Devon 'hoarder' to part with 19 cars and 2000 items of automobilia
Long-time Classic Car Weekly reader Tony Strong is looking forward to this weekend with mixed feelings.
The 81-year-old electrical engineer, from East Devon, will be watching his collection of 19 classics and 2000 lots of motoring memorabilia being auctioned off. He’s having to “downsize” his hobby of more than 40 years, as he and his wife Brita are due to move to New Zealand.
Among the cars Tony has kept in barns around his home are an Alvis TE21 convertible, an MG TD, a Triumph TR5,
a Humber Hawk estate, a Sunbeam Alpine Series V, two MGB GTs and an Austin A30. Then there are hundreds of car badges, mascots, signs, petrolania, pedal cars, bicycles and toys. Further details of the 5-6 April sale, being run by Ottervale Classic Car Auctions from outbuildings at the Strongs’ home and in their local village hall, can be found on page 19.
“I’ve been ordered to have a good clear-out,” says Tony. “Neither my wife, nor our daughter Krista, to whose home north of Auckland we’re moving, will put up with this lot coming, too. Mind you, we’ve got three shipping containers to fill, and there’s room for a car in each. It all depends on how the sale goes.”
The extraordinary collection started to grow in the 1970s, in what Tony describes as preparation for his retirement hobby. Storage space was found in attics, sheds, barns and other outbuildings. “I’d just put them away so that I’d have something to do when I retired,” he says. “The trouble was, retirement never came, and I never got round to restoring many of the cars.”
Tony changed career tack before he was 65 to offer portable electrical appliance testing services in his region. “I loved the work, and I shall miss that when we get to New Zealand. I’ll miss CCW, too,” he adds.
So, what is he going to do in his new home? Well, that’s what accounts for his mixed feelings about the sale. One of the cars expected to do very well is the Alvis TE21, and that’s his favourite. “I’ve got to be practical about this,” says Tony. “If the move and the sale weren’t happening, I’d be appearing on television in The Hoarder Next Door. That said, I’m also half hoping the MG TD isn’t sold, as I know Brita would like that car to run around in. I have, however, kept a Renault 5 Monaco out of the sale, as Krista wants that one.”
Any concerns about New Zealand? “Yes, speed limits. You can do 60mph on the motorways but the rest of the country is something like 30mph. But we’ll be in a hilly area with metalled roads. I’m looking forward to kicking up some gravel.”