Innholdsfortegnelse for 9/21/2022 i Classic Car Buyer

This week’s feature on British cars that enjoyed second careers overseas is one that particularly interests me. It does, of course, include the usual suspects – I mean, how could we cover this subject without featuring India’s Morris Oxford-based Hindustan Ambassador and Iran’s Hillman Hunter-derived Paykan? But we’ve also included a few examples that are perhaps less well known, including the MG 3SW – a Chinese-built version of the Rover Streetwise. To be honest, we could have filled this entire issue with expat British cars. The list is almost endless – and to anyone with a penchant for automotive history, it’s a fascinating subject. One of the earliest examples of license-built British designs came about almost a century ago, when the Austin Motor Company allowed Germany’s Automobilwerk Eisenbach to take…

Sign up to our newsletter at www.classicsworld.co.uk The Historic & Classic Vehicles Alliance (HCVA), an organisation representing the historic vehicle industry as well as classic car owners, is lobbying for changes to the UK’s Low Emission Zones. It is campaigning for the current exemption for vehicles registered as ‘Historic’ to be expanded, enabling all classics over 30 years old to enter cities without charge. The HCVA is reporting positive news from Scotland, where consultations on incoming LEZ schemes have been taking place. Transport Scotland has announced that Glasgow will ramp up its LEZ to private cars and other vehicles by June 2023, with Aberdeen, Dundee and Edinburgh having their own LEZ schemes in operation by summer 2024. However, Scottish cities are actively considering exemption from charges for classic vehicles over…

The Sunbeam Talbot Alpine Register (STAR) has completed the purchase of a rare 1939 Sunbeam-Talbot 3 Litre, which was laid up for a number of years and had failed to sell at auction on three separate occasions. Due to his advancing years and poor health, its former owner was considering breaking the car until the club stepped in. Bill Hall, STAR’s membership secretary, alerted members of the car’s plight via a Facebook post. But with nobody stepping forward to take on the project, the club took the initiative and bought the car at what it describes as a “knockdown price”. The Sunbeam-Talbot has since been recommissioned by a group of STAR members. It is said to be in excellent condition and the club hopes to display it at the NEC…

Morris Leslie will host its third classic car auction of the year this Saturday (September 24), with an excellent mix of over 130 vehicles ranging from everyman classics to plush rarities. The sale at the firm’s Errol Airfield premises is open to the public and will also be streamed live via YouTube. It’s set to be a good auction for prestigious saloons, with a 1960 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II showing a genuine 45,663 miles carrying a very attractive £18,000-£20,000 estimate. It’s joined by a 1950 Lagonda 2.6-litre DB Vantage, which belonged to the vendor’s father in the 1950s and was reunited with the family after being found in a barn in 1983; it’s estimated at £17,000-£19,000. Other rarities include an Ital-based Morris 575 pick-up that’s believed to be one of…

‘W110’ 190/200 (1962-1968) Building on the success of the previous ‘Ponton’ family, the ‘Fintail’ line-up began in 1959 with the range of W111 six-cylinder saloons. The base model W110 arrived in 1962. In the Mercedes tradition, these were relatively simple and spartan cars with four-cylinder engines, round headlamps and a minimal level of interior furnishings and gadgets, yet the level of engineering, material and build quality was unsurpassed in its class. A W110 cost more than a Rover ‘P5’ 3 Litre on the British market, while in Europe the 190D became the default taxi in towns and cities across the continent. In 1965, the W110 was updated with improved engines, and both models became the 200 and 200D respectively. Over 600,000 W110s were built, with two thirds of that total…

In the week that we honour Her Majesty the late Queen, with hundreds of millions of people around the world watching her state funeral on television, we head back to 1966 for Classic Scenes. In March of that year, Her Majesty and the Duke of Edinburgh were in Nassau, capital of The Bahamas, as part of their tour of the islands. And in this particular image, they can be seen waving to the crowds from the comfort of a coachbuilt Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III. One of two such cars created by HJ Mulliner in 1963, the four-door convertible was based around the long-wheelbase version and was specially built for the Australian government. Three years later, the Rolls-Royce was on loan for the royal tour of The Bahamas, which included visits…

The sole remaining example of a pre-war American car that was the subject of a much-publicised court case is up for auction in the UK. It is thought to be one of just 65 Texas Rangers produced by the Southern Motor Manufacturing Association (SMMA), a small Houston-based company that introduced the model in 1920. At the time of writing, the Ranger is available via an online auction hosted by Car & Classic (C&C), which describes the model as one “dreamt up entirely as a way to defraud investors and embezzle money”. According to C&C, the SMMA set up a fake manufacturing plant, two showrooms and a lavish office, but would produce only a tiny number of Rangers. The cars were allegedly moved around between the dealerships and factory, disassembled and…

The Norfolk & Norwich Rover Owners’ Club held its 44th annual Bressingham Rally on September 4, attracting the usual wide variety of models covering most eras. Among the oldest in attendance were a 1935 Rover 10 saloon and a 1939 Rover 14 Drophead Coupe, while representing the more modern eras were large displays of 200s, 400s and 75s, with P4s, P5s, P6s and SD1s in between. Show sponsor Jason Moore of J Moore Classic Cars brought along a stripped Rover 80 bodyshell, enabling visitors to examine a P4 ‘in the raw’. For more details of the event and the club, head to norfolkandnorwichroveroc.org.uk.…

