Our every day transport, since I retired is a second generation petrol engined 1200cc Fiat Panda. I love it; it makes me happy when I drive it! It has a surprisingly large cabin with very good headroom. This model won the European Car of the Year award in 2004. It's a lovely car to drive. The seats are very comfortable; I can drive for hours without getting tired. Although it is not overburdened with torque, (!) it can be wound up to a very good motorway speed. It has the same chassis as used by some other cars including the latest Ford Ka. The Panda sips it's fuel and only charges £30 a year road tax. Servicing is MUCH cheaper than my previous car; it takes only 2.8 Ltrs of engine oil!
Previously I bought my first new car ever; a Nissan X-Trail. Had it for seven years and was a super vehicle with a very high level of trim: built-in sat-nav, leather seats, air-con, large sunroof etc etc. Although it was a four-wheel drive vehicle it had no low ratio selection so not a serious off-roader but when cornering fast on wet roads it was nice to know all four wheels were driving. The performance, considering it was a diesel was really sporty. I thought I should trade it in as I didn't want to be the owner who had to shell out for a new turbo if/when it failed. Really miss the X-Trail. I've only recently realised that Nissan probably want the name to be pronounced Crosstrail!
Before I retired I cycled to work most of the time. The ride to my last place was a ten miler. I thought cycling was keeping me fit and I'm sure it did my cardiovascular system a lot of good but now I'm suffering from arthritis in my knees and ankles!
Mind you, it's possible that my period as a motor-cycle dispatch rider when I was younger may have something to do with those joints suffering now. I was employed during a winter period to ride a Honda 500 Four, (supplied by the employer) between Norfolk and various offices around London to collect newspaper and magazine 'copy' which was to be printed at my employers press. I was sometimes doing over a thousand miles a week. After sitting on that motorbike in freezing conditions,(rain, hail, snow & sleet) for say three hours I sometimes could hardly get off the thing!
I have a memory from that job of a time late one Friday evening: Friday was a particularly busy day with something like 20 pickups around London. I had stopped at the last street lights on the north of London to adjust my clothing, clean my helmet visor and make sure the bikes luggage boxes were properly locked, [Writing that reminds me of the incident when they were not properly locked!]. In the winter the air in a big city is noticeably warmer than the countryside: looking behind me I could see the comforting yellow tunnel of light leading back into the warm city; ahead was freezing darkness! The roads were deserted, a cold northerly wind was blowing sleet at me and I was tired. I had a lonely two hour ride ahead of me. I felt so sorry for myself I had to hold back tears and really force myself to go on.
