New car - shock horror!

I am going to do something here that I never thought that I would do. In this blog of old cars and rust, I am going to include a brand new car!

Don't get me wrong new cars are just fine, safe, reliable, and mostly economical they do a great job, but what I really miss most is the involvement that used to go with car ownership. Back in the day owners used to actually take time and trouble over their Automobiles, they would fit accessories, wash and polish the exterior, even fix them when they broke.

Today we see an Automobile as a tool, it performs it's function and is then left outside until needed again before finally being discarded.
We don't spend those Sunday mornings polishing them any more, and anyway, they have no chrome on them to polish up like before. Imagine the satisfaction a newly polished chrome smile of an early 1950's Buick gave to it's owner....


Or the simple pleasure of buffing up a real good shine on any of the old 'Jellymould' shaped cars like this '41 Chevy master delux...

.... Nope! - new cars just aren't the same...or so I thought!

It so happened that while browsing the net this afternoon I came across something that caught my imagination, possibly for all the wrong reasons. It has 'love it or loath' it styling, no crumple zones or safety equipment to speak of, it's impractical, and quite expensive for what would only be considered as a 'toy' by many.

The car in question is the French made RUMEN


Now I know a little about the French insofar as they are superb innovators when it comes to motor cars, think of Citroen's traction avant, DS series, or the simple but brilliant 2cv and bold French styling and innovation become clear.


What we have here is a car that has such whacky styling that it pleases from every angle, styling that takes cues from the 1930's and '40's Bugatti's perhaps, but this vehicle is made of up to the minute components giving modern performance and reliability. Just take a look at this interior.

Caught your breath yet? :-)
Now let's take a look at some of the cool features, for example notice on this interior shot how the gear lever is operated through the dash, rather than the fllor mounted option shown earlier. The gear levers are connected to a 5 speed (tip-tronic) gearbox, which in turn is harnessed to a 998cc three cylinder motor.


With disk brakes all round and, an all up weight of just 550kg this thing should fly!
From the aesthetic point of view, as I mentioned earlier you will either love it or hate it, such radical styling is bound to invoke extreme opinions... I love it!


Quite apart from the performance and fun factor that this car undoubtedly offers there's something else... can you guess what it is? Well, this car has that 'Sunday morning polishing' factor that I mentioned seems to be lacking in today's vehicles.
This car has curves, it has chrome, and it all comes in a neat, high quality, and manageable package that won't take up the whole day to clean or ever become a chore, the Rumen invites you too polish her.

Now pride of ownership is one thing, but once she's gleaming again it's time to hit the road and enjoy her, which is where the detachable roof section comes in real handy!


If you would like to find out more about this great little car, or your lucky enough to fancy buying one then go here where you can also see more high-res photo's and technical details.