The Island

I am one of a growing number of people who have found a way to make ends meet by working online. After that moment, I didn't spend very many more winters in Canada before it dawned on me that I could work from just about anywhere in the world. About five years ago, I left my home and native land for a tiny island in the middle of the Mediterranean sea.  Gozo was my family's first choice for a new home for several reasons.  We wanted to live somewhere that English was spoken, was a safe place to raise children and was warm.

As I settled into a new life, I started noticing all the old cars around me.  It was almost like some kind of automotive time machine.  There are a few reasons that I can think of for this situation.

The isolation that comes with being on an island means that importing cars is more expensive so people have a lot of motivation to look after the cars that they have.

We drive on the left here, so that limits the sources of used cars to places like the UK and Japan. One of my friends here in Gozo bought his first car from Italy.  It has the steering wheel on the 'wrong' side.

The Mediterranean climate of Gozo (my #1 reason for being here) helps reduce the effects of corrosion.  This might be less interesting to readers in California where they have a similar climate, but I grew up where salt is poured onto the snowy roads for five months every year.  They say rust never sleeps, but I think it takes regular naps in Gozo.

Automotive repair, like many other service industries, is more affordable on Gozo than it is in North America.  I have only owned one car here.  It was a 1989 Skoda Favorit (don't laugh, I paid cash for it!).  It had some predictable problems during the time that I drove it, and I was always surprised at the reasonably priced repairs.

A major factor effecting the longevity of cars on Gozo is the fact that the island is so tiny (26 square miles) that they never get driven very far. I was shocked that the car I bought was 17 years old with only 18,000 miles on the odometer. 

I should point out that there is no shortage of newer cars here.  Tourism and a relatively buoyant real estate bubble created a lot of disposable income.  My former landlord is a farmer and he drives a new Alfa Romeo.  I have seen some major changes in Malta, having moved there just as the country was joining the European Union.  One relatively recent change involved a reduction in the import tax on used cars.  I think this change has meant that a lot of drivers have put away their vintage cars and bought late model Japanese cars.  But it's the old cars that interest me, along with the old stories.  That is why I always slow down whenever I pass by Carmelo Hili's machine shop in the village of Xaghra.



The Man

I can without hesitation call Mister Hili a friend.  His machine shop is on the same street as the first maisonette that my family and I rented in Gozo.  He would spent most afternoons working on one of his engines in the doorway of his shop.  I think this is his favorite spot.  There he can make use of the natural light for his work and he can also see and be seen by the tourists who walk by.  He has a warm welcome for anybody that stops.  On one occasion he picked some oranges from his backyard for me to take home for my kids.  On another occasion he gave me a cold beer.

The first words that he said to me on my most recent visit were short and to the point.

"I'm an old man."

He is in his 70’s, but his imagination and enthusiasm can make you forget his age.  He was a young boy when many of his prized possessions were made.  The pivotal event that brought all of these machines to Malta and Gozo was WWII.  These tiny islands in the middle of the sea played a very important role for the allies during this war.  Winston Churchill referred to the nation as an unsinkable aircraft carrier.  That didn't stop German and Italian airplanes from trying.  The islands and its inhabitants were bombed relentlessly.  I talk about the nuts and bolts of the war with Mr Hili but I shy away from talking about what everyday life was like.  There were over 3,000 air raids between 1940 and 1943.  After the war, the citizens of the islands were awarded the highest honor from the King of England, the George Cross.

Mr. Hili is not your typical car collector.  In fact, cars are merely a subset of his obsession with machines of all kinds.  He leaves the doors of his garage open so that passersby can have a peek at his collection.  People with only a passing curiosity might think that the vintage clocks and radios out front are a representative sample of what he has inside.  They don't know what they are missing.

Carmelo has two WWII era motorbikes stored in an overhead loft.  He has a collection of military helmets.  He has military portraiture.  There are spent shell casings in a wide range of sizes.  Various airplane propellers adorn the walls of his garage.  He has a 60 year old bottling machine in working order.  He uses a well worn and partly broken old bottle to show people how it worked.

Large engines take up the lions share of the space in Mr. Hili's Garage. His true passion is bringing old engines back to life.  Since many of these engines were designed to power machines that are obsolete, their new life is something akin to retirement.  It's not a bad place to retire.  Carmelo's back garden has a gold fish pond and fruit trees.  He does whatever he can to protect the outdoor machines from the weather. 

On my recent visit I was specifically interested in what cars he might have hidden away.  I was a bit worried that he might have sold them all or something because we spent half an hour looking at stuff like generator engines and windmills and caterpillar tractors.  It turned out that he had his cars all the way at the back of his yard in a makeshift sheet metal shelter.  The front of the winter shelter was just a large shade cloth. Mister Hili was a good judge of my state of mind and he pulled the cloth aside like it was a game show curtain. 


The Cars

Three vehicles were crammed inside the shelter along with a few rototillers and other assorted farm machinery.  There was only one that I could identify myself.  It was a 1942 US Army Jeep.  The US Army had been in Malta during the war.  One squadron built a temporary air strip out of a major road on Gozo.  Mr. Hili didn't buy the Jeep directly form the army.  There was a glut of surplus army vehicles on Malta shortly after the country gained independence from Great Britain in the ‘60s.  The Jeep is probably the most well known military vehicle on the planet.

A vehicle that you will never see marketed to civilians is the Daimler Scout.  Like the Jeep, it is better known by its nickname. Infantrymen called it the Dingo.  The model in Carmelo's back garden is from 1943 and it was used by a military branch known as the “Desert Rats”, that fought Rommel in Africa.  Take note of the bolt cutters mounted on the metal plate that takes the place of any kind of windshield.  One unique thing about these vehicles was their transmissions.  They have five forward gears and five reverse gears.  They were also quieter than one might expect.  I guess the point was for the enemy to not expect you.

 

The third military car is a 1939 Austin 8.  It is Mr Hili's favorite of the three and I don't blame him.  It is an awesome car.  This car really represents an era when cars were designed to be beautiful and functional.

 

 

By Martin Higgins

Martin is a freelance writer.

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