My Vauxhall 14, original registration number 7183, was first registered on the 13th January 1947 and has been in our family since the 4th September 1954 when my father, Anthony Buttigieg, part exchanged his Buick Straight Eight for it. Fortunately I have a record of its early history. The original owner was Mr. Joseph Chircop of B'Kara and from 1950 till 1954 it was used as a garage hire vehicle for Salinos Garage of B'Kara. In July 1954 it was sold to Francesco Tanti of Hamrun, better known as "Cikku Bagollu", from whom my father later purchased it.

My father used the Vauxhall as his daily car and it regularly transported our big family of ten children, plus parents and grandfather. My father always took great care of the car and maintained it in as best condition as he could. After many years of faithful service, on the 3rd May 1990, my father passed on his much loved Vauxhall to me. Being one of the first members of the Old Motors Club, I exhibited the car in one of the very first vintage and classic car shows at Villa Rundle in Gozo.

After this show, I decided to begin a full restoration on the vehicle, with the aim of returning it back to the condition it was in when it left the factory. Much of the restoration work was entrusted to my friend and keen vintage car enthusiast John Magri. We completely stripped down the Vauxhall beginning at the front end, removing the engine and gearbox and all the body panels. We were fortunate that the car was still rather sound and original, thus this enabled the restoration to progress at a reasonable pace. The car was sprayed in its original black colour and I was extremely pleased and satisfied that we managed to show my father his beloved Vauxhall fully restored to its original glory, and was he proud to see it!

The Vauxhall 14 has now been in the Buttigieg family for the past 48 years and it will stay here for much longer as my enthusiastic son, Gary, will not part with it for a million pounds. Since completing the restoration I have regularly attended all sorts of Old Motors Club events with the Vauxhall and have also purchased another two Vauxhalls, a 1948 Wyvern and a 1956 Wyvern.

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