A man has spent 15-years transforming a rusty wreck into the vintage car of his dreams. Terrence Cleife, a retired motor engineer, bought the wreck of a 1916 American LaFrance saloon car in 1998. The pre-war vehicle had been dismantled and was lying as a pile of scrap on the floor of a barn. The car’s missing parts were welded by Terry out of bronze and cast iron to match the vehicles original chassis and the engine completely re-assembled. Now 71, Terry has the car of his dreams and has completed the painstaking piece-by-piece restoration.
00:30It was completely dismantled. It was basically a heap of scrap metal on a barn floor when I first saw it.
00:44Then I came into the garage for the winter and started on the engine and other bits and pieces that were missing.
00:50Well, on the top here we've got the priming taps. You have to prime the cylinders with fuel before it will go.
01:05Ignition on. Neutral. Retired. Hand throttle. And that stuntman hasn't turned up yet, has he?
01:18It's a four-cylinder 10-litre T-head design. The valves are exposed. You can see them going up and down when it's running.
01:30Looking at the dash, we've got the speedometer. Here is the ignition switch for the coil and distributor, operated by foot when driving.
01:40Then we've got the ammeter, the horn. Here is the magneto switch. Oil pressure gauge. It reads very low, actually, because they didn't use very much oil pressure in those days.
01:53When I'm out on the road, a lot of modern car drivers flash their lights and a few wave. It's actually very pleasant. It's a bit like riding a motorbike or flying a plane.
02:09I don't normally go more than 60 miles an hour, which is fairly uncomfortable for the passenger. I'm OK because I've got the monocle screen.
02:17Would I ever sell it? Well, I'm getting on a bit now, so one day I will, but I'm not ready yet. Not ready to put my feet up yet and put the slippers on.
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