This Island Stole My Heart

30th January 2010

Mull shores

I simply hadn’t wanted to leave.  The engines of the ferry stirred beneath and the Craignure boarding platform slowly shrunk away.  My heart ached.  Whilst on shore I hadn’t fully realised it but as the distance between the shore and me continued to widen, I now knew that Mull had silently made her way in and found somewhere to settle with me.

It was the end of January – a month positively thought of for it is always a month of adventure and new places.  With her often bleak and freezing winds, every year, January brings with her another anniversary for my partner Chris & I.  January 2010 saw us having been together for 8 years and so, like all our other Januarys, we had celebrated by heading away from home and staying a week somewhere wild. 

Mull map

This year we had chosen Mull and she did not disappoint.  Never before had I seen a place that had such dramatic skies, rugged shores and challenging terrain.  We’d taken Chris’s rally-prepared Daihatsu Avanzato to take on Mull’s roads but as I’d sat in the passenger seat throughout our capers, I had thought of Henry garaged back at home on the mainland and told myself that I must bring him here someday.  So often the island had seemed so completely unspoiled by modern day clutter.  Much of the island was wild and empty - just the kind of landscape that inspired adventures tend to spring from.

On the back of a postcard I scribbled:

“Mull has been an incredibly beautiful and intoxicating meeting of dramatic mountains, rocky shores & a wild sea.  I have loved Mull’s wild & untamed heart and have watched the changing light and weather with curious delight.”

Postcard entitled Road to the Glen, Isle of Mull

Upon leaving Mull, I had written out the postcard to remind me why we ought to come back.  Back to the island that, when I hadn’t been looking, had stolen my heart.

See this Henry & I feature on the Standard Motor Club website:

http://www.standardmotorclub.org.uk/cars/eights/features/gillian-island.htm

See the photographs which accompany this Henry & I article:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vintagehighlands/sets/72157625901378863

Living in Scotland as a Standard car owner?  There is a local group for Standard car owners & Standard car enthusiasts in Scotland.  See this page for more info:

http://www.standardmotorclub.org.uk/club/local_group_scotland.htm

Small Wonder

14^th November 2009

Given how wonderful yesterday was (see previous article Driver of the Day), it would be easy to forget to pay due attention to the birthday presents I received this year.  Of them all, this present is particularly special – a tiny metal model of a Standard 8.  Despite only measuring in at 24mm in length and 9mm in width, this tiny Standard is impressively detailed.  My partner Chris has managed to find it for me somewhere on the Internet.  Normally the model would be painted and sat trackside on a model railway set.  I however, like the model as it is with its shining silver body. It seems too intricate to tamper with – I think the details would be lost were it to be painted.  For a long time after opening this present, I am unable to put the tiny car back down.  I have the smallest version of Henry I will likely ever see in the palm of my hand and I am intrigued.  This little Standard is nothing short of a small wonder.

See this Henry & I feature on the Standard Motor Club website:

http://www.standardmotorclub.org.uk/cars/eights/features/gillian-smallwonder.htm

See the photographs which accompany this Henry & I article:

http://www.flickr.com/vintagehighlands/sets/72157625696613637

Living in Scotland as a Standard car owner?  There is a local group for Standard car owners & enthusiasts in Scotland.  Please see this page for more info:

http://www.standardmotorclub.org.uk/club/local_group_scotland.htm

Driver of The Day

13^th November 2009

My Driver of the Day Trophy

I only have one racing driver's trophy to my name but for many years to come that trophy will remain a prized possession serving to remind me of my very first drive in my Standard 8.

It was late into a mid-November afternoon when an apple-green Standard 8 from 1957 and two hopeful passengers arrived at the gates of Knockhill Racing Circuit. My partner Chris had spent most of the day weaving the Standard along narrow and frosted country lanes.  I meanwhile had sat patiently in the passenger seat.  We had been looking for an opportunity for me to drive somewhere quiet and away from all other traffic. 

It was just over a month since I’d bought my Standard 8, known as Henry.  In only a few weeks, several hundred more miles had accumulated on the odometer.  Within our first weekend with Henry, we had covered over 400 miles whilst travelling home to Scotland, having bought Henry in the village of Alvechurch, just south of Birmingham.  All these miles covered by my car and yet I hadn’t driven an inch. 

