Bangers & Cash host Derek Mathewson reveals classic car collection – including ‘everyday runaround’ Aston Martin
BANGERS & Cash star Derek Mathewson has built up an incredible collection of classic cars over the years - including a host of gorgeous Aston Martins.
The presenter, who runs the famous - a North Yorkshire-based, family-run historic car auction business - is well-known for his love of vintage motors.
ASTON MARTIN DB6
With numerous motors coming in and out of Derek’s famed auction house, the cars in the petrolhead’s personal collection sport a sticker in the rear window that reads ‘Mathewsons Ltd, Bedfordshire’ to distinguish them from the ones up for sale.
That includes his glorious Aston Martin DB6 - a British motoring icon that he bought in the 1980s.
In a feature-length interview with , Derek said: “It was a stolen and damaged car that I repaired, then I used it every day.
“I was lucky to own it at the time I did, able to use it how I did.
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“They became really valuable just a few years later, but at the time I was driving it from my site in Bedford to Enfield twice a week, parking it all day long as I did my buying.
“Often by the time I’d finished it was the last car in the car park – you’d find that pretty worrying now.”
He revealed that he paid just £5,000 for the luxury whip and received offers of £85,000 for it just five years on.
One of the longest-serving cars in Derek’s collection, it’s also one of five Aston Martins - which Derek admits is one of his favourite brands.
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“I don’t want to be flashy or knobby about it, but there’s something about them,” he says.
“Their styling is second to none; I don’t think any cars are as good-looking.
“They can drive you a bit crazy, though, they’re not as well built as they’d like you to think.”
ASTON’S GALORE
The DB6 is joined by a Vantage, which has been a labour of love for the car nut over the years.
He said: "This car had a couple of valves go and I could write a book about setting the tappets.
“I was amazed by the level of brute force involved, it’s pretty prehistoric.”
Sitting along from the DB6 and AM Vantage is a DB MkIII, bought in the 1980s in a part-exchange.
He added: "I wasn’t that impressed at first, but then he [the previous owner] started it and I was sold.
“They were the poor relation for a long time, but I think it’s between this and the DB4GT Zagato for the title of prettiest Aston.”
He also has a DBS, which he's only recently acquired from a customer needing a quick sale.
Finally, under a cover sits a DB9 Volante, which is perhaps a little too contemporary for his liking.
He said: “That’s my sons’ car; they’re more into the modern stuff than me.”
BRITISH CLASSICS
In contrast to his love of Astons, Derek also has a passion for classic British commercial motors - especially from brands like Morris, Austin and Bedford.
That includes two Morris J-type vans - which were built to be used as pick-up trucks, ambulances, milk-floats and ice cream vans.
Derek said: “They’ve lived a life and have a history.
“I get more pleasure from a nice signwritten van than plenty of much more exotic stuff.
“They have absolutely nothing on them that they don’t need, either.
“There’s no passenger seat – I’m surprised it has two wipers to be honest.
“But then we have this wooden shelf on the top of the dash for delivery papers.”
WINTER & SUMMER RIDES
Derek also has a handful of motors he uses seasonaly - including a MG Magnette ZB Varitone from 1958 that's been his regular motor of choice in the winter.
He said: "I pick something I think can stand up to the weather and I Waxoyl them."
In contrast, Derek’s daily roundaround during the sunnier months is either a 60s Morris 6cwt pick-up or a Bentley S3 Continental.
He said: “The Bentley was very much a car that found me – as part of a pair, actually.
“The vendor didn’t really want to give them up, this Continental and a Standard Steel S3.
“He was especially upset about the idea that they were going to be split up, because they’d been a pair in his ownership for about four decades.
“Unfortunately, I just had to tell him: ‘Whoever buys them, buys them; there’s nothing I can do about it.’”
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This comes as fellow TV petrolhead Mike Brewer revealed the "worst car he's ever owned", which cost him £100s after it failed an MOT.
The Wheeler Dealers host also backed a major tax change recently that could benefit thousands of British drivers, as a new petition gathers steam.