Manuel Garriga
Around
If the seller thinks that we are spending too much time, we can suggest that he go for a coffee (or a lime, if he is nervous), and that he take the keys with him if he is concerned. Because there is a lot to look at before starting off, and while we can get an idea of the real state of the car, leaving for later the question of asking for explanations.
Don't go too fast. You will see better what you should see by going slower, carefully listening to the clutch and brake, gripping the steering wheel gently while braking and noticing the changes more gently than trying to emulate Daniel Loeb to try to impress the owner of how good you are. When you stop, set the parking brake and try to start without releasing it. This will tell you whether the parking brake is gripping or the clutch is biting as it should.
If everything is fine and you are completely satisfied, you can start to discuss the price. You will not have found all the faults of the car, but the most serious ones will not be so big because surely you have seen them. When you get home, the first thing you will do is clean it thoroughly inside and out, to impress your friends with the incredible bargain you just got yourself.
Act II: The Practice
We went to buy a classic and that's what happened. Readers, there you have the naked truth, openly, of the real adventure of buying a classic:
"Call me; there are changes in my life and I have to tell you ” Mysterious message on the answering machine when I get home on a Tuesday night. It is Ramón, my usual co-pilot, who tells me two days later his new personal, marital, professional situation, etc., and to make the most profound change he pronounces the fateful phrase: "I want to buy a classic" -How horrible, the virus has taken hold of him, I was already afraid of it- followed by another no less distressing for his interlocutor, the undersigned: "And of course, I hope you help me." Touch. Well, what are friends for if not?
My twisted mind machines the way to turn the imminent pilgrimage into something worth telling, even published. Or not. So I proposed to Ramón the idea of doing a report on his search, and the very unwary accepts. We draw up the plan: he will select the vehicles that interest him in the ads and make appointments with each salesperson. I will accompany him as that supposedly expert friend that everyone has but without revealing my true identity or my evil intentions, if I can.
As my friend is an eclectic type of taste, the range of possibilities for what he considers a classic is open and includes that wide and vague area that we know as purgatory. Conditions: It must be of a certain age to be able to insure it as a classic, but be really usable as the only car, although not necessarily for daily use (subsection: urban professionals who live from the uncertain and irregular income of free-lance rarely use a car, modern or no, as a normal means of transport; we prefer motorcycles and bicycles, we go a lot on foot and we are clear supporters of public transport -some, of course- since we try to enjoy the car, not suffer it). It will be stored in a garage to go out at night, on weekends or holidays, so we will not require urban conditions.
The budget is between half and a million pesetas, depending on the eventual work required, but it must be basically healthy, and usable in the short term. No to restoration projects.
Well, with the robot portrait in mind, Ramón began his search, made the contacts and we decided, due to his working hours, to divide our mission into three Saturday morning sessions. Let's go for the first one.
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First day
Let's see what we have for today ... "Well, I've thought of one, I don't know what it will look like to you, maybe it's too modern but, well, it's a bit sporty and such, and they offer it cheaply." Well Ramón, let it go now, what is that wonder we're going to see? "An Opel Monza". Don't worry, don't panic, hold me to those purists, and to my friend the classic too ...
Why not? Pure meat - iron - from purgatory, derived from the Senator saloon, this coupe was introduced in 1977; We were teenagers and, well, it seemed imposing to us: 3-liter engine with electronic injection, 180 hp, 215 km / h and airs of pre-XNUMX's luxury.
It is a 3.0, registration B-FF -this is 1982-, it has 140.00 km, they ask for 390.000 pesetas, and we know that it is metallic green. While we are approaching Segle XX street, in Barcelona's Guinardó, where we have met with the owner, we weigh pros and cons. To the credit: a chunk car with a big engine, sporty airs, perfectly usable even on a daily basis (it could even sleep on the street) for which there should be no spare parts problems or exotic maintenance techniques. In the must: he sucks like a condemned man, he is more bourgeois than his appearance appears and several other things.
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We arrived at the site, we waited a quarter of an hour in front of the private parking door, which is open, and no one appears. Let's take a look below, maybe it waits for us there. Nobody. In a corner, a green Monza tells us "I am the one you are looking for." We approached timidly, and now closer, he resumes his speech. “I look a little weird, with those spoilers, side skirts and fins repainted the same green. It was a fashionable color, like metallic gold, in my time. "
The front turn signal is attached with tape, and the left headlight is loose in place. A poem. The interior, seat covers and ... well we've seen enough. We are going to have breakfast so that we will have more time for the second. "Don't you take a picture?" says my partner, "What for ... The car speaks for itself." And its owner is as formal as the car. Perhaps he did not dare to show his face ...
