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In the Hot Seat with ...
Jim Vokes

So, tell us about yourself. How and when did you become interested in classic cars?

I guess it started at the age of 12 when me and my younger brother bought a dead field bike, against dads approval, so when it broke (frequently!) we had to learn how to fix it ourselves on pocket money and borrowed tools, within a couple of years, we had a collection of old british bikes, and the kids across town would bring dead bikes to me and Mike to breath another few hours of life into them.... by the age of 17 we still had no money, so the only cars we could afford were Mini's that really were past their sell by dates, but we did have the skillls and tools to stick them together enough for another MOT, things kinda snowballed from there... its only been last year that I've been able to buy my first NEW car (MG ZR). Since the age of 17, fixing it myself has always been the first and only option.

What was your first car?

Mini Cooper (Morris 998) when I got it home it had fibreglass sills and enough holes to make a sieve jealous. the previous owner had nicked all the cooper bits and replaced them with bog standard mini 850 running gear... in those days Brazing was ok for bodywork, and by the time the car was on the road I swear it had more brass than a military band and never quite managed to be all the same colour, (red oxide!!) but it went like a rocket!!

What is your daily driver?

2003 MG ZR

What classic(s) do you currently have?

Mini Marcos Mk IV (race car) and dads moggy minor 4 door lives here too.

What made you choose the classic(s) you own?

I had always wanted to race, and toyed with racing Mini's in miglia's but couldnt afford it, I had a Marcos on the road, and bought another to strip and rebuild as a race car, ran it in 750MC group K from '88 to 93 with some success.

Have you ever missed buying a particular classic and lived to regret it?

Yes missed out on an Austin Healey 3000, was going to go 50/50 with a friend, and rebuild it, unfortunately the friend bought it himeslf on borrowed money and sold it next day for a marginal profit. the car ended up cut up for spares.

What would be your dream car?

Hard to say probably a Dino 246 - its got to be for the shape!

What car do you regret parting company with?

BDG 908 K - my third Marcos, I learned a lot from the first two, which were badly built kits, so I bought BDG 908 K, and rebuilt it ground up. I had just got it the way i liked it and was offered silly money for it so I sold it. shame really, a year later it had been trashed, all my hard work had been wrecked by a careless owner.

What is your favourite run in a classic car?

Anywhere on twisty 'B' roads with no traffic....

How much work on your car(s) do you carry out yourself?

The current day car is still under warranty, otherwise nearly everything.

What do you carry with you when out in your classic?

Tools - lots and lots.

Do you get involved in the club scene and why?

Used to be in the 750MC (for racing) and still passive member in the Mini Marcos owners club. Not as active as I used to be since I stopped racing.

Do you take an interest in motor sport, and if so where is your favourite venue(s)/club meetings?

Oh yes. As a driver Cadwell full circuit every time, its the most mentally and physically demanding track I have ever driven. Favourite meeting has to be the 750MC 6 hour relay race, for the variety of hardware out playing at the same time, Imagine Austin ruby's and 7's out at the same time as a Shelby Mustang.... for spectating, Mallory, because you can see nearly all the track from most of the viewing points.

What is your worst memory involving a classic?

Planting my first Marcos into the side of a vauxhall estate that pulled out in from of me without looking, I got away with a broken collor bone, 3 broken ribs and two fused vertabre, the car was reduced to a heap of shattered fibreglass!!

What is your funniest memory involving a classic car?

Out dragging a shelby Mustang off the line at Snetterton after a "warning" from its owner that I should give him plenty of room at the start because "its a powerful car and can get 'frisky' when the lights go green, and he wouldnt want to bump into my little car....."

What is your most enjoyable moment involving a classic car?

As above - flipping the finger as I slammed it into third and moved across him.

If you won a competition to have the unlimited and unrestricted use of any classic car for a week, what would you choose and why?

Has to be a silver Bristol 408, with a wicker picnic basket full of salmon sandwiches and champagne.... WITH napkins... hot sunny day, meadow in middle of nowhere and young lady in flowery dress......... cos I'm an old romantic.....

How do you define a classic?

Easy.... a classic is a car that you stop and look at and think.... YES!

What in your opinion is the worst car regarded as a classic and why?

Citroens and Renaults. After the traction avants and the dauphine they both stopped making 'Cars' and stated making tin boxes that you could use to go places in.^**
**Alpines do not count as Renaults!!!

So what in your view will be a future classic?

Apart from the exotica - XK's DB9 Ferrari 360's and the exclusives like the Clio Williams and various Cosworths which will be classics when they are two years old, I think that things to watch will be the hotter 205's Astra GTE, escort cabriolets, Lotus Elise, maybe even the new Beetle and MINI convertibles when the people that are 25 now will look back on them in 20 years in the same way that I look on Escort mexicos and Cooper S Minis...

What question would you like to ask and to whom?

Sir Alec Issigonis - why did you make the bottom hose so hard to get at?????

What classic car publications do you regularly read?

Very few now, sometimes read whatever dad has on the coffee table....

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