Hi everyone,
The Yellow Fellow (YF) was first mentioned in my post http://expectmeagain.blogspot.com/2014/04/death-of-beast.html. YF was also a V6 Ford, with chrome bumpers and 2.5 litre twin overhead cam shafts engine but it was a Cortina, not a Granada. It had a more relaxed compression ratio than the Beast but had a lighter body and longer gearing - all in all the performance package was similar but the sexy double exhaust tailpipe of the Granada was no more.
Once on the way back from Cape Town to Durban, just outside the Free State border town of Harrismith, I picked up a tow from a 380 SEC Mercedes. This Merc was ambling along at about 130 km/h and I found that the YF was comfortable at this speed. We carried on with me tagging behind the Merc at a respectful distance for a good 10km but, like all good things, this also had to pass. It happened as follows: I was overtaken by a BMW 733i that were going at about 150-160km/h. I swear I had no intention of driving at that speed so I let the BM go. As it passed the Merc however, something happened and the Merc set off after the BM like a scalded cat. Here I was in a quandary: follow them or putter along on my own at just over 120km/h. Somehow during the debate something went awry and I decided that the BM had 'stolen' my Merc hare and I was in a mood to make both of them pay.
Anyone sensible will tell you that these were two brutes of cars, not to be trifled with on the open road.
However, having made up my mind, I set off in pursuit of these two newer and faster cars. I caught up with them just outside Harrismith and then we ended up dicing each other down the Van Reenen's pass at speeds exceeding 170km/h. Luckily for the sake of my car most of the road were curvy and not straight for too long. This crazy racing went on past Estcourt until outside Howick when the BM dropped off the radar and me and the Merc settled back into our hound and hare roles. Luckily there were no fixed or laser speed traps in operation on the KwaZulu Natal side of the N3 in those years. The YF acquitted itself so well that I almost felt a similar affinity towards it than I had for the Beast. A car whose shocks were gone, whose braking system was barely functional and whose suspension was 'slightly loose', and still showed the bird to the Merc and BM at those speeds (luckily for us it was early in the morning before the great traffic rush started!), demanded and got my respect.
This Wiki map indicates the N3 in red but the scale does not show the curves at Van Reenen's pass just outside Harrismith.
After Howick, we [passed through Pietermaritzburg at the gentle pace prescribed by the freeway speed limit (120 km/h) and leisurely made our way to Durban.
This trip occurred in 1983.
I never told the Good Wife about the specifics of my journey, apart from the obligatory; "It was uneventful", so she will be as pleasantly surprised to learn of this episode as I hope you are.
The YF was a great boon for me in Durban and its powerful engine saved my from many touch-and-go situations.
Later I will tell you more about the YF.
Sleep well for those in the same time zone ...
Lala kahle ...
The Yellow Fellow (YF) was first mentioned in my post http://expectmeagain.blogspot.com/2014/04/death-of-beast.html. YF was also a V6 Ford, with chrome bumpers and 2.5 litre twin overhead cam shafts engine but it was a Cortina, not a Granada. It had a more relaxed compression ratio than the Beast but had a lighter body and longer gearing - all in all the performance package was similar but the sexy double exhaust tailpipe of the Granada was no more.
Once on the way back from Cape Town to Durban, just outside the Free State border town of Harrismith, I picked up a tow from a 380 SEC Mercedes. This Merc was ambling along at about 130 km/h and I found that the YF was comfortable at this speed. We carried on with me tagging behind the Merc at a respectful distance for a good 10km but, like all good things, this also had to pass. It happened as follows: I was overtaken by a BMW 733i that were going at about 150-160km/h. I swear I had no intention of driving at that speed so I let the BM go. As it passed the Merc however, something happened and the Merc set off after the BM like a scalded cat. Here I was in a quandary: follow them or putter along on my own at just over 120km/h. Somehow during the debate something went awry and I decided that the BM had 'stolen' my Merc hare and I was in a mood to make both of them pay.
Anyone sensible will tell you that these were two brutes of cars, not to be trifled with on the open road.
However, having made up my mind, I set off in pursuit of these two newer and faster cars. I caught up with them just outside Harrismith and then we ended up dicing each other down the Van Reenen's pass at speeds exceeding 170km/h. Luckily for the sake of my car most of the road were curvy and not straight for too long. This crazy racing went on past Estcourt until outside Howick when the BM dropped off the radar and me and the Merc settled back into our hound and hare roles. Luckily there were no fixed or laser speed traps in operation on the KwaZulu Natal side of the N3 in those years. The YF acquitted itself so well that I almost felt a similar affinity towards it than I had for the Beast. A car whose shocks were gone, whose braking system was barely functional and whose suspension was 'slightly loose', and still showed the bird to the Merc and BM at those speeds (luckily for us it was early in the morning before the great traffic rush started!), demanded and got my respect.
This Wiki map indicates the N3 in red but the scale does not show the curves at Van Reenen's pass just outside Harrismith.
After Howick, we [passed through Pietermaritzburg at the gentle pace prescribed by the freeway speed limit (120 km/h) and leisurely made our way to Durban.
This trip occurred in 1983.
I never told the Good Wife about the specifics of my journey, apart from the obligatory; "It was uneventful", so she will be as pleasantly surprised to learn of this episode as I hope you are.
The YF was a great boon for me in Durban and its powerful engine saved my from many touch-and-go situations.
Later I will tell you more about the YF.
Sleep well for those in the same time zone ...
Lala kahle ...
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