The grandfather finds his father’s canary yellow open-top car from the 1930s on an auction website while looking for pictures to build a scale model – and buys it for £7,000

A grandfather was amazed to find his father’s 1930s canary yellow open-top car on an auction website as he searched for pictures of it to build a scale model before buying it for £7,000.

Malcolm Stern, 94, was looking for photos of Talbot Darracqs for his project when he “immediately recognized” the distinctive car and original license plate.

He now owns the model and owns the car he used to take family picnics as a young boy.

This week he took his first ride after a major renovation that cost thousands of hours and a “significant” amount of money.

“Compared to a modern car it’s quite noisy, it doesn’t have power steering and you have to double disengage – but it’s a pleasure because the car is so beautiful,” he told the Mail.

Malcolm Stern, 94, was looking for photos of Talbot Darracqs for his project when he “immediately recognized” the distinctive car and original license plate.

Mr. Stern in the car. This week he took his first ride after a major renovation that cost thousands of hours and a “significant” amount of money

“Some people have expensive paintings. I have my car.’

Mr Stern’s father, Alec, bought the car around 1935 when he ran a garage under railway arches in Waterloo, central London, and used it to drive to work from Chingford in Essex and to take family day trips.

But he sold it in 1942 to make ends meet during World War II.

Mr. Stern, the former CEO of a family business that made products from office furniture to dehumidifiers, bought a 3D printer in 2019 and made “all sorts of models” before deciding to recreate the unforgettable car from his childhood.

When he began image research for the project, he was “amazed” to see his father’s car on auctioneer Bonhams’ website.

He and his wife Sharon, 82, looked at the car at a preview in Bicester, Oxfordshire, but did not elaborate on it as it was a “wreck” after a piston was thrown through the engine block at a rally and the car was not used for several years.

“We got home, I slept on it and the next day I said I had to have it,” he said.

But when online bids failed to reach the minimum of £10,000 to £15,000, the property was withdrawn from sale and he thought the opportunity had been lost.

However, the auction house then approached him and informed him that the owner would be accepting a private offer, and he ended up buying it for around £7,000 including fees.

The car arrived at his home in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, in September 2020 and Mr Stern, a father of three and grandfather of eight, estimates the renovators spent around 2,000 hours on it, while he put in a further 1,000 hours.

Mr Stern’s father, Alec, bought the car around 1935 when he ran a garage under railway arches in Waterloo, central London, and used it to drive to work from Chingford in Essex and to take family day trips

Mr Stern, his mother and sister next to the car in Prittlewell, near Southend-on-Sea in Essex

Mr. Stern holds up a model of the car. Of purchasing the original, he said, “Some people have expensive paintings. ‘I have my car.’

The engine was overhauled, the bodywork was cleaned of rust and chrome parts that had been painted over with aluminum paint were stripped and returned to their former glory.

The interior still needs work, including the door panels, fabric hood, carpet and leather seats, but it is roadworthy and was driven for the first time on Wednesday.

The public reaction showed that it was not just Mr. Stern’s heart that beat faster at the sight of the car, which was manufactured by Darracq and Company Ltd, a company founded in France in 1896 and sold to an English company in 1902.

“People’s heads were turning and other drivers were flashing their lights or cheering.” “There was one or two waves,” he said.

The car – which is about 14 feet long, has a three-liter six-cylinder gasoline engine and could reach 100 miles per hour in its heyday – will eventually head to the United States with his son Jonathan, who was visiting this week.

“I’m still very excited and very surprised that I’m 94 years old and can be here and do this and still be fit enough to take the car for a spin,” Mr Stern added.

“I think my father would be very proud. He would be very excited too.’

Ms. Stern admitted she wasn’t “overly excited” about buying the car at first.

But she said: “It was a wonderful project during Covid.” It kept him busy and away from my hair, even though there were car parts scattered all over the house.

“But he did a wonderful job, so you have to admire him. “I’m so happy for him.”