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 Mathewson Auctions – 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 Classic and Sports Cars, 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.
“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.
“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.’”
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.