They are throwbacks to the good old days, and while they may have rattled and clattered over bumpy roads giving a less than smooth ride for their passengers, at least they did it in style.

With names like Wolseley and Austin, and at the cutting edge – for their day – of design and engine technology, the cars of the past evoke a golden age of motoring.

Now a dazzling collection of rare classic and vintage motor cars thought to be worth a six-figure sum is set to put a tiny Caithness village on the map and become a lasting legacy in honour of the man who loved them.

Edward Sutherland died aged 87, after spending years at the helm of the family garage, J&G Sutherland, in Halkirk.

Throughout his life, he devoted his spare time to seeking out vintage and rare motors, often picking them up as battered shells and lovingly restoring them into gleaming treasures which he showed off as a founding member of Caithness & Sutherland Vintage and Classic Vehicle Club.

As he grew older, he decided his vehicles were too special not to be shared with others on a more permanent basis.

He purchased the former village school near his home in the small Caithness village of Halkirk, with a view to it becoming a showroom for his fine collection of around a dozen classic and vintage cars.

But he died in 2019, before the plan could fully take shape.

Now his vision is set to become reality: his last wish for his precious vehicles to benefit the small Caithness community is within touching distance.

His classic and vintage car collection, stored ‘in limbo’ due to the pandemic and while efforts were made to secure funds for the project by Halkirk Heritage & Vintage Motor Society, is now expected to be moved into a new showroom by next Spring.

It said to have been helped by a £100,000 donation from Mr Sutherland’s family towards establishing the showroom, along with income to the village from nearby wind turbines which has helped cover the costs of a revamp of the former school building.

Just a stone’s throw from the busy NC500 tourist route, the showroom’s exhibits will undoubtedly act as a magnet for motoring enthusiasts who see ticking off the 500 miles trip – often in sports or classic cars - as a ‘bucket list’ experience.

Once open, Edward’s beloved vehicles will take prime position in an exhibition that will eventually include vehicles loaned by members of the area’s remarkably vibrant classic car clubs.

For, it turns out, Edward was not the only northern Scot obsessed with rescuing old cars and restoring them to their past grandeur. Despite the remoteness, Scotland’s north coast areas of Caithness, Sutherland and even Orkney and Shetland, have a surprisingly lively quota of classic car collectors.

While most have ‘just’ two or three vintage or classic models, others are said to have hidden collections of several vehicles including cars, vans, tractors and motorcycles, some incredibly rare, stashed in garages and worth small fortunes.

One classic and vintage car enthusiast said: “Two or three people in Caithness have an awful lot of cars that are worth a lot of money stored in large garages. One chap who stays on the north coast has 30 or 40 cars.

“Most people will have two or three cars. There has always been a vibrant car heritage here.”

Chris Eyre, chairman of the Halkirk Heritage and Vintage Motor Society and owner of a sporty 1970 MG MGB GT, said the opening of the showroom – which has now passed into the society’s ownership – would help put the village on the tourism map.

“We are hoping people will come and see them,” he added. “This is an area of Scotland that’s a little bit forgotten, even though we’re just five miles off the NC500 route.

“We are now going full-steam ahead to make it happen.”

It is understood that talks concerning ownership of the collection, which includes rare classic and vintage models, are continuing between Mr Sutherland’s family and the Halkirk heritage group.

Les Bremner, vice-chairman of Caithness & Sutherland Vintage and Classic Vehicle Club and owner of two class MGs and a Triumph Stag Monarch, said it was Mr Sutherland’s wish for his cars to go on show in the village where he lived all his life.

“He bought the old school with the intention of making it a showroom and had said that the cars may or may not be sold but they should go to benefit the village.”

He added that there is “natural interest” in the area for vintage and classic vehicles. “There were Army and RAF stations up here for a long time with lots of collectors – there’s a vibrant scene here and in Orkney and Shetland.

“Because we are a bit remote, people are more adaptable to doing their own repairs.

“In old days it would take two or three weeks to get a part, so people used to adapt and do their own modifications.”

Edward and his late wife Jessie were regulars on the north coast’s classic and vintage car scene, joining rallies and showing off the collection of gleaming motors.

Speaking in 2018 to The Wick Society to mark the centenary of the family garage business, J&G Sutherland, he told how he became hooked on restoring old vehicles, working on them at night when he finished work in the family garage.

At the time, he said his collection around 14 vehicles dating from the 1920s to the 1970s.

It included a 1939 Wolseley 25 HP Drop Head Coupe, of which just 18 remain worldwide. Top quality versions of the vehicle have been valued at between £70,000 to £100,000.

As well as its eye-catching looks, the vehicle has a distinctive history: it was originally conceived as a one-off gift for car boss Lord Nuffield, paid for by the Wolseley workforce who contributed one shilling each towards its manufucture in 1937.

The vehicle was at the peak of what the Nuffield plant could achieve at the time, with a 3.5 litre engine capable of 90mph.

A limited number of around 150 vehicles was then made, however most were exported to Australia and New Zealand.

The collection also included a 1929 Austin 16, a 1933 Wolseley Hornet and a 1947 Lea-Francis, the first model made by the firm after the end of the Second World War.

Mr Sutherland told he it had been lying in a state of disrepair in a local garage for years before he bought it and restored it.

Mr Sutherland’s collection also included a 1959 Austin-Healey Sprite convertible, dubbed a ‘Bugeye’ due to its protruding headlamps. Most of the 147,000 that were produced, were exported and it’s thought just 20 are left in the UK.

He also collected more modern vehicles; included in his collection was a classic Triumph Stag.

He said at the time that some of the vehicles were “in a terrible state when I got them.”

And, perhaps echoing the feelings of many motorists today, he told how the design of today’s modern vehicles leave him cold.

“I look under the bonnet of a car now and I know there’s no way I would know how to service it,” he added.

“Before, cars had individual look about them. Now, if you don’t see the badge on a car, you hardly know what it is.”