Prior to a day’s train travel from Scotland to view Henry, a classic car insurance policy had been taken out through the AA.  The policy was to cover the return trip to Scotland if I did indeed decide to buy Henry and in addition, it would also cover any driving over the following year.  This policy was not to come without a major flaw for it wouldn’t cover me as a driver of the car.

Upon trying to arrange classic car insurance through the AA, I was told that I wouldn’t be able to drive my Standard 8 on the policy being offered until I’d turned 25.  Right from the start, the insurance would cover my partner Chris but it wouldn’t cover me until I was able to satisfy the minimum age criteria.  I was 24 years old when I viewed and purchased my Standard 8. Whilst doing this, I had been able to look all round the car, sit in the driving seat and ask any questions I had but I was unable to do a test-drive. I wasn’t old enough to get classic car insurance and this meant that even a 5 minute test-drive was illegal.  Instead, my partner Chris drove Henry through the Alvechurch streets as I tried to decide whether or not the Standard could really be my very first car.

The day of buying my Standard 8 proved to be a very emotional and exciting one despite a complete lack of driving on my part.  I was enormously excited to now have my own car and as an added bonus for it to be a classic.  My happiness poured out with ease to anyone who happened to ask about my new purchase but the age stipulation continued to keep me out of the driver’s seat for a whole month.  I had to be patient and wait to be old enough to be eligible for my insurance. 

This waiting game seemed ridiculous at times but it wasn’t a matter of choice.  Prior to Henry’s purchase, my partner Chris & I had sat and contacted countless insurance companies to arrange cover for the Standard 8 that we might have been bringing back from Alvechurch.  The majority had simply given a flat “no” upon hearing my license was only a provisional.  Many hadn’t even bothered to say whether or not they’d insure a young person with a classic - simply hanging up instead.  Perhaps they thought we were wasting their time for a joke.  In the end, the AA were the only company who didn’t seem to mind my provisional license and so despite their 25 year old minimum age restriction, their policy had seemed the best bet for allowing me to drive my car within the near future.  My intention being to undertake driving lessons with a qualified instructor and then practice in between with Henry.  Learners are encouraged to build up their driving experience with supervision to compliment their driving lessons and I saw no problem in doing this in my own car.  It would perhaps spare someone else the worry about their own vehicle until I passed my test.  What I hadn’t realized when I bought Henry was that classic cars and provisional drivers simply don’t mix for the classic insurance companies.

My excitement about finally getting to drive, a month after buying my car, had built up in the week before my 25^th but heartbreak was to come on the 11^th November when I found yet another insurance policy stipulation that would keep me off the road.  Now in addition to being a minimum of 25 years old, I would also need a year’s worth of driving experience.  This meant my policy now required me to have a full license and then have driven in something else for a whole year before I could be insured for my Standard 8. I was just getting started on learning to drive when I had purchased Henry and it didn’t take long for the realization to come that it could be a year, perhaps two, before I’d be able to meet this previously unstated policy requirement.

The slopes of Bishop Hill, near Kinross

Our search for a quiet road continued along backroads by the foot of Bishop Hill, by Kinross.  As we passed by, the slopes were illuminated by a winter sun low on the horizon. With the gentlest of touches, the shadows of silent gliders above the hill made their way across the freezing landscape.  It was an idyllic scene but my heart was heavy. 

The fact that there was a strong chance I wouldn’t be able to drive my newly-purchased car for up to two years felt unthinkable.  Why couldn’t I be insured for my Standard 8 just as I would have been had I bought a small, modern runabout?  And why did I have to be 25 or over to drive my car?  At 25 I could have had a mortgage or perhaps started a family but for some reason I wasn’t allowed to drive a 28bhp classic from 1957.  Perhaps the stipulation was in place to protect classics from new drivers.  Perhaps young people were too much of a risk.  No matter what the reason, I couldn’t think why it was that I’d have to wait two years to drive the car I’d just chosen for myself.  Was it really so bad to own something a bit different as a young driver?  Is it the case that young people shouldn’t really drive classics?

