Doctor in the house

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

Time and relative dimension in space – TARDIS for short. The manifestation of which is an object that is considerably larger on the inside than it appears on the outside. Made famous by the police box in Dr Who.

I used to love a bit of Dr Who when I was growing up. Tom Baker was ‘my’ Doctor but as the years went by and one crap doctor was replaced by another, the series was eventually put on the right track as Christopher Eccleston grabbed the scarf and upped the quality ante.

My most feared creature was aptly ‘the hand of fear’. A creepy detached hand chasing down the goodies (as in the good guys, not the 'Taylor/Garden/Oddie' threesome). It’s the one episode I remember above all others. Daleks included. Still, Tom Baker saved the day in the way Tom Baker did.

Subsequent Doctors were equally impressive, peaking probably with David Tennant’s tenancy.

Since then, I’ve lost interest though. Especially as we have our very own Doctor at CCM. Dr. Ray has been missing something from the tool chest though. A TARDIS. This week we may just have found it.

Eric, following more automotive purchase, has decided to sell the family Citroen (well, I think it may actually be Ingrid’s Citroen).

He got on to the good people at ‘we buy any car’ and negotiated a reasonable deal for exchange of car for cash.

When he arrived however, he was armed with only 1 key.

‘That’ll be same price minus £300 for the missing key’ said the WBAC desk-jockey.

A swift turn on heels followed and Eric then went into the wilderness to search for the missing key.

Ingrid, the owner of said Citroen, furiously denied all knowledge of the key’s whereabouts and so Eric’s first port of call was ‘all the pockets he owned’ (as well as some he didn’t).

No joy.

After much ‘needle-in-a-hay-stacking’ he plucked up the courage to ask if he could have permission to enter the hallowed ground of Ingrid’s handbag.

Written request submitted in triplicate and eventually signed off and Eric was off.

In he went.

The handbag revealed many things (Shergar, Lord Lucan) before finally giving up the lost key to the Citroen.

Dr Ray on the other hand has had equally taxing problems.

He’s a lover of the BMW Z4 and has two of ‘em. Now, I am in no position to preach on the wisdom of owning more than one vehicle, but Dr Ray takes it to a new level with more than one version of the same model.

This time, the Dr’s older Z4 was in at a ‘specialist of computerised misbehaviour’.

Apparently, the Z4’s brain is wired to know when the car is or isn’t on a slope. If it’s on a slope, then it’s ‘tools down’ when any request to raise of lower the roof is submitted.

It’s a mystery to me, but worth fixing. These early-era Bangle designed Z4s look like little else on the road (flame surfacing? Remember that?). A future classic in my mind.

Mable the Rover is ready to make a guest appearance!

You’ll remember that Mable was an ‘instinct purchase’ from Eric a good while back. Well, here she is about to be pressed into more formal duty.

She looks lovely. This stunning paint colour always suited this model particularly well.

Finally, Wednesday this week I arranged for the collection of Jnr’s Fiesta which had been comprehensively repaired and is now back on the road and in the hands of a very contrite 18 year old. Top job completed by Shrimp-eye Justin.

In exchange for the Fiesta, I’ve dropped off the old 911 that Eric and I both owned at various points. Dr Ray is readying the toolkit for an IMS, RMS and clutch replacement as well as some general tweakery to keep Patrick (named so by Ingrid) in tip-top condition.

Finally, caring, fixing, restoring and loving classics isn’t all we do here at CCM. Oh no, we can do novelty flower beds as well.

Is there any end to the talents on offer?

So from the CMM team, Eric, Siobhan, Dr Ray, Shrimp-eye Justin, Young Chris, Izzi, Ingrid and the ‘hand of fear’, have a great week in this wonderful world of classics.