Innholdsfortegnelse for 6/26/2024 i Classic Car Buyer

As well an inviting more clubs than ever, the Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show will mark its 40th anniversary at Birmingham’s NEC by launching a prestigious ‘Hall of Fame’. Four inductees who work closely with the show and the classic motoring community will join in 2024, with further additions each year. Show Director Lee Masters explains: “We wanted to create something special that not only celebrates all that we’ve achieved so far as a show and as a community, but also recognises those who continually fight for the future of our hobby. Each year, the Hall of Fame will aim to recognise those people who go above and beyond and publicly thank them for all their efforts.” The four categories for 2024 include Industry Ambassador, Community Ambassador, Classic Car and…

TRIUMPH STAG (1970-1978) Following numerous masterpiece designs for Triumph, Michelotti asked for a 2000 test mule for a special project, and the British firm agreed with the proviso that it got first refusal on the finished article. Shortening the 2000 to create a four-seater convertible proved a masterstroke; Triumph fell in love with the concept and within a few years, project Stag was underway. With rumours rife of America banning convertibles, a bracing T-bar was added in anticipation. Two Triumph slant-fours were merged to create a V8 engine, with a lovely burble accompanying smooth power. Leyland management tried to force Triumph into using the recently acquired Buick V8 when Rover entered the stable, but Triumph was too proud to do so, simply claiming it wouldn’t fit and persevering with its…

Production of the Mini began some time ahead of the August launch, but debate has long abounded as to which car can be considered the first production Mini, or the oldest surviving car. Following Issigonis’ retirement in 1971, he was pictured with a Morris Mini-Minor confidently labelled as Mini No1, registered 621 AOK. The famous white example is displayed at the British Motor Museum, having been sold off by BMC in 1960 and repurchased a few years later, before being restored. It’s become a hugely famous car over the years – most fans will be able to quote the registration number, and tell you where it resides. But for years, there were thought to be older Minis in existence. So, why the doubt about AOK? Well, if the build records…

Over the years, there had been various attempts at a Mini replacement. The only one to make the cut was the Metro, but the classic Mini would stay in production until 2000, famously outliving the car initially conceived to be its successor. After a flurry of activity in the late 1960s and 1970s, little else had happened on the Mini replacement front until 1992, when Rover put together its small-scale Minki 1 concept as a special project. This was a buck based on a regular Mini, but with the Metro Hydragas suspension, a revised driving position, a special dash and a three-cylinder version of the K-Series. However, all developments were scrapped. From March 1994, when it bought Rover, BMW seemed to have identified the Mini as a priceless brand, and…

Triumph’s cost-effective way of updating its traditional TR sports car line for the 1970s, the TR6 was essentially a neat facelift of the TR5 performed by German coachbuilder Karmann, which added a squared-off nose and tail in the style of Michelotti’s work on the firm’s saloon car range. Introduced in January 1969, it wasn’t a revolutionary step change for the Triumph TR series, but neither was it out of line, and in many ways it was a significant car. It was much the same as the TR5/250 models underneath, with a separate chassis and a front-mounted straight-six sending power to the rear wheels through a four-speed gearbox. The TR4A had introduced independent rear suspension, and since then, rack and pinion steering had been added. For the first time, though, there…

With so many 1980s hot hatchbacks falling victim to distasteful modification or crash damage, tidy examples are increasingly highly prized, particularly if it’s the iconic Peugeot 205 GTI. The 1989 1.9 example offered by Car Cave is just such a car, sporting a seemingly unwelded bodyshell with no previous evidence of corrosion and generally straight bodywork. Car Cave reports some minor paint marks and evidence of previous paint rectification to remedy lacquer peel, but it presents well for a car with 110,000 miles to its name. Those trademark 1.9 Speedline wheels are smart, kerb-free and sit on good Toyo tyres. The inclusion of the original dealer plates and window sticker are extremely rare on such a car these days, nicely bolstered by the hefty history file that includes numerous…

