UNHINGED

THE CADDY BUILD CONTINUES BUT DO I TWEAK THE ORIGINAL DESIGN?

- PHOTOS ★ JON FAINE

I HAVE A major decision to make about my 1926 B2 Citroen 'Caddy' tribute. I am somewhat stuck, unable to make my mind up.

Indecision is atypical in my life, which otherwise — both professionally and personally — is characterised by sometimes rash, often pragmatic, but always quick decision making. Well, that is what I tell myself in order to maintain just the thinnest veneer of self-respect.

This is what an agonisingly slow restoration can do to you. It challenges your very soul, forces introspection and presents challenges of existential magnitude. I find myself hopping from one foot to the other, staring at the shell of the car's frame, walking around the carcass again and again, endlessly re-taking the same measurements in case they have suddenly changed and glaring at the blueprints seeking inspiration. Nothing happens.

Am I really incapable of deciding if the doors on the boat-tail body should open to the rear or to the front — suicide doors as they are called?

The original cars — all 300 of them — almost all in left hand drive, had conventionally hinged doors. But for reasons I cannot explain, I am tempted to reverse them for my car and hinge the little openings from the 'B' pillar instead of the 'A'.