#MyCarHistory
(1/5) I had given up commuting and bought a paper shop. As you do.
A brief spell punting around a #Vauxhall #Cavalier estate in that ‘used to be red, now salmon pink’ shade that Vauxhall produced in the 80s was already ending, as trade picked up nicely.
But what to replace it with? Something small, economical, manoeuvrable, able to carry coke cans, friends and family when required. Before I took over the shop, we’d taken a holiday.
#MyCarHistory
(2/5) Probably my favourite place on Earth is a tiny island, 3 miles long, 1½ miles wide, between England and France – Alderney.
Alderney has cars, many of them just waiting to die, but also a smattering of oddities and Kei cars, one of which attracted my attention. The #Honda #Acty met all the criteria I knew I’d need, and just looked so cool. There was one drawback: Honda didn’t bring it to the UK, but it was available as a grey import.
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#MyCarHistory
(3/5) I didn’t fancy a car with no real dealer support in the UK, but then another company stepped in: maybe not quite as cool-looking but ticking all the boxes: tiny but roomy, 993cc three-cylinder EFI economy, six seats, able to out-turn a London cab, decent payload, and for some reason a siren call to my inner Postman Pat.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the #Daihatsu #HiJet MPV.
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#MyCarHistory
(4/5) It’s fair to say the #Hijet MPV was not a great motorway car: a very short wheelbase coupled with tall sides made it a little, umm, frisky in crosswinds. Once, passing an artic on the motorway, it moved one complete lane to the right as we emerged from the crosswind shelter of the truck. But around town it was bouncy fun, lugging fizzy drinks and cat litter through gaps a moped rider would look twice at, sipping unleaded as it went.
#MyCarHistory
(5/5) It needed a new head gasket quite early on under warranty but, after a flat-out motorway trip to a funeral in Cornwall led to a recovery relay trip of epic proportions to our new home in Norfolk, after nine years we had to part.
Our local garage agreed it looked like head gasket, but found no evidence that it was and did not want to charge to reassemble an unrepaired engine. The hunt for a successor began.
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BlingoAli