GHT
I'll Lock Up
- Messages
- 9,775
- Location
- New Forest
There's an elderly gent who uses his car, if not as a daily drive, then for most of his local journeys. You can often see him in the local supermarket, while his car sits in the car park being photographed. The car is a Morris, in it's day it might not have beaten Henry for price, but it came very close. The car originally belonged to the fellow's father so it's been in the family from new. (1936)Most cars are consigned to the scrapyard long before they would have had their owners taken better care of them. The original owner typically maintains it well, but with each subsequent owner, who paid progressively less (safe to assume in the large majority of cases), the car becomes a little less precious and repairs and maintenance are too long deferred. So the car craps out at 150K instead of 250K, or more.
Whatever the car, but especially the truly old ones, drive it and care for it like you’re the one who will pay for whatever goes wrong with it. Come to kindly terms.
I got to know most of this when I came out of the store one day and found the old gent going misty eyed over my MG. He was impressed that I use the car rather than treat it as a museum piece. All he does is garage his car and maintains the easier tasks, leaving the rest to an expert. He had it resprayed a couple of years back. But other than that it's proof of what you say. Look after it and it will look after you.
I have, or had, just the model to suit you. (note the right hand drive.)Now I have the garage space for an old car, but it's full of boxed up books, vintage clothes and coats with no closets in which to live, a cat pee destroyed mattress, and the crate from a 1920s Edison Diamond Disc no one wants and I can't bear to send to the landfill.
Having one to drive often is a lifelong dream.
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