Class: Cars, Sedan — Model origin:
Vehicle used a lot by a main character or for a long time
Author | Message |
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◊ 2009-05-28 23:57 |
Clive: "My East Berlin contacts had kindly arranged for a suitable car, so that I could drive myself around. I liked the idea of being the quiet observer in the dark Mercedes; hard-bitten, seen-it-all, Wagner on the CD player. Maybe a BMW 7-series with black leather seats." "It was a Trabant. East German propaganda said the Trabi was a technical miracle. Anyone left gagging in its wake, said it was a two-stroke joke made of recycled dreck, that poisoned the air like a Semtex factory. But this was a fine specimen. The controls fell readily to hand, and from there to the floor." "When the engine roared into life with all the confident power of a rat running in a wheel, I was free to cope with the 4-speed gearbox. There used to be three forward speeds available for people trying to defect, and reverse for when they failed. Figuring out the gearbox, the piano pedals, the automatic mechanism for dumping the contents of the ashtray into your lap, all took concentration. So I temporarily forgot that in Germany they drive on the right." "Luckily I remembered in time and smoothly avoided a possible shunt with a driver whose friendly cry of 'Schweinhund' showed there were no hard feelings." |
◊ 2009-12-09 22:49 |
Trabant 601, 6/1984+ -- Last edit: 2014-10-02 13:03:41 |