Bella Machina

Here is some music to go with the read:



Registered and legal. I think that perhaps every member of my family has driven a car in some state of illegality. Be it missing registration, insurance, we take the cake. So, today was a suprise when I registered and made legal my little X. I drove it to the Compton DMV. Whoa, scary place. There was quite a line, but I had made an online appointement. I was easily seen and serviced in 20 minutes. The line didn't really move from when I arrived and left. Do they not have internet access? Instead of the large bling earings the inner city fellas wear, perhaps they would do well to get a computer? Is that inane?




In any case, the plan today was to put some highway and stop and go traffic miles on my little X. The rear engine layout of the X is a challenging environment for proper eninge cooling. I have done quite a bit to bleed the air out of the cooling lines, but still feel uncomfortable with the 215+ coolant temperatures.

First thing I did upon my babies first arrival at casa de piscando was to give her a decent detailing. I washed off accumulated dust, droppings and the oh so familiar grease stains familiar to a Fiat. I spent some time doing the interior and before the sunset, I snapped some pics of her C level clean.





I quickly got out to Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) and followed the sunset north throught the overpriced homes that are so coveted. The only car I took note of was the Smart cars parked two to one driverway on Highland. http://www.smartusa.com/

My car has a old Sony tape radio and some small little speakers on the rear shelf. A poor comparison to the multi channel amplified system I have in my Mercedes.

In a good convertible, you won't notice. But tonights drive was epic. The music played, but I couldn't care less what was playing. I tiptoed through the surf traffic from the last rideable waves and found myself at one of the few open stretches of the PCH South of Los Angeles airport. The sun was at the last 3-5 minutes of light and the glow from the Pacific Ocean was stellar. The car, the moment and my thoughts reminded me of being 23 again and behind the wheel of my origional X, Zanardi. The byline of this blog is Divorce and Resotration from the perspective of a car guy. This was in fact Restoration. I can't recall the last time a car gave me this same feeling of peace. The Sun, the water, the car and I were at one. Instantly, I became aware of the radio, "City of Blinding Lights" was playing by U2. It has been some time since I have had a car moment. This one can't be written about, but know that I will keep it special. It is easy to have romance as a young man, harder still as a middle aged man. Business, Bills, and Blondes....need I say more? Right now, the Mercedes will sit in the warehouse unless I'm picking up Pitter, my daughter. I hope my future will be about 1.5 liters of pure italiano. Bella Machina my friends.