Several weeks back I posted about cars that I was considering for our move to the farm in Uruguay. All were odd, all were old and all were poor choices for someone who was going to live 10 miles outside of town. I should probably have bought something that was newer and more reliable.
Fat chance.
We had a rental car for a week from Eurocar (highly recommend, it was the BEST rental car experience I have ever had) and spent the week traveling around the state looking at cars and countryside—a lot of countryside but few cars. There are hardly any used car lots so one has to look for a car with an empty bottle on the roof, the sign a car is for sale.
My choice was limited because I did not want to buy a car in Montevideo (1.5 hours away) where 2.5 million of Uruguay’s 3 million people live. Buying a used car is a two day process so I wanted something close. To give an example of the selection, on Ebay there are 1158 cars for sale in Montevideo and 52 for sale in Colonia (my state).
Our friend Peter had seen a Citroen Méhari for sale alongside the road a week ago about 40 miles from our house so I went to check it out.
My first impression that it was loud (a cross between an unmuffled moped and a 1967 unmuffled VW Bug), it rattled like hell, and it smelled like the exhaust was being directed into the cabin (a very simple heating system). Perhaps it was the near asphyxiation but I was in love.
Because the price was in the high zone I told the owner (Alberto) it was out of my budget I needed something cheaper. He responded very politely with “Nice to have met you, good luck with your search”. Crap.
After two more days of driving around I went back and accepted Alberto’s price. I called my lawyer to arrange for the transfer of title which would take a couple of days which nicely coincided with the date we had to turn in our rental car.
My wife had yet to ride in the car until after I took possession and drove off for the 40 mile ride home. Her first comment…”I think we should invest in some earplugs”. Her second comment “Um, where are the seatbelts?”. I did not hear her third comment because by that time I had hit third gear.
Pictures to follow.
