Innholdsfortegnelse for 2/16/2022 i Classic Car Buyer

The business of selling new cars has changed over the years, with gargantuan out-of-town showrooms offering several different marques now a common sight, while the smaller family-owned dealership becomes a thing of the past. There was a time when even the biggest car manufacturers were happy to be represented by independents that usually had a loyal customer base… but no more. This change began some years ago, forcing many a smaller dealership to take on the franchise of a less mainstream brand in order to keep on selling new cars. The problem now though, is that the UK market has far fewer minor players than it once did, which means less choice for the consumer – and fewer opportunities for independent dealers. We’ve lost a number of marques that were…

Just a week after unveiling its brand-new T.33 supercar, Gordon Murray Automotive (GMA) has pre-sold all of the 100 examples it plans to build. The company says orders have been taken from around the world for the T.33 coupe, despite a start price of £1.37m before local taxes, with first customer deliveries expected in 2024. The T.33 is built on an all-new carbon-aluminium monocoque chassis and will be produced alongside the even more expensive T.50, which was first revealed in 2020. The T.33 uses a specially adapted version of GMA’s Cosworth-designed 3.9-litre V12 engine with more low-speed torque but a slightly lower rev limit of 11,100rpm, compared with 12,000rpm in the T.50. GMA founder Gordon Murray describes the T.33 as the supercar for all situations: “If you can have only…

An interesting Mini Marcos restoration project is being offered for sale privately, along with the bodyshell from a 1963 Mini that was its donor vehicle many years ago. The Mini Marcos comes complete with subframes, doors and more, with the glassfibre bodyshell said to be in ‘very good condition’. The vendor also has available a 1098cc Mini engine at additional cost, although the buyer may prefer to supply their own A-series powerplant and Mini running gear. The Marcos comes with a sizeable box full of small Mini parts, including handles, lamps and so on. Whether for road use or a lightweight competition car, there’s plenty of potential here to create something highly competitive. If you’re tempted at the asking price of £3250 (including the rusty Mk1 Mini bodyshell), call the…

Cheshire specialist Manor Park Classics got 2022 underway with a new auction format to complement its regular physical sales, hosting a seven-day timed affair that began on January 30 and concluded in intervals on February 6. Although the entry list was relatively small it was certainly varied, ranging in era from the early 1950s to the early 2000s. There were stars amongst all five decades too, the oldest being a 1952 Ford Thames E83W Pickup, which sold for £10,900. A rare UK-market Fiat 600D also found a buyer for £5014, as did a trio of MGs. Two of these were contrasting MGB GTs – one a no-reserve running project from 1977 that changed hands for £1880, the other a professionally restored 1968 car that sold on-estimate for £8175. Completing the…

Often derided as an example of everything that’s wrong with our automotive heritage, the Austin Maestro and its Montego sibling are among the most sensible classic buys you can make. They’re inexpensive, rare, and well up to regular use on today’s roads. We’re so keen on them here that our publisher owns a Montego estate, and you can track its restoration in sister title Classics Monthly. Montegos competed with the likes of the Ford Sierra, the Vauxhall Cavalier and the Renault 18 when new, while the smaller Maestro took the fight to the Escort and the Astra. Today with an ardent club backing and ever-increasing values courtesy of their rarity, Maestros and Montegos are sensible starter classics for which the majority of mechanical items can be sourced and your only…

A recent visit to N. Sandell, the Isleworth-based independent Rolls-Royce and Bentley specialists, proved even more interesting than usual thanks to this eclectic line-up. On one ramp was a 1999 Bentley Arnage, one of the earliest examples of the 6.75-litre version that joined the BMW-powered original that year, while next to it was a Luxembourg-registered Rolls-Royce Camargue – one of just 530 built in total. Under the Arnage, however, was Nigel Sandell’s own 1968 Mini Cooper, a car that was in the final assembly stages of its full-blown restoration at the time of our visit – and what a superb job it is.…

The annual London to Brighton Mini Run, taking place this year on Sunday, May 15, has a new start point of Cheam Recreation Ground to ensure participants don’t encounter London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ). Organiser of the event, the London & Surrey Mini Owners’ Club, states on its website: “Cheam Recreation Ground is not in the current ULEZ area and is accessible without entering the zone.” Full details of the London to Brighton Mini Run, including camping arrangements for the Saturday evening and info on entering the Show ’n’ Shine, can be found online at london-to-brighton.co.uk. All Minis of any age are eligible for the run, with more than thirty regional Mini clubs also set to take part.…

