Giving British automotive history its due

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This article was published 05/05/2022 (1400 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Outside of his job at the nearby Royal Canadian Artillery Museum, Clive Prothero-Brooks has cultivated quite the historical display at home, having dedicated the last four decades to buying and maintaining classic vehicles that were originally manufactured overseas.

Right now, Prothero-Brooks’ garage in west Brandon houses six rare imports from the United Kingdom and Australia, including a 1968 Rover 2000 TC, a 1952 Sunbeam motorcycle, a 1973 Land Rover SWB, a 1981 Mini Moke, a 1979 Mini Pickup and 1959 Rover P4 90.

The 65-year-old also keeps a 1949 Velocette LE motorcycle stored in a shop in his backyard.

However, Prothero-Brooks estimates he has owned around 30 different European vehicles since the 1980s, making him one of the Westman region’s foremost experts on these types of automobiles.

“I don’t want the same thing that everybody else has,” he told the Sun on Wednesday afternoon before conducting a tour of his collection. “American cars don’t interest me at all.”

Prothero-Brooks’ affinity for British vehicles largely stems from his upbringing, being born in England and moving to Victoria, B.C., when he was 10 years old.

Growing up on the West Coast, Prothero-Brooks was constantly surrounded by foreign imports and eventually got the opportunity to more closely examine them while working at a couple repair shops.

“We got paid, but I never really made much money, because usually it went back into parts for cars and stuff like that.”

At 29, Prothero-Brooks finally acquired a British automobile of his own in the form of a Triumph TR4A convertible, although it would hardly be his last.

Throughout the years, he would constantly buy and trade different models as they came into his possession, performing some much-needed maintenance if the situation called for it.

“I do all my own body work, upholstery, mechanical,” he said. “I don’t outsource anything other than if you had to get some machining done, but that hasn’t really happened.”

When Prothero-Brooks eventually moved to Brandon in 1995, he discovered that British vehicles were in short supply in this part of the country, with Manitoba car collectors being far more interested in North American models.

Despite this new status quo, the British-born gear head still went to great lengths to keep his collection strong, even if it meant importing a utility vehicle like the 1981 Mini Moke from the other side of the world.

“I got the Moke from Australia. It had a fair amount of rust in it because it came from a … resort,” he said. “They were popular for that and they were also popular in the Caribbean, but they were never brought over here.”

Outside of his nostalgic attachment to British vehicles, Prothero-Brooks said he’s also fascinated by the old-school technology that makes them run and how it fits into broader automotive history.

For example, the British Motor Corporation Minis, first manufactured in 1959, became one of the most influential cars of the 20th century through their transverse engine and front-wheel drive layout.

Meanwhile, the Velocette LE was the motorcycle of choice for many U.K. police departments following the Second World War, with water-cooled, twin-cylinder engines making them virtually silent.

Prothero-Brooks also attests that the Rover 2000 TC was well ahead of its time in terms of safety features, which included a collapsible steering wheel.

In order to keep the original features intact, he always aims to restore the vehicles to their original factory settings, disregarding any modern modification that could artificially boost each vehicle’s performance.

“I always make a point of buying a shop manual, and the manuals from the old days are fabulous,” he said. “We don’t do that anymore. Now there’s stuff on YouTube … but from a drawing alone you can put the car back together, almost.”

Admittedly, this approach to automotive restoration means Prothero-Brooks’ vehicles won’t be winning any drag races, although he believes this speed limit is to the collection’s overall benefit.

“Nothing is over-stressed on these vehicles. They’re very reliable,” he said. “Sure, they’re not fast, but for me I’m not really interested in that.”

Of course, Prothero-Brooks’ interest in automotive history perfectly lines up with his more than 20-year run as a collections manager at the Royal Canadian Artillery Museum, which has amassed more than 170 artillery pieces and vehicles to date.

But now that retirement is within his sight, Prothero-Brooks is looking forward to spending more time with his own collection, especially since his 1959 Rover P4 90 has been in a major state of disrepair for way too long.

“For this one, I have to do frame repair and do some welding, which I’ve only done a little bit,” he said. “So I’ve bit off maybe more than I can chew, but it happens.”

» kdarbyson@brandonsun.com

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