FROM a very rare 1927 Chevrolet Capital AA convertible to a 1986 Lincoln Excaliber eight seater stretched limousine, David Butcher has one impressive nine car garage.
The car enthusiast, who lives near Winchester, believes modern cars are soulless and prefers his incredible collection of classic vehicles.
David also owns what is believed to be the last surviving 1931 Jowett Kingfisher, as well as a 1977 Leyland Princess, an underrated vehicle now rare on Britain’s roads but which were a favourite of David’s father during his childhood.
His 1980 Austin Maxi 1750 automatic is another maligned and underrated British Leyland car and he has a 1980 Triumph TR7V8 convertible in rally colours.
A 1994 Rover Metro 1.4Li CVT automatic is David’s wife's daily drive while a 2003 Renault Grand Espace 3.5 V6 is their seven seater workhorse.
David’s 2009 Graber La Bala Northstar is a LHD limited production two seater sports car built in Texas.
He told the Daily Echo: “Most modern cars are soulless, both to look at and drive. Most classic cars have a unique character, they are also much easier to maintain with less clever electronics and features just waiting to go wrong.”
Petrolhead David has owned over 50 cars, but the ones that stand out are a 1982 Cobra 289 replica, a 1998 Ford Mustang SVT Cobra convertible and a 1996 Lotus 7 replica.
A 2001 AMG ML55 was so much fun to drive, David’s 1986 Renault 5 GT Turbo was one of the best pocket rockets ever made and his 1990 Renault 5 GT Turbo EBS convertible was one of only 14 right hand drive cars ever built.
David who loves a drive on any mountain pass, especially Stelvio, Grossglockner, St Gotthard and Combe Laval, has tackled some seriously long drives in his time.
He once drove non stop the 830 miles from Cologne in Germany to Glasgow on Friday after work then back on Sunday afternoon to visit a girlfriend in 1987. He drove 760 miles non stop through Germany, France and Belgium on the first stage of a seven day classic car endurance rally in 2001 and 710 miles non stop towing a 14ft catamaran from Cologne to Porec, now in Croatia, for a family holiday in 1988 and back two weeks later.
To feature in Me and My Motor, visit dailyecho.co.uk/meandmymotor
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