It was around Easter time, and the little boy was walking quietly along one of the country roads near his residence, just outside Rabat, when he came across two young men, who were polluting the spotless silence of early rural Spring with their shouts as they alighted from their car, which they had just rammed into a rubble wall.

He stood with eyes wide open, watching from a safe distance the two men using stones and a wooden branch to try to disengage the bent mudguard, which had tightly embraced the wheel with the impact, making driving impossible.

This impromptu manual maintenance job, with such improvised primitive tools, soon achieved its aim, and the vehicle was roadworthy again! The car was a four-seater SS Jaguar, and the ten-year-old boy would be having more encounters with it, as it was subsequently parked in an area that formed part of his daily pedestrian journey to school. That fledgling was Joe Said, and this particular car sowed in him a deep attraction and admiration for the Jaguar marquee.

"I used to spend a long time looking at it, hypnotised by its chrome lights, the wooden panelling, and the real leather upholstery," says Joe, who locally is considered as a, if not the, leading authority on classic Jaguars. "I was completely hooked on it!"

A family member also had a 3.8-litre Jaguar Mk 11, and Joe remembers how impressed he was when one day the bonnet was open and he could see the aluminium cam covers.

In 1976, while honeymooning in London, Joe went with his wife Agnes to a car show at Earls Court. "I had a photo taken besides a Jaguar AJS," he recalls. "I told her that, some time in the future, I would be getting a Jaguar!"

Things will come for those who wait, and for Joe it was to be a 22-year-old incubation period.

Joe was brought up in a large family (five boys, three girls) well steeped into a classic car environment. Father Salvu had a penchant for American cars. "Besides the everyday car, we had, among others, a 1951 Chevrolet and a 1953 Oldsmobile.

"Father loved to take us all out for the Sunday drive in the old car - especially in the stormy winter weather," smiles Joe as he searches comfortably in the memory cabinet.

"We would go from Rabat to Cirkewwa, then stop for a while to observe the huge waves battering the jutting rocks in a secluded bay. On the way back we would embark on a different route, going through Bahar ic-Caghaq, Sliema, and Birkirkara. In summer we would also go to Cirkewwa to swim."

Joe's first foray into the classic car scene was in 1970, when he bought a Triumph Spitfire. Although he enjoyed the experience tremendously, he had to give it up eventually owing to other pressing priorities.

Dedicating himself to work and family, his dreams went into hibernation for a couple of decades, until the time was ripe and his mind was at rest. And then the floodgates were thrown open, making up for lost time...

"I had a brother-in-law in the UK, and we used to visit him in Oxford," Joe recalls. "On one such trip in 1998, I noticed that one of his neighbours had a Jaguar XK150, a type I was not very familiar with, but which I liked.

"I searched through the adverts, and found one for sale in Rugby. I went for a ride with the owner, when the car developed fuel pump problems. The owner was very dexterous, and mended it on the spot. He was also flexible and reasonable, and a deal was soon concluded."

The 1958 white Jaguar was in a very good condition, and needed little seeing to.

Before elaborating about his cars, Joe gives me a little background on the Jaguar brand, something that immediately strikes the visitor to his spacious, comfortable office stacked with piles of related magazines, books, photographs and car models.

When the company was set up by William Lyons in partnership with William Walmsley in 1922, its name was SS (one interpretation is Swallow Sidecars) and it used to build sidecars for motorcycles.

Later it ventured into coachbuilding, getting the chassis and the motor from the Standard Company. When the partnership broke up in the 1930s, Lyons wanted a change of name and, following many suggestions, the Jaguar SS tag was adopted (whether SS now meant Swallow Special or Standard Special was never resolved!).

Jaguar continued building saloon and sport cars - including the SS 100 with overhead camshaft engines - until the start of the Second World War. In the lean times, Lyons and his engineers did not stand idle and, when they had time off from the war effort, they worked on developing the XK, a six-cylinder, twin overhead camshaft, 3.4-litre engine.

After the war, the SS tag was deemed politically incorrect and was dropped from the marquee's name for obvious reasons. The model was so successful that it continued production until 1986, with more powerful 3.8 and 4.2 engines.

The next car in the Said Jaguar stable was a 1966 Mk 10, the largest car ever produced by the company. "The purchase was quite by accident," says a bemused Joe. "I was invited by Dr Louis Deguara, the Health Minister (no mean classic car aficionado himself) to visit his cars in Naxxar.

"I particularly liked a Jaguar Mk 11, and told him so. Some time later, he phoned me to ask whether I was interested in acquiring a Mk 10 - it was in his garage." It was in good condition, with a relatively low mileage of 37,000 miles, having been garaged for 18 years, although the matt paint needed a spray and there was a little rust. However, Joe preferred to leave the Sherwood green coloured vehicle in its original state.

Joe's encyclopaedic knowledge of all things Jaguar is enhanced by his frequent search on the Internet. In 2000, he came across a 1935 SS1, with a 16 hp, six-cylinder side valve engine, which was lying in a very bad condition in Texas, USA.

Undeterred by its state, he entered into lengthy negotiations with its owner lasting an entire year, before securing a deal. The car needed a total restoration, which was not easy. On being dismantled, it was found that the wooden frame, especially the joints, was more than one could chew on! However, a carpenter-cum-blacksmith came to the rescue.

As the rehabilitation continued, some needed parts came from the UK, while others were manufactured specifically in Malta. The whole job took five years to complete. The cream body with brown mudguards, four-seater, two-door convertible tourer will soon be gracing our roads, barring some technical difficulties that still need ironing out.

