Innholdsfortegnelse for 4/20/2022 i Classic Car Buyer

Almost three years have passed since I last travelled by aeroplane, but the long hiatus finally came to an end last week when I boarded a flight to Croatia. I didn’t really need a rental car for my weekend stay, but for me half of the fun is spotting random vehicles while out and about, so I made sure I furnished myself with a set of wheels regardless. I wasn’t disappointed. The coastal route north from Split up the Adriatic coastline seems to be a very happy hunting ground for spotting old motors, whether they’re down-at-heel examples in yards or out being used. I’ve wanted a Renault 4 for some time, so seeing several well-used examples hasn’t helped. However, there was also an abundance of old Fiats, Fords, Mercedes, Opels,…

Sign up to our newsletter at www.classicsworld.co.uk More than 800,000 drivers are still waiting for their posted driving licence applications to be processed, following long delays at the DVLA. And according to research by HonestJohn.co.uk, around 200,000 of those are older than 10 weeks, with many of them relating to drivers’ medical cases. Swansea-based DVLA is facing mounting criticism for the delays, which it blames on staff shortages caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as strike action last year by members of the Public & Commercial Services Union. The DVLA told HonestJohn that a new system has been developed, allowing customers to upload their signature online. That system went live in June 2021 but only applies to people making their first application for a driving licence. The DVLA insists…

The Lakeland Motor Museum’s recent Classic Drive & Ride In Day saw well over a hundred cars gathering on site, with the coveted Springtime Stunner trophy eventually being awarded to an immaculate 1995 Peugeot 205 Mardi Gras – a rare survivor of the most basic-spec 205 of its era. Proud owner David Harding, who bought the 1.1-litre, five-speed Peugeot a year ago, commented: “I was stunned to win the trophy. There were lots of really exotic and nice cars there, but the lovely thing about the Peugeot is that many people remember them and may have owned one at some stage in their lives.” David’s 205 has covered just 39,000 miles from new and is now used as his daily commuter car: “It feels a little old fashioned but it…

Given that it’s only been holding classic car auctions since last May, you might be forgiven for wondering how WB & Sons can manage to fill its catalogue with alluring new entries every six weeks. And yet its April 30 sale is already chock full with another great mix of established classics and intriguing rarities, all set to cross the block at its Newcastle base. This is set to be a great sale for fans of sporty 1980s classics, with some prime examples on offer. A 1989 Mk1 Toyota MR2 showing just 37,000 miles is expected to command £8000-£10,000, while a late Opel Manta GTE from 1988 is estimated at £10,000-£12,000. From earlier in the decade comes a 1981 Triumph TR7 Convertible, while further entries include a Porsche 924S and…

Say ‘badge engineering’ to most British classic car enthusiasts, and thoughts usually turn to BMC, which used it extensively throughout the 1960s – and not just as a means of identifying upmarket and sporting versions. For BMC badge engineering also provided a way of giving the still-separate Austin and Morris dealer networks their model lines, while enjoying the economies of scale that the combined business desperately needed. But BMC wasn’t the only British company to badge-engineer. The Rootes group also made good use of the technique with Hillman as its mass-market model, Singer the slightly upmarket one, Sunbeam the sporty one and Humber the luxury brand. Oh, and Commer and Karrier as commercial vehicles So, for this feature we’re going to compare two badge-engineered mid-range cars from the early ’60s;…

During his recent weekend in Croatia, Jeff hit upon an ‘oldtimer’ museum in the small town of Skradin. Sadly it was closed at the time, but it did have this trio of distantly related classics out front: a Hillman Hunter flanked by a Peugeot 504 and 104. The Hunter was developed before Rootes became part of Chrysler Europe, an umbrella organisation that would later be taken over by France’s PSA. For a tiny sliver of its life, the Hunter was produced under PSA ownership – neatly symbolised by this particular example wearing wheels from a later Peugeot 306.…

The final British-built Vauxhall Astra has rolled off the line at Ellesmere Port as the Cheshire factory begins its transformation into an electric vehicle manufacturing hub. From early next year, the factory will produce the Vauxhall Combo-e van, as well as its Citroen e-Berlingo and Peugeot e-Partner sister models. Ellesmere Port will become the first plant of parent company Stellantis to produce only battery-electric vehicles (BEVs), following last year’s announcement that it would invest £100m into the site. The final Astra built at Ellesmere Port was a Sport Tourer 1.2 Turbo SRi Nav manual in red. The plant, which is also celebrating its 60th anniversary, has built more than four million Astras since starting with the first generation in November 1981. All future Astras will now be built at Opel’s…

The Classic Car Loan Project (CCLP) has celebrated five years of success with a gathering at the British Motor Museum, Gaydon. A total of 15 of the 20-plus cars in the current phase of the scheme were on display, ranging in age from 1929 to 1987 and travelling from all parts of the UK to meet up for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic struck. A variety of classics changing hands for the year were in attendance, with young new custodians taking on an Austin 7 Ruby, Morris Minor Traveller, Riley Elf and others. A Ford Model A, Wolseley 1500, Morris Ital and Triumph TR7 will also be heading to new homes over the coming weeks, each one set to be enjoyed and maintained by a successful applicant for…

