Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Well, I think that’s quite enough adventure for the time being. It’s high time we all went home to peace and quiet.”

And out of the exhaust pipes there came just these four noises—very loudly—

CHITTY-
CHITTY-
BANG-
BANG

And there was a distinct pause between each noise, and it was like two big sneezes and two small explosions. And then there was silence.

We’d have a real jewel of a car, something to love and cherish and look after as if it were one of the family!”

Now Commander Caractacus Pott was an explorer and an inventor and that may have been the reason why the Pott family was not very rich. Exploring places and inventing things can be very exciting indeed, but it is only very seldom that, in your explorations, you discover a really rare butterfly or animal or insect or mineral or plant that people will pay money to see, and practically never that you discover real treasure, like in books—gold bars and diamonds and jewels in an old oak chest.

Commander Pott said firmly, “That’s no way to treat adventures. Never say ‘no’ to adventures. Always say ‘yes,’ otherwise you’ll lead a very dull life.

“She’s a twelve-cylinder, eight-liter, supercharged Paragon Panther. They only made one of them and then the firm went broke. This is the only one in the world. Doesn’t look like much, does she? I’m afraid she’s due for the scrap heap.