NOT CHICKEN LITTLE

I have to tell you a funny story about old mate, Michael Eden. We grew up in Wanganui together. Michael — who still lives there — and I have been mates for 40 of my nearly 60 years; there’s a fair-to-even chance that once he finds out I’ve put this story about him in print, that friendship might not see 41 years.

Michael was scheduled to bring his famous ‘Old Blue’ XY Falcon down to the South Island in February to race at the big Skope Classic race meeting at Christchurch, and then at round three of the Mobil 1 Mainland Muscle Cars series at Timaru the weekend after. Everything was sorted out; his entry form was in, he’d been accepted, and the car was loaded up on the trailer and ready to head south.

Three days before the meeting, Michael was being a good dad, helping his son paint