Monday, 11 May 2009

Rules are made to be broken

I have this very important golden rule: Never go to more than one vehicle rally in one 12 month period. This is important because I wouldn't want Mike to start thinking that I've been sucked in to vehicles like I got drawn into football and I certainly wouldn't want him to get the impression that this is a normal occupation for a Sunday afternoon.

However, I now have to confess that I have attended 2 rallies in 8 days. The first was in Brighton (see last post) and yesterday's was the Sandwell Rally. This is usually my one annual foray in to the dark world of vintage vehicles and I am happy to admit that I enjoy it. This is mainly because we get to go in my father-in-law's old Austin A40 Somerset and I can go to sleep in the back if I get too bored through the afternoon. There are other draws, however - not least of which is watching the boys trying to con their way behind as many steering wheels as possible. One way or another, the Sandwell Rally has found itself marked on my diary as well as the family calendar every year.

What I hadn't thought about was all these exotic rallies that we are now planning for - Brighton looks like it will happen again next year (although, strictly speaking, I probably won't look at the vehicles - I intend to sample Brighton's retail and seaside possibilities instead) and Fleetwood's coming up in July. If it weren't for the seaside, then I wouldn't dream of going but I can feel myself wavering....
Frankly, I'm worried about myself but I will be strong. I will stand up for the rights of those of us who think that a vehicle is just a handy box to get from A to B a bit quicker and don't care who made what, when and why. I will maintain my long-held and often-voiced opinion that a grown man probably shouldn't be playing with a steering wheel, saying "brrmmm brrmmm". And I will forever continue the battle cry that they're not models - they're toy cars.

Whilst I do that, however, I will be acknowledging that I'm swimming against the tide in my household. My 2 year old can name nearly every lorry make as we go past them on the motorway. We bred petrolheads. Here's a small selection of the modes of transport they conned their way onto yesterday.....


And in the famous Grandad's Jalopy:

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