National Motoring Day.
So there you were this morning, starting up the engine of your car, thoroughly checking how much petrol you've got left in the tank, finding out whether your car is ready for an MOT and then realising that it needs a good run out to the country and seaside. The car has assumed an almost spiritual significance to us throughout the decades because without it, we'd probably wonder why it wasn't there. A car was essential for family excursions and working up in town if you could find adequate parking spaces. Nowadays we'd be lost without a car in a way that would have seemed hardly credible during Victorian times.
Way back at the beginning of the 20th century, horse and carriages, landaus and cartouches would trot merrily around the streets of London, clattering away melodiously, blissfully unaware of the fact that this would be our only means of transport. At the turn of the 20th century, you'd have been regarded as slightly barmy and a figure of fun had you suggested that the complex mechanics of the family car would dominate our thoughts. Then there was the internal combustion engine followed by these vast jalopies.
Nowadays everybody has got an Audi Volkswagen, a member of the Ford family, Toyota, Datsun, a Kia Sportage, Fiat and a nice little runner from the Vauxhall Astra clan. Then there's the legendary Robin Reliant, notorious for being perhaps unreliable and laughable at times. Mercedes was always my late and lovely dad's preferred choice of car because it was big, sleek, aerodynamic and well designed.
Above all though today is National Motoring Day, a day for petrolheads, as some affectionately call them, the motor, four wheels, your status quo, your class statement, your social position in the great hierarchy. If you just happened to have two sports cars, a Rolls Royce, a Daimler and a Bentley, you were rolling in wealth and highly esteemed by those with a considerable amount by those in the know. It is a day for the new registration plate on your car, to flaunt our latest model to our friendly neighbours.
And then there are those who have in their possession at least ten cars in their gravelled driveway, a couple of vintage cars from the 1930s and some stunning chrome work, spray painted to perfection. If you're a lord of the manor on some opulent country estate, then you're probably spoilt for choice. Then there are the F1 cars, the grand prix Red Bull and the cars that fly around the F1 circuit in both Europe and the rest of the world with a highly valued chassis and carburettor and can do at least 200 mph around winding and thrilling chicanes and hairpin bends.
But way back then, cars were always luxury fashion statements only affordable to the hoi polloi or the affluent elite. They stood in car showrooms or outside, gleaming radiantly in the sunshine with neither a scratch nor blemish. So you approached your local car salesman with wide eyed anticipation, carefully examining its potential, inquiring about its age, road worthiness and how many miles it does to the gallon. Then the negotiations and discussions would follow before the said salesman told you quite honestly that it was impossibly expensive, criminally extortionate and not quite the car you were looking for.
But wherever you look nowadays, that huge network of motorways, B roads, roundabouts, junctions, hard shoulders, busy main streets and meandering country lanes provide the familiar backdrop to our everyday lives. And then there were the chronic traffic jams that stretch back for ages. As a non motorist, you find yourself helpless with sympathy for the predicament that is the bottleneck, that immobile procession of cars, lorries, vans and buses that simply look statuesque. They say patience is a virtue but it does look like an unenviable daily ritual and none that you would be tempted to engage with.
Still, there are arrivals and destinations and once you've adjusted the Sat Nav or, possibly, the Atlas road map, you slow down to 20 mph and discover yellow grids. Driving on, you're confronted by a forest of those celebrated red and white cones with sandbags draped over the top of the cones. Cars are forever competing against each other in some bizarre race to find out who can go the fastest. They sprint down the M1 or the A1, topping almost 80 or 90 mph before slowing down from time to time just to make sure that they're heading in the right direction.
Then wide lanes of vehicles begin the whole process of darting and weaving from slow to fast, desperate to beat any obstacle that may look insurmountable. So my dad, on our way to Southend or Westcliff, would lean his elbow quite casually on a comfortable spot, flick away the ashes from his faithful cigarette and proceed almost naturally closer to the coast. It may have taken him goodness knows how long but this was just a temporary hindrance and besides there was no point in complaining.
The fact is motoring has undergone a major revolution and evolution throughout the decades. Of course it has because we might have taken cars and motoring for granted. It does make travelling from A to B so much easier and far more pleasant particularly if you have to be on time or just in a hurry. Cars are extended members of our family, the massive saloon car or the Land Rover more suitable for safaris or treacherous journeys where mud can often be a pain in the neck if you're at the end of your wits.
Then there are the well air conditioned coaches that take you out into the middle of England, the Lake District or the Cotswolds, historic castles on the hill and museums for all. There are the vans occupied by rock musicians with all the necessary equipment. And we mustn't forget the unmistakable Eddie Stobart lorries loaded with all manner of paraphernalia such as sofas, chairs, tables, rocking chairs and every imaginable piece of domestic furniture.
But today is National Motoring Day folks. A vast majority of the global population drive cars for both pleasure and of course work if you happen to live within sight of your office or warehouse. You remember your dad's almost lifelong passion and sigh lovingly and reflectively. How my wonderful dad would wash his grey Ford Cortina as if sluicing bathroom tap water on his face.
So if you've woken up to the morning to the sound of your purring car in your garage, your day will be complete.Then you'll turn on the ignition, look behind you, gradually reversing out into the road, smiling with enormous satisfaction. You'll test the brake, manoeuvring gracefully into the road or street before moving into first gear effortlessly. You may put your foot on the accelerator just to show off to your neighbours again.
Wherever you're going today, whether it be the local supermarket, garden centre or cherished visits to aunties, uncles or cousins, cars are ready and waiting for you. They are remarkable testaments to longevity, sometimes still going after years and years and a mechanical masterpiece into the bargain. They have lived with you throughout your adolescence and never let you down. On second thoughts they may have broken down annoyingly and required the services of the AA. But be sure this is National Motoring Day. So fear not. Your motor is in impeccable condition, so it's time to hit the road.