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Peter Nicoll knows his cars… and keeps them looking great.
Text by Wayne Caverly, photos by Peter Nicoll.
Our 2008 activities director knows his cars. In his life he's owned everything from a Hillman Minx to Austin Healeys, Jaguars, Mercedes Benz and even a vintage Thunderbird. Many of us know Peter as a distributor of waterless car wash products, but a recent interview with him discovered a multi-faceted individual.
Peter is a body builder, a singer and ex-Air Canada mechanic (specializing in electroplating) who holds a patent for direct plating of copper on aluminum. Now retired from Air Canada, Peter's focus is on his cars and on his detailing business.
A passionate car collector, Peter's first was a Hillman Minx that his father, not a fan of American automobiles, insisted on. The Hillman Minx was a series of middle-sized family cars produced under the Hillman marque by the Rootes Group between 1932 and 1970. There have been many versions of the Minx over the years, as well as various badge-engineered versions which were sold under the Humber, Singer, and Sunbeam marques.
Once working full time Peter was able to afford his first new car, a 1965 Austin Healey. The Austin Healey BJ8 was introduced in 1963 and remained in production until 1967. The BJ8 brought many improvements over its predecessor, including twin two-inch SU HD8 carburetors on the six-cylinder engine capable of producing 150 horsepower and 173 foot-pounds of torque. Peter probably wishes he'd kept the Healey as one recently sold at auction for $96,250.
Peter's first Jaguar was a Jaguar Mk IX - one of the "Big Cats" (a model Peter is currently looking at buying again as it was one of his favourite cars). The MK IX was introduced at the Earls Court London motor show in the fall of 1958 and was produced for a short three years (from 1959 through 1961 with just over 10,000 examples created) before it was replaced with the larger Mark X.
Click here to read more about Peter Nicoll and his passion for cars.
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