Ding Dong

So, how did I get on?

Well, once over the exfoliation shock, rather well.

For those that didn't read the previous post, last Sunday was the SKCC Christmas Breakfast. Not a true blat as most turned up in "tintops" - that had been my plan as the Fury is undergoing a few minor upgrades, but an e-mail from The Two Davids meant I could passenge in a seven type car for the first time.

It would be something of a baptism-of-ice, the Tiger Avon (readers of a "certain age" will see the link to the title) I would be travelling in not only has no heater, but no windscreen either & this was mid December. Having accepted the invite I remembered that the ski jacket I usually wear in the Fury had been sent to Devon with my father-in-law as "I wouldn't be needing it". Twit.

Having squeezed into a tee-shirt, thick sweatshirt, fleece & a raincoat, I drove to the meet point repeatedly checking the outside air temp - but no amount of hard staring would get it above 4dec C.

At the allotted time the two Davids rolled up, so after scrambling in through the full roll cage & strapping myself down, we set off towards Farnham. As we barrelled along the bypass I realised the full meaning of the term "wind-chill". Fortunately, as the sun rose the additional few degrees made a huge difference.

So what of the car? I was extremely impressed, I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it was rattle free, pulled smoothly (in a way my Fury doesn't), the suspension was firm but supple, & it made a very nice noise, it also had a foot more leg room on the passenger side than my Fury. But if I'm honest, I won't be giving up my curved heated windscreen any time soon. The thing I found interesting was that after reading comments on Pistonheads about how "unsafe" seven type cars are, when I got back in the family bus to drive home I felt VERY uneasy. It was so slow to react & swayed alarmingly on corners & there was very little impression of speed (something I'd been painfully aware of in the Avon). So there you go - what is the safer car, the one that absorbs an impact, or the car agile enough to avoid the impact? Discuss.

Passenging was also surprisingly good fun as I had time to move the camera to different angles, which makes for perhaps a more interesting blatt vid.