Meet Mr Concours. His Austin-Healey 100 has just won the Autoglym Classic Concours Championship of Europe . He is one of the country's best-known concours judges and also gives presentations and lectures on the subject. His letters are addressed to 'Concours House', at the suggestion of his postman. His garage has a central heating and humidity control system that most of us would be pleased to have in our homes. His youngest son, Scott, at just 22 years of age, has already won prizes for his concours, race-specification MG Metro. 

Mr Concours is not, funnily enough, the name he was born with. In reality he is Derek Mayor, a fleet manager for Volvo. But his dedication to concours is so legendary that the title has been foisted upon him by his peers, an unofficial accolade to complement his 150 concours trophies.

And yet ten years ago, Derek Mayor was just another distant admirer of old cars; an occasional visitor to classic shows. 'I used to look at the concours cars and say to myself "Look at that, what dedication",' Derek recalls. 'Never in my wildest dreams did I envisage being able to win so many prizes with my own cars.'

But in 1987, he bought a rotten MGB and launched immediately into its restoration. It was finished two years later and straightaway won first prize at a local garage open day, kicking off Derek's obsession for automotive perfection.