1 August 20 Farewell Cappuccino

So farewell to our Cappuccino, collected today from Bethany from Plymouth and her petrol head Dad.

We decided to put the Cappuccino up for sale as not being garaged was leading to its deterioration and because two classics is quite hard work. We did receive offers of a winter garage from kind friends and family but with values on the rise it kinda felt right to quit while we were ahead and see if a buyer came along. To cut a long story short, I agreed terms last week and now it’s goodbye!

I’ll always treasure my memories of this car, my first classic and a shared anniversary present for Helen and I. We’ve had some great times together in the Cappuccino and I will miss those golden times when on a warm summer evening we’d put the roof down and potter along the lanes with the exhaust burbling and the summer scents in the air.

It’s a car that gets a nice reaction and I’ve enjoyed having something that turns heads but in a fun way and is not show-offy. Once you get past the toy cars looks however this is a serious little sports car with fabulous nimble handling, that manic little engine revving to 9000 rpm and the snickety-snick gear change. Even the ride is pretty supple, although large bumps will of course bounce you, it’s actually very good at keeping its tyres planted on the road and this combined with the light and communicative steering means it makes the most of its grip and is easy to feel what it’s doing. Over about 60 it gets a bit floaty but that really missing the point of this little fella.

Certain memories stand out – driving the A4 towards Calne, an open road as the sun went down and shone off the bonnet, our day out at Bowood Classic Car show, taking Lou to her prom, meeting ten other Cappuccinos in Cambridge and terrorising the town centre, going to see my sister on a lovely sunny day, then putting the roof on and burbling home in our cosy coupe, a day out driving with Dad, to Prescott Hill Climb with Phil, taking young Abraham to Castle Combe Race Circuit and his Dad Chris giving up his seat home so his son could ride in it again – ah, good times.