STAFF CAR SAGAS
Out of horror come heroes, as Bora and Beemer attest
When several of the PC cars were vandalised earlier this year it was a shock. Local kids (according to eye witnesses) had been in to mess around with the cars at the magazine’s storage site on previous occasions, but had been chased off or just got bored. But this time it was different. They had been in and smashed all the glass on six of our project cars and scratched and dented several more.
A local security guard, quite by chance was doing a drive by on the estate where the cars are stored and scared them off, but most of the damage was done. Several cars were beyond saving but there were two or three we could, potentially, revive. My VW Bora and Clive’s E39 5 Series were saveable in particular. Both were projects in waiting, ready to be put back on the road and written about in our Bangernomics pages, neither had any significant panel damage, but both needed every pane of glass apart from a single quarterlight on both. I was particularly angry and motivated regarding the Bora as it had been donated to the magazine with the express wish that it should be returned to the road. It had been in Simon and Sandra Wright’s family since 2005, their first family car – the car that brought their kids back from hospital. It stayed with them right until 2016, when they needed something a little bigger. At this point Simon’s brother-in law took in on until it suffered a turbo failure in 2020. It needed a turbo, intercooler and associated pipework and was passed to me on the basis that I’d to sort it. Looking at the scene of devastation, the most difficult call was going to be to the couple.
This is the thing bored kids who smash stuff up don’t think about – the emotional impact they have on others. If these kids ever get caught and prosecuted – and with the underfunded, understaffed police drowning under a sea of bureaucracy, I doubt that will ever happen – I think part of the sentencing should be having to meet the victims of their crimes and set right the damage they have done. All under controlled conditions, and not so retribution can be wreaked, but so they can see the impact they have had.
I’m a solid believer in the goodness that sits deep within us all. Some hide it well, others display it all the time, and circumstances dictate how it manifests. This shook my belief, but what happened next revived it. Having seen a post online the nightmare that greeted Clive and myself (and several others who had their cars damaged), Craig Cheetham started a Gofundme page and pretty soon a substantial figure had been raised by friends and readers of PC donating to it. People rallied round including Richard Usher, boss and owner at Great British Car Journey.
He made his fortune starting and running a well-known automotive glass supplier and fitter and still has contacts in the industry. With the commitment from Clive and I that proceeds from the cars go to a charitable cause, Richard then set to work with those contacts.
Stepping up
Within a week we had a date set and an offer from the good people at Autoglass to come and replace every speck of glass lost. To clear up the damage and make all things good. Clive and I, having bound both cars up in plastic coverings, would transport them to the PC workshop where two teams of experts would show exactly what is possible. The whole operation would be done at cost… or significantly below so that as much money as possible from the Gofundme amount and from the eventual sale price of both cars would go to charitable causes – namely the hospice supported by by Auto Windscreens and the hospice where our friend Theo spent his final weeks,
All set then. The boys from Autoglass arrived en masse and set up camp… it was going to be a long day. Operations Manager Matt Redding, George Pimm (Best technician in Europe – second in world apparently), technician Jason Marsan and Technical Innovations Manager Jamie Cooke were the nominated SWAT team, ready with everything required – including the glass. The BMW was relatively easy, although there was some confusion around whether the screen was tinted or heated. The Bora was also relatively simple being basically a Golf MkIV, although the rear screen took a bit of finding, being unique to the car. Nothing Autoglass couldn’t sort with its huge network and contacts.
I’ve always liked the Bora for its difference. It succeeded the Vento at the end of 1998 and was basically a next gen Jetta and was produced until 2005. It demonstrated a high degree of independence from the technically identical Golf IV. Distinctive and now a favourite without the modifying scene, it’s the kind of car that simply isn’t made anymore.
First came the cleaning. Both cars were full of splinters and glass dust. Masks were worn and high power vacuums deployed as every inch of carpet was given a thorough going over. Then, using a fascinating variety of nozzles, every crevice was explored. I was able to contribute to this bit as the guys cleaned out runners, channels and apertures. Even the vaguest remnants of glass would means the Bora and Beemer would leak once new glass had been installed and the greatest possible care was exerted during the cleaning process.
It was extremely time consuming, but also an education. With each of the door glass replacements the fixings and fittings were carefully removed and placed out intuitively so that the reattachment would be a doddle.
The guys also worked a door at a time. At no point was there a ‘where is the x/y/z?’ It was process driven and the working areas were kept clean and tidy. That’s a note to self.
When it came to the big tasks, screen replacement, it was 90 per cent preparation and 10 per cent perspiration. The specialist adhesives and sealants had to be used within a certain period of time out of the tube and be allowed to dry over a 24-hour period.
There was a real preference for the car to be left alone for that period so that everything could set without disturbance and so the big insert was left almost until the last moment. It made all the difference though.
As the day proceeded it almost crept up on me the fact that this little car, and Clive’s big Beemer were coming back to life, looking as good as they had done before, better even. Cars always look better with nice clean and clear glass. The Autoglass guys had put in a huge shift and, I have to admit, bamboozled me with their specialist knowledge. No surprises there, the world of car glass replacement is a specialist field, I wouldn’t know where to start. My world of thick rubber screen surrounds and lengths of string is pretty much a foreign language now… everything post 1990 is bonded.
So, two revived classics, two fingers up to the sad little idiots who decided one day to ruin a row of cars. Faith in humanity? Restored. Just like my Bora and Clive’s Beemer.
Next it’s time to replace the Bora’s blown Turbo… if anyone has a spare knocking about, I’d be very interested.
This car has enjoyed so much love in its life and been so important to its previous owners that it must live again.
Once it is back on the road, I will then do a trip in it for these very pages, and finally sell it on to raise even more money for the good causes that are already going to be receiving a four figure sum. There are plenty of good people in the world, plenty of generous selfless spirits, this experience has just proved it. It has also proved that with the kind of car people Practical Classics is aimed at, the spirit is really strong. danny.hopkins@practicalclassics.co.uk
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