I've liked cars for as long as I can remember, but I think the thing that kicked of an enthusiasm for vintage and veteran cars was visiting my Great Uncle Roger in Norfolk, probably when I was about 7 or 8.
Roger had a large property, and had been one of the first landowners in the UK to mechanize; he certainly had one of the first combine harvesters in the country. In order to keep his farm machinery operating, he had built a highly equipped workshop. In the 50's and 60's he had taken to restoring old cars in his workshop, so by the time I first visited in the late 60's he had a collection of fabulous old cars which he had done up. A 1903 de Dion Bouton, a 1911 Mercedes tourer, a 1927 Frazer Nash TT replica, a 1931 Talbot 105 Doctor's Coupé and a couple of Austin 7's. I well remember the thrill of pootling around the Norfolk lanes with him in the De Dion Bouton.
Roger had always been a car enthusiast; my father has told me that he well remembers the excitement when his car mad uncles visited when he was a child; in the 30's Roger had an Alfa Romeo 8c and my Great Uncle Clare had a Bugatti. My dad had a couple of interesting motors too in my childhood; he owned a Rolls Royce 20hp in the early 60's (which I don't remember), and then in the late 60's an Alvis TC21 (which I do remember well).
