Classic car mechanic – Hattrick

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

You get to a certain age and you feel like you need to mix things up a bit. Even if it is change for the sake of change, don’t let folk see you settle into a rut. Keep ‘em guessing. Like Madonna, re-invent yourself every now and then.

A couple of weeks back I was feeling particularly jaded. ‘I need a new look’ I thought to myself. Something that will mark me out from the rest of the crowd. This thought meandered around my mind for a few days looking for an idea to collide with.

Out of nowhere, it suddenly landed on something.

A hat. I need to get myself a hat.

I’ve never had a hat. My grandad had a hat. I remembered this most fondly. Am I too old for this sort of move? What will it say about me? Would I be able to pull it off?

Many questions remained unanswered, so I thought I’d float the idea with Mrs Olli as a first step toward hat ownership.

‘You get a hat and I’m leaving you’.

Blimey. I didn’t expect such a harsh response.

I did more research to narrow down the possibilities.

I’m too old to be able to carry off a beanie, a cowboy hat would be just plain ridiculous and as for a panama…..I live in West Sussex not Tierra Del Fuego.

I narrowed the options down to 2. A plain old flat cap (grandad) or a homburg (Walter White and the Heisenberg look).

Enthused by my final selection, I forwarded a pic hoping for reconciliation and acknowledgment of stylistic suitability.

‘I am being serious. Get a hat and you’re on your own’ followed by the sound of silence.

Why did a hat make her so angry? I’m still genuinely puzzling this one through and now I’m caught between a rock (the hat) and a hard place (Mrs Olli and a bag full of anger).

Whilst I would really like a hat, the thought if it just being me and the hat as I wander toward old age isn’t quite what I was hoping for. Like an old lady with her cats, I’d just be me and the hat. It might be a good look (although this is being seriously questioned it seems) but it’s not a good life.

In the ever-expanding family that is CCM we have a new man on the tech front. Will has landed and is enthusiastically getting stuck into all things technical. Not only that, he also wears a hat…. with more style and suitability than I have any chance of matching.

‘Look…. Will has a hat… I want one’. A weak attempt to sway Mrs Olli from the rut she was shouting at me from.

‘He’s young and it suits him’…..

I knew very well that whilst on the face if it, this compliment towards our new pup was in fact a criticism of our old dog. In short ‘grow up’ had just been shouted through the metaphorically closing door.

(Will the hat announces his arrival at CCM by getting properly stuck into a gearbox repair.)

There has been much fawning over the GT6 engine rebuild as things draw to a close. Nothing warms the cockles of a tech’s heart more than shiny pistons about to be loving placed in freshly prepared liners.

My next door neighbour talks to her plants. Shrimp eye Justin likes to talk to our engines.

(Will the hat getting busy whilst Shrimp eye Justin gets all misty-eyed and whispers quietly into the GT6 engine just before she goes home.)

Last week we had the pic of the gorgeous blue spitfire which had just been commissioned a full restoration. Things move quickly round here and she’s already had her body whipped off and the chassis awaiting prep.

I don’t think it is possible to design a car whose bonnet hinges from the front to look anything other than cool.

(I’ve tried… I can’t think of any…. Shark nose 6 series…cool… E30 3 series..cool… e-type Jag…. The cool list just goes on)

It’s very difficult not to get emotionally connected to the cars we love and care for. Even the techs end up humanising all our patients.

(Shrimp eye with ‘the trifle’ . This classic broke out happy smiles all round)

As the end of the year nears, Eric’s attention is naturally drawn toward the stage and the many productions being unleashed prior to the festive period.

This won’t be the last pic from the spotlights.

(Ingrid and team in the Haslemere production of ‘If you want to get ahead, get a hat’. I’ve booked Mrs Olli and I front row seats….. 3 nights in a row. Subtle and deft subliminal messaging is my strong suit)

Nights are drawing in and the weather is turning. CCM is as busy as ever. Not long till our 1-year anniversary. What a year it’s been.

So until next week, from Eric, Siobhan, Tasha, Dr Ray, Shrimp-eye Justin, Young Chris, Izzi, Ingrid, Alfie and Will the hat, take it steady one and all.

Olli (the hatless)