Pipe Dreams: 'I run a classic cars business - but my first car was a bad choice'
Former BBC journalist and keen car enthusiast Blair Jacobs says he probably made the wrong choice for his first car, a Morris Marina.
He was given a choice of two cars from his great aunt, the Marina or a Mark One Ford Escort. He preferred the Escort, but his dad persuaded him to go for the Marina.
He said: “It was actually very good for me. It got me and my friends around, and it didn’t let me down. I paid £400 for it and it was a good car on the whole.”
Blair was a presenter on Radio Humberside, but in 2020, he set up Pipe Dreams – a family business in Beverley which pursues his passion for classic cars.
After starting out transporting and storing treasured motors for trusting owners, Blair has marked the fifth anniversary of the business by rolling out a restoration service.
Blair added: “Cars have memories. We’ve had a love affair with cars and have capacity for about 40 – a Rolls Royce, a Bentley, a Triumph Stag, two Jags, some MGs.
"The restoration side has developed as more people have noticed that we were working on cars.
"They ask if we can do a bit of work on their cars while we are looking after them. One person asked us to do a big job, and that gave me the idea of building up that side of the business.”
He now drives a Land Rover Defender, which he says is a fabulous vehicle. His passion, however, is for older cars.
His pride and joy is a Triumph Stag, which his father owned.
It caught fire, and he sold it to a restorer, but now Blair has bought it back.
He also managed to track down a Jaguar, which took him and his wife Stella on honeymoon, and has added that car to his collection.
His love for older cars goes back to his teens. His father was a motoring journalist, and his uncle was a successful racing driver in the saloon touring car championship.