by Ray Abela

I’m a 55 year old with a passion for sports cars. Since I can remember, cars have been my addiction.

I, being the youngest of 3 brothers, the black sheep of the family and the accident boy, was probably my dad’s favourite. Every week, he used to take me, or should I say, I used to have him take me, to different shops in Sliema to choose a matchbox car, threatening him that I wouldn’t study like my older brothers if I did not get a new car. Bless him, he always bought me one, even though my history, religion etc. results were far below average.

This is how I have my addiction for buying cars. Old sports cars are my favourites. My son and I have a collection which we have been collecting for years. Funding these cars is not an easy job. We have not been on holiday for years, but we take good pleasure going for a drive, meeting our friends with mutual hobbies and showing our sports cars with the CSCCM which we find very comfortable, being among true friends. Our latest purchase is a recreation of the class AC Cobra 427.

Unfortunately, we have to wait for a while till we even consider adding another sports car to our collection. But I’ll be back.

by Dunstan Camilleri

Hi fellow members of the Classic Sports Car Club – Malta. I would like to begin this series of road safety articles by wishing you all many years of happy and safe motoring. For the benefit of those who do not yet know me, I am a member of the Police Corp and form part of the traffic police section. I have served in this section for 23 years, the last 16 of which in the rank of sergeant.

When I’m on traffic duty at Qawra, I always make it a point to pay a short visit to where we all meet at weekends and say hello to my colleagues and friends who happen to be there. On occasions when I’m off duty, I, together with my wife, like to join other club members at organized club meetings.

Those of us who may be getting on in years but are still very young at heart, will surely remember that our roads were not as busy and congested as they are today. In those days, we used to enjoy those spins to the northern part of the island, or indeed to the south. Today, our roads are dangerously busy and driving has become very tiring. To make matters worse, the state of some of our roads do not contribute at all to the comfort and safety of driving a car.

Well friends, let us try and make our roads much safer today by driving with care and attention and by using tolerance with one another. Your own safety is very important, but please do not forget the safety of other road users too. Pedestrians are also road users at crossings etc. and their safety must always remain on our minds whenever we’re behind the steering wheel of our cars. When you approach a Stop sign, you must come to a complete halt, even though the road ahead looks clear. The sign is telling you to stop, not just to slow down, when you are approaching a junction. You must stop the car before the white line. Check to see if the road is clear and then proceed with caution. Another action on your part which is of great importance to road safety is the use of direction indicators. Always use them whenever you want to change direction. These tell other drivers your intentions and guide them accordingly. When we are driving we should constantly keep in mind that even a couple of seconds of negligence on our part can result in a very serious accident which may have horrific consequences. Those of you who have seat belts fitted in their cars are strongly advised to use them, even if they are only fitted as additional periodic extras. They can save lives. Do remember that it is not always how you drive, but how others drive too, so please take care and always keep your eyes on the road when driving.

I hope that these few road sense tips will stick in your minds and come in useful to guide you through many happy and more importantly, safe motoring years to come.

Today I shall end my short article here. I hope to contrinue with my contribution on road safety. Finally, I must thank the president and the committee members of the CSCCM for showing confidence in me by asking for my contribution.