GC020 - Mini-EL What happened next???

[gilescooperuk]

OK all I need for a point is to identify the car (not the skoda) and to tell me what happened next or why the picture happened atall....

(I have a load of new puzzles to post but am off on hols is 4 days so this will keep you wondering).

p.s. I will do as Stephen Fry on QI does so the most imaginative answer might get a point!

[Paul Jaray]

The car is a Combidrive Mouse.
Probably it run out of gas...ops...of energy and decide to take a ride on the Skoda...

[gilescooperuk]

no....

[Paul Jaray]

Not a Combidrive? City-El, then.

[gilescooperuk]

Closer - unless of course what is written on the back of the car isn't true....

[Paul Jaray]

Well, there was the Citycom Mini-el and City-el...(Combidrive Mouse was just the same car with a diesel or petrol engine fitted...)
Is it a custom-made version of this car?

[gilescooperuk]

I've double checked my source picture and all it says on the back is Mini-el.

So I'll give you the point for the car - it is an electric version.

Now for the more interesting bit - what is going on?

[Paul Jaray]

I like the dedution work!
(I hope multiple guesses are OK, but only one is serious...)

It's not an accident, the Skoda has no damages....
It's not going to ride in that way, because the Skoda bumpers are going to crack...
That's why, in my opinion, the Mini-El was put in that position for a reason.
The backseats of the Skoda are down, and that tells me that it is not a permanent or long term condition.
Why that position? Nobody is inside, and will be able to get in, so it's not about that.
The Skoda is not a F1 car, in need of extra weight to balance the rear...
I don't think there is something inside the Skoda that have to be close to the Mini-El (like a plug, a navigator, batteries, etc...)
I can only think of:

• a "clever" way to lift the car to fix it (the toolbox near the wheel hints that way), for a long period without the right tool...
• an event where you pay for the axes (wheels) you have on the ground and 4 wheels plus 3 wheels pay much more than 6...
• an event where you pay for the parking stall you occupy and the owner of both cars is short of money...
• a way to pass the vehicle like an hybrid car...
• the owner of both vehicles wants a 3rd car and hopes to have it after 9 months...

My serious idea is #3 (or 2 as well)

[gilescooperuk]

I like the dedution work!
(I hope multiple guesses are OK, but only one is serious...)

It's not an accident, the Skoda has no damages....

True but not what I am looking for...

It's not going to ride in that way, because the Skoda bumpers are going to crack...
That's why, in my opinion, the Mini-El was put in that position for a reason.
The backseats of the Skoda are down, and that tells me that it is not a permanent or long term condition.
Why that position? Nobody is inside, and will be able to get in, so it's not about that.
The Skoda is not a F1 car, in need of extra weight to balance the rear...
I don't think there is something inside the Skoda that have to be close to the Mini-El (like a plug, a navigator, batteries, etc...)

hmmm.....

I can only think of:

• a "clever" way to lift the car to fix it (the toolbox near the wheel hints that way), for a long period without the right tool...
• an event where you pay for the axes (wheels) you have on the ground and 4 wheels plus 3 wheels pay much more than 6...
• an event where you pay for the parking stall you occupy and the owner of both cars is short of money...
• a way to pass the vehicle like an hybrid car...
• the owner of both vehicles wants a 3rd car and hopes to have it after 9 months...

My serious idea is #3 (or 2 as well)

No to the above.....

I have another picture which gives the game away but I will let you ponder on that for a bit longer....

[Paul Jaray]

I don't think there is something inside the Skoda that have to be close to the Mini-El (like a plug, a navigator, batteries, etc...)

Is this the "hmmm" part?

[gilescooperuk]

The hmmm part referred to the section - but without giving away the answer directly...

[Paul Jaray]

The giveaway picture shows the other side of the cars or a different moment of the ...act?

[gilescooperuk]

The giveaway picture is a slightly different view of the vehicles but taken only a minute of so later.

[Allemano]

Does this tandem ride that way? Maybe in a kind of towing?

[guido66]

There are extra lights at the back of the rear vehicle. So the plan must have been to start towing this way. Did they tie a cord between the front bumper of the Mini-El and the handbrake or the gear lever of the Skoda? My guess is that only a small part of the Mini-El stays in the boot.

[grobmotorix]

A friend of mine owns one, too.

I think he´s tried something similar with his Mini-El and his Citroen Berlingo.

Maybe it´s a test to show if the power of the Mini-El is sufficient to push the front car (a Skoda in this case) up to a defined speed level?

[gilescooperuk]

not a speed test - the mini-el was powered down.

guido66 is very close - in fact so close as for me to reveal the solution and give him a point!

The mini-el was mounted in the back of the skoda, attached by ropes and then towed home in that configuration.

Yes it was towed apparently over 100 miles with the tailgate open and a pair of thin bike tyres on the road.

I thought a few years ago someone invented this thing called a trailer that was designed to lug loads around.....

[Allemano]

I wasn't that wrong as well...

[guido66]

I wasn't that wrong as well...

All I added was a comment on the extra lights for towing...

[woodinsight]

This three-wheeler was photographed last winter in a garden in Rupperswil, Switzerland.
I don't have a clue what it is (I couldn't get close to it). Perhaps someone knows?

[Wendax]

http://www.autopuzzles.com/forum/index.php?topic=13110.0

[Allemano]

That's a very standard three-wheeler. I've seen it a couple of times in German traffic, but temporarily can't find its name. I think it was sold under licence by different companies.

Wendax already replied.

[DeAutogids]

http://www.autopuzzles.com/forum/index.php?topic=13110.0

It is, I believe, from the German production, making it the CityEl

[Wendax]

I think you really can't tell from this picture. Being rather old and neglected, I would go for the Danish Mini-el, especially because most of them were red (as I remember), but that remains speculation.

[DeAutogids]

Agreed