Cars"Here in my car", said 80s pop hero Gary Numan, "I feel safest of all". He obviously never shared the same stretch of road as me, then. Automotive tales of mirth and woe, please.
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Scaryduck LIKES EGG, Thu 22 Apr 2010, 12:34)
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"Nice car!"A recent trip to the US....
Went to pick up our rental car from Hertz at Denver Airport. Although we'd booked the car in advance, I was a little worried. The entire parking lot appeared to be empty. It was Labor Day weekend and I guess everyone had decided to rent a car. The staff looked a little worried when we asked to pick up the compact we'd booked and there was a whispered conversation between the reception person and the manager. All we caught was "Well we'll just have to give them that one." This was worrying - I was envisaging being handed the last clunker in the shop, a motoring liability with the handling of a drunk supermarket trolley and a propensity to break down at the drop of a hat. The receptionist returned - "It's your lucky day" she said. We had just landed a brand new, 2010 model, Chevvy Camaro for the same price our Hyundi compact would have been!
There follows two weeks of people stopping to engage us in conversation about the car, invariably started with the comment "Nice car!" All sorts of people - from a silver-haired guy reminiscing about his Camaro back in the 60s to a bunch of tattooed Harley riders. Always - "Nice car!"
On the last day before I had to hand it back, we were waiting at a set of lights and a van pulled up alongside - custom paintjob, chrome alloys, the works. The passenger leans out. "Nice car! What you got under the hood?" He and the driver look like they have just stepped off the set of The Shield - latinos with tatts and bling. I answer that I have no idea (I find out later it is 3.6 litres). He asks "You wanna go?" I have never been asked to race before, not in the UK, let alone the States. I know I shouldn't (hell, I'd already been told off about speeding in a National Park), but for a moment, testosterone stupidity kicked in and as the lights went green I floored the gas. I left him for dead on the line, but after about 100 metres, British reserve and licence-preservation kicked in and I slowed leaving him to flash by. Adrenalin rush over, we drove to Hertz to drop the car off. As I handed the car keys back, I had to say it - "Nice car!"
[Cherry goes *pop*]
(, Tue 27 Apr 2010, 9:21, 1 reply)
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