Man discovers father's 90-year-old vintage car at auction site by chance and starts restoring it

Humans spend their entire lives chasing materialistic things. However, in the end, their value diminishes if those 'things' do not have emotions attached to them. In this story, a man, even in his 90s, worked diligently in restoring his father's car after surprisingly stumbling upon it in auction, reports BBC. Even though the car was not a huge valuable catch, his father's attachment to it made it incomparable. After 3 years, the car has returned to its former glory and Malcolm Stern can't help but feel a sense of achievement and pride.

Stern, from Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, reminisces how much his late father, Alec Stern, cherished his yellow car. Therefore, when he found some time from his bustling adult life, he immediately thought of creating a 3D model of that beloved car. Malcolm Stern bought a printer for the pursuit. As a 21st-century man, he turned to everyone's best friend, the internet, for help. He had some reference pictures in his hand and with that, he was searching for how to get the 3D model to come to life. Suddenly, he got taken to a site where an old car was being sold in an auction and to his utter shock, it was his father's car. According to Yahoo! Life, the car is thought to be the one auctioned in September 2020 by Bonhams Cars, as they share the same registration.

He shared how he could not believe the car had somehow survived all these years, even though it was a "right wreck." He said, "Many people get old cars, but this one is different because it was my father's car. It makes it a little bit special." He recalled how his father drove it to work and took his children to a picnic. Stumbling upon it on the internet was pure chance, but he did not want to waste it and immediately, along with his wife, went to the event. At the auction site, he found that the old car was being sold for $7,288. The man did not hesitate for a second and bought it. He could not afford to lose such a big symbol of his father's memory.

Even though Malcolm adored the car, seeing its condition, he was also terrified of taking it out anywhere. He shared, "For sentimental reasons, I thought I would buy it then we brought the car home and that was in September 2020 and I've been working on the car for three years since." During the pandemic, he made the car his personal project to restore it to its former glory. It was damaged from every side, especially the engine, which was completely smashed. After three years, he believes he has put 1,000 hours of work into repairing the vehicle. Due to his age, he could not take all the work on his shoulders and collaborated with other renovators, who invested 2,000 hours.

At present, he is satisfied with the exterior of the car and will now be moving on to work on the interiors. In his opinion, it will take six months to alter the interior to his liking. He shared how the whole project has been 'difficult' and expensive but still fulfilling because of what the vehicle meant to his father. He said, "I'm still very excited, very surprised that I'm 94, able to be here and do this and still be fit enough to go out in the car for a ride. I think my father would be very proud, he'd be very excited as well."