1958 Ford Popular 103F.Working in a quarry is no mean job. Consequently, when the dust has settled down at the end of a long, hard day, Joseph Vella and his son Roderick leave the family quarry in Naxxar and head to the father’s residence in Mellieha, to spent some quality time enjoying their collection of classic cars.
“My first vehicle was a hardly-used 1971 Peugeot 304. The maroon-coloured car was the apple of my eye. I only drove it at the weekend, and whenever I was caught in the rain, I would return to the garage and wash it immediately, even if it was after midnight.” The Peugeot remains in mint condition to this very day.
Some years ago, Vella and his wife Maria were holidaying in Nice, France. In a quiet street off their hotel, he observed an unusually old car, partly parked on the pavement. There was a notice with a telephone number on the windscreen. On the last day of the holiday, Vella decided to take action and stopped a number of passersby to enquire about the owner of this car. Eventually, he was directed to a nearby building.
Plucking up courage, he rang the bell and soon he was having a lengthy conversation with the owner, who informed him that this was a rare 1938 Rosengart LR4 that he wanted to sell. He offered to take him for a drive on the Monday, but Vella was departing on Sunday. However, a deal was struck, and a few weeks later, this French rarity – in immaculate, original condition and also maroon coloured – arrived in Malta.
Lucien Rosengart was a French engineer who started producing small cars in 1928 on licence based on the English Austin Seven. The initial LR2 model was significantly modified to the more robust LR4 version, which came off the production line in 1938. In the post-war period, the company faced stiff competition from other French car manufacturers who were producing more practical models, and eventually it had to close its doors in 1955.
Vella’s son Roderick followed his father not only into the family business, but also in absorbing his classic car enthusiasm. “In 1992, when I was 15, my father bought me a 1968 Triumph Herald 13/60. Being mechanically inclined, I spent the next three years restoring the locally assembled vehicle – it was my baptism of fire,” Roderick said, who also sprayed the car from white to red.
Soon after this project was completed, he got to know of an old Austin Utility van abandoned in a Mellieħa field. The vehicle looked beyond repair, but buoyed by his technical knowledge as well as the fact that his future father-in-law was a good car mechanic, he bought it.
“There were times when I felt that in getting this 1941 van, I had bitten more than I could chew, as restoring the Utility was a struggle. Procuring engine parts, like the timing gears and the pistons, was a headache. The marathon rehabilitation took us seven years to complete, but looking at the restored green-coloured vehicle, it was worth the while,” the son said.
The Austin Ten Light Utility model is a classic example of the wartime modification of civilian vehicles for the military effort, and was based on the Austin Ten saloon.
The next old car to catch Roderick’s eye was a grey 1958 Ford Popular 103F. Although not in a bad state, his obsession with overhauling vehicles led to another restoration project, including a rebore of the engine and fitting of new upholstery.
Once finished, he fulfilled a childhood dream by purchasing a 1951 Fordson truck. He has been working on it for the past five years, mainly on the engine, which now features a replaced cylinder block. Roderick, who carries out most of the work himself, also made the wooden ash sides of the rear part of the Fordson, which is now nearing completion.
In the meantime, he has bought a 1962 cream coloured Austin A35, which is in a very good and roadworthy condition.
The same cannot be said of another acquisition, a 1966 Triumph Spitfire Mark II, which will require a future nut and bolt restoration.
These old cars are complemented by another interest of Roderick: old motorbikes. Over the years, he has bought and restored four of them – a 1943 BSA M20, a 1951 BSA Bantam, a 1958 AJS, and a 1959 Triumph Tiger Cub.
As father and son make their way around this colourful collection of classics, Joseph appears laid back and relaxed. However, Roderick admits that old cars have become an obsession, meaning he has to visit them every day, either to watch, wash, or else to carry out some work on them. Both opine that the sight of their vehicles is the perfect antidote to the sounds of the quarry.
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