Innholdsfortegnelse for 8/31/2022 i Classic Car Buyer

Rear-engined new cars aren’t exactly commonplace these days. There’s the latest incarnation of the legendary Porsche 911, but that’s about it in the UK. The Smart ForTwo and larger ForFour are now available solely in electric guise (and even those are on borrowed time), while the related Renault Twingo was withdrawn from UK sale more than three years ago. New cars with traditional engines in their rump are now an endangered species. On the classic scene, however, we’ve no shortage of choice thanks to the success of rear-engined mass-market models from the 1950s onwards – and inevitably, it’s Volkswagen that has the biggest rear-engined following, with everything from the Beetle to the (Type 3) 1600 having its loyal army of fans. I spent part of my childhood being ferried around…

Sign up to our newsletter at www.classicsworld.co.uk A specialist online sales site has revealed its latest Top 10 of the most searched-for classics during the first six months of 2022 – with the Ford Escort once again topping the list, cropping up in more searches than any other model so far this year. Car & Classic (C&C) reports that the Escort continues to be the model most searched for on its website, with RS2000 versions in particular proving as popular as they did in 2021. C&C’s online auctions confirm the same trend, with a Lisbon-based 1977 wide-arch RS2000 X-Pack (left) attracting a winning bid of £37,500 back in June. Number two in terms of most searched-for cars is the BMW 3 Series, with almost half of BMW searches said to…

Fans of British vehicles of all types will be heading to Beaulieu on Sunday, September 25 for this year’s Simply British Classics event, celebrating some of the nation’s favourite marques in the grounds of the National Motor Museum. An eclectic selection of manufacturers will be represented, with all pre-2000 British cars and motorcycles invited to take part. Last year’s rally included a number of rarities, as well as usual suspects like the Mini, Minor and MGB. Show-goers can vote for their favourite British car of the show in the People’s Choice Award, with the winner receiving a Beaulieu trophy and an Autoglym prize. The museum itself will be open to visitors, packed with more British classics and showcasing its new Story of Motoring in 50 Objects exhibition, which celebrates the…

A limited-edition Mini 40 that’s covered just 227 kilometres from new has sold at auction in Sweden for 315,000 krona – the equivalent of just over £25,000. The left-hand drive example is claimed to be one of just 16 Mini 40s sold in Sweden. It was delivered new by BMW Gothenburg in May 1999 to a customer in Kullavik, and was driven only very occasionally over two summers. The car was then placed into long-term storage, warmed up once a year but otherwise untouched. Bilweb Auctions, which handled the sale, described the vendor as a “Mini fanatic with several superb older examples”.…

Manor Park’s next classic car sale takes place at its purpose-designed, 30,000-square-feet premises in Cheshire on September 10, with over 60 lots consigned at the time of writing and more expected. Amongst them, you’ll find everything from no-reserve former street furniture to a 2014 Ferrari FF V12 that could sell for £120,000. Fords feature prominently, especially sporty ones. A 1980 Escort RS2000 in the rare hue of Java Green could sell for as much as £30,000, with a 1972 Capri 3000GT set to do likewise. You’ll also find a 1983 Escort RS1600i, a contemporary XR3 from 1984, a later XR3i Cabriolet from 1989, a 7000-mile Ford Puma 1.7 and a 2008 Focus ST500. More humble choices, meanwhile, include a 1967 Ford Cortina 1500 Super, 1986 Ford Capri 1.6 Laser and…

Familiarity breeds contempt – but in the case of the MGB GT, the backlash is unwarranted. Handily sized, well-proportioned and eminently practical, your next ’B GT can be anything from a high-days and holidays historic to a hard-charging track machine. From its release in 1965, it was all things to all people – and would never leave them caught out struggling to raise a hood in the pouring rain. Blessed with a strong survival rate and an affordable marketplace, the ’B GT remains one of the most sensible and well-catered-for classics you can buy. A long legacy means that spares are cheap, and cars are easily upgraded if that’s what’s required. MODEL OVERVIEW MG’s latter-day chief engineer, Don Hayter, was well aware of the importance of a 2+2 coupe following…

