FOR MATT Wood’s family, there is one car that is special above all else: the Austin A35.

“I love them, so do my parents,” he says, as he explains what he likes about the compact family car that was produced by the British manufacturer from 1956 until 1968.

“We like the styling, and the fact they are a pleasure to work on. It was my mum who got my dad interested - she really liked them and wanted one, so they bought one.”

Matt’s dad Tim still owns a 1957 tweed grey A35 which he bought in 1991. “It had been in someone’s back garden for years and needed everything doing. I was born just a few years later and was brought up rebuilding it.

“Dad wasn’t working on it all the time. It was put on the backburner for a while when me and my brother Chris were young. My parents have a picture of Dad and Chris washing it down with wet and dry paper.

“As I grew up I helped dad to restore it. We finally got it on the road in 2013. My dad still goes out in it.

“I have always been around A35s and also A30s all my life. We got an A30 - Maisy - in 2006. She is in quite a sad state after being used as a parts car after a bump in 2009.”

Now Matt, 26, has his own A35, a 1959 model, also in tweed grey, which he bought in 2012.

“She’s called Nellie after Nellie the elephant, because of her colour,” he says. “My parents always named cars so I carried on.

“My parents and brother came with me to Biggin Hill in Kent to collect it. It leaked its oil and water on to the motorway on the way back, in the hot summer temperatures and bumper to bumper stationary tea time traffic - with only the engine driven fan and a partially blocked radiator to keep her cool. A slightly dodgy ignition contributed to the problem. Fortunately we had taken a trailer so we managed to get her home on that.

“It had been restored by the previous owner and has the original engine, although not the original number plate.”

Matt and Tim are members of the Austin A35 Owners’ Club. “They have a brilliant award-wining quarterly magazines and really enjoyable annual international rally where owners come from all over the UK for a weekend of fun and to display their pride and joy,” says Matt. “I have won the owners club young members award twice for my help with the club.

“My dad also volunteers for the club and runs their spares scheme that sells parts to club members including bits that are hard to get – he has them re-manufactured things like fuel tanks and has reconditioned radiators, quarter light rubbers and things like that.”

Matt, who lives in Steeton and works for Moss automotive parts form in Baildon, was not only influenced by his dad - his late grandad also had a passion for classics.

“I was brought up around my grandad’s three-wheelers. He liked Reliant Robins and always had at least one. At one time he had a Ford Anglia. We have a picture of me standing in front of it on the Bradford to Morecambe Car Rally.

“He also co-owned a Triumph 1300 with my dad. We have a photograph of me and Chris washing it. He sold it a long time ago and then we came across it fully restored at the NEC Classic Car & Restoration Show. Dad was really pleased to see it again.”

As well as going to classic car shows the family take part in the annual Bradford to Morecambe Car Rally which takes place in September. “We have done it since 1990. I go in my car and Dad goes in his. I have a picture of me at the finish beside my grandad’s Ford Anglia. It is my favourite of all the events as the rally coincides with Morecambe’s vintage weekend. Last year’s was cancelled so I hope it goes ahead this year.

“In the past people would stand at the roadside watching all the cars go past and wave. Sadly not so many come out to watch now.”

Matt’s wife Kirsty, a paramedic, shares his passion going to shows, along with his mum Julie, and Chris. “My whole family love it, especially the car rally,” says Matt. “Once you reach Morecambe you display your car. It’s nice to have people walking around it, admiring it and asking questions. People also take picture and post them online.”

The couple’s baby daughter Hollie will be going along on the trip too, as will Beau, the family’s basset beagle springer. “We all go, it’s a real family affair,” says Matt.

His first car, a Ford Fiesta, was bought for him by his parents in 1991. “I learned to drive in it and passed my test in it. I owned it for a few years then bought a newer model. I regret not keeping the registration plate - J701 MWD - as it contained my initials.”

Kirsty managed to find a plate just one digit off - J700 MWD - which she bought Matthew for their first wedding anniversary in 2019. “It was brilliant surprise,” says Matt.

Today he owns a limited edition Ford Fiesta. “It’s a special car - it’s bright yellow with a chequered roof and is number 320 out of 400 produced to mark the car’s 30th anniversary. “Ford also made 400 in green and 600 reds. It was seven years old when I bought it in 2014.”

Matt takes the distinctive vehicle, which he named Mylo, to shows such as Ford Day Blackpool, a popular event in the Lancashire resort.

Along with his dad, Matt helps out at Wrose Carnival, organising the vehicle show. “I was born and raised there, and it is where my parents live. When I was younger there was a float parade and car show, but they stopped, so we have brought them back.”

For practical family journeys, the family have a Subaru Forester. “It’s roomy for the car seat and it is also a good tow car, for when we take other cars to shows on a trailer.”

The Subaru, which also has a name - Whisper - is also large enough to transport music technology graduate Matt’s equipment, when he works part-time as a sound technician at arts venues and festivals.