A Catholic Priest was once sent out as a missionary to a small mission station situated far into the bush in South Africa. The year was 1976 and in order to save money, he embarked on a small tramp steamer and worked his passage as an assistant in the ship's galley, as well as performing Mass for the crew. The journey to South Africa took them several months, as the ship travelled from port to port down the coast. During this period he became friends with all the crew, in particular the chief engineer, who shared his love of chess.

Upon their arrival in Cape Town, the crew held a farewell party and wished him a safe journey as he prepared to leave the ship. The only problem he could forsee was that he needed a cheap reliable means of transport to reach his mission many miles inland. His friend the chief engineer came to his rescue and found him an old Ford V8, which he said was a bit rusty but mechanically quite sound. They wished each other farewell and the next day the ship sailed away on the next leg of her long journey.

A year or so later the ship returned to Cape Town and the priest drove over to see his old friend. Climbing into the car they set off along the dockside and headed for the gates. "How's the car going then?" asked the engineer. "It's really good" said the priest. "But why do you keep pulling out that little knob on the dashboard?" asked the engineer. "I always do this, because you told me to pull out the choke until the car starts, then push it back again and it never fails to start first time" "Really" said the engineer, "It's true that I did tell you to pull the choke out and push it back in again, but that little knob you keep pulling out and pushing back in is actually the cigar lighter."