April
I had a German couple come to visit me. He is a keen Jaguar collector in Stuttgart and always wanted to have an SS100 as a daily-driver to go backwards and forwards from his home to his office. We agree on the specification and price for his car and I make plans to deliver it to him later in the year.

I have the opportunity to go to the huge German car show in Essen as one of my supplier-customers was exhibiting his recently completed Suffolk SS100 car on his trade stand. The sheer volume of visitors, which exceeds 100,000 each year, and the vast array of cars and exhibits makes me resolve to have a trade stand myself in the future.

May
My best school buddy recently retired from a career in corporate banking in Hong Kong and invites me out for a ten day visit to the island and to Manilla. He still had access to the company’s 60ft motor cruiser, so along with a number of his other Hong Kong friends and business colleagues we have a spectacular day at sea leaving the harbour early in the morning and returning late at night. The sight of this incredible city all lit up is quite unforgettable…. I must go back again one day.

During most of the early mornings of January, February and March I complete work on our new website. My previous offering had been a simple three-page affair simply to test interest in this relatively new phenomenon. The response exceeded my expectations so I eventually get everything together for a new website just before going to Hong Kong. When I return, there is a flurry of emails, including one from a gentleman in the US who wants to know what he had to do to buy a car. Somewhat facetiously, I briefly respond by asking him to send me $10,000 to get started. Five days later my belief in the internet was absolute when the transfer arrived in my bank.

July
We exhibit again at the Goodwood Festival of Speed . This is now firmly fixed as an annual event in our calendar since all my customers seem also to be keen on Goodwood. It’s certainly a great way to catch up with existing customers who come to visit whilst also talking to potential new customers.

August
We exhibit again at Coys Historic event at Silverstone race circuit. Like Goodwood, this is now a major calendar item for us, with friends old and new visiting the stand.

October
My Stuttgart customer’s lovely silver car is now complete and instead of coming to collect it asks me whether I can deliver it to him. My son, Fraser, (five and a half) wants to come with me during his half-term holiday so we set out from Bury St Edmunds late in the afternoon in order to catch a night ferry from Dover. The first night we spend in the town of Arras and the following day we motored gently (if 60mph is gentle) and after seven hours of mainly motorway driving we reach Strasbourg. I am enjoying the adventure of driving with Fraser which reminds me of my first visit abroad with my own father in 1951when I was nine. Then we travelled down the Rhine Valley in an Austin 16 Tourer GNO 682 and went as far south as Bolzano in the Tyrol.

Next day, Fraser and I cross the Rhine but not in a conventional way. South of Strasbourg there is a small village called Rhineau and there is a ferry that takes local traffic over this vast river. Doing the passage in this way gives a sense of scale as there are large tugs and barges using this waterway also. We arrive at our customer’s home late in the afternoon and enjoy their excellent Struttgart hospitality for three days before flying home.