Hundreds of car owners took advantage of one of the first good days of the year to take part in Sunday’s historic vehicle run from Ipswich to Felixstowe.

But it was not just the historic pre-war cars that caught the eye – it was the “everyday” vehicles that many remember from the 1950s to the 1980s that stole the show.

Cars like the 1972 Morris Marina, driven by owner John Carman from Bury St Edmunds. It is still used every day, winter or summer, rain or shine.

He said: “I got it about three years ago from the chap who bought it from new. It had sat in a garage since 1985, but his son wanted the space so I took it off him.

“We worked on it and got it going. Now it’s used every day either by me or my father. My next project with it is to fit a radio – that was a luxury when the car was built!”

Mr Carman lives up to his name by having a collection of “modern classics” including a Cortina, a Sierra, and an early model escort.

More than 800,000 Marinas were built between 1971 and 1980. Just 745 are still registered with the DVLA. By contrast British Leyland built about 25,000 Triumph Stags between 1970 and 1977. More than 9,000 survive.

The Triumph Stag was one of the best-looking British cars of all time, and were well represented on the run. Only their reputation for poor reliability let them down.

But Stuart Holman from Beccles who had brought his immaculate Stag with son Ross felt the reputation was undeserved.

He has owned the car for seven years, and it was in fine condition when he bought it: “If you maintain the car properly and make sure everything is in good order they are fine.

“I don’t use this every day. It’s used for touring in the summer or on days like this. I keep it in good condition and I’ve never had any problems with it.”

As well as the cars, commercial vehicles and historic buses also took part in the traditional run which was flagged off from Christchurch Park by Ipswich mayor Glen Chisholm before finishing on the seafront at Felixstowe.