Part of the Family - The Millenium

The Millennium arrived bug-free.

The car continued to run well and I decided to give her a birthday present. Ever since I had owned the car, I always made and fitted my own exhaust systems. This took a huge amount of work to complete and to be fair, was not worth the effort involved. I did this initially as I had no money, but soon realised I could fit the exhaust far better to increase the ground clearance available. I had a contact in Mansfield who was prepared to make the complete system from scratch in stainless steel, but I would have to bring the car for final fitting. This I duly did and I must say the fabricator made a wonderful job.

Chatsworth House - 2000

The car was always quite heavy on tyres and the Avon Turbospeed 6.70x15VR used to disappear at an alarming rate if driven hard. I guess this is the price to pay for running a heavy car on cross-plies. However they suit the car, both aesthetically and in ensuring such predictable handling. The MK2 version of the DB6 was supplied with lower-profile radial tyres, which do not fill the wheel-arch and hence look poor. Another full set of tyres were fitted as a second birthday present.

Tom & Helen - 2001

By now a DB6 was a rare bird to see on the road. I guess most being tucked away in some collector’s garage, which in itself is a great shame. A great shame because young people no longer have the opportunity to see and appreciate such a wonderful motorcar. And they do appreciate these things, in both a different and refreshing way. No looking back through rose-tinted spectacles or imagining the investment potential, but joy at seeing something beautiful here and now.

VJ Day Anniversary Celebrations - 2005

As always I continued to work on the car, not that there was anything wrong, but more that I wanted to keep on top of things. In 2001 I removed and completely refurbished the SU petrol pump, complete with diaphragm, valves and contact points. This a very neat double-ended arrangement that works very well indeed, far better than the lazy device fitted to most BMC cars of the period. At the same time I again replaced all the radiator and heating hoses, as hardened hoses will cause a radiator to fatigue.

Malvern

I also still did the odd wedding car for friends, but this was all about to change quite dramatically in 2007.