MOT Misgivings

Owning a "classic" car can be a wonderful exhilarating experience; the sound of an all alloy carburetted engine, the 'proper car' mechanical smell, old leather and having a tinker on a Sunday, all adds to the pleasure of ownership.

As well as my modern Saab, I currently own four elderly motors, one I've had since I was 15 which I bought for £50. But recently I been having feelings that it would be wise to invest in a transporter to carry them round and paint 'help the aged' on the side.

It's MOT time in the Muppet household, my 30 year old Beetle appears to have been moonlighting as a boat so cannot go anywhere near the MOT test station's hammers just yet. So for now it's my daily driver 16 year old Alfa Romeo Spider Quadrifoglio, that is under scrutiny. I feel like I'm watching a penalty shoot-out...will it? won't it? I haven't felt this much tension since I was waiting for Ross and Rachel to get together on Friends. The Alfa has managed to get through 13 previous MOT's without my worried face at the observation window or my hand placed gently on her bonnet with coos of 'you'll be fine', but you see this is my first having only owned the Spider since September 2004.

"Hello I'm Amanda and I'm an Alfa Spider MOT virgin"... and I can clearly see that car at the ATM punching in my pin number, just as she did when I first bought her. She's the hooded teenager of the car world, waiting to catch me unawares and mug me.

Maybe I'm over-reacting.

When I first purchased the Spider I took her to my local specialist for a check up, the list of repairs that came back to me looked like the parts catalogue at Classic Alfa. I needed several strong cups of hodd carriers tea before I could hand over my Visa card.

Then there was the incident in Hammersmith just before Christmas. I parked the Spider up near a friends' house and went off for a wander, some shopping and a pint, it's a regular occurrence so I thought she'd be safe, on my return there was a note, "I am so sorry.....[insurance details, phone number, reg number]".

My little first-time proper Italian sports car owning heart sank and I sat on the kerb crying like a baby as I noted the huge dent in the Spider's driver's door, a few inches to the right and the Spider would have been written off. I was devastated.

And it got worse; the details were false, the police could find no witnesses and no CCTV footage, so I was left to claim malicious damage and lost £300 and 3 years no claims discount for good measure. The garage who replaced the door were rubbish and now I'm left with a driver's door you can't open from the outside and a wrangle with some unpleasant insurance bods to have it repaired properly. Although to the (mostly male) onlooker the sight of me lying flat on my back across the seats, legs dangling precariously out of the passenger door as I wrestle open the driver's door from the inside...is rather entertaining.

So you can probably guess why I'm so touchy and trepidated by the test before us. But don't be put off classic car ownership with my financially unviable tales, they are merely a minor glitch and I wouldn't change my cars for...well not much, unless you were willing to make me a very very good offer on an Aston Martin V8 Vantage.

It will alright though, Alfa Aid have informed me they have been to the suppliers and have a box of 100 Yorkshire Tea Bags in the First Aid cabinet.

to be continued....