A car named Kingfisher
Here's something fun I finished in between; a painting of one of my cars! It's closely based on a photo I took, so perhaps its more of a study, though the lighting has been changed. Like Blue sheep, Kingfisher is a Saab convertible, but the slightly sportier version. I rescued him from a town near Amsterdam. Amsterdam cars are notoriously poorly treated, and Kingfisher was no different.
Originally from Italy, he'd traded in the Mediterranean after only 8 years and lost the sunny lifestyle as well. Seems the previous owners wanted a convertible but kind of an offroad vehicle too. He had two warped rims, mud (and as a result rust) in both hind wheel arches, and the grossest beige interior you can imagine. His hood was - and still is - completely scratched up as well, despite having been resprayed at some point. You had to turn the steering wheel almost 45 degrees for him to go straight, and the head gasket has been replaced at some point but they put the timing together wrong so for a while he ran quite poorly and occasionally refused to brake (fun!). Still he had spirit so after the testdrive I was sold. Alas, my poor bank account lol.
In the three years I've owned him he's gotten a deep clean, a new interior, new soft top, new shocks & control arms, the engine timing has been fixed and the rims straightened amongst many, many other things. He's still got a long way to go - most importantly the engine needs overhauling and he needs a proper respray. But he's a wonderful drive, loyal, and a certified Good Boy.
