How did Elliott fare with his classic resolutions for 2012?

By James Elliott

| 2 Jan 2013

The problem with the internet is that things don't seem to go away… ever.

If I wrote my magazine column on classic-related New Year resolutions, it could quietly slide into obscurity without me being held to account when the next year came around. OK, a reader or two might notice and ask how they had worked out, but the chances of anyone bothering to go back and find the issue and tick off what I had and hadn't achieved are slender.

But that doesn't happen in cyberspace. First day back in the office and I have just opened a bevy of e-mails and website contacts reminding me that this time last year I wrote a blog of "promises" for 2012 and suggesting that now is the time to revisit it.

Fair enough. Here goes:

1) I will trim my classics to a number that I can keep on top of, and I will then keep them all roadworthy, or even improve them, rather than just about get by or watch them steadily deteriorate.

Have trimmed the fleet by one, and have made some headway with the works on the others… but not enough. This raises the spectre of another classic having to go to make this resolution feasible. Unthinkable.

2) All my garages will be car habitable and one of the rentals will go completely in 2012.

Up to a point Lord Copper. All have cars in them, but one of them has a broken door and is inaccessible (thankfully not with a classic in it), and I haven't got rid of one of the rentals, which is looking increasingly inevitable. The main picture shows the Elan +2 in the integral garage at home (it's a tight fit, but it does go) and below is how the same garage looked this time last year. So that is an improvement.

3) The Triumph will receive the attention it deserves this year.

It did in the driving sense, but didn't in the repairs and restoration sense. Below is a picture of it this time last year and it looks exactly the same now. My guilt is enormous.

4) I will finish (and in some cases re-do) the jobs I set out to do on my Jensen.

Now this, I have at least made a start on. But, of course, even more jobs cropped up. Interestingly, despite commuting in it solidly in December, just our pre-Christmas outing to Surrey was enough to convince me how much I want to persevere with this car. Let's just hope time and money become available before it becomes untenable.

5) I will NOT buy any more classics (well not without selling something at least).

I didn't buy a single classic in 2012 – even if I did swap one Elan for another – though I came close several thousand times! In fact, even this morning a classic that I could purchase was mentioned to me and I have been fantasising about it ever since! Oh dear...

Ok, so overall a pretty pathetic performance ('Could do better' as my school reports always seemed to say), but there has been some scant progress.

So on to 2013. No point in making any new resolutions when there is such a gulf between what I set out to do and what I actually did in 2012, so I'll repeat last year's and give you another update this time in 2014!

Happy New Year.

James Elliott

James Elliott is a former Editor of Classic & Sports Car