An hour west of Aberdeen, not far from the edge of the Scottish Highlands is the hamlet of Tullynessle, set in rolling Aberdeen Angus farming country. Amongst its few residents are Geoffrey and his pride and joy: a ’73 3.0CSi in Türkis Green. Now in his early 70s, Geoff has kindly offered to share his story of having been together with his true love for over 40 years.

“I am a retired chartered subsea/pipeline engineer in my early 70’s and I was fortunate to join the fledgling North Sea oil industry in the late 1970s. That led to projects and adventures in various places around the world, although most of the time, I was based in Aberdeen. It was here, in the Granite City, where I came across my lovely E9, not far from where I live still.”

Whilst at university in London in the early 1970s, Geoff used to regularly walk past a shiny new black 3.0CS parked in a street known for fashion businesses. “The car was beautiful, and I lusted after it every time I saw the car.” Eventually, some ten years later, Geoff finally became the proud owner of his own.

“Indirectly, the reason I ended up with my E9 was a Porsche 911SC, a left-hand drive car imported from Belgium. I remember it had the number plate EGO 23X, which, as a new and rather over-confident engineer who was still full of himself, the EGO bit fitted me well. It was offered to me by a good friend of mine just before I came up to Aberdeen in 1981. It was a lovely car, and despite being a left-hand drive, it was a dream to drive.”

Sadly, Geoff’s enjoyment of the car was only short, as they came to an untimely end due to black ice on a very cold morning in November that following year. “The car ended up sideways into a wall at about 35mph.” Not surprisingly, it became a write-off, and the car departed to the local scrapyard. Some years later, Geoff discovered that somebody in Edinburgh had bought the wreck and put it back on the road. “Hopefully, they sorted out the banana-shaped body!”

OWNERSHIP
“I have always loved the car. It is beautiful to look at and wonderful to drive. It’s the sort of car you walk around and admire and stroke every time you get out of it.” Geoff’s car is one of the 6506 3.0 CSIs built in 1972 and was first registered in the UK in November 1973.

“For the first year, it was my only car, and I drove it daily.” Soon, other cars came along, allowing Geoff to retire his E9 to a more comfortable life of sunny days and holiday journeys. Although despite its new garage lifestyle, the car would still be put through its paces. “When you put your foot down, it doesn’t hang around. With the torque from the three-litre engine, you could simplify traffic issues by just putting your foot down and overtaking. In fact, it’s exactly what I used to do with my 911, although the ego bit had worn off by now. I also remember reading the top speed is supposed to be 139mph and despite my best efforts, I only got it up to 100mph a couple of times. Blame the local road conditions in Aberdeenshire in the early ‘80s for not allowing me to go flat out anywhere.” Safe to say the licence points system the UK has nowadays didn’t exist back then.

Driving the car as such isn’t as straightforward as one might think. “One of the major niggles for me is the four-speed gearbox. Ideally, it would have another gear at the top end for motorway driving. Also, a heavy foot on the accelerator in first gear, when fitted with the standard non-low-profile 195/70/R14 tyres, can cause you to lose the rather light back end on wet roads.” Thankfully, the E9 is far better when it comes to tail happiness than the 911 was reputed to be. “Mind you, I lost my 911 in a straight line, not on a corner.”

Like most of us, Geoff joined the BMW Driver’s Club looking for information about the E9 model. “At the time, the club was run by a charming gentleman named Graham Arnold, who also ran Club Lotus. I stayed with the Driver’s Club until Graham sadly died in 2003, and the Cub folded.” Graham was known for the articles he wrote for the club magazine, including a lot of very detailed information about the E9s. “I discovered that the model was a well-known rust bucket due to very basic corrosion protection.” Unfortunately, Geoff’s car was no different. “When I checked my car, it was afflicted like so many others. It had rust in all the usual places – the floor pan, the boot, the front inner wings, the list went on. Fortunately, it was still structurally sound, and no risk of an MOT failure in the short term.” It was a great relief as, at the time, it was his only set of wheels. “I was too busy working offshore to do any significant work on the car myself, so it looked like it was going to take time and big money to put right.”

WORK ON THE CAR
For the first few years, Geoff managed to afford normal servicing, MOTs, and some costly parts when they needed replacing. “It was enough to keep the car drivable even though I was away six months of the year.” However, funds for major work were not available until the mid-90s, when he became self-employed for a couple of years. “It enabled me to fund a major restoration and rebuild by Jaymic, down in Cromer.” They have also supplied him with most of the spare parts over the years, alongside Munich Legends, Linwar Motors, and a replacement fuel tank from “CoupeGuy” in Colorado. “All good companies with nice friendly people.”

