Innholdsfortegnelse for 10/1/2025 i Classic Car Buyer

Ascot Racecourse was the venue as Historics hosted its ‘Pace of Autumn’ sale on September 20. It proved to be a busy affair too, returning a strong 75 per cent sale rate and grossing £3.4 million. Big premium brand saloons feature heavily in the sale, not least a Bentley Val D’Isere – a rare all-wheel drive ‘shooting brake’ believed to be one of 11 examples commissioned by the Brunei Royal Family. Complete with an incredibly garish blue and yellow interior, the 1992 example was thought to be the only one in private ownership and topped its £105,000-£135,000 estimate to sell for £153,296. Meanwhile, a 2008 Bentley Brooklands Coupe managed £106,964, and a 2001 Azure just nudged past £46,000. For those preferring more rugged vehicles, there were some good Land Rover…

It may be something of a forgotten footnote today in the proud history of Jaguar sports cars, but the SS100 was the car that really cemented Jaguar’s reputation as a producer of performance cars. In some ways it was the C-Type of its day, developed from a mainstream roadgoing production model with the intention of being offered for motorsport. That’s perhaps stretching a point since the ‘SS Jaguar 100’ was nothing like as advanced or specialised as the ’50s car but the intention was similar in that it was to create a sporting image-builder for the young Jaguar firm – or rather, SS Cars as the company was still known in prewar times. In this era SS cars were powered by the straight-six Standard engines and the regular 2.6-litre SS90…

Jaguar had been exploring the possibility of an E-Type replacement long before the Series 3 was unveiled, and it’s said that Malcolm Sayer was discussing an XJ-based 2+2 sports car with William Lyons as early as September 1968. Rather than looking back towards the E-Type era, Sayer’s proposal was to create a modern-looking car in the low and wide Italian style, but his untimely death in 1970 meant that it would be left to the rest of the team to finish off the details, inevitably aided and abetted by ‘the Old Man’ Lyons himself. The car did indeed use the platform of the original XJ saloon – XJ4 in Jaguar parlance – albeit shortened by six inches with the front suspension moved forwards to keep the proportions neat. The car…

The world had been waiting for a Jaguar F-Type since the press scoops of 1980s prototypes, but the reality wouldn’t arrive until the spring of 2013 when what would be Jaguar’s final sports car was launched. Using the JLR ‘D6a’ platform – effectively a cut-down version of the aluminium X150 XK – the new car was a strict two-seater and an uncompromising sports car when compared to the XKs that preceded it. The car would initially go on sale only in convertible form, and at launch, three models were offered: F-Type, F-Type S and F-Type V8S. The entry-level F-Type was powered by the supercharged 3.0-litre AJ-126 V6 engine rated at 340PS, with the F-Type S running the same engine rated at 380PS and the F-Type R turning things up to…

Japanese performance cars have left an indelible mark on motoring history, and this year Classic Japfest will highlight three of the most significant. Taking place at Goodwood on October 4-5, the show will celebrate 55 years of the Datsun and Nissan Z-car, 35 years of the groundbreaking Honda NSX, and 30 years of the Nissan R33 GT-R. When the Datsun 240Z landed in 1970, it changed perceptions of Japanese cars almost overnight. Here was a sharp-looking, six-cylinder coupé that combined performance, comfort and reliability at a fraction of the cost of European rivals. Over the decades the Z lineage evolved through the 260Z, 280ZX, and the turbocharged 300ZX, before being reborn with the 350Z in 2002. Today the story continues with the latest twin-turbo Nissan Z, a fitting reminder of…

Market analysis covering a host of iconic British classics from the 1950s and ’60s has revealed a significant drop in values since the post-Covid boom, meaning a greater opportunity to purchase desirable models such as Mini Coopers and Jaguar Mk2s that may have previously been out of reach. In the case of the 1960s Mini Cooper S, the drop-off looks stark. Looking at UK auctions, several Austin-badged cars broke the £40,000 barrier in the immediate post-Covid period, but in 2024 and 2025, it’s happened just once – and that was for an ex-race car with true competition provenance. Otherwise, £29,000 has been the ceiling. As for the Morris cars, no standard-spec car has sold for more than £30,000 since spring 2024, and we’ve seen more sub-£20,000 cars than we have…

