Sommaire pour September 2017 de Classics World

Back in the mid-Eighties, the reputation of the Czechoslovakian-based Škoda marque was constantly bashed by a string of unfair jibes about the so-called inadequacies of the firm’s rear-engined cars. Although a seemingly never-ending stream of bar room comics ridiculed the S100 series as being outdated and outmoded, I always thought the S110 coupé and the heavily revamped Estelle saloon were well-engineered cars and provided economical motoring for anyone on a tight budget. It’s a very different story today, as Škoda Auto is now a successful division of the mighty VW Group but, if I remember correctly, a period road test in a popular motoring magazine once described the very capable fast back styled Škoda Rapid as a poor man’s Porsche – comments on a post card please! So when offered…

EMERGENCY JUMP STARTERS Classic car electronic specialist, Powerspark Ignition, has launched two new emergency jump starters. The Lifeline Ampstore and Ampstore Plus are powerful handheld devices small enough to keep in a glovebox but strong enough to jump start up to 40 cars on a single charge. Both devices can retain their charge for six to 12 months, making them perfect for keeping in your boot or in the garage in case of emergencies. Both devices can charge your mobile electronics, such as mobile phones, while the larger Ampstore Plus is also able to charge laptops and notebooks. Buy them online today at: www.simonbbc.com CLARKE 24V IMPACT WRENCH A powerful impact wrench makes an ideal addition to any toolbox and the Clarke CIR220 24 volt cordless impact wrench has enough…

Whenever the Dolomite is mentioned, either in conversation or in a magazine, it's usually suffixed by the word 'Sprint'. And with good reason, as the Dolomite Sprint with its perfect blend of quality, equipment, driving appeal and electrifying performance (certainly for 1973), is a thing of legend. I have happy and, it must be said, mostly Tarmac-tearing memories of the Sprint (back in the day) and it is a car I've long held a candle for. Nevertheless, because the Sprint has become such an icon of its time and is so well-known and respected, it has tended to eclipse every other iteration of the Dolomite. Well, it's about time that less-sporting-but-equally-worthy variants, such as the Dolomite 1850 HL for example, emerge from the Sprint's shadows. Our feature car belongs to…

Although our XJ40 Sovereign has only covered 53,000 miles from new, the feel coming through the steering wheel has been deteriorating over the last couple of months. Initially I thought it was my imagination, as the car pulled up in a straight line and didn’t wander. However, the steering wheel was not centred correctly and when changing from one lock to another while negotiating a sharp corner, I was sure the car changed direction slightly. This resulted in me having to wind on a tad of extra lock, so in the interests of safety, this situation had to be dealt with urgently. Examining the Jaguar’s steering while lying under the car, I noticed a slight amount of movement at each end of the steering rack when the wheel was turned…

This month I’ve been concentrating on finishing the trickier jobs on the Lowlight that were holding up putting the interior back into the car. One of these was the wiper assembly and washers. Prior to painting the car, I’d enlarged the holes in the scuttle panel so I could use the much more durable assembly from a later Minor. The assembly had been fitted a few months ago along with a pair of new wiper boxes and as the system had been modified, I thought it prudent to thoroughly check it before making everything even more inaccessible by fitting the dashboard and instruments. I connected up a borrowed battery and set the wipers off on their repetitive sweep. They seemed to work well enough, although they were a bit slow…

CITROËN XSARA HEATER FAN SPEED CONTROL Q I have a Citroën Xsara 1.9TD LX and there is a problem with the heater fan speed control. It will operate only on the fastest speed (No.4) position. The rheostat has been replaced, five times now and the heater motor has also been replaced. I am at a loss as to what to do next. I have read up on the internet and apparently this was a common problem, but I have not been able to find the solution. As the blower will only operate when the engine is running, I am wondering if this is somehow connected to the reason for the constant failure. Brian Ford A Having replaced the rheostat that number of times now, it would seem that the unit…

Most classics are fitted with drum rear brakes and over time the rubber seals in the cylinders that activate the shoes will deteriorate and allow brake fluid to escape. Even a small dribble can look like a flood after it’s been swirled around the brake drum by centrifugal force and if the fluid levels aren’t checked regularly, the first sign of any trouble will be an ominous oil stain radiating around the inside of a rear tyre. As the front brakes provide most of a car’s stopping power, rear brake shoes seem to last forever and self-adjusting setups are often ignored between services, leaving the condition of the cylinders and shoes to be inspected when something goes wrong. Quite a few wheel cylinders have a threaded adjuster working on wedges…

Modifying a cylinder head at an amateur or DIY level may not produce the results achieved by a professional, but it’s a cheap approach to achieving better breathing for your engine and perhaps a little more bhp. It’s also a good opportunity to develop an understanding of air flow characteristics and how it can help improve the performance of an engine. All you need is plenty of time and patience for taking lots of measurements and working out what alterations need to be made. The job of the cylinder head is all about the flow of gases and the harmony of moving parts. Modifying a cylinder head merely aims to allow the gases to flow more easily and the parts to move more freely. There are mixed opinions concerning the…

