You might have trouble finding the ignition, but taking a ride in an old car is exhilarating, writes Michael Kelly
THIS WILL TELL you how little I know about cars - I assumed vintage, veteran and classic were just different names for the same thing - you know, old. But the president of the Irish Veteran and Vintage Car Club, Peadar Ward, patiently explains to me that, officially, a veteran car dates from 1905 to 1918, while a vintage model dates from 1919 to 1930. From 1931 to 1945 is classed as post-vintage, and anything from 1946 to 1983 is considered classic.
The IVVCC was formed in 1963 as a vehicle (sorry) for Irish vintage, veteran and classic car enthusiasts and has about 500 members. I am invited to join them for their spring rally, which sees 40 cars take a leisurely jaunt from Blessington, Co Wicklow to Bunclody in Co Wexford. There is a staggering array of cars on show in the car park of a hotel in Bunclody, where I meet the members before they depart on their return trip to Wicklow. Many of the cars are instantly recognisable modern classics - Minis, Jaguars, Bentleys, Mercs, Porsches. But it's the vintage and veteran cars that make the whole thing look like a scene from an old movie. There are numerous cars from the 1920s and 1930s, including a two-seater Singer, a 1928 Ford A Coupe, a Lancia Lambda and a DeSoto Six. You could easily imagine a mobster standing on the running boards brandishing a tommy gun.
I travel with Ward in his 1930 Ford Model A, and another member, Paul Noctor, kindly agrees to drive my car - a 1999 behemoth that isn't too far off qualifying as a classic itself. If he's annoyed at having to drive my jalopy instead of the beautiful 1950s Riley he came in, he's far too polite to say so.
We stop at the hotel door to collect Ward's wife, Marian, and the car gets admiring glances from a group of hungover guys having their first cigarettes of the day. A woman leaving the hotel stops to take a photo, and I get into the spirit of things from the passenger seat with an aristocratic wave. When Ward turns off the engine, the Model A backfires dramatically - not a sound you hear too often these days - frightening the life out of the party animals who scurry back inside to safety.
The interiors of these wonderful cars are particularly beguiling - for starters there is a single seat, or bench, in the front, as opposed to two separate seats, and I suspect that Peadar and Marian would be snuggling up together if I wasn't here (Marian has offered to sit in the back so I can conduct our interview en route). There are kitsch blinds on the back windows and a complicated array of levers and handles around the driver. There is a choke - something I have only ever seen on a lawnmower - and a starter pedal on the floor instead of an ignition. There is no heating and, of course, no power steering, and the wipers look like they might not be up to much if it rains. I remark on the fact that the mileage - 83,266 - seems low for such an old car, but Ward smiles and tells me that the milometer has probably been around the clock a few times.
Progress is relatively slow but not uncomfortable. We stop for petrol - old cars are, Ward says, heavy enough on juice, but before you go thinking that it's all terribly environmentally unfriendly, bear in mind that most vintage cars travel only 1,000 miles or so per annum. And of course, most of us change our cars religiously every couple of years - this car has been on the road for 78. Now that's efficient.
I ask him if the cars are high-maintenance, thinking back to the car park, where it took a few minutes to convince the Model A to get moving. "Considering their age, not a whole lot goes wrong with them. They need to be used, otherwise they rust up, and it's best to garage them because they don't like being left out. That poses problems, because most modern homes don't have a garage."
Parts can be expensive, he says, particularly if the car is rare - by way of example, he cites the club's oldest car, a 1901 De Dion-Bouton owned by Osmond Bennett of Kilkenny.
Ward's love affair with vintage cars started when a friend offered him an old 1967 Ford Anglia that was about to become a home for chickens. He picked up his Model A in the UK, and says that knowing the car's history is all part of the enjoyment. So what type of people make up the club's membership? "All sorts. You don't have to be mechanically minded. For a lot of our members it's about friendships and camaraderie. It's a great family thing and that's what interested me, that it was something we could do with our kids."
Reluctantly I take my leave at their next stop, and I must admit, the drive home in the jalopy feels rather dull by comparison.
Vintage and veteran car trivia
Historic vehicle related activity is valued at €16 billion a year in the EU.
In Ireland, there are 3,000 enthusiasts in 40 clubs.
In the 1950s in Monaghan, William Curtis started to manufacture a car called the Shamrock for export to the US. Only 10 cars were produced before the firm went bust.
In 1903, the famous Gordon Bennett Cup race (which was the
forerunner of F1) was held in Athy, Co Kildare, and won by Camille
Jenatzy from Germany in a Mercedes. The IVVCC commemorates this
race every year - this year's event is in Tullow, Co Carlow from
June 13th to 15th.
See
www.ivvcc.ie
for more details