Farewell to a Landmark

My Meccano-coloured Capri, a familiar sight outside Meccano clubs and exhibitions, and a fixed landmark of the WLMS car park for the last 15 years, has gone to pastures new.

Bought in 1984, I had it converted before delivery to automatic transmission and fitted with a turbocharger and all the modern gismos, like central locking and electric windows, nowadays taken for granted.  It was a risk modifying a brand new car so radically, but I was determined to confound my critics and run it, come what may, until it went round the clock.

The hatchback Capri with its low sill and fold-down rear seats proved an ideal Meccano carrier.  The scale and design of all my larger models were determined by its load area.  The Davy Hathorn fitted in, to much relief, with a half-inch to spare all round.

I realised only latterly that the body colour was Binns Road mid-red after spraying a replica Channel Segment with some left over car paint.  I then learnt that Meccano restorers had been using Ford Cardinal Red for years, being the closest of hundreds of automotive shades.  I promptly had the car coach lined in Rhoades' mid-green enamel.

This year, still with its original engine, it clocked 220,000 miles, long after a letter had been published in the Motoring Telegraph about its surprising longevity.  Sadly, by then, tinworm had gained the upper hand and I felt mutton-dressed-as-lamb driving a Capri.

The replacement?  No other car fitted my models, so it had to be - another Capri.  The latest was available in one (non-Meccano) colour only.  Do I now  repaint my collection in British Racing Green?