The old man and the garage
06/02/2015
The 1926 Fiat 507 was hardly older than its owner. The man seemed to be so old that he didn't even have a vintage anymore. Severely hearing-impaired, he only ever shouted "Martigny" and "Chamonix".
He probably recognized my Swiss license plate and somehow he must have been in Switzerland once with the Fiat, but unfortunately you couldn't talk to him anymore.
He didn't understand what you were asking and his only answer was always "Martigny" and "Chamonix".
I discovered the garage purely by chance on the connecting road from San-Remo to Ventimiglia. There was just enough room for the car in the narrow garage. It was parked at the back, with spare parts and tools hanging and lying wildly to the right and left.
Various car badges pointed to previous rally participations. The great-grandfather sat crouched on the floor and tried to get the engine of his Fiat back into shape. However, his age prevented him from working normally. Juggling with his stick, he kept slowly pushing individual parts towards him and then tried to do something with them. A third of the engine was disassembled and whether it will ever be finished is probably written in the stars.
Somehow this scene really touched me emotionally. I think his greatest wish would be to be around 40 years younger in order to get the engine running again, and then off he would go in the direction of "Martigny" and "Chamonix"
