There comes a time for everyone when they are faced with having to scrap their car, maybe after an accident or an irreparable MOT failure. But what do you do if that car is someone you hold very dear? It seems too painful to just throw away. Well, this was the problem that one of BBC Radio Gloucestershire's lunchtime Broadcast Assistant, Anna Pidgeon, faced at the beginning of this week.
She learnt to drive in her Renault 5 (called Little Car) and had had him for 7 years (yes, he was definitely male), running up thousands of miles in trips all across the country - he was even her home for six days when she went camping without a tent!  | | Murderer? |
Squashed But despite having defied all expectation with each MOT he passed, he finally failed last week and then proceeded to break down; clearly the time had come for him to move on.
Feeling somewhat sentimental about this prospect Anna wanted to do more than just scrap him, and thought perhaps he would make a nice coffee table when squashed, so she put the appeal out to BBC Radio Gloucestershire listeners. Thanks to their help she was put in touch with Harry Bucklands Scrapyards on Gloucester Road, where Rob agreed to crush the bonnet (having informed her that if you make car smaller it does not necessarily weigh less!) for her to keep.  ...in just two minutes he was reduced to next to nothing.
| | Anna Pidgeon |
Little Car was understandably reluctant, and had to be jump-started twice to get out of the car park, however he got his final revenge when he broke down on the way to the yard and had to be pushed clear of a busy crossroads.  | | Ouch! |
He was then towed to the scrapyard, and the next day Anna went to see him reduced to the size of a hay bale. "It was very strange," she said, "after all the years of me sitting comfortably as we drove along, in just 2 minutes he was reduced to next to nothing. Really surreal and sad." However, she is now the proud owner of a shelf-sized box of bonnet, complete with Renault badge glued on by Rob, too heavy for a shelf, she thinks maybe a coffee table but is open to suggestions from creative listeners, so get thinking and do email in!
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In a heartwarming tale of love and loss, BBC Gloucestershire's Anna Pidgeon recounts the demise of her Little Car. But what can she do with his remains?
