Inhaltsverzeichnis für September 2016 in Classics World

Pressure is growing on the government to introduce an MoT reminder service after findings from the Retail Motor Industry Federation (RMI) and Scottish Motor Trade Association (SMTA) showed a shocking increase in the number of vehicles on our roads without valid test certificates. Although many classics now fall under the rolling 40-year vehicle excise duty (VED) exemption, tax and MoT records still have to be up to date. Forgetting to do so can cost you dearly – fines of up to £1000 for driving an unroadworthy vehicle are common. A survey of RMI and SMTA’s member garages between April and July revealed that since the tax disc was discontinued in October 2014, 43.8 per cent of its members noticed an increase in lapsed MoTs. Director of the RMI Stuart James:…

DCOE FOR FIAT TWIN CAM Webcon has developed a manifold to allow the fitment of twin Weber 45DCOE carbs to the Fiat twin-cam, providing an easy way to unlock the performance potential of the classic Italian powerplant. The British-made manifold is suitable for 124, 125, 131 and 132 plus many others. A complete kit with a pair of carbs retails at £1184 including VAT. More details from 01932 787100 or www.webcon.co.uk MINI MEMBRANES Mini Spares now has door lining membranes available at £9.56 a pair so with all the rain we’ve been having lately it might be a good time to check them, especially if your door cards have been removed at any time for work on the doors, locks or winders. It is vital that this plastic…

Although regular exposure on the TV as the car of choice for Detective Inspector Morse has no doubt boosted the current profile of the Mk2 Jaguar, this sporting saloon was always regarded as a giant killer in its day and truly deserves its current status as an iconic classic. Although the Mk2 may not be quite as electrifying as a well sorted 4.2-litre E-Type, this practical sporting Jaguar saloon can carry four adults in comfort and timeless elegance for a fraction of the cost of an XK-powered two-seater. Someone who can confirm this fact is retired Derbyshire businessman Ray Phillips whose ambition is to own an example of every car he once owned, as well as a few favourites he missed along the way. A glance around the impressive unit…

“I tried to recall just why I never used a poly bush at the rear of the spring when I replaced them” Having spent the last couple of months faffing about with the front of my A40, I decided it was time to investigate a slight knock from the rear I could hear when passing over one of the many thousands of speed humps that litter the roads in my particular area of South London. Having first thought it was a stray tool/ spare part or even a small animal moving around in the boot, a short trip with the boot completely empty – the tools were kept in the passenger footwell as I’m not one to tempt fate – revealed the noise to be still present. A quick detour…

“Although quite a few valves needed adjusting, the job didn’t take long and now the engine is quieter and smoother” My classics might not be the most valuable or sought-after types. But classic cars should be enjoyed and the XJ40s and the Gentry put a smile on my face every time I take them on the road. As the Gentry’s oil was last changed well over a year ago even though the mileage was very low, in the interest of the wellbeing of its 1296cc Triumph engine I reckoned it must be due. I discovered that Halfords had the best current deal on Castrol GTX and the sump holds four litres, so I bought three two-litre packs to have plenty spare for topping up as and when required. I then…

Once the engine and transmission had been dropped back into the engine bay of Lancaster Insurance’s freshly painted MkII Morris Mini 1000, the only tasks left to complete the project were to reinstall the interior, refurbish the shabby steel road wheels and service the car prior to an MoT test. The interior of this 47-year old Mini was in remarkably good condition and after treating the front and rear seats to another wash and brush up with a selection of products, kindly supplied by Meguiar’s, the vinyl coverings came up like new. Rather than fit a new set of carpets to the Mini as originally planned, the front and rear floor coverings were deep cleaned and a close inspection showed them to be in good order considering the age of…

Back in the early days of fuel injection, it was very much the preserve of go-faster models as epitomised by the Golf GTi. By injecting the fuel-air mixture directly into the cylinders under high pressure, a more efficient atomisation of the fuel could be achieved, the result being improved power and economy. The early systems were largely analogue – as was the case with Bosch’s K-Jetronic which became the most-produced injection system ever – until electronic control was added in the ’80s. It was one step further to combine the fuel injection system with control of the ignition and the result was what is now referred to as an engine management system, the first example being Bosch’s Motronic as debuted in 1977 on the BMW 733i. When emissions regulations began…

When HRH The Duke of Edinburgh toured the Longbridge works back in 1955 and made one of his infamous off-the-cuff remarks to BMC boss Leonard Lord about how he thought the company’s range looked rather dull when compared to the foreign competition, the response from a disappointed Lord was an almost immediate telephone call to Pinin Farina in Turin offering the noted automotive stylist a lucrative contract to redesign the company’s range of passenger cars. Legend has it that Farina arrived at Longbridge a few days later and promptly flew back to Italy after signing a collaboration deal worth £84,000 to work alongside BMC’s design studio on a series of new models. The first Austin to receive the Pininfarina treatment was the 1958-launched two-door ‘Farina’ A40 featuring a highly practical…

