Innholdsfortegnelse for 05/05/2021 i Classic Car Buyer

Over the last ten days or so, we’ve seen two milestone anniversaries for two British-built cars – one beloved by the masses but held in disdain by a minority, and the other quite the opposite. I am of course referring to the 20th birthday of BMW’s MINI, and the 50th anniversary of the Morris Marina. As a lifelong classic Mini fan, I must confess I was one of the folks who once hated the MINI and had a derogatory slogan on my car to prove it. I wasn’t alone, either – many were irked that a British icon was now firmly under German ownership, even if they didn’t like to admit it. Then there were the instances of BMW going after hordes of traders using the name Mini, forcing businesses…

Lotus has announced that a new model, to be called the Emira, will be its last car to be powered by a conventional internal combustion engine. It was widely expected that the new car, codenamed Type 131, would be either electric or hybrid, but that will not be the case. Managing director Matt Windle told the BBC that the Emira would form a bridge between what he called the analogue cars of today and the digital cars of tomorrow. “This is one last hurrah for the internal combustion engine cars, and then we move into the electrification future,” he said. Indeed, the firm’s Evija hypercar is due to go into production at the end of this year, but at around £2m, it will be beyond the reach of most. Successors…

The future of classic vehicles looks to be in very good hands, with the Heritage Skills Academy (HSA) receiving strong feedback for its work in instilling confidence in its apprentices and effectively matching them with employers following its first Ofsted monitoring inspection. Based at Bicester Heritage, the HSA was set up to preserve the skills and knowledge required to ensure classic vehicles are maintained, preserved and restored by the next generation of specialist engineers. Since 2017, it’s made significant steps to future proof the industry by offering unique apprenticeship schemes, and recently expanded to a second site at Brooklands Museum. Ofsted is a government department responsible for inspecting a range of educational institutions. Its March visit was HSA’s first as a new apprenticeship provider and will be followed by a…

Unfairly slated and the subject of tedious piano jokes, the Morris Marina has finally enjoyed a period in the limelight over the past week as it celebrated the 50th anniversary of its launch on April 27, 1971. With that in mind, it seemed appropriate to report on the progress of the oldest known Marina, which is undergoing restoration in Suffolk. Around 5000 Marinas were built in readiness for the launch event, but just nine are known to survive today, with VRU 362J, a 1.3 Deluxe Coupe in Bedouin (beige), thought to be the oldest. It was first registered on April 28, 1971, and was in use until 1979 when it was laid up in a leaky shed in Dorset. That was until it was saved by the archivist for the…

PREVIEW; HISTORICS, ASCOT RACECOURSE, MAY 15 Hot on the heels of its very successful recent sale, which was rescheduled from March until April to ensure it could be public-facing, Historics is back at Ascot Racecourse on May 15 with another varied selection of classic cars. Once again, the sale will be open to the public and will include three viewing days beforehand. There should be plenty to see too, from a 1908 De Dion-Bouton through to a 2016 Maserati Quattroporte Shooting Brake – a span of 108 years. The catalogue was still building as we went to press, but there were already plenty of contenders for the headline act. A 1958 Ferrari 250GT Pininfarina Coupe Series 1 is estimated at £360,000-£410,000, while a 1960 Aston Martin DB4 Series 2 is…

The government has paved the way for drivers to take their eyes off the road and hands off the wheel on UK motorways, by announcing that self-driving vehicles could be allowed on public roads by the end of this year. The Department for Transport (DfT) said vehicles fitted with an automated lane keeping system (ALKS) could be driven hands-free on motorways in slow traffic, at speeds of up to 37mph (60kph) – though drivers must take control in an emergency. The first vehicles fitted with such technology could arrive later this year. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) reckons automation could save 3900 lives by 2031, but Thatcham Research, which conducts safety tests for motor insurers, urged for caution from the government. It believes the technology should not…

H&H Classics is to put a quintet of Mk6 Bentleys under the hammer during its auction at the Duxford Imperial War Museum on May 26 – all with notable first owners. Likely to command the highest price is a 1952 drophead coupe, clothed by Park Ward to its design number 99. It was originally supplied by Jack Barclay to R.F. Haworth Esq, whose family had made their fortune from the Industrial Revolution, and is estimated at £100,000-£120,000. Next up is a Freestone & Webb two-door pillarless coupe, from 1949 one of just six built and thought to be the sole survivor. Originally owned by properly developers James T. Cook and son, it carries an estimate of £85,000-£95,000. The third coachbuilt Mk6 is the 12th of 49 chassis to be fitted…