RANGE ROVER CLASSIC (1994-1995) The Range Rover had been launched in 1970, and by the end of its production run in the 1990s certain elements of its design were feeling their age. Rover had sent the Range Rover upmarket during the 1980s – first with luxury editions such as the Vogue, and subsequently by introducing the Discovery model and increasing the specification of the ‘Rangey’. But the Range Rover interior let it down - its dashboard may have had stuck-on wood and a few more buttons in 1993 than in 1973, but it was past its best. The second-generation Range Rover was just around the corner, so this problem didn’t warrant a true new design. But the dashboard from the facelifted 1994 Discovery would fit the Range Rover shell and…

Last week’s CCB saw us paying an Easter visit to the outskirts of Manchester in 1969 – and this week we’re sticking with our Easter theme, albeit eight years earlier. This photograph of the promenade at Southport, Merseyside dates from Easter Sunday, 1961, when the roads were packed with a wide array of almost exclusively British models. Some of the cars we can see would have been quite old even 61 years ago, including an Austin A40 Devon and a Morris Eight Series E. However, there’s also a decent spread of much more recent models, including a Ford Anglia 105E (in rare Standard spec) that couldn’t have been more than 18 months old at the time. The Anglia’s 100E predecessor is there in abundance, as are the Morris Minor, Audax-generation…

Daimler Super V8 (X308) If you prefer the idea of more incognito luxury, the Daimler Super V8 is almost certainly a better option. Although it looks like a relatively commonplace ’90s Jaguar XJ, the Super V8 offers a softer ride and all XJ luxury options as standard. What’s more, the supercharged Super V8 offers noticeably better performance than an equivalent Bentley Brooklands. Rolls-Royce Flying Spur What if the Bentley Brooklands just isn’t big enough for you? Well, don’t worry, because the Rolls-Royce Flying Spur has the answer. The two cars are as mechanically similar as they are visually similar, however with the Flying Spur you get an extended wheelbase for added room and comfort in the back. Mercedes-Benz S Class It’s not just us Brits that were busy building uber…

A wildly diverse Italian duo will cross het block when Historics Auctioneers hosts its latest sale at Ascot Racecourse next month. On the rather more exotic side of the pairing is a 2015 Ferrari 458 Speciale – a car that’s only seven years old, yet is already a revered collectors’ item. Originally supplied by HR Owen in Kensington, it’s a right-hand drive, utterly unmarked example of the 458’s swansong, and has covered just 3792 miles since new. Power is courtesy of a mid-mounted 4497cc V8 that produces 597bhp, making it good for a 0-60mph dash of 2.8 seconds and a blistering 210mph top speed. While the Ferrari is estimated at £295,000-£350,000, many classic car fans will be turning their attention to an Italian two-seater of a rather different kind: a…

David Beckham, an investor in automotive electrification specialist Lunaz, has presented son Brooklyn and daughter-in-law Nicola with an all-electric Jaguar XK140 to help celebrate their wedding in Palm Beach, Florida. The latest Lunaz conversion was commissioned by Beckham and built entirely in-house at the company’s Silverstone headquarters. The 1954 Jaguar has been finished in a bespoke shade of light blue and features a fully restored interior in light cream. The car’s dials and switches are faithful to the original Jaguar design but with subtle updates to provide information on the battery level and to operate contemporary functions. The XK140 also offers uprated brakes, suspension and steering to ensure it can be driven on a daily basis. Beckham became an investor in Lunaz in June 2021, since when it has expanded…

We’re used to an intriguing mix of vehicles going under the hammer at SWVA’s quarterly classic car sales, but the Poole firm’s next auction on April 29 is surely its most diverse for some time. Close to 80 entries were consigned at the time of writing, ranging from a 1924 Willys-Overland Model 91 through to a 2004 MG TF. In between those two bookends is a whole wealth of potential projects, traditional classics, German prestige and alluring rarities. Likely to be the sale’s headliner is a 1953 Lagonda 3-Litre drophead coupe by Tickford. It’s one of just 20 Mk1 cars built, with a similar example owned by the late Prince Philip selling for £350,000 in 2016. This one, however, is expected to command £60,000-£65,000. Other British classics include a 1967…

Colin Chapman would surely have approved. The Lotus founder was lauded for his company’s engineering ingenuity; the model range has often been full of clever but remarkably simple designs, where a vehicle’s lack of heft allows for smaller power units to be used. Couple the inevitably eager performance with market-leading dynamic handling and you have some of the world’s most widely-acclaimed drivers’ cars. Okay, so those characteristics were not always backed up with the necessary production quality control, and so the numbers produced were often less than could have been expected. But the Elise was different, with the 25,000th example rolling off the line at Hethel only a decade after its launch. And with the Elise lasting right through to 2021, it ranks as one of the longest-lived Lotus models…

When I first started working on car magazines, the TR7 was frowned upon by many traditionalists… but things have changed. I’d argue that the TR7 is the best-driving of all the TRs, its four-cylinder engine giving a handling balance that the nose-heavy six-cylinder cars can’t match. I’ve taken some stick from TR6 owners in the past for that comment but there’s no arguing that the TR7’s underpinnings are quite literally from a different era, with its MacPherson strut front end and four-linked rear axle. Codenamed Project Bullet, the TR7 was originally to have been part of a wider range, including 2+2 coupes and convertibles, though both were killed off during development. A similar fate befell the TR7 16v Sprint, with fewer than 60 being assembled before it was dropped. The…