THE STEERING COLUMN

We've encountered thousands of people on this trip and have been asked many questions about our car and about our trip.  We like to inform people about the car and to educate them on what it was like to drive a car in the early days.  Most questions have merit, but there are a few that I want to pass on to you.  I've heard educators say that there is no such thing as a dumb question.  I personally beg to differ, but at any rate, I am going to present these to you, word for word just as they were asked of me, and let you be the judge.

     A lady asked, "Was this thing made back in the "day" just to carry people around in, like          a hearse"?

     After telling a couple about our trip, the lady asks, "It drives and everything"?

     A person looking at the back of the car saw my cautionary strip light and asked, "Is that 
     the way the lights worked"?

     A man asked, "Does it have air-conditioning"?

     A man looking at the speedometer sprocket on the front wheel asked, "Is it 3-wheel drive"?

     Another man looking at the same sprocket asked, "Is that some kind of auxillary brake"?

     A lady looking the car over, asked, "Do you have to wind it up"?

     A man asked, "Does it burn gasoline"?

     A couple asked, "What do you do if you get a flat tire"? 

     A woman asked, "Where do you buy tires"?

     Another man asked, "Did you put it together"?

     A lady about 20 years old asked where we were from and when we said Pennsylvania, she
     said, "Where is Pennsylvania"?

     A man asked, "Does this qualify as an historic vehicle"?   

The primary annoying question that I get often from people who obviously have no appreciation for the historic value of the car or what it takes to restore and maintain it in this condition and the challenges in driving it ask, "Hey man, how fast will it go"?  One day I was just tired of answering that question and without hesitation, I answered by saying, "One day I had it up to 70 miles an hour in my trailer".  I don't think the word "trailer" fully registered in his mind, or he thought the E-M-F was pulling a trailer.  He responded by saying, "Wow"!  

.........AND THAT'S ALL PART OF MOTORING..........