MiniSport, Zero EV and MINI, the BMW-owned modern incarnation of the Mini marque, have confirmed their partnership as part of Recharged Heritage, a brand specialising in the production of electric classic Mini restomods. Recharged Heritage refers to its work as “bespoke upcycling”, with electric power taking centre stage. Each of its cars is to be produced with eco-friendliness in mind, with a “renovate and reuse” approach that means no changes to the car’s body structure. The MINI Recharged project also aims to retain the Mini’s famous handling characteristics. Each MINI Recharged can be had in one of three levels of conversion: Pure Mini, Sport Mini and Bespoke Mini. Each is powered by the same 72kW electric powertrain producing 75bhp and 175Nm of torque, enough for 0-60mph in 11.5 seconds and…

Only a few weeks after Silverstone Auctions’ headline-grabbing sale at the Silverstone Classic, sister company CCA is back in action at the Warwickshire Event Centre this Saturday (September 24). And while nothing is expected to hit the heights achieved by the Ford Escort RS Turbo formerly driven by Diana, Princess of Wales, a great selection of intriguing classics is set to cross the block. Fords will once again play a major role, with a quartet of Capris that includes a late Mk1, a time-warp 2.0 Laser, the 2.8 Injection driven by Shane Richie’s Alfie Moon character in Eastenders, and a 280 ‘Brooklands’ showing just 31,100 miles that could make as much as £50,000. In addition, there’s an early Mk3 Escort XR3 with a low mileage and an immaculate Mk1 Fiesta…

MINI COOPER S If you want a really good high-performance Mini, then the value of this exceptional one from the 1990s would get you a not-quite-so exceptional (but therefore much more useable) example of the original version from the 1960s in superb condition. At this budget there would be room for tuning work and other upgrades to bring performance in line with the last of the line. ROVER METRO GTI If you want the spirit of a fast Mini laced with the technology of the 1990s, you could do much worse than the hot Metro – faster than the Cooper Sport, vastly more comfortable and much more capable in the handling and cornering stakes. You’ll also end up paying a tiny fraction of this particular Mini’s asking price on the…

The opportunity to buy one of the final 500 classic Minis will arise next month, with a 2000 Rover Mini Cooper Sport 500 set to go under the hammer during South Western Vehicle Auctions’ next classic car sale on October 28. Only produced with contrasting Platinum Silver roofs and the wide-arched Sports Pack kit, the 500s were available in Solar Red, Tahiti Blue, British Racing Green and Anthracite, and came with a plaque in the glovebox that read: “This Mini is one of the last 500 built to the original Sir Alec Issigonis design.” Understandably, they were popular with collectors from the outset. This example is number 115, built on September 18, 2000 – not long before the final car rolled off the line to great fanfare on October 4.…

A Hungarian start-up company has launched a restomod of the often-overlooked four-cylinder Porsche 912. Produced by Kamm Manufaktur and sold as the Kamm 912c, the heavily modified machine tips the scales at just 750kg but has almost twice the power of the original Porsche. Kamm suggests its inaugural model offers “something different in the world of restomods”, insisting that the 912c “maintains the charm of a 1960s racer” rather than totally modernising the driving experience. The company says it has applied “sensitive” updates to reduce the 912’s weight, with the window glass being replaced with Lexan and sections of steel bodywork being swapped for carbonfibre. The car’s 1.6-litre Type 616 engine has been overhauled by Swiss specialist JPS Aircooled, increasing its displacement to 2.0 litres, upping the compression ratio and…

FIAT 500 (1957-1975) Smaller than the Topolino and 600 models that preceded it, the ‘Nuova’ 500 is largely recognised as the genesis of the proper city car, with its cheap price getting many off their scooters and on to four wheels for the first time. Dante Giacosa’s superbly packaged creation initially boasted just 13bhp from its rear-mounted 479cc engine, but it was quickly improved and a success story was born. The original Nuova 500 was replaced by the D model in 1960, which brought in an 18bhp version of the 499cc motor, but the 500L of late 1968 ushered in the biggest changes. Sold alongside the existing F model until 1973, it was mechanically identical but featured external nudge bars, plusher trim and a trapezoid instrument binnacle rather than the…

Renault’s pocket rocket Our September 7 issue’s Big Image photograph (page 3), which showed a couple of second-generation Renault 5s at Gaydon’s recent Max Power Reunion event, created plenty of interest. Matt White wrote in to thank us for publishing it, as he’s the lucky owner of the bright yellow, modified GT Turbo. We also had an email from Andy Peirson, who sent us a photo of his totally standard Renault 5 GT Turbo: “It’s a good solid example with no mods at all. I’m missing the side decals due to it having a partial respray. but otherwise it’s how it came out of the dealers. It puts a smile on your face even in 2022 – it’s a frisky thing!” At the time of writing, Andy’s car is at…