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.

Bastjan Grech recounts how he restored this now immaculate Lotus Cortina jewel. When I bought my Cortina in the year 2000 it was in a poor condition as rust had started to eat away a good part of the body panels and it was fitted with a BMC diesel engine.
 

However, when my sons and I started to have a closer look at the car in order to quantify what work was going to be involved in the restoration, we noticed the factory shell supports that extend to the boot floor, the A-frame link fixing points for the rear suspension, the hump over the differential, the 8,000 rpm rev counter, as well as the ratchet type boot lid stand.

If one were to ask the average man in the street to draw up an identikit of a local fanatic classic car enthusiast and owner, one would gather not too few an image of a static, staid and stereotyped middle aged, menopausal male who, at the crossroads of life, wants to fulfill a childhood dream by acquiring that old car (or cars!) which brings back so much nostalgia and memories of past and lost youth. Long cherished visions of that first pedal car, or of a favourite four wheeler from the Lesney Matchbox Models of Yesteryear collection, would finally burst into lifesize - after all, it is said that the difference between men and boys is the shape and size of their toys! ...

One of my first cars was a 1971 Fiat 850 Special, bought for Lm25 when I was 18. After making some very primitive and bodged repairs to the bodywork and handpainting it to make it look somewhat more presentable, I used and abused this car daily for two years. I soon grew fond of the little machine and its character, and  before I knew it, the bug had set in and I became hooked on 60s and 70s Fiats. When I reluctantly took the Fiat off the road in 1995, I decided to replace it with its much prettier and rarer sister, a Fiat 850 Sport Coupe'. After some searching, I managed to find a 1969 Series 2 example in the hands of a retired old man from Sliema.