24/04/2009 - W de Forte in 'The Chap'

SPLENDID MOTOR CARS

In a chequered motoring career spanning nearly three-quarters of a century, I have been privileged to have driven everything from my grandpa's 1895 Daimler Maybach (a devilishly dangerous device that could barely achieve 20mph!), to vulgar 200mph super-cars (why in heaven's name would anyone over the age of 15 want one of the ridiculous things?), so I feel moderately well qualified to write a series of articles for this esteemed organ about what might be called 'chaps' cars'.

Today's automobiles are produced in huge numbers and are stuffed full of fiendishly complex electronics that cannot be fixed by a backstreet mechanic. Devoid of character and without a discernable soul, the few that survive will just become old cars.

But real joy in motoring can still be achieved by the ownership and in the driving of classic, vintage and veteran motor cars. Stepping inside them is the closest thing to entering a time machine: with every creak and beat and mesh of gears we can share the experiences of our forefathers and by the evocative smell of oil, wood and leather we are returned to the days of our youth. They take us to another world where things were very different, and dare I say it, generally rather more agreeable.