A day of Silence

Thank you for the kind thoughts. In Christchurch we thought that the September earthquake was bad, but knew we were so lucky that no lives had been lost. Little did we know that was only a practice run for the events of 21 Feb. which has destroyed the centre of the city,and many homes (up to 10 000) in the city's suburbs.

We thought things were tough here, until we saw the horror of what is happening in Japan. The Japanese were among the first to come to the aid of New Zealand, and it was not easy for us to see the faces of the Japanese search and rescue team, who what been working so hard for us, heading for the airport to face far greater challenges in their own country.

The world is a very small place in these modern times, and it is important to ackowledge those who through no fault of their own, have had homes and families destroyed.

And on a lighter and more practical note, there is nothing more useful than a pre-war car for driving on the earthquake ravaged streets of Christchurch. Right now, ground clearance is the most useful thing a car can have.

Dear Rutger,

very well done to dedicate the day to the victims of the desaster.We all are horrified by the things that happened - and, perhanps, will happen in the next future. Our thoughts are with the people in New Zealand and Japan.

Yours sincerely,

Malte Jürgens
Editor in chief
Motor Klassik/YOUNGTIMER

The respect shown by prewarcar I'm sure is much appreciated. For most of us our vintage cars are things of enjoyment and leisure which distract us from the pressures of every-day life. It's in remembering the hellishness of disasters like Christchurch and Japan that we realise just how much we too often take for granted.