Classic car EV conversion specialist, Evice, has announced the beginning of a two-year development programme for its Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow electric project. The Silver Shadow – and its Bentley T1 and T2 sister cars – joins Evice’s programme for an EV ‘restomod’ take on classic British luxury cars. Evice is pioneering a fully integrated electric architecture, sporting its own in-house-developed 800-volt electrical system. The firm is keen to retain the driving characteristics of the Shadow despite the characteristic of a heavy EV powertrain – active suspension and an upgraded braking system are said to add dynamic composure, while maintaining the ride synonymous with Rolls-Royce and Bentley. The new 400hp powertrain offers nearly double the shove of the original L-Series V8, while a 77kWh battery ensures over 200 miles of range.…

Back in 1959, very few people, aside perhaps from designer Alec Issigonis, would have predicted that you could still walk into a showroom and buy a new car with MINI on it in 2024. And we doubt anyone would have foreseen that its parent company would be owned by BMW, then producer of a bubble car that the Mini was designed to oust from the road. Yet here we are, 65 years on. During that time the classic Mini has firmly established itself as a British icon, and the MINI has carried on the legacy with remarkable sales success. It hasn’t always been plain sailing though – there were times when the Mini faced the axe, but it always managed to pull through, and there are few people that haven’t…

The Cooper S is widely recognised as the variant that did the most to launch the Mini as a cult vehicle, but it might never have happened. While Issigonis was a brilliant and far-sighted engineer, he was reportedly rather set in his ideas – and one of those ideas was that the Mini should be a utilitarian budget machine for the masses, with few concessions to performance or luxury. In the end, it was left to others to realise and unlock the Mini’s sporty potential. Soon after its debut, companies began offering upgrades for the car, but it was John Cooper, friend of Issigonis and founder of the successful Cooper Car Company race car manufacturer, who made things official. Cooper eventually convinced Issigonis that he should consider a ‘hot’ Mini…

The Mini began the 1970s at a startling pace. Despite the range being altered to incorporate the Clubman range and the end of the Cooper S, 1971 proved to be its strongest year ever, with a whopping 318,475 cars built globally. The 3 millionth Mini was produced in October 1972, and in some months during the mid-1970s, the Mini was Britain’s best-selling car despite its age and the arrival of more modern supermini rivals. Remarkably, the Mini prospered with very little change during the ’70s. This was a cash-strapped BL after all, which needed to focus on new models rather than putting sticking plasters on one that still sold brilliantly well. Issigonis continued to work on developments behind the scenes, but alternations to Mini were more of a case of…

When the last classic Mini rolled off the factory production line on October 4, 2000, the casual observer could have been forgiven for thinking that was the classic Mini’s final fling — multi-point injection, big wheels and all. Officially, that may have been true, but unofficially we all know different. In the 21st century the Mini’s development has continued in the hands of countless specialists and enthusiasts. In fact, the boundaries of what a classic Mini is capable of are being pushed harder than ever, taking on bigger, more complicated projects amid a changing motoring landscape. In short, the Mini has continued to survive – and prosper – against all odds. For starters, you can pretty much build an entirely new one from scratch thanks to an unrivalled network of…

CITROËN DS If you fancy a cleverly engineered saloon with base unit construction and looks that still turn heads, the legendary Citroën DS remains the P6’s arch rival. Combining glamorous looks with fabulously floaty hydropneumatic suspension, it’s easy to forget the DS’s lack of a decent powerplant. Buying and owning will cost far more than the Rover, however. ROVER P5B Where the P6 offered the ex-Buick V8 in a trailblazing modern package, its P5B predecessor married the alloy 3.5-litre lump with a hewn-from-granite, traditional Rover. Dynamically, the P5 is a safe, heavy and relaxed beast and you’ll pay far more than for a P6, but there’s nothing else quite like a P5B. DAIMLER 250 V8 If the idea of a British saloon with a V8 appeals but you fancy more…

