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Left:
Polleke, in three different shades of blue, is collected from the
workshop. Right: on arrival at the Veemarkt. Polleke, not having
passed her test yet, had to be driven on dealer's plates (photo
© Thijs van der Zanden). |
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stand is being built. Few people know you can put on wallpaper with
a stapler and lay out a pond with a sheet of blue plastic. |
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Thousands
and thousands made the trip to Utrecht to see the most famous Visa
of the world, including our home village Alphen aan den Rijn... |
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...although,
we have to confess, she was not the only blue Visa around. |
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Left:
WHAT do you mean, "not the right colour"? (photo ©
Monieke Kroft). Right: Polleke returns to Kuyntjes workshop after
Citromobile, accompanied by GerriT. Polleke's brakes, although looked
after, did not convince. On inspection, rear brake cilinders turned
out to be leaky. |
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| Finally,
in May 2002, Polleke got ready. She passed her APK, after the rear
brake cylinders, the exhaust, and several other smaller parts had
been renewed. The new panels (right front wing and left back door)
were sprayed in the right colour, and the wheels were derusted and
resprayed, using the correct grey paint. Especially those freshly
painted wheels do her much good. Some small spots of rust have yet
to be treated, but that will only be a small job, to be done by
ourselves. |
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Above
left: Polleke waiting to be collected at the Kuyntjes workshop,
May 2002. Above right: If we had a good neighbourhood reputation,
Polleke's present appearance would not spoil it. Below left and
right: Polleke goes royal: a visit to the Royal Stables (the place
where the Dutch Queen's golden carriage is kept) in The Hague, July
2002. |
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Above
left: Monieke is very happy with Polleke as a runabout for shopping
and touring. Above right: Polleke or Porky: which one is the most
exclusive car after all... Below: composition in various shades
of blue. |
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Polleke
drove her first club tour during the 2nd Victoria Meeting in August,
2002, and although we nearly had a bus reversing into Polleke's
front, she quite liked the trip. On our way back home, even the
heaviest cloudburst in years, which brought much of the traffic
on the motorway to a halt, didn't stop the brave Visa. Only problem
was the rear wiper, which started to operate by itself and wouldn't
stop. For an instance we thought this was, one of the more progressive
features of the model (equal to the sensor operated wipers on current
Citroëns), but no... |
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Right:
Oops! Broken rear light was result of clumsy reversing. No real
harm done, but it will be replaced by another unit soon. Below
left: Polleke participated in club tour in November 2002, and
got herself very dirty. Below right: Polleke meets her twin sister
Gerda, November 2002.
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Left:
Polleke is one of very few Visas left in my home village (almost
all are in my ownership...). Local dealer Johan Zwart is friendly
enough, but can hardly offer any help in our search for spares.
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left: technical day of the club in late November was one of Polleke's
last outings for 2002. Blue Visa beside it was another one given
away for free. Above right: in the workshop. Slight dent in left
rear wing seems to have appeared spontaneously. |
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Left:
oh dear...a job for the welder on its way. Polleke showed some severe
rust in rear inner wings (just visible behind the suspension). |
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the winter of 2002/2003 was rather cold. Polleke stood it well. |
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In
April 2003, Polleke passed her test first time after her rear inner
wings were welded. The ding that marred her left rear spat was removed
with use of the sucker of a towel hook [...], and some small spots
of rust were treated. |
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Bottom
of rear right door skin showed some rust, as did the left front
wing and the hatch. Touching them up is sufficient for this moment.
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Polleke
and GerriT both attended the World Meeting in Meerkerk in August
2003. |
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Polleke's
flat paint was succesfully polished with a lot of Commandant in
the spring of 2004. She almost looked like new afterwards. Even
better, she faultlessly passed this year's APK! |
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Right:
ever present dent above filler cap has become more prominent for
some unknown cause. Far right: heavy snow in March 2005 was no
problem for Polleke.
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Polleke
failed the APK in May 2005, due to a rotten sill, two holes in the
chassis and a leaking petrol tank. All were repaired. Broadly speaking,
she is still remarkebly solid. It is hard to believe that she was
nearly written off four years ago. |
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Another
problem were the rusty rails of the wind up windows, which were
replaced by rust free ones. |
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Right:
Polleke in good company on the way to Visami in Nehren, July 2005.
Far right: rust free tank did not mean the spilling of petrol
was over...
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Left:
Monieke enjoys the surprisingly lively two cilinder engine. Right:
Nehren after the clouds opened up...
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Right:
line up op Visas at Nehren, with Polleke second from left. Far
right: Polleke waiting for the collective tour through the surroundings
of Nehren.
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Left
and right: Polleke during the summer meeting of the Dutch club
in Epen (Limburg) June, 2006.
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Right:
Polleke participating in the fall tour of the Dutch club in a
typlical Dutch scenery, October 2006.
Far right: sticky breaks caused some exciting moments during a
club outing in April 2007. Nevertheless, two weeks later Polleke
once again passed her test faultlessly.
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