Innholdsfortegnelse for 06/10/2021 i Classic Car Buyer

By the time you read this, any panic for fuel will hopefully have relented and we’ll be able to use our classics as normal again. Talk amongst the CCB staff has revolved around draining petrol from the lawnmower, watching trains of cars following fuel tankers around and getting on the pushbike, but there’s also been a curious nostalgia for when this has happened in the past. Famously, there were fuel shortages during the 1956 Suez Crisis and 1973 oil crisis, which had such an impact they changed the face of the car market by moving many a motorist into a smaller, more economical car. I wasn’t driving then, largely because I wasn’t born, but I do remember the more recent occasions when we were all queuing at the pumps. The…

Visitors to Matlock Bath’s Heights of Abraham are set for a surprise when they alight the cable car at the top of the 60-acre hilltop estate, as they’ll be greeted by a classic Mini. The 1989 Mini Thirty has been lent to Derbyshire’s oldest tourist attraction by Derbyshire’s newest one, Great British Car Journey, which opened in Ambergate earlier this year. Driven by Heights of Abraham director Rupert Pugh, the Mini had to negotiate steep, narrow paths and tricky hairpin bends to reach the summit, which is 1000 feet above sea level. “Initially I was rather sceptical that it could make the climb, but it surprised and delighted me on the journey up to the summit,” said Rupert. “It’s already proving a real talking point with visitors with many asking…

As part of plans to preserve its collection of over 300 cars and become more financially resilient, the British Motor Museum has launched a new membership scheme. The Gaydon venue is an independent museum and registered educational charity that receives no central government funding, so income from membership will provide essential revenue for its ongoing development, helping it to conserve and protect its cars, artefacts and archive items. In return members will receive a generous range of exclusive benefits, including free entry to the museum including on all weekend show days. They will also have exclusive opportunities to preview new exhibitions, to have private museum tours and attend the new members’ only events. The first of these will be ‘Museum on the Move’ in spring 2022. An evening event, it…

Despite the pandemic putting paid to the Practical Classics Classic Car and Restoration Show earlier this year, the event’s auction element was still able to take place at Stoneleigh Park on September 25. Run by Classic Car Auctions, the sale featured over 100 cars from across the decades, some mild, some considerably more wild. German brands were especially prevalent, with an interesting contrast amongst the Porsches. A 996-generation 911 Carrera 2 from 1997 and a 2003 Carrera 4 looked like bargains at £7770 and £9990 respectively, but older transaxle cars surpassed expectations, with a very tidy 1986 924 S offered without reserve making £9345 and a 1990 944 S2 Convertible selling for £20,535. It was a good day for 1980s BMWs too, with an unrestored, 18,000-mile E30 325i achieving £18,315,…

AUSTIN A40 COUNTRYMAN (1959-1967) Generally considered the first British hatchback, and a possible contender for the world’s first car with a tailgate that wasn’t aimed at commercial buyers, the A40 Countryman was launched a year after the saloon version. Using the Countryman tag applied to Austin estate cars of the era, the A40 had the same distinctive two-box shape with a slightly altered rear profile, a horizontal split tailgate with separate upper and lower portions to provide a fully opening rear and folding rear seats for maximum practicality. For all its innovative body design the rest of the A40 was conventional bordering on the old-fashioned with its leaf-sprung live axle, hydro-mechanical drum brakes and cam-and-peg steering. But it was snappily-styled, reliable, economical, easy to drive and in Countryman form could…

This week’s automotive industry news is that chairman of the gigantic Stellantis combine, John Elkann has confirmed that Fiat Group’s historical home city of Turin will remain a key site for the new group. It seems appropriate then that this week’s Classic Scenes shows Torinese Fiat production in 1966, this being a publicity photo taken to promote the newly installed conveyor production system. The Fiat 124 in the centre of the image suggests this isn’t the Lingotto factory, famous for its rooftop test track but the larger Mirafiori plant which serves as the firm’s main Italian production hub today. The 124 would of course go on to live a long life, forming the basis of Spanish SEATS, Russian Ladas and Polish FSOs, the Russian version lasting incredibly until 2012. Meanwhile,…

Paul Wager, Group Editor Ford Anglia A contemporary of the Morris, the Anglia estates are really scarce today and the Ford ‘scene tax’ has driven prices up in recent years too. Like Dave’s Mini, budget on at least £15,000 for a presentable and usable example. Dave Youngs, Lancaster Insurance Mini Countryman If wood-framed BMC estates are your thing, then the Mini estate is like the Traveller in three-quarters form. Marketed as Mini Countryman and Austin Traveller until 1969, it’s the rarer car, too but look closer and the wood isn’t actually structural like it is on the Morris. They’re more expensive than the Minor, though: budget on £15,000 plus.…

Secrets of the Transport Museum, the TV show that goes behind the scenes at the Brooklands Museum in Surrey, has been recommissioned by UKTV for another series. The first series saw the iconic 1930s Frazer Nash racer repaired just in time for an important race meeting, racing driver Abbie Eaton getting to grips with a 100-year-old V12 Delage and the legendary Napier Railton being put through its paces on the racetrack. Also, the museum’s Concorde was saved from the elements, the painstaking restoration of a Wellington bomber continued, and an infamous two-wheeled TT racer was remade. The second series is in production now with filming at the Brooklands Museum, adhering to all Covid-19 procedures and regulations, and will air on the Yesterday channel in 2022.…