The June classic auction at Brightwells was notable for having something of a Triumph flavour, the lots including both a 14,800-mile Dolomite and one of the nicest TR6s we’ve seen for a while. In the event, the Dolomite was bid up to £5000 in the sale against a £6000-£8000 estimate, while the TR6 attracted no less than 20 bids, the final winning one being £36,000. That’s big money for a BL-era Triumph and was closely followed by a really tidy-looking Stag with the less common manual box which made £21,755 against a £14,000-£18,000 estimate. More ’70s fare included a 1974 Volkswagen Westfalia camper van, relatively rare in right-hand drive which made £8300 against its £8000 lower estimate, while a 1976-registered Cabron Bugatti Type 35 replica made an impressive £23,000 against…

The world was a very different place when the Mini was officially launched as the Morris Mini-Minor and Austin Seven on August 26, 1959. The M1 motorway had yet to be opened, Coronation Steet was over a year away, there were two TV channels at best, and you had to call the operator if you wanted to phone anyone beyond your local area. Yet, the Mini nameplate is still with us, 65 years on, and the classic shape would stay in continual production for a whopping 41 years. That legacy is remarkable for a car modestly conceived to be cheap and efficient. Petrol rationing caused by the Suez Crisis led to Brits clamouring for more economical modes of transport, so in March 1957, BMC Chairman Leonard Lord tasked Alec Issigonis…

Much of the Cooper S’s enviable reputation comes from its many motorsport achievements during the 1960s. Among its laurels were the 1969 British Saloon Car Championship, 1970 British Rally Championship, 1965 and '66 European Rally Championships, and the European Touring Car Championships of 1964 and 68. Inevitably, however, the model will always be most closely associated with the Monte Carlo Rally. The 1071cc Cooper S of Paddy Hopkirk and Henry Liddon romped to outright victory during the 1964 staging. The following year, Timo Mäkinen and Paul Easter won, again in a 1071cc car. The 1966 event proved a highly controversial one. Cooper Ss finished first, second and third, courtesy of Timo Mäkinen and Paul Easter, Rauno Aaltonen and Tony Ambrose, and Paddy Hopkirk and Henry Liddon. However, the judges then…

The reintroduction of the Cooper to the Mini range in 1990 proved to a masterstroke. In October 1990, the regular production model had arrived to replace the special-edition RSP, and before long it was accounting for 40 per cent of Mini sales. Remarkably, it had also lowered the age profile of buyers by around five years. But sales were still a fraction of the 1970s heyday, and there were still outside threats to the Mini’s existence. It had been known that new emission regulations coming in for 1992 would spell the end, but a new single-point injection system was developed in just over a year and was fitted to Coopers from October 1991. The same year also saw Rover commission a limited run of 75 Cabriolets, produced by Lamm Autohaus…

This week’s scene comes from outside St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland in 1986. The first thing we noticed was the range of bright colours on display – the pea-green Fiat 127 takes centre stage, with its similarly-hued 126 little brother in front. Glance into the other lane and you catch a hint of a Mini, which is dwarfed by the Fiat Strada following, but not so much by what appears to be a KP60 Toyota Starlet behind. We think we can spy an orange Renault 4 Fourgonette van behind the Strada, but easier to identify is the Mk2 MG Metro, while a lovely powder blue Mk1 Fiesta drives by. Spot anything we’ve missed? Let us know via ccb.ed@kelsey.co.uk.…

LAST REAL JAG? The recent farewell to our Jaguar X350 XJ8 video on our Classics World YouTube channel saw most viewers echo our fondness for the model – user @numberstation said “I adore my X350 – It’s such a lovely place to be when driving, effortlessly wafting around surrounded by leather and wood while the engine quietly hums a pleasant tune.” But user @paulelverstone8677 made a controversial statement: “Jaguar’s swansong, what a beauty it is. The XJ had been around since 1968 and this was its last true hurrah. Callum’s X351 design that followed may’ve been a better product, but it deviated from the original design. This is all the car you’d ever need.” MEMORY LANE Time was, Peugeot was a major player in the family saloon market – this…