Sommaire pour February 2019 de Classics World

I was chatting to a couple of members from a well-known vintage car club the other day and part of our conversation touched on what these chaps considered to be a general lack of interest in pre-war cars. Although the club in question has some very enthusiastic younger owners, the majority of the members were brought up when black and white TV only had three channels and remember the days when a single pound note could buy a couple of gallons of Esso Extra and a packet of fags. Their main concerns were based on what would happen to their pride and joys when they could no longer look after them but I personally think worries like this are largely unfounded. While pre-war cars might not be everyone’s cup of…

A 1970 Morris Minor 1000 that has covered just 3020 miles from new passed under the hammer at Classic Car Auctions’ Christmas-themed sale on December 2, raising a total of £6600 for a very good cause. Hundreds of classic car enthusiasts filled the auction hall at the Warwickshire Event Centre, where the Minor was offered as the first lot of the day. The Snowberry White saloon had been bought as an investment by a Cardiff solicitor, who kept the car in long-term storage on axle stands with wheels off and paintwork waxed for the duration of his tenure. Having received £2000-worth of recommissioning work in September, the owner had generously put the car to auction in aid of Safe Families for Children Wales, with the auction house also donating its…

Tickets are now on sale for the popular annual historic motorsport weekender Race Retro, held at Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire, on February 22-24. The 2019 event will pay tribute to Formula One’s turbo era, with the Motor Sport Hall of Fame Live display marking the 40th anniversary of Jean-Pierre Jabouille’s 1979 win at the French Grand Prix in a Renault RS10 - the first victory by a turbocharged racer. Include on the display will be the Williams FW11 actually driven by to championship victory by Nelson Piquet, powered by a turbo’d 1.5-litre V6. But it wasn’t just in Formula One where turbocharged racers made an impact. In the 1973 American Can-Am Championship, South African driver and later Formula 1 World Champion, Jody Scheckter, raced the fearsome Vasek Polak Porsche 917/10 powered…

HOT WATER PRESSURE WASHER Sealey’s new professional, heavy-duty PW2000HW hot or cold water pressure washer has been designed for extensive domestic use through to heavy commercial use and is fitted with a heavy-duty, upgraded induction electric motor with a diesel water heater. For convenience, the PW2000HW comes with an ergonomic handle, accessory holder and automatic temperature regulation. A detergent tank is built in for direct suction and this model is fitted with a powerful 2100W motor with a 420ltr/hr water flow rate and a maximum pressure of 135bar. This hot or cold pressure washer features an automatic Total Stop System (TSS) that switches the motor and heater on and off when the lance trigger is operated to help prolong motor life. Conveniently fitted with eight metre long hose reel, it’s…

Launched at the Paris Motor Show in 1955, the game-changing and show-stopping Citroën DS was a fabulously fresh and futuristic creation that made its contemporaries look staid and stale by comparison. The DS was a technical and stylistic ‘tour de force’. Not only was the body svelte and slippery (complete with detachable panels) and achingly beautiful, Citroën’s engineers had for the most part eschewed conventional mechanicals, particularly when it came to the suspension design. The DS wafted along on a very advanced hydro-pneumatic system that caressed and cosseted its occupants, no matter how rough the road. What’s more, this ground breaking set-up boasted a unique adjustable ride-height facility that enabled the car to be raised in order to negotiate really harsh terrain. When the DS came to rest, turning the…

When Martin Chamberlain bought a Limeflower coloured 1970 Maxi 1750 from a friend it was an immediate ‘love at first’. This example, the oldest surviving second-generation Maxi that’s still on the road was followed by a 1977 1500 finished in Sandglow, then by a 1976 1750HL in Java and one year ago, our featured car in the form of a 1979 1750 HLS finished in gold. Here was a well-presented Maxi that was guaranteed to cause a minor sensation in any Mac Fisheries or Safeway car park. When the Maxi was launched in April 1969, it would be fair to describe it as a true watershed model. It was the final Alec Issigonis design to enter production and the first new family car to hail from the recently created British…

Having now obtained the Lowlight’s new propshaft, I’ve reassembled it and put the car back on the road. This repair has made a massive improvement to the overall comfort and given the difference in resonance, I dread to think what damage the old one was doing. Without a doubt, it was a good idea to replace it. I just wish I’d done the job before driving the car to Wales! I’ve also got the headlining back in place but couldn’t get the metal hoops to work effectively. So I ended up using a few pieces of thin wood sprung in place in a similar way, which I then screwed the headlining board onto. This seems to work for now, although it is still slightly low and I’m worried it will…

