Classics Worldの October 2016 の目次

Apprentices at Peugeot UK’s training academy recently finished a two-year restoration of a 205 GTi 1.9 as part of their training. Assisted by the firm’s youngest qualified master technician, Dan Cook, the iconic hot hatch was chosen as a special project by the trainees studying at Peugeot-Citroën's headquarters in Coventry. For the students, used to Peugeot’s current line-up of cars, the 205 GTi served as their first experience of 1980s hot hatches. With a car sourced, work began by stripping the 205 down to its last nut and bolt, labelling the components in preparation for a respray. The students were divided as to which direction the finished car should take: Some wanted an all-out track car, others wanted an immaculate, concours original 205 GTi to best showcase their talents. In…

Basic car maintenance is fast becoming the preserve of the over 55s according to a new survey that leaves youngsters miles behind. Tyre changing, flat battery ‘jumping’ and bulb replacement topped the list of ten automotive ailments the older driver felt confident resolving when compared to motorists aged 18-24. Of the 45.5 million active motorists on the DVLA database, Go Compare claim a shocking seven per cent (3,185,000) were unable to complete any of the tasks listed its checklist (see below). In a depressing sea change, Go Compare concluded that basic car maintenance skills were on the wane; nearly half the motorists it surveyed (48 per cent) didn’t understand all the warning lights on their dashboard and almost a quarter (24 per cent) reckoned breakdown cover was a fair substitute…

TIME 18 months of evenings and weekends. COST Including car purchase: £5000 Good things come in small packages, or so the old adage claims. Well, the ‘Frogeye’ Sprite is undeniably a good car. And, as I recently re-discovered, it’s also on the small side. Being a tad over 6’ tall, and not as slim as I once was, entering and exiting a Frogeye, particularly one that is equipped with a full roll cage, requires degrees of dexterity that were almost beyond me. But I managed, and, I can vouch for the fact that BMCs pint-sized sports car, a 1958 introduction, is huge fun and very, very capable. Our feature car, 22 MHA, resplendent in its rally garb and gleaming red paintwork, is something of a shared passion; a shared family…

“With the best will in the world, you can only drive one at a time” Just as you’ve got to be aware of your work/life balance, I’ve always thought that when it comes to owning classic cars, you’ve got to keep an eye on your work/drive balance. There’s little point in maintaining a classic if you never get the chance to drive it. I’d started to feel that the summer was passing me by and the list of jobs to be done at the lockup was growing by the day - the Lotus topped the list with recurring ignition problems, but it wasn’t the only car needing attention. As far as my own fleet was concerned, I had managed to enjoy getting out in the 1800 after freshening up the…

“With the Davrian now relocated, my single garage is now home to the Porsche.” Well, I’ve relocated–the cars and my garage equipment that is! Thanks must go to Ben Williams who not only provided the car trailer, but also the tow vehicle and the skills needed to extract the Stiletto and Davrian and transport them to their new home. He has a very deft touch when it comes to manoeuvring a trailer! Thanks must also go to another friend of mine, Tony Hounsome. Tony not only lent me his box trailer, so that I could move all of my tools, seats, bodywork and other garage detritus but he also helped move the cars. Thanks guys! As I’ve mentioned before, the Stiletto is a project for the future. David (my son)…

By the late ’90s, Jaguar’s then owner Ford was keen to see bigger sales volume, something which simply couldn’t be achieved with the two-model line-up the firm had been relying on since the 1970s. The result was the S-Type, which despite its retro styling was actually a very modern car, created as a joint Ford-Jaguar development using a platform shared with the Lincoln LS. The S-Type broadened the range usefully and was a big enough seller to lift Jaguar volume over the critical 100,000 units per year mark. Indeed its platform lived on under the XF until the new model arrived earlier this year. Flushed with the success of the S-Type Ford then had the bright idea of increasing Jaguar volume still further, with a model sitting in the segment…

