Not as bad as I thought

Instead of my usual Saturday of working on the railroad (getting the song out of your head is your responsibility), I went to the Christmas party being thrown by my Metropolitan car club. It was a bit of a drive into Tracy, but entirely worth it. The food was good. The fine gentleman hosting happened to own a beef cattle ranch. Needless to say, he made a fine steak. After that fine lunch, we got down to business. That is to say, those inlined to do so got down to business. Bob, Larry, and I got down to business of our own outside, discussing the ins and outs of Metropolitan restoration. This is to say, of course, that Bob and Larry talked and I listened. The three of us took off a little early to head back to the shop in Pittsburg. We did a bit of car shuffling and divided as many hard top Metropolitans as we thought nice enough between us and various family members. From there we drove down the way a bit and entered ourselves and the others (still in Tracy) into a parade in downtown Pittsburg. I had mentioned during lunch that I really didn't know what a proper Met drives like, considering the condition of mine. Bob and Larry promptly crammed me into one from the shop. Of course this means that my first time driving a Metropolitan was in the rain. Keep in mind that the Met is not known for doing well in the rain. It is a fun little car that I don't fit into terribly well. It is possible that I just couldn't move that particular seat back well enough. The pedals are very high, and the windshield very low, meaning my knees sometimes interfere with the steering wheel and I hunch over a bit. I still like it though. Also, they lean on even the slowest turns, have huge blindspots, no synchros in first (gotta love that grinding sound) and a windshield wiper motor that sounds like a blender with a spoon in it. Just off the parade route, Wayne's Metropolitan truck conversion lost a clutch. Bob lived just down the road, well within limping distance. A pleasant introduction into practical Met driving. We managed to take first place in the car category of the parade, before heading off to Wayne's house in Brentwood. During conversation that night I got the club interested in taking a trip to the NCRy. Cool. Now I know that my car is not that bad, but rather just slightly more cranky than a well restored, easy to drive one.