Innholdsfortegnelse for 2/9/2020 i Classic Car Buyer

Like most teams working remotely since a certain pandemic turned the business world inside out, here at CCB we have an online chat group running which serves in some part as an alternative to real-life face-to-face interaction. It’s usually used to communicate mundande information relating to print production but this week it’s been largely filled with a really very random discussion of Ladas. Quite where it began we’ve all forgotten, but a chance comment when I discovered that the old Niva remains in production was followed up by an old snapshot of me driving a Niva on a press demo day in 1992, promptly met by Jeff remembering the really obscure press release we received a while back trumpeting a new towbar for the vehicle… except that a little further…

The British Motor Museum is set to host the first of its Gaydon Gatherings on September 15 – an informal new evening event catering for a wide range of classic vehicles. Going forward, the evenings will take place on every second Tuesday of the month from 5.30pm-8pm, though they will only take place in September and October this year before restarting after a winter break in April 2021. All makes of classic car are welcomed, together with commercial or military vehicles, buses, motorbikes, scooters and any other interesting vehicles, including modern classics. The evenings will be held outdoors and will be free to attend, offering a chance for petrolheads to indulge their passion with like-minded people while enjoying a burger and a drink. There will also be separate parking nearby…

Mini enthusiasts have been dealt a blow to their show plans, with the news that the British Mini Club’s MiniFest event at Stanford Hall will no longer take place on September 20. Stanford Hall has been a fixture on the Mini event calendar since the mid-1980s. The BMC said it was “gutted” to have to postpone the show, but with thousands due to attend the Leicestershire venue, the safety restrictions required would make it impossible to host the event to its usual standard. The event will now return on September 19, 2021. It’s the second major Mini event scheduled for this month to be postponed, with the news that the long-running Mini Action Day at Castle Combe, set to take place on September 12, will also return next year. The…

Bespoke Rallies’ Highland 1000 is set to be the UK’s first post-lockdown classic car rally when it takes place in Scotland later this month. Suitable for all skill levels, the four-day rally will start and finish in Falkirk. The route will wind its way through some of Scotland’s finest scenery, taking in numerous familiar landmarks and including regularity tests on largely deserted roads. Cars built from 1920 right through to 1989 are eligible, and there is a Touring option for those seeking a more relaxed drive. Using its unique ‘Virtual Marshal’ system, the company no longer requires physical marshals to handle its time sheets, as this can now be achieved automatically, with splits fed back to the cars in real time. The event runs from September 23-27, with more information…

DATSUN 240Z (1970-1974) Oh how they laughed in the corridors at British Leyland when they heard that Japanese manufacturer Datsun was making a sports car. One that would do battle with the likes of the MGB, Triumph GT6 and TR5/6, whose sales in the USA were pretty much keeping BL afloat despite being old-in-the-tooth. One thing that the British manufacturers weren’t expecting, though, and nor were the Americans for that matter, was a car that was not only wellengineered (as the Japanese had already demonstrated a talent for) but also great to drive and stunning to look at. Such was the immediate popularity of the six-cylinder 240Z coupe in the States that European sales were delayed until 1970 and in every market the car developed a waiting list. Japan had…

Rewinding from today’s staycation traffic to this scene in 1976, this queue of holidaymakers heading to Heathrow reveals a changing landscape for UK motoring. Witness the stark contrast between the Austin A60 Cambridge and the Mk1 Vauxhall Cavalier for instance, despite them being no more than eight years apart. There’s also a Datsun 120Y behind the Sunbeam Rapier, another in front of the Jaguar to the left, its 1200 predecessor a few cars behind and a 100/120A in the centre up behind a Hillman Hunter. On the left, there’s a BMW Neue Klasse, a Renault 10 and a Volvo 145. In the centre we see a Renault 4 and a Saab 99 in front of what seems to be an early Volkswagen Golf, and there’s a de-bumpered Beetle on the…

Group Editor Wager was hunting out archive photos when he stumbled across this little marketing item in a dusty box. Issued to promote the Audi 80 in 1972, it’s designed to explain the benefits of outboard scrub radius front suspension geometry. The idea is that by pulling on the strings, you see for yourself how an outboard scrub radius keeps the car more stable when braking with the front wheels on surfaces with different grip levels or in the event of a blowout. Obviously Audi was obliged to make the competing ‘Model X’ as basic as possible, the drawing featuring a live rear axle and leaf springs. To be honest we’d recommend Google if you want an easier-to-understand explanation of scrub radius. Kelsey Media Downs Court Yalding Kent ME18 6AL…

After a determined effort to ensure it went ahead, a wealth of multi-millionpound exotica was gathered in the heart of the Capital for the London Concours on August 19-20. Rare performance and luxury vehicles were displayed on the five-acre lawns of London’s beautiful Honourable Artillery Company gardens, with a 1967 Ferrari 330 GTS Spider crowned as Best in Show. Hundreds were in attendance over the two days for the socially distanced event, despite soggy weather on the Wednesday. They were able to witness over 100 cars in total, spread across nine classes. These included ‘Speed of Sand,’ plus ‘Convertibles: The Golden Era’, ‘Lost Marques’ and ‘Lancia Legends’. Each of the classes was packed with rarities, including a line-up of four Lancia 037 competition cars, one of just 54 Lamborghini Silhouettes…

