About Us

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Thanks for stopping to look at our website. I'm Barry Rose and my wife's name is Janet. Whenever we get the chance, we love having day trips to rallies and conventions of any odd or vintage cars. We couldn't resist making up a website to share some of our favourites with anyone else who might have an interest in unusual cars.

Old Relics

In a way, we've always had an odd type of car, even back in the late sixties when we hadn't been married long. I'd just learned to drive, but money was tight because we were trying to save up for a deposit on a house. Anyway, we ended up with an old Morris Minor Traveller that belonged to Jan's father. You know the type. Looks a bit like a van with doors at the back and a wood trim round the outside. Anyway, my father-in-law had bought the Morris in 1957 when they'd not been in production for long. In a way, Janet had grown up with it. It wasn't quite a young couple's car, but I was still driving it in 1972 when I started my own business as a jobbing gardener.

Great Holidays

Janet was entirely responsible for our next unusual vehicle. It was the mid-seventies and she loved watching Poldark, the original series of course, on the telly. Anyway, she was mad keen to go on holiday to Cornwall, where the programme was set. We couldn't afford hotels, but Janet was determined and found us a Volkswagen camper van that was for sale in the local newspaper. It was a Westfalia in orange and white. They're almost a joke now, but I have to say we had a great time touring round in it. Our young daughter, Jennifer, loved getting her bucket and spade ready for trips to the coast. We were hardly ever at home, especially during the summer of 1976, which was the longest, hottest heatwave in living memory. Actually, Janet's thinking of including a section on here about unusual holiday vehicles, but I'm not so sure.

Famous Models

1986 was a big year for us. We moved house and took out a lease on a shop where we started to sell cakes and pastries with a French theme. It was still easy to make a living from a High Street shop back then. Anyway, as a gimmick we looked for an old Citroën, the old-fashioned 2CV model. We found one that was quite a few years old, but in good condition. It even had swivelling headlights. It was battleship grey, but one Sunday afternoon I sprayed some parts dark red to copy the famous two-tone Charleston edition. It certainly got us some attention! We were both sorry when it had to go. Anyway. the shop's gone now and whichever car we've got, we don't see much of it as the grandchildren keep taking turns to borrow it!

Contacting Us

If you'd like to get in touch to point out any inaccuracies in our site, express an opinion, suggest topics we could write about or just have a chat about cars in general we'd love to hear from you. You could write to us at 89 Friargate, Preston PR1 2ED or email us: barryandjan at strangestcars.co.uk. Looking forward to hearing from you.