Long-distance travel is very much a way of life for Paul Mellor, who as an airline pilot has spent much of the past three-and-a-half decades jetting around the globe.
It is fitting, then, that the object of his automotive desires – a beautifully restored 1946 MG TC – should have travelled all the way to the Antipodes and back before finding a home in his affections.
“It was despatched new to Australia,” he observes as he reverses the diminutive sports car out of his West Sussex garage on a cold February morning.
“It arrived there in June ’46, eventually returning to the UK 69 years later in mid-2015.”
“I’d wanted a TC since I was in my early teens,” he continues, “and had been looking for one on and off for quite some time.
“The plan had been to wait until my children had all finished university before beginning the search for one in earnest, but in 2015 I decided I didn’t want to hang on any longer so brought things forward by a few years.
“I began hunting for a suitable car, and in May 2016 heard of a potential candidate for sale in Blackbushe.