Well the time has come for me to firm up my specification for the Atom which will hopefully be with me before the end of the summer… It went quicker than I was expecting and in plenty of time for my 30th which means I can have a crisis in style.
However even without taking delivery it is already ruining my life as I start to prepare myself for ownership. Firstly I have to consider the matter of security. Weighing in at less than 500 kilos a few burley blokes could probably lift it out of my car port and away. So I now have to get garage doors fitted for extra protection. Secondly I have to consider insurance, and with not one company I have called having the car listed on their books I can see this is going to get rather expensive. And the list goes on.
On the other hand though I have been looking at all this great weather we have been having recently and wondering just how awesome it is going to be to get up early on a weekend and go for a blast around the local countryside. And it got me thinking as it is very similar, well in my view anyway, to what horse ownership must be like in the UK.
There is absolutely no point to own a horse. We don’t rely on them anymore for our livelihoods and I am yet to see someone commute to work on the back of their horse. However horse ownership seems to be alive and well, with the countryside dotted with stables. So people own horses for pleasure, which seems a bit odd considering the sacrifice one has to make to own one. Not only do they have to have the land, stable costs, vet fees and insurance but all for only a handful of glorious days this country is blessed with. Obviously I am not suggesting that horse owners don’t take their horses out in the rain and cold but it can’t be as much fun as a summer afternoon.
And there is my link with owning an Atom. Everyone has said to me how stupid I must be to think this is a good idea but it is no more ludicrous than owning a horse. With commuting becoming near impossible in a car, the Atom is the first of many cars designed purely with pleasure in mind. A car that focuses on the art of driving (so I can see how badly I really am) rather than practicalities for that few days of the year when everything comes together and I am able to have the drive of my life and not think about how much it is ruining my life.
Actually, in the more rural areas of the US they are cunningly using draft horses to pull fibre cables between overhead poles.
They’re cheaper to run than a pickup and pulley, will happily snack on nearby grass verges and bushes for lunch, and don’t get bogged down is swampy muddy areas.
I feel a press track day coming on…