Many of the basic family cars, such as the Mini or Morris Minor, were often equipped with the bare essentials when it came to instrumentation to monitor the engine. A coolant temperature gauge in some cases was all there was, and some modern cars have even eliminated this from the dashboard. There’s no better peace of mind than having a selection of gauges to show the temperature and pressure of the engine oil, whether the battery is coping and you’re not over-revving the engine. Such gauges are often straightforward to fit, requiring wiring for a live feed, earth and a connection to a sender or ancillary that helps to provide a reading. Things can become a little more complicated when you decide to add wires to ensure the gauges are…

Over the years working on classic car magazines you’d think we’d be on first-name terms with the country’s breakdown men, but the reality is that it’s generally the old cars which can be fixed by the side of the road without having to swallow your pride and call for the yellow van. In fact the last few times I’ve had to resort to calling in the experts have been with modern cars: both of them electrical failures oddly enough and both on diesels. A recent chat with an AA patrolman revealed that a call from a stricken classic is a welcome diversion from mis-fuelling and lost keys, with a real chance of job satisfaction. “I still carry a spare set of points and condenser,” he admitted, before sighing wistfully “But…

Between 1948 and 1971 more than 1.5 million Morris Minors rolled off the assembly lines and in its later years the Minor gained a rather unfair reputation as being the car of choice for district nurses and elderly vicars. This sweeping statement is rather wide of the mark, as the Minor was way ahead of its rivals in terms of handling, road holding and passenger space when it first appeared on the scene. The Minor went on to become Britain’s first million-selling car and many enthusiasts even consider this diminutive little saloon responsible for kick starting the UK’s classic car scene back in the late 1970s. The development of the Minor gathered pace in the closing years of the Second World War when Alex Issigonis produced a design codenamed Mosquito…

Anyone with an eye to the classic car scene can’t have failed to notice that BMW celebrates a century of car production this year, but its origins are a long way from the premium products making up its range today. The story begins with Bayerische Flugzeugwerke AG, which was established in 1916 and would go to acquire Bayerische Motoren Werke GmbH in 1922, the point which is regarded by the company itself as the formation of the BMW we know today. Today of course, BMW is known for car and motorcycle production rather than aero engines and the current range is almost unrecognisable even to someone familiar with the BMW line-up of just a few years ago. The Bavarian firm is a master of niche marketing and as well as…

It’s clear that certain British classics have become a scarce sight on modern roads, but according to a recent study by classic car insurance company ClassicLine, there are more than a few of these cars that are surprisingly close to becoming extinct altogether as numbers dwindle dramatically. The company has produced a ‘top ten most endangered in Britain’ list and the results are rather alarming – all ten have seen over 99 per cent of their original production run vanish from our roads. These aren’t oddball rarities either – once ubiquitous models like the Austin Metro, Ford Sierra and Ford Cortina are all at risk of becoming completely extinct. The humble Morris Ital tops ClassicLine’s list – 175,276 were built between 1980 and 1984, while today just 35 are registered.…

MODERN CLASSICS I’ve been a CM reader for 11 years now and I still have the GT6 I was restoring when I bought the first copy. Since then I’ve lost count of the number of modern cars I’ve bought and sold – and that’s not counting the company cars! But I find these days I’m fascinated by what you probably call modern classics, which offer so much value compared to the ever inflating prices being asked for cars like the MGA and even MGB. That’s why I’ve been running an Alfa 156 V6 for the last six months and very enjoyable it’s been too. My affection is usually reserved for Jaguars though and I’d like to know what the classic world reckons to the S-Type. Surely they’re old enough now…