A worldwide search has begun for 50 Vauxhall Viva HB GTs to commemorate 50 years since the model’s launch. The appeal began at the recent Vauxhall Opel Bedford Association (VBOA) National Rally 2017, launched by Viva Outlaws chairman Guy Turner (seen above with his Viva GT). Working with the Viva Owners’ Club and Drivers’ Club, the Outlaws hope to get 50 Viva HB GTs together during the VBOA National Rally – though Guy admitted it would be a difficult, if not impossible task: “HB GTs are incredibly rare in the UK. Only 4606 were built. A few went to New Zealand and we know of several in Canada. Rust and spares shortages have claimed most of them. We want as many HB GTs on the ground as possible – running…

Once the butt of a string of bar room jokes throughout the Seventies and early Eighties, Škoda Auto has come a long way since those dark days. Models like the cheap-as-chips S100/S110 and the later, heavily revised Estelle and sporting Rapid were prime examples of the huge gulf that existed in technology between car manufactures based in Western Europe and those operating behind the Iron Curtain in Eastern Bloc territories such as Czechoslovakia where Škoda Auto is still based. It wasn’t always like that though, as back in the early Fifties, communist-controlled Škoda Auto was producing a range of good-looking cars that included the 1098cc 1101 series. These tough little family cars were built in the time-honoured body-on-frame manner and were capable of coping with the worst of Czechoslovakia’s notoriously…

The design of the Stag’s front grille, bumper and air intake tends to restrict the flow of ram air through the radiator. This issue is compounded by the lower air intake being partially covered by the front bumper and numberplate, which tends to direct the airflow over the intake and under the car. Ever since the start of my Stag project, it's been my intention to increase the amount of unassisted airflow through the radiator. A few local Stag owners have fitted a hidden spoiler in the space between the grille and the radiator to deflect the airflow, resulting in a low-pressure zone drawing in more air. I have tried to find some information on this but have so far drawn a blank, so I remain in the dark on…

I’ve finally managed to do some work on the Davrian and have fitted the new water pump. Thanks to Glyn’s expert machining, the pulley now fits snugly and lines up perfectly with the other two pulleys. Even though the task was somewhat convoluted, thanks to the different flange design etc, I’m really pleased with how this job has turned out. Time will tell, of course, but the new pump appears to be watertight and also spins freely, without any of the ‘grittiness’ that was evident with the old one. While on the subject of plumbing, I’ve been busy connecting the pump to the header tank and cylinder head. I tried a 19mm copper ‘T’ piece, as I felt it might flow better but it wasn’t right. Especially when I measured…

Since its launch in the UK in February 1977, the Ford Fiesta has consistently been a massive seller and has rarely been out of the top five list of best selling cars. 2017 marks the 40th anniversary of the launch of the Fiesta and whilst very few of those 1977 models are still around, the MkI Fiesta is now an appreciating classic that is easy to drive, very simple to work on and represents a different approach to classic economy cars than the ubiquitous Morris 1000. Here are ten interesting facts about the original Fiesta you may not know… 1 What, no GL? Oddly as it would seem, for the first three years of its life, Ford didn’t offer the usual base (Popular), L, GL, S and Ghia model hierarchy…

The Achilles’ heel of the classic Mini and the front-wheel drive 1100 and 1300 models from BMC has got to be the rear subframe. We’ve heard of horror stories of them collapsing before your very eyes and catastrophic corrosion that means the best solution is to remove the entire assembly and renew it. Sadly, the British motoring industry hasn’t progressed too far, and the MGF’s and TF’s front subframe has also inherited the same problems. For this workshop, we’re concentrating on the rear subframe as fitted to the Mini and the aforementioned ADO16 1100/1300. All of the latter feature hydrolastic suspension, whereas the Mini also uses this wet setup, but most are dry with rubber cones, trumpets and telescopic dampers. In the case of hydrolastic suspension, you’ll need a suitable…

Development of the BMW M40 engine began in 1984 as an all-new engine to replace the existing M10 four-cylinder unit that had been launched in 1962 with the New Class 1500 saloon. Whilst the M10 was a good unit, it was quite heavy and its fuel economy was average at best, plus it was expensive to make. In its final form, both the 316 and the 318i M10 units had a 1766cc displacement. The M40 made its debut in September 1987 in the face-lift (plastic bumper) E30 318i, and engine development ran in parallel with the 5.0-litre M70 V12 unit – both units shared parts like connecting rods, valves, rockers and suchlike. The M40 used an iron block with 84mm bores, a lightweight 81mm stroke crankshaft, alloy crossflow cylinder head,…

The car industry is highly competitive and manufacturers are very keen to build up a dependable market of loyal customers and carve out a definite and identifiable market niche. An advantage in design or technology can lead to decades of market dominance. So it’s understandable that car companies are keen to keep as much work ‘in house’ as possible – why work with the rivals you’re trying to beat? But the industry is also one of high costs and low margins. Developing a new car could cost tens of millions of pounds in the Seventies and an all-new average family car can easily be a £500 million project today. Sharing this cost is very attractive. And different manufacturers have different areas of expertise, which can be turned to the partners’…