In his quest for Jaguar cars, Joe harnesses both established dealers as well as individual sources. Although a little riskier, he prefers the latter. Armed with a pre-prepared shopping list, he then reconnoitres carefully on his trips abroad. This was definitely the case when in 2004 he was on the look out for an E-Type, a car that he had long coveted.

With its curvy, sensual shell inspired by the Le Mans-winning D-Type racer, new wishbone and coil spring independent rear suspension, the E-Type was an exercise in cool aerodynamic theory, and an instant success when it appeared in 1961.

Joe says that the 3.8 and 4.2 Series I and II continued production until 1971, when the E-Type became a Series III with a brand new V12 engine.

Having first sussed out Eagle E-Types in Nottingham - a company which specialises in the total restoration of this brand - Joe then came across a light blue 1970 4.2 Series II, which was in private hands. He liked the convertible with hard top, which was in a very good condition, requiring only slight touches, and the E-Type was soon on its way to Malta.

A year later, in 2005, Joe was in Birmingham for the Classic Car Show when he spotted an advert in the Classic Car Mart, offering a 1949 XK120 for sale. His heart skipped a beat! He embarks on a detailed explanation about the origins of this car:

"The first Jaguar of this type came out in 1948. The XK120 caused such a sensation and attention that the 1948 and 1949 limited output was quickly sold out, mainly to America. Thus the cars produced in these initial two years have now become a rarity, fetching prohibitive prices. So I was more than keen to have a sighting of this unique specimen!"

Alas, when Joe contacted the owner in London, he was informed that a mistake had been made in the advert, and that this XK120 was a 1950, not a 1949 model. Undeterred, he still went to see it. The engine had been dormant for quite a while, but it ignited immediately when the owner and Joe jumped in for a ride.

Later, over a cup of tea at the owner's house, lengthy negotiations ensued. Joe won the day when the lady of the house, who was overhearing the conversation, beckoned her husband to the kitchen, and when he later emerged, the Maltese offer was accepted!

"Apart from some scratches which needed spraying, the black vehicle had a perfect body and engine," purrs a contended Joe.

With this XK120 (his favourite car), Joe intends to make local motoring history, as he has applied to enter the Mille Miglia rally in Italy next May. "As far as I am aware, no other Maltese have participated in this renowned event," points out Joe, who will be having as co-driver another Jaguar addict, Joe Zammit Tabona.

Expounding more on this Brescia-Rome-Brescia run with unbridled excitement, he chronicles its background. "Between 1927 and 1957, the Mille Miglia was a proper, full-blown race on normal roads. Afterwards, for safety reasons, it was converted into a rally.

"The overriding prerequisite of entry is that each participating vehicle must be the same type of car that had raced in the first 30 years. The XK120 is one of them - the famous Tazio Novulari was one of the Jaguar drivers of that era.

"Around 400 old cars from all over the world take part in this annual celebration of the classic four wheeler".

Recalling his feelings when two years ago he was there as a spectator, Joe emotionally discloses that, as the cars set off one by one from a raised platform, the roaring departure of the participants resembled a hypnotic musical crescendo, causing him goose pimples!

Joe's obsession with Jaguars is a healthy counterbalance for a hectic work schedule. He is the epitome of the local lad made good: he joined the glass blowing company, Mdina Glass, two months after it was set up by two Britons in 1967, made progress, and eventually took it over 18 years later.

Now he manages the family business with the aid and active involvement of Agnes and their four children, Nevise, Olivia, Pam and Alan. All are onto the classic car scene, although Joe admits that initially his wife was lukewarm and considered classic cars as a means of transport only - until she saw a Jaguar XK150 at the Old Motors Club Festival of Motoring at Mount Carmel Hospital!

The Saids are great supporters of the OMC, taking part in events both locally and abroad. One of the highlights of the club's calendar of events is the Mdina Glass Classic Car Rally and Show, which is held annually early in December. Joe is also an active member of the Enthusiasts Jaguar Club UK, which has 20,000 members worldwide.

On the local scene, Joe notices increasing interest in old vehicles, as well as more classic cars on the road. He opines that the steps taken by the authorities on registration of such vehicles have helped in no small way. Taking a businessman's perspective, Joe believes that the classic car sector can be tapped to generate economic growth.

He cites the UK example, where restoration and maintenance of these vehicles is a billion pound industry. He would also love to see more of these cars on the road, more activities involving them, as well as smoother co-ordination and co-operation between all the motoring clubs - sive the recent l-Istrina show at Ta' Qali.

Being in a competitive business, Joe is always on the lookout to diversify his range of glass products. Likewise he is bent on extending his Jaguar collection. "My future dream is an XK SS, although I have no hope of an original, but at the very best, a faithful replica," sighs Joe as he unfolds another of his enthralling Jaguar history lectures. It transpires that in the 1950s there was an agreement between the Le Mans organisers and the car companies, stating that the manufacturers would have to produce at least 50 cars of the winning entry. The successful Jaguar company complied with 50 D-Types.

But, despite the track success, sales were poor. The company therefore modified 16of them to the XK SS. This meant the removal of the landmark protective fin, two seats instead of one, and a modified engine.

Thirteen of the XK SS ended up in the USA, one remained in the UK, and the other two were exported to Canada and Singapore. Today only six or seven survive, and their prices are exorbitant - one was sold some time ago in the United States for $1.7 million.

Joe says that in pursuing the scent, he got to know of a UK company called Links, which produced replicas of this type. However, it has now closed down, so even copies are hard to come by. But Joe is not one to be easily discouraged by challenges.

Given his pedigree, it will only be a matter of time before, akin to the animal providing the iconic logo gracing the bonnet head, he will successfully pounce on such a prized prey!

• Joseph Busuttil is PRO of the Old Motor Club, e-mail: info@oldmotorsclub.com; Website: www.oldmotorsclub.com.

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