Innholdsfortegnelse for 7/16/2025 i Classic Car Buyer

Quite often, a classic car with a celebrity former owner will command quite a hefty premium when it comes to market. According to Hagerty’s Power List, a car with an association to a sportsperson typically adds 24 per cent to the price, while royalty adds a whopping 157 per cent. If it’s a car that’s been on TV or in a movie, it’s a startling 392 per cent. Remember the 1980 Ford Capri 3.0S driven by ‘Bodie’ in The Professionals? That was sold by Iconic Auctioneers in August 2023 for £186,750; Hagerty’s top value for a pristine example is currently £25,600. From a personal perspective, I must confess I’ve never really cared about celebrity provenance. I’d rather buy a car on condition, and on the spec I want. But that…

Coinciding with the model’s golden anniversary, this month marks the official launch of the Vauxhall Cavalier Drivers’ Club: Driven by Legacy – a vibrant community dedicated to celebrating the heritage and camaraderie of all Cavalier models and their Opel equivalents. Co-founded by Richard Watt and Kevin Bricknall, the club welcomes owners, enthusiastic admirers and restorers, with the aim of providing a platform where members can exchange knowledge, resources, and experiences. The club plans to host events where members will have the opportunity to showcase their vehicles and share their stories with like-minded enthusiasts. It also plans to have an arsenal of restoration resources containing a wealth of information, tips, and support for maintaining and restoring a Cavalier to its former glory. Whether you’re joining for the cars or the camaraderie,…

AUDI TT (1998-2006) Just before the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1995, Audi revealed its vision of the future. The TT Concept was photographed inside a giant turbine for the full ‘vision of tomorrow’ – but little did we know that it was going to be a production reality. Designed by American duo Freeman Thomas and J Mays at the Volkswagen Group Design Centre in California, the TT was a striking concept that won attention in the media, but the notion of a production version wasn’t on anyone’s radar. At least not until 1996, when Audi followed up the coupé with a TT Roadster concept at the Tokyo Show. The German giant had been busy behind the scenes. By 1997, the cat was out of the bag and the following year,…

Quotation supplied by Lancaster Insurance Web: lancasterinsurance.co.uk | Tel: 01480 400761 Example quote: £124.54 or £142.54 with Agreed Value. Quote based on a 45-year-old marketing manager, access to another car, no claims or convictions, club member, 3000 miles per year, no modifications, living in SP2 0HL. Disclaimer: Subject to underwriting criteria. An additional charge may be payable. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.…

Electronic ignition Lumenition’s Optronic electronic ignition is not strictly new, but is a well-proven, maintenance-free solution for engines with a mechanical distributor and single ignition coil. This CEK150 kit from Burton combines it with a Lumenition constant energy coil, which gives a fully saturated spark far higher up the engine rev range than a standard coil. Note that a model-specific distributor fitting kit must also be purchased. How much? £348.95 Where from? burtonpower.com / 0208 554 2281 A-Series gasket set When rebuilding an A-Series engine, some so-called, ‘genuine Rover gasket sets’ can be poor in quality and may have incorrect parts. In response, Mini Spares has put together its own kit with modern KLINGER super gasket material, suitable for any early or A-Plus engine. Order as part number GUG701614CS. How…

We were saddened to learn that the Vice-President of the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs, David Hurley, passed away on July 6 at the age of 82. David joined the FBHVC in 1991 as its commercial vehicle representative, and following the Federation’s incorporation in 1999, joined the board as Legislation Director. He retired from the role in 2013, aged 68, when he was presented with a painting of his 1951 Harrington-bodied AEC Regal III coach (pictured). He then took on the role of Vice-President for the Federation. Until September 2024, when ill-health forced him to stand down, David Hurley was chairman of the Working Omnibus Museum Project. A life member of the Historic Commercial Vehicle Society (HCVS), he was also a member of the Albion Club. Condolences go to…

Once upon a time, it was all so much simpler. These days, even the most basic new cars tend to come with air conditioning and various goodies, while sporty labels have been diluted through ranges to make it very difficult to tell an entry-level car apart from the expensive, full-fat one. Rewind a generation or two, however, and someone’s social standing could be pigeon-holed by the amount of equipment their car could boast – and that would handily be indicated by the badge on the boot. Manufacturers exploited this desire for hierarchy by adding hitherto unchartered levels of luxury to what were otherwise ordinary mainstream cars, creating top-of-the-range models that were posh, but still more obtainable and practical than the prestige German marques. If you had a Cortina with the…

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Putting a shed on it… that was the typically jaunty way that MG’s John Thornley OBE, the company’s Managing Director of the ’50s and ’60s, referred to the task of adding a coupé roof to the new MGB sports car to meet demand from customers who were less wedded to the idea of ‘wind in their hair’. The concept behind it, he claimed, was to create a poor man’s Aston. That was 60 years ago, and this example from a mere 50 years ago shows just how much the MGB GT changed during its lifecycle, bedecked with polyurethane ‘rubber’ bumpers (which contained no rubber at all) and with cloth upholstery, chunky plastic dials and stylish Rostyle sports wheels. Rubber bumper Bs are coming into their own these days as they’re…

