Classics Worldの May 2022 の目次

In recent weeks, the price of petrol has soared. It now costs far more per litre than it did for a gallon when I started a Sunday job working in a garage. This would have been around 1981, a time when attended service was still the norm, and I’d come out of the office with a satchel of cash over my shoulder and fill the customers’ cars. In those days they tended to ask for a set number of gallons and that worked in my favour – it meant that they always required change because the cost was never a round number, and if you fished around in the satchel long enough looking for the right coins, then there was every chance they would tell you to keep the change.…

One of Beaulieu’s best-loved events, the Spring Autojumble, will be returning on 14th and 15th May after a two-year absence. Following in the tyre tracks of International Autojumble which successfully returned to Beaulieu parkland in 2021, the Spring Autojumble will combine colourful car displays and hundreds of bargain-filled stands for a busy motoring-themed weekend that everyone will enjoy. One-day and two-day Spring Autojumble tickets can be bought online, with an advance discount on tickets bought before midnight on 5th May. For more details and to book your tickets, visit www.beaulieu.co.uk/events/spring-autojumble or call 01590 614614. Event tickets include entry to all of the Beaulieu attractions, including the new Bond in Motion – No Time To Die exhibition in the National Motor Museum, World of Top Gear, On Screen Cars, Secret Army…

This Peel P50 has just sold for an incredible £111,000 on Car and Classic's auction platform, though believe it or not that is thought to be only the second-highest price paid at a British auction for the model! This one is said to have been used in a promotional stunt that took it all the way to the top of the Blackpool Tower, and it may be the earliest model ever made as it is a pre-production example sporting a lower fitment of the windscreen, early Lucas sidelights, a cream steering wheel and no rear roll bar. No other Peel has those features. Capable of 38mph and with a range of 100mpg, the 59kg car has no onboard instruments or odometer. It doesn't even have a reverse gear, but relies…

Half a century has now passed since the Maserati Boomerang made its debut at the Geneva Motor Show on 9th March 1972, a concept created by Giorgetto Giugiaro and produced by Italdesign. A mock-up had made a fleeting appearance at the 1971 Turin Motor Show, but the one and only example created was presented at the Swiss show in 1972 as a registered vehicle that ran perfectly. The chassis and running gear came from the Maserati Bora, with a centre-rear eight-cylinder engine laid out at 90° that swept 4719cc and could unleash 310hp, bringing it close to a top speed of almost 186mph. The rear-wheel drive had a five-speed gearbox. The originality of the Boomerang from an aesthetic point of view was demonstrated in its wedge shape and in its…

If you look closely at the picture below, you will notice that there is steam coming out of the side of my Jeep as well as the back. That, plus an increase in volume from the mellifluous six-cylinder soundtrack, suggests that the exhaust system may require attention. I’ve had the 1992 4-litre Jeep Cherokee for something like 14 of the 17 years I’ve lived in Canada. A friend offered it to me for a good price, just a few thousand dollars, and I thought it would do until I could find a Range Rover to replace the favourite old battered one I used to drive when I lived in London, where I found that its bulk and condition was very helpful in encouraging politeness in fellow road users. I waited…

Back in the 1940s, a motor exhibition was an integral part of Sydney's Royal Easter Show, with most manufacturers displaying in or around the Hordern Pavilion and Royal Hall of Industries. The Truth newspaper had a full-page preview of the motoring exhibition in its issue of 10th April 1948, which listed the Austin Sheerline saloon and A90 Atlantic convertible on the Larke Hoskins stand, while the Larke, Neave and Carter stand was displaying the new Rover 75 and the Land Rover. An unnamed reporter for The Sun newspaper test-drove the A90 and reported: 'Taking the Austin for a run on Sydney streets shows the outstanding performance of this sports convertible, and the vivid ensign-red bodywork and bright beige upholstery attracted attention wherever it went.' He was clearly impressed with the…

