MOTORING
Malcolm Hall
From: Stockton.
Job: Owner, Hall’s Motor Bodyworks, Stockton.
PICTURES BY MARTIN WALKER
My current car: I have a Volvo XC90 and a Porsche
Boxter S. But my pride and joy is my pair of Lea Francis
saloon and sports cars.
Best feature: The Volvo is a practical, seven-seater which I
use mainly in the winter months, and I use the Porsche more
in the summer.
Best drive-time music: I enjoy listening mostly to loud ‘70s
and ‘80s rock music – the likes of Thin Lizzy, Bon Jovi and
Guns N’ Roses.
Best place to drive it: The best place for the Porsche is on
Buttertubs Pass, in the Yorkshire Dales. It’s one of the best
roads for driving in the UK – lots of steep climbs and bends –
and has featured on the Top Gear TV programme. It really is
a joy to drive in the right car.
My favourite car when I was young: My Dad, Gordon, had
a Rover 2000. They were quite prestigious cars back then. I
was an apprentice engineer so he asked me to do repairs on
it. One day I was doing some welding work while Dad kept
an eye on the upholstery, to make sure it didn’t catch fire. But
guess what happened? It took a few buckets of water to put
the blaze out eventually. For my Dad it was a definitely a case
of spontaneous combustion! Luckily the insurance paid Dad
out and I bought the burnt-out Rover before restoring it.
My parents’ cars: Before the Rover, Dad had a Lea Francis
saloon. I well remember summer holidays, squashed in the
back seats with my siblings and enough clothes and supplies
for a two-week self-catering holiday in far away places like
Llandudno and Great Yarmouth. It was already an old car,
over-loaded and on a long journey, so looking back, Dad
must have had more nerve and optimism than I’d realised.
My first car: It was a Mini which I bought for £75. An
apprentice engineer back then didn’t earn enough to keep
paying for repairs, so I learned to do all my own work, which
is what led me into restoring classic cars.
My worst car: A Vauxhall estate car which completely defied
my efforts to make it reliable!
My other cars: Dad kept his old Lea Francis which I restored.
I’d been looking for a Lea Francis sports car for a long time
to accompany the saloon. Eventually I found one on Ebay, it
was a total wreck and I paid £2,500 for it in 2004. It took me
Malcolm Hall in his bodyshop on Ross Road, off Portrack
Lane in Stockton, where he restores classic cars.
a few years to fully restore it, but now I have a matching pair
which I’m very, very proud of.
My last car: It was a Mitsubishi Shogun, which was a totally
reliable work-horse.
My dream car: I’d go for the original AC Cobra – or
anything else with a big V8 engine. I love old American cars.
My worst crash: It wasn’t actually a crash, as such. About a
week after buying my current Volvo about four years ago,
we were on our way back from a caravanning weekend.
Turning left at a T-junction I heard a loud noise behind. I
looked in the rear-view and saw our caravan, complete with
the car’s towbar assembly, rolling across the road towards
stationary traffic. It caused some damage to a car and the
caravan was theoretically a write-off. It turned out the
so-called professional who’d fitted the towbar was clearly
incompetent, he hadn’t attached it to the car properly, and
luckily he was later found to blame for the incident.
The maddest place I’ve driven a car: I used to drive
Formula One stock cars. We used to race at Hartlepool and
Newton Aycliffe, and it used to get quite mad at times.
The car journey I’ll always re member: In a 1960s
American convertible during a tour of Havana in Cuba last
year. I say convertible, it was actually a saloon which had its
roof chopped off and hadn’t been properly converted and
strengthened! As a result the body work flexed alarmingly,
the steering wheel had minimal effect on its direction and
the only thing that worked on the dashboard was the horn
button. So it was an interesting journey, to say the least!
Malcolm Hall, from Halls Motor Bodyworks, specialises in classic car restoration.
He’s available on 07505 107465 or email [email protected]
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