General Ragamuffin Red Dream/Reality ii - Rainy Days & Mondays

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General Ragamuffin Red Dream/Reality ii - Rainy Days & Mondays

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:eek: - the lyric says "Rainy Days and Mondays, always get me down".
But I may be using this as the excuse for what I went and did yesterday...

Starting out at the beginning, as the best tales do, I went for a test yesterday - this time to answer the heights of the metal/fixed/opening roof options. You can't tell by just sitting in one in the showroom - you're just aware of the opening being at your eyebrows, and it was annoying. But this isn't what you see when driving it, your focus is on the road. But the sun broke out (sun? :eek: again!) and it was F-A-B!
It has a baffle on the front edge when the roof is fully back, which is supposed to disperse the worst of the wind-noise. To test this, we got her up to 50mph and noise level acceptable. Very nice breeze too with just the first position tipped at the back opening. There's a mesh sunshade so less burning your head and it made the all black demonstrator interior (black ambience so black dash too) a little lighter on the inside. The 500C not for me, don't like the fabric roof - but fancied some fresh air in the hair, and sunshine access (stuck in an office a lot) and more options for future driving holiday maybe. Electric opening had a nice smooth action to it. I'd say have it open around town and just the back open when noise too much at motorway speeds.

Wasn't actually sure how often I'd get to use this option though so was completely on the fence by the time we got back to the dealership (fixed glass roof and climate control gives light and air and with two perfectly good side windows, do you really need a sunroof too? Nope of course not. But I'm not on blah-car forum, so this was a real burning topic as to whether it should be on my dream car!)

Plan is for Hubby to get my silver Peugeot 106 one day (known as my silver dream machine, she's dear to me as without her no way to practice to get my licence and I don't want her gone or destroyed by another owner likely to be a young, young driver) so he said he'd love to get me the sunroof option!

Back to expressing :eek: again - I've only gone and blooming done it!

I put the deposit down and signed the Please Purvey a Fine Fiat form! (well actually, hubby put the deposit down as it equated roughly to the sunroom and we get some airmiles, but that's just practical, not poetry).
I actually have weak legs and weak feeling in my tum, still. I am going to buy a NEW car, designed and made just for ME. The paint is still on limited availability so only 3 on the Fiat factory system. My spec is factory order. I found out that it can be made in a day but the rest of the delivery time surrounds logistics, fair enough, these things cost. It's all how many more they have to make after yours to fill that transport ship up and then when it arrives in the UK, how long it takes for a transporter to fill up with orders for this area. Delivery up to 12 weeks. Will take a day's leave when she does arrive and go for a ride, as BST will be over by then. Need a practice in her too, revive my parking skills. Wonder how many people will spot it and tell me they've seen the car I like in the car-park?

Hubby's great-aunt, frail now, remembers her first car fondly - she called it "Bluebell" - so I'll be turning up to surprise her, take her for a ride, show how cars have changed but can still be charming, oh and of course go ruffle the perm a bit :)cool:sunroof!!)

These stay-at-home-and-do-nothing-cations, so much more expensive than going abroad! Hubby's Citroen AX (aka the little tin box) just has to last until she arrives now!

Back to reality for a bit, the water tank's second element has blown so we now have no hot water. Now that's more like it, a holiday trip to the plumbers merchants:rolleyes:
At least we don't mind throwing a new water tank into the AX, so NOT going to be happening in the 500!!
 
Congratulations on the new order TheCurlyOne.(y)
The Electric sunroof is a little pricey given that you already have the glass roof as a standard fit. But if it is any consolation to you it's relatively cheap compared to other makes. It is nice to open and let a bit of air in. I found that it works OK up to around 40mph. 'They say' that a 6ft 3inch person (of 'standard' proportions) will fit in the drivers seat with the sunroof - a little less on the passenger side (their seat doesn't drop down).
Looking forward to the pics when it arrives. On a different note - the US most popular colour at the moment is Rosso - a red and not the Bossa Nova White as what was expected.
 
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If it makes you feel any better I ordered my 500 (actually an Abarth) on the 3rd of March and I am still waiting .......... (Oh, the joys of living on the other side of the world) .....awaiting on the latest update some time soon

Good to see you enthusiasm for your new car - enjoy !!
 
If it makes you feel any better I ordered my 500 (actually an Abarth) on the 3rd of March and I am still waiting .......... (Oh, the joys of living on the other side of the world) .....awaiting on the latest update some time soon

Good to see you enthusiasm for your new car - enjoy !!

Thank you! Have to reply to someone in Aus - hi (I'm curley-one's wifey) to you on other side of the world where the water runs down the plughole the other way round (I tested this as a teen many moons ago when first visiting family in Singapore. Results? - inconclusive - due I suppose to it only being 26 miles from the equator).

Anyway, sorry to hear you've been waiting so long. I've been promised fortnightly updates from the dealership...we'll see. For you - oh that's such a long time to have been waiting :bang:- I guess they're still filling up that ship for Aus then. By way of sympathy I can only make suggestion of writing in to your version of Top Gear and have a bit of a gripe so maybe they'll mention it on air...

Yes I've seen the TG-Aus You Tube post of the F500 mail-run. They wanted to know if a car built for the piazzas of Rome or backstreets of Bankok would be any use to real Australians (nearly had kittens, as they used a RED one - sorry) v a Smart car in the Outback, maybe you saw that too?

