A vintage obsession

DRIVING ON THE roads of Barbados are a well maintained 1950 Ford, a 1976 Classic MiniCooper and a 1965 Austin Healey.

They, along with about 60 others, were on show last Sunday at the annual Independence Retro And Classic Cars Barbados in the car park of Williams Tower, Warrens.

Retro and classic vehicles have been on the roads lately due to an insurance policy which came earlier this year through Sagicor General Insurance.

According to president of the Retro And Classic Cars Barbados, Adrian Mayers, who said the membership was about 80, he said the policy is similar to Hagerty Classic Car insurance offered in North America, and he was glad Barbados was getting in line with international standards.

“The members are taking up Sagicor’s offer and this insurance is tailored or based on the use of the car,” he told EASY magazine.

He said that other companies’ policies did not cater to the cars, which he said were not used regularly.

“A lot of these cars are only driven on weekends or to shows like this, obviously, so you want insurance tailored to such use,” he said.

Mayers said this was a win for the vehicle owners, but he said they still had plans to lobby for other policies such as duty-free concessions and proper road tax, which he said he believed would prevent more of the antique machines from being destroyed or exported.

“We are also looking to bring back some of these to preserve for our children because many of the classic cars have left our shores, and believe it or not you are hard-pressed to find some of the ones that we grew up with or the Vivas.  A lot of them have gone to the dump and some of them have been exported as the classic car market worldwide is growing,” he added.