Innholdsfortegnelse for 11/9/2022 i Classic Car Buyer

Are you heading to the NEC this weekend? The doors to the three-day Classic Motor Show open on Friday, November 11 – and we can’t wait! Make sure you pay us a visit on the Classics World stand as you wander around the halls. We’ll look forward to seeing you there, enjoying what’s surely the perfect way to end yet another classic show season. I’ve been attending the annual Classic Motor Show since the very first one, way back in 1984. In those days, it was traditionally held in May and was obviously a smaller affair than it is today. But it was still impressive. Birmingham’s NEC had never before hosted a classic vehicle event – and the idea of having my very own car on display on the Ford…

Hagerty has introduced a partner programme for classic vehicle clubs of all sizes, enabling them to offer a new range of member benefits, expand their event offerings, and generate additional club funds. Open to all clubs, the new initiative is designed to help create revenue through insurance policy commissions and sponsorships, as well as offering exclusive access to Hagerty events and experiences, plus a bespoke valuations facility. The plan is for Hagerty to work closely with car club management to provide a package of benefits designed exclusively for each individual organisation. A tiered level of partner benefits has been created, tailored to the needs of the club. What Hagerty calls its “ability to offer agile underwriting” means club members should get an insurance policy that’s right for them, whatever their…

TV presenter and host of The Late Brake Show on YouTube, Jonny Smith, will be presenting a display of the latest restomods at the NEC Classic Motor Show, which opens its doors this week – running for three days from Friday, November 11. Smith told CCB: “We are really excited to be involved with the NEC Classic and can’t wait to bring some of the cars we’ve featured on our channel live to the show. There will also be a few cars that have been on our wish list for a while, as well as some that will appear in the not too distant future.” The restomods on display will include the MST Mk1, a modern take on the Mk1 Escort that’s hand-built for both road and track use. Also…

People could be forgiven for keeping their wallets under lock and key in the current financial climate, but the right cars always tend to find new homes regardless. And with WB & Sons’ latest sale on October 29 featuring another superb line-up of desirable rarities, sporting heroes, traditional classics and one-offs, there were plenty of the right cars. The star of the day really was something truly special. A 1959 Ford Consul restored to concours condition with obsessive attention to detail, it sailed past its lower estimate to sell for £32,150 – a figure we believe to be an auction record for the model. But it wasn’t the only Ford to wow attendees; we didn’t expect too much from a 1988 Sierra Sapphire powered by the pedestrian 2.3-litre diesel engine,…

ROVER 800 (1986-1998) The 800 had a lot going for it. Sharp handling, a well-equipped and attractive cabin, good refinement, and a silky-smooth 2.5-litre Honda V6 on the range-topping models were all positives. But the 800 was still blighted by poor material quality and electrical gremlins, the V6 was relatively gutless, the ride quality could get harsh on all but the smoothest roads, and it simply lacked the muscle and majesty of the SD1 or previous large Rovers. A fastback body, sporting Vitesse and luxurious Sterling variants brought subsequent variety, while an upgraded 2.7-litre V6 did help with the performance, but the original 800 didn’t offer any stand-out quality that let it rise above the competition. A major facelift in 1991 put some grandeur into the looks, however, while an…

The last time we featured an archive image from outside the Ford paint, trim and assembly plant at Dagenham was in our May 11 issue, but this one’s rather different. Taken in November 1960 and set against the gritty industrial backdrop of smoking chimneys, we can see row upon row of Ford’s biggest saloons of the time – the Mk2 Consul, Zephyr and Zodiac line-up. To the left of the photograph, however, there’s also a minibus example of the Thames 400E, the popular commercial that would be usurped by the Mk1 Transit five years later. The 400E first went on sale in 1957, finally replacing the Fordson E83W that dated back to the pre-war years. The newcomer proved to be a success, with over 187,000 of all versions built by…

Caterham has announced that its bespoke racing series – the Caterham Seven Championship UK (CSCUK) – will join the British Touring Car Championship at Silverstone in 2023. Taking place on September 23-24, it will give the grid of Caterham racing drivers the opportunity to compete in front of a 30,000-strong crowd. The race day will also be broadcast to around 500,000 fans on ITV, bringing extra exposure to the CSCUK. The Caterham series is made up of 21 championship races and seven triple-header race weekends across some of the UK and Europe’s best-known circuits, including Donington Park, Zandvoort and Portimão. Each competing car in the CSCUK is identical in spec, designed specifically for the competition and featuring a 180bhp Caterham Motorsport 2.0-litre Ford Duratec engine, paired to a six-speed sequential…

Rally the Globe rounded off its 022 2 season on October 24-27 with the West Country Cloverleaf, featuring competitive tests and regularity sections set in the rolling countryside of Devon and Cornwall. Entries were restricted to members of the not-for-profit-club, with a total of 19 classics taking part – from the glorious 1925 Bentley Supersports of Graham and Marina Goodwin through to the 1973 Datsun 240Z of Andrew and Shirley Laing. An eye-catching array of Aston Martins and Jaguars also competed, as did a pair of Porsche 911s, a Triumph TR3A, two Fraser Nash-BMW 328s and a very distinctive Chrysler 75 Roadster. The event concluded a successful year for Rally the Globe, with plans already in place for an even busier 2023. Next year’s international rallies will include the Alaska…