After the delights of attending the Great Dorset Steam Fair, I was asked by the Allard Owners’ Club to put on an autumn event for the club as my 2017 65th Birthday Bash had been a great success, with a record number of Allard’s gathered in one place for many a year. So I decided the Sussex Steam Engine Club’s annual autumn road run, which is now in its 25th year, would be the place to hold the gathering. The club’s road run ends up at a little village called Waldron in East Sussex and we gather at The Star Inn, which has a large car park and green at its rear. Here some 100 or so cars ranging from classics to veterans came and joined in the fun, plus…

Last month we left off having pretty much stripped the front of the E-Type out. The interior was fairly simple to remove as the seats had only recently been fitted and there were no carpets of headliners in the car. There is a bit of pressed steel up in the roof to mount the interior trim too and thankfully these parts were all there. They can be recovered, as they look either expensive to buy new (if you can get them) or impossible to find second hand. The rear boot floor woodwork looked in great condition and was also put in the restoration pile. There is a drop down bulkhead on an E-Type that has some lovely chrome catches and these were all in great condition, so this was also…

According to the vendor, this very tidy looking 1965 Series 2A Land Rover has recently been fitted with a new canvas top and the vehicle’s recently applied deep bronze green topcoat has been sprayed rather than being applied by a brush or roller. Inside the cab, a seat belt bar has been added to allow three inertia reel belts to be used and the Land Rover’s clean and tidy rear deck is unfitted except for a load area mat and grab handles. Free wheeling hubs and oversized tyres have been fitted to improve fuel economy and the recently fitted front and rear towballs should make manoeuvring a heavy trailer or caravan easy in any weather conditions. This well sorted Series IIA is up for sale at £14,995 and is offered…

Introduced in January 1969, the TR6 was the last of the traditional separate chassis sports cars. It would enjoy a long production life – indeed the longest of all the TRs – and was only replaced in 1975 by the arrival of the futuristic wedge shaped TR7. This longevity is all the more remarkable when you realise that the car was essentially a face-lifted TR5, with a reworked nose and tail styled by Karmann. The underpinnings may have been traditional, but the TR6 brought more than brutish good looks to the party when it arrived. The straight six engine traced its roots back to the Standard Vanguard, but on launch the introduction of Lucas mechanical fuel injection and 150bhp meant this lusty unit’s saloon car roots were a distant memory.…

It must have been a bit of a shock when Robbie Knight was told that he’d just won the 1981 MkI Golf GTi that Lancaster Insurance were giving away as a prize in its latest competition. Already a Golf fan and owner of a MkII, Robbie became the new proud custodian of the smart black GTi at a special presentation on Monday, December 10, despite an emotional farewell from Car Club Manager Dave Youngs, who’s been heading up the project giveaway. “I don’t tend to form an emotional attachment to a car, but this one was different; I’ll miss it for sure.” However, the spotlight was well and truly on Robbie. “I’m absolutely over the moon to be the Golf’s new owner,” he said. “I was speechless when it arrived…

Donald Healey conceived the original Sprite as ‘something a chap would keep in his bike shed’ and it deliberately used familiar, well-prove and simple running gear from ordinary saloons so it would be cheap and simple to maintain. These days the Midget is blessed with excellent parts support from numerous sources, capable specialists all over the country and numerous clubs both for Spridgets specifically and MGs in general. They are a great starting point for the mechanical novice as everything is fairly easy to access and with a good workshop manual and a half-decent tool kit there will be few jobs you can’t tackle at home. The Midget is also the right size to fit in the average cluttered garage or lock-up with useful room to spare. Both the BMC…

Own a classic air-cooled VW, vintage camper (air or water cooled) or a modern Transporter? Then it could be a part of the Pride of Ownership competition at the inaugural VolksWorld Spares Day. The event takes place for the first time at the South of England Event Centre, Ardingly, on Sunday January 27. The perfect season-opener for Volkswagen enthusiasts, this event offers a chance to meet with the VW community and source that elusive part for their vehicle ahead of the annual VolksWorld Show in March. The Pride of Ownership will run alongside the trade area, autojumble and numerous displays, and will see the new trophy awarded to the classic VW, camper or Transporter that wins the most public votes at the show. To display your vehicle, please send your…

