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August 2009 near Dublin: a nappy with wheels!
July 2009 ... VW drivers eh?
I take it that this driver is ‘semi - disabled’?!
May 2009 ( Thurles ) - White van man lives!
 Um, there’s no doubt about it, but the recession is certainly making folk think differently. I mean, who wants a Transit with a hole in the side of it, so that all that lovely freshly - baked bread can fall out?
Indeed, could this be a new, secret Government welfare scheme for when we’re all totally screwed and have to rely on bread falling out of the side of a Ford Transit?
On a more serious note, I like the way that they have considered ‘Breakfast Roll’ man: there he is, sitting in the passenger seat waiting no doubt to empty the remains of his takeaway coffee into the collar of some unsuspecting cyclist, en route to the next building site. I wonder if he’s wearing cardboard jeans too, half way down his backside?
May 2009 Sugarloaf, Co. Wicklow - old Fuel station
This old garage - ‘Fortunes’ - has featured on a few record sleeves, along with at least one Television Ad. In the background is the Sugarloaf mountain: volcanic up until thousands of years ago.
24th. March 2009: 440xi and S40
This is my friend Eamonn’s 2000 model S40 - or ‘was’ I should say. It was stolen and written off in late May. Note the height difference between it and my 440xi!
OLDER POSTS:
12th. March 2009 - hire car ( 2008 Avensis )
Following the attempted theft of my 440 ( and subsequent door damage ) my insurance provided me with a 2008 Toyota Avensis as a replacement car while my own was in the bodyshop getting repaired. I had the Toyota for a couple of days and it was nice - but not convincing in any one particular area.
The first thing I noticed was the lack of visibility and what felt like a jeep - high driving position. To be fair, the 440 has a very low - slung seat: hard to find anywhere except a Mk. III Cortina! The front of the Toyota’s bonnet simply can not be seen. Rear view? - well, the back window provides a great view ... of the sky.
Everything about the Avensis I found to be “okay”. The dash is nice but dull, and very, very ‘plastic’. The handling is average, but quite wooly on narrow twisting roads. I don’t like Japanese gearboxes at all: I kept putting the car in gear without knowing it, and I would then attempt to put it in gear. The brakes were similarly light, which I also disliked.
In conclusion, it’s not a particularly handsome car, nor particularly ugly, and new is always nice. Beyond that, I was happy to get my 440 back. I admire Toyota and they certainly are a quality car, but just not for me. Next time I’ll ask for a Supra :)
10th. March 2009: 5 a.m: A picture of the Moon, for no particular reason
Yep, still driving around Ireland at odd hours of the morning ... though I have to say, the traffic is light at 5 a.m.! I must quit debating World politics at 2 a.m. with the Indian guy at the all - night service station :)
*** 2008 Archive ***
15th. November 2008 - Nice 740
There I was, minding my own business and parking badly ( it gets like that at the weekends in Thurles, the abused become abusers ) when I spotted this car. I’d seen it around town before, and this time I took the opportunity to take a sneaky shot. The term ‘rare example’ is vastly overused to describe cars, but this one genuinely deserves the title.
I chatted with the owner when he returned, and he told me that the car had just passed 70,000 miles. It belonged to his father previously, and obviously was kept throughout it’s low miles impeccably. Sadly my mobile phone is not doing it justice, but the car - a 1989 model - looked like it was driven out of the showroom last week!
For Sale: 1968 Volvo 131 Amazon ( spotted on CarList.ie ) - 400 euro
Mileage: 81,000 / Engine: 1.8 Petrol / Body: Saloon / Transmission: Manual / Colour: Beige / Doors: 2
Comments: This car is for restoration or parts, rusty floors, sills inner wings, engine runs but key broken in ignition, newish wings, complete but partially dismantled, not driving, trailer away, too good to scrap. Make an offer, excellent immaculate tan leatherette interior, no time to restore, reluctant sale, some new parts included, incl original bill of sale and folder of UK history. Reg 68 G 805
http://www.carlist.ie/111701
Private Seller Meath
Telephone: ( 087 ) 6799932
Father’s ‘new’ 1997 440 SE - April 2008
I’m not the only Volvo driver around these parts! I found this car for my father - whose previous one was worse for wear having been crashed into walls on no less than three occasions. This example is quite nice, with around 70,000 documented miles on the clock. Needed a new clutch, but driving very well now that it’s been done.
Here it is awaiting it’s test, which it passed without any problems - as they tend to do.
Hummer Limo blocking the pumps! - April 2008 ( Somewhere in Co. Meath, near Dublin ).
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