Innholdsfortegnelse for 1/7/2020 i Classic Car Buyer

The rights and wrongs of such an approach are open to debate, but it’s fair to say that many of us still look to mileage as a deciding factor when buying a car. It’s not that simple of course, but a lower figure on the odometer often has long acted as a reassuring placebo when shelling out your hard-earned. I’m sure I’m not alone in setting my threshold at 100,000 miles. Time was, most cars were knackered beyond the point, and you’d be heading towards major engine rebuild territory. But when scanning through classified ads, I noticed an E34 BMW M5 up for £26,000. Forgetting that I don’t have anything like that kind of money for a moment, it looked to tick all the boxes – until I saw that…

As auction houses have successfully transitioned to online sales in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, there’s been a proliferation in remarkable results – especially when it comes to ‘everyman’ classics. For ample evidence, look no further than Anglia Car Auctions’ first ever online sale last weekend. While there were strong performances from established classics, the more humdrum entries produced truly exceptional results. A Bedford Astramax van in RAC livery comfortably beat its top estimate to reach a hammer price of £7000, while a no reserve Metro 1.3 Automatic reached £3200 and an Allegro 1.3HL sold for an impressive £4100. An Opel Manta GTE and a Rover Mini Seven both more than doubled their lower estimates – the former reaching £14,500 – but perhaps the biggest surprise was a 2000…

This year marks 40 years since the first Fiat Panda hit the roads, although it was only in 1981 when the first UK examples made it over. By 1984, the range had grown to make the Panda Comfort, Panda Super and Panda 4x4 models, but it would soon be facelifted into the Mk2 that lasted in the UK until 1995. Lots of special editions added sometimes comical character to the car, including the 1990 Italia 90, celebrating the FIFA World Cup with football wheel trims and a strange stickman player graphic on the sides. The car was designed by Giugiaro with basic utility in mind: the seats use simple foam padding instead of springs, the covers and door trims can all be removed and washed and the glass is famously…

Held over two days due to the sheer volume of entries consigned, ACA’s first classic sale since January took place on June 20-21. The King’s Lynn outfit has taken major steps to ensure its sales are social distance-friendly, with online bidding offered for the first time and the sale streamed live on YouTube. In all other ways it was the same as a traditional sale, with viewers able to hear and see the cars being started up and driven through in front of the auctioneer’s rostrum. There was certainly plenty of intrigue amongst the 255 lots, with entries ranging from a Sinclair C5 to big prestige saloons. BMWs, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche featured heavily, as did British marques. The selection included a Series 1 Morris 8 that more than doubled its…

VOLVO 480 (1986-1995) Long misunderstood and overshadowed by the more obviously exciting hatchbacks of the 1980s, the Volvo 480 has only recently been valued as anything more than a rather weird bit of history. Catching the attention of a new generation of enthusiast, its pop-up headlights, retro trip computer system and quirky four-seat layout stands it out in the crowd against what is now considered the boring competition. Numbers of survivors have fallen dramatically since 2005, although there appears to be as many as four times as many on SORN status as there on the road, suggesting that there is a remaining stock. Some of these are coming out from the woodwork and offered as barn finds, priced ambitiously into the thousands. Back in 2010, a good 480 Turbo could…

The recent spell of unexpectedly searing hot weather put us in mind of previous years and although many in the CCB office are too young to remember the bricks in the cisterns and stickers on the taps, a few of us can still recall the parched, sun-dried summer of ’76. Our archive shot today sees us outside the gates of Rover’s Solihull plant in July of that year where freshly minted SD1s are being loaded on to transporters for delivery. Naturally the commercial vehicles in shot are also BL products, the transporter a ‘Big J’ from Wolverhampton truck maker Guy – a BL subsidiary via its 1961 acquisition by Jaguar – and the box van behind it a Leyland Terrier. The SD1 was a brand new launch when this photo…

Photographed by CCB contributor Matt Woods, this distinctive fastback is a 1972 Trident Venturer 3.0 V6, produced in Matt’s native county of Suffolk. The Venturer was the second car to be produced by Trident Cars Ltd, which operated in the 1960s and ’70s, initially in Woodbridge then in Ipswich. The firm’s first model, the Clipper, was originally intended as a TVR and was styled by Trevor Frost (aka Trevor Fiore), who was later design manager at Citroën. However, a financial crisis would eventually see it produced under the Trident banner instead.…

The DVLA has introduced an online service for changing the address on your logbook that cuts the expected time to receive a new one from six weeks to five days. This is the latest move in the DVLA’s campaign to encourage motorists to use online services and help reduce the millions of paper forms it receives each year. It’s been nearly 10 years since the transfer of ownership became possible online, and in 2014 vehicle tax discs were completely replaced by an online service.…

Beaulieu has decided to cancel three of its major 2020 events due to the ongoing Covid-19 situation, including its International Autojumble previously scheduled for September 5-6. The New Forest venue said that social distancing requirements and the quarantine on international travel meant it had become increasingly apparent that holding some of its larger events would not be possible. As well as the International Autojumble, the Beaulieu Supercar Weekend scheduled for August 8-9 has also been cancelled. Exhibitors, participants and ticket holders are being given the option to roll their bookings into 2021 or obtain a refund. It’s not all bad news though. Beaulieu has confirmed that its popular ‘Simply’ events will take place for the remainder of the year. It has reviewed arrangements for these smaller events to ensure they…

