A Passion A Mission and An Obsession by Stephen Chan

I have had a passion for beautiful cars since I was a teenager. Being from a poor family in Malaysia without a car, we were too poor to own a car and we walked or bicycled everywhere. I used to see a blue Jaguar Mark 1 in town and admired the car never ever thinking that one day I could own one.  

When I was a Medical student, I did an elective in a country town (Jamestown) in South Australia. Mrs. Ruth Verco, the wife of Dr Luke Verco, picked me up from Lincoln College in Adelaide to take me to the country practice two and a half hours away. She was very nice and so was the car, a new British Racing Green Jaguar 420 compact.

I remember how comfortable the car was as it meandered along the countryside and how nicely it rode. The beautiful smell of the leather and the beautiful burl walnut dash with the multiple toggle switches and dials completed the luxurious trip in ultra comfort to Jamestown. The time and the car flew. I wondered if one day I could afford to own a car like that.

Well, I married my beautiful wife, also named Ruth (still happily married after 42 years) who was a nurse I met in Royal Adelaide Hospital and coincidentally she comes from the next town called Laura.

I have collected these cars (I guess I got a little carried away) and like Plastic Surgery I restored them. Being a perfectionist, as any Plastic Surgeon should be, these cars have been nurtured and restored with a passion but always keeping their original beauty character and patina. They have had “extreme makeovers” aesthetically and mechanically, inside and out.

People ask me why I have so many cars! My answer is that I have a passion for things of beauty. That includes beautiful women (particularly those who are beautiful inside as that never fades) and of course beautiful, fast cars. Guess what, I am only allowed to have….. the cars!!  I guess they are less expensive to acquire and certainly much less expensive to get out of !!!!.

My wife told me (jokingly) she was tired of being a car widow and it is time to downsize and rationalize. So I choose to stick with my ever tolerant beautiful wife (she is not bad outside either) and do more traveling with her (by aeroplane). My sons Tysun and Hock have been very helpful and they have built this website for me, almost in one afternoon. Clever boys and my thanks to them and Ruth who never discouraged me from this passion.

We would like to see these cars find a good home where they can continue to be appreciated, admired, nurtured, doted on and enjoyed like a deserving woman.

                                       
THE COLLECTION 

                                  PACE GRACE and SPACE

Pace

These cars were built in the sixties and seventies, about the era of the original British built mini minor. Not only did the minis not have much space, the motor was an 850 cc four cylinder.

The cars in my collection vary from the Triumph Stag (3 litre V8) to the Jaguars with 4.2 overhead twin cam 6 cylinders and twin SU carburetors in the 420 and 3 big SU carburetors in the 420 G. The Rolls Royce and the Bentley have V8 motors with 6.3 Litres.  The factory describes in their usual understated manner that the power was “adequate”.   The XJC prototype and the two E Types are Series 3’s and have V 12 engines with 4 Stromberg carburetors.

Therefore they are modern cars with GO!!!!

And very importantly, not only are they fast, they have to stop.  They all have good power assisted brakes ( most with  4 wheel discs) and they stop unlike old vintage cars. They can be driven and enjoyed everyday if desired although they are only driven occasionally in turn to “exercise” them and never driven in rain.

Grace

I chose these cars because they drive and ride beautifully. The Rolls and Bentley have ride adjustments with the flick of a switch (even in 1963). You can drive them fast or just waft along.

All these Jaguars and the Triumph Stag have twin wishbone suspension and have the legendary smooth ride that later Jaguars are renowned for.  Some of the cars have air-conditioning

Space

You will see it if you are interested when you inspect the cars.

Genuine enquiries invited from interested buyers.

All cars reside in Perth, Western Australia.

No curious time-wasters please.