Businessman Steve, or more accurately Steve and his wife Tracey own two other immaculate classic cars. The signal yellow Capri is a 1979 3.0S and is the very car from which Corgi produced their Vanguard model of the Capri. It appears just as spotlessly clean as his Cortina, no surprise there, as Steve took just as much care buying and improving his Capri as with the Cortina. Tracey’s classic is the pretty VW Karmann Ghia and it is a genuine UK right hand drive example from 1972 with just 20,000 miles under its belt from new. Steve purchased it for her as a Christmas present, the perfect way for him to get permission to add to the fleet! The black over Saturn yellow paintwork is entirely original; although a few…

I was now on the homeward leg of the E-Type’s engine assembly and only had to fit the manifolds, carbs and exhaust. However, fitting the inlet manifold and carbs sounds a lot easier than it was. This was because with the Jaguar's engine in place, the front frame severely reduces any access to the nuts on the inlet manifold and carbs, particularly at the rear of the engine. I’ve modified a ring and open-ended spanner by reducing the thickness of the ring end and reducing the overall length. This makes the task easier, but it’s still time consuming. Once both manifolds were in place I couldn’t resist giving the engine a compression test and was relieved, if not altogether surprised at the readings, which were exactly in line with the…

Since the Land Rover joined my fleet, I’ve been keeping an eye on the forums and auction sites for any bits and pieces that might come in useful. The list of bargains has been pretty long, and has included two seat boxes. The one in the Landy when it arrived had been hacked about and bodged and the second one I bought yielded some very useful bits, not least a set of original seat runners. In the end, once it was cleaned and the layers of paint scraped away, it proved to be too corroded and was in reality not much better than the one already fitted. A pair of doors came from a local chap who was breaking a Series Three. When I went to pick them up he…

I’ve put the Davrian on the backburner for a while. This is mainly due to the fact that refurbishing our shower room at home (thanks to a leak that’s done a lot of damage) is taking up most of my spare time but not to worry! However, prior to getting stuck in to the plumbing and redecorating work, I managed to find time to do a few things to the 944. On a recent Porsche Club R14 outing, I noticed that the lights were not really that good. So, after doing a bit of online research, I bought a pair of GE Megalight Ultra +130 H4 bulbs. I haven’t actually used the car at night since fitting them but just from looking at the difference in light output between the…

Despite sorting out a bunch of corroded earth connections in our Saab’s engine bay, a rushed repair on what turned out to be a dodgy radiator fan ended up letting the car down on a recent trip to Belgium where we joined up with a group of local enthusiasts taking part in the 2018 Kemmel Historic World War One Flanders Fields tour. The signs that things weren’t quite right in the Saab’s heating department became apparent on the way to the ferry port at Hull when the temperature gauge started to read higher than normal. As the traffic started to queue at the entrance to the port, the gauge ended up in the red and wisps of steam started to escape from under the Saab’s bonnet. It was a good…

Miracle worker. Magician. Genius. These are the labels used to describe Cambridge Concours head honcho, Simon Walters, following the extraordinary work he carried out on the beige Connolly hide wrapping itself around the bulk of my Silver Shadow II’s cabin. I knew the car’s seats had seen better days when I first laid eyes on them, but I never imagined they could be restored to such a high standard without a retrim. Simon kept me updated with progress reports as he worked his way through each stage of the process. This detailed analysis was a welcome way for me to fully appreciate the condition of the dry, worn and torn leather he was having to contend with. His feedback also helped me to understand the methods he was using to…

All the work that’s been done to Lancaster Insurance’s MkI Golf GTI, from the initial purchase last February to the final valet in November, has been featured in Classics Monthly. Here’s what’s been done to the Golf over the last 10 months:– MARCH: A few weeks after the Golf had been purchased from its previous York-based owner, the GTi headed up to the NEC and made its first public appearance on Lancaster Insurance’s stand at the Practical Classics Restoration Show. APRIL: The first job was to MoT the Golf and it passed with just a couple of minor advisories. One of these commented on the condition of the car’s headlights, as the reflectors had deteriorated badly. To put this matter right, a new pair of Hella lamps were fitted. MAY:…

