Like a Polar Bear in Africa: A travel to the end of the old world (Part I, good Ford!)

Last week in Paris I had the pleasure of reading through Aldous Huxley's 'Brave new World', a highly recommendable book which despite its lack of strong plot or literary force (for Ford's sake, you're writing a book and not a commercial for the new Focus or Mondeo) left me full of admiration for Mr. Huxley's ability to ask profound questions about the meaning of life and other such troubling issues. Yes, the book made me think, both of our future, and also of my own immediate past.
That same week when I was in Paris finishing my psychology course with an exam and reading 'Brave new World' was also when I learned to whom my younger brother back in Denmark had sold the car that we bought together 6 months earlier. That's when I figured it was time to write a little account of Ford, the world I know and a trip to the temporary end of it.

“What do you say, should we go out and take a look” was the brief text in the email with subject “CAR” that ticked into my mailbox from Kristian that Wednesday afternoon in the middle of April. The email contained a link to an ad for a Ford Sierra 1.6 CLX from 1988. That same evening we went out to a dodgy part of Copenhagen to take a look at this ageing beauty, the first impression of a healthy cruising vehicle persisted despite obvious evidence of the owner's shameful neglect.
“It's a good car...had I kept her I would've replaced the panel by the door”. As the owner pointed to a barely scratched plastic panel it was impossible to overlook the back seat which due to a disgusting amount of small white hairs could easily have been confused with a dog house. He was a man with an odd set of priorities, which made it difficult to assess the true state of the vehicle. At times he would ramble on about minor cosmetic improvements while only making a passing remark of a “minor issue” with the engine which proved to be a little more as we took her for a spin. For one thing it is never a good sign when it takes an otherwise seasoned driver 5 attempts to pull out from the curb because the engine dies on you. Secondly, as innovative as the idea might sound, cars that try to emulate the movements of a kangaroo when they ought to accelerate are awfully uncomfortable and do not give an air of particular trustworthiness, not at all a suitable car for our purpose. The fact that the car had actually been driven for several months in this condition only increased our fears, a little like buying a house from a person who talks about changing door knobs when the walls are falling apart, the fear that unparalleled defects could be lurking right under the surface. Upon finishing the test drive it was evident that the sales contract on this car was ultimately a lottery ticket. The owner had given up on his former “flame” and talked about buying a Mondeo to cement his image as a man of complete desperation, the Sierra was put for sale at a price devoid of decency (4000 dkk/usd 750). We decided to place our bets that night, more out of a gut feeling that sellers like him don't come around terribly often than a clear idea of what we actually had to do to make the car functional.
The spirits were high as we had closed the deal and rolled away in our first Ford Sierra in the beginning twilight, though a strange feeling of unease sneaked in as we noticed the seller's grinning face. He was an odd man, an odd man indeed.

The coming weeks were spent fixing up the car; after having vacuumed enough dog hair out of the cabin to make a complete set of wigs for an 80'ies glamrock band the car's interior started to reach a standard where offering people a ride no longer would put us at danger of being prosecuted under the convention against torture. A visit to a mechanic revealed that the rebellious engine could be appeased by changing some vacuum tubes - cost: 300 dkk (USD 55). Though with one problem less another one entered the stage; the cooling system would at the most inconvenient times leak and splash out the coolant resulting in violent steams pulsing out from the hood - undoubtedly producing vivid deja vus from Stan and Ollie in the minds of most bypassers while at the same time testing my patience with this car to the maximum.

Yes, the Ford was a car with a strong personality, but slowly a relationship of trust emerged and after a month we even had the courage to leave home without a fully equipped tool box(!).