For several years, we’ve been covering the introduction of clean air zones and their impact on our motoring freedoms. Up until now, vehicles of a certain age have looked set to be forced out of UK city centres via outright bans or hefty tolls, but now they might get a stay of execution as councils backtrack on their plans in light of the Covid-19 impact. At the beginning of the pandemic, it was announced that Birmingham’s Clean Air Zone (CAZ)– which would have left Pre-2016 diesel cars and most pre-2004 petrol cars facing charges to enter – was to be delayed until at least 2021. It was also confirmed that Oxford’s Zero Emission Zone (ZEZ) would not begin in December 2020 as planned. However, there have since been greater changes…

Covering almost every possible angle of the classic car market, the huge Mathewsons auction went live on Saturday morning and the action didn’t stop until well into the night. An impressive number of cars not only sold but sold above estimate, right from pre-wars to modern classics. We couldn’t help noticing the great range of classic family cars from the 1960s and 1970s from Ford, Rootes Group, British Leyland and even a 1969 Buick Skylark. A standout for bidders was a 1972 Ford Cortina GXL which sold for £12,500, more than £2500 above estimate. But we were most surprised to see the exceptional performance of normally slow-moving pre-war cars. We saw two Wolseleys nearly double their estimates, with a 1931 Hornet selling for £13,200 and a 1938 14/56 hitting £9750.…

MM (1948-1953) The original ‘low light’ Morris Minor has always been the most collectable derivative thanks to its miniature MO Oxford styling, which was revised after just three years in production. They were the last cars to be built by an independent Morris as well, the company being absorbed by the British Motor Corporation in 1952. Beautifully basic and powered by a Morris sidevalve engine, the ‘MM” Minor was a poor relation in terms of performance compared with the later A-Series cars, but its originality and the car’s social importance made it an instant classic, meaning that when Series II and Minor 1000s were in the sub-£1000 bracket, you’d need at least triple that for an MM. A decade ago, you could still get one for £3000, but that’s all…

The way that BMW E36 prices have been going, it does seem fairer to compare it not to the CLK that came out in 1997, but instead the C124 coupe that is an established modern classic. In fact, in this case it’s the Mercedes-Benz that looks like the expensive one but there are some good reasons for this. One is that it’s older: having come out in 1988 it pre-dates the E36 by four years, and when the last were built in 1996, the E36 coupe had three more years to go. The other is that the C124 is the last of the Bruno Sacco-designed coupes that began with the classic C114 and iconic C123. As Paul will have already mentioned, for the price of an E220 like we have…

The evergreen MGB needs no introduction to CCB readers: it was the second in a ‘new line’ of MG cars started with the MGA, which neatly explains its name but it would also carry the distinction of being the last car to be fully developed by an independent MG company before everything was centralised under BL. The car’s elegant style ensured it would become a blue chip classic car icon, as often featured on birthday cards as other instantly-recognisable silhouettes like the Big Healey and E-Type. Indeed, the car became a classic even while it was still in production, but in 1975 those delicate lines were changed dramatically to meet crash safety requirements in the important US market. A directive was first issued by the US National Highway Traffic Safety…

A Saab 900 Turbo has emphasised strong demand for low-mileage modern classics by achieving a remarkable hammer price of £22,500 during Anglia Car Auctions’ latest classic car sale – well in excess of its £10,000-£12,000 estimate. The 1993 SE model was a stand-out example, having covered just 10,741 miles. Still wearing its number plates and tax disc holder from the Cumbria Saab dealership once owned by famed local rally driver Malcolm Wilson, it was one of the final 900 Turbos to be built and was retained by its first owner until last year. The car also came with an extensive history folder and benefited from a new battery, tyres, and a fresh MoT. The Saab received an incredible amount of interest, with a host of online, telephone and commission bids…

Plans for the 2020 Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show, with Discovery, are steaming ahead now that indoor exhibitions have the Government green light. The show is set to take place on November 13-15 at Birmingham’s NEC, but due to the Covid-19 situation, the popular Sporting Bears’ Dream Rides feature has had to put the brakes on for this year. Having been a part of the show since 1994, Sporting Bears’ Dream Rides gives visitors the chance to take a 10-mile passenger ride in a member’s car in exchange for a donation to charity. Since forming in 1989, members have raised over £2.4m for children’s charities all over the UK, selflessly providing their cars, time and fuel for free. Show Director Lee Masters explained: “We’re had lengthy discussions with the Sporting…

Anglia Car Auctions returned to the rostrum for another bumper post-lockdown sale on August 22-23, with over 300 lots going under the hammer over the two days. Although the sale was held behind closed doors, a superbly presented live video stream transported viewers into the thick of the action as the cars were started up and driven through in front of the auctioneer as normal. The sale was an intriguing one whatever your budget, ranging from sub-£500 bargains through to a stunning Jaguar XK150 DHC that topped the £100,000 mark (with premium). Indeed, it was a good sale for established British classics, both tin-topped and open. A GT6-powered Triumph Spitfire beat its upper estimate by more than £3000 to sell for a hammer price of £12,500, while a 1957 TR3…

For a car developed in secret on a billiard table, the Austin Seven was a remarkable success. Sales were initially slow when the baby Austin was launched in 1922, but before long it had almost entirely replaced the motorcycle and sidecar combinations that were previously the only real affordable option for the average family. A huge number of different body styles were produced during the Seven’s life, and when production finally ended in 1939, production totalled some 290,000 including the sports specials and the commercial derivatives. This 1933 example is an RP-series car, representing the last and most refined of the much-loved box saloons. They were fitted with a four-speed gearbox with synchros on third and top gear, plus a five-gallon rear mounted fuel tank and a proper petrol pump…