BIRD'S EYE VIEW
Page 62
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BY THE HAWK
• You are, of course, all heartily sick of politics, so I'll keep my comments on the general election brief.
The Prime Minister, as you are by now aware, is touring the country in a Leyland Tiger with bodywork by Duple and Chobham. It is probably a little heavier than the usual Tiger, and probably has to work a little harder even if there's a lot of hot air around to help it along.
So it's no wonder that the manufacturer is taking a morethan-keen interest in its health — even to the extent that it is, I believe, the first Leyland chassis to benefit from the recent merger and be looked after by Dafaid.
• Furniture maker MFI and trailer maker Craven Tasker, have joined forces and done a charity deal which follows the standard set by Traflerent with its charity trailers. This time, the new trailer will earn National Children's Home its usual hire fee (£1,600) during six-months service with MFI.
• Austin Rover is obviously not too concerned about what most legislators think, judging by the wording of this ad which appeared recently in the Irish Times. I wonder how economical the Metro is while it's dodging around four-metrehigh pots of jam and flocks of sheep, or leaping in and out of pot holes at over 70km/h in towns . . . • The Hawk is, of course, completely apolitical, so I was pleased to see that Perkins of Peterborpugh treats all politicians (well, most of them) the same as well.
In this case, it's decided that all the major candidates for the Peterborough seat should benefit from being carried around in a vehicle powered by the latest Perkins product, the Prima DI diesel which it makes for Austin Rover and Freight Rover. The vehicles are Maestros, and Perkins says that the candidates have undertaken to monitor fuel economy and report on how the vehicles have performed at the hustings.
When my colleagues tested the Maestro diesel, they reported that it was extremely economical, but a little noisy. Sounds like the ideal vehicle for a profession which has occasionally been known to be "economical with the truth" and rather fond of the sound of its own collective voice . . .