A rumour doing the rounds a few years ago claimed Lotus was responsible for designing the MR2’s underpinnings, as during the time this mid-engined two-seater was being developed Toyota was a major shareholder in the Norfolk-based sports car company. Although this would have been highly plausible, it was proved to be just hearsay as Lotus engineer Roger Becker was only called in by Toyota to help fine tune the MR2’s suspension and steering geometry. The mid-engined MR2 was launched in the UK in late 1983 and the new sporting Toyota with its tiny bit of Lotus DNA was an immediate hit. Power came from a 1587cc DOHC, 121bhp, inline-four located directly behind the driver. The power unit had made its debut earlier in the AE86 Corolla and drove the MR2’s…

“My spring loaded relay was totally different and exploded into a shower of parts when I opened” Three things in life are certain – death, taxes and Toyotas starting first time. Despite horrific rust relegating my MR2 to a dark corner under a car cover, when I’ve needed it, usually to tow something less able up the sloping drive, it’s fired up and done the job. Last month when I decided to move it and get on with the welding I found a spare battery and turned the key. The starter churned and churned but no life. Time for some basic fault finding. First up I tried a couple of cans of fresh fuel and cleaned the HT leads and distributor cap in case it was shorting. Pulling the spark…

“For wet flatting I used 1500 grade wet and dry paper with plenty of soapy water” In my view, one of the most important things that makes or breaks a car is the quality of the paintwork. I’ve never really been fully happy with Lily’s paint job (which was celly and done at home), so splashed out for the lowlight to be painted professionally and got a friendly restorer to paint the car for me. Whilst in pictures it looks great, the reality when viewed close up was somewhat less than perfect. In places the finish was a bit orange-peely and in others there were a few small imperfections. In short, nothing that ruined its appearance but somewhat let it down. I’d originally and quite naively, thought that it wasn’t…

“A closer inspection of the oil on the garage floor confirmed it was engine oil out of the E-Type” This month has been an oily experience. Firstly, as the next few weeks will be busy with house and workshop relocation, I decided to change the Stag oil and give it a check over. I had noticed that on the odd occasion a tiny amount of water had appeared in the engine vee between the cylinder heads and this required investigating. I discussed this with engine builder Greg Tunstall at a recent car show and he suggested I should tension the head and inlet manifold bolts, so I set a day aside to work on the Stag. The car had sat overnight in the workshop, so I removed the air filter…

To do list • Finish off the paintwork • Some nicer wheels • Sort out broken trim • Check noisy lifter • Full service With the T25 now running reliably we’ve been able to put a good few miles under its tyres, including a visit to the Camping at the Castle show held at Eastnor Castle in Herefordshire. In its days with Volksworld magazine, our bus was a well-known sight at VW shows and on my way to the venue I was reminded of my Beetle days every time another VW camper flashed or waved. With the reliability finally sorted last month, I felt it was time to turn to some of the smaller jobs... or is that maybe an excuse not to tackle the elephant in the room in…

Variable valve timing has been around for a surprisingly long time. Engineers employed it on steam engines in the 19th century, and prototype aeroplanes were using such technology as early as the 1910s. Getting it to work reliably in a production motor car engine took a bit longer to sort out though, due to the constantly varying engine speed. Alfa Romeo used a variable valve timing system in the Alfa Romeo Spider from the early 1980s, primarily to try and improve engine emissions for the US market. Nissan also had a variable valve timing system in production in the 1980s, with its N-VCT system on the VG30DE and VG20DET engines. But, these systems only adjusted the valve timing. Honda came up with something different: an engine where not just the…

THE BEST £8500 AVERAGE £3750 PROJECT £900 If you’re in the market for a practical, family-sized classic to use as a weekend driver, the Michelotti-designed Triumph 2000, or one of its more powerful 2500 siblings, makes an excellent choice and a quick look through the classifieds always throws up a good selection of decent looking examples to choose from. With even the youngest Triumph 2500TC looking forward to celebrating its 40th birthday next year, rust can be a major problem and some smart looking cars may have been dressed to sell, with corrosion hot spots cleverly disguised by a tin of deftly applied ‘bodge’ followed by a lick of new paint. Inspecting the bodywork when viewing a classic is probably one of the most important pre-purchase checks and the good…

