THE MALLALIEU MOTOR COLLECTION IN BARBADOS.

A few weeks ago I had the chance to visit my family, relax under the sun and have a holiday in Barbados for the first time since Covid-19 tried its best to stop the world from functioning.

Many things have changed since the last time I set foot on the island back in 2019. It is now a Republic and the island is very much looking to the future. One thing that caught my eye (and was good to see) is that they now have government public all-electric battery buses.

One place that has its motoring roots firmly in the classic car past is the Mallalieu Motor Collection.

I had been promising myself for years that I would pay this treasure trove a visit and one thing that the pandemic taught me was not to put things off so one day as I was passing I popped in to see what it was all about.

Mr Mallalieu (the owner) was on hand and happy to personally walk me through each vehicle in his classic car collection. It was great to get the information straight from the horses mouth and hear the stories of when, how and why he added a vehicle to his collection. He also highlighted the highs and sometimes invariable lows of classic car ownership.

He showed me a very special Rolls Royce that was used by the Queen and other dignitaries that visited the island.

There are also history photos of the Barbados Rally and other car memorabilia dotted around the museum.

Out of all the cars in his collection…Mr Mallalieu’s prized possession is this Volvo and I can see why. This car is no “spring chicken” but I could see and feel the pure quality. Mr Mallalieu was proudly saying “they don’t make cars like this anymore” whilst demonstrating the build quality by opening and closing the doors and boot. I couldn’t agree with him more…he’s right!!