The disappointment I felt seemed to follow us unremittingly along the scenic country roads.  There was simply no getting away from it – without insurance I couldn’t drive my car legally and I knew it would take a notable amount of time to pass my driving test and build up the driving experience I needed before classic insurance companies would even hear me out.  As a result, our drive in Henry that afternoon felt incredibly sad.  Henry chugged enthusiastically along the charming country lanes, passing rustic old farms and beautiful scenery as we went.  It was just like one of those daydreams I’d had as I had sat on cramped buses, longing for the day when I would be able to afford and drive a classic car.  But the daydream, now almost reality, simply made me want to cry.  It just didn’t feel fair that I would have to wait so long to sit on the other side of my car.

The winding country lanes brought us out near Knockhill – the racing circuit where I’d once completed a work placement.  Having been unable to find the gumption to drive on the public roads as an uninsured driver (and therefore an illegal driver), we headed for the circuit in the hope that the private track grounds might provide a last hope for driving Henry that day.

Knockhill at Sunset

The sunset lit circuit was my final hope of a drive in Henry on my 25th

Upon entering the Circuit Office, I asked in for Bruce Pirie, my work placement supervisor from many years ago.  In 2003, Bruce received a letter from a 17 year old college student who claimed to love all things car and motorsport related.  The student had written to request a work placement at the circuit to satisfy part of a media qualification and two weeks later, I had been directing car manufacturers and racing drivers around the paddocks & pits as a trainee as part of a media & PR day which launched the 2003 Knockhill Events Calendar.  In the short time I was there, Bruce & I developed a strong relationship.  When my work placement ended, I didn’t want to leave.  Even now, my week’s work at Knockhill continues to be the best job I ever had.

As I waited for Bruce, I could see Henry out of the window, parked on the tarmac. Daylight slipped away. Then the receptionist directed me through to the familiar circuit office. Bruce looked intrigued by the surprise visit. Sitting on the couch that had seen the likes of Colin McRae and Jackie Stewart grace its faded covers, I told Bruce of my delight on finally becoming a car-owner.  He was equally thrilled as he looked out to the Standard 8 outside.  I then also recalled my difficulties with getting car insurance and how this was now preventing me from being able to drive my car.  Bruce, like many others, was unsure on how to advise on the insurance regulations but was instead able to offer a temporary solution.

"You can drive the Standard on private property without worrying about the insurance and with that you'll find that Paddock 2 just happens to be free."

I was thrilled. I jumped up to hug Bruce but he was keen to see me get outside. 

"Hurry - not much time before the circuit shuts for the day." And so I ran out to the car park.

"Paddock 2 - we've got an hour!" I said as I climbed into the passenger seat.

Chris drove us through the circuit grounds to Paddock 2 and there we swapped seats.  As I sat in front of Henry’s steering wheel, I was unsure of what to expect. I’d had my provisional license for a few weeks now but was yet to take any driving lessons.  However, I knew the basic procedures of pulling away and stopping from past attempts on the deserted runway at Crail airfield and in an empty field in Luss with our much-loved Fiat Cinquecento and so I was keen to have a try.

Henry waits on his new driver in Paddock 2

Henry was ticking over nicely so there was no need for me to use the choke to get going.  However, there were a couple of unexpected surprises that needed addressing before I could go about pulling away.  The first surprise was how far away my feet were from the controls.  As soon as I got into the driver’s seat, it was clear I was going to need some help to reach Henry’s pedals. Because the seats couldn’t be moved, we instead rolled up an old coat and popped it behind me. I made a mental note to buy a rather large cushion or two for future driving.  The second surprise was the unusual shape of the accelerator – the pedal being rounded rather than flat.  Although this initially felt somewhat odd underfoot, I soon got used to it and found I got to quite like the smooth delivery of throttle that I was able to achieve with it. 

Paddock 2 was primarily flat and open.  White painted lines crissed and crossed on the tarmac.  These humble lines normally serve to guide the teams and drivers to their designated pits during motorsport events but soon enough they stood for an imaginary town complete with junctions, parking areas and even a roundabout or two.  As the paddock simulated many typical motoring challenges, I found I had to steer nearly continuously for the area we had was not particularly large.  There was little respite from the steering input required and soon my arms began to ache with the effort.  The ribs of the steering wheel ran through my fingers.  The wheel felt narrow and delicate in my hands but the steering itself did not.  It felt remarkably heavy.  As I continued around our imaginary motoring complex, I hoped that the steering would prove more maneuverable at higher speeds and Chris assured me that it would.

