Express & Star

Brian reunited with missing dream car

It was the first car he ever bought back in 1953 and driving it 'made him feel like a king'.

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Now pensioner Brian Rollings has been reunited with his beloved 1936 Austin Seven Opal Tourer – 61 years after he traded it in for a new model.

Mr Rollings bought the car when he was just 17. He spent hours polishing it and was the envy of his friends.

Brian even went on his first date with his wife of 56 years, Sylvia, when they met shortly after he bought his beloved car. But two years after buying it, he reluctantly traded the car in for a bigger Ford Popular 103E in 1955. Brian, now 77, always regretted selling the car and after getting interested in classic cars set about trying to track down his pride and joy.

After spending 10 years scouring classic car magazines, auction houses and internet sites, he finally found it in a dusty barn 18 miles away from his home in 2011.

He bought the car back and has spent the last three years lovingly restoring it back to its former glory.

It now takes pride of place outside the great grandad's home in Walsall, and he has vowed never to be parted from the car again. Brian, a retired engineer, said: "I bought the car from a greengrocer in Birmingham for £140 in 1953. I'd got a new job and wanted a car so put an ad in the local paper for an Austin Seven Opal, my dream car. A greengrocer contacted me and told me he had one so I raced over and viewed it and said I wanted it.

"I must have saved for months to find the money, but when I drove it home for the first time I felt like a king.

"I sold it in 1955 after trading it in for a bigger car but I always regretted doing that. I loved the car and over the years I just wanted to get it back.

"Finally I saw it advertised when I went to the Practical Classics Restoration Show at the NEC in 2011. I enquired about the car immediately but was devastated to learn it had been sold the day before.

"It had been off the road for 40 years in a barn in Coleshill in Warwickshire. It was rotten and covered in toy teddy bears.

"I didn't recognise it. But when I saw the number plate my heart jumped.

"The purchaser had agreed the deal and, even though it was painted orange and in a very grim state, I knew I could get it back to how it used to be. I collected the car the following week. I was 75 when I got the car back so I felt time was of the essence.

"Then on November 4, 2012, it passed its MoT first time. I love driving it around now. I feel exactly like I did when I was 17."

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