Sunday, March 2, 2008

My grandfather Frank, my FIRST car...1969 Lotus Europa S2 and the KOZAK cloth!


I've been dreaming about my first car (well, the first one I actually paid for)... it was a 1969 Lotus Europa S2. Fiberglass body, Lotus Red in color, a Renault Engine (transversely mounted if I remember correctly) Dunlop Tires (more about those shit tires later!) and a US$4995.00 price tag! The car weighed only about 1000 pounds, so it had quite a good weight to horsepower ratio.


The car handled beautifully. I remember the day I bought it... I was living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the dealer was in Wilmington Delaware which was about a 1 hour drive away. My friend Otto.. the guy with the 1964 Red GTO convertible drove me there to pick it up.


When I walked into the dealer's showroom, there it was... all dirty and covered with something black and tarry looking!!! I was so disappointed! The dealer came over and said "Hey, Paul... we thought you were coming tomorrow!" My heart sank.. but he smiled and told us to go down for a MacDonald’s and come back in 2 hours.


Well, I never ate a cheeseburger and fries that slowly before! Otto was good enough to stay with me, and finally ZERO HOUR arrived! We motored back to the dealer and there she was... right in front of the dealership... all waxed, shiny and waiting for me... I can still remember the feeling of excitement even now as I am typing this!


It was beautiful... I signed the papers, and hopped in for the inaugural ride, with the salesman in the passenger seat. He gave me the 50 cent tour, and I kicked him out.. I couldn't wait to take her out on my own!


Well, it was also my first stick shift (manual shift for those of you younger than 30!) and it took a while to get used to the clutch. The mechanism back then was very primitive... just a clutch cable run along the floor and fastened to the fiberglass shell with rivets. And YUP... on the way home to Philadelphia, on my FIRST hill... the freekin' clutch cable broke loose! With no tension in it, I could not shift gears! We didn't have hand phones then... not invented yet... so.. I was STUCK! And, on a hill also, with other cars behind me!


Fortunately, for some reason the engine stalled out... I was able to put it into first gear, and limped back to the dealer. I was heartbroken.


The repair took about an hour, and I was on my way again! Made it home this time, parked the car in front of my house and went inside for a cold iced tea!


My grandfather, my Uncle Joe, my grandmother... after tea we all went out to have a look at the car. they said... not very practical, no trunk (boot) for groceries, no back seat, no room... UGH... I was really upset... BUT I LOVED THAT CAR.. My grandfather Frank, he knew how much I wanted that car. He took me aside and said softly..."let's take her out".


He climbed in, and off we went for a good 1 hour ride. When we came back, he went over to the trunk of his Plymouth Valiant and pulled out the KozaK Auto DryWash cloth and passed it to me "Son, here's what I have used to keep my car clean... try it.. It’s yours if you like it".


I wiped down the car, and the Red color just popped out... the car glistened in the afternoon sun.


I still remember the smile on his face as he watched me polishing my first car... I really miss him...


So... that's how I first started to use KozaK... more about the Lotus and those awful Dunlop tires later.


If you have a car you love, try the KozaK Auto DryWash cloth! My wife distributes KozaK in Asia. Go to her website
www.kozakasia.com and read about it.
It really does work!