A mini car for special tasks, part 1.

      James Bond had his Aston Martin. Polish families, on the other hand, were happy having a titch (Polish name: Maluch) - factory-named Fiat 126P. Its greatest popularity was the 80s of the last century, ruling with absolute power on Polish roads. For those who didn’t experience it, it is probably hard to believe that the Fiat 126P could fit a Polish family with two children and a dog and a whole camping set in. And yet. It required only a bit of cleverness and a lot of perseverance.

     Of course my family was also proud owners of the small Fiat. We were packing up in it and we went on vacation. In our case the road was always connected with a sightseeing. Once, during a trip from Polish Mountains of Bieszczady, we went to an open-air museum. The car, after a two-week holiday of the whole family, was loaded up to its neck. I sat on the back seat together with our dog and big bags. To make it happen, the front seat of my dad (passenger) was pushed forward. So my father sat in a less comfortable position, bent forward. This way we travelled like canned sprats. We got out on the parking place next to the open-air museum. Unfortunately, re-packing into this can encountered big problems. I and the dog fit in. The father also fit but without one leg. Unfortunately, he couldn’t continue his journey without a leg, so he began trying to push the lower limb into the car. It was a collective work. Dad couldn’t deal with his leg himself, so my mother pushed it into the car. In spite of intense attempts, several centimetres were still missing. Strength solutions didn’t work. The stage of the conceptual phase come. A deep-dyed analysis of the issue showed that the leg may be fit in but without a shoe. Therefore, the parents decided that the shoe would be removed and rest of way goes not on the foot but on my father's knees and so it happened. Finally, my mother pushed the dad's foot into the car, then happy with her success, slammed the door. She jumped into the driver's seat and started with a screech of tires (because of these technical problems, we have already been in delay). After a few kilometres, my father noticed that something had been missing. The shoe was missing, which should have been on the knees. It was necessary to return to the parking place next to the open-air museum and find a shoe which was waiting patiently on the side of the road. Next was loading the shoe inside, taking care that the leg pressed in didn’t get outside and finally we went back home.

I remember that my parents were not in the best moods at that time but today it is a thing to remember.