Some say that life is too short to hesitate. Life should be spontaneous, enjoy
every moment with family and friends and appreciate the great things around us.
It certainly was for Mike Rutledge, a very dear friend of Cars and Coffee Liverpool
whom we’ve sadly just lost. Mike was always full of excitement and smiles when
arriving at our event with his brother and friends, come rain or shine, he was always
one of the earliest at the meeting in his gleaming beautiful burgundy Mercedes SL.
Mike’s SL is best known for its “pagoda” removable hardtop, the design offered a
low roofline with added room for entry and exit. This particular SL model was
produced between 1963 to 1971 driven and owned by stars such as John Lennon,
Audrey Hepburn, ledendary race driver Sir Stirling Moss and Juan Manuel Fangio.
If your not sure which car, well, Sophia Loren drove one in ‘Arabesque’ (1966), Julie
Andrews in ‘10’ (1979), Richard Gere in ‘Intersection’ (1994) and Kim Basinger in
‘The Door in the Floor’ (2004).
What we loved about Mike and most of our members is their adoration of cars,
true drivers, unafraid of using their prized vehicles at any time. Yes, they are
sentimental objects used for a sense of occasion, but also memories that inspire the
next generations, well, it did to me anyway. The Volkswagen was a common sight
at our family household - ‘the people’s car’ as named by Adolf Hitler. But was it my
uncle’s 1983 VW mk1 GTI (mentioned in a previous issue) that started my love of
cars, a sporty, zippy, fun car with a retractable sunroof. That, or it may have been our
Grandmother’s dentist, who used to park his numerous Porsches outside his practice
at 1 Rodney Street. Hmmmn.
We ask everyone that comes to Cars & Coffee Liverpool, ‘what triggered your love
of cars?’
Was it the 80’s television series The Professionals, a British crime-action television
drama series produced by Avengers Mark1 Productions for London Weekend
Television (LWT) that aired on the ITV network from 1977 to 1983. The characters
Bodie (Lewis Collins - incidentally from the Wirral) and Doyle (Martin Shaw) giving
chase in the latest tasty quick Fords - the 3.0 Capri and the MK2 Escort RS2000?
It certainly sparked Mark Slater’s interest, one of our newest members, a thorough
Ford fanatic. Owning a truly remarkable, original 26,000 miler from new - Ford mk2
Escort RS2000 in signal yellow. A prime example for all those youngsters out there,
if you cherish, maintain and look after your belongings, there is no reason why they
won’t last forever.
The Mercedes boys came in numbers from the owners club and a fair few of his good
friends came to visit to pay tribute to Mike Rutledge on the day. Take a look at the
beautiful aerial shot in the article, maybe this is Mike’s new view from above.
The chosen charity for this month was Alder Hey Team 1C - Healing Little Hearts.
Approached and organised by Claire Lewis, who’s little boy was born with a very
rare and complex heart condition. Incidentally, the surgeon who operated on Claire’s
baby Jake, operates in Alder Hey and Great Ormond Street, and is a volunteer for
this Charity. He visits poorer countries with no health service and performs heart
surgeries for free. We managed to raise £438.42 on the day for Healing Little Hearts.
A big thanks to all the friends, family, supporters of Cars and Coffee Liverpool plus
the ever hard working Cars and Coffee Liverpool Crew & Charalene Lee Coffee
Crew & C&CL Media, Alan from Change Beverages - Lavazza Coffee, Chung Ku
Restaurant, Liverpool Town Hall - Lord Mayor Cllr Malcolm Kennedy, David Billing
& Lookers Vauxhall, Autorenew, OCD Porsche Specialist, WSR Recycling, Tom
Tully Tyres, Impact Solutions, Philangle Stamps, Richard at Lexus Liverpool, Matt
Kelly from BMW Williams, Wirral Life Magazine, Brian Lloyd for the aerial shots
and Mike McTigue Photography for the stills, Geoff Turton, George & Lynne from
Coffee 500. Lawrence Cookson For staying behind in his Ford GT Gulf car for the
charity photo.
A huge thank you to all the Mercedes owners who came to pay tribute and their
respects to Mike Rutledge. We miss him dearly. See you all again on Sunday 27th
May. www.carsandcoffeeliverpool.co.uk or www.chungku.co Safe happy motoring!
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