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"You know", asked my new friend, the soldier from the Royal Hospital Chelsea, "you know how we call people like you?" "No?"
"Petrol-head, that's what we'd call you. Very unusual in a woman."
In my life I had so many cars that I can fill long winter-evenings with their stories. The silver Lancia Beta 2000 I loved most - more than the Audi 100, or the big Volvo limousine or the Volvo Kombi, which superseded the second red Lancia (in the meantime I had become a mother and behaved properly - no more races with daft Alfa Romeo drivers who always underestimated the potential of my Lancia, ha!)
But my dream car - as I told you - has always been a Jaguar. Not Inspector Morse's Jaguar Mark I (almost impossible to get), not the Jag E-Type (oh! oh! - saw a sky blue dream dream yesterday), but the Daimler Double Six.
And I found it: Black. With cream-white leather seats. Top condition. Fair price - affordable luxury. ("And", said my son, "you don't drive much, so the 21 liter fuel it needs in the city won't harm you.")
Oh, I already saw me wearing the little lapel pin my friend Anne had given me for my birthday.
And then it happened.
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"(...) he didn't look where he was going ... and suddenly he put his foot in a rabbit hole, and fell down flat on his face.
BANG!!!???***!!!
Piglet lay there, wondering what had happened. At first he thought that the whole world had blown up; and then he thought that perhaps only the Forest part of it had; and then he thought that perhaps only he had (...) "(...) And where's my balloon? And what's that small piece of damp rag doing?"
It was the balloon!
I did something I should have done a long time ago.
I opened the door of the dream car (what a sound!), I climbed into it (heaven!) I looked into the rear-view mirror (yes! it looks divine on me). I looked again, with driver's eyes. And saw: NOTHING.
Rectification: I saw the contour of the back window.
Only the contour.
Now you know: this Jag is 5,148m long. A driver who isn't able to park that car properly in a narrow city is for me the epitome of ridiculousness.
I know when I am defeated.
But thought that it was salt in the wounds of my bleeding heart when son texted me an SMS: "Buy a Mini!" Sarcasm in the very young - so unbecoming! :-) That was error no. 2: he (previous owner of two Pontiac Firebirds) meant it.
"It is a nice, easy city-car", he told me.
I am able to learn from my errors (hopefully) - so in Berlin you could see me yesterday driving a rented black Mini Cooper. I'll test it until I find one to buy.
PS: Sighing secretly: the company doesn't let Jags...
The alternative is to keep the Jag for long drives and buy an electric car for Berlin ?
ReplyDeleteThat sounds good! Since two years in Berlin's city I always use underground (seldom buses). There is no logical reason why I should have a car here - but last year with Hans' accident I thought: attention, don't forget how to drive. For long distances we have the BMW, but it is still in Hildesheim, because the little 'city' has bad bus schedules for H. to reach university. Your idea can mean that next year we might replace the BMW by a - dream car :-)
ReplyDeleteI appreciate that the son's comment was not immediately welcome (and I so get the lure of the jag) but a mini cooper is another kind of lovely thing, perhaps?
ReplyDeleteYes, it definitely is - (in Germany the Mini has two images: that of "the dentist's wife's second car" and "hip, cool, young" - of course I choose the second) - and the driving (and parking) is fun.
ReplyDeleteBritta, this post had me smiling all the way through -- especially imagining all of the pictures you paint. Lovely timing for such an upbeat post.
ReplyDeleteI remember in high school, the son of *the* Jaguar dealer in our city was in my Spanish class. I thought he was unspeakably cool. His last name was Casner and he went by Cas. Since then, I too have had a positive association with Jags! :)
Dear Suze,
ReplyDeleteas always your comment makes my day! I "see" him, the boy named Cas - quite cool (the nimbus of his father's Jags rubbing up on him like the powder on a butterfly's wing :-) In High School one of my boyfriends (actually his father) had a Isabella Borgward Coupé - white, with red leather seats, and very stylish (almost an oldtimer even then). What a fun!
'the nimbus of his father's Jags rubbing up on him like the powder on a butterfly's wing'
DeleteWOW! Poetry.
Love to read the post .. nice experience..!!
ReplyDeletecustom pins
That was such an incredible experience! Anyway, I think your son has a point with regard to the Mini. Though Jaguar — particularly that Daimler model — is an awesome car, it won’t be convenient for you to drive it everyday, because it’s really big, as you've stated yourself. Still, what I would give to drive around and cause a few heads to turn as I pass by in one of those. Haha!
ReplyDeleteDiana Hayes @ Baldwin Subaru
These are all Vintage cars but some of these cars are not avail in our area because people don,t care about these but every person who interested in cars love these cars firstly because these are very finest cars.Nice work done on the blog,its very beautiful.However if you want to check the Vin of your car so have a look on vin id.
ReplyDelete