Older cars have been a passion of mine, and no doubt yours too. I can trace my contraction of the vintage illness back to the age of about 6 and a half, when I came out of my front door in Dayton, Ohio to see a stunning aquamarine Corvette Stingray that belonged to my neighbour, a retired US Air Force Colonel, gleaming on his driveway.

American cars of the mid 90’s tended to be boxy land yachts with wallowing suspension and lethargic V8 engines, the antithesis of the green machine next door. I was never lucky enough to even sit in the Stingray, but I was permitted to press my nose to the glass on the rare occasions when it was rolled out into the sunshine.

I recently spoke to my old neighbour, now in his sixties, and told him about the impact his old Stingray had on my formative and impressionable 6-year old former self. He was delighted, and promptly sent me photographs of his current classic in the post, a 1965 Dodge Coronet 500. The classic car disease isn’t only catching then, but doggedly persistent.

I’m now a fully fledged convert, with a real love of modern classics from the 80’s, my first car being a 1987 BMW E30 316.

 I’m now driving a 1986 BMW E30 325i, the car I’d always promised myself; at least until I can afford a Corvette.

Which car gave you the classic bug, and has it influenced what you drive now?

GREG MACLEMAN

Staff Writer