Father, son and a V8
Discussion
Today is the 5th anniversary of my fathers death due to a heart attack. A week or so prior I sold what would turn out to be the last car he ever bought for me.
Now if this had been a Fiat Punto or Ford Fiesta (I was 23 at the time), I probably wouldn't be writing this. The car was the culmination of a mutual interest, we always said that we would own some form of American car at some point and this car was what I hope to be one of many.
In the short period of ownership I used it as my car of choice for the Student Gumball Rally, where it performed amazingly....until the second day. The resultant chaos of being stranded in a foreign country with limited funds, a broken car and a mobile phone that was soon to be cut off would become the stuff of legend among my friends.
Burnt out from the cost of the rally (7 days and over £2k) I made the then sensible decision to sell the car to pay off my debts, I talked it over with my Dad who I think must have been a little hurt but the child that I was, I ignored and focused on trying to make a profit. Then the 8th of October came and life took a different path and to an extent we are still dealing with the financial fallout today. Throughout this difficult period of my life, I have felt an overriding sense of guilt for throwing away my fathers last gift so brazenly.
Like you, I always trawl both the classifieds on here and eBay for my next motor of choice, I have also certain saved searches setup to monitor for the make and model of the car. Over the past five years whenever that search returned an item, I would avidly review it in the vain hope that it would be the one, but not once had it shown up.
Until last week.
When I clicked expecting the usual suspects, only to find the one I had been looking for I was simply speechless. No shouting from the rooftops, calling my friends or tears of joy, just a simple 'oh'.
If you excuse reference of a film character, Optimus Prime said 'fate rarely calls us at a time of our choosing' and never a truer word has been spoken. I was not what you could say 'flush' with cash and the prospect of a car purchase with my current diminutive finances was, sketchy at best.
For a week I watched the bids slowly creep up, I talked it over with my partner and waited. I was coming to the realisation that I would, most likely have to watch the one car I wanted slip away. It would be made all the more visceral by the fact it was an online auction and that the clock was quite literally, ticking.
We reach today, the anniversary of my fathers death and the end of the auction; finances have been juggled and I've come to an amount that I can just about afford which at a stretch is £2300, the auction had already hit £2000.
As a seasoned eBayer, I knew that as the auction was in the middle of dinner time on a Saturday the odds of heavy sniping were slim.
Three Minutes to go, still no other bids, I waited.
Two minutes left and I make my bid and pray that it's enough. One minute thirty left and there was a time for a bidding war, this is it.
Silently I wait for my high bidder status to be removed as the auction ticks down to its inevitable conclusion.
I want this moment to last, even if I lose the auction for this brief moment, the car was mine again.
Fifty seconds to go, still no other bidders.
Thirty, Twenty, Ten, You've won this item.
I miss you Dad, every day.
A shot of me with the car way back in 2006.
Now if this had been a Fiat Punto or Ford Fiesta (I was 23 at the time), I probably wouldn't be writing this. The car was the culmination of a mutual interest, we always said that we would own some form of American car at some point and this car was what I hope to be one of many.
In the short period of ownership I used it as my car of choice for the Student Gumball Rally, where it performed amazingly....until the second day. The resultant chaos of being stranded in a foreign country with limited funds, a broken car and a mobile phone that was soon to be cut off would become the stuff of legend among my friends.
Burnt out from the cost of the rally (7 days and over £2k) I made the then sensible decision to sell the car to pay off my debts, I talked it over with my Dad who I think must have been a little hurt but the child that I was, I ignored and focused on trying to make a profit. Then the 8th of October came and life took a different path and to an extent we are still dealing with the financial fallout today. Throughout this difficult period of my life, I have felt an overriding sense of guilt for throwing away my fathers last gift so brazenly.
Like you, I always trawl both the classifieds on here and eBay for my next motor of choice, I have also certain saved searches setup to monitor for the make and model of the car. Over the past five years whenever that search returned an item, I would avidly review it in the vain hope that it would be the one, but not once had it shown up.
Until last week.
When I clicked expecting the usual suspects, only to find the one I had been looking for I was simply speechless. No shouting from the rooftops, calling my friends or tears of joy, just a simple 'oh'.
If you excuse reference of a film character, Optimus Prime said 'fate rarely calls us at a time of our choosing' and never a truer word has been spoken. I was not what you could say 'flush' with cash and the prospect of a car purchase with my current diminutive finances was, sketchy at best.
For a week I watched the bids slowly creep up, I talked it over with my partner and waited. I was coming to the realisation that I would, most likely have to watch the one car I wanted slip away. It would be made all the more visceral by the fact it was an online auction and that the clock was quite literally, ticking.
We reach today, the anniversary of my fathers death and the end of the auction; finances have been juggled and I've come to an amount that I can just about afford which at a stretch is £2300, the auction had already hit £2000.
As a seasoned eBayer, I knew that as the auction was in the middle of dinner time on a Saturday the odds of heavy sniping were slim.
Three Minutes to go, still no other bids, I waited.
Two minutes left and I make my bid and pray that it's enough. One minute thirty left and there was a time for a bidding war, this is it.
Silently I wait for my high bidder status to be removed as the auction ticks down to its inevitable conclusion.
I want this moment to last, even if I lose the auction for this brief moment, the car was mine again.
Fifty seconds to go, still no other bidders.
Thirty, Twenty, Ten, You've won this item.
I miss you Dad, every day.
A shot of me with the car way back in 2006.
Edited by LincolnLovin on Thursday 17th April 16:22
.Edited by LincolnLovin on Saturday 26th March 07:00
Lovely story.
My Dad passed away when I was 13 so I never got to enjoy the 'car' stuff with him and it hurts when my friends dads help them with their cars.
It's now that I enjoy cars that I wish he was here and so I could understand more, If that makes sense?
But nice story and I'm glad you found it!
My Dad passed away when I was 13 so I never got to enjoy the 'car' stuff with him and it hurts when my friends dads help them with their cars.
It's now that I enjoy cars that I wish he was here and so I could understand more, If that makes sense?
But nice story and I'm glad you found it!
Cool story, bro.
Congrats on finding the car again, now, make plans on how you're going to keep it to pass on to your kids if and when you have them.
If you don't mind me prying, roughly how many acres of velour does that beast contain?
However, I hope your taste in jeans has improvedEasy mate, have you seen his goatee? You don't want to piss him off.
Congrats on finding the car again, now, make plans on how you're going to keep it to pass on to your kids if and when you have them.
If you don't mind me prying, roughly how many acres of velour does that beast contain?
ClintonB said:
However, I hope your taste in jeans has improved
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