Last July, on the way home from the VTR convention in Savannah, my pride
and joy (1970 Spitfire) was totalled by an 80 year old man who ran a red
light. This was an incredibly painful experience, even though I
thought I had prepared myself mentally for its eventual occurence. I
had just finished a frame off "refurbishment" (I hesitate to call it a
"restoration" because it was not brought back to the conformation the
factory gave it) about 2 weeks before the show. As I was working on it
almost every day for the preceding 2 years, I would periodically ask
myself, "What will you do when it gets wrecked?" The answer was always,
"I enjoy working on it as much as driving it or looking at it. I will
enjoy it while I have it and it will not be the end of the world when it
is gone." I was somewhat surprised at my reaction when 2 days after the
show, it was taken away to the impound lot in Macon after the wreck.
An incredible sense of loss; anger at the man who hit it; anger at myself
for being angry at him. All I could think of was "I only had it for
400 miles! How could this have happened?"
Even as I write this, the memory is still vivid and disturbing for me.
For a while, I thought of just letting the insurance company have it
and quit the British car thing. In the 3 months that have passed while
waiting for the claim to be settled and with encouragement from my wife,
I have decided that I can't just walk away. After all, I spent 2 years
of my life working on it so there is a large part of me in that car.
Although its just a car or as some people have said, its only a
SPITFIRE, it represents a huge investment in time, love, and money.
Next week I am supposed to get the car back. It will be a great relief
to finally have it in my own garage. My goal is to have it ready to
go to next year's VTR convention in Seattle. Hopefully, it will look
the same as it did in Savannah. I can't wait to get started!
Regards,
Mike Burdick
mburdick@molecular.unmc.edu
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