Thursday, 25 June 2015

First drive


I had hoped to have a drive almost as soon as the car was delivered, but my mother in law was very ill so there were any number of trips to the hospital in either of the modern cars that we run.  However on the Sunday we needed to go to the tip and then the local Tesco, pop some petrol in the car and then home.  All in about 8 miles.

It did not start off well.  My wife (who is not keen) and the dog got in.  I turned the key, petrol pump ticked nicely, after a few seconds I pressed the starter button - nothing.  So I turned it off and on and again, pressed the starter button - nothing.  I am starting to feed a bit awkward in front of my wife as she is not keen on old cars and this one was not for starting.  She suggested putting the auto in neutral.  I tried it and tried the starter again - off it went.  First lesson.  My modern car in an automatic as well, but it only starts in park - that is my excuse.

Once I got going down the road the first thing you notice is the lovely burble from the v8, the second thing is how imprecise the steering is compared to a modern car. I have driven other old cars, most recently a Volvo Amazon so I was used to the steering.  The brakes pulled the car up reasonably well, the only issue in that area is that a red warning light flickers on and off most of the time.  It relates to both the handbrake and the brake fluid level I belive,  The chap selling me it says it is a loose connection in the warning light system - but I would like to get it checked out sometime - no brake fluid is not a good look.

It suprised me how nervous I was.  I have driven old cars for the last 25 years, so I should not have been nervous.  It being automatic feels slightly odd in an old car, you cannot dip the clutch if the revs falter.

When I got the car home I was pleased that it had run ok and nothing dreadful had occured.

Next time - starting to get to grips with the faults


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