Jack gets in just over the line again – –

A good friend was telling me recently how she used to own a Mini and put it in for an oil change. The garage drained the old oil but didn’t put any new oil in! So she didn’t get very far before the engine seized up – –

This reminded me of a couple of incidents in my car owning life –

The first involved an original 1960s Mini, which I had put in to have the brakes serviced. But the mechanic didn’t completely tighten the bleed valve on one of the wheels. My singing pal Barbara and I were heading towards the Forth Road Bridge (a toll bridge) on our way to a gig in Edinburgh, and as we approached the toll booth the brake gave out! So I sailed through, despite desperately pulling on the parking brake and gently turned onto the lane going back to Fife. Back we went and turned again, and finally I managed to stop and pay the toll. I can’t remember how we managed to get home safely – – –

The second memory was when I owned a SAAB 9000, and it was great – way ahead of most contemporary cars and with lots of extras that you would normally have had to pay more for. I had previously owned a succession of SAABs, all the way from a 96 through a couple of 900s and then the 9000. At that time I was presenting a weekly radio show up in Pitlochry – the smallest station in Britain then. On the way back home on one of those days, the car started to slow down and misfire, and then the temperature gauge was going up – – . I pulled over and let it cool then carried on. It finally died, and I phoned Wendy, who came and rescued me. The oil pump had stopped working, so the engine had seized!

The SAAB was a goner, but someone in the village where I was stuck was selling a Skoda, so I bought it on the spot – the worst car I ever owned. That’s how Wendy and I eventually wound up with matching SEAT Ibizas. SEAT is a Spanish company owned by Volkswagen – so when you buy a SEAT you are getting a VW but much more cheaply!

Come back next Wednesday for more from Jack