Back in the day, illegal road racing was a thing and would occupt car enthusiasts’ weekends, which would consist of whizzing around the island in classic cars, such as Mini Coopers. Facebook page Rotta shared this video featuring Peter, one of the drivers back in the day along with vintage footage of some of the races.

“From Paceville to Kennedy Grove, with two people in it, I used to make it in three and a half minutes,” Peter shared in the interview, talking about his Mini Cooper racing days.

“Illalu, x’ecitament!” he delightfully says, seeing footage of his Mini. “Apart from it being nostalgic, this was my first Mini, the 9373.”

“One belonged to Gustav Delicata, another one to Andy Pillow – a car enthusiast, Peter Calleja and George Cordina who was a postman (God rest his soul), and then there was William Vella who had the 16e.”

“We used to race every Sunday from Armier to Kennedy Grove, from Kennedy Grove to Ta Qali and then back to Kennedy Grove and back to Armier, and on our way back to the Bahar ic-Caghaq hill,” Peter explains. Quite the journey!

“We used to go there and one must keep in mind that this was illegal road racing. We did not have anywhere to practice; this was a way of life for us,” Peter shares, saying it was all for fun. “There wasn’t a car that I didn’t race against.”

Peter shares that a lot went into setting the car before a race to make sure it was in tip-top shape. “I used to go up South Street in Valletta with four people in it, including a policeman; it went up on the 3^rd gear perfectly and it’s only a Mini Cooper 1.0