Classic car mechanic – Hair care

‘In the corner of the workshop, Olli Ragbin sits watching events unfold before him’

‘Do you dream in colour? What colour do you dream?’

I remember this slogan and song vividly from a Harmony hair colouring advert which, on googling, was on the telly in 1984.

Why on earth does this stick in my mind? Who knows. It’s a jumbled space up there, that’s for sure.

I once decided to write down all the ridiculous scientific features of shampoo that the advertisers would roll out with monotonous regularity. I didn’t of course because I couldn’t be bothered and it’s a stupid thing to do, but for the last 25 years or so, whenever the latest ‘with extra pro-V limpocents’ type pseudo-scientific mumbo-jumbo gets trollied out on the goggle box, I kinda wish I had.

A quick google search revealed none of the stuff I remember. But it did go one better and give me all the one-liners different manufacturers have used over time and interestingly there are many parallels between the shampoo industry and the classic car industry. (I know what you’re thinking here Eric, but go with me here).

‘Glorify your style’…. Well that one fits. Nothing quite like a classic to do that is there!

‘Nourishing with flourishing’…. This is what the techs do to loved classics in our care.

‘Redefining the charm, from inside out’…. I’ll be damned if there isn’t a parallel here to our world of customer service.

‘As smooth as a feather’. Yes, feathers are indeed smooth. And so to this week’s new guest at the CCM workshop

A dove! Well, 2 of ‘em actually. They decided to come in and have a peek around to see what’s on the fixing slate this week.

(Dove?….shampoo….?....CCM…? see the link?)

I kinda ran out of parallels at this point, and certain marketing slogans bear no resemblance to our world of classics… but, they do describe members of our team!

Fill in the blanks as to who this could be referring to;

‘Invigorate your style’…. (We’ve all seen Eric’s recent antics in the dress department.()

‘Let your beauty breath’…. (Young Chris is beautiful… and he breathes… could literally have been written for him.)

‘Add some rays to your hair’…. (Not quite sure adding Dr Ray to anyone’s hair is going to help matters….but who knows…. Maybe I’m not thinking it through properly.)

‘So bright, so charmy’… (Neve even knew that was a word, but Shrimp Eye Justin is definitely 'charmy' if it is… always smiling.)

‘A perfect portion for the lovely shine’… (This is a family blog and I won’t be drawn to comment. )

I am pretty sure I dream in colour and colour is what we’ve had in spades this week.

A few blogs ago we had that beautiful pastel blue camper and now the blue is back!

Why am I so taken by this particular hue? Any sports car with this coat is, I am absolutely convinced, worth more than your bog-standard, white, black, silver, grey alternatives. Be it the amazing Laguna Seca Blue E46 M3, the Silver Lake blue of VW or Porsche Miami/Shark blue.

Flat pastel blue. Perfect.

But, a contender exists. Green.

A bright vivid American muscle car, dodge-shaped and painted in ‘jab-you-in-the-eye-with-a-stick’ green. As if this sort of car doesn’t grab your attention as it is, let’s give it shouty paint to accompany 6-odd litres of screaming iron encased in body work as wide as Hampshire. How do you fancy seeing that barrelling up the road behind you? Best indicate and move over.

Variety is the spice of CCM life and we haven’t even covered the potential arrival of an Aston DB2 and Shrimp eye Justin’s paddle board repair skills.

Next week we examine the potato farming industry and ask ‘what in the name of all that’s good has this got anything to do with our Classic Car company situated near Liphook?’

Well, I’ve got 7 days to think of something.

So, from the CMM crew, Siobhan, Dr Ray, Shrimp-eye Justin, Young Chris, Izzi, Ingrid and perfectly coiffured Eric, have a great day.

Olli