Cameron Anderson’s Buick Model 47 was already four decades old when it was driven into a Virginia barn and left to rot at some point in the 1970s.
While there, the ageing car’s mechanical parts gradually stuck together, bearings began drying out and the fuel tank filled up with rust.
It was transported across the Atlantic and placed in the line-up of vintage vehicles at Cameron’s dad’s farm near King Edward in August 2021, and remained in the same poor condition last weekend.
But if all goes to plan, this Sunday – half a century after it last moved – the Buick will spark back into life.
Cameron wants to mark its miraculous revival by driving it through the gates of the Turriff and District Vintage and Classic Club’s car show.
Getting such a car roadworthy in a week is a massive challenge for even a seasoned restorer like Cameron, who usually works in timeframes of months or up to a year.
Previously, he took three weeks to get a 1929 Hapsmobile working in time for it to be used in an episode of Peaky Blinders – and completed the task mere hours before the cameras started rolling.
Busman’s holiday
We met him on an industrial estate in Oldmeldrum, at a workshop for both the subsea engineering firm where he works and for his vehicular projects.
Cameron was a couple of hours into what could turn out to be a 16-hour day, his boilersuit smeared with engine oil.
As he showed us the cylinder head he had spent the morning cleaning and repairing, he revealed he was actually on an exceedingly rare week off.
A true engineer, he couldn’t imagine a better way to spend it than fixing up the old Buick – found and bought over eBay – in time for the car club’s first show since the Covid pandemic.
“This is what I like,” he said.
“There are times I’ll say to [his wife] Emily, let’s go down to London for three or four days, do the tourist thing…
“But after that I’m itching to get back into spanners and doing some work.”
An engineering dream
He’s not alone.
The vintage car scene is incredibly strong at the moment in Aberdeenshire, a region full of farmers and oil industry engineers who love to tinker in their time off.
Cameron believes the hobby may be more popular here than anywhere else in the country.
He said the Turriff car show’s organisers were “overwhelmed” by the number of people looking to visit, with 500 to 600 vehicles expected.
All of the enthusiasts will be keen to see the Buick pulling up at the showground, having travelled the five miles from the farm under its own power.
Adding to the trepidation is a charity element: for every mile travelled there and back, Cameron will donate £50 to Turriff’s Clan Cancer Support.
The £500 from the 10-mile round trip will be matched by his company Subsea Tooling Services, which is also sponsoring the event, bringing the total to £1,000.
But despite Cameron’s confidence that the job will be done on time, the week has not been a completely smooth ride.
Speaking to us on Thursday, he said: “I’m still slightly behind, but I’ve been working pretty much all this morning so I’m getting back on to where I need to be.
“This afternoon, the job is to get all the refurbished parts away from here, back to the car and get it steam cleaned.
“There’s 90-odd years of grime and accumulated filth built up in the engine bay.”
If that sounds like intensely satisfying work, you would be right.
Cameron said: “For me, seeing the finished article and driving it to the rally, you’ll look back and think, yeah. Of course it was worthwhile.
“Just feeling that car running again after 50 years of not going.
“It’s a good feeling to bring something back that’s been lost, and it gets better every time.”
It is a feeling he has been enjoying since he started collecting vintage vehicles in 2018, and one he likes sharing with others – Emily developed a passion for restoring muscle cars after he bought her a Ford Mustang for her 40th birthday.
The TDVCC car show at Turriff showground is open to the public from 10am to 5pm on Sunday. Admission is free.
