"It was a different time, the roads were dangerous and deserted"

"BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion" (pbs) 07/14/2014 at 21:44 • Filed to: None

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According to my dad. After my last post, about the humongous fuel tanks found in Brazilian cars of the late 80's and early 90's, I figured I'd ask him, just for the sake of curiosity, how difficult it was to travel in Brazil with restrictions to the working hours of gas stations, and he told me the only way to go was with extra fuel tanks and, I shit you not, guns.

He told me, for example, that the first time we went to a beach, in 1994, our luggage included an extra fuel tank, a .22 rifle and a .38 revolver because "raiders were common back then", and that we ran out of gas more than once while travelling the back roads in Rio Grande do Sul and Paraná and he'd take a gun and the extra tank to get gas, while my mom stayed with the car, the kids and the rifle. I think I'm gonna call my dad Mad Max from now on.

Vince-The Roadside Mechanic > BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion 07/14/2014 at 21:50

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Fuck!!! I missed the Mad Max days. I thought they would be in the future but they were in the past.

GhostZ > BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion 07/14/2014 at 21:50

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Mad max, brazil style.

BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion > Vince-The Roadside Mechanic 07/14/2014 at 21:53

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By the looks of it. :p

The funny part is that I just remembered one occasion, in 1993 or 1994, where we ran out of gas, in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere, and we'd just watched Jurassic Park. My 5 years old mind was certain we were about to be attacked by dinosaurs, and I remember setting plastic cups with water on the top of our wagon so I'd know if any dinosaurs were approaching. Wicked.

mcseanerson > BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion 07/14/2014 at 21:57

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Why didn't he just keep the gas tank full?

BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion > mcseanerson 07/14/2014 at 22:04

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He did, but, back then, gas stations could only work until 6 pm on weekdays and not at all on weekends, plus it was illegal to open a gas station farther than a specific distance from a city, so if you had to drive from one state to the other, for example, you wouldn't see enough stations to keep the tank full, you'd have to stop at a town for the night and refuel in the morning or ask another driver for some gas.

zeontestpilot > BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion 07/14/2014 at 22:05

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That actually is the proper way to detect dinosaurs. Its a fact.

Cavemen did it.

zeontestpilot > BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion 07/14/2014 at 22:07

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Your dad sounds like an epic man. Does he have a beard by any chance?

BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion > zeontestpilot 07/14/2014 at 22:07

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My 5 years old self would have believed that :p

mcseanerson > BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion 07/14/2014 at 22:07

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I meant the spare tank

BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion > mcseanerson 07/14/2014 at 22:13

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Yeah, that one too. I figured it probably left home full, but sometimes there just weren't enough stations for the fuel tank plus the spare tank combined to hold up. It's worth mentioning this wasn't in Rio or São Paulo, the two main centers of Brazil, this was in Rio Grande do Sul, which is still pretty much deserted in some portions.

BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion > zeontestpilot 07/14/2014 at 22:14

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Not now, but back then he rocked the shaved head, full beard combo!

zeontestpilot > BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion 07/14/2014 at 22:25

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Wait, are you suggesting dinosaurs aren't real? Have I been lied too?!

zeontestpilot > BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion 07/14/2014 at 22:31

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I knew it. No man can do the stuff you described and not have a beard. it's like a rule or something.

And beards don't just disappear, I prefer to think of it as 'setting them free in the wild'; where they flock all day long, wear flannel, and split firewood.

mcseanerson > BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion 07/14/2014 at 23:37

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I wasn't even thinking outside US. I imagine it was pretty hectic back then.

ptak appreciates old racecars > BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion 07/15/2014 at 08:16

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Your dad was a huge badass.

BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion > mcseanerson 07/15/2014 at 11:40

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It was... the late 80's/early 90's in Brazil marked the high point of the "dry law" that imposed serious restrictions to gas stations working hours, the tail end of the military dictatorship and economic chaos that ensued, the last high profile bank heists that were a trademark of the 70's and the territorial disputes in the southern states that kept more than a couple hundred hired guns well fed. Crazy times