I am… speechless. Anuus Horribilis & all that. My lovely, lovely car has been butchered by the incompetent buffoon at Whitehead Classics. I have been too angry to add anything here for the last few weeks, suffice to say that I have been unable to drive the car as it makes my blood pressure rocket. Having spent £160 for a superb valet, I was distraught to discover that the paint does not match the original colour, & that various patches are almost bereft of lacquer. I just can’t face getting in the car at the moment, despite the blazing sunshine. I missed the annual rally & let Isobel down as I was due to assist in the judging (I guess as the comedy act to Rory’s straight man).

The car looks crap. I’m totally gutted. The fellow from Whitehead wants the car back to look at it again but over my dead body is he going anywhere near it. Rory from MHS happened to be in the North West delivering a car, & kindly agreed to meet up with me & give his opinion. It was so grim he voluntarily agreed to write it up (for free! And this is Rory we’re talking about!), which was pretty decent of him. I am just relieved that I did not pay the invoice for the respray at the time, however, I need someone to do (another) respray, probably the whole car this time as the overspray seems to have touched most panels, & it does not seem right that I pay for that, so… don’t know… small claims court? Never used it before but a few people have suggested that’s the route to go. Got the Tatton Park show next month but I have accepted it’s not going to have been sorted by then. Guess I’ll take along a crappy looking car then – the more mud the better!