Porsche’s ‘affordable’ 924 coupé has come in for more than its fair share of criticism over the years. This is due, for the most part, to the fact that Porsche took a step away from its usual rear-engined, air-cooled configuration, opting instead for a front-engined, water-cooled arrangement. Porsche purists were horrified, and much of the motoring press took quite a time to warm to the idea too. But, infused as it is with such a pedigree, and being so well engineered, sublimely-balanced, and good-looking, the 924 is, despite what the detractors said in period – and occasionally still do – a proper Porsche. A number of variants were introduced throughout the 924’s production life, including the desirable and potent Turbo, the first incarnation of which arrived in 1978. Our feature…

“If I could see it, shouldn’t it follow that I might be able to remove it through the same aperture?” My last report closed with the Landcrab sitting on its bump stops after managing to fit just one of the four new knuckle joints. Next to be tackled was the offside rear. The rear suspension displacers – the Hydrolastic springs – lie horizontally just inboard of the sills, and like the fronts are housed in a hefty alloy casting which also acts as the pivot point for the suspension trailing arm. It looked daunting for a couple of reasons. Firstly, there was the list of components that needed to be stripped out before I could get to the knuckle joint, including the wheel, brakes, suspension pipework and trailing arm. Secondly,…

“Spinning the wheels while checking voltage and resistance indentified a problem with the ABS control module” With an MoT drawing close I decided to show the Rover Tomcat a bit of love. To help with the always iffy emissions I gave it a mini service, changing the oil, filter and spark plugs and adding fuel system and oil cleaner additives all to have it running smoothly on the day. Also, to try and have the tester more kindly disposed towards the car, and because it had been bothering me for as long as I’ve had the car, decided to repaint the sunburnt black strip of roof between the windscreen and T-Top glass. Using masking tape to hold back the rubbers, I rubbed it back to a smooth , but not…

Running our bargain basement MGB GT over the last eight months has proved to be interesting to say the least and I’m pleased to report that during my tenure the car’s behaved faultlessly and has provided me with an enjoyable couple of thousand miles of trouble-free classic motoring. Having said that, I hope it doesn’t put the kybosh on my remaining few weeks with the ‘B, as I noticed the engine was starting to miss slightly the other day on the motorway when the rev counter reached 2500rpm. At the time I put the slight hesitation down to damp electrics, as the MG lives outdoors. It had also been covered over to protect the marine ply panel I’d fitted after taking off the ‘B’s shabby Weathershield folding roof before sending…

As a nation, we Brits were pretty late to adopt the now-standard five-speed manual. The Italians gave you five cogs in the mid ’60s and I still remember the ‘5 Vitesses’ badge on the boot of a neighbour’s Renault 30 I used to pass on the way to school in the late ’70s. One manufacturer which clung persistently to the four-speed world was of course British Leyland in all its forms and although you could get the luxury of an overdrive on the MGB, the Midget was never even offered with the option. The four-speed box does make a standard Midget a noisy way to travel on the motorway and the spread of ratios doesn’t help performance either, but these days there’s a way round the problem, with five-speed conversions…

Just this week I was reading an old road test from the early ’80s which compared the bargain basement cars from Eastern Bloc makers and concluded – inevitably – that their poor quality, lousy driving dynamics and steep depreciation made them a poor second-best to a used mainstream car. Except, that is for the Skoda. The Czech maker somehow clung to a dignity which escaped the Ladas, FSOs and Wartburgs and which most likely had something to do with its proud history as one of Europe’s oldest and most innovative car makers. Indeed, before WW2 a Skoda was an expensive car and the equal of the German brands with a reputation for engineering excellence. Reduced by lack of hard currency to relying essentially on a single design from the 1960s…

The definition of what exactly constitutes a classic will probably never be pinned down but something as unique as the oddball RX-8 will surely qualify on the grounds of technical innovation alone. Here we have a sports coupe with a pair of extra hidden suicide doors and seating for four, powered by a rotary engine containing just three moving parts which puts out 240 bhp... made by the sole Japanese car maker to be controlled by an American company. The story of the RX-8 starts with the rebirth of the Mazda brand which began in 2003. The company’s official line even admits that the brand needed revitalising, especially in Europe and the process kicked off by platform sharing with Ford which generated the Fiesta-based Mazda2, the Focus-based Mazda3 and the…

