I
own a sports car. If you knew
me, this might strike you as
unlikely. Yet I do. It’s a 2004
SLK350, and I inherited it from my
father when he died—suddenly
and unexpectedly—in February.
So, by the time we were properly
dismantling his estate it was
summer, and, among the sadness
and tedium of closing down his
bank accounts, chucking away his
cosmetics and donating his shoes to
the charity shop, it was a real treat to
take his car out for a spin, the roof
down and the wind blowing through
my hair.
I’d never even been in this car
before, I guess because it’s a two-
seater. Whenever Dad drove meIT’S A MANN’S WORLD
somewhere, he’d bring the whole
family along, so we always went in
his Land Rover. But as I finally
climbed into his Mercedes, settled
into its heated leather seats, flicked
on the radio (preset to Smooth) and
opened the glove box (full of
disposable contact lenses and
toothpicks), I felt Dad was with me.
I decided, right then, that I couldn’t
sell it.
But that was three years ago. Some
harsh realities have since come to
light. Firstly, the roof leaks. This
means that driving it in winter (or
autumn, or spring, or any time of
year when it might rain, ie, year-
round in this country) has a sting in
the tail. Hang a left, and you’re
rewarded with a little spritz of
mouldy water on your cheek, or,
worse, on the lens of your specs. I’d
experienced similar circumstances
with a convertible in the past, but
that was a soft-top, and a cheap one
at that—my Citroën Pluriel, a car soThis month Olly Mann inherits a family
heirloom, and learns a lesson in letting go
Changing Gear
Olly Mann presents
Four Thought for
BBC Radio 4, and
the award-winning
podcasts The Modern
Mann and Answer
Me This!16 • JULY 2019