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DET - 21 August 2006
Classic car enthusiast Derick Perry rescued this magnificent motor from
the back of a farm in Leicestershire in 1980 and, in a 10-year labour of
love, turned it into a prizewinner.
 The
1934 Austin 12 Berkeley saloon, which is Derick's junior by just one
year, had stood abandoned and neglected for more than a decade when
former Central School pupil Derick found it and bought it from the
owner.
Over the years he slowly restored it to its polished perfection and it
fittingly graced the Old Centaurs' reunion last month.
(Left:
A 1934 Austin Berkeley)
The Austin has done duty as the wedding car for two of his three
daughters and Derick felt amply rewarded when one of his daughters
sacrificed her three-piece leather suite for a new seat covering.
Two years ago, the car needed a new engine. Derick asked around and
managed to find a spare, half buried in a garden near London.
The crowning achievement of the post-vintage model was when it won its
class at the Wollaton Park Austin rally four years ago.
Last September, Derick and his wife, Ann, covered more than 2,000 miles
in the car, touring Scotland, and this year they will drive in style to
Strasbourg.
When new, the Austin 12 cost about £300 - a sum that today would barely
pay the water bill but, back in 1934, in the areas where most of us
lived, it would have bought a house.
John Garratt,
Allestree.
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