well, and you didn't feel bad when you broke one.

--
Pete Stickney
A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many
bad measures. -- Daniel Webster

The quickest, most entertaining car I ever drove was a Renault Alpine.

Of course, having been built as a factory entrant in the Monte Carlo Rally, it was
not quite in stock configuration. ( But it was street legal.)

Bob McKellar

In article ,
Bob McKellar writes:


Peter Stickney wrote:

In article ,
Alan Minyard writes:
On Sat, 17 Jan 2004 00:24:50 +0100, "ArVa" wrote:

"Jarg" a écrit dans le message de
om...
"ArtKramr" wrote in message


I'm a Mercedes man myself. 420 SEL as a matter of fact. BTW, do the
French
make cars?

Of couse the French make cars. Check out this beauty, gassed up and ready
to run (away)!

http://www.citroen-hy.com/kauppa/2cv-87-1.jpg

That is a press release from a french "auto maker". What do you expect
from such a biased source? Renault was run out of the US market, as
was Pugeot. Both lacked the quality to compete.

Working as a mechanic on the Renault 15 (Gordini) has been a leading
cause of cognitive disorders. (Not a Transverse-Engined Front Wheel
Drive, but a Reverse Engined setup. With everything else backward, as
well, Whoever thought up the idea that the coolant pump should be the
highest point in the cooling system must have received a Special Medal
from the Engine Block Caster's Union.

When I was instructing in Pursuit and Protection Driving, we used
Peugeots as our school cars. They were cheap, handled reasonable
well, and you didn't feel bad when you broke one.

--
Pete Stickney
A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many
bad measures. -- Daniel Webster

The quickest, most entertaining car I ever drove was a Renault Alpine.

Of course, having been built as a factory entrant in the Monte Carlo Rally, it was
not quite in stock configuration. ( But it was street legal.)

An old Alpine ('60s era)? That is an amazing beast. I'm somewhat
envious. Seems like it would handle a bit like an old Porsche 911.
(Which wouldn't be at all bad, if you stayed awake)

--
Pete Stickney
A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many
bad measures. -- Daniel Webster

Peter Stickney wrote:

In article ,
Bob McKellar writes:


Peter Stickney wrote:

In article ,
Alan Minyard writes:
On Sat, 17 Jan 2004 00:24:50 +0100, "ArVa" wrote:

"Jarg" a écrit dans le message de
om...
"ArtKramr" wrote in message


I'm a Mercedes man myself. 420 SEL as a matter of fact. BTW, do the
French
make cars?

Of couse the French make cars. Check out this beauty, gassed up and ready
to run (away)!

http://www.citroen-hy.com/kauppa/2cv-87-1.jpg

That is a press release from a french "auto maker". What do you expect
from such a biased source? Renault was run out of the US market, as
was Pugeot. Both lacked the quality to compete.

Working as a mechanic on the Renault 15 (Gordini) has been a leading
cause of cognitive disorders. (Not a Transverse-Engined Front Wheel
Drive, but a Reverse Engined setup. With everything else backward, as
well, Whoever thought up the idea that the coolant pump should be the
highest point in the cooling system must have received a Special Medal
from the Engine Block Caster's Union.

When I was instructing in Pursuit and Protection Driving, we used
Peugeots as our school cars. They were cheap, handled reasonable
well, and you didn't feel bad when you broke one.

--
Pete Stickney
A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many
bad measures. -- Daniel Webster

The quickest, most entertaining car I ever drove was a Renault Alpine.

Of course, having been built as a factory entrant in the Monte Carlo Rally, it was
not quite in stock configuration. ( But it was street legal.)

An old Alpine ('60s era)? That is an amazing beast. I'm somewhat
envious. Seems like it would handle a bit like an old Porsche 911.
(Which wouldn't be at all bad, if you stayed awake)

--
Pete Stickney
A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many
bad measures. -- Daniel Webster

I first encountered it in the mid 70's, when it was long retired as a competition car.
I have a hazy recollection it was in the '67 Rally. It was a hoot! It looked kind of
like a squished Karmann Ghia, with a tiny 4 cylinder water cooled engine in the rear.
Another hazy memory was it was about 1100 cc. The fiberglass body was so thin you could
easily deform it with your hand.