LOVELY LUXURY The ‘Best Classic Luxury Cars Under £10,000’ video on our Classics World YouTube channel prompted plenty of suggestions from commentors. @dr.plutonus1496 said: “I adored my diesel C6 and actually wept when I had to hand it back! 160,000 flawless miles and I still miss it!” @NewtonInDaHouseYo fancied some traditional British luxury: “Double Six or Super V8 would be a great choice, too. Or equivalent Jag XJ.” @jsm7043 had a very niche choice, meanwhile: “Nissan Maxima QX 3.0 V6. Bulletproof and very comfy.” MEMORY LANE Mazda’s upmarket Xedos sub-brand sadly never really took off, but the marketing department gave it their all in this 1992 brochure: “The Mazda Xedos 6 has been sculptured to satisfy the most discerning. Just walk around the car, take a look, and see for…

SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER AT WWW.CLASSICSWORLD.CO.UK While the market for classic cars continues to be unpredictable at best, record sales and strong performances at UK auction houses indicate that automobilia is thriving. The increase in interest has been such that Cheffins has recently started hosting standalone sales for automobilia, while fellow auctioneer Charterhouse enjoyed a 100 per cent sale rate when it put a vast collection under the hammer in May. A portmanteau of the words automobile and memorabilia, the term automobilia covers any historical artefact or collectable linked with motor cars and related activity, and usually includes the likes of signs, petrol globes and cans, light boxes, advertising material, mascots, art, models, accessories, books and toys. Cheffins hosted its second dedicated automobilia sale in Cambridgeshire last month, following…

The Lakeland Motor Museum provided the starting off point for a long-distance Coast to Coast driving route for owners and members of Club Triumph last month. Beautiful conditions accompanied 39 Triumphs as they set out from the museum on an endurance drive of over 450 miles from Cumbria to the town of Lowestoft in Suffolk. With over 30,000 exhibits including the attraction’s own collection of Triumphs, the museum provided a fitting start point. Cars in the collection include a ’73 Series 4 Spitfire and a highly original, unrestored TR5, with a Surrey hardtop. The venue’s on-site Café Ambio had also prepared a special menu to enable swift service before the drivers got underway on their epic journey. Taking up to 12 hours to complete, the route travelled through some of…

When a new Alfa Romeo is launched, it’s often surrounded by rhetoric like ‘a return to Alfa’s heyday!’ or ‘is this the car to save Alfa?’ Such references are usually harking back to the glory days in the 1960s and ‘70s, before the brand was mired in corporate politics, EV mandates or concerns with selling in big volumes. Alfas from this peak era were simply stylish, charismatic and quirky – think Spider, Sud, 75 and this, the Alfetta GT. The fastback coupe variant of the Alfetta saloon has been on the hitlist to drive for some time, so getting the keys to St Andrew’s Auto’s GTS – one of just two surviving examples of this UK-only edition – was an opportunity not to miss. Originally owned by a Mr Silvio…

The XJ-C was always intended to be part of the Jaguar XJ range. A prototype even exists as a Series 1, with plans for an earlier launch long before its 1975 unveiling. However, issues with sealing the pillarless windows and a focus on the more profitable saloon models led to delays. By the time it arrived, it was just before the XJ-S launch – many within Jaguar viewed it as internal competition. The window sealing problem was eventually solved using a system of pulleys and cables, which pressed the side windows against the door seals at speed, preventing them from pulling outwards and generating wind noise. At launch, the XJ-C was a Series 2, benefiting from the 1973 facelift, which raised the bumper height, reduced the grille depth, and updated…

If you’re of a certain age, then chances are you’ll remember the Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge arcade game – a rite of passage on family holidays for teenagers who are now in their mid- 40s. This one is from bang in the middle of that era – a 1994 example with the iconic roof spoiler and five-spoke alloys that made it really stand out from the crowd. The Esprit S4 marked the end of an era for Lotus, as it was the last model to use the company’s famous 2.2-litre engine. It was based on the 1987 Peter Stevens-designed rebodied Esprit, but with additional work and styling modifications from Lotus’s own chief designer, Julian Thompson, who went on to design the Elise and then work on multiple projects for Jaguar.…

The Silver Seraph was a car born out of controversy, after a battle between German giants to buy the Rolls-Royce Motor Company. In the end, it was a tug-of-war in which BMW got Rolls-Royce and Volkswagen snared Bentley, which led to intense rivalries between the two once-united brands and a peculiar scenario where both made versions of the same car, and in the same factory. The Silver Seraph had been in development for a while and was the last Rolls-Royce to be built at Crewe, powered by a 5.4-litre BMW V12 engine (the first V12 Rolls-Royce since the 1939 Phantom III) and was a spectacular machine, as luxurious and opulent as ever, and also as expensive. Yet whilst brimming with technology, it was also a car that upheld tradition, with…

HATCH A PLAN In the MGB GT’s 50th anniversary year, we celebrate practical and stylish hatchback coupes, including the Scirocco and 240Z. HELLO DOLLY Triumph’s Dolomite mixed the tried and tested with a series of firsts, to create a premium saloon that really appeals as an affordable classic. We show you how to buy the best. CLASSIC CHOICE A trio of blue-collar executive cars of the 1970s go head-to-head, but will the Mk2 Granada, Rover SD1 or Vauxhall Royale come out on top? DOWNLOAD THE DIGITAL ISSUE OF CLASSIC CAR BUYER FROM AS LITTLE AS £1.37! Visit shop.kelsey.co.uk/classic-car-buyer-magazine The printed version of Classic Car Buyer is available in ASDA, Tesco, Morrisons and WH Smiths, plus all good newsagents…