Mark,
Was the midget in a car or was he walking?
Jay Fishbein, CT
Mark Hineline wrote:
> I bought my first and only Midget in 1980. It was a 1970, maroon paint
> over BLG. And it was a basket case. I got it running and after many
> near-disasters got it to daily driver status.
>
> Example of a disaster: It came with four wire wheels, no spare. Octagon
> knock-offs on one side, wings on the other. One of the wheels wasn't from
> a midget and was too shallow for the hub, so I fashioned a spacer out of
> steel rod and put it in the knock-off. That worked well, but it wasn't
> fool proof. One night, about 2 am, it decided to come off and send the
> wheel careening into someone's front yard. I had a jack, but not enough
> clearance to use it, so I liberated a piece of split rail fence and
> levered it up enough to get the jack underneath.
>
> On the other hand, it only stranded me once, when the clutch wore out.
> Only time I had to have it towed. Everything else I fixed on the road or
> "coped" with.
>
> I took it apart twice, for rust repairs and big maintenance, but I had in
> the meantime acquired a '67 MG 1100 sedan that was eating up all my time,
> money, and patience. In 1988, knowing that I would be relocating from
> Maine to California, I tried once more to get as much work done on both
> cars as possible so as to drive them West. Suffice to say that I still
> had a body shell and a tub, unencumbered by any additional automotive
> parts whatever, 36 hours before my hour of departure (midnight, 1 July,
> 1988). I had lost all grip on reality. My patient but realistic wife
> somehow pried my mind loose and convinced me that I should find storage
> facilities for the cars and my tools, at once. Which I did.
>
> After five years, though, I stopped paying the rent on the space and gave
> up the ghost. Which after all was sensible, since I could find a
> rust-free and unbent Midget with four correct wheels and a spare for less
> than I payed out in storage rent over the five year period.
>
> (Here's where I confess to unorthodox behavior: I bought a '76 VW bus,
> rebuilt the strange motor, and camperized it. Guess I'm not a purist.)
>
> Anyway, on Monday a Midget cut me off in traffic. It was the first Midget
> I have seen on San Diego freeways. Looked great. So I search altavista
> for a list and here I am.
>
> Mark Hineline
> 1976 owner-camperized Volkswagen transporter named Peregrine
> 1982 Volvo 245 GL
> 1986 Saab 900S
> (This space available for a Midget)
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