Innholdsfortegnelse for 9/24/2025 i Classic Car Buyer

Toyota’s performance arm, Toyota Gazoo Racing, has announced that as part of its Toyota GR Heritage project it intends to reproduce parts for the legendary 16-valve 4A-GE engine as used in the Corolla AE86. Both cylinder head and engine block will be remanufactured under the scheme, with the products benefiting from the improved quality and precision offered by modern manufacturing technology. Modern honing processes will improve cylinder bore precision, with a revised crank cap structure and a more rigid cast iron used in the block, while the head’s intake ports will feature a coating to reduce surface irregularities and reduce the differences between individual engines. Intake and exhaust ports will also gain thicker walls. The popularity of the unit for engine swaps has also been acknowledged with the addition of…

ROVER 200 CABRIOLET (1992-1998) It’s easy to overlook the impact of the Rover 200 ‘R8’ over 35 years since it made its debut, but back at the end of the 1980s and early 1990s, the model was the car to have for Britain’s social climbers. In many ways, it was Rover’s high water mark – the peak of a collaboration with Honda that lasted from 1981 to 1994 and saw Rover’s classy styling and excellent dynamic abilities matched to Japanese build quality and manufacturing standards. When it appeared in 1989, the R8 was a multiple award winner, praised for its styling, clever multi-link rear suspension and quality cabin. But Rover Group didn’t stop there. In 1992, it broadened the 200 model range even further with the launch of two models…

We’re back in October 1967 this week as we remember high street giant Woolworth’s shortlived adventure into out-of-town department stores under the Woolco brand. No doubt Leicestershire readers will already have realised that this is the Oadby branch, which obviously attracted an upmarket clientele at opening, as evidenced by the cars in shot: close to the camera we see a Rover P6, opposite the imposing fins of a Ford Zephyr 6 and in the next rank a Daimler Majestic Major. Curiously, outside the store entrance we see a second Daimler Majestic – never a common car even in its heyday – with an MGB, and a pair of Morris Minors behind it. Elsewhere, we find at least three more Cortinas, a Corsair and an A30 van but just a single…

MINI While Ford was adding radical styling to a conventional layout in 1959, its key rivals at BMC were innovating with the front-wheel-drive Mini – a car built around providing passenger space for four occupants. Little did they know at the time how legendary the miniature miracle would go on to become. TRIUMPH HERALD There were acute angles over at Triumph as well, with the Michelotti-styled Herald clearly having some US influences despite its Italian designer. Yet while it looked fresh and modern and was undeniably spacious, the Herald was far more traditional with its separate chassis and swing-axle rear end. VW BEETLE The most popular global rival to the Anglia was the VW Beetle, which felt sturdy and well-made alongside its rivals, though its air-cooled rear-engine layout defined convention…

It s not often you see a Jowett Javelin anywhere, let along in daily use which is why Group Ed Wager was stopped in his tracks when he saw this one parked up in a residential street in Cheltenham. A 1949 model, it had a great patina complete with the number 86 which is a nod to the Javelins success in the Spa 24 Hours race of the same year when it won the 2-litre class despite its flat four boasting only 1500cc. A Google search reveals the same car pictured with Scottish singer/songwriter Adam Holmes and if he s regularly driving it from Gloucestershire to Edinburgh then all due respect to him.…

As ever, the September sale at WB’s Newcastle site was packed with variety, lots ranging from 1950s traditional classics right up to modern performance fare with some intriguing diversions along the way including a Raleigh Burner BMX which was knocked down for £260, a 1986 Bedford CF tipper hammered away at £1900 and a 1965 Bedford CA ice cream van sold for £3000. Notable lots among the modern classics included a Sierra Sapphire RS Cosworth boasting an underbody restoration which went for £16,750 on the hammer and a lovingly restored Peugeot 205 GTI. A late model on the J registration, it sold for £15,500. TVR was well represented, with a pair of ‘wedges’ in 400 and 430 flavour selling for £11,000 and £12,250 respectively accompanied by a choice of Chimaeras:…

BIG HEALEY 100/6 The ‘Big’ Healey – as distinct from the really very small Healey in the shape of the Sprite – is one of those classics which has become an icon, almost as popular on mugs and birthday cards as the E-Type. It’s most well-known of course in throaty six-cylinder guise as the 100/6 and later 3000, in which form it gained its motorsport reputation but its early incarnation was really quite different. Created as a rival for the likes of the Triumph TR and the MGA, the Healey 100 was envisaged as a more affordable product than Healey’s previous creations and was the simple result of pairing a shapely body designed in house by Gerry Croker with the workaday 2.6-litre four-cylinder running gear from the Austin A90. It…

