Look out for one another
THIS PART of the magazine is usually a précis of what is in this edition, but this time I would like to highlight what isn’t in it – namely my friend Charles Evans, who last month took his own life. Charles, or @douzecoupes as he was known on social media, contributed regularly to Octane, principally to Month in Pictures but also Octane Cars, for which he would bolt his rust-hiding filter onto his Canon and take pictures of my Triumph. He always eschewed payment, asking instead for a contribution to the charity Anthony Nolan. (I have made a donation in his honour; maybe you could, too.)
Charles, along with others, was behind the Southside Hustle classic car meets on Wimbledon Common, the Wacky Racers Coffee Club, track days, evening meets and loads more. ‘All I’ve really done is set up a few message groups and it just happened on its own,’ he told me, but that was far from the truth. Charles donated much of his time and his energy to cajoling scores of people into exercising and enjoying their cars as they should. He simply did not realise how positively he affected people’s motoring lives.
I met him only eight months ago, having been intrigued by photos of a Miura at a 15-car breakfast meet, where it rubbed flanks with many everyday classics. That sort of egalitarian meeting is my favourite, so I went along to the next, met Charles and, like so many others, instantly considered him a friend. Since then it has been a pleasure to see him regularly at events, buzzing with an infectious enthusiasm.
If he had such an affect on me in such a short time, just imagine how great the loss to his family and real friends.
Now, I don’t want to oversimplify complex mental health issues that I am not qualified to fully comprehend, but suffice to say that myself and many others have learned the hard way that an effervescent façade can mask a mighty battle with internal demons.
And if this all seems a bit ‘niche’, well, it is – but is also universal. Charles was not a celebrity, a racing driver or a megabucks collector; he was a grassroots enthusiast who just wanted to share his passion and motivate others to do the same. As a result, and without fanfare, his good deeds touched on hundreds of others.
Sound familiar? I expect so, because in my experience every club or enthusiast group has at least one Charles, and now – more than ever – we need to look out for each other and make sure everyone is OK. Really OK.
We have lost our Charles. Please make sure you don’t lose yours.