Allan´s Weblog

Not far from the place where my mother lives, a new glass building is erected not a long time ago. I have seen the builders work on it for months every time I drove past it.

A few weeks ago I noticed the signs on the building saying "Classic Cars" and "Sale". Last sunday I went into the newly opened shop. And I shouldn't have done that. It's really not a sensible thing to do.

Maybe it would be OK if I were a man who was into soccer, hunting or interior decorating. But I'm not. I'm into cars. Always was.

Not a sensible thing to do.

Entering the shop, I was approached by a guy in blue-collar clothes, greased black hands and with a large wrench. I understood from the conversation I had with him, that this was a car sale owned by him, and only by him. He did all the restoring of the old cars himself. He invited me into the workshop, where he had an old Citroën Avantage from the forties on the lift. I watched him while he worked on the bottom of the car - and I could see he was good at his trade. A skilled and thorough welder.

I asked if I could take a stroll 'round the showroom - a suggestion he approved of, of course.

Now, I'm hooked. I've got this idea in my head that I must own a classic car. A car in which to take a spin on a sunny Sunday afternoon. A car for leisure and enjoyment. A car to admire - and a car to remember my childhood in the sixties.

There were probably 80 or 90 cars in the showroom - and I when I left the shop half an hour later, three of them were glued to my mind.

After my visit at my mother's, I stopped by the shop on the way back to my home. I went in and looked more carefully at the three cars, and asked if I could photograph them. I could, and I did.


This is the Austin Healey Sprite. A nifty and agile little sports car I remember from when I went to school. One of my classmate's father had a car like that, and I thought it was soooo cool. It became the icon of a sports car when I was a small kid. The car is for sale at a reasonable price that I can easily afford.


Here we have the Jaguar E-type. The sports car for the masses back in the day. The iconic sports car for a whole generation or even more. That one I like, too - mostly because it's design is absolutely perfect. But that one is expensive!


And my darling - a Volvo Amazon a bit older than the one I mentioned in a previous post. Not a sports car - more like a family waggon, but I owned one of these when I was young and miss it badly. This one is also easily affordable.

Now - what to do? Which one to buy - if any? Where to park it if I bought one? Shouldn't I rather be sensible and save the money for retirement?

I need a classic car. I've got the fever.

Must make a decision sooner or later.