The W126 S-Class was the second generation of the brand’s flagship saloon, following on from the W116 generation that had set a benchmark for the model as one of the best made cars in the world. Based on the same platform, but with more dynamic suspension and better economy, the W126 was styled by legendary designer Bruno Sacco and was conceived to be more aerodynamic, yet just as large and stately as its predecessor. As such, it was one of the first cars to be aerodynamically developed in a wind tunnel. It was revealed at the 1979 Frankfurt Motor Show in both short and long wheelbase options, with a choice of six-cylinder and V8 engines. It continued until 1991, when the W140 S-Class appeared, billed as the world’s most technologically…

You’ll have heard and read a lot about sustainable fuels lately but despite the advances in the industry, it’s not exactly commonly available. From September 27 however, drivers in the Reading area will be able to fill up with Coryton’s SUSTAIN biofuel at the premises of Richard Thorne Classic Cars (RTCC). An overground pump with 1000 litre tank has been installed at the firm’s Grazeley premises and will be dispensing SUSTAIN Classic Super 33 – which as its name suggests, contains 33 per cent sustainable content, derived from second-generation biomass such as food waste, straw and crop waste which wouldn’t otherwise be used for consumption. The fuel can be used in any car without engine modifications and is also ethanol-free which makes it ideal for cars which are due to…

Classic car events and shows face extra hurdles in the battle to survive, thanks to a new law that puts the onus on organisers to protect the public from terrorist attacks. It’s feared the requirements will increase costs and create additional burdens, with the risk that some events – especially those that are free to attend – could disappear altogether. Under the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act, known as Martyn’s Law, a new duty will be placed on certain public premises and events to prepare for terrorist attacks, with the requirement for a responsible person to ensure the measures are put in place and are correctly documented. It was drafted by the previous Conservative government after a campaign by Figen Murray, whose son Martyn Hett was tragically killed alongside 21…

This year’s London to Brighton run will see the British Motor Museum’s 1899 Wolseley Voiturette venturing out of its Gaydon home, driven by endurance racing driver Alex Brundle and broadcaster Charlotte Vowden. Driven by Herbert Austin himself, 125 years ago the same Wolseley competed in the Thousand Miles Trial which ran from London to Edinburgh and back, taking first place in the event. This year’s London to Brighton run sees no less than eight of the BMM’s veteran cars competing and at CCB we applaud their efforts in keeping these historic machines in working order and getting them out on view.…

We’ve seen a few intriguing private collections come to market this year and the Brian Antill sale handled by Charterhouse had us all interested. Amassed by Brian over several years, the collection of cars and parts had grown to such a level that he’d even had to construct additional barns to store it all, although several outwardly presentable-looking cars didn’t seem to have turned a wheel in a long time, including a 4.2-litre Jaguar E-Type roadster, an XK140 and several 3.8-litre Mk2s in desirable manual overdrive spec. All told, the premises contained 20 vehicles and a pair of motorbikes, ranging in condition from complete and original to basket case restoration prospects as well as workshop equipment. Alongside the Jaguars, MGAs were also popular, with six in the sale including rarities…

By the time the Series 3 version of the Jaguar XJ saloon appeared in 1979, it was already an aged car – 11 years since the model had been launched and using the same platforms and engines. But with the new XJ40 delayed by budgetary constraints, Jaguar turned to the Italians for help in keeping the XJ saloon series going for a few more years in 1979. The Series 3 XJ was created with the help of Pininfarina, which gave the car an inexpensive restyle, keeping Jaguar’s engineering costs in mind. A lower roofline, new light clusters front and rear and – most importantly – US-market compliant safety impact bumpers were the main elements of the brief, and it’s fair to say that Pininfarina did a great job. The outcome…

Here’s one for the motorsport fans – a full-on rally Mini with a huge specification, 1340cc engine and entirely road legal. It’s not the genuine real deal – after all, a bona fide rally Cooper S would cost a lot more than this, but only the true anoraks would ever notice. The background is that when the previous owner’s genuine Mini Cooper S was written off, a 1966 Mini 850 was sourced, restored and converted to a Monte Carlo rally car replica, with all of the genuine Cooper S parts that were salvageable from the damaged car added on. At the same time, the engine was rebuilt and expanded to 1340cc and a new straight-cut gearbox fitted. The car was then painted in grey with a white roof, while inside…