Plucking up courage, he rang the bell and soon he was having a lengthy conversation with the owner, who informed him that this was a rare 1938 Rosengart LR4 that he wanted to sell. Eventually, he was directed to a nearby building. On the last day of the holiday, Vella decided to take action and stopped a number of passersby to enquire about the owner of this car.
There was a notice with a telephone number on the windscreen. In a quiet street off their hotel, he observed an unusually old car, partly parked on the pavement. Some years ago, Vella and his wife Maria were holidaying in Nice, France. I only drove it at the weekend, and whenever I was caught in the rain, I would return to the garage and wash it immediately, even if it was after midnight.” The Peugeot remains in mint condition to this very day. The maroon-coloured car was the apple of my eye. “My first vehicle was a hardly-used 1971 Peugeot 304. Consequently, when the dust has settled down at the end of a long, hard day, Joseph Vella and his son Roderick leave the family quarry in Naxxar and head to the father’s residence in Mellieha, to spent some quality time enjoying their collection of classic cars.
