Sommaire pour Spring 2017 de Classics World

British Motor Heritage (BMH) is now taking orders for MkI Mini (1959-1967) body shells – with deliveries expected to start this May. Priced at £9950, it offers restorers the chance to start from scratch with fresh sheet metal. The BMH shell makes use of classic Mini specialist M-Machine’s floors and sills; retooling for these parts would, claim BMH, have made the project unviable. Firmly tilted at historic motorsport use, the firm has also used later front bulkhead crossmember assemblies and opted not to form the roto-dip hole in the rear seat squab pressing as per an original MkI Mini shell. BMH stated its intention to produce 15 retail standard bodyshells by April. “For someone doing historic motorsport needing a new rule-compliant shell it would suit very well. For someone rebuilding…

It was while writing about a 635CSi for a BMW magazine that I first heard the joke “What’s German for rust..? Karmann!” and anyone who has been involved with the Osnabrück coachbuilder’s products will probably chuckle wryly in agreement. Although it’s been a part of the giant Volkswagen Group since 2009, Karmann has produced body and tooling for VW, Audi, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Renault, Bentley, BMW and Saab. but despite its Teutonic heritage, not all its products have been as robust as we’ve come to expect from the German car industry, meaning restoration of its products can often be a big task. One of the firm’s earliest collaborations with a major car manufacturer was the contract to produce a Beetle coupe for Volkswagen which lacked the capacity for the smaller-volume niche…

Last month I indicated that I was having problems with the Stag’s ignition switch. Having decided that a replacement was probably required, I ordered a new switch from Rimmers to be sent by air parcel post, which typically takes 7 to 14 days to arrive here on the other side of the world in Australia. In an effort to reduce downtime, I removed the old switch from the car prior to the arrival of the replacement but it soon became obvious that this was not going to be a five-minute swap. So to improve access I removed the steering wheel followed by the upper and lower column covers and light switch. The light switch required disconnecting, as two of the light wires are integrated into the ignition switch loom. Once…

Because I’ve been enjoying using the Porsche, I’ve not done anything on the Davrian for quite some time. Well, I’ve redressed now that situation as I noticed that the Davrian’s offside front tyre was look rather deflated. Fortunately, I have a compressor ...which should have made inflating the tyre a breeze. Unfortunately, not only is the compressor seemingly feeling its age, my airline inflator didn’t appear to be working that well. So I bought a better quality one. It works well, but is stymied by the compressor’s lack of puff. I might have to start saving for a new compressor! As I mentioned recently, I haven’t been able to get the Davrian’s engine to fire. I think the problem lies with the electronic ignition. But rather than mess around with…

Last month saw us heading to Milan in our quest for a rot-free Mini and after driving some 1059 miles back to base, the car was MoT’d and ready to be UK registered. One thing we’d planned on doing all along though was to convert the car to a more convenient right-hand drive and this is a much easier job to do on the Mini than it is with many other cars. There’s still a fair bit to consider though: the pedals are different, so you’ll need the RHD equivalents for the correct year of car. The steering rack is also different, as is the routing of the heater hoses. Relocating the master cylinders will mean new brake pipes, and you may want to move the wiper motor and mechanism…

This year marks 30 years since BMW’s first automotive V12 engine was launched, 1987 marking the arrival of the 750iL with the M70 engine. This was BMW’s first production postwar V12 engine but the firm had already considered and developed various V12 options during the 1970s, some of which were considered for use in the first-generation 7-Series before being replaced by the turbocharged straight six 745i. Early V12 prototypes were basically two ‘small six’ M20 engines spliced together and BMW also built the larger M30 into V12 units for testing. The M30-based V12 was too big and too heavy however, and the smaller unit was not considered suitable due to the wide cylinder head and the need to adjust the tappets – simple on the six-cylinder but hard work on…

If you’re not up on all things Ingolstadt, you might not have noticed that the current Audi range runs logically from A1 to A8 but no longer contains an A2. The official line is that the model wasn’t replaced in 2005 because it was simply too costly to produce and retail at a price the market would stand. All of which was a great shame since the A2 represented some genuinely innovative thinking and in many ways paved the way for the widespread use of aluminium as a weight-saving measure in cars today. The A2 story begins back in 1994 with the launch of the A8 which utilised a revolutionary aluminium structure. Dubbed ASF (Aluminium Space Frame) this had been developed jointly by Audi and the US aluminium company Alcoa…

