Joe Scicluna’s passion for the Ford marque started from a black and white photo of a Prefect, says Joseph Busuttil from the Old Motors Club.
The first car that Oliver Scicluna bought for his own daily use as well as for family outings was a black Ford Prefect E93A. His son Joe was not yet born and he never saw it except in photos. But he more than liked what he saw then, and that little spark ignited a lifelong love affair between Joe and the Ford marque.
“My father was always dabbling in old cars,”, he said. “The Prefect went away when I came along, but I clearly remember my father driving a Hillman Minx. He also took possession of the first Simca Ariane to be imported in Malta – its number was 25524. The local agent had only one model, and after selling it to my father, he asked him to have it back for some time to be displayed at the company stand at that year’s trade fair!”
A branch off the old tree, he soon developed an interest in classic cars.
“My first vehicle was a red 1959 Fiat with suicide doors, which was in a very good condition. A white1965 Mini Cooper with sliding windows followed, and as was the local trend back then with these fast merchants, I soon customised it, doing all the work myself.”
He qualified as an engineer and worked for a number of years with two leading local companies. However, in the early 1980s, he branched out to set up his own catering business. As the commercial enterprise started to take off, pictures of the old family Ford Prefect frequently began to float from the unconscious into the conscious, and he developed a keen interest into the history of that brand, which he deemed to be a prestige vehicle.
The Ford Prefect was a line of British cars produced by Ford UK between 1938 and 1961, as a more upmarket version of the Ford Popular and the Ford Anglia models. Scicluna said that throughout these years of production, three generations of Prefect were manufactured. The first batch, the E93A, came out between 1938 and 1949. It was followed by the E493A, that ran from 1949 to 1953. The third and final model was the 100E, rolling off the assembly line from 1953 to 1959. Throughout this production period, the vehicle progressed from its original perpendicular or ‘sit-up-and-beg’ style, to a more modern three box structure.
True to his dreams, and keeping his ears close to the ground, he has over the years managed to acquire a model from the three Ford Prefect outputs. He proudly dwells on the history of his 1938 E93A vehicle, which he acquired from a panel beater at tal-Handaq.
“He had already started its restoration, but he had another classic, an American car, and so he considered the Prefect as surplus to requirements. When I bought it, he also gave me a lot of spare parts to go with it.”
The vehicle was still in its early rehabilitation stages, so he continued to remove the rust, which had taken over as the car had been left outside for some time. As the project proceeded, he noticed that the front mudguard had a protruding edge, something totally different from the smooth mudguard at the back. Initially he thought there was some mistake, and so he consulted an expert as he wanted to modify the mudguard so that both front and back ones would look alike.
His vehicle had arrived in the first batch of imported Prefects in Malta
However, the expert told him not to touch it, as the first few Ford Prefects came off the assembly line with different looking mudguards. Ford was immediately criticised for this lack of uniformity, and soon afterwards started to standardise both mudguards. The expert added that Scicluna’s vehicle had arrived in the first batch of imported Prefects in Malta, and that it is also one of the few surviving 1938 models in the world. He later had these assertions confirmed by the UK Ford Side Valve Club. The eight-month restoration project saw the four-door saloon, now resprayed in its original green, restored to its full glory.
Scicluna came across a beige 1950 E493A Prefect in Zabbar. He was not discouraged by its bad condition, bought it, and embarked on a nut-and-bolt restoration task, which he has just completed. The vehicle was also given its original black colour back.
To complete the three-line collection, he finally bought a 1958 100E Prefect from Effie Pisani, who is considered to be the local Ford guru.
He says that the vehicle needed some work done, and eventually turned into a complete rehabilitation, including spraying it in the original grey.
Although the three Ford Prefect vehicles give Scicluna endless joy, the apple of his eye is a 1927 Riley Monaco.
“I saw it on e-bay and was instantly attracted to it. I did some research on the Riley brand, and found that this Coventry family firm, whose strength was more on design for other companies and building motor cycles, handmade the Monaco to order, with no mass production. But before I could act, it was sold,” Scicluna said.
Fortunately, he later saw it for sale at a dealer in Manchester. He contacted the dealer and went up to England to see it. The Monaco was not in the best of conditions, for it had undergone a hasty restoration. But Scicluna realised that this upmarket and rare old fabric bodied saloon – there are only about 11 left in the world – was an investment, and he bought it.
Once in Malta, the Riley Monaco, built on a wooden frame and sporting an aluminium body, iron chassis and mudguards, underwent a lengthy nut and bolt restoration under the able and patient hands of Joe. Parts like the crank had to be completely fabricated in the UK. He also resprayed the old motor in its original maroon and black colours.
While feasting on old motors, Scicluna is not averse to modern and powerful cars – among others, he has a Maserati Quattroporte with a Ferrari tuned V8 engine, a Jaguar F Pace R sport, and a Toyota Land Cruiser. Living opposite the sea in Marsascala, he also spends time on his two large speedboats, which he built himself. Joe sees the local old motors scene as teeming with enthusiastic collectors, some of whom are going for prestige classic cars. He also observes that with this high awareness and appreciation of old vehicles, gone are the good old days when one could spot an old auto abandoned in a field, or left buried under dust and debris in some garage.
As to the future, Scicluna, whose wife Mary Rose, and children Oliver and Sara Ann are also interested in classic cars, intends to start restoring a 1945 Bedford van that was used for transporting goods.
“I saw it abandoned years ago in a field just across the bay opposite my house. I talked to the owner, and bought the maroon and white vehicle, which has a Vauxhall 1200cc engine, as well as a wooden frame and roof covered with canvas. In the meantime, having a very soft spot for pre-war vehicles, a sports car, especially of the MG marque, may attract my antennae if in future it fell under my radar.”