Bristol in Baja
My dear Bellerophon,
I could not agree with you more. Years ago when I bought my 400 I asked A
Blow to get me a starting handle as it was missing. He did and when I picked
the car up a Spencer Lane-Jones garage there it was. I was delighted and
asked if anybody had tried it. It was if I had offered them arsenic! With a
look of horror they said no. I took the handle out and offered it around for
somebody to try. They all backed away as if I was waving a sword of doom and
declined to try it.
As I was ligning up the handle with the dog drive on the crank, I sensed
that they all thought I was quite mad. Why would anybody want to start a car
with a hand crank? Well I like the simple pleasures in life.....and I wanted
to make sure it worked and the handle and dog drive were properly oriented.
I had never seen a 400 before, having just bought it ( from pictures) but
figured it could not be that different from my 6C Alfa. I had my wife sit
inside and retard the ignition. Gave it a couple of turns and nodded for her
to turn the key, and with one good upwards pull it was running.
Cheers,
Dorien
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