Land Rover Classic, the arm of Land Rover which specialises in the restoration and preservation of historic vehicles from the marque’s past, unveiled its newest initiative, Range Rover Reborn, at last weekend’s Salon Rétromobile in Paris, of which a full report will follow in next week’s issue. The brand showed off the first example of the run; a fully-restored Range Rover Classic on its stand at the show in the French capital as an example of what paying customers can expect. As you may imagine, the Range Rover Reborn initiative is set to offer customers a chance to own a Range Rover Classic that has been restored to brand new condition using Land Rover Classic parts by Land Rover’s own restoration team. As far as provenance goes, the programme is…

Ford had high hopes for the Puma when it first appeared in 1997. By 1999, sales were fast approaching the 50,000 mark for the Zetec-powered Fiesta-based coupe which gained a reputation for good handling and agile performance from a small car that weighed in at around one ton (roughly the same as an MGF). A high performance version made marketing and financial sense, so initially, an ST160 model was planned, whose name represented the power output that would be achieved from a tuned version of the standard Puma’s 1.7-litre Zetec-SE engine which was rated at 125 bhp. The Puma ST160 first appeared at the 1999 Geneva Motor Show, boasting toys including a limited slip differential, Alcon front brakes, rear brake discs from the Focus, uprated camshafts, a reworked cylinder head…

“I managed to gain access to the mounting bolts through the inner wing using a motley collection of extension bars” After getting on so well with the Mazda last month, I decided to delve deep into the engine bay and sort out the slightly wobbly engine. Worn engine mounts tend to only show themselves when the car is being driven. Trying to rock the engine by hand to identify the problem rarely works – after all, they have the weight of the engine on them and gravity is going to mask the problem even if the mounts themselves are worn to bits. I suspect I’m like a lot of people these days in that before I attempt any job, I have a quick search on the internet and see who’s…

As a fresh-faced sub editor just starting out in car magazines one of my first assignments working for Fast Ford magazine was to cover a modified Escort RS Turbo. Anyone familiar with Ford’s ’80s favourite will know that the blown 1.6 CVH can be tweaked to the tune of 250 bhp or more, but on this occasion I remember the photographer and I were left standing around while the technicians ran the car up time after time on the rolling road. Curiously, they weren’t fine-tuning their set-up to extract a crucial few more horsepower from the car but were actually attempting to downgrade it – something I’ve never seen before or since. The reason? The owner had just bought the car but being in his early twenties was struggling to…

An article appeared in a Sunday supplement a few years back claiming how the majority of residents living in a remote part of the Scottish Highlands always choose a Saab when it came to buying a new car. The reason for this was because the only way for these residents to access the national road network was to drive across a semi-paved causeway when the tide was out. Other makes of cars couldn’t cope with this regular dose of salty water and quickly rusted away. The islanders’ Saabs on the other hand still looked good after several years of regularly splashing their way across the tidal causeway and the essence of the article reinforced the commonly held claim that these Swedish built cars were as tough as old boots. As…

Not content with hoovering up Opel and Vauxhall, Groupe PSA recently announced its purchase of the historic Ambassador brand from Hindustan for approximately £9.5m. Groupe PSA has no plans to reintroduce the old Ambassador, produced between 1958 and 2014 as a locally modified Series III Morris Oxford which became an Indian national icon. Groupe PSA bought the intellectual property rights to the Ambassador name with the intention of producing a new range of Ambassador branded cars with Hindustan’s parent firm, CK Birla Group, by 2020. Assembly of vehicles and components will take place in the Tamil Nadu area. At its peak, the Uttarpara line in West Bengal (which produced the last Ambassador) employed 2000 local people. Hindustan Motors (HM) has been struggling with its finances for years; local trade unions,…

