Meet The Twin

A few times around Eldoret we've spotted our car's twin - same make and model from the same era, same colour scheme (resulting from its history as a pick-up later converted for passenger use). But yesterday we managed to park right next to it!

It's a beauty, or at least it is if you think 1970s Land Rovers are objects of beauty. I do, as long as it doesn't break down. Otherwise it's an "ARGH! JOLLY USELESS PIECE OF OLD JUNK! GAH!". Up until the point it gets fixed and I learn something new about the internals of cars which makes it all seem so simple, then we're friends again. Ours had a thorough overhaul a couple of months ago and has run smoothly since (apart from when the fuel pipe started leaking - again (again (again))).

I heard about the famous "Hummer", the gas-guzzling monster from GM. A quick few calculations show that... moving to a Hummer would improve our fuel economy (8mpg - count 'em! Though since the overhaul it looks like we're getting 20% more). In the new green religion, does this make us eco-heretics, or does keeping an old car on the road rather than junking it and spending all the resources on building and shipping new ones make one an eco-hero?

Nod to Stephen Dancer - this car was put together in Solihull (when you were beginning at primary school!) Reminds me of the work there every time I see the "Manufactured at..." plate. (It was then exported and sold in the French market, but this is getting to be a long story for another time... if you look carefully at the photo you'll see the "twin" is a right-hand drive, whereas ours is left-hand, so they're not quite so closely related...)