There are a few Arbaths to be seen around my own area; a white one with red scorpion & another with black one, a dark grey, and I admired a lady's red Arbath as she veered into a car-park space in front of a shop I was going into. I told her I was after a red 1.2 myself-one-day and was she enjoying hers? She said she'd had a 1.2, loved it, but wanted a bit of extra oomph - and later, exiting shop, I was in time to see her flying through the carpark:cool:. Very nice rear view (the car!!) and seemed to suit the hurried-ness persona she had.

By the time mine arrives it'll be short daylight hours here so we'll look forward to some pics from sunny-schorching Aus - hope you get yours VERY soon.
 
We ordered on Monday (22/08/11)
Had a call this morning from dealer, she's gone from status 10 straight to status 16 already. Hopefully going to be earlier than we expected.
Perhaps a few Raggamuffins are being fast tracked to catch up with the backlog.(Ragamuffin been unavailable since disasters in Japan)
Mrs Curleyone VERY excited!!
 
She’s nearly home

Because of previous FF gushings, thought I’d better pipe down for a bit. After all no one really wants a status-by-status update on someone else’s order, well they don’t at my work at any rate! They already know well that my dream car is a “red-italian-supercar-beginning with F”. They've all been driving forever and can't understand why I'm not sick of driving yet, hasn't the novelty worn off yet? :sleep: Anyway, to provide some further amusement, I’ve decided to bite my knuckles and just not say anything about ordering mine. I'll just turn up with her one morning and see if anyone spots a red one in the car park later on and lets me know. They will not believe it’s mine simply because I’ve not been “going on about it”.

So I’ll gush a bit with you guys.
Got phone call yesterday to say the transport ship with my 500 on board, has stopped bobbing along on the ocean waves and just docked at Bristol! Our dealership are also a bit surprised at how fast it's going too & said they're starting their paperwork prep now.
I asked how many get shipped at a time. They didn't know about the whole ship but they're due a consignment of 26 cars, including mine. So delivery is all down to the logistics now. Unload ship, remove protective wrappings (swaddling??) check consignment for damage, customs/paperwork/transportation rota to dealership/their vehicle set up/check/valet etc. ETA maybe 2-3weeks. It looks like she may even arrive near my birthday next month. Oooh...
 
She’s nearly home

Because of previous FF gushings, thought I’d better pipe down for a bit. After all no one really wants a status-by-status update on someone else’s order

It's not a problem at all :) Keep it in one thread and it's not annoying at all. Annoying is when people post a different thread for every question and you end up with a "What colour should I get?", "What options should I get?", a "Will my baby seat fit in" thread and so on. Keep the thread going throughout the life of the car and it can be a sort of blog of the cars life.

This is my thread and I still post on it each time something little breaks on the car :D
https://www.fiatforum.com/500/191872-ordered.html
 
...Keep the thread going throughout the life of the car and it can be a sort of blog of the cars life.

Thanks for the good point here, took a brief look at the beginning of your blog and will read the rest later. It's all excitement at first of course and in the run-up to your new arrival, you want to share with people who "understand" (having exhausted the goodwill of your work colleagues, as in my case).

:idea:So maybe a dedicated "Wannabe" section is needed for this stage until you can post your photos in the new members bit? (no doubt if there's one already and this isn't such a bright idea, I'll be put straight, straight away).
"Hey, I'm John, I really want a xyz / I've ordered a BNW" goes in the "Wannabe" section, then when it arrives and you take your piccies, go off to New Members Motors. Then if you're done, you're "contained" rather than running rampant digressing (ok, going "off-topic") all over the forum...

Can't wait to see some photos of it :D

Thanks FloJo, :D Got my camera ready and wondering what news the weekend will bring, it being near the end of Sep, my dealership's Sep target, and with a consignment on the way from the port. Truly, keeping this a secret at work is killing me!
 
So maybe a dedicated "Wannabe" section is needed for this stage until you can post your photos in the new members bit?

oh bother, we've just seen that I probably should have put my idea in the, "ideas for the forum", section, will pop it in in a bit...

How dare you make such a massive mistake, lol. You realise that the penalty for this means compulsory attendance at the next New Forest Fiat 500 meeting. :D
 
How dare you make such a massive mistake, lol. You realise that the penalty for this means compulsory attendance at the next New Forest Fiat 500 meeting. :D


Funnily enough we are thinking of taking her out on an outing and were considering The New Forest meet!
When is the next one?!
 
Funnily enough we are thinking of taking her out on an outing and were considering The New Forest meet!
When is the next one?!

We usually try to arrange to meet up for a pre Christmas get together. A little closer to the time we'll open a new thread and make sure anyone who has attended previously or has expressed an interest gets a PM. (y)
 
Well today is another Monday (but not wet this time) .
We were told that "she" was due on the transporter either Fri or Mon and decided to visit the dealership on Saturday - and we spotted her there, she'd arrived!! She's not due to have her PDI until this week and I'm just waiting for the V5 to be posted to me so we can change the plate. She already has my plate stuck on her though, and we spotted her immediately from a distance just because of the colour!

Oh my, Slippers is Epic! The sun caught her in patches and Curley One-der actually admitted the finish is "much better than I expected" which was a surprise to me as this is the only colour I'd consider (much as 500's look fab in any colour, mine had to be R-Red). I took photos of course but digicam just makes it look slightly orangey, the shimmer just doesn't translate to e-film.

This weekend it's my birthday so will the form arrive for the ultimate birthday pressie to self? Mmm, :D

PS - eeeeeek sorry went a bit supersonic there, the suspense is just killing me. Hurry up DVLA !
 
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