The Last Drive (…before you sell it)

9 February 2016 Redazione Alex Marrone, Lifestyle

It’s never easy to say goodbye, especially after they having shared moments and adventures of various sorts. Who cares if on the other side, saying goodbye with a tear on the face, there’s not a girlfriend, but a car. Whether it is the utilitarian who taught us how to park, or the first sports car that made us feel the breeze of some memorable overtaking or that accompanied us in a journey immersed in some postcard view, when it’s time to sell it, we haven’t understood yet that, shortly thereafter, we won’t see it ever again. It will find a new owner, hoping they take care as much as we did. Who knows which roads it will drive and what people will load on board, but above all, who know if it is going to remember us.
Many people say that cars do not have feelings, but they’re completely wrong. Those who live a deep love for their car, give birth to a kind of awareness, turning it into something valuable, that in most cases, we would like to be able to keep, without necessarily having to monetize, for welcoming a new one. If you do not believe this, try the opposite: run into a brand new car and climb aboard. You will notice a different smell than usual, same as any other dealership. Yes, the soul is lacking, that will come later thanks to you, thanks to all the owners that will accompany it. We would never have to face suffered goodbyes, but life is made of choices and the passing of the torch is often inevitable. I remember like it was yesterday, my yellow Mini Cooper leaving, for the first time driven by a complete stranger, and become more and more a small dot, then lost in the horizon. I often think about it, even though it was not an exotic car, ‘cause for me it was a great partner in so many adventures, and will forever have a special place in my heart, on top of any car I owned later and those I decide to buy in the future. That’s why one of the most dramatic moments is the last drive at the wheel of a car that has been yours, but it won’t be anymore. The last ride, before saying goodbye.

Text by Alessandro Marrone

Photo by Elisabetta Gilardenghi