My hobby and passion since retirement has been my collection of pre-war cars which I love to drive long distances. Last year I was in Gibraltar exploring the World War Two tunnels when I came up with the idea of driving my 1923 Ford Model T from Gibraltar Point (near Skegness, Lincolnshire) to Gibraltar and, of course, through the tunnels.
Our arrival was planned to coincide with the Gibraltar Classic Vehicle Association’s annual classic vehicle event on 11 May. I had also agreed to support Cancer Relief Gibraltar and was accompanied by Christine, my wife, plus Ralph Kemp (the spanner man) and his partner Margaret Sowerby. Ralph had agreed to drive the car back to Lincolnshire after the first half of the run. So here is the story of how a 101-year-old car raised more than £9000 on a drive of 2800 miles there and back!
We set off from Gibraltar Point on the 21 April with friends giving us a great send off. The local vicar even blessed the car before we left! Why? Well, when I purchased the car in Warsaw, Virginia, USA in 2008, the vendor was a minister, and he blessed the car when I collected it from outside his church.
After a brief overnight stop in Buckinghamshire, we arrived in Christchurch where we planned to meet a few old friends at the Sammy Miller Motorcycle Museum. It was to be a reunion of trade wrinklies!
On arrival there was the very old Mike Jackson (now 91), a seriously old trade friend whose days go back to Greeves and Norton, Bill Hawker (Ex TranAm), Rick Lloyd (TranAm’s founder), Colin Mayo, ancient publisher of British Dealer News and before that editor of Two Wheeler Dealer and Motor Cycle Dealer, together with his son Andy, the current editor of BDN and, of course, Sammy Miller, who indulged himself by taking a short ride in the Model T before regaling us with his tales of misspent days on motorcycles. Mike Jackson and Sammy Miller were both around when the Model T Ford was still being used as daily transport. My car was the only thing older than Mike Jackson when we met up and I estimate the combined ages of everyone in the photograph exceeds 500 years!
The assembled geriatric throng meet up with the Model TThe next day we set sail for St Malo. On our first day in Europe we covered 220 miles, arriving in La Rochelle that evening. We then moved on to Biscarrosse Plage for an overnight stop, the following day Ascain, then all the way to Talavera de la Reina, our first stop in Spain, having crossed the border at San Sebastien (Donastasia) and into the Basque region. Our journey along the back roads of France had been through mainly agricultural areas, with few highlights, but easy driving, as we hugged the Atlantic coast to avoid Bordeaux.
On arrival in Spain we checked our planned route to find there were road closures and adverse weather conditions in the Picos Europa, so we changed our route to cross over the top of the Pyrenees, climbing up to 1500m (4930ft) above sea level. In the Pyrenees we had hail, snow, rain and very cold winds – the worst day of the trip regarding weather.
The first day of May saw another long climb over the mountains where we passed a small group of wild ibex. Not being able to stop in time, we went down the mountain until we could turn and then return to the top for photographs. That evening we found ourselves in Don Benito, where we discovered a transport museum displaying a few Ford Model Ts. They even had a spare back axle should we have needed one!
The next day we enjoyed another 150-plus mile run to Osuna. Enroute we were interviewed by Gibraltar Radio to check on our progress. Stopping at the roadside we were asked: “How is it going”? My reply: “I am a 76-year-old driving a 101-year-old car.” The DJ’s response was “What else can go wrong!” Luckily nothing else did go wrong!
Leaving Osuna early the next morning we bypassed Seville and drove to Ronda, then took the winding mountain road to San Roque and into La Linea de la Concepcion. We needed an oil change and took advantage of a country garage to use their workshop and ramp. The owner helpfully moved seven cars to enable this to be done. It was our first compete oil change of the trip.
The Tin Lizzie, with Lulu in close support, tackle Gibraltar’s tunnelsWe spent the night at a hotel in La Linea, but in the morning we had to reschedule a planned welcome party because we had arrived four days early!
On 4 May, as we entered Gibraltar, the Spanish immigration officer became quite emotional as he looked at the car exclaiming: “I have seen cars like this in movies, where did you come from?” I replied “England”, at which point he reached out, shook my hand and said: “Thank you for bringing your car here.” He then stamped our passports (Brexit at play here) and put his hand to his lips and reached out to touch the car.
After going through passport control, we were met by some members of the Gibraltar Classic Vehicle Association along with a camera crew from GBC, the Gibraltar TV station. We’d arrived safely after covering a total of 1613 miles – amazing!
After the usual bubbles and a chat with the TV company and our friends from the Gibraltar Classic Vehicle Association, we made our way to our accommodation for a well-earned rest.
My big wish was to drive through the tunnels built during the Second World War, which are still a restricted military area and under military control. The military obliged, and my wish was granted on 10 May when the gates were opened, the film crew arrived, our back up vehicle Lulu (a 1951 Land Rover Series 1) arrived, and we were escorted through the rocky depths for about half a mile. We think ours is the first civilian vehicle to have been in the tunnels for almost 70 years, and possibly the oldest car ever driven through them.
The next day we attended the 21st Classic Car Rally, parking the car in Casemates Square with our collection box at the ready and gave interviews to the local press.
The following day we gave rides around Gibraltar to local residents. One elderly lady (she was 87) climbed into the car and held my knee. I said to her, “I didn’t know it was going to be a romantic ride”, she replied, “It could be if I can remember what I have to do. I will ask my niece in the back of the car!” What a fitting end to a great trip.
After all this the car had to go back to Lincolnshire – which is where my longstanding friend (and mechanic) Ralph came into his own, he had agreed to drive the car back to the Santander ferry port and then from Portsmouth to Lincolnshire, another 1000-plus miles. What an incredible car, I doubt there will be many Teslas left in 101 years’ time!
Larry Riches, Horncastle, Lincs
For the benefit of younger readers, Larry Riches and his company (Lintek Motorcycle Accessories) commenced trading as a one-man band in 1974.
Initially motorcycle clothing and top boxes (around 10,000 a year) were the mainstays of the business, but later came a move into pattern spares. Ten years later Lintek branded pattern parts were big business, claiming 60% of the market, then thought to be worth £4m annually.
In 1987 Larry and Sybil, his mother and co-director, sold Lintek in a cash and shares deal worth £3m (that’s about £8.5m in today’s money) to Banro Industries, Larry remaining as a director and consultant. Ed