Posts Tagged ‘vintage style’

The UPS man brought me a big box with a shiny new radiator for my daily
driver, fresh from the environmentally sensitive, OSHA-compliant,
worker-friendly factories of China. So if I can get a couple of daylight
hours in the driveway to install it, my regular use of Collateral Damage
will be drawing to a close, at least until the next mechanical failure.

Life with Collateral has been a good news/bad news thing. The good news is
that I’m not walking. The bad news is the car’s neglected condition and
laundry list of bad habits. But even with all that, it’s been good to get
reacquainted with the vintage Fords I grew up with, but it’s also revealed
how spoiled I’ve become by modern cars’ comfort and convenience.

Take entry and exit. Being just under 6-foot two and not quite the trim hunk
I was 25 or so years ago, sliding into the Mustang’s low bucket seat
requires a specific choreography. The easiest method is to open the door,
step backwards towards the interior, plant butt on seat, leaving both legs
extending out over the rocker panel, then rotate legs in as-near a
horizontal as possible. Next, grab steering wheel and swivel entire body to
a forward-facing position. In its retracted state, my right leg passes
fairly comfortably beneath the deluxe steering wheel’s wood-grained rim.
Hassle? Yes. And that’s the easy way of getting in.

Is it just me, or might there be a market for a seat relocater kit?

Tom