Revved up for charity

An abiding passion for the open road and vintage cars, coupled with the desire to help his fellow man, has driven Eglinton man John Nixon to toil tirelessly with Eglinton Classic Car Club. Here he talks to Sentinel reporter Olga Bradshaw about his hobby and what gets his motor running when it comes to all things four-wheeled and ancient.

John, when did you first join the Eglinton Classic Car Club?

In 1998.

Why did you?

I had a very great interest in cars for years.

Oh right. Do you drive a vintage car yourself?

I do, yes.

Right. What do you have?

Now at the minute I have a 1972 MGB Rollster. That's a soft-top two seater.

Did you always want one of those?

Yes, but I could never afford one when I was younger.

That's a typical story, isn't it?

Yes.

They say that older cars like that are relatively cheap to insure. Is that right?

Yes. You get the 'Classic Car' insurance. You have to have an 'every day' car, so what happens there is when the insurance company phone you up you have got to belong to a classic car club to start with and then they ask you for your membership number so they can confirm with the club who is in your club and if you are genuine.

OK.

So, what actually happens is you contact your insurance company and say 'I belong to Eglinton Classic Car Club', or Coleraine or Strabane or wherever and they will ask you for your membership number and when you do that they will consent to give you a price, but they will ask you if you have an every day car, because you have to have an every day car so that you are not diving the classic car every day. You are not actually allowed to drive it exclusively every day.

When you were younger - or even now for that matter - was there one classic car that if you wanted to have it and had the money to buy it, what would you buy?

I probably would buy an RME.

Now what's an RME?

A Riley ME.

What's that?

It is actually an old car that years and years ago vets and the doctors used to drive. Years ago we had a member in our Club and he used to own Hutchisons Garage, in Limavady, and he used to own one. He was a very good member of our Club, but unfortunately he passed away and the car was sold. It was sold across in England, but it was a really classic car. It was a 1500cc and I would have preferred the 2 litre. But it was a beautiful car.

Would they not have been very severe on juice, given the nature of their engines?

Yes, you are right there. You would be very lucky if you managed to get 25 miles to the gallon.

Oh!

Well, some of them you would be lucky if you got 18 miles to the gallon and some of them you only got 12, and that's why you very rarely see them out on the open road, you know.

So I take it you only drive these cars when you absolutely have to - like to the classic car rallies and such like?

You only drive them to shows. We would do two or three 'runs' a year, but if we travel up round the North on a Sunday run, as we would call them, you have to apply to the Parades Commission.

No! Really?

Yes, you have to apply to them.

Have you ever been re-routed?

Yes, several times. In all fairness, our club would do a fair few runs down round by Donegal so there is no call for an 11/1 form from the Parades Commission.

Well when you travel do you put your classic cars on trailers and tow them to save fuel or do you drive them?

To the shows do you mean?

Aye.

Some people do.

Is it cheaper petrol-wise to do so?

Well, there is the inconvenience of towing it. To me, what is the point in having a classic car if you don't drive it? Some people really go over the top with their cars, you would see them coming to the shows and they are sitting there with a screwdriver picking the stones out of the tyres and stuff like that. It is incredible.

How hard is it to get the parts for them?

Not very hard. It all depends on the type of car that you have. That MGB I have, there is a place in England called MGB Hive, and they actually supply all the bits and pieces for the MGB. Then there is a place outside Belfast.

So do they actually manufacture them?

They do, aye.

So you don't have to traipse round like you would if you have a wee V-Dub, you don't have to go round scrap merchants and scrounge parts?

No, no you don't

OK.

No, you don't go to scrap dealers. They wouldn't have any parts anyway.

Has anyone in the club ever tried to build a car from one of those kits you can get? The packs that you get with all the parts?

You mean the kit cars? Yes, there is a fellow in the Strabane Club, I think, he has a kit car. I think his is a Morgan, which is basically a kit car.

I'd love one of those Inspector Morse ones, the one with the wood.

That's the Jag you are talking about.

Aye.

Nice cars. That would be nice. A Jag would be nice.

One of the old ones though.

Yes. Yes.

I thought the old cars with the wood round the windows were lovely too.

Aye, the MGCs. I think it might be an MGE. You know those old sports cars years ago were all made with ash tree and to this day the Morgans, to this day the frame is all built up with ash wood. That's why there is a waiting list for a Morgan. They are hand built. That's what the problem is in getting one of them.

As I said we take the odd run down to Donegal on a run out on a Sunday and we would usually end up with up to 18 cars.

Do you ever get dressed up ? What I mean is the costume drives - does anyone in the club ever dress Victorian style for a run.

Not in our club.

I know that is popular in England and there is a great fascination for the old 1920s racing cars and carriage cars, and they like dressing to the period.

That would be for something like the Brighton to London run.

Yes. Have you ever done it?

I would like to do it. We do all the runs in Northern Ireland but we actually go over to Scotland. It has been two years since I was at it, but there is a crowd of us that goes to Moffat in Scotland. We got there for a weekend where they run a big charity event for Macmillan Cancer. So we would take a run over there and we would go to Dorset as well. We have been on several occasions and last year a fellow and myself took it upon ourselves to go to Cornwall.

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