At 11 in another parking lot, in Aribau, but this time if there is someone and there is a car: a DS 21 from 1972, dark red, Granada license plate. Mmmmh ... how handsome. It is the good model, according to Fabien Sabatés, because it has carburettors instead of the expensive injection, and it does not rust as easily as later models. It has a 5-speed box and a 2.175 cc 115 hp engine; It is a Pallas (or Prestige Pallas) from the last year of manufacture for this version, a hydropneumatic dream at 180 km / h ...
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It belongs to Diego, a freelance advertising creative (take, another) who has decided to get rid of it because he is having a bad time. He also has a classic Impala with which he moves regularly, "And I don't sell that one, if I can, I'll keep it." It has had the DS for a year, with 90.000 km, which should be 100.000 more. He has made him 4.000, and he had 8.000 since the previous owner made him a motor. He did it well, as we will see later, but he also perpetrated an upholstery of flowered chintz the same - I swear - to that of an armchair that I bought at the Encantes years ago but in red - look good, my armchair is green.
Fortunately, what is also green and not red is the vital fluid that runs through the circulatory system of the DS, which Diego had thoroughly checked, including replacement of spheres. Ugh, well, it is one of the critical points of the car because if it loses you are left without brakes, without direction, without suspension, without ... the possibility of almost moving, like a shark stranded on the beach, go.
I take the wheel and we head towards Tibidabo; the car is very fine, its engine -pletoric power- rises speed without hesitation, the brake mushroom is super effective, there are no strange noises, Citroën comfort, oh la la, ça c'est merveilleux. However I don't like the feel of the steering, it's sticky and has a bit of play, and it won't come back! I don't know if that's normal, I'll have to ask Formatger.
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However the car rolls well, and the guy looks legal. He is a member of the Clàssic Motor Club del Bages, and says he is delighted with it because of the services, insurance, etc. "The fee is minimal and it really pays you, it's good that there are clubs like this." Ramon is also delighted, uf! it's a car dream. Diego asks for 800.000, and We agree that this week you will have an answer. There is an interested Dutchman who would come to see it and pay for it on the spot to take it away in a trailer. «I would like you to stay in Barcelona», Diego says with a slight hint of bitterness. It hurts to have to sell a car that you want (I know from experience) and it is always a consolation that it does not go far.
At 1 noon we go to Hospitalet to see the third car of the day, a 124 Sport 1600. The good old 124 Sport of a lifetime, already known, a regular of classic regularity rallies, with which my copi and I made a triumphant debut… it's true, we won the Open class as novices. The contact is a certain Juan Antonio, and we have met on the corner of Rambla Marina, in front of a restaurant «La Flama», in Bellvitge.
We wait for the car to arrive but we don't see it arrive; there is a type of foot that watches us, with a sinister pint. I ask Ramón:
"Didn't he tell you anything, how did we have to recognize him, how did he have his voice?" Sinister. "Then that must be your man, I guess." Indeed ... good start. The car is two or three blocks, or four, or five, or six "And why didn't you bring it?" "Well, because it was parked there" "And how did you expect us to recognize you?" Well, I don't know. Okay, well…
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The car: there it is. He's a BA, from 1971. The look matches the look and voice of his master. It has been washed with Vim or something like that, the crystals dirty. This car has certainly seen better days. Did we test it? Oh, do you want to try it? Man, I don't know, if you can… He doesn't have insurance… » Well, Plan B. We will take a short tour of the industrial zone, Carrilet avenue and such. In fact, we look at each other, maybe we don't even need to try it: hand painting ("It's the primer layer, you just need to paint it and that's it") with primer not from yesterday, precisely (because of the shit that covers it), faded interior; The car has been out for a long time, you can tell because there is no color left on the seats, which have covers, or on the door panels, or on the rear tray ...
Handmade wooden dashboard… pure ethnic craftsmanship. Did you do it? "Yes, I am a painter, I do landscapes and oil paintings" And why are you selling the car? "The thing is that I already have another one and as this one is written and the other one is not, because I prefer the other one because it has no lyrics." Answer # 1 in the hit parade of sales pitch. He takes us where he has the other car and a diesel Dodge Dart, a Land Rover and an Opel Rekord Olympia, we come across a beautiful red MG 1100 S. "I know him, he is also from my club" What club? "El del Vagés" Del Bages, right? "That". Valley.
The guy starts second "It works out well, you don't need the 1st." Already. Driver change. While running it sounds better than it looks like, but after a few minutes suspicious white smoke begins to emit. Is he…. We let it cool and goodbye. For today it is already well. It has a gazillion thousand Kms and asks for 350.000, totally out of place; and he is not very convinced, although that sometimes happens, going to sell a car that deep down one does not want to sell ... is human.
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