FROM THE DESK OF El PRESIDENTE

The Stranger

Ranger by Burt Reif

“Does it float?” “No” “What is it?” “A Ranger Cub” “Oh. Where’s it from?” “England” “Can I take a picture?”

Then the light changes, and I’m off to the next stoplight conversation.

In its present configuration, the only protection from the elements is the windshield. So the interior is controlled by the climate rather than climate controlled. Drivers from nearby vehicles also strike up conversations using their passenger as an intermediary or shouting from their perches on the far side of their voice muffling vehicles equipped with windows, tops and soft interiors.

The doors have no moving parts, as they are simple cut-outs. With the optional top and side curtains, ease of entry and exit would be like that of a similarly attired Lotus Seven. But this car no longer has its top or side curtains, just some oddly shaped holes and lots of snaps.

The driver controls things from the sidewalk side of the car, so a passenger is not needed for conversation, just a stoplight and pedestrians.

As with any Mini, however, it is nice to have a passenger to do the smiling and waving while the driver is driving.

According to Maximum Mini, the authoritative website and three volume book set for information on hundreds, yes hundreds, of vehicles containing motivating bits from a Mini, about 18 Ranger Cub three wheelers and 2 four wheelers were produced.

This particular one is very photogenic, appearing in “googled” images from both sides of the pond.

Jeff Drago provided for its passage along with a four-wheeled Hustler (Hustler’s other option was six wheels) to the U.S. After their tenure with Jeff, they both ended up with Jeremy because, well you know, he’s Jeremy.

I had been ogling it for a while, finding it quite stylish from some angles and totally ridiculous from others.

It disappeared into some kind of quasi ownership/storage for a while, but then was back taking up room again at JET Motors.

In the spring of 2020 an idea more contagious than COVID 19 was making the rounds on the internet: The Pandemic Project. I had caught the Mini variant.

Also, I wanted to save the little fiberglass, boat-looking, three-wheeled car from Jeremy and Paul’s fantasies of making it actually float. Floating cars and flying cars are a lot like the concept of multi-tasking ; they do many things in a lackluster manner.

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Paul, who actually has a boat, and is knowledgeable about floaty things, is still convinced that he could get enough foam into the hollow parts of the body to not only make it float, but Getting the foamy Ranger Cub into Jeremy’s spacious above ground pool would require either a crane or a ramp, as well as booms to contain the oil slick.

Accessorizing was the most enjoyable

make it float like a boat rather than like a buoy with the two front wheels and the lump under water and the third little wheel way up in the air all alone. part of the scheme; stick-on mailbox numbers for the registration, marine lighting, little flags, life rings, and the propeller of the electric trolling motor sticking out the rear. (It floats AND it’s a hybrid.)

Then there were always the logistics of testing the seaworthiness. No one had any concerns about the door cut-outs. They hadn’t noticed how low an Amphicar or a VW Schwimmwagen sat in the water on the calm days they were filmed for Youtube videos.

I plan to take the easy way out; maybe a life ring with ‘Land Dinghy’ lettered on it and a propeller that fits into a trailer hitch receiver.

At the next stoplight:

“Does it float”

“Yes….”