How a Toyota MR2 helped south Essex man remember late wife

Jim Harrison, from Brentwood, owns multiple cars, but two stand out to him. His Toyota MR2 and Toyota Carina E 2.0 GTi both remind him of his late wife, Linda - who is the main reason he has the cars in the first place.  

Back in 1988, Mr Harrisson had just been made redundant and, after the shock of losing his job, his sadness switched to the possibility of losing his car, which was a company car he owned for a couple of years.  

Jim with his 'little blue' car in the 1980s (Image: Adrian Flux / Forever Cars)

“(I was) distraught at losing the car, because it meant so much,” he told Forever Cars.  

“I’m like that – if I like something, I keep it.” 

He first spotted the MR2 in 1986 and instantly fell in love, saying he thought it looked like a "mini Ferrari".

“I looked at Linda and said ‘wow, that’s lovely isn’t it, but you wouldn’t buy it with your own money, would you?’ Because it was a lot of money,” Jim reminisced.

 “So when the company gave me an allowance to go and buy a car, well, I thought ‘I’ll have one’.” 

Jim Harrison with Toyota MR2 (Image: Adrian Flux / Forever Cars)

Despite the red car trend of the time, he would opt for a blue colour. 

“I think it’s a better colour – in the sunshine, it sparkles. It’s beautiful. It was just sublime, like nothing you’ve ever driven in your life before.” 

However, Mrs Harrison wasn’t as convinced and refused to drive it as she'd say "it goes too fast".

“I said ‘it only goes as fast as you tell it to’. So in the end, at 8am one weekend morning I told her ‘we’re going to go to the A12, come on’,” Jim continued.

“We’re going along and I said ‘how does it feel?’ She said ‘it’s marvellous, lovely’. ‘Does it go too fast?’ She said ‘no’ and I asked her ‘is that why we’re doing 80mph?’ She loved it as much as I did after that.” 

Her change of heart would then contribute to the couple’s decision to keep the car despite Mr Harrison leaving the company.  

The Toyota MR2 on the road (Image: Adrian Flux / Forever Cars)

“It means everything,” he revealed.  

“It’s a pet, and it’s just emotional because of my wife, who loved the car.” 

In 1992, Mr Harrison would have the opportunity to get another company car, the ‘big blue’ Toyota Carina E 2.0 GTi.  

Like its smaller counterpart, it became part of the couple’s lives, which is why, when Mr Harrison was unfortunately made redundant again, history repeated itself and they bought it.  

Reflecting on his fondness for the car, he said; “Again, it had become a pet and it meant something. It was Linda’s favourite car, and that’s why I’ve got to keep that going.” 

His wife passed away 10 years ago, but Jim keeps her memory alive with their beloved cars.  

“They’re all pets, and they will all last as long as I will,” he joked. 

‘Little Blue’ gets the best spot in his garage and Jim continues to look after it. 

“I don’t leave it anywhere I can’t see it,” he stated.  

“I can’t imagine being without it.”