Sign up to our newsletter at www.classicsworld.co.uk Free membership of the Historic & Classic Vehicles Alliance (HCVA) is being offered to all enthusiasts under the age of 21 as part of its efforts to welcome the next generation into old-car ownership. The organisation hopes to safeguard the future of the classic vehicle movement by encouraging Generation Z – those born from the late 1990s to the early 2010s – to get involved, according to Garry Wilson, chief executive officer of the HCVA. “There’s a new generation that we need to be bringing into the classic and vintage vehicle movement,” said Garry in an interview for CCB. “This is a generation of socially and environmentally aware young people, and so encouraging them not only to consider owning a classic car but…

MERCEDES-BENZ 180D/190D (1953-1962) Technically speaking, Mercedes’ 180D and 190D were the firm’s fourth and fifth diesel passenger cars; 1935’s 260D (W138) was Sindelfingen’s first compression ignition car, fitted with a 2.5-litre four-cylinder OM138 engine after attempts to fit a truck engine into a car chassis proved unsuccessful. Earlier efforts from other manufacturers, like Citroën’s Rosalie 11UD two years earlier, were, like the Mercedes, relatively niche efforts, and curtailed by World War Two. Despite their relatively low performance and lack of refinement, the diesel engine created a new market for manufacturers; cars so equipped could be advertised with considerably lower running costs and were thus worthy of further development. Much of Daimler-Benz’s wartime research went to the OM138’s peacetime successor, the OM636: it was this 1.8-litre engine, fitted to the W120…

The GT-R BN32, as it was originally known, came about in 1989 although the GT-R moniker was not new; it dates to the third generation of Nissan Skyline and designates the high-performance, lightweight version of the sporting saloon in 1969, and then the coupe in 1970 which racked up some 50 victories for the GT-R on track until 1972. The eighth-generation model was instantly a hit, seeing phenomenal success on the world’s race circuits, wresting victories from the previously all-conquering Ford Sierra RS500 in the Australian Bathhurst 1000 Classic series and BMW’s M3 in the Japanese Touring Car Championship. The new GT-R raced in the JTCC 29 times, scoring 29 victories and taking the series title every year between 1989 and 1993 and also taking 50 races from 50 starts…

This nostalgic image of Coventry Technical College was taken in February 1964, less than 30 years after it first opened its doors to students. Known locally as ‘The Tech’, it remained an educational establishment through to the end of 2008. But what about the cars shown here parked up? From left to right we can see a Ford Cortina Mk1, a Vauxhall Viva HA, a Morris Minor Traveller, an early Austin Mini, a Wolseley 1500 and a Ford Consul Mk2 – a fairly typical all-British line-up of the mid-1960s. Only the Consul had gone out of production by 1964, replaced by the Zephyr 4 Mk3 two years earlier. But newest in the car park was almost certainly the Viva, a model that had made its debut just five months before…

A 57-year-old Ford Zodiac that has effectively covered little more than one mile a day since new is set to be offered by Historics next month. The 1964 example is a Mk3 variant of Ford’s upmarket saloon, which differed from its Zephyr 6 stablemate courtesy of limousine-type rear doors, a sharper roofline, a four-headlamp grille, a plusher interior and a useful power hike. This one has covered a mere 25,057 miles during the best part of six decades on British roads, verified by a huge history folder and previous MoT test certificates. The car also comes with photographic evidence of a full restoration, including the bodywork and interior, while the engine has covered just over 100 miles since it was rebuilt at a cost in excess of £2500. The vendor…

To mark the 120th anniversary of its motorsport division, Skoda has rebuilt a historic 1100 OHC Coupe that competed in endurance circuit racing between 1960 and ’62. It has been reconstructed using the original frame, chassis and engine, with engineers employing period drawings and documentation to complete the car. Teams from Skoda’s museum restoration workshop and Prototype Centre collaborated on the project, hand-building the racer as a fully-functional vehicle. The original two-seater was driven by a four-cylinder engine producing 90bhp, mated to a five-speed manual gearbox. It could reach speeds of up to 124mph and was equipped with dual-circuit brakes. Just two examples were built in the early ’60s, both privately sold in 1966 following changes to racing regulations. Skoda acquired the frame and chassis to one of the racers…

