Thames Valley Area Chairman

 David Plank

David John Plank has had an interest in old car from when he was a small boy. He was born on the 20^th Jan 1941 at 53 Furze Platt Road Maidenhead. His father was also born in Maidenhead and worked for the GPO telephones, and during war he was in the navy in the Mediterranean on Motor Torpedo Boats e.g. (Dog Boats). After leaving Gordon school Maidenhead in 1956, I undertook an apprenticeship with C W Evans & Co Ltd King Street Maidenhead the local Austin agents, and stayed with the company until closing down in 1965. During the spring of 1961 there was a fire in King Street next door to the garage were I worked and the building got burnt out and this fire was the start of me joining the Berkshire and Reading Fire Brigade as a retained fireman. After leaving the garage I followed my father’s footsteps and went to work for GPO telephones and stayed in telephones until taking early retirement in 1994, and stayed a retained fireman and retired from the fire brigade as a leading fireman in 1995. I brought my first car in 1958 a 1935 Austin Ascot saloon and my mother had to lend me £5 to by this car, before the MOT came out I was always repairing and rebuilding old pre-war cars. These being my every day cars at the time I did thousands of happy miles driving all over the country.

I started on vehicle preservation in 1970 the first being a 1937 Morris 8 series two, in, 1971, then in 1972 started restoring fire engines. The first being the old 1938 Sonning Fire Pump, then a 1941 NFS Austin ATV and a 1957 Dennis F8 fire pump Ex Oban that has now returned to Scotland this continued until 1994 the Morris 8 was sold in 1981. I have also restored a 1967 Morris 1000 Pick-up and a 1958 Series 1 Land Rover.

I now own and have restored Four Austin Sevens, and an active member of the Austin Seven Owners Club (London), and been the chairman of the Thames Valley Area for 12 years.