Rarely has a car proved the adage that good things come in small packages than the ‘Spridget’ (a nickname that allows us to refer to both badge-engineered versions – Austin-Healey Sprite and MG Midget – in the same feature). Despite being among the smallest classic sports cars available, they are renowned for putting one of the biggest smiles on their drivers’ faces. Although the model originated as the ‘Frogeye’ Sprite in 1958, it was the MG Midget, introduced with the MkII Sprite in 1961, which was by far the biggest seller. Indeed the Midget outlived its slightly older sibling by many years, with the last Sprite being made in 1971 while the Midget continued until 1979 and around two-thirds of the 355,000 ‘Spridgets’ built were MGs. That end date of…

Today the once highly respected Triumph brand is owned by none other than the mighty BMW; a legacy of the German company’s ill-fated Rover Group acquisition. Its ownership of the famous badge is at once both ironic and entirely appropriate since the Coventry maker once occupied the market share now enjoyed by the Bavarians. There’s no better illustration of this than the Triumph 2000/2500 saloons, which represented the aspirational choice for the upper mid-range company buyers in the mid ‘Sixties who today covet the 3-Series. More affordable than the Jaguar, but decidedly more upmarket than a Cortina, the Triumph – alongside the Rover P6 launched within a week of it – was the first of the new wave of smaller, more compact executive cars that replaced the old ‘3.0 litre’…

In 1927, during the depths of the Great Depression, the ambitious Rootes brothers took their first steps to acquiring the 1907 established Hillman Company, and by the end of the following year the brothers had also taken a controlling interest in struggling Humber Ltd. Over the next few years Coventry-based Hillman would became the dominant marque in William and Reginald Rootes' rapidly expanding group of companies that would eventually go on to include the Sunbeam Motor Company (1934) and Singer Motors Ltd (1956). Prior to Hillman being taken over by the Rootes brothers, the company had been a highly respected manufacturer of large luxury cars, such as the six-cylinder side valve Wizard, and under new ownership, Hillman was reorganised to produce smaller and more affordable family-sized cars. Rootes introduced the…

In 1956 Rootes launched a Hillman version of what was essentially a four-door version of the Sunbeam Rapier, an exciting new model that had been announced a year earlier. Badged as the Minx, the new Hillman was larger and heavier than the outgoing Phase VIIIA and revisions to the 1390cc inline-four increased power to a very useful 51bhp at 4600rpm. Originally available as a saloon and convertible, a Minx estate was introduced in 1957, the same year the Series II was released with a shallower grille and an auto clutch option. The Series III came on the scene in 1958 powered by an upgraded 1494cc engine and the following year Rootes further improved the Audax Minx range with the introduction of the Series IIIA. Changes included wrap over rear fins,…

RM Sotheby’s has announced it will be auctioning off a dream garage chock full of iconic modern classics ranging from the early ‘Eighties to the early 2000s. The incredible 140-strong collection belongs to a single private owner and will be offered across four different RM auctions in 2019 – two in Florida and two in Europe. The collection features a full spectrum of European marques, including a whopping 34 cars from Mercedes-Benz, with a host of Alpina and M performance models in amongst the 27 BMWs on offer. A rare manual 928 GTS, a 911 Turbo 3.6 and a 2011 GT3 RS appear in an eight-strong group of Porsches, while British luxury is catered for by 12 cars from Rolls-Royce, 11 from Bentley, eight Jaguars and four Aston Martins. Other…

Steve Earl is a man who knows exactly what he wants from a classic and once his mind is made up, he accepts absolutely no compromise when going about getting the right car. For years, he had harboured the thought of getting a Cortina MkIII. Not just any MkIII though, it had to be exactly the same specification as the car he bought as a teenager on passing his driving test. With 1.2 million MkIII Cortina’s having been produced in the first half of the ‘Seventies, this may not sound too much of a challenge. But Steve’s first ‘Tina, long since scrapped, had been a 2.0 litre GT when most were 1600s and his had a two-door body when most had four doors. The replacement Steve sought had to match…

I recently met Martyn Corfield who owns the Atalanta company (www.atalantamotors.com) that builds a modern version of the original 1938 Le Mans car. Martyn is a petrol head and just as passionate about the original cars as he is about the new project. He owns three original Atalantas, one of which is the actual car that ran at Le Mans in 1938 and is hoping it will be restored in time to run at Classic Le Mans in 2020. This car has a Gough straight-four 1.5 litre, with three valves per cylinder, twin spark ignition and a Cotal electro-magnetic gearbox. Back when it ran at Le Mans, the Atalanta was the only British sports car with all independent suspension and full hydraulic brakes. When Martyn offered me a drive in…

