Reading all these treatises on deer whistles reminded of a time when i
turned a pristine 75 Midget into a "cow"vertible. Whilst toodling down a
Colorado country road, dirt but smooth and wide, I crested a hill in a
corn field and, lo and behold, along the right side of the road were
about 10-15 cows.
As I was toodling along about 45 I slowed rapidly and moved towards the
left. Well just then, as you might figure, the cows decided to cross the
road as well. If you can imagine a triangle with the Midget and a cow at
the point, you can see what came next.
I had the Midget at a complete stop when the cow just sort of rolled up
the bonnet and into the windshield, bending the aluminum frame and
breaking the glass. Then it rolled off, ran about 10 yards off into the
field and turned around and looked at me like it was my fault.
We got out of the car,picked the right mirror off the road and drove the
rest of the way home (about 15 miles). The damage was:
1) Right fender, headlamp, ring etc. total.
2) bonnet bent but fixable.
3) Aluminum windshield bent and glass busted.
A couple of days later I got a call from the insurance company telling me
that since this farmer had let his cows out on the road (there was a
fence) therefore he (the farmer) was responsible for the damage to my
car. So we went and had the whole car painted as well as repaired on the
cows insurance.
A little aside on the insurance. The cow's adjuster thought that the
windshield frame could be straightened. The body shop said "Aluminum?
Hah!!!"
So that is the story of the "cow"vertible. Unfortunately, I no longer
have that car, but that is another story.
Larry Macy
78 Midget
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