Quattro To The Rescue!

[Alex Kowalski]

I had a bit of fun last night using my 5KCSTQ as an impromptu tow vehicle, thought I'd share it with the list.  

Here in Chicago we got about a foot of snow (in total, over several days) which has partially melted and refrozen a couple of times.  The result has been that on many of the side streets where there are no snowplow ordinances in effect, the shoulders are shellacked with a thick sheet of ice and refrozen snow that has been turned into deep ruts.  Some of the parking spots are easy to get into, but almost impossible to get back out of. 

Last night I was on my way to the store, and a guy was trying like mad to get his 2-wheel drive pickup truck out of one of these traps.  He had evidently parked in the slushy mix, which had then frozen solid.  The truck was just stuck fast in the ruts created by his tires.   They were no more than 6" high, but that was enough -- with no weight in the bed, no chains or snow tires, no sand or salt and nothing sharp to break the ice with, he was going nowhere fast and beating up his transmission pretty well in the process.

His girlfriend was with him, and both were a little dressed up, which may partially explain why, when I first offered to help he said: "Naaah, I'll have this thing out in a sec., thanks!"  After a few more minutes of revving the bejeezus out of the thing and attempting to rock it back and forth, he finally threw in the towel.   I waited discreetly in my garage for this to happen.  ;)  

Luckily, he was parked at the intersection of an alley, which enabled me to pull the Quattro in behind him, turned the other way.  We tied some stout nylon rope to the tow eyelet under the back bumper of the Q and through some anchors on the bumper of his truck.  Then he put the truck in reverse, I locked the diffs and put the Q in 1st (I was on the slush too), and in ten seconds the Q yanked him right out of the spot, up and over the ice, and into the clear and free.

We untied the rope, shook hands, big smiles all around, and nobody was even winded.  Just as we finished a tow truck mysteriously appeared and cruised past our little party (they have a way of hovering around icebound neighborhoods looking for people to 'help' to the tune of $25 bucks at times like this.)   His license plate was from Washington State.  Priceless.

Very nice couple, though, and if by chance he ever reads this, it was fun to be able to lend him and his girlfriend a hand with my 17-year-old Quattro.

Cheers,
Alex Kowalski
'87 5KCSTQ - Saint Bernard Edition