Innholdsfortegnelse for 2/15/2023 i Classic Car Buyer

Next year will mark the 15th anniversary of the UK’s national scrappage scheme. It allowed buyers to trade in a car which was more than 10 years old, in return receiving £2000 off the price of a brand new vehicle – half of which was paid by the government, half by the manufacturer. The scheme certainly had its fans, with a staggering 392,227 roadworthy cars meeting the crusher – including scores of classics and even more future classics. Horrifying specifics were later documented by the government; in hindsight it was a very dark period for the classic car community. This week’s lead story covers a new scrappage scheme launched by London mayor, Sadiq Khan, and Transport for London, accompanying the expansion of the capital’s ULEZ to meet the M25. And…

For the first time in the marque’s 100-year history, an MG has topped the sales charts in the UK. The company’s current flagship SUV, the HS, was the country’s bestselling new car in January, with almost 3500 registered – propelling the HS to an overall market share of 2.6 per cent. In another first for MG, the company had a second car in the Top 10 for January, with the smaller ZS – available in both petrol and all-electric guises – coming in at number eight. MG sales rose by 108 per cent year-on-year, with a total of 7433 new MGs hitting the road in January – giving the company a 5.65 per cent share of the market. This made it the seventh bestselling new-car brand for the month, putting…

The British Motor Museum will be celebrating 75 years of Britain’s bestselling 4x4 at the Gaydon Land Rover Show, which takes place at the Midlands-based venue over the weekend of May 7-8. Claimed to be the only Land Rover show where you will find HUE 166, the first pre-production Land Rover, the event is expected to attract large numbers of Defenders, ‘Series’ models, Range Rovers and just about every other variation on the Land Rover theme. Tickets are priced from £14.50 per adult (£9 per child) when booked in advance, and include access to the museum itself – home to over 400 classic exhibits. To pre-book yours, head to britishmotormuseum.co.uk/whats-on/gaydon-land-rover-show.…

A varied mix of popular traditional models, prestige machines and near-extinct former street furniture went under the hammer as Anglia Car Auctions held its first classic sale of 2023 on January 28-29. It proved to be a strong start too, as an impressive 88 per cent of the entries had found new homes at the time of writing. The sale’s headliner was a Gulf-liveried Roaring Forties Ford GT40 replica that sold for £77,760, but there were plenty of stand-out cars at more affordable price levels. One of these was a 1978 Rover SD1 2600 that had covered just 14,000 miles and sold for £15,768, while not nearly as tidy but equally alluring was an Austin Seven-badged Mk1 Mini dating from 1960, which managed to achieve a sale price of £11,340.…

ISETTA (1953-1962) Most remembered as a BMW product today, the Isetta is actually Italian, originating as a product of the Iso company. Built under license in several nations in Europe and South America, BMW not only made the most Isettas of any of the manufacturers, but carried out the most adaptation from the original design, fitting an engine from one of its own motorbikes (which required a new design of front suspension) and eventually changing every mechanical and structural part of the Isetta to the extent that an original Iso and a late BMW version have no common parts. From 1956 the DeLuxe model of the BMW Isetta was produced, featuring a new body with sliding side windows rather than the three-piece ‘bubble’ canopy of the original. The BMW Isetta…

TRIUMPH 2000 A Rover rival from birth, in fierce competition to define the British executive car, the Triumph had sleeker lines and a more sporting image, boosted by its small-capacity six-cylinder engine and more dynamic ride/handling balance. Build quality never reached the same peak as with the Rover. BMW 2000 BMW’s dominance of the business car park was far in the future, but the big-engined version of the ‘Neue Klasse’ showed the way forward. More conventional in looks than the P6, the BMW was similar in its engineering and superior in its build quality. Prices these days are far ahead. PEUGEOT 404 Not as radical in design as the Rover, the Peugeot had fashionable Pininfarina lines and conventional but exceptionally sound and solid engineering. Long-travel coil springs give the Peugeot…

