Cars! Over the years I have had many cars.
From my very first one when I was 17, which was a Ford Anglia Estate, to the current crop. If my memory serves me correctly there has been about 30 give or take one or two, and that’s not counting company cars of which there has been about another 10.
I have had some nice ones and some really bad mistakes. The most exotic was a Lotus Excel and the biggest a Nissan Armada. There have been two Discoveries and two Jags, as well as BMWs, Hondas, Fords and a Rover Metro which was the biggest mistake. It was after my last Jag blew the engine and to repair it would cost more than it was worth, that I decided I had had enough. At that time I also had a Nissan Tiida and a Toyota Yaris which are your small runaround type of cars. Now I have been only running these two cars for the last five years and guess what? My cost of motoring has plummeted to virtually nothing. Apart from petrol, insurance and the occasional service there is very little to go wrong.
Modern cars are all very reliable, and when once upon a time a car had reached 10 years old it was a heap fit for scrap. Now they go on and on and on for much longer. My two are 12 and 10 years old respectively, and are just entering middle age. I fully expect to get another 10 years of relatively trouble free motoring from them. So now I watch Top Gear and The Grand Tour and see all the wonderful super and hyper cars but I have no more longing.
All I want now is four wheels, an engine and a working AC which starts every morning and gets me to where I want to go. I would not thank you now for a Ferrari. In fact a few years ago I had a BMW Z3 which I had to give up as I found it too difficult to get in and out of.
I look forward to the day when we do not need to own cars, and can just order one from Uber and a driverless car will turn up in minutes to take us to where we want to go. No trying to find a parking place either. Before that I may be tempted to get an electric car but not in Bahrain. Apart from petrol still being cheap, have you seen your electricity bills recently? There is no way I am charging up a car at these costs. My monthly bill has rocketed from BD40 in April two years ago to BD99 for this month and this is despite one less occupant of the house and one less room being cooled. What on earth are these bills going to be when we get to the really hot months?
Mind you, that electric E-type Harry was driving last week was pretty awesome.