Mk1 FOCUS (1998-2004) The original Focus was certainly ‘RPJ’s crowning achievement, redefining not only what a midsize Ford hatchback could be like to drive but setting new standards for its class and much of the wider industry. It has been described as one of the three great epochmakers of family car design since the war, after the Mini and the first Volkswagen Golf. The Mk1 Focus is well on its way to classic status in terms of esteem, but the sheer number of survivors out there mean that prices have yet to really start rising, apart from the hot RS version and some of the more desirable special editions. It’s still possible to get mid-spec 1.6 hatchbacks for £500-750 but these will now tend to be from later in the…

We’re trying not to feel old at the realisation that BMW and its UK manufacturing plants in Oxford and Swindon are celebrating 20 years of MINI production. Last week marked two decades since the first new MINI rolled off the line in Oxford on April 26, and while it still divides opinion amongst hardcore classic fans, there’s no denying that early examples have developed a strong following in classic circles. MINI has now built over 5m cars in the UK, with 100,000 of those within 13 months of the launch. The plants in Oxford and Swindon have been at the heart of their communities for 108 and 65 years respectively, and currently employ around 4500 employees including 130 apprentices, building 1000 MINIs per day – that’s one every 67 seconds.…

Sign up to our newsletter at www.classicsworld.co.uk The public are being urged by government to help protect people from unsafe vehicles by reporting instances of MoT fraud. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has published new guidance on dealing with dodgy testers and garages after hundreds were banned within the last year. Over the past year the DVSA has investigated 2057 fraud reports in England, Scotland and Wales, which resulted 156 garages and 335 testers being stopped from testing. Examples of breaking the law include giving an MoT certificate to a vehicle they know should have failed, passing a vehicle they have not tested and taking a bribe to issue a certificate. MoT testers or centres can be reported to the DVSA without giving your name or details, but…

The Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R has enjoyed years of rising prices, but now a barely used 2002 example could make history when it goes for auction in Japan. With the US just a short while away from being able to legally import the JDM legend thanks to its 25-year ruling, prices for ordinary examples are expected to continue to climb, but this example for sale with BH Auction in Japan is no ordinary model. As well as having covered just 10km and never been registered, it’s one of only 718 V-Spec IIs built with the Nür package, meaning it was fitted with the gold N1 engine previously reserved only for race cars. Nismo believed that the standard RB26 engine required too much maintenance to use in Group-A or Group-N racing,…

REVIEW: MATHEWSONS, ONLINE, APRIL 23-24 Mathewsons’ latest auction on April 23-24 is surely a contender for its biggest to date, with a whopping 475 lots of classic cars, bikes and memorabilia going under the hammer. The sales continue to be held behind closed doors for now, but that didn’t hamper some trademark frantic bidding – particularly when it came to Blue Ovals. The trend was set when the first 100 lots were offered on the Friday evening. A very rare 1979 Ford Cortina 2.0S was expected to crack the £8000 mark but soared on to a hammer price of £17,400. On Saturday, a 23,255-mile 1996 Escort RS Cosworth got things off to a stunning start when it received £75,500 top bid, ahead of a very early Escort XR3 reaching £18,500…

RENAULT 4 (1961-1992) Still the most successful French car of all time, and one of the best-sellers of automotive history, this was Renault’s first front-wheel drive product and is generally touted as the world’s first recognisably modern hatchback. It was described as ‘the blue jeans car’ in that, like the denim trousers, it could be bought by anyone for almost any imaginable purpose. Early examples were slow, sparse and had some wrinkles like an archaic three-speed gearbox but this didn’t stop the R4 selling in droves and regular mechanical and cosmetic improvements followed, culminating in the GTL version of the 1980s with its 1.1-litre engine, front disc brakes, external cladding and plastic dashboard. Overshadowed in terms of enthusiasm and values by the Citroën 2CV, the R4 bumped along for years…

In a week which has seen sub-postmasters rejoicing as their convictions at the hands of a sub-standard Post Office IT system are overturned, here’s a reminder of the important part the small Post Office historically played in society, particularly in rural communities. And they don’t come much more rural than the Highland village of Lochinver, shown here on a Friday morning in August 1962. Given the date and the location it’s surprising to see quite so many cars in shot, but it’s explained by the small garage next to the Post Office, with what is most likely the proprietor’s Ford Thames 300E van parked outside complete with roof rack. The BMC Farina saloon is the most upmarket car in shot by a long way, although the pristine bodywork of the…