Today has been… interesting. With a view to taking the Mantis to a paintshop (Whitehead Classics, Cheadle) today to get the stone chips on the bonnet sorted out before the Annual rally at the start of July (& the US trip), I collected the car around 0900 hours from it’s garage, only to have a lady reverse into me at the lights in Altrincham by 0915 hours! Unfortunately the towbar on her Nissan Terrano has made a bit of a mess of the bonnet around the number plate The lady driver was quite distraught & simply hadn’t seen me as the Marcos is low (not convinced she looked in her side mirrors mind you, ‘cos it might be low but it’s bloody wide!). A simple accident so hard to get annoyed at anyone; wish it hadn’t happened though. So… insurance details were duly exchanged & the brief to the paintshop is now;

• repair & respray bonnet (at least the stone chips should go!)
• removal of stress crack around the nearside windscreen wiper pivot
• polish out chips on offside door
• remove & respray rear over spoiler (should remove a stress crack & the dint from when a lamppost leapt out behind me as I was reversing! )
• respray boot lid to remove flaking lacquer around petrol cap
• remove flaking lacquer & re lacquer around petrol cap on main bodyshell
• touch up all remaining stone chips or wear marks (windscreen surround, door edges, boot lid edge)
• and please please please can I have the car back for the Annual Rally 1st July!

This should all be achieved for under a grand. I have rejected the idea of a complete respray due to cost, but mainly because the car is far more likely to need one after driving 3500 miles along Route 66 in September! Of course, the word ‘respray’ has me thinking about that Candy Apple Brandy Wine paint job I have always wanted (along with new straw leather with red piping)! Now, where’s that lottery ticket again?