There are few more practical classics than a Series Land Rover, whether you want one for work, pleasure or both. It’s one of those timeless designs which is just as good at doing the task it was designed for today as it was 70 years ago. Over a production run which spanned nearly four decades and over a million vehicles, there are few places a Series didn’t go or jobs it didn’t do. 1 The ‘Land-Rover’, as it was originally titled, was conceived in 1947 as a means of tiding the Rover Company over the difficult post-war years when customers and raw materials for its upmarket saloons were in short supply. Having considered and rejected a rear-engined twin-cylinder economy car, engineering director Maurice Wilks settled on a 4x4 utility vehicle…

If you’re keen to have a professional-looking finish to your classic car’s wiring loom, then soldering wires together or to connectors is regarded by many as the best method. The process involves melting solder wire into and around the strands of two or more wires that need to be joined together to create a strong bond. It can also be used for securing a single wire to a number of different types of electrical connector. If done properly, a soldered connection should be neat-looking, robust and long-lasting. Unfortunately, the downside to this approach is that it is more time-consuming than crimping connections or using similar time-efficient connectors. Yet just like many aspects of working on a classic car, the fastest method isn’t always the best. So if you’re interested in…

The whole point of the Midget was to offer genuine sports car fun at minimal cost, and that’s exactly what they still do today. Don’t let their modest size, tiny engines or minimal on-paper performance fool you – these are immensely fun and rewarding cars to drive even at 30mph and there are few machines better for bombing along a country road on a fine day. The Midget is not about outright speed but the involvement the driver has in the driving process thanks to the short-travel suspension, high levels of grip, ultra-quick and accurate steering and a slick short-travel gear change. The breed gained performance and luxury with the years. The early models had a 948cc engine of just 46bhp but an upgrade to 1098cc (56bhp) and front disc…

The unitary constructed Phase III Minx was the first completely restyled post-war Hillman and power for the new model came from an 1185cc side valve engine driving the car’s rear wheels through a four-speed gearbox. Introduced in 1948, the Phase III Minx featured a coil spring and double wishbone front suspension set up at the front and model variants right from the start included a saloon, convertible and a spacious estate. In 1949 Rootes introduced the more powerful Phase IV Minx featuring a larger 1265cc engine capable of producing 34.5bhp at 4200rpm. A smattering of extra external chrome along with a floor-mounted handbrake identified the 1951 introduced Phase V and in 1953 the Phase VI Minx was introduced with a wide mouth grille and a redesigned cylinder head. The Phase…

Unveiled in 1966, the all-new Hunter was the first of Rootes Group’s Arrow range of badge-engineered cars and was also the first Hillman to feature MacPherson strut front suspension. Styled by William Towns, the undynamic looking Hunter was a pure workhorse and to some eyes the mid-sized three-box saloon lacked the flair of the Cortina, the Hunter’s major competitor in the hotly contested fleet market. Power came from a 1725cc inline-four rated at 80bhp at 5000rpm and a mild facelift in early 1967 did enough to warrant the new model being marketed as the MkII Hunter. A further raft of improvements in 1970 with Rootes now firmly under Chrysler ownership resulted in the Hunter range being expanding to fill the gaps left by the withdrawal of Singer Gazelle and Vogue.…

Initially launched as a four-door saloon and later as a five-door estate and a two-door saloon, the Avenger arrived on the scene in 1970 with a new range of engines and filled the gap between the Imp and the Hunter. Up to 1973, a version of the Avenger was also marketed in the US as the Plymouth Cricket and in the same year back in the UK, a series of engine upgrades increased the swept volume of the 1248cc unit to 1295cc and the 1498cc inline-four to 1598cc. The model line up included the Deluxe, Super and GL models, all available as an estate or two- or four-door saloons, while the GLS was only available as a four-door saloon. Although the pick of the bunch for many buyers was the…

Although the Peugeot 205 is recognised as the model that helped revive the French carmakers flagging image, the company wasn’t originally planning to develop a direct replacement to take over when 205 production was phased out. Back in the early ‘Nineties, the management at Peugeot had thought the days of the expensive to build premium sized Supermini were numbered. Customers wanting a base model 205 would be diverted into a high end 106 and those seeking a bit more power and space would opt for an entry level Peugeot 306. Realising how this policy would leave the door wide open for the likes of the Fiesta, Clio and VW Polo to take over from where the 205 had left off, a decision was made by the board to develop a…