Innholdsfortegnelse for 28/10/2020 i Classic Car Buyer

The coronavirus pandemic meant Goodwood’s Festival of Speed and Revival couldn’t take place this year, but its one-off three-day SpeedWeek went towards filling the void by allowing fans to livestream the event from home on October 16-18. Viewers from over 150 countries were treated to two live streams from Friday through to Sunday, allowing them to witness all the on-track action and one-off competitions at the event, together with demonstrations celebrating 70 years of Formula One and 50 years since Porsche’s first Le Mans victory. One-time only highlights included the Rally Super Special and Goodwood Driftkhana, which ran on hitherto unused parts of the Goodwood circuit. However, many of the familiar races from the Revival and Members’ Meetings were on the bill too. Classic 1970-1982 Group 1 saloons did battle…

When most classic vehicle auction firms closed their doors during lockdown earlier this year, few would have predicted the burgeoning catalogues and impressive sale rates that would accompany their triumphant return to business. At the root of such success has been an ability to adapt to the prevailing conditions, which has not only fostered a confidence in meeting new restrictions as they are put in place, but could mean the ways of old never return. In most cases, auction houses resumed operations behind closed doors. For some this meant an extension to pre-existing online procedures, while for others it meant bigger changes. Anglia Car Auctions and Mathewsons both added online bidding; the former for the first time ever and the latter after many years without doing so. It’s worked admirably,…

ACA returns to the rostrum for its next two-day sale on November 7-8, with the catalogue filling up nicely as we went to press. The auctions remain closed to the public until further notice with remote bidding only, but the cars will be started and driven in front of the auctioneer as normal, with both sale days streamed live via YouTube. Headlining the sale has to be a 1970 Plymouth Road Runner Superbird estimated at £140,000-£200,000, but you don’t need such deep pockets to have an interest in many of the other lots. Indeed, several sporty models are offered with no reserve, such as a Mk1 Golf GTI project, a Peugeot 309 GTi, an Opel Manta, a Rover 220 Coupe and a Triumph TR6 in need of restoration. The catalogue…

LANCIA DELTA HF TURBO (1984-90) With low-mileage examples of the world-famous Integrale usually carrying price tags well north of £50,000, it falls to another member of the Delta line-up to provide better ’80s-style hot hatch value. The HF Turbo came along four years after the standard Delta, bringing with it a 130bhp (or 140bhp by 1986) turbocharged 1.6-litre twin-cam. Top speed was 122mph, while 0-60mph came in 8.5 seconds. It handled well and possessed real entertainment value – but with used values being low by the 1990s, the vast majority of those sold have long since disappeared. There are still some excellent survivors, however, cars that inevitably saw an increase in value once the HF Turbo evolved into a desirable classic. As recently as five years ago, just £3000-£4000 would…

We’re thinking of our Welsh readers this week as the country enters a further lockdown period, so here’s a reminder of a time when life was rather less restricted: 1966 to be precise, the year the original Severn Bridge was opened. The photo is taken from the English side of the bridge, just past the village of Aust which gave the old ferry crossing its name and is dated September 9, the day after the bridge was officially opened. On this bright Friday morning it’s obvious that much of the crossing traffic is private cars enjoying the novelty of the new bridge, with only a smattering of commercial traffic (including one truck full of Welsh coal) taking advantage of the shorter route avoiding the detour up to Gloucester. Back then…

BMW E28 The second-generation 5-Series has a similar reputation for longevity but can’t quite match the Benz. It is the more sporting drive though and this budget would stretch to a six-cylinder model. JAGUAR XJ Jaguar would like to think the XJ faced the S-Class rather than the E-Class but the Series 3 today runs at similar money. More engaging but a lot harder to own. MERCEDES W124 The logically-named replacement for the W123, the W124 carried on the bulletproof reputation and may have less classic appeal but does have a cheaper entry price.…

With examples including the Peugeot 104, Citroën LNA, Renault Twingo and many more, France has a long and prosperous history of producing city cars. However, that could soon be ending, with a Reuters report suggesting that Citroën C1 and Peugeot 108 production will cease amid PSA Group’s departure from the A-segment petrol car market. The news agency claims the decision has been taken ahead of the PSA Group’s merger with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, but no timeline for the models’ removal has been given. Costly development of engines and exhaust filtration systems to meet tightening emissions laws make smaller, cheaper cars increasingly difficult to justify. Manufacturers such as Ford and Vauxhall no longer sell city cars, and the writing is on the wall for the Seat Mii, Skoda Citigo and Volkswagen…