Morris Leslie returned to classic car action on September 20, with a varied sale at its Perth base. Almost 90 lots were passed to new owners, including modern classics, traditional brands, projects and no-reserve bargains. It was a good sale for sporting and prestige brands, especially Jaguars. A bumper selection was headlined by a 1971 Series 3 E-Type roadster in dark red, which beat its £33,000-£35,000 guide to nudge just above £37,000, with a Series 1 E-Type 2+2 selling mid-estimate for a modest £24,188. In addition, a 1968 340 matched its upper estimate by selling for £10,750, and a 1978 XJ6 4.2 rose above its £4000-£5000 guide to sell for £7525. There was also time for a 1990 XJ-S to crack the £12,000 mark, and a 2009 X358-generation XJ TDVI…

From the chaos of war sprung the seeds of what would become the very foundation of the modern Jaguar brand. On fire watching duties, company management would discuss engine requirements for the postwar cars Lyons was already sketching out and mocking up in spare moments. His cars at the time used bought-in Standard engines and Lyon’s love-hate relationship with Standard boss Sir John Black made him keen to produce his own engine, leading ultimately to the development of the XK engine that would be a Jaguar mainstay for so long. He was unwilling to tarnish the glamour of his new high-tech engine by fitting it into the old-fashioned MkV, but the first postwar British motor show was scheduled for Earls Court in October 1948 and Lyons was keen to have…

After a slow start, the XJS blossomed remarkably in later life but eventually even the effective facelift couldn’t stave off the inevitable, and by the early ’90s replacement was overdue. Remarkably, all the rumours and scoop stories in the press saw the journalists fixating on the idea of an ‘F-Type’, but when the production car appeared at the 1996 Geneva show, it wore the famous XK name. Work on replacing Jaguar’s sports coupe had taken several false starts including a much-scooped ‘F-Type’ based on the XJ40 and boasting turbocharged engines and four-wheel drive. Dubbed ‘XJ41’, the project was dropped when investment was concentrated by Ford on overhauling the ancient production facilities at Brown’s Lane. The facelifted XJS held the line while work began on a new sports car project to…

This week we’re on Clifton Hill in Bristol bang in the middle of the 1980s – January ’85 to be specific. There’s a real mix of vehicles on show, with a newish B-registered Cavalier parked in the entrance to Saville Place flanked by a 10-year-old Transit van, a Toyota Corolla and a Morris Minor, while further up the driveway we see a Mk2 Escort, Mini, Talbot Horizon, a Beetle and the signature door handles of a Marina. Parked in Regent Street, we see a Bedford CF van loaded with baked goods from local Bristol chain Mounstevens and behind it not one but two Fiats: a Regata estate and a 127, behind which there’s a BMC ADO16 and a Renault 5 before the grainy black-and-white film gives up on the detail.…

It might not have been as popular as the Fiesta in the UK, but the original Renault 5 was the best-selling supermini of the 1970s across Europe. It enjoyed a 12-year production run, totting up almost 5.5 million sales. It was a peculiar car. Unlike most front-wheel-drive rivals, it used a longitudinally mounted engine rather than a transverse unit, but the engines were compact enough to not affect the interior space. But in every other respect, it was a genuine supermini, with neat looks, entertaining handling, hatchback versatility and a wide range of derivatives to choose from. UK buyers were offered 5s with 845, 956, 1108, 1289 and 1397cc engines over the years, as well as a wide range of trim levels and – from 1979 – a five-door version,…

When Ford launched the Anglia 105E at the 1959 Earl’s Court Motor Show, it was almost entirely new, sharing little with its 100E predecessor beyond the name. The car’s American-influenced styling made a big impression and included a gently sloping bonnet flanked by wings with prominent ‘eye’ headlamps, enhanced by sharply designed brightwork. At the back, crisp tail fins were enhanced by integrated taillamps and a curious reverse-rake rear window – the latter still a design talking point today. Underneath the distinctive body sat Ford’s all-new 997cc over-square OHV engine – the first of the famed ‘Kent’ family that powered many future Fords. A new four-speed gearbox, with synchromesh on all but first gear, was also introduced – the first time four forward gears had been offered on a small…

