In Issue 113 of Free Car Mag Kiran Parmar met woodworker and automotive restorer Billy Walden (https://shorturl.at/ekszA) and later he met his sister Matilda when she successfully completed her challenge of becoming the fastest person ever to assemble a ‘Mr Potato Head’ action figure from the iconic ‘Toy Story’ films, thus becoming a Guiness World Record holder (https://shorturl.at/kxBP6).
Kiran now catches up with Matilda again as she and her mother Jayne purchase her first car, from an online auction.
Matilda and Jayne have a passion for classic cars – particularly Morris Minors. They own one that Matilda’s brother Billy is currently restoring from a bare shell. Knowing that he couldn’t possibly complete the restoration in time for this summer, they decided to look for another classic motor.
They saw one in an auction but it went for far too much money. Unperturbed in their hunt for a classic, in their own words, they were ‘very silly’ and bid on a car that they did not know anything about when it came to its make or model, they also bidded on it without seeing it first in the flesh.
Perhaps with Billy Arthur Walden in the family, who is an extremely experienced mechanic and vehicle restorer, it may have been a good idea to ask for his advice before pressing the ‘make a bid’ button. Much to Billy’s amusement they did ask his advice, alas it was just after making the purchase!
They set off in Billy’s recovery truck to collect their newly acquired 1972 Vanden Plas Princess 1300 Automatic from Pickering and not only were they elated with their purchase, Billy was hooked also even after first admitting he was pretty surprised that his mother and sister had purchased a Princess.
The risk paid off, Billy has glanced over the car and believes it to be very sound and in almost original condition which is a credit to the previous owners as the car is 51 years old. Billy is going to carry out a full service and give it a thorough look over in the next few days to make sure the charming little classic is roadworthy before his sister and mother go out for their first drive.
Stay tuned by subscribing to their channel as they will be uploading more videos on their YouTube channel soon; from how to service the Princess, to entering classic car shows, to travelling all over the country. A road trip to Europe is in the pipeline also. They recently went to France in their 30 year old Volkswagen Lt so the Princess will very probably be venturing abroad very soon.
Image and film courtesy of Jayne Walden, see more in the next Free Car Mag 120
