The two men stood in the hotel car park not far from the airport – one holding an envelope and the other, a carrier bag full of cash.
After making the exchange, the two parted ways.
This sounds like the beginning of the latest crime novel – but it’s actually how Alan McPherson from Cullen, Moray, found himself buying his first classic car.
“I just thought if anyone saw this, they might think it was a drug deal or something,” Alan, 70, said laughing.
“The guy wanted cash for it so I went to the bank and I asked for large denomination notes but they forgot.
“So when I went to the bank they cobbled together all these small notes and I put them in a carrier bag.
“We flew down to Southampton and the guy met us at the airport. The car was parked in the hotel car park opposite the airport. I was handing him this carrier bag and he was handing me this big envelope with all the details for the car in it.”
The vehicle in question was a 1969 Morris Traveller and this exchange took place 10 years ago. Alan had never owned a classic car, the oldest being a 20-year-old Ford Fiesta that was unfortunately written off in an accident.
But when he sold his business, Seafield Bakery, he decided to treat himself. And top of his wish list was an Austin A30. It was the first car he ever owned but it turned out harder to track one down than he had hoped.
He said: “I looked on the internet and checked with local garages but they were a wee bit scarce. My father-in-law had Morris Travellers most of his life so I thought one of them would be the next best thing.
“I was looking around for one and eventually I bought one off the internet,” Alan said.
“It was a doctor in Bournemouth who had it. He bought Morris Minors and did them up as a hobby. So we went down to Southampton and picked it up there and had a holiday. We drove it up through the Lake District and the Yorkshire Moors.
“It was a great drive. It was strange at first because there are no servo assisted brakes, it didn’t even have wing mirrors so going up the motorway was a bit crazy but we kept it at a steady 55. We done around 1,500 miles and there were no problems whatsoever.”
Although it needed tidying up, the car was “mechanically sound” so all Alan has had to do is keep it ticking over. He has added some special features to it though.
He said: “Most purists wouldn’t agree with this but I put in a new stereo system, power points for my sat nav and things like that. Apart from that, it’s all original.”
While he doesn’t use it every day, Alan tries to take the car out as much as possible – most recently he exhibited it at the Inverness Classic Vehicle Show, a particular favourite of his to go to.
The car is always a hit at the rallies, with everyone that comes across it having their own memories of the marque.
“It’s very iconic,” Alan said.
“Everybody’s father or grandfather or uncle had one. You get into all these interesting conversations with people. It’s very good.
“They are very basic but it’s a remarkable old car, it can do 70mph quite easily but I don’t bomb about at that speeds. I like going down to the garage and polish it.
“I’m glad I went with the Morris but I will always have a soft spot for the Austins.”
First car: Austin A30
Dream car: Mk2 Jaguar
