“Yes, this month somebody really did send me a used sparkplug in the post ”
ANDREW FRANKEL
TO ANYONE OTHER THAN AN extremely well-informed observer, it is just a sparkplug. A Bosch sparkplug, not that you’re asking. It’s a little bit oily and while in obviously perfect condition, has clearly spent at least some time in its originally intended role of igniting a fuel/air mixture within an internal combustion engine before finding its way via registered mail to me. Yes, this month someone really did send me a used sparkplug in the post.
And unusual though such an event might be, it would not normally earn itself space in a column such as this. Except this particular sparkplug was one of eight fitted to the Mercedes-Benz SLR better known as ‘722’ on its final journey through London to the home of Sir Stirling Moss, before being retired to the Stuttgart museum with no plan for it ever to run again.