Conceived and developed by Ford’s talented motorsports team at Boreham and lighter, faster and more nimble than the legendary Lotus Cortina, the effervescent Escort Twin Cam (often affectionately referred to as the ‘Twink’) burst onto the scene in February 1968. With its intoxicating blend of mechanicals... including the lusty Lotus Cortina Twin Cam engine, which was slotted into a suitably-strengthened Escort GT bodyshell (subsequently known as a Type 49), the Twin Cam proved to be even greater than the sum of its well-chosen parts. It was raw rallying talent and paved the way for over two decades of rear-wheel-drive Escort domination. Not only was Ford’s motorsport future bright, but Ford’s motorsport future would be Escort-shaped... for quite some time! The seminal Twin Cam remained in production until June 1971, ultimately…

This month has flown by on planet Frog, as all work on the Healey 3000 has been put on hold to get the supercharged Frog beauty going for the summer. Last month I left with a little headache of the exhaust manifold clashing with the inlet manifold. The original and very rare cast iron manifold’s branches turned very sharply as they left the head and the bespoke Shorrock inlet manifold worked around this shape. When purchasing the bits for the Frog a number of months back I couldn’t find an original cast exhaust so went for a lovely tubular manifold that swept away from the head in a free-flowing manner... straight into my inlet manifold! I had a hunt around and still could not find a cast exhaust and therefore…

It’s fair to say I’ve made the job of putting the Lowlight back together considerably more tricky and time-consuming by modifying the car. The point is often made that putting a bigger engine in creates a whole magnitude of other jobs. I put my stock convertible back onto the road from practically a bare shell in a couple of weeks, but the Lowlight in comparison is nearing the year mark, partially because I’m doing it to a higher standard but predominantly because of the time-consuming process of making up custom parts. This month is no exception, as I embarked on refitting the steering column and wheel. If I was doing it the standard way this would have been a simple task of stripping, cleaning and repainting the column and mounts.…

A recent project car switch resulted with yours truly taking over our Triumph 2500TC Estate from Simon Goldsworthy, editor of CM’s sister title Triumph World. My first impression was that the 2500TC was a bit of a Marmite car – you either love it or loathe it. However, a few miles into my weekly commute home after picking the Triumph up had me totally won over, so you’ll guess what I spread on my toast in the morning. We’ve been kept busy over the last few weeks, as the Triumph is going to be the star turn on the Triumph 2000 and 2500 Register’s stand at the NEC’s Restoration Show, which runs from Friday March 31 to Sunday April 2. As this show is a hands-on event, club members from…

When the piston inside a brake caliper looks a little rusty around the edges or it seems stuck and won’t perform as well as it should, then the sensible solution is to renew the brake caliper. In some cases, this may be the only answer, but new seals and dust covers are available for many brake calipers, which can be renewed at a far cheaper price than a new or exchange unit. Even if a piston is beyond repair, many are readily available as new stock. With many reconditioned brake calipers costing around £70 each, seal kits often cost a quarter of this price, so they could save you a few hundred pounds if you need to overhaul more than one of them. Fitting new seals into a caliper won’t…

1 Know your limits Be honest with yourself before you end up with a car in bits! Can you really tackle bodywork and engine rebuilds at home? Before you get started, decide what you’re going to send out and what you’ll do yourself. 2 That petrol emotion Nobody in the history of car restoration has managed to stick to their budget but try not to let emotion cloud your judgement when you’re costing it up. Prices for most things are online so a couple of hours spent Googling can at least give you a ballpark figure for getting on the road. 3 Bits ’n’ bobs This one from regular CM contributor Scott Higgins: keep a bits ’n’ bobs box. It will come in useful, especially when you’re trying to finish…

The Wankel engine was a revolutionary design that made the reciprocating internal combustion engine created by Nikolaus Otto in 1876 seem more like a product born in the white hot heat of the industrial revolution. A Wankel engine is about as simple as it gets in engineering terms, as power in a rotary powerplant is produced by a troichidal shaped rotor orbiting an eccentric shaft in the centre of an epitrochodal shaped housing. As the rotor orbits the housing, it creates a large odd shaped combustion chamber and even with two spark plugs firing the mixture, not all the fuel is burnt. This leads to a high level of noxious fumes exiting the exhaust, a situation that's compounded by a rotary engine's fondness to consume engine oil. Wankel engines are…