Innholdsfortegnelse for 11/08/2021 i Classic Car Buyer

With so many project cars coming and going across the Kelsey classic car titles, it’s inevitable that some of them leave enough of an impression for us to wish we’d kept them; I still miss our Rover 216SLi dearly – if anyone knows the whereabouts of J227 DNP, let me know – and Features Ed Jeff was sorely tempted to stick a bid in when our former Ford Puma came up at auction recently. I think any of the CCB team would happily have bought our Mercedes 190E and part of me wishes I’d kept our Mk3 Golf GTI to properly tidy up, although finding the current owner through social media has revealed it’s in good hands. Around March last year, I did in fact buy our Alfa Romeo GTV…

A record attendance of over 3000 visitors gathered in celebration of long-forgotten family favourites and base models as Hagerty hosted its flagship Festival of the Unexceptional on July 31. The event was taking place for the seventh time, but had another new venue for 2021 – Grimsthorpe Castle in Lincolnshire. Classic parking lined both sides of the driveway, with over 40 carefully-selected unexceptional cars enclosed in the quadrant for the unique Concours d’Ordinaire. First place was awarded to John Coupland and his Proton 1.5GL Black Knight, while second place was won by Danny Wilson and his very early Peugeot 106 XN Graduate, which cost just £500. Aged 30 and 27 respectively, John and Danny were indicative of the younger demographic the event increasingly attracts. Special mentions also went to James…

Granted, very few classic enthusiasts are venturing overseas at the moment, but things are looking a little more straightforward for those planning a Continental jaunt following undated guidance on driving abroad from the DVLA. It had been feared that trips to mainland Europe would require an insurance Green Card, but it’s now been confirmed that this is not necessary to drive in the EU (including Ireland), Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Serbia, or Switzerland. However, you must still have valid insurance. Back in January it was confirmed that UK photocard licence holders will not need an International Driving Permit to visit and drive in the EU, Switzerland, Iceland or Liechtenstein. Note that you may still need an IDP if you have a paper driving licence or a licence…

PORSCHE BOXSTER (1996-2004) Poor man’s 911 might have been on the lips of every onlooker of the Boxster in its first few years, but the reality was, in fact, quite far from the bleak reality suggested by the phrase. The Boxster was a £34,000-£40,000 car and, what’s more, it held its value better than almost any rival. You were hardly a poor man to afford the £25,000 of a three-year old example with 30k on the clock. Good examples remained expensive throughout the early 2000s, later Boxster S models especially so. But then, about the time the third generation Boxster 981 came out, in the early 2010s, values began to fall. No longer so fashionable, the market for the 986 Boxster transitioned quickly into a buyer’s one. Finally, it really…

If the Capri is often regarded as the Mustang reimagined for Europe, the first-generation Toyota Celica owes even more to Ford’s original pony car. Where Ford of Europe at least gave its ‘Project Colt’ a new body style, it seems the Toyota stylists simply ran some Mustang drawings through a ’70s Xerox machine and when the shiny paper curled out of the machine it had a three-quarters copy. A transatlantic approach to styling was very much par for the course with Japanese makers back then and who can blame them? Wanting to make significant inroads into the world’s biggest car market, they began by producing what the market was already buying. The European invasion would come later, meaning that when the Celica first started appearing on British roads in the…

Rolls Royce Corniche Convertible To match the XJS’s sense of occasion, you’ll have to climb the ladder to Rolls-Royce. The Mulliner Park Ward-built Corniche offers the Shadow experience with arguably even more grace, not to mention badge kudos. Whereas the Jag can be driven like a cruiser or a sports car, you’ll be strictly wafting in the Rolls. What’s more, you’ll pay double our XJS price for the cheapest Corniche. MG RV8 Nobody knew what the RV8 rivalled, but it pairs well with the XJS in that both were outdated ’70s cars that survived into the 1990s. More akin to a TVR than the XJS, the RV8 is an intense experience even at low speeds and decidedly crude, but has character by the bucketload and is a proper rarity. Mercedes…

SWVA was back in action with a strong entry for its summer classic sale on July 30, with the 95 consignments ranging from the pre-war era right up until the 2000s. And just when you think you know what to expect of the market, along comes a sale like this to raise more than an eyebrow or two. Recently, the auction buzz seems to have centred around 1980s and 1990s classics, but this was a reminder that traditional classics still have a strong part to play. A 1961 Morris Minor 1000 in outstanding condition soared past its £5950-£6950 estimate to sell on the hammer for £13,750, ahead of a beautiful Wolseley 16/60 beating its £2750-£3750 guide to achieve a remarkable £11,400. It was a good sale for MG fans too,…