For the usual reasons I was recently doing business with an estate agent and when he arrived in a well cared-for Saab 9-5 estate, I knew here was a man I could probably trust. The choice of a Saab traditionally marked its owner out as someone who had probably thought deeply about his choice of car rather than the herd mentality of the BMW or Audi driver and that’s something which has increased since the demise of the firm’s car making activities. Even in the GM era you had to make a conscious decision to choose a Saab over the more mainstream competition and today turning up in a late-model 9-5 or 9-3 is guaranteed to reveal any car enthusiasts who might be present. With the current custodian of the…

1-Series Essentially a shortened 3-Series with a hatchback to cater for the Golf market. Launched in 2004 as the E85 and revised into the E87 from 2004, it gained convertible and coupé versions before entering the current third generation in 2011. 2-Series Launched in 2013, essentially a new name for the 1-Series coupe and convertible models. 4-Series Like the 2-Series, the 4-Series badge was used from 2013 and is the new name for the coupé and convertible versions of the 3-Series saloons. Oh and there’s a five-door version too just to confuse you. X1 An odd one, but a niche worth filling for BMW, the X1 was a crossover SUV variant of the 1-Series although it was built largely on the 3-Series estate platform. Launched in 2009, it entered a…

When the first Volkswagen Golf GTI MkI broke cover in 1976, few could have predicted the impact it would go on to have among driving enthusiasts; six generations later, the nameplate remains a best-seller for Wolfsburg. History may not have afforded the status of ‘first past the post’, but the Golf GTI MkI was a hit, capturing the hearts and minds of enthusiasts across Europe. Available in the UK in left-hand drive from 1977 and right-hand drive form two years later, its four decades of success was celebrated at the first Golf GTI Open, organised by the Pistonheads motoring forum and Volkswagen UK on Saturday, August 20; the former arranged a special version of its Sunday Service gathering . 85 Golf GTIs, standard, modified and everything in between – gathered…

Mention you’ve got a plastic bodied Reliant tucked away in the garage to a non-car person and it’s odds-on they will be imagining the car in your life is a cheeky little three-wheeled Robin or Rialto rather than a V6-powered sports car similar to one once owned by HRH Princess Anne. Considering the Scimitar’s sound construction and excellent pedigree – rugged Ford running gear, glassfibre body and box section frame construction – many useable examples of this largely forgotten classic are still bumping along the bottom when it comes to prices and value for money. Dave Envers is the owner of the car featured here and he is of the age when many of the cars he once owned – XJ6 Jaguar, Dolomite Sprint, and the Rover P6 are now…

“Once I’d removed the offside headlight I could see the quality of the installation left a lot to be desired” Enjoying a quick spin out in the A40 one evening and arriving home at dusk, I was somewhat annoyed to discover a non-functioning headlight, courtesy of a couple of drivers who flashed me. The obligatory get-me-home ruse (slapping the headlight) conducted at the side of the road hadn’t worked, so the following morning I returned to investigate the problem. Being the studious sort and always keen to brush up on my electrical skills, I decided to test the lighting circuit. To start I made sure power was arriving at and leaving the headlight switch, then traced the loom before carrying out a voltage test at the junction where the near…

“Driving the Excalibur around Samsø’s empty country roads was a wonderful experience” Whilst holidaying recently on the beautiful and still unspoilt Danish Island of Samsø, I popped in to see my old friend Stefan Wolffbrandt, who runs the Samsø Austin Museum (www.austinmuseum.dk). Stefen has a super collection of around 50 Austins. A lot of the cars are in need of a complete restoration, but he keeps as many in running order as he can. Stefan does a great job under difficult circumstances on a shoe-string budget. When I arrived, Stefan was tweaking the carburettor on an Austin Cambridge, which is currently one of the two cars he uses as everyday transport, the other being a Frogeye Sprite. Both these cars have a story of course. The Sprite was imported from…

