Car owner buys back 'first love'

Mr Nagle said he felt emotional when he saw Emeline again after 50 years

A Berkshire motorist has spent thousands of pounds to buy back his "first love" - a 1934 Morris Minor - 50 years after first owning it.

John Nagle, from Reading, bought the car, which he called Emeline, for £30 in 1958 when he was 17 years old and sold it four years later.

Ten days ago, he paid £4,500 for Emeline after tracking her down through a Morris Minor owners' club.

He said: "She was definitely my first love - without a skirt of course."

Mr Nagle added: "In later years I though it would be nice to see the little old car again because it has a little bit of charm about it.

"I looked up in the book the registration OW4224 and sure enough there she was, living in Essex."

The car still had the original logbook with Mr Nagle's signature in it

He said seeing Emeline again was "a great moment" which made him feel very emotional.

"I sat in it and grinned from ear to ear and went 'poop, poop' like Mr Toad.

"It was lovely to see the logbook that I had when I bought the car originally in 1958 with my name and signature in it.

"It sounds a bit daft being emotional about a little old car, but it was perhaps a little of my youth coming back."