Hands up who remembers the world before ebay. Well, yes, I do actually. In fact, at the risk of sounding like one of those ‘I love the ‘70s’ programmes they stick on which feature people clearly ‘reminiscing’ from a cue card rather than their actual memories, I remember when you had to get off your fat a*se and leave the house should you want to buy a classic car part or a bit of memorabilia.
And seeing as we’re doing the whole rose-tinted thing, I recall that the ‘olden day’ alternative to tapping something into a search box actually used to be quite exciting and fun.
Club events and classic car shows at places such as the NEC and Silverstone used to be as much about trawling through the autojumble and trader stalls as looking at other people’s cars for me, while I rummaged in search of a particular part, badge or brochure.
Going through the endless boxes of period ads and workshop manuals looking for something suitable for the year of manufacture of your particular classic was a task that required some dedication, but the joy at finally finding what it was you were seeking out made it all worthwhile.
Unfortunately, for me, ebay just doesn’t quite compare.
