Turning Heads in a 20 year old Car.

28 Jun 2025 | Posted by Andrew Onions

People Judge… right? Even more so in today’s Insta-book, face-tube, Tweet (X? or what whatever were calling it this week) Everything is all about personal image, from living in the right area, nice house, branded clothes, watch, premium car, even down to making sure your tan is just the right shade of orange.

This same scenario exists within the world of work too, our sales guys are smartly presented when promoting to our clients the best the rubber world can offer, from team MacLellan. I will even admit that I would always take a quick peek out at the carpark to see what my visitors had arrived in before meeting them in reception. Well come on, you can tell who you are working with from their car… right?

As with many of us,  I have always aspired to follow such trends and my big thing has always been looking the part in the latest shiny piece of Automotive brilliance I can possibly afford, to show friends family, neighbours and other random motorists on my daily commute (that I will never see again) just how “well” I’m doing. However, in not being the lucky recipient of a company funded vehicle, at the end of 2024, and approaching my 50^th year, the stark realisation of exactly how much this has cost be over the past 30 years, I found to be eye watering!

That week I made the decision to turn my back on PCP’s, loans and expensive leasing and instead buy a car outright, something I had not done since the late 90’s. Now if you are reading this you are probably in the rubber, gasket or sealing industry and will already realise that such a purchase will be financially limited. lol! So the search began, eBay, auto trader, local dealers, whilst my current return date rapidly approached. I couldn’t find a thing that I wanted to buy within budget, so resigned myself to a few months of public transport and cycling to the office.

Discussing this with my folks over lunch, my dad suggested I buy his car as its getting difficult for him to get in and out of, plus mum doesn’t like being out in it, so there and then we a deal was struck and 7 months later, she has performed brilliantly on my daily commute and running about duties. Admittedly not box fresh, plus the odd ding and dent mainly courtesy of the odd failing paint can and dropped broom whilst garaged.

Initially it was a strange feeling going from the instant torque and power of a brand-new EV, range anxiety was replaced with living on the edge coming out of junctions and the sinking feeling meeting an SUV belting towards you on a single-track road. The upside however being an incredible feeling of nostalgia to a simpler way of driving, with no electronic interference anymore, if I want to change lane I can do it without a warning alarm telling me I’m changing lane!!

So back first impressions, often so important in sales, I’ve had the “don’t worry things will pick back up” & "oh no what happened to your other car?" from Colleagues, offers of loans “if that will help” and lots of pity looks from other motorists at the petrol pumps, “☹”

At the end of the day it’s not really about the car, the person getting out of it is still the same, so next time you see someone stepping out of a 20 year old Mazda, just remember humble beginnings don’t mean humble ambitions. and yes one day I’ll be back in a position where i can once again indulge in motoring luxury, but until then I just smile 😉

The exact same thing is true of our rubber products in that initial or first inspection, we have a uniform boring looking black poly wrapped roll. However contained within is a one of many different polymers including FKM, Viton, EPDM, Neoprene, Silicone, Natural and SBR (plus many more) all of which are capable of offering high performance sealing performance in numerous industrial applications, resisting a range of chemical media and functioning at temperatures from -60 Deg. c to over 300 Deg. c

Contact us today for more information on our full range, remembering not to judge the material by its first appearance 😊

What’s your best first impression story – why not share below…