Manfred

Manfred arrived on 4 March 2002, and by the time I took this photo I had run up 47,800 miles behind the steering wheel. Although the car is an inanimate object, to me it is almost like a member of the family because it has shared with me so many adventures on my travels.

I have been reflecting on the eleven years I have owned the car because it will be part exchanged against a brand new car in a couple of months, and I have been enjoying driving it ever since I signed the contract with a slight feeling of guilt and regret. After all, it was economical to run, cheap to insure, handled well on the road, always started first time (except when I had run the battery flat by failing to close the boot or a door properly) and never broke down or needed expensive spare parts.

It was a replacement for another Micra, Buffy, that had come to grief on Christmas Eve 2001 when the wheels had locked on a patch black ice and trundled slowly but inevitably into a railway bridge and crumpled up, putting paid to my Christmas and New Year arrangements.

After that, things had unravelled slowly. It was towed away four days later but a loan car was not provided until 11 January, and that was taken away less than a fortnight later without notice when the insurers, MMA, decided to write the car off, and I was then without transport until Manfred arrived six weeks later. I also remember vividly the huge battle I had with the insurers to get the proper replacement value from them, their original offer being £1,300 lower than the Nissan dealer's valuation, a figure they eventually had to match in April 2003!

The name of this car came about because the car's number plate suggested to me the song Ha! Ha! Said The Clown, recorded by Manfred Mann. Because the car was red I also considered naming it after Baron von Richtofen, the Red Baron, and when I looked up his first name I discovered it was Manfred.

L.
8.4.2013

Blip #948
Consecutive Blip #006
Day #1103

Lens: Pentax 17-70 mm

Manfred series


Lozarhythm Of The Day:
Manfred Mann - Ha! Ha! Said The Clown (1966)

One year ago: Smokey, 2106 hr