A tiny town in Finnish Lapland attracted worldwide attention when it decided to auction off the 128 cars – many of them Soviet-era Ladas – abandoned at its border by asylum seekers. Organised by Finnish customs, the sale took place over Friday, July 15 and Saturday, July 16 in the ‘middle of nowhere’ town of Salla. Fine weather on the Friday saw 500 collectors turn out from all over Finland; as conditions worsened on the Saturday, numbers dropped to around 150. Eastern Bloc car enthusiasts (one as young as five years old) came to view a lone Moskvitch, late-model GAZ Volgas and a large collection of (AVTO-VAZ) Ladas. Economic hardship forced these cars’ former owners west in search of work. “Crossing the border on bicycle was no longer possible [Finland…

Sweeping air quality reforms in London proposed next year could sting owners of pre-2006 cars – including Historic Vehicles aged 40 years or older – for £21.50 to enter the city centre. Currently under consultation, the 'Toxicity Charge' or T-Charge is part of a radical initiative aimed at curbing pollution in the capital; costing £10, it would be added to the existing £11.50 congestion charge for any car built before Euro 4 emissions standards. Any vehicle in the Historic Vehicle taxation class will not have to pay the 24 hours a day, seven days a week tariff to enter the Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) – although newly elected Mayor of London Sadiq Khan wants to roll out the city centre ULEZ a year earlier than his predecessor Boris Johnson,…

Between 1922 and 1939, almost 300,000 Austin Sevens rolled off the production lines at Longbridge and today the number of surviving Sevens adds up to around 10,000 worldwide. Although the majority of these are saloons and open tourers, a very small number of Austin Seven van and pick-up bodied variants have survived. Taking on a down-at-heel vintage car-based commercial in need of a major rebuild can be a daunting experience, especially if the project was anything as challenging as the one Trevor Fawcett, a long term Austin Seven fan, ended up buying. “I already had a 1928 Austin Chummy and wanted a late 1920s C-Cab van as a new project” explained Trevor before adding that when he went up to Scotland in 2013 to collect his new project, it wasn’t…

“It’s loud and scary but if something is going to let go it will let go at idle as much as it will at 2000rpm!” Well this has been an exciting month. What with starting the Frogeye’s engine and fitting the interior, it’s all coming together now! Firing up the engine for the first time is always a nerve wracking experience with all sorts of questions and cutaway diagrams floating around your head… Did I do that bolt up, have I set that correctly, etc. The only thing for it is to be methodical in the build and hope for the best! First up was ensuring there was enough oil pressure. The dash was rigged with the gauge, so I just needed to fill the oil filter with oil. This…

“They’re a really great bunch and left me feeling hopeful for the future of the Morris Minor” The last month has been rather action packed and the glorious, albeit intermittent, weather has meant I’ve spent much more time behind the wheel, rather than being underneath a classic; a welcome change! I kicked off with a trip up to the Morris Minor National Rally. As I have been working in London this first meant a blat up the motorway from Lymington. A good solid 130 miles later I arrived, rather tired but happy with how Lily had been on the long motorway journey. After a few days layover, I embarked on the long trip up to Catton Hall in Derbyshire for the Morris Minor Owners’ Club 40th Anniversary Rally. This was…

“All circuits tested correctly and I was happy that the wiring harness rearrangement could be described as a success” This month it was a case something completely different when I was asked to rewire an MGB. The car is undergoing a restoration and has the makings of a very nice car. The restorer had removed the old wiring and electrical components and disposed of all harnesses as well as some of the components with the intention of making up his own looms. He had got as far as wiring the tail lights using a section of multicored cable used to wire lights for a car trailer, but making a harness for the front of the car became more complicated. So he had purchased a new harness. Although I owned and…

Last month saw us sorting out the inside of the Caravelle and with the interior looking and smelling many times nicer, things were going well, especially as I’d managed to remove even more of the graffiti promo paintwork. That is, until I found myself stranded with a return of the rough running which had afflicted the bus when we’d first acquired it. Back then a local garage had looked at the injected waterboxer motor, dismantled and cleaned the induction system and airflow meter and admitted they didn’t quite know how they’d done it but it seemed to be running again. I thought no more of it until, as reported in my editorial column last month, I found myself stranded again with an engine which would fire but continually die. There…

I once worked with a chap who could never even remotely be described as being into cars, but when updating his commuting hatchback had his heart set on the Mazda 323F. The reason? The otherwise unremarkable Mazda boasted pop-up lights, a unique feature for a four-door family car. That little anecdote sums up Mazda in the UK quite neatly. Before the advent of the trendsetting MX-5, its cars were mostly unadventurous, but concealed neat little features which set it apart from the mainstream. Meanwhile, for those who appreciated the engineering elegance of the Wankel engine, Mazda offered the RX series of rotary-powered cars. Not mainstream by a long way, but a fascinating diversion with Mazda being the only maker to persevere with the idea after NSU had been driven into…