‘I Resisted Buying It For Three-And-A-Half Years'

Sam discovers a forgotten Fiat and fails to not buy it.

- Sam Glover

Not buying doomed project car is one of my most time-consuming pastimes. I’m getting quite good at it. There was a time when I’d be powerless to refuse any grotty sub-£500 automotive waif that vaguely tickled my fancy. ‘I’m rescuing it,’ I’d tell myself as I haemorrhaged time and money transferring a basket-case from the corner of someone else’s barn to the corner of my own barn. I’d suffer delusions of restoration until my initial enthusiasm dried up. Then, after a long period of gathering dust and contempt, it’d be sold at a sigificant loss.

I now subject myself to a vicious probing when considering a needy project. Will I ever work on it? Does its rarity and value justify the floorspace it’d occupy? Could I buy a really good one for less than the cost of the restoration?