Nick Larkin
Are rising prices causing domestic strife, asks Nick?
Nick professes the dangers of revealing what your classic’s worth.
Sometimes things said in jest not so much hit the nail on the head, but rather bash the finger with the hammer. Mr Roche Bentley, he of MG Owners Club icon-ness, is always entertaining with his ‘letter from the secretary’ in
Enjoying MG magazine. A recent Roche utterance really did make me think, however. He ‘warns’ club members never to boast to a ‘loving partner’ that their MG would be valued at a much higher price than bought. ‘We have even started to receive phone calls from worried owners being pestered to sell their beloved MGS, and reinvest the money in a bigger property or an expensive kitchen and new carpets,’ claims Roche.
He even dares invite unfortunates who have received such requests to write in and explain how they ‘handled’ the situation. Handled it? Imagine the real replies. ‘Well, now having to live in the garden shed isn’t too bad with the warmer weather.’ ‘The scratches are finally beginning to heal.’ ‘Most of the notices posted on local lamp posts saying ‘I am married to a selfish pig’ have blown away in the wind by now, though there’s still those things she posted on the internet to deal with.’ ‘Only the dog is allowed on the bed nowadays.’
Seriously, there must be genuine situations when the current value of a car bought as a cheap hobby years ago has risen to such an extent that its presence is causing domestic strife rather than enjoyment, especially if to be honest it probably should be realising some cash if things are a bit short. This is an even more worrying situation when one partner is considerably less keen on the vehicle, or classics generally, than the other.
In the first giddy throes of romance, that funny old car he/she has stuck in the garage is likely to be merely considered as a mere minor eccentricity of the otherwise Mr/ms Perfect. But as time goes by, and annoying habits like biting fingernails and making engine noises in the shower become an issue, that defenceless Jaguar Mk2 is likely to become demonised. Any statements such as: ‘You knew I liked old cars when we met’ will fall on deaf ears, especially when the postman has arrived with yet another package of suspicious rubber items which honestly are radiator hoses and assorted grommets. Honestly.
‘You spend more time with that car than you do with me’ is not always an easy allegation to fight off, that I can tell you. And little defence is usually offered by suggesting: ‘All men have hobbies. At least you are not a football/fishing/white water rafting/star Wars convention widow. And this car is an investment.’
Maybe prospective partners should spend the evening watching the (surely God- given, it is so joyful) 1953 film Genevieve, in which of course two couples, only half of each being a fan of old cars (the St Bernard dog being neutral on the subject) set off on the London to Brighton Run and get soaked in water and other substances, stay in horrible hotels, squabble, engage in deception, sabotage and get stuck in tram lines.
A warm welcome
All those things and more could easily happen on a weekend city break in modern Manchester, you could argue, so far better to merely attend your friendly local classic car show or national club rally. Thankfully the classic movement usually manages to extend a warm welcome at events to even the most cynical ‘other half’.
The other answer is to give and take – give cynical partner full use of your joint credit card and take them to the nearest shopping centre en route to the show!
‘Statements such as ‘you knew I liked old cars when we met’ will fall on deaf ears’