For sometime now, the petrolheads of Majorca and indeed throughout the world, have been unable to drive their cars and meet up with their fellow lockdowners.
Quite apart from going out for a blast around the Tramuntana or taking part in rallies, group drives and club meetings, we’ve been missing the weekly Wednesday evening Meetup and Car Show.
This is when all the different clubs and groups used to meet and talk cars at The Boat House on the Paseo Maritimo in Palma. And maybe a beer or two. After a few weeks, the deprivation was finally beginning to stimulate the grey matter. Mind you, it took long enough.
So, last week, some bright spark had the idea of holding a virtual meeting. Seems obvious now given all the stories of parties online and families getting together in front of the laptop. It’s very possible and relatively easy to set up these days with so many great apps around.
We could have chosen to go with one of the easy to use video apps such as Skype, Houseparty or Zoom, the latter having suddenly been catapulted from relative obscurity to stardom. All in the space of just 3 weeks. I wish I’d bought their shares before Xmas!
The down side of video apps is that you’ve got to do your hair and change out of pyjamas. And you’ve all got to be there at the same time. That used to be quite normal for a physical meeting, but when everybody is at home, who knows what they’re up to at that moment. So WhatsApp it was.
The idea is to post a selfie with your car. Or mugshot and car. Every Wednesday evening.
Best thing is that it’s instant and in real time so it feels live but you can stay in your pyjamas. By the way this happened at about 18.00 in Majorca so I hope we were all safely out of our nightwear by then.
And of course even better was that all the Majorcan petrolheads marooned elsewhere in Europe could join in as if they were there.
Last Wednesday evening’s turnout was fantastic, 54 cars showed up, it was just like the real thing. And took up most of the evening. I can’t complain about the lack of current material to write about now. All my excuses have evaporated at the touch of a WhatsApp button.
Unfortunately we only have room for a few cars this week, but over the next few weeks we’d like to show you a lot more of them.
I looked at the photos of those 54 cars over and over but still couldn’t whittle it down to a shortlist. Or even a long list, they’re all just great. So here’s an almost random selection chosen just because they seem to encapsulate the spirit of defiance in the face of the threat facing us. And to remind us that we are all in this fight together regardless of who and wherever we are. Anything we can do to contribute and show spirit can only be good for all of us collectively.
On that fighting and defiant note I’ll sign out.
Wherever you are, stay safe and I hope to see you all next week. And in case you're wondering who the bright spark was, you’ll just have to guess.
The Classic Car Club at www.ccc-mallorca.com
Driving Mallorca at www.drivingmallorca.es
Facebook at The American Car Club on Facebook