Of Frustration, Impatience And Low Powered Cars

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 5, Issue 11, 11 August 1987, Page 3 (Supplement)

Of Frustration, Impatience And Low Powered Cars

By

Petei

Gill

I got stuck behind a Citroen 2CV the other day for several kilometres. The 2CV is a bit like an industrial lawnmower which escaped, taking the garden shed with it. F.very time the little two cylinder piece of French perversity even looked at a

hill, we were down to 30km per hour. For the first couple of kilometres that was fine. One could admire the individuality of the little car and muse upon the way the French have kept it in production in various forms for over forty years. But then the novelty began to wear off. A lack of safe overtaking

opportunities began to cause a stack-up of traffic behind this atuornotive anachronism. The inevitable frustrations germinated. Which caused me to wonder whether New Zealand is a suitable place for underpowered cars. Luckily, that little piece of Italian humour, the Fiat 500, in danger of becoming

common here in the sixties, is now almost extinct. But I wonder when I hear that the Polski Fiat 650 is to be imported here whether the car is going to be up to it. It would be a shame if the 650 were going to be a delight to its owner but a problem for everyone else. Until motoring writers are offered a test drive, it's hard to gauge whether the car is just a garlic crusher on wheels, or whether it can competently keep up with the traffic. If it can't maintain a reasonable turn of speed on the average New Zealand incline, is it fair to let it in? Who is to say? It has to be said that modern design has turned the low displacement, small car into a real power house. Two weeks with Suzuki's new Alto automatic proved that for me. That car was the most delightful and athletic car of its size I have driven in a long time. 796cc, and no problems keeping up. But unless wondrous miracles have been conferred upon it since, the Fiat's engine design goes back to the fifties. Fine to describe it as a city car. But cities have hills and city car owners invariably escape into the country. The answer will lie in a road test. However, Fiat has not offered test cars to this writer for a decade. So we can't promise anything.