Farewell little one, you will be missed...
Discussion
Our time together was fantastic, it really was.
You never let me down, not once. Although I didn't pay much attention to you cosmetically, I like to think I ensured you were fit and healthy and mechanically at the top of your game. And in return you proved that you were both willing and able. Mind you, when you were polished up with your fancy wheels and Gaz Gold stance I always gave you a second glance before closing the garage door, knowing you’d still be there for our next little rendezvous.
Your lack of complication just made you seem all the more genuine. Let the rest of the fleet get weighed down with their heavy and troublesome fancy-pants electronics, air-con, ABS, electric windows and power steering. That’s not what you and I were all about. We had our own thing going on, even if some of those around us didn’t really understand.
You introduced me to light-weight RWD handling and I will always remember you for that. You taught me, guided me, encouraged me, gave me all the right messages needed to experiment and get a feel for this new style. Your balance, your adjustability, predictability and poise made it a pleasure to mess around and hang out with you. I enjoyed my first track days with you and together we both went around the Nurburgring as virgins, feeling our way slowly at first and growing in confidence with each lap.
When I introduced you to others, they often left you with far more respect than when they first heard about you. Even those scoundrels who initially mocked your faux-wood interior soon just saw it, as I did, as part of your individual charm, your character. Even the most harden of sceptics would rub their chins thoughtfully and say “yes, I can see where you are coming from”. You even gave me the confidence to look the MOT man right in the eye whilst giving him the keys before casually strolling off to read the paper. And not many of your predecessors can say that I can tell you, some of them had me hopping round the waiting room like an expectant new dad...
I obviously forgive you for the odd scraped knuckle whilst working on you as I know you forgive me the time we over-cooked in 2nd gear on that damp roundabout during a 1am hoon and ended up facing the wrong way. Twice. We enjoyed some great drives together, be it hood-down high speed blatting across Europe at ‘making time’ speeds, or slipping and sliding around whilst tackling the low speed local twisties in the rain. Since you were my fun car, I simply have nothing but good memories to associate you with.
You know that you would have been a keeper had I the space, you really would have been. But I admit my affections have been captured by another and it is now time to part. Farewell and take care of yourself. Your new chap is obviously delighted with you and rightly so, which gives me the confidence to know that you'll have many happy years ahead of you. Who knows, if circumstance and fate ever threw us together again, I’d greet you in the time-honoured way; a gentle warm-up followed by a good spanking!
I jest with the poetic blurb, but I was genuinely a bit choked when the money transfer went through and the new owner took the keys. I sold it locally and as (bad?) luck would have it; my wife saw it with the new owner that afternoon and started frantically waving from habit! Even she admitted to be being a bit sad that the 'green one' was no longer a resident and she is not really interested in my car hobby.
Anyway, farewell N359 RUT. Be good and keep hooning!
You never let me down, not once. Although I didn't pay much attention to you cosmetically, I like to think I ensured you were fit and healthy and mechanically at the top of your game. And in return you proved that you were both willing and able. Mind you, when you were polished up with your fancy wheels and Gaz Gold stance I always gave you a second glance before closing the garage door, knowing you’d still be there for our next little rendezvous.
Your lack of complication just made you seem all the more genuine. Let the rest of the fleet get weighed down with their heavy and troublesome fancy-pants electronics, air-con, ABS, electric windows and power steering. That’s not what you and I were all about. We had our own thing going on, even if some of those around us didn’t really understand.
You introduced me to light-weight RWD handling and I will always remember you for that. You taught me, guided me, encouraged me, gave me all the right messages needed to experiment and get a feel for this new style. Your balance, your adjustability, predictability and poise made it a pleasure to mess around and hang out with you. I enjoyed my first track days with you and together we both went around the Nurburgring as virgins, feeling our way slowly at first and growing in confidence with each lap.
When I introduced you to others, they often left you with far more respect than when they first heard about you. Even those scoundrels who initially mocked your faux-wood interior soon just saw it, as I did, as part of your individual charm, your character. Even the most harden of sceptics would rub their chins thoughtfully and say “yes, I can see where you are coming from”. You even gave me the confidence to look the MOT man right in the eye whilst giving him the keys before casually strolling off to read the paper. And not many of your predecessors can say that I can tell you, some of them had me hopping round the waiting room like an expectant new dad...
I obviously forgive you for the odd scraped knuckle whilst working on you as I know you forgive me the time we over-cooked in 2nd gear on that damp roundabout during a 1am hoon and ended up facing the wrong way. Twice. We enjoyed some great drives together, be it hood-down high speed blatting across Europe at ‘making time’ speeds, or slipping and sliding around whilst tackling the low speed local twisties in the rain. Since you were my fun car, I simply have nothing but good memories to associate you with.
You know that you would have been a keeper had I the space, you really would have been. But I admit my affections have been captured by another and it is now time to part. Farewell and take care of yourself. Your new chap is obviously delighted with you and rightly so, which gives me the confidence to know that you'll have many happy years ahead of you. Who knows, if circumstance and fate ever threw us together again, I’d greet you in the time-honoured way; a gentle warm-up followed by a good spanking!
I jest with the poetic blurb, but I was genuinely a bit choked when the money transfer went through and the new owner took the keys. I sold it locally and as (bad?) luck would have it; my wife saw it with the new owner that afternoon and started frantically waving from habit! Even she admitted to be being a bit sad that the 'green one' was no longer a resident and she is not really interested in my car hobby.
Anyway, farewell N359 RUT. Be good and keep hooning!
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