Happy Henry Driving

An hour of driving passed in what felt like only minutes.  It was dark and the circuit staff began leaving for home. We headed back towards the Circuit Office in the hope of finding Bruce to say thank you.  We found him out in the grounds as we made our return.  He’d been looking for us too.

“It’s not much but I thought you were driving well enough down in the paddock to qualify for this.”

Bruce said as he handed me a small metal trophy in the shape of a steering wheel through Henry’s passenger window.

“Driver of the Day” I read out aloud.

“Yes, Driver of the Day – a well deserved trophy for your efforts down in Paddock 2.” Bruce smiled.

A satisfied pair

I was delighted.  Our time at Knockhill had passed by so quickly but every moment had felt precious.  Even the freezing November wind that blew through the circuit couldn’t bring my spirits down. I wasn’t sure if Bruce realized how much of a favour he had done for us that day but I hoped he realized how much I appreciated it.  Driving around a car park at little more than 10mph is perhaps not a commonly requested thing to do for a birthday but it felt like it meant the world to me.  As Henry left Knockhill, I held the trophy in my hands on my lap.  I knew it would probably be a long time before I’d be driving Henry again.  It would have been easy to slip back into feeling down about the whole matter but now I felt I had something to think back on while I worked on tackling the difficulty of getting insurance for my classic car.  For the time being, my drive at Knockhill would at least allow me to describe what my car felt like to drive and to have something real to build my driving plans on.

Henry & I

This article forms part of my Henry & I column.  It has not yet been published on the Standard Motor Club website but a link will be posted here as soon as it goes up.


See the photographs which accompany this Henry & I article:


http://www.flickr.com/vintagehighlands/sets/72157625696590693


Living in Scotland as a Standard car owner?  There is a local group for Standard car owners & enthusiasts in Scotland.  Please see this page for more info:


http://www.standardmotorclub.org.uk/club/local_group_scotland.htm

Insurance Woes

11^th November 2009

It would seem I was obligated to spend considerable time on the phone to insurance companies as I tried to find a classic car policy for Henry & I.

It was with a heavy heart that I logged into the Standard Club Forum on 11^th November 2009.  My 25^th birthday was just around the corner in two days time but I already felt that my hopes for the day had deserted me.  

I entitled my new forum post ‘Birthday Bubble Burst?’ and sighed.  Could the club help me with my problem?  I’d already been working on it for days but had been unable to find a solution.  Still, I figured asking was worth a try. 

Pondering how I could word my dilemma, I cast my mind back to a month before.  The 11^th of October had been the day Henry had made his impressive journey back to Scotland with two new passengers onboard.  I was now the proud owner of a 1957 Standard 8 but a month later found me feeling particularly glum.  A think back to our journey was still able to bring a smile to my face but now I was almost tempted to wonder if it had all been somewhat pointless.

“Yesterday I was informed by my car insurance company that I will not legally be allowed to drive my Standard 8 for a minimum of a year and a half, possibly longer” I typed.

I had bought my Standard 8, named Henry, on 10^th October 2009.  In that cold winter evening and during the whole of the day after, Henry had travelled some 400 miles to bring myself & my partner Chris back home to Scotland from Alvechurch, a small village that nestles just south of Birmingham. A nearby council lock-up, which I was now renting, was where Henry had primarily been hidden since his arrival in Scotland.  Chris & I had been out with Henry a couple of times on local roads (see previous article ‘Meeting Jim Clark’) but for the last month or so we’d mainly been playing a waiting game.

Prior to my buying of Henry in Alvechurch, Chris had phoned round various companies to get quotes for suitable car insurance.  We were looking for a policy that would give us cover for both our Standard 8’s return journey to Scotland and any further driving undertaken over the following year.  Over the phone, Chris gave both his and my details as we both intended to drive Henry and therefore we both needed to be on any policy opted for.  I needed Chris to drive Henry on the return journey home for, although approved by the DVLA, it didn’t look likely that my provisional license was going to arrive on time for our trip to view a Standard 8.  Despite soon to be only a provisional driver, I wanted to have my details on the policy in-order to allow me to practice driving my Standard while I worked on getting my full license.  I figured, perhaps somewhat naively, that there would be no problem with my intention to hone my driving skills in my own car between driving lessons.

