Spent yesterday travelling up and down Shropshire and Monmouthshire with Hayley in her SLK with the lid down in search of my next car - and a decision has been made. Hopefully, this one will be mine within a few days. If not this exact one, then one very similar and certainly in the same colour.
1993 Merc SL300 auto. OK, possibly a bit extravagant on petrol at 27~30 MPG, but a remarkable piece of precision engineering for a couple of quid under £5k (which is the average price for this vintage with just under 100k on the clock). Not a single spot of rust anywhere and the engine bay looks as if it just came out of the showroom. Insurance is only £150 p.a.
In the interests of economy, the trusty old Golf TDi stays and will be used by Hay and me for anything over 100 miles. At 165k on the clock it's just not worth selling it.
The classic car market is very depressed at present, so it's an ideal time to buy.
That's the mid-life crisis sorted - well, at least until we build a garage and I can find a knackered 2+2 e-Type to rebuild (a long time dream and not beyond my capabilities - I've rebuilt many an MGB in my time). A garage-cum log store is next on the construction list and Colin the builder has been put on standby.
It's strange - I can say I've been very well paid pretty much all my life, but I've never, ever, bought a brand new car - not once. Can't see the point when you'd lose at least a quarter of its value the minute you drove it out of the showroom.
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