Power cronicle writer guest writer

I’m about to blush. Firstly the photographer and writer of the books about junk cars, Kent Aberg, and then the artists of words Anders Hjelm and now the former Power columnist Jan Silén. Translation Ellen Kay Krantz 

It is with great pride Krantz receive material from great men mentioned above.
– Starting up a free magazine is like jumping from airplane with an umbrella.

And we, Lars Krantz and Mats carlsson (Mr. usabil.nu), do it because we enjoy the hobby, the cars and the people.
And the guys are right behind, pushing. Covering up and supporting better than any Tempura mattress.
This time Jan “Sillen” Silén, former columnist in Power Magazine i being thanked.

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It was time for the annual humiliation of the every-day car. – Vehicle Inspection.

It was time for the third go-around at inspection of my Chrysler PT Cruiser. The two years before it strolled right through without any notes, but this third year they wanted the towbar screwed off, because it was detachable.

I see the Inspection Officer taking a hard grip on the knob and turn it for all his worth, trying to detach the thing. He had no such luck, it’s like its welded shut. He draw the light like it’s a gun and he’s in a Western, inspecting the towbar from different angles in search of more locks without finding any. 

A colleague nearby is called to the rear of the Cruiser and is asked to give it a go and strikes out as well. The men, hands on hips, discuss with concerned faces what they should do with this traffic hazard of a car that has a towbar that won’t budge. Both of them turn simultaneously and look at me. I’m sure they saying to each other: “Aha, this is the idiot that owns the car.”

Usually, I’m one step behind the officers questioning every note they find, but not today. The backup colleague gives the towbar a smack with his hand, try the knob again and give up. The Inspection is done and the autopsy report is about to be handed over and the owner of the vehicle gets to know the cause of death. 

– It was just the towbar that we couldn’t detach so you will need to come back, the pathologist say.
– Well, that’s good, that it stays on and don’t come off, I responded.
– No, it’s supposed to go on and off, he replies.
– But the car has been greenlit on two previous Inspections without detaching the towbar? 

– No, we always detach the towbar.
– Nope, you haven’t for the last two times.
– No, we always detach the towbar.
– Nope, you haven’t.
– Yes, we always do!!

The executioner has said his, it’s over, non-negotionable, the car is a traffic hazard because the towbar is in place.
– You are welcome back Tuesday through Thursday without making an appointment, they say.
– I can go to a shop that puts out this note to, is my reply.
The Inspection Officer tear the paper out of my hands and says that he has to order me back, but then he gives it a second thought… No, I don’t have to. 

I drive to the shop to drop off the car. They go through hell to remove the towbar. When it finally comes off they grease it up and delete the note in the inspection record. 

Next time I used the trailer I heard a weird sound coming from the rear. I step out, walk around the car to check it out. The towbar is loose and the screw keeping it together is about to come off. I screw it back on and drive for a couple of miles when the sound reappears and I have to repeat the procedure. After another couple of miles same thing happens.

I was kind of excited to see if they were going to remove the towbar on this years’ inspection. It’s the same Officer as last time and this time he is satisfied, the towbar is removable, such luck! Here I have been driving around with a towbar that’s attached to this traffic hazard of a car, but now I’m riding around in a car that has passed inspection with a towbar that’s completely loose, that feels incredible safe. 

– Just think about what accident I could have caused with my attached towbar.

I started driving in the early 80’s and back then a guaranteed note on inspection was faulty mud flaps. The tiniest rust stain on the attachment to the little rubber flap and you were fried. Today there’s no car that has mud flaps, it works just fine without. 

Then the really smart invention of wipers on the headlights in the front. If they didn’t work properly you got another guaranteed note. Today there are no cars with wipers on the headlights. It works just fine without. 

After that, the EGR-vent came to be a trendy favorite note for the Officers. Today the vent isn’t even checked even if they have one. It works just fine without. 

The new favorite note is the detachable towbar. In a couple of years even this note will fade and another “lethal” construction will be scrutinized.