Apprentices from the Brooklands-based Heritage Skills Academy have been busy restoring a classic Mini in recent weeks, with project supporter British Motor Heritage treating the trainees to a tour of its Witney factory and helping with the jigging of the new panels. The entire project has been filmed by Middlechild TV and will be aired on the Yesterday Channel as part of the current series of Secrets of the Transport Museum. Based within the Brooklands Museum, the Heritage Skills Academy operates a 42-month block release apprenticeship in the traditional skills required by the classic car industry. The Mini currently undergoing restoration belongs to businessman Rob Pike, who couldn’t afford a Mk1 Mini Cooper at the age of 18 and so bought a new Mk5 Mini instead. Thirty-two years later, his…

Classic car TV presenters Fuzz Townshend and Paul Cowland have joined Manor Park Classics, the Cheshire-based classic car auction house, to present content on the firm’s YouTube and social media channels. The new channel content will see Car SOS’s Fuzz appear alongside Paul – co-star of Salvage Hunters: Classic Cars – for a range of ‘entertaining and educational’ videos. Filming for the new series will start on February 22 at Manor Park’s Runcorn HQ, and the duo has invited its audience to chip in with ideas for content they’d like to see covered.…

Mathewsons got its 2022 programme off to an impressive start with a busy two-day sale on February 4-5. The North Yorkshire firm’s auctions continue to be held behind closed doors for the time being, but that didn’t stop some brisk bidding and eye-raising hammer prices. It proved to be an excellent sale for British classics, whether shining examples or projects. Rover P6s can all too often be undervalued, but a 1974 2200 showing just 11,000 miles made £10,250 on the hammer. Similarly impressive was a 1972 Vanden Plas Princess 1300 that’s set to star in the new Bangers & Cash: Restoring Classics TV series, which was hammered away at £12,250. They were joined amongst Friday evening’s entries by a very smart 1974 MGB GT at an impressive £14,100, while later…

VAUXHALL VIVA BRABHAM (1967-1968) While it may hurt to call the Viva HB Brabham a mild tuning and sticker package, that’s effectively what it was: licencing the Brabham name clearly didn’t come cheap. With three F1 world championships under his belt, the most recent in 1966, Sir Jack’s endorsement brought 9bhp more to the 1159cc ‘90’ model (in Standard, SL or Deluxe) were it a four-door, two-door or an estate. Vauxhall achieved this by adding a second Stromberg 150CD carburettor to a special inlet manifold, as well as a four-into-one exhaust of which a larger bore downpipe was fitted. ‘90’ did not denote the power output; it was Griffin terminology for a high-performance 1159cc engine which already had a higher compression head and a higher-lift camshaft. A shorter, 4.125:1 final…

The era of the compact Jaguar saloon began as early as 1955, when what we now refer to as the ‘Mk1’ made its debut. It was, however, through the Jaguar Mk2 of 1959 that the concept really moved up a gear, with this latest incarnation managing to look sufficiently different – and noticeably sportier – thanks to an array of clever styling tweaks, while the driving experience was further improved via uprated brakes. It was to mark the start of a new era of Jaguar saloons, with the company’s smallest offerings achieving commercial success throughout the 1960s. The Mk2 went on to enjoy a lengthy career, during which time it was joined by other compact Jaguars. The S-Type arrived in 1963, featuring a longer MkX-inspired rear end with a flatter…

FORD GRANADA SCORPIO One of the few cars in the sector to carry a similar price tag to the Sterling was the flagship Ford – though Rover would never have admitted it, they were both upmarket versions of mass-market cars, laden to the gunwales with kit that would be costly options on a more premium motor. Softer, squashier suspension made for better comfort but much less composed cornering, and the faithful Cologne V6 was gruff and lacking in power. JAGUAR XJ40 The entry-level XJ6 2.9 undercut the flagship Rover by about £1500. You got the badge, the sublime ride/handling balance… and not a lot else. Despite extra cubes under the bonnet the XJ40 was slower than the Rover and lacked most of the Sterling’s interior appointments. Build quality could be…