seems that my dentist on my first visit to him ,took me out onto the 8th
floor balcony of his Johhanesburg (South Africa) surgery and we watched
the cars below.I cant actually recall this momentous day but if true he
has a lot to answer for.A life long fanatacism with the motor car and
sixteen years later entry to Dental School in Edinburgh.
By the time I started my Dental studies I was already deep into
cars,full size and models.At fourteen I started to cycle regularly
to
Silverstone,a round trip of 56 miles sometimes undertaken for both
practice days and race day. I also navigated for a friend in a couple
of
minor rallies in a frog eye Sprite. Model interests were mainly slot
racing with a few scratch built bodies of cardboard,balsa,glass fibre
and anything else I could lay my hands on.
The original course at Silverstone was a great challenge
for the drivers and great fun for the spectators.
As slot cars began to look more like jelly moulds than cars I turned
to
concours models and won the National Championships one year. After
University I lost interest and started to build static scale models.
I
built many of the Tamiya, Airfix, Heller and others that were available
in
the early 70's. A highlight was finding a complete set of Merit kits
at
the back of a little local toy shop.
I continued to visit Silverstone, Brands Hatch, Oulton Park, and Snetterton,
but as money entered the sport and the drivers stopped having fun I
lost interest. I feel priveleged to say I watched Formula 1 races where
they overtook regularly on the track and not just in the pits (just
watched the Italian G.P.), and the drivers also competed in the saloon
car
race, the sports car race, and then maybe the historic race for a bit
of
fun.
Family and business meant that motor sport and model cars had to take
a
lesser perspective from the mid 70's to the beginning of the 90's.
I
managed during this time to own a selection of classic cars: 2 Healey
3000's, MGB, Alvis TD21, Bristol 407, 409, 412, and now I have another
Bristol
412. Over the last few years I have visited Silverstone for the Historic
Festival and the GT races and Goodwood for the Festival of Speed and
this year at last I made it to Le Mans.
The Martini, Pescatori, Hermann Porsche 911 GT1 (Club
Arnage Photo).
The full '97 Le Mans grid is now available in 1:43 scale.
In the late '60s I bought my first white metal kits by John Day, Mikansue
and Auto Replicas. Some were crude, but the subjects were exciting.
John
Day today produces cars in pewter, and Barry Lester still makes Auto
Replicas. In 1991 I found a shop selling 1/43 kits. I was like a kid
in a sweet shop! Such a huge range of subjects. Now my collection is
over
500, with a list of wants as long as my arm. Today the market caters
to
all interests: Rally cars to Land Speed Record, Motor Show Specials
to F1
cars, Sports Cars to Indy Cars, Brooklands Monsters and even Boats.
The models
cater to all abilities, and some even come prepainted.
Do you want to know the best thing? I now have my own sweetshop with
nearly 5000 sweeties to choose from!