Would you daily drive a pre-war classic? Mark Elder does!
The thought of daily driving a collector or classic car doesn’t mean a lot these days, with a lot more people willing to get out and drive than before. However, there is a lot of risk with driving a collectible, mainly being the damage that can happen on the road, how much your insurance would cover in the event of a wreck, and even just being able to find service parts for rare or older classics. However, these things have not stopped Mark Elder from daily driving his 90-year-old classic car to work everyday.
The 58-year-old from Bicester, Oxfordshire inherited his 1931 four-seat tourer 12/50 Alvis from his dad, who had bought it about a decade ago. The 90 year old car has been driving over 200k miles since it was built, and it’s still not giving up on giving Mark a spin everyday.
“The car has been in the family for 10 years and we’re lucky that the Alvis has got a very good spares backup, so through the vintage sports car club, we’re able to get spares to keep it going,” Mark explained.
“It hasn’t got power steering, it doesn’t have hydraulic brakes, there’s no AVS or ride control, no heater, one windscreen wiper, and I have to use my hands to signal when I’m turning left or right.
“I can’t say that vintage cars don’t break down but by driving them regularly, you can keep them going.
“If you’re driving an old car, there’s so much excitement and fun when it comes to driving and there’s a sense of achievement when you reach your destination.
“I drive the car daily when I can; this last week when we had the cold, snowy weather, I was driving it backwards and forwards to work and it was fine.
“I go to the pub in it, go shopping in it, and it to work and back.
“You need to have the confidence in the car and it’s like all things, if you’re driving a car all the time, you learn to enjoy the car better.”
Like the car itself, Mark gets his love for cars from his dad. His father took him out to vintage car meets and now Mark’s kids, aged 27 and 26, both out in the car with him.
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