There is nothing even remotely subtle about the Jaguar E-type. For many people it is the most beautiful car ever built, a glorious creation that is sensual, powerful and an icon of its time. For others – and probably the great minority it must be said – it is little more than a phallic extension for men whose self-worth is governed by the length of their bonnet. What is often overlooked in all of this is just what a superb car it can be to drive. As Autocar said in their glowing report of 24th March 1961: ‘For most drivers the limiting factor in speed of cornering of this car will be their own skill.’ Of course, views on the car today are informed by all sorts of factors, not…

We have come a long way with this Panda since buying it on New Year’s Eve 2020, although we were not able to introduce it in the magazine until the October 2021 issue. As this will be the final instalment of the project series, there are a lot of odds and ends I want to tie up. Therefore, please do bear with me as we bounce around a little in terms of timing, as there are one or two jobs that were completed before we tackled the bodywork, but which have not yet made it into print. Jobs like the dodgy electrics. The car had always started and run absolutely brilliantly, and sometimes all the electrics worked fine. At other times (and with no recurring stimulus that I could fathom),…

The kit car industry has twisted and turned in several directions over the last 50 years, from making the most of purchase tax avoidance in the 1960s and early 1970s for example, through being the means to having a new car made from recycled Cortina or Escort leftovers to providing the opportunity to pretend you owned a Ferrari or similar costly exotica. What is apparent however, is that the kit car industry has produced some impressive self-build cars, many of which have become classics in their own right. And when compared to the current prices of what many people may regard as real classic cars, the equivalent classic kit cars are often better value for money. The following pages provide an outline of what we reckon to be some of…

The familiar low-slung grand tourer shape of the Marcos GT (below) first appeared in the late 1960s complete with a Volvo engine under the bonnet and a wooden chassis under the GRP skin. Designer Dennis Adams had turned the once ugly duckling into a beautiful fastback that evolved into the Mantula, Martina and many other names with a variety of donor components, largely from Ford, but powered by engines as big as the Essex/Cologne V6s and Rover or Mustang V8s. Marcos Heritage Spares (01380 871717, www.rory.uk.com) can still supply the parts for these cars and also sell some secondhand examples. Expect to pay upwards of £15,000 for looks that are timeless. Marcos produced a Mini-based race car in the 1960s which successfully competed at Le Mans. Known as the Mini…

Autotune of Lancashire (01254 886819, www.autotuneuk.com) has long been involved in high-level motorsport, so when they designed a kit car in 1983 that resembled the Jaguar XK120/140/150 and recycled the mechanical components from a rotting XJ6/12 (Series I-III) or an XJS, they were more interested in racing and performance than exact replication (although they did launch an XK140 coupé replica in 1991). Nearly 40 years later, the kits and spare parts are still available, and later Jaguar XJ40 and X300 models can now be used as donors thanks to a revised Aristocat chassis. Their first demonstrator is still racing, and there are many affordable secondhand Aristocats available from around £15,000. Typical engines include the long-standing XK, the later AJ6 and the monstrous V12, but otherwise all mechanical components are quite…

The VW Beetle has been without doubt the most popular and versatile donor car for the kit car industry. Thanks to its popularity (over 21 million were produced), the range of body swaps available is mind-boggling. Beach buggies are by far the most common, along with off-road sandrails, but there’s also a vast assortment of exotica. The most famous of these has got to be the Nova, which was designed by Richard Oakes and came to the public’s attention in 1972 when it appeared on Hot Car’s front cover for the March issue. With no doors, but a canopy that lifted open, the low-slung and sleek Nova was like nothing else – though Dennis Adams and his mid-engine Probe came close. Production lasted for 23 years, similar kits were offered…

One big bit of equipment you will need is a compressor. Smaller compressors are direct drive, which tend to be noisy as there is no gearing and the compressor is forced to spin at the same speed as the motor. Belt-driven machines are much quieter and longer-lived as the belt allows the compressor to run more slowly than the motor. Size is the next major consideration, and while it is true that you can never have too much air, both cost and space considerations may mean you have to make do with slightly less than you would like. The three main figures to be interested in are the tank size, the CFM (cubic feet per minute) and the FAD (free air delivery). Manufacturers often quote CFM figures for a compressor's…

