Innholdsfortegnelse for 2/21/2024 i Classic Car Buyer

It’s a commonly-held belief that young people (for the sake of argument, let’s say under-30) aren’t really into classic cars, which could see the scene dwindle in years to come. Speaking as someone within most people’s definition of ‘young’, that couldn’t be further from the truth – for sure, many of my peers finance modern hot hatchbacks and BMW M4s, tearing along in a blizzard of artificial pops and bangs. On behalf of all young people, sorry about them. But plenty of enthusiasts in my age group not only yearn for retro and classic cars, but own them – a former schoolfriend of mine drives a Porsche 944, another has a Mk2 Golf GTI, I’ve lost count of the number with a Mazda MX-5. Ask most car enthusiasts around the…

Pinto 38DGAS Weber kit Webcon now offers this 38DGAS Weber carburettor upgrade kit correctly jetted for the Ford 2.0-litre Pinto engine. A direct swap for the 32/36 DGAV, it’s said to be a perfect complement for a ported head and fast road cam. How much? £485.71 Where? Webcon.co.uk / 01932 787100 Jaguar XJ6 model Corgi has immortalized the Series 2 Jaguar XJ6 with this 1:43 scale model of a 1976 example bought new by lifelong Jaguar enthusiast David Fearnley. It’s expected to be released in autumn, but is available to pre-order now. How much? £35.99  Where? uk.corgi.co.uk Clarke Jump Starter Clarke’s new 12v/24v lithium-Ion jump starter has the capacity to start a petrol engine up to 6 litres and a diesel engine up to 4 litres! Small and light, it…

The common approach for increasing performance and power from a car used to be fitting a larger engine, but where that would be undesirable – either due to tax, emissions, fuel consumption or weight reasons – forced induction has offered a solution. The turbocharger rose to popularity during the 1980s for its efficiency, using waste exhaust gasses to spin an impellor, compress air and force it back into the engine to combine with more fuel for extra power. However, that means waiting for the engine to breathe out to drive the turbo in the first place, creating lag. If you want the instant acceleration granted by a bigger engine without adding cubic centimetres, the supercharger is the answer. Belt-driven by a pulley located on the end of the engine, it…

Careful evolution was the name of the game at Morgan, especially where its entry level 4/4 was concerned. To paraphrase Brian Wilson, the formula was not to be messed with. However, it did acquiesce to legislation where needed; in late 1997, 114 changes were made, included lengthening the doors to make ingress and egress less awkward. Hence, the ‘Long Door’ was born, satisfying export markets. Allon White Sportscars’ 4/4 is an appealing blend of old and new. It has narrow wings and tyres rather than the ‘Lowline’ option available at the time, which added the wider wings and tyres of the Plus 4. That’s keeps appearances correct and proper, but there’s that Long Door cabin, modern silver paint and a fuel-injected Ford Zetec engine to make it easier to live…

To many, the MG Midget is the archetypal classic small sports car. Front-engined and rear-wheel drive, it boasts simple mechanicals, excellent parts availability and plenty of fun for what can be a very attractive price. It’s little surprise, then, that it continues to enjoy a buoyant following. The Midget was in production for more than 18 years, but it wasn’t a clean-sheet design. It was essentially an updated Austin-Healey Sprite, a car launched in 1958 with the oily bits from the Austin A35. The revamped Mk2 Sprite arrived three years later, with a remodelled rear end to include proper access to the boot and the ‘Frogeye’ clamshell with its famous upright headlights superseded by conventional wings and a separate bonnet. A badge-engineered MG version was inevitable. After all, the Sprite…

When we think of archetypal classic British sports cars, Triumph is one of the names that comes up. The TR model line ran for almost 30 years, but for many, peak Triumph sports car was the TR6, and this 1970 car at TR Bitz could well be peak TR6. As an early UK CP-series car in red, it looks more traditional than later examples with their more 1970s hues, and benefits from having the full fat 150bhp motor with overdrive. The sharp Karmann-designed bodywork is the centerpiece of this car, having been removed from the chassis and subjected to a recent restoration that included a full respray in its original Signal Red. It’s also worth mentioning that this car has done less than 1000 miles since restoration, and has never…

If a modern Rolls-Royce is just a little bit gadget-laden or maybe slightly ostentatious for you, it pays to rewind to the 1950s, when RR was still independent and created what were unquestionably the finest luxury cars of the day. The Silver Cloud was the company’s last separate-chassis car and by 1962’s Cloud III, had been refined to near perfection – fitting words to describe the car at Yorkshire Classic & Sports Cars (YCSC). The tasteful Sandover-Sable colour combination befits such a stately car and presents beautifully, while the gleaming chrome complements it perfectly. Inside, the woodwork is as unmarked and glossy as the paintwork, and the beige hide leather is near perfect save for the odd crease from the past 61 years of use. The opulence will surely be…

