Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/08/11
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]>I hung out with a Fiat Mechanic in the mid '70's, he kept real busy. ........ >Mark Rabiner Mark. Well of course a FIat mechanic is busy. Those things are made to break. I know. I owned one. THe clutch cable broke at least once every 10,000 miles. I used to buy them in bulk. I could change one out on the road in less than 20 minutes. This clutch cable appears to have been designed by the early Romans. THe wire cable always breaks right where it joins the hard steel - every time the clutch pedal goes in, the cable gets bent at exactly that spot until it breaks. Other things break, too. THe paint turns to dust within a year or two, but only on some of the body panels, giving that rebuilt sort of look. Finally, mine caught on fire while I was driving it at about midnight. I jumped out of the car and ran to the car behind me. The woman driver rolled her window down about 5mm. When I said, "My car is on fire!" She said, "I can see that." (Fireball spewing from hood.) I asked if she would drive me down the block to call the firemen. No way - she wouldn't do it. I guess she thought [I've seen the old burning car trick plenty of times.] When the firemen finally arrived, one said that it was the second Fiat they'd put out that week. Really, no kidding. Fiats are designed and built by auto mechanics. They know how to keep themselves busy! - -Mark Walberg