Small world

I could hardly believe the Letter

of the Month in Octane 167 [about a tramp-like customer who bought a new Jaguar Mk10 for cash

from tyro salesman Tipper Wilson, much to the dismay of his more senior and snobbish colleagues at the Jaguar agency – and who turned out to be a wealthy scrap

dealer] because I experienced a very similar situation.

I was working in Hepworths Tailors on the High Street in Dartford, Kent, in the 1960s as a trainee manager and salesman. The manager and assistant manager always used to hog most of the customers by saying ‘It’s OK, Colin, I know this customer’, whether they did or not.

One day a scruffy man ventured into the shop. To my amazement, the aforementioned assistant manager looked across at me and said, ‘Colin, you can serve this gentleman.’

I was very polite to the man, who explained that he didn’t like shopping for clothes, but wanted three suits, made to measure. I showed him the pattern books and he chose the top-of-the-range cloth, Golden Marino. Wow! You should have seen the look on the faces of the assistant manager and the manager.

He then bought several sports jackets, trousers, an overcoat and a raincoat, too, and paid in cash. That must have been my best ever sale and my commission was fantastic. He was also a scrap metal dealer, so he must be the same man mentioned last month.

Incidentally, in those carefree days I drove a 1340cc Ford Classic with the biggest wheels I could fit – I think they were 8J to the rear and 6J to the front. Colin Tucker, Kent