It doesn’t seem that long ago since we featured the Mini’s cylinder head being overhauled on Lancaster Insurance’s stand during the Restoration Show at the NEC back in early March. A detailed inspection of all the internal workings confirmed this low mileage engine was in great shape and almost as soon as the car arrived back at the MG Owners’ Club Workshop in Cambridgeshire, work started on restoring this 1969 MkII Morris Mini back to its former glory. When workshop manager Ian Wallman first inspected the Mini before it was trailered up to the NEC, it was obvious the previous owners had spent a lot of money on the car, as the original ‘wet’ suspension system had been replaced with a non-Hydrolastic set-up. A lot of the suspension joints looked…

The starting point for making sure the handling and ride quality of a car is the best it can be is to take several measurements to help determine vital statistics such as toe in or out, caster, camber and weight distribution. Many suspension specialists have the equipment to take the necessary readings and make adjustments, but this work can be done at home – just not as quickly as the professionals and in some cases not as accurately. In this article, we’re starting with some checks to see whether a car is sufficiently straight. This involves taking measurements at the centre of all four road wheels to see how square the vehicle is. If you’ve removed a subframe or changed a lower arm for instance, you may find there’s some…

Although lead is now recognised as a highly dangerous pollutant, it was first added to fuel back in the 1920s to help prevent pre-ignition in the new designs of high compression engines that were being fitted to vehicles at the time. The science behind adding tetraethyl lead to motor spirit is a relatively simple one and works in the combustion cycle by depositing a lubricating layer of lead compound around the valves and seats set into the cylinder head. This ‘cushion’ of lead prevents the cylinder head suffering from exhaust valve seat recession (VSR) and stops the engine from knocking or ‘pinking’ as pre-ignition is more commonly known. Knocking in a petrol engine occurs when the compressed fuel/air mixture in the combustion chamber is ignited before the ignition sparks. Over…

DODO JUICE FUTURE ARMOUR SPRAY SEALANT No one likes wasting their time and maybe that’s why LSPs (last stage products) are so popular in the valeting world. Whatever the case they’re certainly essential because without that sacrificial layer beading off all the water and keeping the grime away, your freshly buffed paint work would have literally no protection at all Now, when you’ve finished cleaning and polishing your car, there are literally hundreds of LSPs to choose from but basically, wether they’re hard, pastes, gels or sprays, they fall into two categories – waxes or sealants. Waxes are a natural product, usually containing a certain percentage of a wax like carnauba. Sealants are totally man-made and will be stuffed to the gills with space-age polymers and gloss-enhancing ingredients. Many have…

No doubt the Bavarian firm’s corporate history will tell it differently but BMW’s Z3 was yet another 1990s open two-seater inspired by the success of the MX-5. It seems that we can’t mention a single sports car from the decade without mentioning the Mazda but the success which took even its own creator by surprise also caught everyone else napping: models as disparate as MGF, SLK and even Boxster were all inspired by its ‘back to basics’ approach even if many of them were rather lacking in the ‘basics’ department. BMW had dabbled with a small 3-Series based roadster already in the shape of the 1989-1991 Z1, with its neat drop-down doors. The ‘Z’ tag was derived from the German word for future, Zukunft and the Z1 was only ever…

BRAKING THE RULES The Mk 2 Jaguar is now a highly-desired car and that’s reflected in the prices they can fetch, particularly a 3.8 with wire wheels (in decent nick) with a manual gearbox and overdrive. Lagging behind somewhat is the S-Type, but I’m not quite sure why because, to me, it’s better looking – lovely angular tail end, twin tailpipes, headlight cowls etc – and it’s got independent rear suspension. I am somewhat biased, because I used to own one. Admittedly, it was a 3.4 with slushbox, but it was in reasonable condition and fun to drive. I carried out my own maintenance, well, as much as I could manage, but baulked when the rear brakes needed attention, particularly the handbrake. The S has inboard discs and this system…