listers` ages

[PADDY WILLMER]

Hallo everybody Just back off honeymoon ( mk 2 ) to find all this nostalgia going on! I bought my first T, a TA, 1937, TA 1065, for 65 in 1961 when I was 21. Sold it in 1962 for 90 to an Italian student in Cambridge. where is it now? Its previous owner to me , in 1951, was Paul Linney and he rallied it in what was to become the RAC Rally in later years. He still has a T in North Carolina. Anyway I then bought TC 1730 in 1962 for 100 and went racing with it till in 1975 I crashed it and put the remains onto TA 0448 chassis I had, and continue to race it to this day, despite another high speed crash in 1993 that lead to another rebuild. Then in 1968 I bought TB 0594 for just 20. It was non-goer until 1972. Both these cars now have Wolseley 4/44 engines bored to 1370cc, one atmospheric on 1/12" SUs with GJ needles and the other supercharged and a 1 3/4" SU with an RA needle in a 100 thou jet. Both go like stink! When he was 19 10 years ago my son Tim, rebuilt TC 1730 and drove it daily till 1994 till he came too busy as an F1 mechanic. On one occassion David Coulthard " borrowed" it when they shared a house together when Tim was in the bath! David hasn`t smiled as much till he won the British Grand Prix this EASTER! This car was sold recently and Tim is rebuilding a TA he has inherited from an uncle who was in Vancouver at his death. I am 59 now and will drive both my Ts till the roads wear out and my eyes grow dim- they are the best tonic for depression and stress and should be on prescription for everyone! Have a nice day in your T today. Paddy.