Saturday, August 20 saw the reappearance of RADwood on the classic calendar, now under new management – historic vehicle insurer Hagerty – and with a new home at Bicester Heritage, Oxfordshire. Think of RADwood as the trendy cousin to Hagerty’s Festival of the Unexceptional, a traditional static show with the emphasis on 1980s and ’90s machines. Models that appeared on your bedroom wall, or were conceived during the money-no-object ‘bubble economy’, are welcomed. Sporty or slow, well-known or obscure; if there’s any hint of aspiration or ‘lifestyle’, it gets a parking pass. At the heart of the latest RADwood was a 50-car, nine-category Show & Shine concours, with period dress, modifications and ephemera actively encouraged. Top honours (‘Raddest in Show’, presented on a gold Sega Megadrive cartridge) went to Eddie…

An award-winning road rally navigator, 38-year-old Emily Anderson, is set to become an environmentally responsible competitor as she makes her special stage speed rally debut in the Shropshire-based Woodpecker Rally this Saturday (September 3). Competing as part of the carbon offsetting NET-HERO Rally Team, Emily looks forward to combining her hobby with her concern for the environment: “I’m beyond pleased to be taking part in an event that shows we can participate in motorsport whilst actively offsetting emissions. I’m very grateful to be participating with a team which shows motorsport can be environmentally accountable.” Emily will be swapping her father’s 1934 Derby Bentley, in which she’s regularly navigated, for a 1973 Hillman Avenger 1600 GT, alongside driver Tony Jardine. The pair will be tackling 44 miles of competitive special stages…

British Racing Motors has announced that its Mk1 P15 V16 Chassis IV will race in the Goodwood Trophy at this year’s Goodwood Revival – ensuring the reborn company achieves its main priority to take BRM racing again. The Mk1 P15 V16 was last raced in the Goodwood Trophy in 1952, where Froilan Gonzales, Reg Parnell and Ken Wharton achieved the famous 1st, 2nd and 3rd finish for BRM. “In the spirit of Goodwood, the Chassis IV V16 has not been modified to go faster or tweaked to handle better,” comments John Owen, son of Sir Alfred Owen and BRM director. “It is fundamentally the same car that raced in the Goodwood Trophy 70 years ago.” Following an outing at Shelsley Walsh in July, the decision was taken to race the…

JAGUAR ‘X100’ XK8 (1996-2005) Available in coupe or convertible form, the original launch offering for the XK8 was a 4.0-litre AJ-V8 making 290bhp, soon joined by the supercharged XKR version with 370bhp and the new CATS adaptive suspension. A critical and commercial success, the XK sold well, especially in the key American market where the V8 engine was virtually essential to be taken seriously. A minor facelift in 2002 upped both engines to 4.2 litres (with small power increases) and mated to six-speed gearboxes. A more significant cosmetic refresh was applied in early 2004 before the XK8 was replaced by a truly all-new aluminium-bodied successor. Just over 90,000 were made, around half of them being naturally-aspirated convertibles. While there are signs that interest in the X100 as a collector’s item…

VAUXHALL CAVALIER A few weeks ago, our Cortina faced off against an early Mk1 Cavalier for a head-to-head video on our Classics World YouTube channel. The conclusion was that the Cavalier was the better car, as you’d expect being developed a generation later. A more refined, more modern product and with distinctive styling all of its own, the Cavalier is also significantly more affordable… but it does lack those famous Coke bottle looks. MORRIS MARINA The Marina was also made in South Africa, but whether you find an import or a UK original, this will probably be the only car to get more attention and comments than a Mk3 Cortina. For all its controversial reputation, the Marina is a simple, solid and dependable ’70s classic with decent parts support and…

