Another Italian Innovation

My cute little white Panda wasn’t looking too white. Not surprising given all those miles on dusty, semi-paved Tuscan roads! I’d squirted the last of my windshield washer fluid days ago. So today I went in search of some replacement washer fluid. It was mid afternoon and the grocery store was closed. In fact Tuscan towns are as dead and deserted from 1 to 4:30 or 5 as an old west town before the big gun fight. But gas stations are open so I held a shred of hope. I decided to drive to each of the nearby gas stations hoping to find a kiosk where I could replenish the washer fluid.

At the first one the little service booth was vacant and the bucket with the squeegee was dry. Onto the next. Here I found a bucket and squeegee. Ugh..the brown water in the bucket was just slightly better than mud. But it was wet and there was a squeegee so I gave my windshield a wipe.. A slight improvement.

Time for the last station. As I drove up I let out a sigh. Oh, no, not again. The shop was dark, and the blinds tightly drawn. I spotted the handle of a squeegee protruding from a bucket and drove around to check it out. It couldn’t be worse than the last stop! Happily the water was semiclear so I started in on another attempt to improve my visibility.

As I watched the dirty water run down my winshield and puddle into the groove below, I was distracted by a mechanical sound. I peeked around the building. And there before me was yet another Italian invention (at least I assume so having never seen this thing anywhere else.)

The noise was coming from what you’d call a car wash, but not like any car wash I’d ever seen. It seemed that you parked your car in a designated spot, stepped out and then this contraption moved back and forth on tracks to deliver an efficient and thorough wash. Brilliant!

E8 later I had my white Panda back. Once again Italian ingenuity had made me smile!