Innholdsfortegnelse for 01/12/2021 i Classic Car Buyer

During a recent conversation about our rabble of old motors, some mates looked absolutely aghast when I told them I was planning to put a rollcage in my Mini 1275 GT project car. “But I thought it was going to be original?” came the reply, along with “you’ll ruin it if you do that!” It’s fair to say that I’ve spent more on the Mini in question than just about any car in my lifetime, hunting out rare new old stock bits and importing high quality OE-spec parts from Japan where they can’t be found. And yes, it would surely be worth more if I built it to factory spec, but I’m still not going to. And there’s a very good reason for this. When I bought the car back…

Beaulieu’s newly-announced 2022 calendar will see a packed line-up of successful shows return to the grounds of the National Motor Museum. After a two-year hiatus, the Spring Autojumble will take place on May 14-15, with the usual mix of spare parts, retro memorabilia and complete cars, along with car club displays. This will be followed on September 10-11 by the much-loved International Autojumble. No fewer than 16 ‘Simply’ rallies are scheduled to take place throughout 2022, with favourites including Simply Aston Martin on April 3, Simply Ford on May 22 and Simply Japanese on July 24. A brand-new rally, Simply Italian, is also scheduled for April 24. But that’s far from all. The popular National Mini Day is due to take place on June 12, with the colourful Hot Rod…

Renowned automotive journalist and racing driver Tony Dron sadly passed away at the age of 75 on November 16, following a long illness. Born in 1946, Dron started as a racer first and foremost, beginning in junior single-seater formulae like Formula Ford. While struggling to raise the funds to compete he turned his attentions towards a different vocation, entering and winning the Guild of Motoring Writers’ Award for aspiring journalists in 1968. Three years later, he was part of the road test team at Motor magazine. As Dron’s writing career progressed, opportunities began to open up again for him to get behind the wheel of a race car. British Leyland hired him as a fulltime team-mate to Andy Rouse in one of its British Saloon Car Championship Triumph Dolomites, having…

Morris Leslie’s final classic car auction of 2021 took place on November 20, with a great mix of cars ranging from pre-war entries to modern classics put under the hammer before an online audience. It proved to be a good sale for British classics, with a 1966 Daimler 2.5 V8 automatic changing hands above its upper estimate for £6300, a 1968 Jaguar 420 imported from South Africa looking to be a bargain at £4500 and an immaculate 1963 Mk2 2.4 model changing hands for £24,500. For those who like their Brits even older, a 1947 Riley 1.5 RMA nearly hit its upper estimate at £3800, despite being a non-runner. In addition, £15,000 was enough to secure a 1956 Land Rover Series 1, while bargain of the day had to be…

SUVs and other variations on the chunky off-roader theme are all the rage nowadays, which is why we’re kicking off this new series of features with a vehicle that’s right at home in the twenty first century automotive scene. It’s been a few decades since models like these were only bought by those with a tough job to do and not as a lifestyle choice, but with the popularity of classic 4x4s stronger than ever let’s take a closer look at what this characterful mud-plugger has to offer. OVERVIEW The idea for the ‘Geländewagen’ was first mooted early in the 1970s - the Shah of Iran, a major shareholder in Daimler-Benz at the time, was especially keen - and development was undertaken by Mercedes-Benz and Steyr Puch of Austria. Originally…

Forthcoming new government legislation is tightening the rules around mobile phone usage while driving, imposing a ban on using the devices to film, take videos, scroll through playlists and play games – even if you’re stuck in gridlocked traffic. Calling or sending a text message on a handheld device while behind the wheel of a car has long been illegal, but with the advent of smartphones, the waters of what’s permissible have been muddied. In 2019, a driver who filmed a video while driving was cleared by the High Court of using his device illegally, after a judge found the law didn’t specifically cover using a phone in this way. You can still use your device to pay at drive-through restaurants and motorway tolls, or as a satnav if it’s…

Popular historic motorsport event, Reis Race Retro, will not take place in February 2022 as originally planned. After a period of careful review, the show’s organiser, Clarion Events, has decided that the event will take a break ahead of a 2023 return. The organisers say that the ongoing repercussions of Covid on elements key to the delivery of the event mean it is unable to be run in its full capacity. As a result, Clarion has decided not to compromise the experience for exhibitors, visitors, sponsors and partners, and will back in full force a year later instead. Event Director Lee Masters said: “The aim with our events is always to offer the best experience to everyone involved and therefore we have decided to restart in 2023, when we envisage…

