To me, there is great appeal in a car that presents itself as having had solid use.. Not neglected, but the knowledge that under a lot of soot grime mud and tar, there lays a pristine or at least great paint job, ...who needs to show it off.. so long as YOU know it CAN be polished up.. I'll probably make some foes here, but a clean car to me says that you dont have anything better to do with it..
Give me thousands kms of hard earned dust and mud from road works..I may be odd but I remember that after a long stint behind the wheel 12-18 hours (with suitable breaks of course) that the road grime would be a badge of completion, with the windscreen only visible through the arc of the wiper... I also remember getting a bit thingy and irritated if the weather rained on my lovely dirty car at the end of the trip... where's the record of the journey???
Current
85 BX GT Mk1..
86 BX TRS Mk1
87 BX TRi
Gone
85 BX TRS mk1 auto... SOLD
90 BX TRi..parts....cubed
My opinion on this is coloured by years of bubblecars at shows. I like talking but I am not very good at continually having the same conversation. Especially when it revolves round about 5 questions and 3 apocryphal stories, you probably know them. I can do about 2 hours before I loose it and start taking the piss out of people. That is not what your there for! Indeed I cannot do a Jim Thompson (Pioneer Autos, as was) and sit behind three cars for sale at Beaulieu for 3 days and remain totally calm and polite. He is a great salesman, I am not. I sell,on enthusiasm and cannot sell a car I do not like. Its horses for courses. So if you want a ruckus at the NEC, I am your man, probably. Last time I was there, long time ago, I banged a nauseous security guy over his own length and managed to get off site before a reaction. Age has mellowed me a bit and I am not as strong as I was. No, I will give it a miss, ta. That's not to say I would not allow a car in should it be requested in the future. Seems unlikely but you never know.
Success is if you enjoyed yourselves over the weekend, simples.
Payoff is if you can see an increased interest, rescue a car or two, pick up some cheap gear or get interest for another event via invite, interview etc. Its certainly worth it if this happens and a reward for a good job done. Do not mix them up, but one will lead to the other.
Miguel - 16 TRS Auto S, light blue, 43k miles - £450
Pluto - 14 E S, White, 105k Miles - in work
Egbert - 19 16v Gti, White, A/C & Leather, - Keeper
Walt - 17 TZD Turbo S, graphite, 70k miles, good op extras - Keeper
Scraper- 17 TZD Turbo E, blue, 208k miles - parts
Homer - 19 TXD E, Red, 189k miles - £250
Gary - 17 TZD Turbo E, 118k miles - in work
I'm going just for a tidy-up now. Mine's stone-chipped to buggery, scratched and dented
I'll try and get the dents removed (always wanted to do that anyway) and I'll try to get it looking red as the indoor lights will really make it look grim otherwise.
But on the flip side, it's an original car, it's well used and gets driven fairly hard. I just can't think of a way to 'set the scene' with mine as you can with logs. Maybe I'll thrash the arse off it all the way there, and park it up on scrubbed tyres with a hint of burnt brakes lingering in the air. Oh, and a face full of squashed bugs.....usually a way to tell how fast a car goes!
One third of a three-spoke BX columnist team for the Citroenian magazine.
Paul296 wrote:I think the 'logs thing' is a really good idea - instead of a bit of tarting up just present it as what it is - a working car that does exactly what it says on the tin (and plastic).
The St Tropez's raison d'etre was always to be a working car, as in lugging 50 litres of wine back from France without dragging the exhaust along the ground and shaking the cargo to buggery over speed bumps. Before anybody get's too excited, I'm sorry, but I haven't got enough full bottles to recreate this scenario and I daresay none of them would survive the show through 'stock shrinkage' and strategies to cope with daft punters. I may consider chucking some empties in the back, though.
Regards the number plates and other additions, I quite frankly don't care very much. After 23 years and many thousands of miles, there are going to be some changes. It's part of the life history of the car. To make it look like its arrived from the 1980s like some 'Back to the Future' retread is to deny it's had a past, which is daft. So mine will have an original rear plate and tax disc holder, which have survived thus far in good nick but there is a new front plate and a new chrome effect GB plate. My car, my rules and everybody else is entitled to do the same! To that end, I think sawn logs hanging out the back of Mat's car is absolutely the right thing! It might garner a few frowns from the righteous, but that's never kept me awake at night.
BX14TE St Tropez 1990 - now sold
Xsara Forte 1.4i 2000
Kawasaki GPz550A4 1987
I like it. The BX fire-starters stand. Logs, Molotov cocktails, BBQ and bucket on the floor for fuel donations 'coz were not as rich as all the other stands. 'Got a light, Mate'? Sorry, I have a weird brain.
Miguel - 16 TRS Auto S, light blue, 43k miles - £450
Pluto - 14 E S, White, 105k Miles - in work
Egbert - 19 16v Gti, White, A/C & Leather, - Keeper
Walt - 17 TZD Turbo S, graphite, 70k miles, good op extras - Keeper
Scraper- 17 TZD Turbo E, blue, 208k miles - parts
Homer - 19 TXD E, Red, 189k miles - £250
Gary - 17 TZD Turbo E, 118k miles - in work
I can't seem to find anyone offering to make up dealer symbols for the number plate, but given that I removed it mainly because I didn't like having 'advertising' on the car it would be daft to spend too much trouble trying to get one. So I've ordered a pair of wide font plates, as the new style ones on at the moment were very cheap and are now showing why. Might pop the original rear plate on for the show though.
Then a good clean, touch up a few paint chips and a faded patch and it will be good to go! I'll have to give it a rest from daily driver duty for a few days beforehand otherwise there would be no point in cleaning it
Mine has gone from "shall I paint it?" etc to "ah, that'll do!"
And when I say 'that'll do', I mean I've made a dent slightly less worse, bought a touch-up stick and will attack it with polish and cutting compound
When all's said and done though, most people seem more keen to look at original, well-used cars like ours, rather than showroom-esque queens. That's certainly the impression I get anyway.
One third of a three-spoke BX columnist team for the Citroenian magazine.
