Part of the Family - The 80s/90s

I gave the car a good run to Scarborough after leaving work one Friday evening. Unfortunately I was unable to find accomodation that met with my current girlfriend's approval, so headed straight back home that same night.
I like to think that I bettered Frederick Nodder's best ever time for the journey on that day.....

The New Forest - 1980

Although the car was on the road every year, I did not use it anything like as frequently throughout the 80s. This was primarily because I got married at the start of the decade and had a family almost immediately. It was not possible to use the car with two small children, as it did not have seat-belts in the rear and even the front belts were totally unsuitable.

Tom 2yrs : DB 17yrs

 In addition we did not have a garage at the first two houses where we lived, so it meant keeping the car in a lock-up elsewhere. This was both an inconvenience and a worry.

An inconvenience in that I had to remove the battery every time I left the car and a worry that it would be stolen or damaged. With this in mind, I always returned the car at night or very quiet times, as quite simply I did not want anyone to know it was there. In this I was very successful, but it severely limited the cars use and I still shudder to think I had left it all alone. The poor thing was kept this way for nearly four years, but I was safe in the knowledge that the garage was both dry and warm. I still used the car fairly frequently for weddings and other special occasions, but this was generally for family or very close friends. After all marriage is something special and hopefully forever, a bit like a DB6 really.

It was only when we moved house again that the old girl could come back to join us. Even this did not quite work out as planned, the garage adjacent to the house was 2” too short in length and I had to build a supporting channel into the cavity wall, into which the rear quarter-bumpers would extend. Annoying, as getting the car home was one of the primary reasons for choosing this particular house.

As now I had a garage and a drive in which I could work, I continued to service and improve the car. In the late 80s I went through the car, replacing everything made of rubber or polymer that I felt could have deteriorated with time. This included all the flexible brake pipes, all the water and cooling hoses to the engine and replacement of all steering and associated gaiters. The radiator was also re-cored, rebuilt and pressure tested by Walter Fox & Partners, a grand old Sheffield firm. The confidence in knowing everything is perfect far outweighs the effort of the work involved. I could take the car anywhere and be as certain as humanly possible that it would be fine.

As the children grew up there was more opportunity to use the car again, trips on holiday and to race meetings were all great fun.

James & Miles, Ben & Tom - 1990

 Mum and Dad had now moved down south, just outside Exeter in a village called Upton Pyne. Quite often the boys and myself would set off in the car after tea, filling up with 20 gallons of 4 star just outside Chesterfield and then driving through the night down the M5. We would generally arrive about 1am the following morning, the first question from each of my parents would always be the same. From Mum it was “have you had enough to eat….would you like another hot-dog Ben?” From Dad “how did the car run….how much did you get to the gallon?” Incidentally on those long trips I could get 23mpg, but we were sat on the motorway in 5^th gear for most of the journey. Not bad for a 4 litre engine with three 2” diameter bore SU carburettors.

In 1990 I purchased four new Dunlop wire wheels through Motor Wheel Services Ltd. in Manchester. The reason for this was that two of the wheels were not as true as I would have wished, although I had rebuilt one in 1981 after purchasing the loose spokes from Aston Martin. I recall they were reluctant to sell me these, saying I should buy a complete wheel at an exorbitant price. I rebuilt the second wheel using exactlty the same spokes supplied by Motor Wheel Services at a fifth of the cost. Subsequently I found out all these spokes were made by Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds (GKN) in Sheffield. 

Crich Tramway Museum -1992

In 1992 I decided I would put a new clutch in the car.

Not that there was anything wrong with the operation or performance of the original clutch, more that I felt after all these years I should check and replace any of the components if necessary. After marking and unbolting the prop-shaft from the rear axle, all other components were removed from within the car. To do this I removed both front seats and the transmission tunnel, which gave access to the gearbox and flywheel housing. After removing the clutch slave cylinder, the gearbox was unbolted and the main-shaft withdrawn from the clutch centre. Great care was taken to support the gearbox properly during this operation, as although fairly small it is extremely heavy. I then unbolted and removed the clutch pressure and friction plates. To be honest they were in perfect condition with plenty of life left in each, but decided that having gone to all this trouble I would replace the complete assembly including the carbon thrust release bearing. This was an exchange item through AE Autoparts and the replacement was the genuine Borg & Beck part. I machined a clutch alignment tool which located in the flywheel and allowed the friction plate to be centralised before bolting up. I also checked the starter ring gear for any wear or damage, but once again this was in perfect condition. Everything was then re-assembled in reverse order.

It worked as perfectly as it did before, but I had peace of mind that it would be good for a great number of years.

Brooklands - 1994

Sadly in 1998 there was to be a parting of the ways.

Not the car I hasten to add, but it was a close run thing. As I said distraughtly at the time “take what you want but leave the children and the car”. That is exactly what happened, but it was a very sad time for the three of us left at home. Within a few weeks of leaving there was a change of heart and the DB6 was sought as part of the divorce settlement. I was fortunate in that the specialist tasked with valuing the car had been through a similar ordeal and was very kind to us in order that it might stay.
So once again the car remained in Sheffield.