One of my favorite parts of this job is that I’ve gotten to come close to classic sports and racing cars I previously though were utterly inaccessible. Vintage Alfa Romeos. Nazi Mercedes Grand Prix cars. Cisitalias. This has also gotten me close to the mechanics who keep these things running. They are universally interesting people.
Even the most quiet, soft-spoken person to wrench on some hundred-year-old racecar is going to impart some wisdom on you. This came to mind today whenI was looking at all of the gleaming classics at the Concorso d’Eleganzia Villa d’Este.
Behind all of those glittering paint jobs are dirty mechanics with a story to tell, as reader pFfft immediately brought up:
Be more like these old mechanics. Know the right way, don’t compromise and cheat someone out of the full information, always give the realest answer possible.