However, as Chris remained on the phone for longer and longer, I realized that getting insurance was not proving to be simple.  But what else had I expected? After all I was perhaps an insurer’s worst nightmare – a full-time university student who also happened to be categorized as unemployed (thanks to full-time study really being full-time study and not allowing the time to work), with my first car, as a diabetic, whilst just starting to learn to drive with a car considered to be somewhat unusual!  

I had expected the prices to be high but even then I was in for somewhat of a shock.  £2,500 was asked from one company.  £1,000 was asked from a couple of others.  I know that young people are often hung out to dry for when it comes to car insurance but despite this knowledge, I couldn’t quite believe what I was hearing for my quotes.

The classic insurance ads are filled with nostalgic & appealing images.  Your dream of driving a fully insured classic is just a phone call away.  Young people need not apply.

‘I’m only going to be paying £1,200 for the car – maybe less if I’m able to negotiate – that’s ridiculous!’ I thought to myself as Chris continued to try for a better deal. 

Chris phoned the AA.  Advertising classic car insurance on their website, perhaps they would be more reasonable with being a more established firm.  It was sounding promising from where I was sitting.  Chris was now nodding a lot and scribbling down notes hurriedly. 

“Just a moment …” he said and turned to me. 

We had been at this for hours now.  I had grown weary of it all. 

“They’ll insure the car for £130 but you can’t get on the policy until you’re 25” he whispered to me. 

I didn’t know what to do.  Did I really want insurance that wouldn’t cover me then and there?

“Adding you onto the policy when you turn 25 would only take it up to £150 for the year” Chris added.

I was 24.  There wasn’t much time to think but I realized this was our best offer by far. I didn’t think we were going to be offered much better.  I shrugged my shoulders and replied:

“Well, it’s the cheapest quote I think we’re going to get. We’re running out of time to organize anything else before we head for Alvechurch – I think we should say to them that we’ll take the policy and we’ll just have to sort the rest out ourselves later.”

Chris gave me a faint smile before going back to talk to the AA on the phone.  I guessed from this that although he knew it was a good quote, taking the policy not only scuppered my chances of being able to test-drive Henry prior to purchase but that it would also prevent me from being able to drive him for quite some time after we returned to Scotland. 

I would still be 24 years old when travelling down to view the Standard for sale and it would take a whole month afterwards for my 25^th birthday to come along and make me eligible for our policy.  I knew it would be hard not to want to get into my car and drive but I knew I needed some sort of car insurance from someone to even have a chance of being able to make a purchase. Having spoken to Wendy, the previous owner, on the phone and having been sent photographs of Henry already, I figured this was something I would just have to get my head around for a chance of being able to purchase this particular Standard 8. 

The process of buying a car was proving somewhat more complicated than I’d imagined and I hadn’t even got down to view it yet.  I had assumed, perhaps a little foolishly, that I would be able to get car insurance for a Standard 8 just as I would for any other car, although it had been reasonable to assume it would be a more expensive policy.  However, aware of this, I had already decided that I was willing to pay the costs of a young person’s insurance and the possible costs which would be added on due to the nature of the car because now I wanted to drive so much. 

At 18 I was diagnosed with insulin-dependent diabetes – one of the many medical conditions that can complicate getting a license and being a driver on the road.  This diagnosis had forced my hopes of driving lessons in my late teens to long since disappear but finally after many years of persevering with complex insulin routines and tightening up the control of my blood sugar levels, I was now starting to feel impatient about finally getting out on the road as a healthy adult in my own right.  To allow pricey insurance quotes to stop me now that I was feeling confident enough in my ability to control my diabetes and stay safe as a driver was simply inconceivable to me.  I’d waited long enough, delaying my driving ambitions for some 7 years after finding out I had become diabetic. 

