Melton petrolhead's dream US trip driving his dream cars

Comac Boylan stops off for ice cream while driving an old Bentley on his American trip

A young self-confessed petrolhead from Melton has enjoyed the holiday of a lifetime test driving some of his dream cars in the United States.

We’ve reported in the past about Cormac Boylan being one of the country’s youngest owners of a Rolls Royce – he bought his first one aged just 20 two years ago.

He caused quite a stir driving his Lagoon Blue 1989 Silver Spirit around the town and local villages and this summer he took delivery of a stunning 1998 Bentley Arnage.

Cormac, a local radio broadcaster on 103 The Eye, reviews his cars and other classic motors on his You Tube channel and his work caught the attention of Dave Corbett, the chair of the Rolls-Royce Owners’ Club (RROC) in America.

Cormac Boylan on his dream holiday driving classic cars in the United States

He said: “David loved the video and sent me a very long message on Facebook Messenger expressing his interest in what I do and invited me over to America to represent the RROC for the United Kingdom.

“As you can imagine I was very excited as this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity so I immediately said yes.”

The next day he booked his plane tickets from Manchester to New York with a connecting flight to Buffalo.

David met him at the airport and drove him to luxury accommodation, ‘a rather magnificent and striking mansion’ owned by Tracy Hirsch, a fellow Rolls-Royce and Bentley collector.

On the first day he got the chance to drive another collector’s cars, a beautiful Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud, an original AC Cobra and a Corvette.

“I got up to many exciting things whilst I was here,” said Cormac.

“One of the things I enjoyed most was getting invited to the Private WTG Car collection with an eclectic mix of over 150 cars.

“The owner took me and David out for lunch and I went with the owner in his amazing Goodwood Rolls-Royce Ghost where we had many long and interesting conversations about his wonderful cars.”

The RROC were hosting a major event while Cormac was there in the town of Chautauqua, in New York State, with visitors from as far afield as Florida and Canada.

Cormac recalled: “I was given a stunning quintessentially British 1955 Bentley R type for the weekend.

“I have to say it’s one of the most fun cars I have ever driven because it has no power steering at load speeds and you are wrestling to steer the car until it gets up to speed.”

The party stayed at the historic Athenaeum Hotel and the evening was rounded off with an opera performance for guests.

He added: “I had the most amazing time and met some fantastic people with who I am still in contact I have been invited back next year and look forward to seeing them all then.”

Cormac is now considering restoring another, a Rolls-Royce, a 1973 Silver Shadow 1, which he bought after seeing it had been abandoned and undriven for three years, and he also has a dream to buy a Goodwood Rolls-Royce Phantom.