The Practical Classics Classic Car & Restoration Show, with discovery+, returned to Birmingham’s NEC on 18th-20th March after a two-year absence, and some 25,221 attendees enjoyed live working and demonstrations from the 152 car clubs exhibiting, as well as over 1000 display vehicles. That visitor number was only slightly down on the 28,846 who attended in 2019, which is good going given the fact that many people are still wary of crowded venues and the spiralling cost of fuel. A number of awards were presented at the show. Our favourite was the 1949 Jowett Bradford ice cream van owned by Harry Larcombe, which also stole the visitors’ hearts on the Carole Nash Barn Find display to win Barn Find of the Show. The fiercely contested Lancaster Insurance Pride of Ownership…

An 88-year-old Nottingham man was stopped in his tracks when he saw a Bristol Street Motors TV advert celebrating the company’s 100-year history, as the ad featured a car that had been owned by his family over 80 years ago. Memories of childhood trips with his family came flooding back for Brian Francis when he spotted that the Vauxhall Cadet, OJ 4251, was the same one that had belonged to his grandparents, father and uncle from 1932 to 1958. After writing to Bristol Street Motors to let them know about his personal links to the classic car, the nationwide dealership group arranged for them to be reunited at its Nottingham dealership. As part of their reunion, Bristol Street Motors presented Brian with a framed picture of the vehicle, taken during…

ESSEX V6 ROCKER COVERS Price: £192.50 per pair Burton Power can now provide alloy rocker covers for the Ford Essex V6 engine. The rocker covers come in natural alloy finish, but are suitable for painting if preferred. (Burton also stocks suitable engine paint.) The design features polished ribs and the ESSEX V6 legend – Ford isn’t mentioned, so these rocker covers would be equally at home on other Essex V6-powered marques such as Gilbern, Marcos, Reliant and TVR. Order as part number FV430F, or for further details contact Burton Power on 0208 554 2281 or visit www.burtonpower.com NEW MACHINE MART CATALOGUE Price: Free The big new Machine Mart catalogue is out now, packed full of tools and equipment. Featuring over 400 price cuts and new products, the new 492-page Spring/Summer…

It is in the blood. My mother used to own a 1966 MGB roadster called Bluebell and my father owned several MGs, including a red MGA, a white MGC and an Inca Yellow rubber bumper GT,' says the London DJ who goes by the name of Lord Anthony. Yet when it was his turn to join the MG throng, Lord Anthony did not crave just any B, but the Jubilee. 'I can’t declare that it appeared on posters in my bedroom when I was growing up,' he says, 'but this particular rare gem really stood out for me. It’s all about the racing green and that gold go-faster stripe!' Incredibly, SSC 255P was not just his first classic, but his first car full stop and was acquired shortly after passing…

The final major bodywork repair required by our Cortina also promised to be the trickiest. It was on the nearside, under the rear screen where the bootlid hinge is attached to the body. This is a complicated section, as it connects the rear parcel shelf to the nearside rear quarter panel. It also contains the gutter around the boot opening, and incorporates an upright panel that ties the inner wheelarch to the parcel shelf and takes the hinge and torsion bars that hold the bootlid open. We had stripped the interior some time ago to facilitate earlier repairs to the floorpan and sills, and in the April issue we removed the bootlid and the rear screen, along with the upright panel which had become detached at the top but needed…

In many ways, our TR7 is in better overall condition than just about any other project car I can recall. Initially I did wonder if it would provide much in the way of work to follow, but that was a short-lived concern. After all, I sincerely hope it will not turn into a marathon in the way that our Project Midget did a while back, but it is over 40 years old and so there will inevitably be things that have failed. It has also been used very sparingly over the last three decades, which is good in some ways, but bad in others because sitting idle for extended periods can itself cause plenty of problems on a car. After collecting the TR7, I had compiled a short list of…