The UK-wide scrappage scheme of 2009 resulted in countless classics and modern classics seeing the end of the road. Manufacturers like Hyundai celebrated their demise, however, as large numbers of buyers traded in their old cars for a discounted new one. According to this official Hyundai press photo of the time, among the trade-ins were these two 1997 Brits: a Rover 214 and a Maestro 1.3, the latter presumably being one of the ‘Ledbury’ models built from reimported CKD kits originally supplied to Bulgaria.…

Sign up to our newsletter at www.classicsworld.co.uk A controversial new £110m scrappage scheme operated by Transport for London (TfL) could spell disaster for thousands of the capital’s classic cars. Eligible Londoners who crush vehicles that do not meet the Euro 6 emissions standards of the expanded Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), which comes into force this summer, will receive up to £5000. The previous scrappage scheme took 15,000 older vehicles off London’s roads. London mayor Sadiq Khan’s latest scrappage announcement comes as plans to expand ULEZ to all 32 London boroughs from August 29 are criticised. Classic car enthusiasts have taken to social media to express growing concerns about both the expansion and the new scrappage scheme. Nearly 400,000 older vehicles were lost to the nationwide UK scrappage scheme launched…

If there are any Leyland Sherpa or classic motorhome fans who are feeling particularly brave, they might be interested in taking on this 1979 CI Highwayman. Based around a Sherpa chassis cab fitted with a 2.0-litre Perkins diesel engine (which turns freely but hasn’t been started by the vendor), the coachbuilt motorhome is in need of restoration throughout. The Sherpa’s odometer shows 67,000 miles but an online DVLA search reveals no previous MoT history – suggesting the motorhome has been off the road for many years. To find out more, call Jon at Durham-based Classic & Retro Autos on 07438 548651.…

Following a three-year hiatus due to Covid-19, Race Retro returns to Stoneleigh Park this month, where Silverstone Auctions will be offering a fascinating mix of classics, including many from the world of motor racing. A total of 310 will go under the hammer, including several Lotus cars from the Piddington Collection, gathered together by former Cosworth engineer, Deryck Norville. Collectively worth £700,000, the cars in question boast exceptional provenience, with most having been previously owned by famous names, including Formula 1 World Champion Jochen Rindt. An incredible Daimler Sovereign 4.2 Vanden Plas is also worthy of note, having covered just 7700 dry miles from new in 1983, always in the hands of the family chauffeur. But if that doesn’t appeal, perhaps a classic Mini might? Both a desirable Morris Mini…

If only every classic choice could be as reliable as a Volkswagen. Of course, the Golf Mk2’s reputation was well-earned over several years; they might not always have been well-equipped, but every model from the 1.3 CL to the GTI 16v offered solidity, a strong image and goodsense motoring. You paid the money for it, but it got you a car that really was a cut above the Escort and the Astra of the time. Launched in 1984, the Mk2 Golf was intended as a way for Volkswagen to build upon the success of the Mk1. It was bigger, slightly more conservative, and intended to sell to the well-to-do Margo Leadbetter types who’d bought the first one. The 1987 ad campaign with Paula Hamilton was spot on (the wronged woman…

Room for improvement Our four-page feature on Perfect Predecessors (CCB, February 1) caught the attention of Neville Baker, who emailed us after reading it. “This is a subject that really interests me,” he explained, “as I think there’ve been plenty of occasions when a new car has failed to be any advance over the model it’s replacing.” Neville agrees with most of our choices, particularly when it comes to the CityRover being a worse car than the Rover 100 it replaced: “I had a couple of Rover Metros back in the early 2000s, and found them both fun to drive. With terrific handling, even a basic 1.1 was a nippy and entertaining little thing. Then when I got to drive a friend’s CityRover about 10 years ago, I couldn’t believe…

