Classic car mechanic – Road trip

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

This year my own humble piece of the classic pie has spent more than its fair share of time in the CCM workshop. New clutch, lightweight flywheel and a host of other bits and bobs have been liberally applied to the Porker by Dr Ray and the gang, maintaining its running order for another year. Although tis I who control the man-maths spreadsheet in my small corner of Sussex, I have been able to ignore the worsening ‘pence per mile’ metric no more. I must start getting better use out of my classic. I say classic, but I’m not convinced it really falls into that category. Too young probably at 19 years old to be thought of as such. ‘Modern classic’ might be more accurate. ‘Much-maligned modern-day base Carrera with funny headlights’ perhaps even more of a pointed description most could agree on. Either way, it’s been costing me an arm and a leg to do virtually no mileage so this weekend it was off to South Wales to give it a proper drive.

Destination, the A4069. A twisty ribbony road through the Black Mountains which achieved notoriety on a 2011 episode of Top Gear where JC took an AMG black along the same stretch.

Whilst cold and damp with salty roads liberally scattered with sheep, it was still an absolute joy to pedal the old whip across the deserted hills before finally heading off to get coffee and a sit down in Brecon.

Keeping a car spotless is a nice thing to do. Getting a car dirty is arguably much more rewarding. A ‘Classic Car Mechanic’ mug awaits the best pic of a classic and a customer on a road trip. Send over to any of our e-mail addresses and we’ll sift out the best of em. If we don’t receive any, the we’ll publish random photos of Eric in panto until we do. You have been warned.

(Rehearsals for J&TBS and Eric (the giant, obvs) sends his fellow actors to sleep by demonstrating his top 10 Tommy Cooper impressions. (‘Glass-bottle, bottle-glass’ etc. You get the idea))

(The proud owner of this mint Carlton rests a proud hand on her wing mirror. There’s tidy and there’s tidy. I’ve got a soft-spot for this sort of 80’s exec luxo-barge. When was the last time you saw one of these on the road!)

(‘I can smell them, but I can’t see them’. Shrimp eye Justin on the hunt for waffles)

(Another underrated Stuttgart steed. The 924 in classic guards red)

(The Spitfire restoration continues. This is going to be sensational when finished. We all secretly wish that we could do something similar with our own pride and joys)

(Like a gazelle frozen in front of the lion. ‘If I don’t move, he can’t see me’ thinks Young Chris as Eric points his camera. Seconds later and this wing was welded onto the chassis)

The new year is here and January is in full swing (in a kinda lockdown, Covid, Boris in trouble, Novak being deported kinda way). The sun comes gently up on our year 2 of operation and as far as we can see, the future is bright. Soon electric cars will be the norm, but I can’t quite see the same attraction of slicing through a slick gearbox with a petrol engine singing its song. Manual and natural aspiration may be retreating from the mainstream, but CCM will be focussing on keeping this particular brand of special interest alive, oiled and ready for action. If you need us, call us. We’re here to help.

And so from the gang at CCM, Eric, Siobhan, Tasha, Dr Ray, Shrimp-eye Justin, Young Chris, Izzi, Ingrid, Alfie and Will (I aint), have a great 3rd week in January.

Ollie

(Misty mountain road. The A4069 hides its beauty whilst the whip looks on)

(Sugar loaf mountain car park in Monmouthshire. We got back to the whip two and a half hours walk later. I opened the door and a random dog jumped into the drivers footwell. The car is filthy but I’ve always kept a tidy footwell. This evening somewhere in Wales, a dog-owner is re-living the horrifying Paddington-stare they received from ‘that funny bloke with the dirty car’. I hope they can’t sleep)