In life, the majority of people preach and teach, while a few do. Toby Ross definitely falls into the latter category.

Ever since childhood in England, when tinkering around his father’s 1957 Aston Martin DB 2/4 Mk 111, he felt a passion for old motors in the upmarket bracket, totally disdaining the normal educational avenue. Books and school bench had no attraction, unlike his earnest enthusiasm for preparing the Aston Martin for concours events and hill climbs.

“The old thoroughbred was in a very good condition. We took part in events organised by the Aston Martin Owners Club, frequently winning the concours d’elegance. At 17, I was competing in hill climbs with it,” he started out.

His first job came at 19, when he began working for Henley’s, the Jaguar agents in London. He soon became their very best salesperson, but this did not last long.

“One busy Saturday, a very important client came in and wanted to jump the queue. I told him to wait in line. However he was a good friend of the managing director, and the next thing I knew was that I got fired.”

Ross continued wheeling and dealing in old vehicles for a number of years, while building his knowledge about the business. Part of this learning curve involved attending old motors shows at home and abroad. In the mid 1980s, he went to Paris for the annual Retromobile Show, where he met a young French woman, Sophie, who was to become his muse and soul mate. Consequently some time later he moved to France.

1987 found Ross working for the French Aston Martin importer, who also sold other high-end classic cars.

“In a way, this was a totally different game for me for whereas before I had been well versed in British classics, I was in the dark about the rest. At this concessionary, I was introduced to the prestigious profiles of Ferrari, Bugatti, Alfa Romeo, Delage, Delahaye, and other elite of the auto aristocracy. This period transported me onto another level.”

Always one to follow his independent instincts, Ross left the job in mid-1989 to become a classic car broker. Alas, the prevailing economic boom was followed by a bust in 1990, which took the best of five years to level out. During that time, it was not easy to sell old vehicles, and consequently he spent quite a lot of time immersing himself in massive tomes that chronicled the rise and rise, and sometimes fall, of the great marques, and their idiosyncrasies.

Alfa Romeo 8C turns men into ‘hooligans’.

“The 1930s were the climax of the glorious days of French and Italian cars, plus a few British models,” he explained. “While the United States was wallowing in the Great Depression, the situation in Europe was different. For example, the French firm Delahaye, best known for its stunning sportscars in that era, produced made-to-order vehicles, hugely expensive and not very practical, but it did not matter. Even today, like the 1930s, the very rich still want them.”

By the end of the recession the self-taught Ross had gained much knowledge and expertise in these upmarket vehicles, especially the Ferrari.

“It was a good period to work in, before the advent of the internet. The owner would be unaware of how much the market was growing. I would describe my job as detective work, finding out where the car was, tracing the owner, and persuading him to sell. At times I would be contacted by a buyer, other times by a seller. The most important thing has always been to know precisely what I am talking about.”

Ross says that in the late 1990s and early 2000s, many brokers were jumping on the Ferrari market bandwagon, and so he decided to concentrate on French upmarket classics, which he describes as the cradle of the automobile, asserting that “All innovations tended to come out of France”.

He waxed lyrical about how French firms first produced the chassis and mounted the engine, then sent them off to various coachbuilders who would then construct the individualised body.

“If you show me 20 classic French motors, I am able to identify 19 different coachbuilders,” Ross said, adding with pride and passion that he is one of the world’s leading specialists in old French cars. 

His work as a classic car broker has, over a period of more than two decades, seen him involved in the sale of some of the world’s most important old motors

With such a background, including multilingual skills, he has always been in demand as a commentator at international classic car events. In 2007, when French classic car collector and entrepreneur Thierry Giovannoni dreamt up the first Valletta Grand Prix, Ross was approached to come over for his first visit to Malta and provide the running commentary. He was subsequently twice invited to do the same again by the Valletta Grand Prix Foundation, that had now taken over the event.

Malta appealed to the nomadic nature of Ross and Sophie, but with their son Felix still at secondary school in France, they had to hold their horses. However, once Felix had settled down in a British university, they packed their belongings and moved to Malta in 2010. He continued to be involved for some time with the local Grand Prix Foundation, which now had moved to Mdina, organising, in one edition, a Bugatti Grand Prix with ten participants. A strict disciple of the elegance in a concours, he came up in 2016 with a one-off Concours d’Elegance at Villa Bologna, where 40 different old motors and period dressed participants graced the event, for which even visitors had to abide by a dress code.

His work as a classic car broker has, over a period of more than two decades, seen him involved in the sale of some of the world’s most important old motors.

Ross says that it is not an easy job, as some people tend to think.

Ross with the Aston on the Coupe des Alpes.

“One does not have a lot of customers at any given time,” he explained. “Two to three good clients are enough; I call them serial offenders, as they continue to buy. One tends to sell five to six classics a year, but obviously top-of-the-range ones. Sometimes one does not sell one car in five months, then the wind shifts and two change hands in one month. The last decade has been a difficult period for upmarket classics. Enthusiasts seeking such vehicles are getting old and dying, and their children are not really interested in such purchases. The market has gone down, and it is only because I am a specialist in the sector that I have managed to survive. It is all a very unpredictable occupation – I am very glad my son Felix opted for a totally different career!”

For Ross, the local old motor scene is healthy, but quickly pointed out that he does not have a classic car.

“I had two Alfa Romeos but I sold them. The traffic situation and state of the roads in Malta are such that one cannot enjoy driving a modern car, let alone a classic one. The idea of getting into a car, struggling to get to the destination, then locating a parking place, puts me off. Instead I drive a motorbike.”

Ross with Formula 1 great Clay Regazzoni at the Giro di Sicilia.

Ross loves bikes. Some years ago he badly wanted to do the Paris to Dakar race on a bike with Sophie, and true to form, bought a Honda Africa Twin purpose made for such terrain. But somehow at the last minute he had a change of heart, and instead adjusted the adventure to start from Paris, down to the south of France to Tangiers, where they travelled across Morocco to the Sahara over the Atlas mountains. At the cross point massive flash floods engulfed the area, making driving next to impossible. But they battled on through treacherous conditions, and lived to tell the tale.

Being a broker of classic cars does not deter Ross from following other hobbies. He has a collection of big model cars, including a 1968 French Matra 630 Wind Tunnel model, 1/5th scale, and one and a half metre long. A few years ago he took up model trains, and his spacious study has a continuous rail track along the four walls for the running of numerous electrical trains dating from 1920 to 1955. He also finds quality time to write about classic cars, contributing to various local and overseas publications, including the monthly newsletter of the Malta Old Motors Club.

Adventurous classic car rallies are always floating in the uppermost areas of his creative mind. Some time ago, he thought of organising an old motors rally in Sardinia.

“The countryside was wonderful, the mountains breathtaking – but the country was not easily accessible and we did not get enough participants,” he said. Never one to give up easily, he is now pondering on a five-day classic car rally at the foot of Italy for local and foreign participants.

“The terrain is idyllic, there are nice hotels, and a backup breakdown service available, to quell any doubts for the less adventurous.”

In the meantime, together with Sophie, he continue to quench their wanderlust by travelling abroad, visiting art and architectural museums and exhibitions and old motors fests – like the renowned Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance which they regularly go to.

Ross nurses a passion for trains.