When Triumph Spitfire production line worker and carpenter Roger Blockley built his own Vitesse-based version of the 1950s MG TF and released it as a self-build kit in 1974, he probably didn’t realise how successful it was going to be. Known as the RMB Gentry, the fully assembled body only needed 12 bolts to secure it to a Herald or Vitesse chassis. 15 years after the launch, the company was sold to new owners and the Gentry was developed to use more modern Ford Escort, Cortina and Sierra donor components, but it is perhaps the Triumph-based cars that appeal the most (the Spitfire can also be used as a donor), although there seems to be a plentiful supply of parts for both donor manufacturers. The Gentry is still in production…

When Brian Cox developed a mid-engined Grand Touring Mini (hence the GTM name) in the late 1960s that was both practical and had the potential to be a performance sports car, he must have known he was on to a winner. It used two Mini front subframes, a steel central tub and GRP unstressed bodywork. The compact sports car was a favourite in racing, and for anyone who was a fan of the Mini. Ownership changed hands during the 1970s and the longest standing manufacturer, GTM Cars, existed for the next three decades, continuing with what they called the GTM coupé, but adding more mid-engine kit cars to their range that were largely based around the Metro, including the Rossa and the K-series engined Libra as both a coupé and…

Launched in 1982 as a modern take on the already classic-looking pre-war roadsters, the JBA Falcon was designed by John Barlow, who went on to create many fantastic kit cars (see Royale). At the time, Ken Jones, John Barlow and Dave Ashley were behind JBA, hence the name. The Falcon dominated the kit car scene throughout the 1980s and 1990s. It had a simple ladder frame chassis with an aluminium bonnet, body tub and doors and GRP wings. It made use of a Ford Cortina for its mechanical components, although some builders fitted the Rover V8 engine. A plus-two version arrived in 1985, a GRP body tub (known as the Falcon Sports) in 1988 and a Tourer in 1990, along with several further revisions and updates in the 1990s to…

This story began in 1959 when Luton started seriously evaluating the prospects for a model that was a size smaller than the Victor. By the early 1960s, management decided it would be a 1059cc RWD two-door saloon based on the Opel Kadett A’s floorpan, but with modifications to suit British and Commonwealth motorists. Vauxhall did not mention the connection with the German marque in their publicity, and as UK Opel imports did not begin until 1967, there was little chance of awkward comparisons on the roads of the Home Counties. The launch date was 26th of September 1963, and Luton understandably left little to chance in terms of promoting their first small post-war model. ‘The 1-litre car with the millionaire ride’ was announced in a six-minute PR film starring Katie…

We’ve all heard of driving Route 66 or the AmalfiCoast Road, but now the UK has launched its own world-class road trip: the South West 660! Like South Africa’s Garden Route, California’s Highway One and Australia’s Great Ocean Road, it offers adventurous drivers the chance to tackle a spectacular driving route around one of the world’s greatest coastlines. The 660-mile route runs from Poole in Dorset around Devon and Cornwall to Watchet in Somerset. It can be done in one amazing motoring marathon holiday, or split into short sections for short breaks. It includes some of Britain’s most acclaimed scenery, including two World Heritage Coastal Sites, with the vast majority of the roads within Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Signing up to the South West 660 allows visitors to unlock…

Ithink it is fair to say that any Yugo is something of an acquired taste, but I have always been attracted by the left-field stuff rather than the more conventional offerings from mainstream manufacturers. When the Berlin wall came down in 1989 and we first saw all those Trabis driving around, I didn't even know what they were but I knew instantly that I wanted one. I've had nine Trabants now, and I've still got one. My partner despairs of me sometimes, she just doesn't get my car taste at all, but you either get it or you don't. For my part, every time I get in the Yugo it just makes me smile. Mention the Yugo name to most people though, and they immediately think of the smaller Fiat…

Idon’t mind admitting that our Rover 95 is something of a daunting car to work on for me. I’ve always favoured mass-market models in the past that were generally engineered down to a price and mechanically quite simple. Thinking back through my motoring history, I would guess that a trio of Dolomite 1850s and a couple of Volvo 340s were probably the most upmarket cars I’ve had the pleasure of working on, so as you can see I have set the bar pretty low because they hardly count as exotic! I did rebuild the air-cooled V8 engine on a Tatra T603 many years back, but that is hardly likely to be of much help with this latest project either. One concern is that Rover were an engineering-led company, no bad…

