It’s always a strange feeling getting to photograph cars everyday. For many of our restoration projects, I’m there at the beginning – shadows of their former selves which arrive for our restoration team to bring them back to a former glory, and then I find myself at the end – gleaming, beautifully finished and individual pieces of automotive art. But this round of photos was slightly more personal than that.
I was there when Audrey came into my friend Rob’s life. When we first met, he wasn’t really ‘a car guy’. But, he wanted to experience the lifestyle (and therefore the roller coaster of emotions) that come with owning, driving and living with a classic car. Unbeknownst to us, he had applied through Borrow a Classic to be lent a classic car for 12 months. One day, whilst sat in our office, his eyes and smile lit up from across the room – ”I’ve only gone and got a classic car” I believe were his words.
A few weeks later, the day had come for Rob to meet his future – which came in the form of a 1955 MG Magnette, we affectionately called Audrey.
She was called Audrey because one morning, before we started work, we sat there trying to come up with a name for the car. We decided to look at who the most famous film star was in 1955, and we came across Audrey Hepburn and it just kind of stuck. From that point onwards, that’s how we always referred to this petrol driven friend.
She brought Rob so much happiness, so much contentment and so much experience. As the inevitable day drew near, when Audrey would have to leave Rob’s side, he took the plunge and summoned up the courage to buy himself a classic – a 1976 MGB GT, which we know as ‘Orby’. But, without those months of sharing life with his beloved ‘Audrey’ that would never have been on the cards I don’t think.
I’ve spent some time with the Magnette, it was involved in several photoshoots, a few video shoots and is in the background of most of our event videos and photographs as any reason for Rob to be ‘in the Magnette’ he would be.
Then, on the 8th of April this year, I got to be there as Rob took the time to say goodbye to a machine which had gone beyond that. It had become a friend, it had become a part of Rob’s young family, it had driven thousands of miles to and from work, taken us out to get lunches, gone round a whole series of Care Homes as part of our Mince Pie Drive but mostly it had become in our eyes ‘Rob’s Magnette’. During morning tea break, we all took our cups over to the Classic Lounge for one last time past the Magnette which sat waiting for her ‘real’ owner, Peter, to come and collect her for the drive home. So, whilst he busied himself getting her looking as good as he could (secretly saying goodbye out the corner of his eyes), I brought my camera up to mine and began to shoot this special moment – where my friend, truly became a petrolhead.
Goodbye Audrey – safe travels and thank you for being there for my friend and introducing him to this crazy world.
Full Gallery:
