Inhaltsverzeichnis für Spring 2018 in Classics World

From May 20 this year, vehicles of historic interest first registered before 1978 that haven’t been significantly modified in any way will be exempt from the annual MoT test. Although pre-1960 vehicles have been exempt for some time, this latest change to the MoT regulations will soon leave thousands of owners responsible for checking their vehicles are safe to go out on the road if they decide to take advantage of this major rule change. These new regulations have obviously created a lot of controversy amongst owners and throughout the trade and if a pre-1978 registered car has been heavily modified, such as converted into a hot rod or a kit car, that vehicle will still have to undergo an annual test under the new rules. To help clarify the…

A fundraising appeal for £10,000 has been launched to replace an 87 year-old grandfather’s pride and joy. Bill West, from Wantage, Oxfordshire drove his 1965 MG Magnette MkIV around most days and having owned the rare ‘Farina’ for 40 years, the MG was his only roadworthy car. The Magnette was taken from Bill’s driveway in the early hours of Tuesday, February 20 and found the next day burned out in Bradfield, near Reading. The theft was widely publicised via social media and unsubstantiated reports have suggested that it may have been the amount of publicity online that led to the car getting torched. Although there is no evidence of this, many stolen cars end up being burnt following a joyride in order to destroy any forensic evidence. Steve Turner, Secretary…

It was during a Nuffield Motors board meeting in January 1950 that the ‘Magnette’ name was first resurrected in relation to an experimental car fitted with a 1¼-litre Riley engine and by mid-June the noted automotive designer and stylist Gerald Palmer and MG’s new sports saloon bearing the Magnette moniker had become inextricably linked. The name might have been sorted; but the actual car was only given the green light for production in November 1951. It was also announced that the new model was to be introduced at the 1952 Motor Show. The Magnette, which was still being referred to as the 1¼-litre was to be followed by a similarly styled Wolseley saloon in March 1953 to replace the unsuccessful 4/50. The pressure on the design and development team was…

Before staring to search the classifieds for a RM Series Riley, the first port of call should be to join the Riley RM Club or the Riley Motor Club. Members not only have a huge amount of knowledge about these cars, you may be lucky and find a a car for sale through the club without trawling through the adverts. Both clubs also have a huge amount of spares for sale and considering how few examples survive, the RM Series is remarkable well served for spare parts. Here’s what to look out for when viewing a Riley RME. BODYWORK When viewing a Riley RME, the first thing to check is the condition of the timber frame in the doors, A-pillars, around the front screen as well as the wooden rail…

I’ve managed to bag some real bargains for the Land Rover, thanks to a pretty endless round of searches on the forums, Gumtree and eBay. And I’ve even managed to start to find some much needed mechanical bits. The first bargain that had me doing backflips was a full set of basic – but brand new – Land Rover seat pads for just £40. I want the Series to look as standard as possible inside, so these had been put on the ‘vital’ list, and as I got further on with the project, had already decided that these might have to be a ‘bite the bullet and buy new’ purchase. Getting them for a fraction of new cost certainly put a smile on my face. I then managed to pick…

Moving closer towards finishing the Lowlight, I’ve been fortunate that Lily – that’s my other Minor’s name – has been trouble free. I know this could prove to be a very dangerous thing to say, so watch out for a catastrophic breakdown next month! However, when filling up with fuel recently I’ve noticed the smell of petrol wafting into the car. It wasn’t too overpowering, but was clearly a tell-tale of a fault somewhere. Leaking petrol isn’t good for a number of very obvious reasons, so I quickly sought to rectify the problem. There are normally three sources of leaks from the fuel tank, either from the fuel level sender unit on the top of the tank, from the from the rubber pipe that connects the fuel filler to the…

In last month’s episode of Project XJ6, we left off having to fix the car’s inoperative horn in time for the MoT test due to a faulty coolant hose. Although the twin horns worked fine when we first got the car, they started acting up and would only work when in the mood. At first we though a duff relay could be the culprit but as the horns on the XJ6 sit high up in the air intake behind the front number plate, we didn’t rule out corroded wiring, a blown fuse or even faulty horns. Fitting a new horn relay and changing the fuse failed to produce any sound, so further investigation was obviously required before the Jaguar would pass the MoT. We’d booked the car into classic friendly…

Ford’s most successful four-seater fastback is undoubtedly the Capri, which made its debut at the Brussels International Motor Show in 1969. What many regarded as a toned down British version of the American Mustang that was launched five years before, the Capri was an instant hit both in Europe and overseas (over half a million Capris were exported to the USA). By 1974, a tailgate instead of a boot lid was introduced to create the MkII. And in 1978 some major improvements were incorporated for the launch of the MkIII Capri. A smoother bonnet, a steel front spoiler and aerofoil-louvered radiator grille aimed to improve aerodynamics. The predecessor 3000GT Capri boasted a top speed of 116mph with a 0-60mph time of nine seconds. The MkIII equivalent, known as the 3000S,…

One of the most desirable saloons from Jaguar and Daimler has got to be the pillarless coupé produced between 1975 and 1978. It’s hard to miss, with its two doors, lack of B-post pillars and a vinyl roof. Wind all four of the side windows down and the top half of the XJC looks more like an American muscle car than a British executive saloon. Development of the coupé started with a short wheelbase four-door Series I Jaguar XJ saloon, retaining everything forward of the front and rear screens. It is reputed that Jaguar used as many parts and panels as possible from the four-door saloon to help keep development costs down. The door frames for instance, were manufactured using a saloon front door and extending their length by four…

The Wankel rotary engine had already been fitted to the NSU R080, the Mazda Cosmo and the Citroen GZ Birotor. What was set to be the engine of the future, sadly failed due to high fuel consumption and emissions when compared to a conventional four-cylinder in-line combustion engine. Perhaps the biggest success story for the rotary engine has been with Mazda’s RX-7, which was launched in 1978. It had what was known as the 12A rotary motor fitted, which featured two rotors that each displaced 573cc, giving a total of 1146cc and boasting 105bhp at the flywheel. The power to cubic capacity ratio was too high, so the displacement was doubled to 2292cc and the RX-7’s engine classified as a 2.3-litre. When in 1984, the 13B was fitted to the…

The ultimate in Beetle-based exotica that the kit car market has ever produced has got to be the Nova. Designed by Richard Oakes, who went on to create the Mini-based Midas, he apparently took inspiration from the Lamborghini Muira to help create the Nova (having worked for Davrian probably also contributed). The first examples appeared around 1971 and overseas production soon took off under the brand names of Sterling, Eagle and Eureka in countries including Australia, South Africa, the USA and mainland Europe (Nova in Spanish means no go, so a new name was essential in many cases). Sadly, the Nova didn’t do so well in the UK, where the company formed by Oakes and his engineer/business partner Phil Sayers, Advanced Automotive Design, eventually failed. By 1975, there was nothing…

Alex Rankin owns a couple of Saab 900 models, as he explains, “At the moment I own both a turbo and a carburettor 900. They both have special charms and different appeal. The five-door turbo is an early car from 1981, so it is an eight-valve 145bhp chain-driven overhead cam engine. The other car is a 1987 basic ‘cooking version,’ the complete opposite to the turbo with no sunroof, electric windows, mirrors, etc., and only 100bhp from the same eight-valve engine. But the basic model has a lovely no-nonsense character, harking back to the good old days of simplicity, with reliability built in as standard. I love them both – chalk and cheese. A blast in the turbo is exhilarating, as you watch the boost building on the gauge before…

During the early ‘Seventies, Triumph needed a sports car to sell in the USA and steal customers who were buying the Porsche 914 and Datsun 240Z. Developed with MacPherson strut front suspension, a live axle at the rear and powered by the Dolomite’s four-cylinder two-litre engine, the initial plan was to launch the car for the American market in 1975 and follow on with Europe later. Consequently, the TR7 was designed to meet American safety standards, so a fixed-head coupé was all that was offered at first due to rumours that convertibles were set to be phased out. The UK’s launch date for the TR7 was May 19, 1976. The same two-litre engine was used as fitted to the USA export models, but with less emissions regulations. Whilst the Americans…

Howard Bryan raced a V6 fixed head coupé Tasmin for RT Racing in 2006, winning Class C of the TVR Dunlop Tuscan Challenge. He has also owned two 400SE Tasmins, but now drives the iconic, Holden-powered, 5.0-litre V8 White Elephant Tasmin prototype, which was built in 1988 for TVR’s Managing Director Peter Wheeler. “Purchased from Peter Wheeler in July 2004, just a week before he sold the company to Nikolai Smolenski, the White Elephant had sat in the ‘TVR Graveyard’ at the back of the Bristol Avenue factory for over 10 years,” explained Howard. “With much of the glass missing and the bonnet loosely fitted, the prototype TVR came complete with a family of mice nesting in the engine bay and a tree growing out of the boot. The nut…

Sometimes, enthusiasts spend months or even years seeking out the right car. Once in a while, though, ‘the right car’ seems to come along and finds you when you aren’t even looking. It all began with a call from a local solicitor who is also a long-term family friend. He was dealing with a rather unusual probate matter; the deceased was a somewhat eccentric old lady who, following her husband’s death some 10 years earlier, had become a virtual recluse, preferring her six dogs to any human contact. She visited Peter’s office each Christmas for a meeting regarding some rented-out property and always left him a bottle of good port. But other than that, the only person she ever saw was her gardener and he wasn’t allowed in the house.…

The most common method of delivering power from the output end of a rear wheel drive car’s gearbox to the road wheels is through a precision engineered ‘flexible’ tube called a propeller shaft. One end of this shaft is bolted to the input side of car’s rear-axle assembly via a universal joint, while the other end is attached to the output end of the gearbox by a sliding splined coupling that transfers power to the differential gears and drive shafts. The splines at the gearbox end allow the propeller shaft to vary its length when the rear axle swings through a fixed arc as the vehicle rises and falls on its suspension. So that the propeller shaft can change its angle accordingly, a universal joint (UJ) at each end of…

On Sunday, June 10, Vauxhall Motors will open the doors to its world-renowned Heritage Centre in Luton, which this year is celebrating its first quarter-century. Housing a collection of 75 vehicles spanning the company’s entire 115-year history, the Vauxhall Heritage Centre will be welcoming families and enthusiasts to its Park Street base to see everything from the first Vauxhall model – a 5hp, single-cylinder, chain-driven ‘horeseless carriage’ – to the very latest 600hp VXR8 GTS-R. This year sees several other important Vauxhall anniversaries, as it’s 35 years since the first Astra GTE was launched, 55 years since the first Viva arrived on the scene, 40 years since the first Chevette HS and Vauxhall’s best-selling Corsa turns 25 this year. Vauxhall’s Heritage Centre Open Day will run from 10am to 4pm.…

3D printing of spares has long been heralded as a solution to sourcing scarce historic vehicle parts. Problems sourcing safety critical components – brake calipers and bottom suspension arms, for example, has long been a concern of lobbying groups such as the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs (FBHVC) and its stakeholder clubs. Porsche Classic recently raised the bar when it announced it had reproduced nine out-of-production parts by 3D printing. These components, available from its parts catalogue, include a clutch release lever for the 959 supercar and exhaust heat exchanger brackets for the 356 B and C and 20 more parts are planned for release in the near future. For metal items, Porsche uses selective laser melting (SLM) to layer up powdered steel onto a plate – a light…

The MG Magnette ZA was designed and styled by Gerald Marley Palmer, one of Britain’s greatest production car designers who’s outstanding technical ability first come to the fore during his tenure with truck-maker Scammell, a company Palmer had joined as an apprentice in 1927. While working at Scammell and with backing from Anthony Fisher (the founder of the Institution of International Affairs), Palmer was commissioned by racing driver Joan Richmond to design and build the Scammell-engined Deroy prototype, a stylish two-seater roadster. Due to insufficient backing the Deroy project regrettably remained a one-off, yet Palmer’s efforts hadn’t gone unnoticed. Certainly, it was the Deroy that brought Palmer to the attention of MG’s Cecil Kimber and in 1938 he was offered the job of running MG’s design office at Cowley. However,…

When our 1988 XJ40 Sovereign went for its last MoT the handbrake was good enough to get through the test but could only be described as borderline. Once home I removed the rear road wheels and found the nearside mechanism was free and working as it should but the offside revealed a problem. When I inserted a screwdriver through the adjusting hole into the handbrake drum, I discovered that the adjuster wouldn’t move. This is a typical situation where a car has been standing unused for an extended period and prior to my ownership, the Sovereign had stood for 14 years. After cutting away the safety wire securing the rear calliper bracket mounting bolts, the fixings were all loosened off The ABS sensor was unclipped and the caliper bracket moved…

With the Allard’s water pump all fixed after having fitted it twice and all the drama that went with that operation, it was time to work on other motors from my fleet. I had the Allard M out at a couple of events last year in late June and on the August Bank Holiday Monday and had been to the Great Dorset Steam Fair for three days reporting on events before flying off to Cork to open a show at Ballinascarthy, County Cork, Republic of Ireland. This event marked 100 years of Ford and the weather was gloomy and overcast, totally different to the excellent weather at Great Dorset, an event which I thoroughly recommend if you have never been there before. Great Dorset will be celebrating its 50th birthday…

This month on planet Healey has been one of more panel gapping. As I mentioned in my previous diary, this could be regarded as a very repetitive process and one best done when you’re not in a rush. I’d set aside a day to gap the doors and wings, but lost count of the amount of times the panels went on and off the car. After spending three quarters of the day on the job, I still had to walk away and go out on my mountain bike knowing that if I persevered it would probably just make things worse. Thankfully, I’m getting much closer now, as the left-hand door that was miles out in last month’s article is starting to look far more presentable However, the Healey 3000 has…

1978 was an important year for Jaguar and its XJ saloon. It not only marked the tenth anniversary since the launch of this successful model, but it was undergoing a serious re-styling and for the first time in Jaguar history, this was handed over to an external designer, Pininfarina of Italy. Up until this point the XJ series II as it was known had survived since 1973. Engines throughout its life included the 3.4- and 4.2-litre XK straight six and the V12. Bosch-Lucas fuel injection was introduced on the XJ12 in 1975, producing 285bhp at 3500rpm. The XJ 3.4 (3442cc) was introduced in June 1975, which produced 161bhp. The XJ12 could hit 0-60mph in an impressive 7.8 seconds, whereas the 3.4 and 4.2 were only a little behind at 10.9…

Ray and Di Smith are about to celebrate their silver wedding anniversary and have owned their first Beetle-based Nova since 1989 when Ray bought it as an abandoned project. The abandoned Nova came with no glass, a canopy that had a GRP sunroof, no steering column (just the Beetle steering box and linkage) and no interior. The plan was to allocate each Sunday to completing the build and for the first ten years, progress was steady. One of the most frustrating parts of the build concerned the canopy. Ray had managed to make it fit and added additional strengthening to accommodate a glass sunroof. He’d also worked out how to raise and lower it hydraulically, but could he manage to keep the headlining stuck to the underside of the roof?…

Launched in 1977 in Geneva, but with right-hand drive models being introduced in February 1978, the Porsche 928 was intended to replace the 911. Unlike the rear-engine air-cooled 911, the 928 had a more modern water-cooled all aluminium 4474cc V8 under the front end that powered the rear wheels. Equipped with single overhead cams for each bank of cylinders and the same Bosch K-Jetronic fuel injection system as used on the 911SC, the 928 produced 240bhp. Rear-mounted transaxle gearboxes included a five-speed manual and a Mercedes-derived three-speed auto. By 1980, the 928S was launched with a larger 4664cc V8 that produced 300bhp via electronic fuel injection (Bosch L-Jetronic) and the Mercedes automatic gearbox gained a fourth ratio. The entry level 928 was dropped in 1982, leaving the S to continue…

Many people claim that when the Triumph 2000 and Rover P6 were launched in 1963, the luxury car market had changed forever. These sleek-looking saloons were aimed at the middle management market. In the case of the Triumph, it was designed by Giovanni Michelotti and officially unveiled on October 15, 1963. Powered by Triumph’s two-litre straight-six OHV engine, sales began on January 8 the following year. By 1968, the engine capacity rose to 2498cc, still with six in-line cylinders and the introduction of fuel injection. The smaller Triumph 2000 was retained, also with fuel injection. However, there was also a TC version fuelled by twin carburettors. By 1977 the Triumph 2000 and 2500’s days were numbered. Production was axed, but showrooms were still selling cars in 1978. We contacted Yorkshire…

Steering joints come in many shapes and sizes, but all have one thing in common – they wear out. A condition check of all the joints making up a typical steering system is part of the MoT test, but with classics registered in and before 1978 becoming MoT exempt from May 21, this will no longer happen automatically. From May many owners will want to carry out this check for themselves, as opposed to having it done professionally and this guide shows were to start. The key components of a steering joint are a ball on the end of a screwed thread, a socket where the ball sits, a rubber dust cover to keep the dirt out and some grease to keep everything lubricated and moving freely. Sometimes, if a…

The straight six engine produced by Mercedes-Benz for all those years was not all the same one of course and there have been big ones and little ones over the years, but most are related one way or another. The story starts in 1951 with the M180 SOHC straight six 2.2 litre, designed to power the post-war W187 cars that were slightly old fashioned even then. The engine though was pretty modern, with an overhead cam and over square bore and stroke dimensions of 80mm x 72.8mm. Mercedes built a bigger 3.0 litre version coded M186 that powered cars like the 300 saloon as well as the 300SL Gullwing. The M186 is the bigger six, physically larger than the M180 and with no interchangeable parts. Both engines used a four…

Whatever happened to Standard? Ask the ‘car experts’ in the pub and the chances are you’ll be told the company was taken over by Triumph. Not true. It was actually Standard which, in December 1944, took over Triumph – or what little was left of it. Triumph’s troubles had started pre-war; financial problems had necessitated the sale of the bicycle and motorcycle businesses in 1936 and by 1939 the Triumph Motor Company was in receivership. The goodwill, plant and other assets were bought by Thomas Ward, a Sheffield-based scrap metal company. Then in 1940 the factory was destroyed by enemy action during World War Two. However, Standard’s Managing Director Sir John Black needed a brand with which to pursue his deep personal vendetta with Jaguar’s Sir William Lyons. The two…

We’re now well into British Leyland’s 50th anniversary year, which has so far proved that the interest, or even fascination, with what must be one of the biggest industrial failures in British history remains as strong as ever. It has also been a chance for lots of retellings of the complete story of BL, be it the years under the ‘Flying Plughole’ logo of 1968-1986, or the broader years going back to the formation of the British Motor Corporation in 1952 or forward to the final collapse of MG-Rover in 2005. These tellings have, by necessity, tended to somewhat breeze over years immediately before and after the creation of the organisation in the first place. These were the years when the structure and leadership of BL were created and its…

The diesel backlash has no end in sight – with more than a few implications for the classic car movement. As sales of new diesel cars fell last year (in anticipation of punitive new diesel tax brackets), figures published by the Department of Transport revealed that the UK’s CO2 levels have increased. The prospect of running a diesel classic (or future diesel classic) certainly got harder just recently. Following a landmark court ruling on February 27, the German Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig set a new precedent allowing the cities of Stuttgart and Duesseldorf to ban older diesels from accessing city zones. Closer to home the situation is also bleak, as London’s Toxicity Surcharge (or T-Charge) makes life expensive for any non-tax exempt classic and older diesels. Another Ultra Low…

The heartbroken owner of a Citroën 2CV – which was stolen and systematically stripped for spares – wants her story to serve as learning experience to other classic car owners. Active in the 2CV community, Clare Howarth, well known in Tin Snail circles for her Citroën mugs and artwork, spent ‘days crying’ after her 2CV Dolly, known as George, was taken from her home in Didsbury, Greater Manchester. George was found nearby several days later as a rolling shell with little left apart from its galvanised chassis and low mileage engine. Clare inherited her love for the Citroën marque from her father, Africar pioneer Tony Howarth. She came into 2CV ownership 21 years ago and has driven George all over Europe. The car was found less than two miles down…

Although the ‘Twenties and early ‘Thirties could be described as Riley’s ‘golden years’, by 1938 this highly regarded motor manufacturer was in serious financial difficulty despite having introduced a string of successful models over the years sporting evocative names, such as the Chatsworth, Alpine, Monaco, Merlin and Kestrel. With the dark storm clouds of World War Two looming over Europe once more, a cash strapped Riley Motors had no choice but to file for bankruptcy. By the start of 1939 what was left of the company’s assets had been purchased by Lord Nuffield for just over £150,000. By the end of the conflict Riley’s parent company, Morris Motors had been absorbed into the mighty Nuffield Organisation and the Riley RM series would be the final model to be developed by…

Having got the repaired gearbox back, the next job was to fit it to the engine using an engine crane to support the weight whilst sliding the input shaft through the clutch plate. The ‘box was supported at two points from a balancing beam so it could be levelled to ensure it slid easily into place, which is the easiest method when working on your own. After refitting all the bolts around the bell housing and tightening them up to the correct torque, the gearbox was filled with oil, as it’s much easier to top up to the correct level when the engine and gearbox are on the bench. Next to be fitted was the new high torque starter motor and I am pleased to say that it fitted as…

I had planned to have the Davrian on the road by the time you’d be reading this. But I haven’t managed it. However, I have managed to do some work to it and the car is almost ready for the MoT. One of the big headaches I’ve had with the Davrian is the carburettor linkage. When the Davrian was last on the road, the linkage I used had a cast aluminium linkage and it worked well. Unfortunately, some time back one of the cast parts cracked, thereby rendering the linkage unusable. So I bought a replacement. It was well made but despite my best efforts and many hours spent fettling, I just couldn’t get the throttle rod to operate without fouling on the connecting levers. I filed levers, changed them,…

It’s sixty years this December since the first Farina bodied BMC saloon was announced and the vast the vast majority of this once very popular model sadly ended their days as the banger racer’s favourite. The BMC Farina saloon always sold pretty strongly and nearly 150,000 examples of the A55 Mark II alone were sold between 1959 and 1961 – to that you can add the Morris Oxford and the others and it was a range that sold around a million units when overseas built cars were added. The Austin A60 accounted for over 276,000 units and the Morris Oxford sold 87,000 units as a Series V (there was no Series IV Oxford – it went straight from the rounded Series III to the Farina Series V in 1959) and…

Most memories of 1978 will understandably concentrate on what was new that year but my recollections, however, are from the other end of the market. This is because 1978 was also the year when a record number of 10-year old plus bangers were scrapped, somewhat ironically in view of what is happening from May 20 this year when the new MoT regulations come into force. In November 1977 the MoT was tightened significantly, meaning that many cars that had passed up to then could no longer do so without major expense. So in 1978, as their MoT certificates expired, thousands of older cars that would now be considered classics were taken off the road. Many of the changes were simple. For example brake lights, direction indicators and rear number plate…

The Citroën Visa was based on the Peugeot 104 and was launched in the late summer of 1978 as the successor of the Citroën Ami 8. There was a Special and Club model, both powered by a 652cc two-cylinder air-cooled engine that had evolved from the 602cc 2CV and Ami (the extra 50cc produced an additional six brake horse power). The Visa Super used a 1124cc four-cylinder water-cooled engine and eventually there was a limited edition Super X, powered by a 1219cc motor. The Visa’s styling was typically brave, including a satellite dashboard with a control pod, seats in matching strong colours to the rust-red, apple-green and yellow body colours, plus a one-piece front bumper and radiator housing that gave the front of the car a pig-nose appearance. A 1769cc…

“I bought my first Jaguar XJC in 1984 as a 19-year-old car nut already in love with the sleek lines of the two-door pillarless coupé,” recalls Myles Scofield of Miles Classic.›“The love of that shape has never faded and to this day I think it remains one of the best-looking coupé’s ever to have been made. However, my relationship with the XJC was not without its problems, and although only nine years old, my car was suffering from a badly smoking engine and more rust and rot than should have been expected on a car of that age.›Welcome to life with a Jaguar XJC. Fuel bills and reliability meant that the coupé eventually had to go, but I never forgot it and in 2009 I bought my next coupé, a…

A convertible version of the popular Midas Gold coupé was launched in 1989 and appeared on the front cover of ‘Car’ magazine. Based on Austin Metro donor components, the front and rear Hydragas subframes are reused along with the engine and gearbox. For such a small car, it’s surprisingly roomy inside and not in the least claustrophobic. The optional hard top creates a few occasional rattles, particularly when the suspension travels over lumps or holes in the road. Despite the Gold Convertible’s body being constructed of GRP, there’s only a marginal whiff of fibreglass and resin. The shell also sounds quite refined when it tackles a pothole thanks to lots of soundproofing being fitted to this example. Powered by a 72bhp A+ MG Metro engine in this case, the engine…

With the introduction of the front-engine, rear-wheel drive 928 destined to appear in 1978, Porsche had planned to axe the rear-engine 911 in the same year. The 911SC was intended to be the last model to celebrate the end, available as a coupé or a Targa (removable roof panels) with Fuchs alloy wheels, servo brakes, a manual or Sportomatic gearbox, stiffer suspension dampers and a whaletail teatray-sized spoiler at the rear. Powered by a fuel-injected three-litre air-cooled flat-six engine, the first 911SC models produced an impressive 180bhp. This was increased to 188bhp the following year, then 204bhp in 1980. A cabriolet joined the coupé and Targa models in 1982, featuring a manually folded roof. The Sportomatic was only available for one year, after which it was initially an optional extra,…

The replacement for the Saab 99 was launched in 1978 and first went on sale in the UK in March 1979, helping to establish the Swedish aeroplane and car manufacturer as a serious performance carmaker (although many would argue the Saab 96 and rally driver Erik Carlsson had already achieved this status). The Saab 900 was launched as a three- or five-door hatchback with a two-litre four-cylinder petrol engine in various states of tune. Its basic single-carb form produced a modest 100bhp, whereas the twin-carb version gained eight extra bhp. A fuel-injected version claimed 118bhp, but top of the list was a 145bhp turbocharged model. This evolved over the 20-year lifespan of the 900 and featured a 16-valve cylinder head complete with an intercooler to create the 175bhp Saab 900…

Colin Hill of the Simca Club UK (www.simcatalbotclub.org) owns a Talbot Horizon Pullman and explains, “It’s based on the GL model. They produced 500 Pullmans in either two-tone blue or yellow ochre and brown. No optional extras were available, so they are all identical, but mine is an automatic and all non-autos had a five-speed manual gearbox. There’s a special steering wheel, which also appears in the brochure but with a note saying that the wheel illustrated is no longer available on this model. The specification of this special edition is quite impressive – 1442cc engine with twin-choke Weber carb, tinted glass, laminated windscreen, central locking, power steering, a digital rev counter, alloy wheels, velour seats, a four-speaker stereo radio system, one electric window for the nearside front and wood-effect…

Photo courtesy of Steve Ducker The design of the wedgy looking TVR Tasmin began in 1978 when a successor to the 3000M/Taimar was needed. Designer Oliver Winterbottom was the man responsible for the job, so he moved up to Lancashire and established a new design and engineering department at TVR in Blackpool to oversee the work. The results were ready by 1979 and the new car proved to be aerodynamic for such an angular shape, with a coefficient drag of 0.36 (the Lamborghini Countach has a higher CD of 0.42). The Tasmin’s GRP body incorporated closed cell foam sections for the windscreen surround and featured marine ply impact beams at the front and rear, along with side impact beams for the doors. Under the skin a tubular backbone-style chassis was…

Launched in October 1978 at the UK Motor Show, Vauxhall’s all-new Carlton survived through facelifts and revamps until 1994. At first, it appeared to be a humble rear-wheel drive executive saloon with equivalent Opel models known as the Rekord E and the Omega A. Power came from a two-litre carburettor-fed engine and the model was facelifted in 1982, with a larger 2.2-litre petrol and 2.3-litre diesel being available the following year. Fuel injection was introduced in 1984. The Carlton grew in popularity when the MkII appeared in 1986, thanks also to Lotus’s involvement in 1990 the range topping model was the Lotus Carlton, a 377bhp 3615cc six-cylinder turbocharged Autobahn-stormer that boasted a top speed of 176mph. Anyone who couldn’t afford the Lotus-badged Carlton could choose the cheaper GSi to drool…

Modifications to an engine’s induction system, such as fitting a performance air filter, can help to improve throttle response, provide a few extra bhp and smooth out a power curve. It can also have a negative effect, resulting in a system that strangles the engine’s breathing and draws in warm engine bay air that’s less dense than the air outside the car. However, it’s a good starting point for engine modifications and there are often a number of options to explore. So the following pages provide an insight into everything from what to expect from a performance panel filter to fabricating your own induction system. A performance air filter is often regarded as an improvement over a standard filter, but why? Well, a standard air filter is designed to trap…

TOW ALONE In the past I’ve seen a device that will allow me to tow a classic vehicle behind my Range Rover, without the use of a full trailer or a second driver. Is there such a device and if so where can I get one from? Jaimie Taylor There is a choice of towing frames made by Intertrade Engineering Ltd. that will allow you to tow a vehicle using an A-frame, without the requirement of a second driver. The products can be found at www.intertradeuk.co.uk  however, it should be noted that when using an A-frame the Department for transport have the following comment: “When an A-frame is attached to a vehicle (e.g. a motor car) and towed by a motor vehicle (e.g. a motorhome) we believe the…

By the late ‘Eighties the designers and stylists operating in the studios at the recently privatised Rover Group were busy working on a replacement for the company’s range topping Montego and Maestro models. The new mid-sized Rover would help launch the Longbridge based carmaker into a lucrative new market that was already being dominated by prestige models such as the BMW 3 Series and Mercedes-Benz 190. The only problem was that Rover was seriously strapped for cash and to produce a viable rival to take on the Germans would require a massive budget, something Rover didn’t have at the time. The only way forward would be to enter into discussions about further co-operation with Honda. Talks resulted with a pair of existing Roy Axe designed concepts planned to replace the…