Great Britain had the Mini and Germany had the Beetle, but in Italy, the small city car to have during the ’60s was the Fiat 500 Other honourable mentions with ‘3’ in the name include the historic Aston Martin DB3, the much less expensive Mazda MX-3 and the quirky but cool Saab Sonnet III FIAT 500 ‘TOPOLINO’ (1936-1955) The original Fiat 500 first arrived prior to the Second World War in 1936, but you may know it better by its nickname, the ‘Topolino’. Literally translating to ‘small mouse’ in Italian, the original 500’s rodent-like features were attached to a suitably small platform just 3.2 metres in length and 1.2m in width. This made it one of the most compact vehicles of its era, meaning that it could be powered by…

This week’s shot from the archives sees us back in Coventry, where in 1984 the local papers were getting worked up about cars parking on the pavement in the Cheylesmore area of the city. Whether it was helping or hindering the business of the local shops, they certainly had a point. But the variety now provides us with a great snapshot of the diversity of the car market in the mid ’80s, a time when foreign marques were suddenly commonplace; among the Escorts, Sierras and Maestros, we see a Talbot Samba, Fiat Strada, Mercedes W114, a Datsun, a Honda Civic and even a Fiat 900 van. Locally made cars are surprisingly few, but the distinctive rear of a Series 2 Jaguar XJ is visible on the right, while there’s a…

You may remember Opel’s neon yellow Manta A ‘GSe ElektroMOD’ concept from earlier this year, with its updated ‘Vizor’ design language and a 145bhp electric motor in place of the old petrol unit. For now, the concept is just that – a concept. But those in the know suggest that Opel is considering producing it in limited numbers due to the largely positive reception since its unveiling. The Manta story doesn’t end there though. Strong reports suggest that the nameplate is set to make a comeback in 2025, launching Opel-Vauxhall into an all-electric future. We know very little about the rebirth of the Manta just yet, however initial indications suggest that it’ll be built upon a bespoke EV platform. Sadly, for us sports car enthusiasts it does appear that, like…

The growth of low emissions zones in British cities has had some significant effects on the old car hobby and although most such schemes allow cars in the Historic taxation class to escape the charge, the effect on modern classics has been significant. We reported recently on how the expansion of the London Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) has made many interesting older cars uneconomic to own inside the zone, but for a significant number of cars the issue is less clear cut. The low emissions schemes are generally operated on the basis of a car’s emissions, but standards were adopted at different times by different car makers and new standards didn’t become mandatory until some time after they were first introduced. For example, the first Euro 4 approvals were…

We’re used to seeing Porsche 911s, Jaguar E-types and even MGBs get the resto-mod treatment, but British engineering firm Thornley Kelham has thought outside the box a little more by creating a new upgraded version of its reimagined Lancia Aurelia. First unveiled to the world in 2019 with a price tag of £400,000, the Aurelia Outlaw is now nearing the end of its limited production cycle. As such, a final upgraded iteration of the car has been introduced, to be known as the European CSL model. New for these final cars is a 3.2-litre Alfa Romeo V6 Busso engine, which has been tweaked to produced 300bhp. You also get an LSD and optional power steering, plus improvements to the brakes and suspension. Further setting the car apart from the ‘standard’…

Brightwells’ final classic motoring sale of the year is another of its regular timed online auctions, beginning this Saturday (December 4) and concluding on Thursday, December 9. It looks set to be a very eclectic affair too, with around 100 consignments spanning the best part of 80 years and including curiosities such as a ‘Tuk Tuk’ auto-rickshaw and a Swedish Sno-Tric snow scooter among the entries. For those who prefer more traditional ways of dealing with tough terrain, there’s also a wide selection of 4x4s offered ahead of winter. A 1988 Fiat Panda 4x4 is estimated at £3000-£4000, with a late Range Rover Classic from 1995 expected to command £6000-£8000 and an older 1988 example £4000-£6000. For those preferring the earlier two-door cars, a 1973 model last used regularly in…

The petrol engine has been the go to choice for powering cars (and much else) for over a century, and it’s only now that its hydrocarbon-fuelled grip on personal transport is being loosened. But that doesn’t mean that it hasn’t seen off several challengers over the years – some of which are once again vying for dominance. ELECTRIC DREAMS Today it’s the electric motor that is driving the internal combustion engine from the roads, and will be legislated to take its place in new cars by the end of the decade. It can seem like the electric car is an idea that has sprung up fully formed over the past decade, such has been its sudden rise to prominence, but in fact it is not only an old idea, but…

Normally on these pages you’ll find us pitting one classic against another, but this time we have four to consider. The reason for that is because they all share the Volkswagen Group’s PQ34 platform, all are powered by the same 1.8-litre turbo engine in various states of tune, and alongside those similarities each of them makes for a temptingly affordable modern classic. Clearly, their approaches to style and practicality differ but one other thing they have in common is the ability to provide plenty of fun at the weekend while still acting as thoroughly capable daily drivers. So, let’s see what’s what… AUDI TT Mk 1 We’re starting with what’s by far and away the most stylish of the quartet, a car that made its debut at the 1995 Frankfurt…