Why Tahiti Blue Gives Me Nightmares
A story of rust, rattle cans, and a squatting toad on wheels
When you hear the word ‘Tahiti’ what is the first thing that springs to mind? Do you think of a French Polynesian island with sun-kissed beaches and a laid laid-back lifestyle? Lucky you!
For me, the word ‘Tahiti’ conjures up an entirely different kind of image. One featuring rusty metal, car body filler, and the smell of the kind of car paint that comes in ‘rattle’ spray cans. ‘Tahiti’ or more precisely ‘Tahiti Blue’ was the color of the paint on my first car.
I became a car owner at the age of 18 — thanks initially to the Bank of Mum and Dad. They lent me the £650 required to purchase a 1976 Austin Allegro painted in the aforementioned Tahiti Blue. I paid them back by working behind the bar in an English country pub and a Country and Western venue during the summer vacation.
Because of its habit of sinking down on its wheels when its suspension lost pressure, my brother referred to it as the ‘squatting toad on wheels’. And to be honest it did look rather toad-like at the best of times. But still, it was my car and I loved it as it gave me freedom and meant I did not have to rely on my parents anymore for lifts.
The toad was resplendent in shiny blue paint. It had had one previous owner — an elderly man and looked to be…
