Saturday, March 11, 2006

Saturday

My Nissan is gone. I never thought I'd actually feel a bit sad as someone finally took care of it, but I did. As the car was loaded onto the guys trailer it looked so lonely. This is silly. I've wrecked and/or sold at least two dozen cars without getting sad. It must be an age-thing.

The only car I really, really regret selling was my Chrysler Valiant 1964. I loved that car and I believe it loved me too. I was the only one who could start it without any problems. My ex-girlfriend CarrotPussy (yes, she was a genuine redhead) once told me the car refused to start until she padded it on the dashboard and whispered "P.o.P will be home soon", then turned the key and the engine started just as gently as it did when I was behind wheel.
It looked just like this one, except mine was cherry red with a black top. It also had an (in Sweden) illegal 318 cui V8 truck engine. It was a racer! And it had a gas milage lower than my mother's standard Volvo. The engine was later switched to an even more illegal 360 cui but I never got that one to run as well as the 318.

As CarrotPussy left me a couple of years later I, as the idiot I was at that time, sold the car. It was painted in some horrible yellow colour by the new owner and ended it's life buried nose down in a deep ditch. A sad ending for a fabulous car...
Anyway... now one of my problems is gone. Now I only have one more car to get rid off.


I completely forgot to mention we're eating "semlor" any chance we get now. If you ever come to Sweden in late February or early March, get your butt to any café and order yourself a "semla". You're in for a treat. And they're addictive so you might want to stock up on them too.


I've been writing on my "marriage story" off and on and it will get posted here eventually but I'm trying to be as fair as I can to RedHead, which makes it somewhat harder to write it. I'm also writing a post on my experiences on parenting, which ought to be fun...

Well, my friends... it's Saturday evening and I'm going to down a rum & cola or two and then play some Need for Speed. Have a nice weekend! :)

6 comments:

Susan D. said...

Semlor sound absolutely delicious! I wish there were somewhere I could get one here in the states!

I know how you feel about the Valiant - I have also had cars I loved. I had a Honda Civic WagonVan, best driving little car I ever had & best suited to me and the way I drive. My husband (a couple of years before we got married) had an accident in it and trashed it. I never let him live that down and still throw it in his face from time to time. Oh yeah, and my second car was a 1978 Plymouth Valiant - here in the states it was a stereotypical grandma car but it served me well for several years.

Virginia Gal said...

I still mourn the loss of my first car, RIP Caree (that was the name of the car).

Alright stupid American question, what is semlor?

Can't wait for the next update on the marriage story - I tell you true life can be so much better than fiction.

JoeinVegas said...

Yes, the link doesn't work so what is it?
And Sweden has laws about engine size? Our friend in Linkoping has a BMW something sporty that just flies. (no tickets yet, or none he admits to)

PissedOffPencil said...

Susan d.: They are delicious!

Speaking of cars, I also had an old Scania-truck, built in the 1940's. My first love... *sigh*

Virginia Gal: If you don't know what semlor is, then your question isn't stupid. In fact there are no stupid questions, only stupid answers.

JoeinVegas: No, no, no! Big engines are all but forbidden in Sweden but we have these regulations that say that a car built for an 100 hp engine can't have an 300 hp engine. The Valiant 1964 was delivered with three engine options in Sweden: a 170 cui slant six, a 225 slant-six and a 273 cui V8. The latter had about 180 bhp.

If you don't know where and what to look for in smallblock Chrysler-Plymouth engines, they look exactly the same and that was what we were gambling on, putting a 318 cui in the Valiant.

We were lucky enough to find a 318 truck engine. It has a sturdier bottom-end than the stock 318 which means it's very well suited for some hot rodding. The original 230 bhp engine was souped up to around 300 bhp with a bigger carb, a custom intake, headers, better camshaft and some minor polishing to the heads. That's hell of a lot more horsepower than in the originally mounted 273 cui engine.

Now, had this been discovered at the yearly inspection, we would've gotten into trouble. Luckily this never happened. :)

Maidy said...

You had a Chrysler V 318 V8 and you SOLD IT!?!?!?!?!?!?

You sick sick person.

Semlor looks absolutely yummy. can you freeze some and save for later consumption?

PissedOffPencil said...

Maidink: Yes Maidink, I know I'm a bad, bad, BAD person. My only defence is that I wasn't sane as it happened. I still suffer from post-traumatic stress because of that decision...