A Heritage Trust plaque was unveiled on Saturday 8 July paying homage to the first Reliant three-wheeler built in the garden of a Tamworth house. ‘Bro-Dawel’, once the home of Reliant founder Tom L. Williams, will now be listed as part of the Tamworth Heritage Trail in recognition of the role it played in shaping the history of a well-loved British marque. Arranged in collaboration with Tamworth Heritage Trust and the recently formed Reliant Motor Club, surviving members of marque co-founder E.S. ‘Thommo’ Thompson’s family and former board director Barrie Wills were brought together. HRH The Princess Royal, an honourary member of the Reliant Motor Club, was also informed about the ceremony and she sent her best wishes for the unveiling. The plaque was revealed by E.S. ‘Thommo’ Thompson’s granddaughter,…

The British Motor Museum at Gaydon was delighted to accept Honda’s donation of the British-built Honda Civic Tourer 1.6 i-DTEC that holds the Guinness World Records title for fuel efficiency. Based on the strict and rigorous Guinness World Records guidelines, the Civic was awarded the official title of the record ‘Lowest fuel consumption in all 24 contiguous EU countries’, which was calculated across the entire 13,498km (8,387 mile) journey. The rules stated that all 24 EU countries had to be visited and the same two drivers must be in the car for the whole journey, meaning that Fergal McGrath and Julian Warren of Honda’s European Research & Development Team were faced with the challenge of driving a daily average of 600km, sharing a minimum of 7.5 hours behind the wheel…

When Donald Healey and his son Geoffrey were burning the midnight oil alongside Gerry Coker working on the prototype Healey 100, these talented engineers were probably unaware of how their new creation would attract the attention of Austin boss Sir Leonard Lord when it was displayed at the 1952 London Motor Show. After sitting in the prototype, Lord was apparently so impressed with the new sports car that he promptly told Healey: “We’ll make it!” However, history has shown that the directors at Austin already had a good idea of what Donald Healey was producing at his Warwickshire-based workshop and the Motor Show wouldn't have been the first time Lord had ever seen Healey’s masterpiece. Whatever version of this fabled tale takes your fancy, it has been 50 years since…

My trusty and slightly rusty Austin 1800 Landcrab has been very neglected of late. It’s all road legal, but sadly gets pushed to the back of the queue when it comes to driving. When the sun is out, the MX-5 is the car of choice. If we’re off to show off, the NSU gets a lot of attention. So the Landcrab, the car that everyone remembers like an old family member, gets left at home. It’s a real shame because when I do take the 1800 out I absolutely love driving it and people are genuinely delighted to see the car, even if it’s a scruffy old bus. The 1800’s reliability record was smudged of late when the water pump decided to give up the ghost – full report to…

Regular readers will know that ever since we acquired our MGF it’s been, to put it politely, a bit leaky in the coolant department. It’s a common problem with MGFs and is a result of the car’s design, which places the radiator at the front with lengthy pipework connecting it to the mid-located engine. With the rubber hoses connecting the radiator and engine block to the rigid underfloor pipes, there’s a total of eight joints in the system and as the cars have aged, the mild steel underfloor pipes have tended to corrode, which means eight chances for it to start leaking. Since Rover didn’t provide a low coolant warning light, many’s the MGF that has been run low on coolant without the owner realising before it’s too late and…

One of the major issues pioneering automobile manufacturers had to overcome was how to smooth out and dissipate the kinetic energy released by a car’s leaf spring after it absorbed a bump. This was an important factor for the development of driver control and passenger comfort, especially as early cars were generally fitted with solid tyres. Early shock absorbers consisted of two arms, one attached to the axle and the other to the chassis, joined at the apex by a bolt with a friction disc in between. Tightening the bolt increased resistance on the disc containing circular pieces of leather sandwiched between steel plates. Although this crudely limited a spring’s bounce rate, it did little to control rebound. The first hydraulic shock absorber was the rotary vane type, the original…

The Jaguar XK8 made its first public debut 21 years ago at London’s Royal School of Art and although this good looking V8-powered Big Cat is now acknowledged as a modern classic, serious depreciation means early examples can be picked up for a fraction of its original £48,000 brochure price. With barn find condition E-Types now costing a king’s ransom and the price of an unfairly maligned XJS starting to gather momentum, it won’t be too long before the cost of a decent XK8 starts to rise accordingly. Now is definitely the time to grab what in a few years time will seem like an insane bargain. Before we start to explain how to keep one of these fine thoroughbreds in fine fettle it’s worth looking at the XK8’s complex…

The Seventies could be described as the now sadly defunct Saab marque’s golden age. High performance models, such as the 99/900 Turbo flew in the face of the firm’s safety-conscious image and helped boost the brand to an exciting new level. Sales continued to soar on both sides of the Atlantic and market research indicated that a large four-door executive saloon would be well received in the showroom, especially if the new model was also available as a hatchback. Developing an all-new model from the ground up is a very costly business and by the end of the decade, Trollhättanbased Saab had entered into an agreement with Fiat/Lancia to collaborate on a joint project developing a new platform that would culminate with the introduction of the executive-sized Saab 9000. Although…