Road cars

ANDREW FRANKEL is let loose on some of Britain's morederided models of the past and is forced to re-think his opinions

- ANDREW FRANKEL

I have a friend called Richard Bremner. You may know the name because he was a long-time staffer and former editor of Car magazine and is a current contributor to Autocar and others. When I say he is a man with a car collection like no other, I say so in complete confidence of not being contradicted. And not because they’re the most expensive, rare or fastest cars on earth. But, as a private collection of road-legal production cars, none could be more eclectic.

Who else other than Richard would have an Austin 1300 GT and a C3 Corvette living under the same roof? A Rover 75 and a Chevrolet Corvair? An Alpine A110 and a talking-dash Maestro? A BMW 650i and Rover 75 Connoisseur? No one.

When I get to drive them, I’m always surprised by how good they are. I really shouldn’t be surprised at all because when it comes to cars his knowledge and understanding of certain kinds of cars - curios from America, Great Britain and Italy in particular - is on a level unapproached by any other I know. And the cars that interest him most tend to be those who talents went most unappreciated at the time. Which is one more reason I enjoy visiting him so much.