The Dream

They said it couldn't be done. They said I was mad. And, well, they may yet be right. Probably will be.

Anyway, aside from the glaringly obvious, there's no real reason my beloved Betty Bakkie can't make the long haul across the length of the southernmost shores of this here continent.

For those of you unfamiliar with my steed, a few notable stats follow:

She's based on a 1989 Mark IV Ford Escort, 1400cc, CVH engine. Nice and light (around 900kg) but gets a little skittery when the gusts pick up above roughly 25kn. Which, in the Cape, it blows daily from Nov through April. Aesthetically she's immaculate - glossy white coat with only the occasional smattering of sort of rust-coloured rust patches. Quite unnoticable. In any case the hefty chrome mags (or "alloys") direct one's attention from any bodily imperfections.
She sports, as you may have noticed, quite the enviable rear fibreglass canopy or "cuddy" as I prefer to refer to it as. The cuddy can shelter 1 (one) full-grown POC for the night, as long as the back door stays open of course. For to air the feet. A second boarder would be chancing it alright (stranger things have happened..).
I recently gave the rear lights a once-over. It seems that on the left hand side the brake lights and reverse lights have been swapped. So one can expect to see both white and red lights when either braking or reversing. Bizarrely this is as a results of the stained glass alternately darkening and lightening in colour due to years of UV attack. Strange. Some nail varnish should sort it out.
As for the engine, she's running like a top. Never been smoother. The myriad of engine difficulties, flaws, rattles, broken parts and leaks seem to have recently manifested in perfect harmony with one another. Total, blissful destructive interference. In the words of Monty Burns, "..so what you're saying is.. I'm Indestructable!". Purring like a cat now.

She has approximately 80 000km on the clock. The clock however only has room for 5 digits. So I'm assuming she's done either 180 000km or 280 000km. No less, and hopefully no more. Looking to put 6000 on that in the next month.

So, no known difficulties at this stage. Will drop the occasional update if any arise. Back with more classy pics soon..