Heading for auction with Bonhams at this year’s Goodwood Revival is this superbly restored 1967 Porsche 911 ‘soft-window’ Targa, one of the earliest examples known to survive. Its very low chassis number shows this to be the 17th such car built. The factory build record shows it was completed on January 31, 1967, finished in Polo Red (6602) with a black leatherette interior. It was first registered to Fleischhauer, Koln (one of the earliest and most respected Porsche dealerships, located in Cologne) before eventually finding its way to the UK, where it was registered as XEF 88Y in September 1982. In November 1990 it was issued with the current age-related number, SVN 99D. The Porsche was acquired by the current owners in January 2017 and has since been the subject…

A 1977 barn-find Leyland Princess 1800 is currently available in an online H&H auction, carrying an estimate of £1000-£1500 but with a start price of just £500. Looking to be in original condition, the car features white paintwork with a dark blue velour interior and matching vinyl rear quarter panels. The car is obviously in need of extensive work, having recently been unearthed from a barn where it has been stored since the 1990s. According to the DVLA, the Princess hasn’t been taxed since 1989, when it was just 12 years old. The indicated mileage is 93,000 and there are four former keepers recorded. According to the vendor, the 1798cc B-Series engine turns over but doesn’t currently run. The auction runs until Wednesday, September 14, and the winning bidder will…

Anglia Car Auctions’ latest sale proved to be as varied as we’ve come to expect from this long-established set-up. Around 230 lots were recorded as sold at the time of writing, representing a successful sales rate of over 80 per cent. There was something to suit all budgets and just about every taste, with affordable modern classics doing particularly well. One of the highlights, however, was the astonishing £18,900 sale price (including premium) for a one-owner 1999 Citroën Saxo VTS that’s covered just 12,000 miles from new and was offered with no reserve. It’s further proof that the modern-classic hot hatch is one of today’s most sought-after genres – although we reckon a very impressive 1.4-litre MG ZR looked particularly good value at just over £3450. A wide assortment of…

STANDARD VANGUARD (1947-1956) Before the war, Standard made an entire constellation of cars, ranging from the Eight to the Twenty V8. But when peacetime production restarted, boss Sir John Black made the switch to a single-model policy with the Vanguard. The newcomer quickly established a reputation as a reliable and solidly made car with a seemingly immortal engine and a good ride, plus ponderous handling and performance best described as relentless. The Phase II Vanguard arrived in 1953 with a more conventional three-box shape, a bit more power and a wider track and wider wheels and tyres to improve the roadholding. Three years later, still with a reputation for being a dependable but unexciting sort of car, the original Vanguard was replaced by a new unibody version. Appropriately enough, Vanguard…

A little later than many of the Classic Scenes we publish is this shot of Lord Street, Liverpool, taken on January 6, 1988 – one of those wet and rather depressing winter days (judging by the umbrellas and raincoats) that most of us loathe. Still, the vehicles add plenty of extra interest. In the far distance we can just about make out a Volvo 300-series, the only private car in shot. The other vehicles are all commercial, including the inevitable FX4 taxi, ahead of which is a Renault Trafic – the front-wheel drive panel van that launched in 1980 and was eventually also sold in the UK as the Vauxhall Arena. In front of that is a Leyland Atlantean double-decker bus (almost certainly with East Lancs bodywork), while parked outside…

Caravan memories After reading editor Paul’s recollections of caravan holidays as a child (CCB, August 3), Crewe-based Andrew Lobb has written in to agree that they hold little appeal today: “I’m with you all the way on this one. We had to endure many trips in the Eccles both in the UK and abroad. I can still feel the claustrophobia!” Like Paul, Andrew’s not keen on reliving his own childhood holidays: “Strange that I, too, would rather take my chances in unknown far-flung hotels rather than revisit the towing experience.” Andrew goes on to explain that his father progressed from caravans to large motorhomes in later years, the latter allowing him to “inflict further suffering on the good people of idyllic spots in narrow-laned areas of the UK.” So, come…