Classic car mechanic’s weekly motoring – Saving the Planet with a smile

‘In the corner of the workshop, Olli Ragbin ponders the motoring world'

I was talking to a chum of mine late last week. He owns a VW ID4. It’s on the company, so he feels the upside of taxation and running costs, but as it turns out, the downside of an anaesthetic driving experience and zero joy. The government have pushed back the requirement for manufacturers to go fully electric till 2035 and the cost of financing new cars is directly connected to the tight personal finance and credit markets and so sales are starting to slump. As for the second-hand market… free-fall coming soon would be my guess.

Because electric propulsion is on the technology path (and early at that), it is much more susceptible to becoming out of date, particularly on the battery/mileage capacity front. Would you bet that in 4-years time (the typical lease plan length), you won’t find your car completely out of date as new models have double the range?

By contrast, Eric and I have taken the environmental approach to motoring. Yep, we’re going green.

This week saw a big milestone in our credentials as planet-savers as the Rolls Royce Silver Shadow (series I) was finally wheeled out for a tentative test drive following a fairly extensive braking system recommissioning - Lewis twirling the spanners and deftly navigating around the fiendishly complex braking & suspension system… 3000 psi brake fluid squirting at you anyone? Experts only.

I can hear the mumblings – ‘how can a c.6 litre 50 year-old V8 be anything other than disastrous for the plants & insects?’ Well, the manufacturing effort and impact that the Shadow had pre-dates the first ever mobile phone call (1973), the founding of Apple (1976) and the concept of the World Wide Web (1989). The air was cleaner then and celebrities meant the likes of Jimmy Tarbuck and Angela Rippon. Heady times indeed. The cost of production speadout over 53 years is pretty measly I'm sure.

Also, by re-using these cars, we’re not driving other cars and we are saving a whole load of metal from the scrap heap, as well as preserving a slice of rich motoring history. The Shad may only do 9mpg, but it’s the cleanest 9mpg you’ll likely see – rare-earth minerals may not even have been a thing then (probably). And unlike my chum’s joyless ID4, Eric and I were absolutely beaming as we drove off from CCM towers to a mixture of waving and saluting… I kid you not!

So here are the choices, throw a load of cash at a joyless (but efficient) commuting machine, or invest in saving humanity and immortalising yourself as a beacon of class and good-taste by rejuvenating a gold 70’s Roller….it’s an easy choice in my view.

So to all you fellow tree huggers out there, saving our planet one classic at a time, go steady on the roads as winter nears… and of course, keep smiling.

Olli

p.s. There may be more than one or two of the tech team who are wondering if I am trying to convince them or trying to convince myself that the Roller was a good idea…all I can say is ‘Eric, don’t listen to ‘em…..’

p.p.s I’ve upgraded my breakdown cover significantly.

And now to a few weeks worth of photos.

Friday lunch is fish 'n' chips. Lewis thinks Justin has his halibut...

I do love a TR7. I thought they were quite the thing when I was a kid. Duncan the Wizard is smiling because the Jag is about to go for paint... not that he's keen to see the back of it of course......

The Classic Show at the NEC had a load of lovely things. I naturally gravitated to anything Jaguar-esque... this lovely Daimler 4.2 was immaculate

Lovely in and out

Another favourite. The SD1. Looking good in red

I think this may be the first Rauh Welt I've seen in the flesh

Nut and bolt resto of this CB900 (with an 1100 motor squeezed in) was the bike highlight...

...although this 'rare as hens teeth' OWO1 Yamaha ran it a close second for me

Rumour has it that Eric tastes like Kibble

Smiling whilst working pt 1.... Kaspars lovin' life...

....pt 2... Sam in a moment of Zen-like calm

pt 3...Keithy baby fettling and finessing

pt 4. Duncan the Wizard....delighted to be moving on from all things XJ... for the moment ;-)

pt 5. Lewis thinks he can hear the CCM badger....missing since June... despite saucers of warm milk left every night, Barry has been keeping a low profile

pt 6. I strongly suspect that Justin's stare into the middle distance means he's dreaming about the Mini again....

Pt 7. Roy finds that 50p he lost a week last Thursday

Pt 8. You can tell Jim is smiling by looking at his ears.... apparently

Pt 9. I'm smiling because I have managed not to mangle anything with the whizzer. Duncan insisted I wear chin-protection. I'm still not sure why....