It was the purchase of a house, meanwhile, that forced Simon Arnold to part with his Volvo P1800E, bought from the forecourt of a dealer in Southend in 1980.
“It never let me down, both on long-distance trips abroad, including six months in France where I commuted each weekend from Paris to Calais to see my girlfriend, who came over on the ferry,” he remembers. “It looked like it belonged in St Tropez not Shoeburyness.”
David Palmer's 'Westie' – he hopes to own another one day
It’s his Austin A90 Westminster that David Palmer wishes he didn’t sell. “The Westie had a back-to-front four-speed column change which took a little getting used, to but once mastered became a loved eccentricity of the car,” he tells us.
“Cornering was something that it did with a style all of its own. Living in Wellington New Zealand at the time – which is very hilly with many hairpin bends – I learnt to take risks and push the Westie beyond what it was really designed for.
“The best feature, though, was a glovebox lid that doubled as a picnic tray which was often used to eat fish and chips in the evening parked on a west coast beach watching the sun set over the sea’s horizon.”
In fact, this sounds like a hard-working car, but one that never got stuck or required assistance: “The Westie towed trailers full of gravel and caravans full of holiday provisions, and on occasion was used to pull out tree trunks from my orchard. She always had the ability to start a conversation with a stranger in car parks and petrol station. One day I will have another one of my own.”
Find out why one reader has owned this DeLorean twice
Ian Titley’s passion for the DeLorean was only fuelled by Back to the Future and as soon as he started work in 1991, he began saving for one.
“Two years later I had enough money to buy UOA 596Y. It was previously owned by the Patrick Car Collection in Birmingham,” he recalls. He loved taking it to shows and finally have the car he’d always wanted. But about nine years later, he’d not used it much, so put it up for sale.
“It sold very quickly. As I saw it going down the road, I instantly regretted the decision to sell.”
Fast forward five years and he wanted another, so went to eBay – and the first he saw was his old one! “I made a cheeky offer and about a week later the car was back in my garage.” Happiness was restored.
“I had another fun five years or so with it when one day I decided to take the car for a quick run to my Dad’s house to see how he was," he says. “I was about half a mile from his house when I noticed a car in my mirror flashing me. I pulled over and this gentleman approached me to say he had been looking for a good-condition DeLorean for some time to add to his substantial car collection but had not found one yet. He asked to look at mine and about two minutes later I had sold the car – again!
“I wasn’t overly bothered at that point, because I’d been thinking about buying a more driver-focused car. When it came time to hand over the keys, though, it was a different story. I really didn’t want to let the car go, but too late, the deal was done.
“He phoned me out of the blue about 12 months later about a few things and mentioned he might consider selling it at some point in the future. I’ve got first refusal on it, so who knows, I might end up owning it for a third time!”
In the meantime, he’s enjoying his Caterham 420R – “I guess in a perfect world, I would own both. They do completely different things and do them well!”
Adrian Feather’s 1955 AC Ace
For Adrian Feather, it’s his 1955 AC Ace – which once appeared on the cover of C&SC magazine – that he most misses.
He describes it as “a wonderful long-legged car” and continues that “it had the original AC 2 litre engine, which was very smooth running”.
And, Adrian recalls, it was one particular trip that cemented the Ace’s place in his heart.
“My fondest memory with the car is of taking my then fiancée (now my wife of 46 years) on a 10-day return trip from our home town of Westcliff-on-Sea in Essex to John O’Groats in Scotland in 1972. I still have the expense sheet – petrol costs £24.28 (!), bed and breakfasts £17.15 (covering six nights!) etc. Total outlay £51.96. Those were the days!
“Although the weather was atrocious for most of the time, we never put the hood up, because when I did the windscreen kept steaming up – and situational awareness was severely compromised.
“I joined the HSCC and attended many race meetings during my period of ownership, mostly accompanied by my friend of many years, Brian Joscelyne.
“Apart from an accident when I was rammed by an XJ6, the only trouble I ever had with it was a water pump failure over an Easter weekend, on my way to the Lake District. The factory was closed – my dilemma was solved by my late friend Alistair Munro, who allowed me to take the pump off his Ace to lend me for the weekend! Those were great motoring days!”
Here's Mark Shipley's E-type
Mark Shipley bought his Jaguar E-type as a non-runner in 1982, when he was just 21 years old.
“At that time, E-types were in abundance in southern California,” he recalls. “I found this one as a non-runner in a Simi Valley backyard and trailered it home, nursing a hangover from the previous night’s party!”
Although tired mechanically, there was no rust anywhere, so Mark did a quick mechanical restoration and ran it in a state of “arrested decay” for the next few years.
A proper restoration followed, with Mark completing all of the work himself, and he used it regularly for close to a decade after that until in 1998, “in a moment of weakness”, he sold the car to a gentleman who was shipping cars out of the US.
“Twenty years on and I still miss it terribly,” he says.
Mike Roeder shares the tale of his much-missed 2CV, while Gavin Hawkes remembers his Elite
Mike Roeder has enjoyed many classic cars over the years, but it’s a Citroën 2CV that he still pines for.
“It was built in the UK using a shell donated by a friend’s mum,” he remembers, “and driven all around the UK and Europe for six to seven years.
“Eventually the issues of insurance, MoT and storage overwhelmed me. I had always intended to bring it back to the US with me, but when the time came to do so, it was after 9/11.
“The news was full of ‘Freedom Fries’ and customs was frowning on frivolous importation of modified vehicles, let alone from France via the UK, so I sold it.”
And it's a Lotus Elite S2.2 that Gavin Hawkes wishes he’d not sold: “After ‘restoring’ the car for over two years, including a full engine rebuild, and pretty much replacing every moving part, I enjoyed the car for over 10 years.
“It was fast, noisy, 20mpg but I loved it. I enjoyed many trips from Essex to Devon in it, but if I still had it now I think there would be many points on my licence! ‘Preventative maintenance’ is vital when you own a car like this (it never let me down), but with two young children I just did not have the spare time any more.”
But he's delighted it is still on the road: "The DVLA shows it has recently passed its MoT so I hope the current owner is enjoying the car as much as I did.”
Michael's parents, John and Carole Arnold, with the much-loved Lotus 32 © Coterie Press
Finally, here’s something rather different, a 1964 Lotus 32 Formula Two car, one of 12 chassis built and bought in 1966 by Michael Arnold’s father, John.
“It then spent many years a flower planter in his then girlfriend’s mother’s garden to hide it from his mother,” Michael explains. But come the early ’70s, it was ready to race: “He’d built it with whatever would fit or he could make including an alloy body and a 1000cc F3 engine.”
Monoposto racing followed, until an incident during a practice session with the F2 cars and two famous names, Jochen Rindt and Graham Hill.
The car then went into storage until the ’80s, then Michael’s father restored it to its original F2 spec – the fibreglass body was found hanging on the wall of a lawyer’s office in Ottawa, Canada, as a piece of art! It was sold “to a good home” in 2008.
“When it went, a little piece of family died,” Michael tells us. “We know it’s still around and we can see it, only it was an Arnold for over 42 years and we all truly miss it.”
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Lizzie Pope
Lizzie Pope is Classic & Sports Car’s Associate Editor
