AC 428 and Oil Rigs

When I was a teenager I used to have a fantasy about owning and driving a certain exotic sports car - namely an "AC 428". This was an extremely expensive and rather beautiful hand-made luxury car, with Italian bodywork and a huge American V-8 engine. Only about 100 were ever made, and production ceased shortly after the 1970's Oil Crisis. I was obsessed by thoughts of this car..... a bit silly, really ,,,, but my ambition of owning such a machine had a high priority. I desperately wanted one. One day an obscure advert in the press seemed to jump out at me. I sent off for an information pack about "How to Get Jobs in Oil Rigs", thinking that if I worked at this for a couple of years I'd be able to afford the car. The guide cost a couple of £'s. Now it so happens that I am someone who is probably the least likely person ever to work in such an environment. I just don't do that sort of thing, but the thought of buying that car sort of drove me. The advert just seemed to scream at me. I wanted that car so badly. The information pack duly arrived. I read it and forgot about it. Years later I moved to London. I became close friends with a couple of cool-types in Chelsea. The conversation turned to cars. They mentioned their sadness at having to recently sell their car as it was becoming a liability in the London traffic. They said it was a real luxury car similar to an Aston Martin. I asked them what it was. It turned out to be an AC 428. I asked them how they came about owning such a car. "Really strange story." they said "We produced a booklet telling people how they could get jobs in Oil Rigs and made so much money from this, that we were able to buy the car."