The first time I drove it ( in downtown traffic ) the guy with me said "We're trying to
hold it to 6000 rpm". At the first intersection, when the light changed, I gave it a
"bit" of gas and hit 7000 passing under the traffic light. It had no top end speed,
with the rally gears, but it sure would rev! It also had huge wide tires, and would
turn on a franc.

We made a lot of enemies one night. We stayed out too late and it got dark enough we
had to turn on the lights. Turning them "on" turned on all 6 driving lights and the
folks in the oncoming lane were not pleased.

No cup holders.

I also recall it spent some time as a fugitive, due to some nasty circumstances
involving divorces and bankruptcies. It hid in a nondescript garage in a small town,
awaiting its opportunity to return and terrorize the populace.

Bob McKellar

In article ,
Bob McKellar writes:
Peter Stickney wrote:
An old Alpine ('60s era)? That is an amazing beast. I'm somewhat
envious. Seems like it would handle a bit like an old Porsche 911.
(Which wouldn't be at all bad, if you stayed awake)

I also recall it spent some time as a fugitive, due to some nasty circumstances
involving divorces and bankruptcies. It hid in a nondescript garage in a small town,
awaiting its opportunity to return and terrorize the populace.

So it may still me lurking out there - sleeping - waiting for some
unsuspecting soul to unleash it on a world unprepared to deal with it.

Cool. I'm on it. As soon as I can whip up some vacation time, a
ticket to France, and a bunch of French Laywers to deal with the
paperwork...

(I should go anyway - I've a 10-ton Federal tractor (Ex French Army),
sitting in Marseilles, that's been waiting for a reasonable price to
travel as anything but Deck Cargo... (Deck Cargo's cheap, but there's
no responsibility on the part of the Ship's Owners or Master to
deliver it. Once it's out to sea, if they get tired of walking around
it, they can deep-six it with no repercussions.))

--
Pete Stickney
A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many
bad measures. -- Daniel Webster

Peter Stickney wrote:

In article ,
Bob McKellar writes:
Peter Stickney wrote:
An old Alpine ('60s era)? That is an amazing beast. I'm somewhat
envious. Seems like it would handle a bit like an old Porsche 911.
(Which wouldn't be at all bad, if you stayed awake)

I also recall it spent some time as a fugitive, due to some nasty circumstances
involving divorces and bankruptcies. It hid in a nondescript garage in a small town,
awaiting its opportunity to return and terrorize the populace.

So it may still me lurking out there - sleeping - waiting for some
unsuspecting soul to unleash it on a world unprepared to deal with it.

Cool. I'm on it. As soon as I can whip up some vacation time, a
ticket to France, and a bunch of French Laywers to deal with the
paperwork...

(I should go anyway - I've a 10-ton Federal tractor (Ex French Army),
sitting in Marseilles, that's been waiting for a reasonable price to
travel as anything but Deck Cargo... (Deck Cargo's cheap, but there's
no responsibility on the part of the Ship's Owners or Master to
deliver it. Once it's out to sea, if they get tired of walking around
it, they can deep-six it with no repercussions.))

--
Pete Stickney
A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many
bad measures. -- Daniel Webster

France? Who said anything about France? Try Southeast USA.

Bob

In article ,
Bob McKellar writes:
Peter Stickney wrote:
Cool. I'm on it. As soon as I can whip up some vacation time, a
ticket to France, and a bunch of French Laywers to deal with the
paperwork...

France? Who said anything about France? Try Southeast USA.

Sorry. My mistake. Good news, though. That means that trying to get
it in Gray Market won't be a problem. I still need to work out the
logistics on that danged truck, though. It's a lot more difficult
these days than it was back in the '50s and '60s. (When my Uncle
imported his Volvo P1800 via a B-47's bomb bay)

There are some amazing cars out there, if you know where to look. One
of my "Almost but not quites" was one of Augie Pabst's Porsche 908s
(Also street legal). And then there was the Plymouth Superbird with
the 440, 4-speed, bucket seats & console, that if I'd only had 3 grand
handy in '79...

--
Pete Stickney
A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many
bad measures. -- Daniel Webster