Driving in the days of the good old jalopy
As I parked my car in the garage at the end of the day, my son noticed that thecabinlightwasonevenafter we had locked the car. We tried all possible measures but the lightcontinuedtobeam.Toprevent the battery from getting discharged, I told my son to open the fuse box and take out the main fuse. To my dismay, there was no main fuse like the one in the house. At the end, I had to resort to the time-tested removal of the terminal from the battery.
As I sat mulling on the problem,Itravelledbacktothe1970s when my father owned a Standard Herald, the 1962 model. Those days, cars were considered a luxury and used only onceortwiceamonthtosaveon petrol.Likerockets,whichwent into the orbit in stages, the car engine would also crank to life after a long-drawn procedure, unlike the present when you havetomerelyinsertthekeyor push a button and the engine jumps to life.
In those easygoing days, there was no concept of weekends and every day could be a Sunday. Suddenly my father woulddecidetostartthecarand sure enough the engine would not crank. Then Stage I would kickinandthebatterywouldbe connectedtoaportablecharger anditsgaugecheckedeverytwo hours until the next evening till the battery was charged. In StageII,petrolwouldbepoured inside the carburetor from a bottle and the engine would be cranked again.
Failure to crank would lead to Stage III wherein I would sit in the driver’s seat to press the ignition and my father would place his hand on the carbure- tor to generate the necessary suction.
This time the engine would pulsate to life, and everyone would heave a sigh of relief. Stage IV, if required, would entailgivingapushtothecarfor quite a distance, a task performed by willing passers-by. The best part would be that the carwouldbekeptonidleforhalf an hour to ensure that the engine did not stop.
The actual distance to be traversedwouldonlybe3kmto 5 km for a roundabout trip, but theenginewouldrunonidlefor half an hour.
Takingahighwaytripofeven 50 km would entail a visit to the mechanicfollowedbyalonglist of spare parts to be carried along. These would include a fan belt, brake oil, coil, spark plugs, and water in a jerrycan for filling up the radiator from timetotimeorforsprinklingon the radiator if the engine got too hot.
I used to be awestruck by the driver of an Ambassador car, wondering how he was changing the gears.
It’s not easy to come to grips with the new age vehicles. These days, the simple task of replenishing the windscreen fluid is akin to solving the Rubik’s cube as the containers for coolants, steering fluid, brakefluid,windscreenwasher et al are so similar. Tinkering with the high-tech engine is surely at the owner’s risk and cost.
I TRAVELLED BACK TO THE 1970S WHEN MY FATHER OWNED A STANDARD HERALD, THE 1962 MODEL. THOSE DAYS, CARS WERE CONSIDERED A LUXURY AND USED ONCE OR TWICE A MONTH TO SAVE ON PETROL