Jaymic’s work included an engine rebuild, welding repairs to the wings, boot, and floor pan, a new suspension, a new windscreen, new headlining and veneer panels, and seatbelts. To top it all off, the whole car received a full respray. “They had some black leather seats left over from another car, so they replaced the worn fabric originals as well. When I drove it away, it was like a new car straight out of the showroom.” As unleaded fuel became the new standard, the car went back for further reworking of the head to cope with the new fuels. “This was actually done by a friend of mine in Cumbria.”

From then on, the car was mostly parked in the garage, apart from the occasional car rally, before it went completely off the road between 2010 – 2014. “By then, the car needed recommissioning, which Classic Restorations (Scotland) carried out for me in Alyth near Perth. Another fantastic company.” On one of Geoff’s visits to their shop, they were working on a complete nut-and-bolt restoration of two late 1920s Rolls Royce cars, both with the same owner. “Each car had cost £250,000 to restore. It’s alright for some…” At least he knew that the “cheaper” E9 was in good hands.

Over the years, Geoff has replaced various bits on the car himself as well. “I’ve never been overly worried about keeping it entirely original. It has since been fitted with stainless steel wheel arch extensions and a front spoiler like the CSLs. It also has a stainless-steel exhaust, BBS wheels – I didn’t like the originals – and a fancy-looking Italian steering wheel.” To ensure the car was fit for the rallies, a larger capacity fuel tank and a new heater were fitted. “I thought it looked a bit effeminate without a spoiler, but now I’m not so sure I like it anymore. Speaking of which, when I look at pictures, it reminds me that a lot of the chrome trim isn’t original, likewise the wing mirrors and windscreen wipers. The front bumper was removed to fit the spoiler, but thankfully, I kept it and stored it in the garage.”  

MEMORABLE EVENTS & TRIPS
As you’ve probably gathered by now, Geoff has enjoyed his car throughout their 41 years together. For the first 25 years, he found himself away a lot, either abroad or offshore. But things changed towards the latter end of the 90s when he managed to drive the car in various classic car rallies with friends and family. Most, if not all, of the rally plates are proudly on display. “Except for the California plate, that’s off an MGA I bought during a holiday in the USA.” Obviously, we wanted to know which event we enjoyed the most, and we weren’t disappointed when, instead, Geoff began talking about his top 3.

The RAC Classic
“We participated in seven RAC/Norwich Union/MSA Classic rallies, the first being in 1997 and the last in 2010. I think it was the 2009 rally that allowed us the chance to drive on the banked five-lane-high speed bowl at the Millbrook proving ground. Unfortunately, my navigator chickened out when we were doing about 105 mph on the top of the bank with a Rolls Royce Silver Spirit right up our backsides. I wanted to see how fast the car would go, but he was getting agitated, so I slowed down and let the Rolls overtake. He floated past doing something like 120 and rapidly disappeared into the distance. It was absolutely amazing, a memory of a lifetime.”

The Haynes Museum Spring Classic
“We entered this really in 1999, which included a hill climb section at Longleat as well. As you approach the top of the track, there is a nasty bend, and an E-type did a spectacular muddy “off” just before us. We proudly displayed the superiority of the BMW and waved as we passed them stuck in the mud.”

Prix Des Alpes
“This event is by far the highlight of all our rallies. We participated in the Prix Des Alpes in 2001, an event that was a week-long regularity rally while mostly driving through the French Alps, with a brief excursion into Italy and finally finishing in Monaco. We did over 3,000 miles in ten days, and the car never missed a beat. With such a competitive atmosphere, it was much more fun than the run-of-the-mill UK classic car rallies we’d been used to, which are generally just a cavalcade of sorts. Here, you need equipment like a rally tripmeter and a good navigator, and you need to spend time scrutinising the maps and rules in advance. My navigator was my best pal, who I had worked with offshore for many years. In his previous career, he was an RAF rally-team navigator and occasional driver. He never got car sick while having his head down, checking the maps and timings against the tripmeter and distance graphs we carried. The route took us on wonderful roads through incredible scenery. Despite being a competition, it was good-spirited with exquisite French food every night and lots of excellent local plonk. As it was our first regularity event, and we finished nearly halfway up the ranking, we reckoned we hadn’t embarrassed ourselves. It was great fun, and I recommend regularity events to anyone who wants to enjoy their car just that little bit extra. Sadly though, these particular French rallies have ceased due to the increased insurance costs involved.”