I had realized that my insurance would perhaps cost quite a lot initially but I also knew it would likely come down to a more reasonable level once I was no longer a student and had been able to build up a bit of driving experience.  Somehow I would just have to manage my finances, sacrificing luxuries, in-order to cover my car insurance with my limited student’s budget.  What I hadn’t anticipated was that I’d also either have to be over a certain age or have a specified number of years of driving experience to even be able to get insurance for a classic car. 

I focused once more on my forum posting.  If I was now going to be 25 in a couple of days surely I should have been happy for soon I would meet the insurance criteria of being old enough for the policy.  However, a more recent phone call to the AA the day before posting ‘Birthday Bubble Burst?’ had my spirits in tatters.

“Yesterday, the AA informed us that despite the fact that I will be old enough for the insurance policy as of Friday 13 November, I will still not be able to drive my car legally.  This is because they don’t insure provisional drivers for classic cars. The driver, whether main or secondary, must be over 25 years of age AND have had a full driving license for a minimum of a year.”

The second stipulation was not something we had been aware of when we had taken out our policy.  We had checked that I could be insured for the Standard, as a secondary driver, through the AA’s online quote service.  It hadn’t brought up any issues about my being on the policy and had then proceeded to give us a quote with Chris being the main driver and I being the secondary.  Although perhaps unusual to have the owner of the car as the secondary driver, we felt that this was a fair reflection of what we intended to do with Henry.  In the first year, it was reasonable to assume that Chris would do the majority of the driving. Meanwhile, I would do a very modest mileage in my Standard as I practiced my driving between lessons.  For both of us to be on the policy in this way, the AA website had quoted us with £150 for the year.  It had seemed perfect – both of us would be covered and I wouldn’t be paying a ridiculous sum like some of the other companies had asked for.

Upon phoning to up-date the policy in time for my 25^th, the AA told us that we would need to directly contact the classic insurance company that they’d organized our cover with. It turned out that our policy lay with a company called Towergate rather than with the AA.  When we had taken out the policy, the AA had taken all of our details and passed them onto Towergate - the AA effectively acting as a middle party. 

A subsequent phone-call to Towergate then confirmed that I couldn’t add my details as the general rule was that I would need a minimum of a year’s driving experience to be eligible for cover as a secondary driver.  We told Towergate that we had not been aware of the fact that I would need a specified amount of driving experience in-order to be added onto the policy. The AA had told us the same and had been reluctant to offer anything further when we’d explained that this was something that hadn’t come up upon investigating their classic insurance services via the online check or when we’d agreed to the policy over the phone.  The AA apologized and said this was an unfortunate omission in the system and that this would be amended so as to avoid confusion with future customers.  This did not serve to quell my disappointment.

Into the forum I typed:

“Thinking about this, it may be up to a year before I’m ready to pass my driving test and then it will take a further year from my passing date before I will be able to be insured by our policy through the AA”

It was a bitter disappointment. My purchase of Henry had been a fantastic experience.  An experience in complete contrast to what I felt now.  I had wanted to own and drive my own car for years.  During our journey back to Scotland, I had found it unbelievable that I really did now own a Standard 8. On our route back I’d had to keep telling myself that I finally had a car of my own and as an extra special bonus, it was a classic from 1957.  Throughout the month of October, as I’d waited to be old enough to be insured, I had regularly stolen a few moments to nip out to the lock-up and visit Henry, often running my hands along his roof or steering wheel and thinking about how much I was looking forward to driving him.  During this time, I felt mixed emotions of being delighted to own a Standard 8 and sad that, because of my age, I wasn’t able to drive it yet.

We asked the AA what we could do about our policy for it was clear that it no longer suited us.  There I was - the owner of the car and unable to be covered with the policy I myself had purchased a month ago.  Although the AA said they could sympathize, they also said there was only a limited amount with what they could do now that we were a full month into our policy. 

My feelings were now starting to pour into my forum posting:

“I find myself facing the prospect of not being able to drive my Standard 8 on my birthday and possibly also for up to the next two years. I’m gutted. What else can I be?

I can’t help but feel that it is somewhat sad for me to be paying £130 a year for car insurance which, for the time being, will only allow my partner to drive my car. Has my birthday bubble truly burst? Will I ever get to drive my car?”

