Whistling to himself, Alfieri is casually cleaning his classic Maserati A6GCS/53 Pininfarina Berlinetta, hosing the classic car down with water first. The shirtless lion knows how long the process will take, given he could have just taken a trip to the car wash instead. But he decided to do it the manual way, and on a hot summer day at that. Some assistance could be helpful right about now.

Given how hot the day was, Alfieri wanted to splash some water on himself just to cool down, but that would result in an unpleasant situation. Still, he wanted to remain cool while manually washing his car. The last few times he's gotten an actual car wash, it ended up raining the very next day. This time, he wanted to do things differently.

Alfieri continues to casually whistle to himself while spraying his car down with the water hose. Then he moves on to the soap part, gathering some soap and wax supplies to add to the car wash. For the time being, the barbary lion is all by himself until he hears someone speaking from behind.

“Excuse me, sir. That is a beautiful car you have. What kind of car is it? I have never seen anything like that on these streets.” The compliment is from a female crocodile who is on a casual stroll through the neighborhood, just passing by. When she laid her eyes on the classic car, the sight left her in admiration. Not too many classic cars are found on the public roads anymore, not classic Italian ones to be more specific.

“Thank you. And you're right, you don't see many beautiful machines like this too often.” Alfieri replied in admiration. He then sweeps an arm to the arm in a describing gesture, rambling off the details to the female crocodile, “This beautiful machine is a Maserati A6GCS/53 Pininfarina Berlinetta. Built from 1953 to 1955, it is one of several rarities on the roads. It has 170 horses, stock.”

The shirtless lion leads the female crocodile closer to the classic machine where he lightly knocks against the driver side door; the hollow thuds indicating the type of material used to build the car. The barbary lion adds, “Pure aluminum metal on a tubular frame like this and you have a road car designed for dominating road race events.”

“I don't know much about automotive history, but it sure is a marvelous sight to behold.” The female crocodile reported in admiration. Then she passes along her name to the barbary lion in greeting. “My name is Crocy, by the way. What's yours?”

“Alfieri. And you seem like a beautiful crocodile, yourself. It's a pleasure to meet you.” Alfieri giggled slightly. Then he offers her a request, “Hey Crocy, would you like to help me wash my car?”

Crocy's eyes sparkle and her response is immediate, “Sure! I would love to!”

Together, Crocy and Alfieri take turns in washing and cleaning the classic Maserati, enriching its overall shine and appearance. The process took no less than 15 minutes to complete. The finishing shine is a sight to behold. Afterwards, Alfieri shuffles to the car to climb inside and inspect the interior. At the same time, he issues another offer to Crocy, “Would you like to take a ride with me in this thing?”

“Of course! I would love to take a ride with you!” Crocy responded eagerly, her eyes sparkling in excitement. After climbing into the passenger seat next to Alfieri, Crocy settles inside, shutting the door behind her.

While Alfieri cranks the 2.0L straight-six engine to life, he mentions, “I have seatbelts inside the car that were purchased and installed when my brother got it for me. Most cars leading up to the 1950s did have seatbelts.”

The shirtless lion shuffles around and moves back to reveal his seatbelt strapped on. Crocy, meanwhile, is left peering at the barbary lion driver with an apprehensive glint; she straps on her seat belt only seconds later, turning her gaze away. She mentions, “I was about to leave you behind in there when I didn't see a seatbelt on you. What were automakers thinking during that timeline??”

While Alfieri puts his classic car in gear to reverse out of his driveway and switch gears to pull off, the barbary lion reports, “Road racing in Europe was pretty big back at that time and with no seatbelts, there were some of the worst accidents in racing history. America was more strict on the road racing restriction except for actual motorsports racing on actual courses.”

“So Americans cared more about safety than the Europeans?” Crocy assumed with a knowing smirk. The barbary lion nods and hums, “To an extent, yes. Considering that the sports car market is dominated by Europe, American cars back then were probably heavier; that was before the introduction of the very first American sports car turned muscle car - the Chevrolet Corvette.”

“But isn't the Corvette more of a sports car than a muscle car?” Crocy implied, giving Alfieri a questionable stare during the test run.

Maintaining his concentration on the road during the test drive, the barbary lion reports, “Technically, the C2 and C3 are more muscle. Big engines, big bodystyle, fast acceleration time - put it next to a modern day car and you may see the difference in acceleration.”

Crocy is quiet while soaking in the information. The female crocodile nods silently, listening to every detail from Alfieri's rambling. The test drive ends with Alfieri maneuvering his classic car back into his driveway, slowing the classic Maserati to a complete stop. By this time, the sun is beginning to set with the glare having intensified.

Taking note of how late in the day it is, Alfieri turns to briefly gaze at the setting sun and the beginnings of a sunset while admiring the dusky sky. With a satisfied breath, he turns to make his way to his garage, stopping before the doorway. He invites Crocy to stay with him for the day, “Hey Crocy, do you want to crash here at my place or would you prefer me to drop you off?”

“I think I will stay with you for the time being and then you can drop me off at my place tomorrow.” Crocy shuffles to meet Alfieri at the doorway, and after heading into the garage, they transfer inside the main house to spend the rest of the day inside.

~~~~~

In this YCH, Crocy belongs to Carneroo from ToyHouse!

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