Laon Historique
Unfortunately, it wasn’t always great fun. “I participated in the Laon Historique in 2008 with my wife. The organisers were incredibly helpful and briefed all the drivers in English, which was very hospitable and unexpected. We were parked in the town square, and five minutes before the start, we were all told – “get in your cars and start your engines! I thought “, This is going to be fun!”. We had both really looked forward to driving the closed streets of the town. Sadly, and probably inevitably, it almost immediately degenerated into a long, slow convoy of cars, with multiple halts at most of the corners. Also, on the few occasions when you might be able to drive anywhere near 30mph, the marshalls beside the road would aggressively wave you down. Let alone overtaking, this was absolutely “interdit”.

It was a major trek to get there and back, so to get there and then just slowly pootle around the town a couple of times was a big letdown. I thought it might be better the next year when I went again, this time with my brother–in–law—it wasn’t. So, we have never been back. It’s a nice place, with nice people but uninspiring driving.

On top of that, during the 2009 trip, I made the mistake of topping up with petrol in a tiny village garage. It turned out to be a big mistake, as the car began struggling to fire. Once roadside assistance came to rescue us, he immediately told us, ” Mal essence”—bad old petrol. Don’t make the same mistake when driving in France—refuel on the auto routes or in the big service stations. I remember warning fellow Club members for a long time afterwards.”

NOW AND THE FUTURE
As Geoff lives so far north, most of the car shows and Club events are a long way from him. “I haven’t attended many with the E9 unless I had a good reason. For instance, I attended the annual BMW Club meet at Gaydon once and drove down to Somerset at one point so John Castle could value the car.”  It is not uncommon for the car to collect admirers in car parks and petrol stations, or even whilst stopped in traffic. “It’s not surprising; in the 41 years I’ve owned the car, I’ve only seen one other E9 on the UK roads. It was in Manchester, and it was Türkis as well.”

Since those early days, Geoff’s car collection has grown a bit. “I have an E31 840 as well alongside the E9, both of which have been garaged in a brand-new wooden garage which I built just after retirement in 2017. The E31 has been driven a few times since then, but the E9 has not.” Although Geoff hasn’t been taking his cars out as much as before, he’s not sat still. “I bought an old house and half a hillside not far from the start of the Highlands as a project some 25 years ago. I’ve been converting this area into a nature reserve and woodland garden full of rhododendrons and specimen trees. As you can imagine, the upkeep of all this keeps me busy, and combined with the long winters that bring lots of snow and salted roads, it has kept the cars mostly in the garage since I retired.”

Unfortunately, the last time he drove his CSi, Geoff dented his accident-free record as he hit a deer in 2016. “It came out of some trees, and fortunately, I was only doing 20 or so when I hit it, so the damage is not major. The damn deer had the cheek to get up, shake himself, and then trot off! He never asked me if I was okay…” As a result, the right front grill is a bit dented, and there are scratches on the bonnet and front spoiler. “The central chrome grill is dented as well, but thankfully, I have a spare already. And once the minor repairs have been done, it’ll probably need another recommissioning since it’s been nearly ten years ago.”

While the cars have been sitting still in the garage, the world has gone through another major change. “All the unleaded fuel up here is now E10, so I imagine all the rubber components in the fuel line on both cars will need to be replaced as well. I suspect another visit to the shop in Alyth will be at the top of the list.

“I’ll be 73 next year, and I won’t be able to drive forever. My wife recently suggested I sell both my Beemers. But I’m not so sure just yet—time will tell.”

A KEEN DRIVER
Despite the focus lying on Geoff’s E9, he’s keen to share his impressive classic car collection throughout his life. “I’ve owned quite a few classic cars over the years. I imported an MGA, MGB, and a TR6 after our holidays in California in the early 1990s. They were a bit small for me, and an unmodified MGA was not a good fit on our main roads even then. I also visited a town called Napoleon in Ohio, as I was interested in a very early Corvette on sale there – but it rattled and shook and drove like an infirm truck. I’ve had three Fiat 130 coupes – beautiful mini limos, roomy and good on modern roads. Also, several BMW 635 CSIs – for anyone in the market, I have a shed full of spare 635 bonnets and boots and other spares from cars I scrapped and stripped. And then there’s my 1995 E31.”

But when asked which is his all-time favourite, Geoff has a clear winner. “My pride and joy throughout, and my favourite of them all, has always been my beautiful 1973 3.0 CSi. The E9, the original Ferrari Lusso, and the Aston Martin DB4 are the most beautiful coupes ever built. And possibly the Maserati Sebring, that one, too.” Asked what makes his CSi so special compared to all the others, he has a strong reply: “Owning the E9 has been a privilege – a bit like owning a Rolex watch.” The only little difference is that Geoff, being an ex-North Sea oilman, had a Rolex Submariner for 36 years, which he recently sold to pay for a new wood-burning stove. “You will find out keeping warm in your 70s is more useful than a flashy watch.”

A sensible choice, if you ask me. At least the car can still be used to fetch more firewood…