MG SA (1936-1939) The 2-litre class of six-cylinder cars which was increasingly popular towards the end of the 1930s was in an awkward place in the austere post-war years. Not quite in the class of vehicles requisitioned for the war effort and thereafter in low supply for private buyers, but also finding itself more than most could afford as simple transport. From a price new of £415 for a simple saloon, values soon fell into the single figures in the late 1940s. As a classic car it has been somewhat lost in the sea of classic MG sports cars, so even the drophead coupes languished without much interest through the latter part of the century. Eventually the SA graduated quietly into classic status and gained the value it retains today,…

In a month which has seen the future of Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port factory assured by parent company Stellantis’s announcement that it will become a hub for electric van production, it seems appropriate to wind back to the plant’s early days. Established by General Motors in 1962 on the site of the former RAF Hooton Park, the facility produced its first car in 1964, the Viva HA. It’s Vivas we see here, the lighting and polishing machines suggesting we’re looking at the final inspection department. This shot is undated but the car off to the right has the painted side strip of the SL model introduced in mid-1965 and production of the HA series would end a year later as the factory geared up for the new HB model. Ellesmere Port…

Ian Cushway, Classic Car Buyer Escort Cabriolet If you’re into cars from the ’80s, the obvious alternative is the Escort Cabriolet made between 1984-90. It too was made by Karmann and it even featured a similar-looking roll-over bar between the B-pillars to help retain stiffness. It still seated four in comfort, and if anything the boot was a little more generous than the Golf’s. The 1.3 and 1.6 versions were a little flaccid, but the fiery 105bhp 1.6 injection was a real rival to the sportier Golf convertibles at the time. Crucially, though, the Escort never had the same classy image as Volkswagen’s offering which is why buying one will require even less money than the Golf. Indeed, when we looked we spotted a ’93 example with an MoT selling…

FIVA, the international federation dedicated to historic vehicles, is warning of a global skills shortage that could see some of the most iconic vehicles in history lost unless new blood is introduced to the restoration industry, with specialist training urgently needed to avoid vital skills dying out. That was the main conclusion reached at a FIVA-supported international symposium in Bucharest on July 24. Hosted by Retromobil Club Romania, ‘Restoration – Art or Science?’ saw a succession of world-renowned authorities address guests from 10 countries, with the event also streamed online to thousands worldwide. Speakers included Stéphane Guarato and Arthur Morault, who explained how a lack of skilled labour means some car enthusiasts are waiting three years for work to begin on their classics. The pair run the Conservatoire National des…

The recent resurrection of the Alpine brand was capped at the Hungarian Grand Prix when rising star Esteban Ocon not took his maiden F1 win, but the first for the Renault team under its new Alpine branding. It represents quite a turnaround for the French outfit, which was threatened with closure just last year but now looks set for a bright future. Alpine only returned to the market in 2017 after 22 years away, but has long been a part of French folklore. Permit us, then, to pay tribute with five iconic cars from its past. Renault 5 Alpine The Alpine name would appear on one of the earliest hot hatches, too. Beating the Golf GTI by a few months, the Renault 5 Alpine was launched in 1976 and had…

We previewed the Hobbs Parker auction back in our July 14 issue and by sale time the Ashford-based firm had amassed a diverse catalogue with some interesting finds. You can still see the preview film on our own Classics World YouTube channel and judge for yourself how well the CCB team evaluated the cars they picked out, one of which was the 1986 ‘Series 1’ Escort RS Turbo, a star of the sale at £24,585 after fees. For those not so keen to follow the herd, the Vauxhall VX2300 we fancied as a left-field alternative to a Granada cost its new owner £3630, while the BMW 320i convertible fell slightly shy of its estimate at £5800, the previous insurance claim in its history no doubt hitting its value. Meanwhile, at…

Sometimes, there are cars which simply refuse to die. Whether it’s because their mantle is assumed by modern pretenders in kit form, or whether it’s that the old car has a life beyond that which we know in a foreign clime, there are motors which might surprise us with their long production lives. We’ve gathered together some of our favourite survivors to celebrate the classic status of the cars they couldn’t stop building. JENSEN Launched in 1966, it’s easy to see why the Jensen Interceptor became such a big hit. After all, it was the most successful of a wealth of cars during that decade to adopt the same formula; big American V8 melded with suave Continental styling – in this case courtesy of Touring, in Italy. Its first steel…

We often see the same cars appearing in different auctions every couple of years – especially the more modern classics – but one advantage of looking north of the border is that there’s a generally a fresher selection of classics to choose from and this 1983 Fiesta XR2 is one we haven’t seen before. Restored between 2009 and 2011, it was used until 2016 when it went into storage but both the restoration and the storage must have been done properly as it still looks great. By all accounts it was an extensive job, with the body stripped on a spit and given new wings, bonnet, inner wings, front floorpan, sills and rear valance. The car also gained a few neat additions including the opening rear quarter windows, Austrian-market optional…