VW BEETLE 1938-2003 Many would regard the Volkswagen (pop fact: it was never officially called Beetle) as the original people’s car and indeed it does have a good claim to that status, right down to the company name that of course translates quite literally to people’s car. It may not have been the first affordable car aimed at the masses – the Austin Seven for example beat it by several decades – but it was perhaps the first to be a full-size vehicle capable of accommodating a family and transporting it over long distances. The Fiat 500 was truly tiny in comparison, while the 2CV was more spacious but its minimalist engineering put it in a different league from the solid build of the Volkswagen. The car’s origins in the…

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MEMORY LANE If you wanted a brand-new car in the mid ’70s but your budget was tight, you could buy a perfectly satisfactory little hatchback and be confident it would perform its economy-car role admirably. But what if you craved more space? Then you needed a larger car, albeit a stripped-out version that was no more expensive to buy than your average supermini. And that’s where models like Vauxhall Viva Standard Two-Door were rather useful. As Vauxhall was keen to point out in 1976, buying an entry-level Viva meant “value in terms of style, space, performance and low running costs”, with an interior that provided “space for all your family to sit in comfort on deeply-sprung seats, trimmed in vynide for easy cleaning”. This cheapest Viva came with plastic upholstery…

Reis Race Retro event takes place at Warwickshire’s Stoneleigh Park this weekend (February 23-25), with a fantastic mix of 20 different competition cars set to battle it out in the final of the biggest ever Reis Pride of the Paddock competition. The oldest car making the final is Andy Lowe’s 1930 supercharged Austin 7, purchased in 1978 for just £25. The subject of an extensive rebuild, it has been used regularly on rallies, holidays and work commutes. The’ 50s, meanwhile, are represented by a stunning pair of Jaguar XK120s, owned by Ian Beattie and James Bott, and a 1953 Lanchester 14 owned by Guy Loveridge A whopping seven finalists are from the’60s. They include John Morgan’s 1960 Ford Anglia, Derek Drinkwater’s 1961 Chevrolet Impala, Jim Angliss’ 1963 Ford Anglia (a…

SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER AT WWW.CLASSICSWORLD.CO.UK The European Commission’s yet-to-be-ratified plans changing how scrap (ELV, or ‘end-of-life’) cars get recycled has come under fire from the classic car community, which is worried that it could stop restorations and dilute the pool of future classics. Concerns grew when the website, EuroWeekly News, and YouTuber, Geoff Buys Cars, brought key documents (proposals to Regulations (EU) 2018/858 and (EU) 2019/1020 repealing Directives 2000/53/EC and 2005/64/EC) to the attention of historic vehicle fans. At their heart, the Regulation Proposals seek to increase the number of recycled old cars, retaining more key parts, components and raw materials that could be re-used within Member States, as well as reducing the number of potentially unsafe ELV cars being exported out of the European Union. ‘Right-to-repair’ has…

With the 205 GTI held in such high esteem as one of the leading hot hatches of the 1980s, it would be so easy to dismiss the ‘warm’ versions that were also part of the range. However, for enthusiasts in the know, models like the XS and GT appeal in their own right, representing the 205 in a lighter, purer and arguably just as enjoyable form. The XS didn’t arrive until 1986, but its five-door stablemate – the 1.4-litre GT – was available from the start of 205 production in 1983. Like the early XS, it was adorned with a version of the ageing 1360cc ‘suitcase’ engine fitted with a couple of single-choke Solex carbs to produce 80bhp. Lacking the disc brake rear beam and reinforced shell of the GTI,…

1961 - New Austin-Healey Sprite Mk2 and MG Midget launched with 46bhp 948cc engine. 1962 - 948cc engine replaced by a 56bhp 1098cc version with an improved gearbox and disc brakes.  1964 - Introduction of the Mk2 Midget (and Mk3 Sprite) with revised 1098cc motor, exterior door handles, new dash, fitted carpets and wind-up windows instead of side screens. Quarter elliptic rear spring set-up replaced by a semi-elliptical layout, improving ride while imposing less stress on the bodyshell. 1966 - Mk3 Midget (and Mk4 Sprite) launched with a 1275cc engine, producing 64bhp. New convertible-type hood added rather than the infamous pack-away type. 1969 - Post-Leyland facelift for 1970 model year, with new colour palette, more contemporary interior, matt plastic recessed grille, quarter bumpers, black sills and new Rostyle steel wheels.…