"So if you walk into your house and she's cutting up your mother, she's only trying to tell you that she loves you like no other".
Can you name that tune? It's probably an unfair question to ask because the song dates back to the birth of the E36 M3 and the band are not exactly mainstream. But the lyric punctured my eardrum earlier this week when it came on the radio and rudely interrupted what I was actually listening to; the exhaust note of our R32. I was out in the lanes around the Classic Heroes HQ on a "test drive" and I ended up unfairly hanging on to the coat tails of a piece of machinery rather more exotic than our little Golf. It's a great car to surprise people sometimes!
Anyway, back to that lyric. It got me thinking of two things. Firstly how satisfying it must be to be able to write or pen something that is instantly funny, beautiful or meaningful. You know. The feeling that Lennon and McCartney must have had after finishing Sergent Pepper. What John Sullivan must have felt when he wrote the scene in Only Fools and Horses where the chandelier unexpectedly fell to the floor or when Del Boy fell through the bar when trying to look cool. And the moment when Bertone penned the first outline of the BMW E9. All four moments must have resulted in the authors pen being quietly put down and an immense feeling of satisfaction. Unfortunately the creative gods never blessed me with such greatness so I will never know what it actually feels like to be able to create such great works; only the pleasure in being able to enjoy them like so many others.
I digress. The point I was getting to about that lyric was it gave me a flash back to a conversation I had earlier in the week. I took a call from a customer who owns probably the one car that if given the choice, I would give my right arm for. I won't disclose what it is here but for those of you who know me well, you will know of my love for the BMW E9. Need I say more. This particular car is now one of the best in breed with a very special history. It and has been loved and adored by its owner for quite a few years; but it hasn't been driven.
He called me up to book the car into the workshop and I offered to arrange transport for him. The offer was politely refused because he understandably wanted to enjoy the drive down to us. I knew it was pretty likely there would be problem with the car because of its age and inactivity so I again offered (urged him) to arrange transport but again it was politely declined. Sure as night followed day, I did get a call from a stranded E9 owner saying that he would not be able to make it down with the car and that the AA were on the way. Could I arrange transport to get the car down to us next week?
Now I say all this not from the position of supreme knowledge or from the "I told you so" platform. It's more to the point that all of the things we love are getting older. It's incredible to think that an E30 M3 is now middle aged and a Porsche 996 is rapidly approaching its 18th birthday. We forget they are now "old cars" and we get lulled into a false sense of security with the regular modern day run arounds like the E92 that works every day and pretty much never let us down. But hang on, our old classics would also work every day IF we used them regularly and looked after them as we should. Unfortunately rising values leads to paranoia which in turn leads to cars that were made to be driven being left in the garage. Which, by and large is no good for us or them.
We deal with these issues, day in day out so if you do want any help about the best way to look after your pride and joy before you dust it down or tuck it up for the winter then please just call. We are only too happy to help and make a plan that suits you and the car. We really love talking to fellow enthusiasts about their cars so it is a pleasure for us to take the call and help out with some advice if we can.
So what was the link to the lyric at the start. Well, in the example of the broken down E9 who was holding the knife? Was it the owner holding the knife over a broken down E9 in frustration? Or, was the E9 holding the knife to the owners throat in revenge for being asked to make a journey fresh out of long term hibernation? Worth thinking about isn't it? Sometimes love manifests itself in mysterious ways.
