Pendine Historic Cars Ltd - HCVA Founding Partner
              
HCVA-T0011
            

How did you either start, or join the business?

I had been working for a London specialist for 11 years.  I started as a showroom cleaner then showroom manager then I was business manager there for 6 years. I left there in 2013 just wanting a bit if a break and I spent 12 months helping write a book about Jaguars and working out what I wanted to do.  

I had a good friend (Robert Glover) who had just set up specialising in pre-war cars here at Bicester Heritage and he kept saying "you need to come and see this place it’s amazing" and I didn’t believe what he was saying but I was on my way north I thought it would be churlish not to call by and as soon as I arrived at Bicester Heritage I realised that they were good guys and they were putting their money where there mouth is and I thought I’ve got to be a part of this. And that’s how I ended up here at Bicester Heritage and starting Pendine Historic Cars.

What has been your proudest moment in work?

Finding a new home for the Leslie Johnson Mille Miglia Jaguar C-Type.  A good friend and client had owned the car (chassis number XKC008) for a number of years.  It was a very, very original car and I think it’s the only C-type fitted with an overdrive. He phoned me up and said he wanted to find a new home for it and did I know anyone?  Funnily enough I had just had a conversation earlier that week with someone who was looking for an important sports racing car and we married the two of them together. This was in 2016.

Why should HCVA members use your services?

Because I'm a completely open book. We don’t confuse deals and we keep things as simple as possible. We don’t turn over a massive number of cars and we're very client and process driven. We're very good on the client side of things.  

We specialise in post-war British sports and racing cars so any British make from the 50’s & 60’s. Fraser Nash, AC, Lister, Jaguar, Aston Martin that’s what we specialise in so 50’s & 60’s British Sports racing cars.  We always have a few other things because inevitably we know people with these cars and they trust us. That’s why we are selling them; we are very happy to have good examples of other interesting cars.

What is the most valuable lesson your work has taught you?

That a reputable name is very easy to lose.

What piece of advice about your work would you give your younger self?

Get going. Stop wasting time. I think a lot of us put things off and say "I’ll do this, but I’ll do it next month" or "lets plan the next six months" when actually you should just get on and do it.

What is your favourite car that you have owned - and why?

Well it is funnily enough a car owned by a fellow HCVA Advisory Board Member Julian Barratt. It’s a car I sold him last year, a Jaguar XK120, JUY 520.

It's an old 'war horse' of an XK120 - it's very raw, very brutal and we loved it. It was my own car but Johnny here in the office and everyone adopted it, it just became a bit of an every day car for everyone. It’s an absolute hooligan’s car, great fun, a complete hot rod but sadly the time came when I had to sell it. I wasn’t entirely sure what to do with it and I have a conversation with Julian, he was looking for something and I said this kind of ticks the boxes.  Thankfully he is now the owner of it so I know where it is I can always get my hands on it. He is a really good custodian!

What is your least favourite car that you have owned - and why?

A 1988 Volkswagen Jetta. It was just awful. It was my mother’s car and she ended up in hospital as the steering was so bad on it that it did her back in. They gave it to me so I ended up owning it, it was horrific. It was a really bad car. They bought it new and we had it for about 20 years till it was finally scrapped with over 300,000 miles on it. To be fair it just wouldn’t die!

What is a great example of a future classic in your opinion?

I’m not going to give you a specific car as future classics aren’t my thing. A future classic is what the 10 year old kid sees in the street and aspires to. It could be a Tesla, it could be the latest hot hatch, it could be anything that a 10 year old kid looks at and thinks "that’s new that’s amazing".  The early Subaru Impreza’s  - now they are a modern classic but as a young kid I looked at those and thought 'I want one' but at the time people of our age wouldn’t have looked at them and thought that they are a future classic.

What has been your favourite ever classic car experience?

A road trip to the 2015 Le Mans Classic - 4 of us in a 2 door ‘65 Ford Galaxie. Me, Julian Balme and Mick Walsh of Classic and Sports Car and another friend. It was Julian’s car "Eugene".

What did you wish we’d asked you?

Can you ever have enough car books? The answer is no.