A massive collection of project classics that went viral both in the printed press and online is now poised to head to auction in November. The collection first hit the headlines back in August, when 174 cars were put up for sale in a one-day sealed-bid auction. The cars were stored in a council-owned warehouse in Enfield, but were set to be evicted as the council redeveloped the site. The collection is reportedly all owned by one local businessman who started it off with a Mercedes SL ‘Pagoda’ 12 years ago, but it has subsequently grown to include a vast range of classics including rare BMWs, Land Rovers, Minis, Beetles and even a pair of G-Wiz electric cars. The sale was announced on the affiliated Instagram page @londonbarnfinds and was…

British Motor Heritage is well known for manufacturing replacement bodyshells and panels for the likes of the MGB and classic Mini, but it’s now added replacement carpet sets to the portfolio. Having acquired the established brand and related tooling for Concours Carpets from Concours Automotive Products, BMH can now offer carpet sets for a whole range of classics, including the popular ’60s/’70s models from BMC, Ford, Jaguar, MG and Triumph. They’re available via BMH’s nationwide network of Approved Specialists (see www.bmh-ltd.com), as well as most other major stockists of classic car parts and accessories. The announcement follows BMH’s recent realignment of its other sub-brand, Tex Automotive, which now includes selected items from the Castrol, Samco, Renovo and EBC brake ranges alongside its replacement wiper and mirror products for British cars…

The classic world is pretty firmly split between those who lock their car up for the winter months and the fully committed owners who see it as a personal challenge to maximise their enjoyment of an old car with a crisp winter morning blast. With more fragile classics, keeping them away from winter road salt seems like a sensible thing to do of course, but in reality poor storage of a car can cause more problems than it prevents. Lock an old car in a damp garage with no ventilation and you’ll find even a few months can wreak havoc with paintwork and the interior. It’s even worse if the garage isn’t at home and is without electrical power but the vast classic car industry can supply everything you need…

Fears over unsafe classics on our roads have gathered pace following new data from the DVSA, which has revealed that almost one in five of the cars voluntarily submitted for an MoT test since the beginning of 2019 have initially failed. Back in May 2018 MoT exemption was controversially brought in line with historic vehicle tax (VED), meaning vehicles built more than 40 years ago no longer need to be tested providing no ‘substantial changes’ have been made in the last 30 years. However, owners are still responsible for keeping their vehicles in roadworthy condition, and failure to do so can result in a fine of up to £2500 and three penalty points. Data obtained via a Freedom of Information request by BookMyGarage.com showed 121,204 classic cars aged over 40…

The famous banked rooftop test track atop Fiat’s former Lingotto factory – a legendary destination for petrol heads and fans of The Italian Job – has been transformed into Europe’s largest hanging garden. La Pista 500 features 40,000 plants comprising of 300 species, housed in 28 island planters. There’ll be no more Italian Job-style action though the greenery though, as it’s reserved exclusively for electric-powered vehicles, as well as bicycles and scooters. Alongside, and possibly of more interest to classic enthusiasts, is Casa 500. Located in the Pinacoteca Giovanni art gallery overlooking the track, it tells the story of the city via the common thread of the Fiat 500 over its three generations, comprising the classic 1957 model, the 2007 rebirth and the new electric variant.…

Despite the clamour for fuel causing mayhem in the local district and beyond, Historics’ latest classic sale at Ascot Racecourse on September 25 was still met by a full auction hall and some 1000 visitors across all three viewing days. Pleasingly, the relaxed atmosphere was in complete contrast to many a frenzied garage forecourt, with 165 varied entries for visitors to witness. In any case, the need for petrol won’t be pressing for some of the lots, as restoration projects proved to be exceptionally strong performers. The highlight had to be a 1982 Lamborghini Countach 5000 S in need of a full rebuild, which drew very significant interest and sold for £257,600 – a whopping 43 per cent above its top estimate. In addition, a no-reserve 1936 Bentley Saloon by…

FORD GRANADA (1972-1977) The first pan-European big Ford, in Britain the Granada replaced the Zephyr/Zodiac family, which in its final form had not been considered a technical, stylistic or commercial success. The Granada was slightly smaller than the last of the Z-cars and was much more attractively styled. It was also a huge step forward in dynamics for Ford, being judged to have a ride/handling balance on par with the best European sports saloons. It wasn’t all change, though – the familiar Essex engines in 2.0-litre V4 and 2.5- and 3.0-litre V6 still provided the power. Later on the luxurious Ghia model was introduced to sit at the top the range, while the inline Pinto unit replaced the somewhat lumpy V4. The Granada was a huge success with both private…

At first sight, these might seem an incongruous pairing: the precision weaponry that was early ’90s German automotive technology and the blunderbuss of what was effectively an updated Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow. To the monied buyer of top-end executive saloon cars with image firmly uppermost in mind though, the two were positioned closer than you might have thought. The other candidates on your high-flier’s shopping list would have included the Mercedes S Class but even in range-topping 560 guise it was hardly sporting, while Jaguar could offer you a supercharger but until 1998 was limited to just the six cylinders. Bentley and BMW however, paired a sporting appeal with a big four-door body and the attraction of unlikely pace. The turbocharged Bentley and the V12 BMW also overlapped in the showrooms…

CATERHAM SEVEN The obvious alternative for a classic sports car built in the modern era – in terms of 1990s Sevens the basic Classic version with a 1.4-litre Rover K-Series would be our choice. It would make the Morgan look like a grand tourer by comparison but the driving experience cannot be bettered. LOTUS ELISE Another lightweight K-Series-powered machine, the original Elise offers the same back-to-basics, fun-loving nature as the Morgan but in an entirely modern way. Let’s face it, with a plastic bag for a boot it’s barely more practical, but it is way more sophisticated and refined. MG TF No, not the 21st century one. If you want a classic sports car that was actually built in the classic era but which has some basic concessions to modernity,…