we do this a lot, actually.

[kaigou]

Odetta, the great dane mix grande dame, was a Sherman Tank: she didn't go very fast, but she could take out entire bushes and small trees to get there. Saimhain, the beagle-mix with only two braincells, was an old Army Jeep: could get up pretty fast when must needs (preferably if also going downhill with a tailwind, in a hurricane), but then she'd come to a complete and sudden stop and need at least eight hours of rebuild time before she got going again.

Me: I'm not sure what Balto would be.
CP: Something big, not too fast, but happy.
Me: Drawing a blank.
CP: I'm thinking a VW bus.
Me: That works. A real trooper, and when he does break down, it doesn't take much to make him happy again.
CP: All he needs are the flowers painted on the side.
Me: He's a happy boy.
CP: And sort of round, too, just like a bus.

I think we ended up deciding Sachiko might be an old Peugot coupe, an Austin-Healey, maybe a Triumph Herald (coupe). Something, as CP put it, "with British electronics". The kind of vehicle that's cute and trying for elegant, although as a mongrel she's a little on the discount side -- but not quite as low-class as a Pinto. One that's fun, but don't breathe wrong or it'll stop working and simply refuse to do anything unless coddled for at least an hour.

Me: She's a flakey girl, after all. She'd be a flakey car.
CP: Just think Lucas wiring.

Comments

[nagasvoice]

You know, this would make a very funny meme. We have cats that could be described in very similar terms...

[kaigou]

...which prompted me to realize that our cats are a Harley, a Ducatti... and the little hobbit is definitely Big Wheels -- he doesn't go very fast, is relatively easy to pick up with one hand, and makes a thunderous sound when he's rolling down the sidewalk.

[haya5h1.livejournal.com]

So Balto is... the Mystery Machine.

[kaigou]

Which kinda raises a question about what the rest of us are.

[nagia]

Ah, good ol' Lucas wiring. Meant you set your headlights to off, dim, or flicker.

That is, by the way, the most awesome conversation about dogs I've read on the internet in a damn long time.

[kaigou]

We entertain ourselves greatly over here... and no, I will not ever go back to any car with Lucas wiring. Once is enough per lifetime.

[dragonhand]

This is what happens when a gearhead is also a dog person. XD

[kaigou]

Given that CP isn't much of a gearhead, I'm guessing it's contagious.

[kraehe.livejournal.com]

Datsun Fairlady?

[kaigou]

Ahaha, that works.

I didn't recognize the car, and asked CP, who I think went into slight memory-shock since he had a Datsun, I think. Something about never changing the oil, just keep filling it up... every hour...