RIP My Brother (A True Petrolhead)
Discussion
It was my brothers funeral yesterday; he was only 41. Cars were a big part of his life. From getting his first car at 17 ( a bright orange Mini) he loved cars and driving.
I was a late starter in learning to drive and wasn't very confident. Soon after passing my test I was giving him a lift and made a very stupid error at a roundabout. "Don't worry " he said "thats why cars have brakes". The lift turned into a two hour training session on observation and cue's to other drivers intentions.
He didnt manage to turn me into a petrolhead until a year or so later. By this time he had set up a sucessful prestige and perfomance car dealership with a partner. It was the blast he gave me in an bright yellow Alpine A610 that did it (Alpine's were their speciality). After that I was hooked. He always gave his little brother a good deal!
More recently he was giving me a lift to pick up my Scimitar from a specialist. This included going along the Cat and Fiddle. I mentioned seeing videos on youtube of cars and bikes doing this in under 10 minutes. "I can do that" he says and proceeds to put his foot down. We didnt quite make the under 10 minute mark but it was very close. He was driving a diesel LWB Landrover Defender. He knew the road really well and it was obvious he knew the last possible moment he could apply the brakes for each bend. It was a wonderful piece of driving.
So bye bye bro; Thanks for showing me the light; sharing your passion and converting me from a state of indiffrence to the love I have for all things automotive today and is now such a big part of my life.
I was a late starter in learning to drive and wasn't very confident. Soon after passing my test I was giving him a lift and made a very stupid error at a roundabout. "Don't worry " he said "thats why cars have brakes". The lift turned into a two hour training session on observation and cue's to other drivers intentions.
He didnt manage to turn me into a petrolhead until a year or so later. By this time he had set up a sucessful prestige and perfomance car dealership with a partner. It was the blast he gave me in an bright yellow Alpine A610 that did it (Alpine's were their speciality). After that I was hooked. He always gave his little brother a good deal!
More recently he was giving me a lift to pick up my Scimitar from a specialist. This included going along the Cat and Fiddle. I mentioned seeing videos on youtube of cars and bikes doing this in under 10 minutes. "I can do that" he says and proceeds to put his foot down. We didnt quite make the under 10 minute mark but it was very close. He was driving a diesel LWB Landrover Defender. He knew the road really well and it was obvious he knew the last possible moment he could apply the brakes for each bend. It was a wonderful piece of driving.
So bye bye bro; Thanks for showing me the light; sharing your passion and converting me from a state of indiffrence to the love I have for all things automotive today and is now such a big part of my life.
Sorry to hear of your loss 
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