One of this week’s major social media highlights, if you can call it that, had to be the story of a classic MGB GT stopped by Cleveland and Durham Specialist Operations Unit officers on the A1M near Chester-Le-Street. Reported by the ‘Incidents on Teesside and County Durham’ Facebook page, the car in question was lacking a few items required for the road – including number plates, headlamps, front indicators and even a windscreen. Apparently, the driver was taking it to be painted in Washington and had clearly pre-stripped it without much thought for getting it to the location safely. Amusing though the tale was, it has more serious undertones regarding MoT exemption, which many fear has given drivers of pre-1980 cars carte blanche to head out on the road without…

As we debate in our news pages this week, post-lockdown demand means classic auctions remain surprisingly buoyant, despite being held behind closed doors with bidding conducted remotely. H&H’s monthly online sales have become a regular fixture now and the CCB office naturally comes to a halt as we follow proceedings, allowing just a short gap between Popmaster and classic auctions to get the real work done. The June sale threw up a few enticing lots, among them the almost-extinct VW Corrado, here in top-end VR6 guise, while the trend for everyman classics to command strong money was neatly illustrated by a low-mileage Mk2 Golf GTI hammered away for £9000, a Nissan Figaro for £3500 and a lovely Morris Minor convertible for £6000 after a hopeful comedian had apparently left a…

Jaguar’s most successful series of saloons began its career in October 1968 with the unveiling of the original XJ6, a model designed to eventually replace the company’s entire saloon car line-up. By 1969, a Daimler version of the same model – badged as the Sovereign – was on sale, while that same year the XJ6 received the accolade of Car magazine’s Car of the Year. It was clearly a success from day one, with a total of 13,729 XJs being sold in 1969 alone – more than twice the number of 420Gs sold during that model’s entire four-year career. The motoring press agreed that the XJ6 was a game-changer for Jaguar, with Autocar commenting: “If Jaguar were to double the price of the XJ6 and bill it as the best…

Recent weeks have seen countless reports in the wider press that E10 petrol will be the new standard grade for unleaded fuel in 2021, a situation that continues to occupy headlines due to the potential damage it can cause to older vehicles. As we went to press nothing had been confirmed by a UK Government understandably rather busy with other things, but it does look increasingly likely that E10 will finally arrive in the UK next year. Currently, unleaded petrol in the UK contains up to five per cent bioethanol, a grade known as E5 and labelled on the pumps as such since last year. E10 petrol contains up to 10 per cent bioethanol and is available in European countries, but not the UK as yet. The Government says that…

A new petition has been launched to prevent Brighton’s Madeira Drive from being permanently closed and potentially threatening the future of motoring events. Brighton and Hove Council closed Madeira Drive in April during the Covid-19 pandemic to allow people to use it for exercise. Some councillors want this to last until the end of the year ahead of a review, and some are lobbying to ban all motor vehicles permanently. Brighton and Hove Motor Club fear this would mean the end of its Brighton Speed Trials as well as other events such as the Veteran Car Run and London to Brighton Mini Run. It would also mean that club members would not be able to drive to the clubhouse on a Wednesday night, which is located on the Drive. Even…

The annual Donington Historic Festival, originally planned for May, has been postponed until 2021. The event’s historic race grids include cars and drivers from around the world, and the prospect of cutting back or excluding this crucial part of the event is just one reason why it has been decided to postpone it until 2021. Ticket holders for the 2020 event will be entitled to 2021 entry or able to claim a full refund. The added bonus is that 2021 will be the Donington Historic Festival’s 10-year anniversary event.…

From the 2018 peak of 911 appreciation, average values of the iconic sports car model have declined by about five per cent. Most of the fall has been at the top end, and it’s this segment that’s really been hit hard by the changing demand conditions of the Covid-19 crisis. While some high-end cars have been flagged for investment during this time, many 911s are perceived to already have been buoyed by previous speculation. AIR COOLED VALUES Pre-impact bumper 911s, particularly the very earliest 1960s models seem to have held their position, still actively selling for around £100,000. Interestingly the four-cylinder 912 sister cars are, however, taking a small hit and falling to less than half the equivalent 911 value. The once affordable everyday classics that were the 1970s and…

Jaguar 240 The other ‘clever’ way into Mk2 ownership, the 240 offered right at the end of production boasted 133bhp from the 2.4-litre XK engine and in manual form is on a par with the Daimler. Daimler Majestic Major Daimler used the 2.5-litre V8 only in the SP250 sports car which you won’t find for this kind of money, but the Majestic came with the bigger 4.5-litre version and was a formidable car. Jaguar 420 In many ways a test bed for the later XJ, the 420 was a combination of S-Type rear, MkX front end and 4.2-litre XK engine. In many ways a forgotten Jaguar, they’re still more affordable than ‘pure’ Mk2 models.…