British classics dominated as SWVA put 65 cars under the hammer during its final classic auction of 2022. Bidding wasn’t quite as frantic as we’ve come to expect from the Poole auctioneer, no doubt due to an uncertain financial backdrop, but the sale could still be deemed a success and boasted numerous highlights. One of those was the penultimate lot – a 1961 MGA 1600 roadster with an impressive history that easily beat its £14,000-£15,000 estimate to sell for £24,000 plus fees. A 1935 Morris Eight saloon that remarkably had only had two owners from new was another strong performer, being hammered away for £6300 despite being a non-runner. In addition, a lovely 1951 Wolseley 6/80 beat its upper estimate to sell for a hammer price of £6600. Moving forward…

2CV project idea After reading our latest bumper issue (October 26), in which we took a look at 12 of today’s best-buy project cars, Nick Bradshaw got in touch with his own recommendation: “I enjoyed your project car ideas, especially as I’ve previously owned three myself – an early Metro, a Midget and a Mk1 MX-5. I’m looking for my next project right now, but have decided to go for something a bit different.” Nick’s preference for a winter project makes a lot of sense, and is sure to provide plenty of fun once completed: “I’m currently looking for a Citroën 2CV, a model I’ve yet to own but have always admired. It should make an interesting restoration project – and even if it ends up needing a new chassis,…

The Coventry-based London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC), manufacturer of the current hybrid-powered ‘London taxi’, has announced it is to cut up to 140 jobs as part of its plan to increase efficiency. LEVC, part of China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group that also owns Lotus and Volvo, says the voluntary redundancy programme is part of a series of measures to return to “sustainable profitability and growth” after the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and disruption to supply chains. The 140 affected jobs are thought to represent up to a quarter of the current workforce. The company announced in 2020 that it expected to be profitable by 2021, but ended up losing approximately £118 million during that financial year.…

Sign up to our newsletter at www.classicsworld.co.uk With recent newspaper reports suggesting that UK legislation banning the sale of all new petrol and diesel cars by 2030 could be watered down, campaign groups in favour of zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) sales are pushing hard for its retention. Rumours of a change in legislation arose during the short-lived Liz Truss government, which was said to be considering an update to environmental targets for car manufacturers – a move that would threaten current plans to ban petrol and diesel sales by the end of this decade. According to the i newspaper, then Transport Secretary, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, was considering calls from the automotive industry to lower the proportion of zero-emission cars and vans it must sell from 2024. That year’s benchmark on sales is…

A slice of royal history goes under the hammer on Saturday, November 26, when the Jaguar X-Type estate originally owned by the late Queen Elizabeth II is offered for sale with no reserve. Finished in Emerald Fire with a Barley leather interior, the car’s royal status is confirmed by its original paperwork. Back then, the car was registered as PYN 1F and became a regular sight with Her Majesty photographed behind the wheel. The 3.0-litre flagship X-Type comes with a sunroof, automatic transmission, electric windows, climate control, a comprehensive service history and a JDHT Heritage Certificate. Historics describes the car as one “for the serious collector or royalist and with a provenance which is impossible to match”. Full more information on the X-Type and other lots in the sale, which…

FIESTA Mk1 (1976-1983) Ford swore off front-wheel drive cars and spent the 1960s very successfully making conventional, cost-effective rear-drive saloons. But the rise of the European supermini forced a rethink. Jointly developed by teams in Germany and the UK, the Fiesta broke cover in 1976 and, while it was Ford’s first transverse-engine front-wheel drive car, it broke little to no new ground. Styling was the then-current Ford ‘house style’ of neat angles, sharp lines and square details. Power came from an adapted version of the familiar Kent OHV unit. Suspension was by front Macpherson struts and a coil-sprung dead beam axle. A latecomer to the supermini scene, the Fiesta was still an instant hit and a class leader. Crisp to drive, highly practical, reliable and affordable, it played a big…

BENTLEY ARNAGE The Silver Seraph’s sporty sibling, the Arnage used a twin-turbo BMW V8 engine… until the fallout of the battle between BMW and Volkswagen forced the return of the classic British-built 6.75-litre V8. The more popular and longer-lived Bentley is usually more affordable than the Seraph, but in this case the prices are about equal. DAIMLER ‘X305’ DOUBLE SIX Another grand name in British luxury motoring modernised for the 1990s, the X305-gen Daimler is low-slung and sleek where the Seraph is tall and imposing. It offers superior performance and handling, plus similar refinement, making it extremely tempting. Build quality, however, never matched its lofty market placement. BMW ‘E38’ 750iL The Arnage may be the Silver Seraph’s sibling, but the ‘E38’ is its German cousin. This is the source of…