Remember milk floats? They’re not a common sight nowadays, but one of the more unusual lots entered into the Charterhouse auction of classic and vintage cars at the Haynes Motor Museum later this month might bring memories flooding back. First registered in 1956, this rare Austin-Morris J Type rolled off the production line with a cab and a chassis and was then fitted with the specialist milk float back by a company in Poole. It was used by Coward Brothers Dairy in Shaftesbury for many years. It even made guest appearances in the hugely popular Heartbeat TV series. Estimated at £12,000-14,000, the near-70-year-old milk float will no doubt appeal to collectors of light commercial vehicles and museums alike. The sale takes place on October 23 is shaping up to be…

The average car on Britain’s roads is now almost a decade old, according to new analysis by the RAC Foundation. At the end of 2024, the typical car was nine years and 10 months old – the oldest ever recorded – compared with just seven years and five months in 2015. Petrol models are the oldest, averaging 10 years and four months, followed by diesels at 10 years and one month. By contrast, plug-in hybrids are only three years and four months old on average, while pure battery electric cars are just two years and six months old. The research, based on licensing data, shows that more than two in five cars (40.7 per cent) are at least a decade old, up from one in three (32.7 per cent) a…

If there’s one car which has appeared on more ‘best of British’ and ‘most beautiful car’ lists than any other it would be the Jaguar E-Type. Intriguingly, although the E-Type’s sleek lines are perhaps its most obvious asset, the car was born of function first and form almost second: its shape was the result of applying aerodynamic principles to car design. The primary purpose of the E-Type was to go fast, with designer Malcolm Sayer using mathematical principles to create the car’s shape. The result was undoubtedly a beauty, and it also went fast as intended. Very fast in fact. At the heart of the E-Type was Jaguar’s XK engine. The twin-cam six had become gradually more and more powerful, boasting 220bhp in the roadgoing XK150 and plenty more in…

As the first all-new model to be released under Ford ownership, the original X100-generation XK8 was an impressive statement of intent. But as the years passed the age of the underlying design began to show – notably the hefty kerb weight which came as an unavoidable penalty of inheriting the XJ-S platform. Its replacement couldn’t have been more different and illustrated Ford’s confidence in its Coventry subsidiary. Having launched the aluminium-bodied X350 generation XJ in 2002, Jaguar had become only the second manufacturer after Audi to employ the idea for volume production, and in fact would go on to embrace aluminium even more enthusiastically than Ingolstadt. The same technology was to be used in the new coupe to good effect where it allowed a reduction in kerb weight of some…

Much as the Fiesta was a global collaboration, so – in part at least – was the Vauxhall Chevette, even if it was only sold as a UK-market car. It was based on General Motors’ Global ‘T-Car’ platform, introduced in 1974, with Detroit coming up with a standardised basic chassis for small-to-medium sized models, which could then be built upon with different bodywork. This spawned creations from Chevrolet, Opel, Holden, Isuzu – and of course – Vauxhall, who came up with the Chevette – though this early example of platform sharing explains why Luton bucked the trend by offering its smallest model as a rear-wheel-drive car, unlike most of its rivals. To create the hatchback model (The Chevette was also offered as a saloon, estate and even a van), Vauxhall…

ALFA ROMEO 916 SPIDER The soft-top version of the Alfa 916 also celebrates its 30th birthday this year and is a stunning car to look at and sit in, even if it lacks the MGF’s dynamic brilliance. It makes up for it with some amazing engines – both the 2.0-litre Twin Spark and the 3.0 V6 ‘Busso’ are glorious. BMW Z3 The Z3 almost stopped the MGF from existing, as BMW took over Rover Group a year before the F was launched. The MG was so close to launch, though, that it survived the cull. Front-engined and rear-wheel drive, the Z3 is a very different beast, with a much larger choice of engines, but it doesn’t handle as sharply. MAZDA MX-5 The iconic Mazda matches the MGF for driver appeal…