When we left the US, we left an important family member behind. We affectionately called her SuperVan. Ok, I called her SuperVan! She was a 2001 Ford Windstar van that I was very attached to. She could honestly beat any vehicle off the line and I would sometimes hear her speak to me, whispering what a great driver I was and how lucky she was that I drove her. :-)
We originally planned to bring SuperVan to England, but about 2 months before we left she began to have very serious mechanical problems. Problems that would cost more than her current value to fix. So very good friends of ours, the Petersons, adopted her and I can only hope she is in a better place now.
Fast forward to England and we need a car - preferably a van. The problem is streets in England are much smaller than the US and consequently the vehicles are smaller. There are some American style large vans, but they are hard to find and very expensive when you do. So in purchasing a vehicle for our 3 years here we decided upon a "van" called a Vauxhall Zafira. It is a 7-seater and the back 2 seats fold into the floor for more cargo room. We wanted buy a used petrol (unleaded gas) Zafira and figured an automatic would be best since we would also be driving on the opposite side of the road. Unfortunately automatic petrol Zafiras are difficult to find. To get one we would have to place an order to bring one to Cheltenham from an outside dealership. And we would have to put down a hefty deposit to do this.
So one helpful Zafira dealer decided that I probably could drive a manual (stick shift), I just needed to have a go at it. The experience went a little like this- Dealer to Me: Oh, you'll be fine. If you can drive a manual in the US you can do it. Let's take a test drive. Me: Sure, I am a pretty good driver after all, let's go. Nephi to Me: Are you really, really sure you want to this? Me: What could go wrong? Dealer: You'll be fine.
During the test drive. Dealer: Um, ew, ah. Oh! Nephi to Me: Watch out for that curb, that tree, that car! Me to Nephi: Quit yelling at me I'm trying to shift gears. Which side of the road am I supposed to be on? Which side is left - I'll just put my hand over my heart.
End of drive. Me to Dealer: Can I just stop here and let you drive the rest of the way? Dealer to Me: Yes, Please! Then let's go order you an automatic - I think you're going to need one!
So Friday we picked up (and paid a lot for!) our new van - a petrol, automatic, Vauxhall Zafira. And in case anyone is worried, I am driving just fine with no accidents. As long as I don't have to shift gears. Here are some pictures of the new car. Beautiful, but not SuperVan.