My question seemed a tad dramatic but I did feel very cheated.  I felt so let-down because I knew that even were I to find a suitable policy elsewhere, chances were that I wouldn’t be able to get it all organized in time for my 25^th.  Somewhere along the line, sub-consciously, I had decided that driving my Standard was all I wanted to do on my 25^th birthday.  Somewhere along the line, sub-consciously, I had also decided that driving my Standard 8 on my 25^th could probably amount to the best birthday I’d ever had.  My disappointment now lay beyond description.

I typed:

“Chris & I really have no idea what to do now. The AA have told us that if we shut down the insurance cover we currently have through them for my Standard 8 (Chris is the only driver on the policy for the moment), we will only receive half of the money back that we paid out. We paid for the insurance cover in one lump sum and so stand to lose approx. £70 if we shut down the policy. We feel this is somewhat unfair considering that we only took out the insurance policy believing that after my 25th birthday, me driving Henry wouldn’t be a problem. £70 is a sore loss for my naivety or for us being mis-sold our insurance (however you look at it).”

I wasn’t sure if the other Standard owners would think me a fool for what was going on but I was still keen to ask for their opinions and for any ideas they might have.  I posted my thread and fumbled with Henry’s keys at my desk.  Perhaps the morning would bring some answers.

The next morning came and brought with it a surprising number of sympathetic responses.  I was surprised.  Not being a regular on forums, I hadn’t quite been sure what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised to see how many people were trying to offer me advice. 

Many fellow Standard owners had recommended classic-specific insurance companies.  However, we’d already called the majority of companies that were being recommended and received quotes that were far higher than what the AA had insured us for.  Other members said they felt we’d been mis-sold our insurance.  They mentioned policy ‘cooling off’ periods and encouraged me to look into whether I was still within this time with our policy. 

Disappointingly, a quick check that afternoon revealed we were beyond any ‘cooling off’ period. I wrote back to those who’d responded on the forum.

“We gave the AA all of our details, including the fact that I currently only have a provisional, and they insured us. But now they are saying that the provisional license is a problem and that I can't drive Henry until I have a full license and then some.”

I added:

“The first thing that occurred to me to do was to complain to the AA and ask for a full refund. After all, my own insurance doesn't cover me, it only covers my partner because he has a full license and therefore he meets their criteria.

However, perhaps keeping the insurance is the better idea because it will at least allow Chris to drive my Standard 8. This will help keep Henry running (preventing seizing) and will allow us to make some use of him in the meantime.  I'm keen to try other insurance companies and see what they can offer but I have a feeling that they will all have a similar stance on my provisional license. It may simply have to be that I cannot drive my Standard until I have passed my driving test and then driven on the road in something else for a specified amount of time. The AA said a year after passing my driving test - some companies want 3 years before they'll touch you.

The main thing is that it has been a big disappointment for my 25th as I now feel I can't go out in my Standard tomorrow. A friend of mine suggested that driving Henry (just for that all-important 'first drive') might be a possibility despite the insurance problems if I can find myself a piece of private property. Chris & I are looking into that one today.”

Reading this posting over before submitting it online, I was aware that I already sounded defeated.  It had been a long couple of days, filled with phone calls to insurance companies and finding there always yet another complication to deal with.  Now old enough but not enough driving experience, wrong insurance but just beyond the ‘cooling off’ period, other companies willing to insure but wanting a fee far beyond what I’d allowed for.  Would I ever find something suitable?

My head hurt and with that I decided to head for bed.  My 25^th birthday was the next morning.  If all else failed, perhaps we could at least go out for a drive with Henry.  After all, it had only been a few weeks ago that I had thought even just a passenger ride in a Standard car would be something pretty special.  Perhaps I could remain patient and leave donning the driving gloves for just a little bit longer. 

My driving gloves await

See this Henry & I feature on the Standard Motor Club website:

http://www.standardmotorclub.org.uk/cars/eights/features/gillian5.htm

See the photographs which accompany this Henry & I article:

http://www.flickr.com/vintagehighlands/sets/72157625334798730

Living in Scotland as a Standard car owner?  There is a local group up & running for Standard car owners & enthusiasts in Scotland.  Please see this page for more info:

http://www.standardmotorclub.org.uk/club/local_group_scotland.htm