jalopy

It's a good little car, this one. It works just fine, mostly, zips in and out of the city streets and rattles along the pitted country roads without too much complaint. In the countryside, huge jeeps carrying natives flash on by at twice the speed -- clearly the better way to get from point A to point B. But this little car will do it too, more slowly, to be sure, and with some false starts, some stalling, some inelegant shifting of gears (the shaft sticks). The trick is keeping it oiled up and warm, I think. It only balks and chokes badly if it hasn't been driven in a while. Shame to have to keep it in that old barn so much of the time.