“So did you buy anything?” If only I had a quid for every time I’ve been asked that question since returning from the exhibition in Brussels. But yes, I did in fact buy something.
You see, it had gotten to the point where I was having problems selecting the correct car key from my key cabinet. So I went and bought exactly what I through time have bought for so many of my other classic cars: a keyfob. Well actually four of them, as there were several which were in need.
As you can see from the main picture above, my Rover SD1 has a beautifully patinated leather keyfob, as is proper etiquette for any British classic. The HP plastic-thing is from my Mercedes-Benz, and it’s not all wrong either as Henry Petersen was a Chrysler dealership – so it tells me on the back. However, that of course makes it much too new. When my Mercedes-Benz was built in 1972, I’m sure no one would have dared contemplate the possibility of Daimler-Benz and Chrysler ever entering a fusion. Kind of like no one really daring think about it today either…
The three others didn’t have a keyfob at all. I suppose the Triumph is excused, as it’s a fully-fledged racing car. But that didn’t change the fact that I was the only one who could recognize its keys, so after 15 years of ownership it finally got a keyfob. The Alpine didn’t have one either, and as its keys are securely locked in, accompanied by several other keys down at MY GARAGE, it really needed one. Problem solved. On my Renault 5, I’ve always felt it was rather clever the way one of the keys was diamond-shaped like the logo, thereby making it easily identifiable as a Renault key – but, you probably need to be a bit of a Renault-man to understand. So now that I was at it anyway, I figured why not treat the 5 as well?
I’m quite convinced they have all been produced very recently, though the Mercedes-Benz keyfob has already acquired a little patina. But they were also fairly cheap. Okay, so it required a lot of messing about, as I had to go through umpteen plastic trays while kneeling rather undignified on the floor. But it solved a problem and I can now easily identify the various car keys. At some stage I would actually really appreciate having the perfectly period-correct and preferably original keyfobs for my classics.
On that note, experts will of course know that the Rover logo on the leather fob is newer than my 1977 modelyear car, so not even that keyfob is spot-on. But the hassle of finding those original and period-correct items is just more than I can manage right now.
What do our dear readers do?
ViaRETRO-bonusinformation: Some may have noticed the absence of a Volvo-badge in the main picture. The reason being, it’s been so long since I last had a hold of my PV 445 keys (or for that matter anything else form that car), that I had honestly forgotten about it. Maybe it already has a keyfob? I just don’t remember.
