Beetles and pink Pagodas: Footman James meets Gary Mavers

After over thirty years in the TV and film industry, actor Gary Mavers has recently turned his attention to the world of automotive media with a popular new YouTube channel. But, as Footman James discovers, the road to Classic Obsession traces back to the very beginning.

“The classic car community couldn’t be any more different to the world of acting,” smiles Gary, reflecting on the last three decades that have seen him branch out from television work to presenting his own vehicle restoration series. “There’s no room for that back-stabbing, dog-eat dog kind of mentality – if you need help, everyone rolls their sleeves up and gets stuck in.”

Gary’s wide range of acting credits include popular TV dramas Peak Practice, Casualty and Emmerdale, but his employment history has more humble beginnings. Leaving school aged 16, he spent two years working full time at the local butchers in Huyton, Liverpool – sweating 62-hour weeks in exchange, Gary tells us, for ‘£30 and a chicken’.

It was around this time that Gary got his first experience of classic car ownership, behind the wheel of an original air-cooled Volkswagen Beetle. Haynes manual in hand, he began to learn the basics of DIY maintenance and soon unearthed a natural talent for vehicle mechanics.

“By 18, I knew I needed to decide what I really wanted to do and go for it,” says Gary. “I knew the dream was either acting or footballing… in Liverpool everyone’s like Pelé, so I decided drama school was the one for me. I wrote off to RADA and managed to secure myself a place, despite the fact I hadn’t even read a book at the time.”

Gary’s interest in classics still burned brightly throughout his time at drama school and, after graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he began to yearn for his first proper project. In 1990, following a role in TV crime drama The Man from the Pru, he uncovered a likely candidate - a Mercedes 230SL ‘Pagoda’.

“It was an absolute baptism of fire… an unfinished project that I found sitting in a garage in Huyton in total disarray,” Gary tells us. “I knew it was missing a lot of parts and needed work - most noticeably, it’d been resprayed in a shocking pink colour - but I knew I had to have it.”

The Pagoda belonged to local celebrity, hairdresser and ‘king of bling’ Herbert Howe, a flamboyant character who would later star in one of the first ever ITV reality programmes, Shampoo. After knocking on Herbert’s door to find out more about the car, Gary soon found himself holding the keys to his first classic project.

“It took me over two years to find the missing parts I needed. It was a long and costly process and that was before I reached the restoration itself… but I wasn’t daunted and learned such a huge amount, which stood me in good stead. I ended up owning that car for 28 years, restoring it twice myself in that time.”

The pink Pagoda began a long period of classic Mercedes ownership, with Gary becoming well versed in how to work on them. The nature of the acting industry meant he’d often find himself with stretches of free time, so having a project to restore for a few months of the year made perfect sense.

Gary remembers finding a 1960s W111 Mercedes 220SE Cabriolet with a completely rusted-out floorpan and in a particularly desperate state. Never doubting whether it was worth saving, he ordered new chassis legs and wings from Mercedes Benz before bedding down in the garage to remove the rot and go through the car methodically.

“I bought that 220SE Cabriolet from a scrapyard for about £2,500 - it took me about a year to complete. I recently saw the very same car for sale for £145,000, which gives you an idea on the way prices have risen recently.”

After a brief flirtation with a W108 saloon, Gary graduated to what many describe as the pinnacle of Mercedes engineering; the flagship 1960s 600 Limousine that was once the most expensive car in the world. Renowned for its period popularity with diplomats and dictators, the 600 arrived with no paperwork to speak of, though Gary would later discover the history of his example was as chequered as any other.

“I’d noticed the flagpole mounts on the front wings but didn’t think much of it. Then someone wrote in to tell me the car had been owned by P.W. Botha, the last Prime Minister of South Africa before the apartheid movement. You might say that added a little provenance to its history… I had three 600s in total, so became quite familiar with them.”

Though he remains a huge fan of the three-pointed star, decades of Mercedes ownership left Gary looking for something a little more eclectic. There was one particular itch he needed to scratch; a car that had been engrained on his mind since a chance childhood encounter.

“As a kid in the early seventies, I remember walking up the road with my brother and sister on the way to church in our Sunday best. We saw Paul McCartney drive past in a Rolls Royce Corniche - that was it for me. That moment left an indentation on my mind, I’ve loved the Corniche ever since.”

Though decades of expectation often lead to disappointment, Gary’s Corniche has been far from a case of don’t meet your heroes. Following a full restoration, his 1970s Cabriolet model is now a daily driver, making regular appearances on the Classic Obsession YouTube channel. Recent maintenance work has included a convertible hood rebuild, brake refurbishment and regular servicing, with Gary performing as much work as possible himself.

“A lot of classic car maintenance comes down to common sense – sometimes, you just have to jump in at the deep end,” says Gary, who clearly remains a strong advocate for doing it yourself. “Stick to a budget, take your time and, most importantly, be safe. It takes years before you feel competent enough to do proper jobs on a car – the most important thing is to start practicing.”

Gary’s enthusiasm for classics is infectious. It’s hard not to admire his commitment to the cause, and the obsession shows no signs of slowing down just yet. The Corniche has recently been joined by a Lotus Elite and Porsche 928, both projects having been liberated from the garage of a 92-year-old owner who’d cherished both for many years.

From Beetles to Rollers - via a pink Pagoda - Gary’s car history tells us there’s no right answer when it comes to your choice of classic. One thing’s for sure, though: there’s no substitute for rolling up your sleeves and getting stuck in.

You can subscribe to Gary Mavers’ Classic Obsession YouTube Channel, sponsored by Footman James, by following this link.