Eddie Connally is mad about classic cars. He talks to Justin Hynesabout his passions
If any area of design defines the axiom "beauty is in the eye of the beholder", it's car design. Nissan's new Micra, plug-ugly to me, cute and cheeky to others. Fiat's Multipla, just the cool side of wacky for me, plain weird to others.
While these arguments go on, all agree that some cars scream "look at me, I'm beautiful" . . . the Jaguar E-Type, Lamborghini Muira . . . and the pagoda-roofed Mercedes 280SL.
The SL embodies the concept of form and function. It does exactly what it says on its oh-so-beautiful tin. Defined in razor-sharp edges, which give way to subtle, flowing curves and convexes, it's a sublime definition of what an elegant little sports car should be.
Eddie Connally of Newcastle, Co Dublin, has one and I want it. A superb 1968 blue example, beautiful either with the pagoda-style hard-top or in pillarless convertible model.
Introduced as a replacement for the voluptuous 190SL, the 230 was a sensation at the 1963 Geneva show. With a straight six-cylinder, 150bhp engine, it was smaller and less powerful than the previously dominating 300SL but with its classic styling - epitomised by the finely-sculpted pagoda-style hardtop - the 230 was an instant classic, even if it did weight in at a hefty $7,000.
The 230 quickly gave way to the 250 and eventually in 1968 perhaps the best-loved version - the 2.8 litre 280SL. In all, a little over 48,000 models were built before the car ended its life-span in 1971, to be replaced by the far more bloated, Americanised stylism of the model most famously associated with Dallas and Hart to Hart.
"The 280 SL is a car I've always wanted," Connally admits. It forms one point of a triangle of desirable classics at his home, the others being a beautiful 1967 Jaguar Mk II and a superb 1969 maroon and silver Jensen Interceptor FF, perhaps the finest example in the country.
"These are the cars I could never afford when I was younger, the ones you always wanted. Now they've come down to a price that's affordable, you can indulge yourself. When the Jensen came out it was three times the price of the Jaguar. Now it's a bit more reasonable."
Connally's classics are top-of-the-
line examples of their breed. "The Merc is a 2.8 straight six. A lot of the work on the car was done by Silver Arrows in London and then I bought it in Dundalk. If you're going to buy a classic car, go out and buy the best example you can get.
"Many people fool themselves by getting a cheap car and then end up with years of trouble. I've spent some money on my cars but now they're right and hardly give any trouble. If you're going to buy any classic, have it checked out by somebody in the business and buy a good one. People think you have to have bottomless pockets to own a classic car but if you buy a good one at the start then that's not true."
Part of the trouble-free nature of his small collection is down to the fact that none of the three cars are used every day, with Connally driving a modern Peugeot the bulk of the time. "I don't think you can run a classic car as an every day car," he admits. "They've come to the stage in their life where it's not possible to use them every day."
He qualifies that theory slightly with the Mercedes, however. "You could use that. It is extremely reliable. We have had nothing go wrong with it and, if something did happen, spares are plentiful and there are plenty of people who can help you out. Having said that, while I don't think you can use a classic every day, you do have to drive them. That's what they were built for and things go wrong if you don't."
Connally's wife, May, is the Mercedes' regular driver and admits she is smitten with it. "I drive an A-Class Mercedes most of the time but it is wonderful at the weekends to get into the 280 and take off. It's very easy to drive, with power steering and is very comfortable. It's a beautiful car to drive and it handles very well."
"Plus," says Eddie, "it's cheap to tax at €36 a year because it's over 30 years old. It has affordable limited mileage insurance, which usually is about 3,000-to-4,000 miles and, anyway, you're never going to drive the car that much. Realistically, you can only use it for four or five months, from April to September."
The pair regularly take the Mercedes on runs during the year and have enjoyed trouble-free trips to shows in Enniskillen, Galway and the UK. Eddie, though, has virtually ceded control of the Mercedes to his wife in favour of the Jensen FF. "It's an amazing machine," he smiles. "The world's first four-wheel-drive production car, 13 years ahead of the Audi Quattro. It's got power steering, ABS and a 7276cc Chrysler engine!"
"Yes, and it is a huge car and only does about 15-to-18 miles per gallon," May laughs. "Despite that, though, it is a very easy car to drive, even though it's so big. There's so much power under your foot with it."
Both admit to being addicted to classic cars, though both find it hard to identify the nature of the addiction when I point out that most people would as soon have a new Alfa Romeo for the price of the Jensen.
"You're either into it or not," Eddie smiles. "Like I said, I learned how to drive in the 1950s and 1960s and these cars were the dreams of my boyhood."
There are still a few dreams left to realise, however. "I'd like an Aston Martin DB5, and I will get one," he says emphatically. "A Gullwing Mercedes," says May, despite the fact that I've asked her to choose an ideal within reason. "I saw one at a show in Trim and it was just so beautiful."
Until then, the hardly paltry pleasures of the small but oh-so-perfectly formed 280 SL will have to suffice.