Jo’s Diary: Downsizing

For those of you anxiously waiting for some sign of positive news from my fleet, I’m afraid you’re going to be as disappointed as I currently am. Well, not all is bad: my track-prepared Lotus Elise is back in the stable having had a comprehensive once-over by Road to Race and is now awaiting its first track day with me, but unfortunately, so far as entries on the plus side of the ledger are concerned, that’s about as far as it goes.

My Mazda RX-7 proved to be a bit more broken than initially suspected. It turns out it’s lost compression on rotor number two, which is a very long way from what I wanted to hear. I go into all my adventures with my eyes as wide open as possible and deep down I knew rotary roulette would get me someday: it’s part of the package – or should I say Faustian pact – of entering into RX-7 ownership; but even I did not expect the Wankel Reaper to come for me quite so soon.

But the most recent and by far the lowest blow has been dealt by my most unlikely offender. My little Suzuki Cappuccino, which had been faultless until now since its partial restoration, has developed a braking bias problem, twice locking up its front wheels with much drama and fanfare, denying me the ability to steer and almost sending me through the rear windscreens of the two unsuspecting cars I was following on each occasion.