The British Motor Museum has been awarded £707,000 as part of the Government’s £1.57bn Culture Recovery Fund (CRF) to help face the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic and to ensure it has a sustainable future. The Museum is one of 588 cultural and creative organisations to benefit from £76m of investment from the Culture Recovery Fund grants programme, which is being administered by Arts Council England on behalf of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. The grant was part of a second round of funding announced on October 17, following £257m awarded to 1385 organisations earlier that week. This included the £950,000 lifeline awarded to the Brooklands Museum in Surrey, which we covered in last week’s issue. Stephen Laing, Head of Collections at the Warwickshire attraction, said: “We…

As part of a number of changes implemented to best support the historic vehicle community in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs (FBHVC) has announced that its current Director for Archives, Andy Bye, will expand his role to encompass a liaison role supporting transport museums into the future. Ex-PSA Group man Andy is also a Trustee of the Rootes Archive Centre Trust, which saved the archives from the old Rootes Group engineering department, and through fundraising, purchased its own freehold Archive building near Banbury. He’s now been on the FBHVC Board of Directors for a year, working on developing club archives and supporting member clubs on best practice for their own collections. As that work has developed, a distinct relationship between museum archives…

Forget the fireworks; all attention should be turned towards Brightwells’ latest timed online classic sale when lots end on November 5. The auction gets underway on Monday, November 2 at 10am, and though the catalogue had yet to be finalised as we went to press, there were already plenty of intriguing lots to throw an online bid at. The sale is an interesting one for fans of pre-war cars, especially those who like to get their hands dirty. A 1921 Wolseley 10 rolling chassis offers a canvas for a pretty new body, while a 1922 Crossley 19.6 and a fellow 1923 19.6 Sports are a little more involved but are brimming with potential. For those preferring things a little more up and running, a neatly patinated 1929 Humber 9/28 Saloon…

Why is it that things of the past always seem so appealing? Antiques or junk, depending on your definition, invading the spare room, the old girlfriend you wonder about, and of course the car you always wanted. The reality can often be an untidy house, you in a nervous wreck, and your wallet drained – and that’s just the car. The TR7 looks like it’s poised to be that bad decision, a car that was unfortunately compromised from the word go. However, the last of the Triumph sports cars has enjoyed such a great cult following that buying one today is actually in many ways better than it was when new. An affordable way into classic sports car ownership, with many of the frustrating flaws ironed out, the TR7 is…

A 12-week government consultation has been launched to discuss the best way to tighten up the loopholes in the UK’s law on using handheld mobile phones when driving. At present drivers can be fined £200 and be given six penalty points for making a hand-held call or sending a text message while in a car, but they can pick up a phone to take a photo, make a video call or even play an online game. The current legislation only bans people from using a phone for “interactive telecommunication” because smart phones didn’t exist when the law was introduced in 2003. The intended change comes after a driver who videoed the scene of an accident as he drove past it in 2019 had his conviction quashed. Although it is likely…

FORD PILOT V8 (1947-51) With just over 22,000 built during its four-year career, the V8-engined Pilot – Ford of Britain’s first new post-war model – isn’t exactly a common sight. But it’s a model worth seeking out thanks to its pleasing driving style, with good performance from Ford’s 3622cc sidevalve unit. It’s also a rather handsome saloon, as well as big enough to act as classic family transport all these years later. Despite being the rarest postwar ‘flathead’ Ford, the Pilot continues to offer excellent value for money. Values have risen over the last decade or so, but not by as much as you might expect if you’ve been paying attention to classic Ford prices elsewhere. It’s still possible to pick up an immaculately restored Pilot V8 for around the…

After the Mk1 Golf GTI kickstarted the 1980s hot hatchback craze and the Mk2 moved the game on just as the competition caught up, Volkswagen saw fit to refine the GTI for the ’90s. In 1991, the GTI variant of the Mk3 Golf steered the model from B-road-bashing tearaway to a more mature, grown-up performance car. The new-found refinement and space made the Mk3 GTI a better car than its predecessor in many ways, but some enthusiasts criticised it for not feeling as sharp or eager as the Mk2. Despite this, general reception was strong, and Volkswagen stuck with the refined formula for the GTI from then on. The Mk4 of 1997 brought with it a new upmarket feel and comfort and refinement hitherto unknown to the hot hatch sector.…