Lotus may have created the no-frills sports car that looks like an oversized roller skate, but Caterham deserves most of the credit for popularising it because they took on the manufacturing rights in 1973 and still make them to this day. Once experienced, there’s no forgetting the thrill of driving these cars. They are little more refined than a pre-war open sports cars from the likes of MG, but with modern mechanicals they can be easier to drive and incredible fun providing you can cope with the novelty of something that isn’t particularly practical. The Lotus Seven shape has been replicated and re-created more times than a Gucci handbag, and legal battles have ensued to help preserve the genuine brand. However, manufacturers such as Westfield, Tiger, Robin Hood, GBS and…

The Mini Marcos generated a number of rivals, and one of the most successful was the Midas range. Appearing in the late 1970s, but dominating the kit car market during the 1980s, the Mini-based Midas Bronze and Metro-based Midas Gold made it possible to turn a regular rotten production car into an equally practical sports car that could be used every day. Few kit cars achieved this, and when the Gold was in production it could be bought and built with brand-new components and was recognised by the mainstream motoring press. Sadly, a factory fire not only physically destroyed a lot of production equipment, but also destroyed the company’s finances. Several manufacturers tried to pick up the pieces and there was a succession of Metro-based models over the years. Most…

If you like the looks of a pre-war styled open-top sports car with a good level of refinement and creature comforts, then the likes of the Royale Drophead, Sabre and Windsor are ones to look out for. Designed by John Barlow of JBA Falcon fame, these cars first appeared in the early to mid-1990s and were immediately appreciated by the press and public for offering a high quality of finish. The wedding car industry snapped up many Windsors (four seaters), whereas the Sabre shown here is a popular tourer. Donor components are largely taken from the Ford Sierra or Mk3 Granada, although some use Jaguar XK and AJ6 engines. Expect to pay upwards of £12,000 for anything roadworthy and presentable, Ford Sierra- or Granada-based two-seater Royale Sabre is a perfect…

For some time, it looked as though lead loading was a dying art. Concerns over health and safety combined with a great leap forwards in plastic filler technology, not to mention more accurate body pressings and manufacturing processes in the factories, seemed to have confined lead to a few classic workshops who were keen to recreate the original production methods on their projects. And there is no denying that body filler is far easier to use – just mix it with hardener, spread it on and then, when it is dry, sand it back to shape. There is no shame at all in using body filler thinly in this way, and modern fillers can be excellent products. Yet lead has some excellent properties of its own that mean it is…

It looked even better in the flesh than on the press photos. Basking in sunshine, the little red Ford drew us like flies, and everyone in the office queued up to take the Puma for a quick thrash round the lanes near our office. Normally, press cars would garner mixed reactions from us. Across two adjoining offices we were the staff of three marque-specific car magazines. We ranged in age from about 20 to somewhere in our mid-40s. As you might expect, we each approached motor cars with our own very personal perceptions, preferences and prejudices. Among the assembly I was probably the most likely to take a shine to the Puma. I never mentioned it in the VW magazine I worked on, but my personal – and adored –…

ANDREW TAKES AIM AT THE FSO POLONEZ But don’t worry, we’ll hit him back with a stunning Polski Fiat 125P in the next issue! What was the worst car that sticks in your memory? For me, it wasn’t a Skoda Estelle or a Lada 1200 because although neither of those cars were brilliant, there was a whiff of honesty about them. No, the worst car I’ve ever driven has to be a 1982 FSO Polonez. The name FSO took over from Polski Fiat around 1982 when Fiat were feeling guilt by apparent association and making legal noises – and it didn’t take long for some wag to coin the phrase For Suckers Only. The Polonez hatchback arrived in the UK in 1979, based on the 1967-72 Fiat 125 that Polski…