A hardly-used new addition to the Great British Car Journey museum in Derbyshire is puzzling curators. The exhibit, a Vauxhall Victor FE, recently joined the 140-strong collection of classic cars but its history remains largely shrouded in mystery. Presented in pristine as-new condition, it has covered just under 100 miles since it was built in 1974. Discovered in a secluded building on a piece of land owned by its late owner, Mr Milner, the Vauxhall has been kept in storage since it was purchased new from Mercury Garage in Ilkeston. Six years later, it underwent Ziebart rustproofing treatment in Derby before returning to storage. While off the road, great care was taken to preserve the Victor. Its brightwork was removed, covered in oil and bagged, and its interior was protected…

HERO-ERA, the one-stop shop for historic motoring, is searching for the next generation of timed rally navigators. The Bob Rutherford Historic Rally Scholarship for Young Navigators seeks to nurture undiscovered talent, and is offering an aspiring navigator full expert training to become a top flight co-pilot. Named in honour of the late Bob Rutherford (who tragically lost his life on the HERO-ERA Classic Marathon recce in 2021), the scholarship has been created by Guy Woodcock and Bob’s son, Will. It hopes to get younger people involved in regularity rallying, as Will Rutherford explains: “Dad was an avid rally man who was passionate about welcoming new people into the sport. He was always keen to put something back into the sport that he loved and this scholarship epitomises that desire”. Endorsed…

Hagerty has announced the headline content for the 2023 Hagerty Hillclimb event, which this year takes place over two days (May 27-28) at Shelsley Walsh. Among the stars of the show will be an impressive collection of Group B and A rally cars, with many giving hillclimb demonstrations via members of Ralli22.com. Among the machinery taking part is an ex-Tony Pond MG Metro 6R4, a Prodrive BMW E30 M3, an ex-Petter Solberg Subaru Impreza WRC, an ex-Fabrizio Tabaton Lancia 037, an Audi Sport Quattro and a Ford Escort Cosworth. For visitors who’d like to be part of the action, Hagerty is offering the chance to drive your own car at this historic Worcestershire venue, with the purchase of a £135 ticket guaranteeing at least three hillclimb runs as well as…

JAGUAR XJ12 SERIES 1 (1972-1973) The original XJ was the culmination of over 20 years’ work by William Lyons to create what he deemed to be the perfect luxury saloon car. But one final item still had to be introduced to turn the XJ into a true flagship, and that happened in 1972 with the launch of the XJ12 featuring Jaguar’s new 5.3-litre, 280bhp V12 engine. Autocar caught the mood by saying that the XJ12 was “a car of phenomenal performance but deplorable fuel consumption… a marvellous achievement, deservedly the envy of the world.” Jaguar was already preparing for the introduction of the Series 2 XJ (in 1973) when the XJ12 was launched, and supply was hampered by recurring strike action, hence little more than 3000 Jaguar XJ12s being built…

Arriving in 2001 and enjoying just a four-year career before the collapse of MG Rover, the MG ZS and its (smaller) ZR and (larger) ZT siblings injected some much-needed sporting appeal into the company’s line-up. Based around the rather unexciting Rover 45, the ZS was quite the transformation, highly praised by press and public alike for its impressive handling and driver appeal. Available as a five-door hatch or four-door saloon, the ZS ended up attracting a reasonable number of buyers (25,357 of them) and it doesn’t take long behind the wheel to discover why. There’s a real sense of fun about the way the ZS handles, while the direct, well-weighted steering and controlled ride are the icing on the cake. The 1.6-litre ZS110 was the cheapest way into ownership, while…

Thought to date from 1953 is this classic image showing the new Standard Eight, with two rows of cars presumably waiting to be despatched from the Standard Motor Company’s Coventry headquarters and delivered to dealerships. And it was a big moment for the company, with the Eight marking Standard’s long-awaited return to the small-saloon market. The Eight was a modern offering, featuring a brand new 803cc engine and an attractively styled monocoque bodyshell. It was deliberately basic, with early cars having sliding windows and a boot that was accessible only via a folding back seat (there was no bootlid). The Deluxe of 1954 brought some extra equipment, while the 1957 Gold Star version finally brought an opening bootlid. Both the Eight and its bigger-engined sibling, the 948cc Standard Ten…