Worst Buying Excuse - Revcounter 464
When any excuse will do
Before you ask, no, we haven’t had a sudden rush of blood to the wallet and gone out and bought a Morris Traveller. Though, now you mention it, one of these things would look pretty good in the shed.
No, the real reason we’re showing off this fine example of British engineering is it got us thinking about the excuses, reasons or justifications we use to buy the latest transport of delight. The auction description for this car (from Car & Classic in the UK) mentions previous owners who say they bought it so they could take their rescue greyhound to classic car shows. Which is genius. Anyone who can say that with a straight face deserves an acting award. The mutt made me buy it…
Of course none of us are immune to bizarre flights of fancy when it comes to justifying the latest toy. I reckon the last time partner in crime Ms M Snr and I had a good excuse for buying a car was back in 1983, when we bought the mighty Kingswood. We really did need a big solid vehicle at the time, and it’s proved its worth over the ensuing 39 years. But that was it. From there it was all downhill.
Let’s see…the 633 Bimmer joined the shed because we didn’t have a manual car at the time, and you must have one of those. Oh, and it was almost exactly like the BMW coupe we’d just sold, right down to the colour.
The Soarer joined the fleet because we got a little carried away when working on a Japanese classic car buyer guide and kind of started searching the classifieds for something cheap and cheerful. Madam and I then decided picking up the car in Queensland was as good excuse as any for a road trip.
Then there was the 540 M-Sport Bimmer, which was actually an Uncle Phil purchase – we just paid for it. You need to understand how this works: Phil sees something that’s a great buy which somehow becomes a compulsory purchase. It’s turned out to be a great car – which in some ways makes it even more annoying.
Bringing the sedan count up to three was another Uncle Phil buy, the Benz 300 SEL land yacht. It really was a bargain, cheaper by the kilo than potatoes, but I’m not sure that’s reason enough, is it?
Let’s not forget the VK Commodore wagon project car, which seemed like a fantastic idea because we clearly needed a wagon. Why? Err, tricky that, let me get back to you.
Most recent was another Bimmer, the lovely 850, because everyone clearly needs to own a V12 at least once in their life and in the process risk becoming a rich vein of income for the nearest mechanic.
So, what’s your excuse?
From Unique Cars #464, April 2022
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