Planting Seeds

Back in the day, when I was much shorter, one of my cousins stopped by the house to show off her new fiancée. The one thing that stands out in my memories of that day was the car they arrived in. His bright red MGA. He took me for a ride in it, just a short run around the neighborhood, but that was enough. The seeds were planted.

Which brings us to a recent British Car Day. As I came back to my car, I saw this young gentleman, with his parents, chatting with my wife. They had come as spectators, and he was having a blast seeing all the neat old cars, and was quite taken with mine. As I approached, I heard the young man ask my wife a question.

“Keys?”

No, she said, but… She opened the passenger door and let him. He went straight for the steering wheel, where he stood, happily, looking at everything, for the next five minutes. He was ready to take it home.

I’ll probably never know the result of the impression my car made that day. Perhaps a new sports car enthusiast was just created. So share your toys with the younger generations. Plant the seeds every chance you get.

2012 2009

Oldest grandaughter last year.
My other three grand kids are still infants, but I know they'll all see plenty of British sports cars as they grow up.
By the way, the first sports car I ever really noticed was a turquiose MGA. I was a six or seven year-old kid living in Toronto. Ten years later, I bought a run-down MGA for $200.
That was a loooong time ago!

I have twin boys who are under the misguided impression that one will get my GT6 when he turns 16 and his brother will get my TR4A. I doubt I'll be handing over the keys at 16, but they will end up with them one day. They're both very interested in the mechanical side of the hobby. It's nice to know that the cars will still be rolling long after I'm gone.

I've done my part. Tommy's first car was a Spitfire when he was 12.