Table of contents for July 2020 in Classics World

Welcome back! The eight weeks since our last issue seem to have been an age, but hopefully you’ll think the time has been well spent because we have a packed issue for you. As before, we’ve tried to make it a pandemic-free zone as much as possible, wallowing in nostalgia for the cars we love rather than adding to the daily bombardment of coronavirus-related news – and I do use the word ‘news’ very loosely. Oddly enough though, this editorial column is one place where I can’t avoid the subject as there are a few things to which I would like to draw your attention. The first of those is that it is now perfectly possible to follow all the rules and guidelines for preventing the spread of disease and…

Burlen Ltd, known around the globe as manufacturers of carburettors from Amal, SU and Zenith, has bought the Austin J40 pedal car spares business from industry expert and engineer Roy Halford. Burlen can now supply from stock a range of J40 pedal car parts and spares, manufactured in-house using traditional and modern manufacturing methods to ensure exceptional quality and fitment. Now famous for the children’s Settrington Cup at Goodwood Revival, the J40 pedal car was originally made by the Austin Motor Company in South Wales at a specially constructed factory opened in 1949 under the name of the Austin Junior Car Factory – see our feature in the March issue for the full story. A total of 32,098 Austin J40 pedal cars were made before production ceased in September 1971,…

Classic car auctions have been thin on the ground recently, with most sales postponed or cancelled amid the coronavirus pandemic. But while social distancing rules mean traditional affairs in front of big crowds are unlikely to return in the near future, the UK’s classic auction houses have been busy adapting to suit a new normality – one that not only keeps them in operation, but satisfies strong demand from enthusiasts and traders. For some, the transition has been relatively simple. H&H was one of the few businesses to keep its sales going as the virus peaked, hosting no fewer than four online sales after the Imperial War Museum barred public entry to its March 17th sale at the 11th hour. For H&H, the online framework was already in place as…

CHIPEX TOUCH UP KIT  Price: from £34.95 Unsightly chips, scratches and areas of ‘road rash’ are common problems for which the Chipex Touch Up Kit is the solution. Developed and manufactured in the UK, Chipex uses the vehicle’s registration number or its colour code to mix the perfect colour-matched paint for the specific vehicle, backed up by Chipex’s 100% Colour Match Guarantee. Over 250,000 kits have been delivered to customers to date, and Chipex is the official supplier to Mazda, Renault, Hyundai and Morgan Cars. Now they have changed the blending solution, applicator sponge and touch up applicators to make their most advanced kit ever. Chipex Touch Up Kits start at £34.95 and can be ordered from www.chipex.co.uk MG WIRE WHEEL SPINNERS AND WRENCH  Price: £149.95 The MGB Hive have…

With reference to your request for people involved with publicity photographs to get in touch, I joined the BMC Film and Photographic Unit at Cowley in the mid-1960s. It was a very active department of about 20 people consisting of lab technicians, photographers and two artists (large exhibition prints were produced in black and white and then hand coloured). We had a large studio, plus a large purpose-built cinema with one staff member being employed as a projectionist and looking after the film library. These films could be hired free of charge. You showed some pictures of cars crashing at MIRA, and we were involved with this. Cars were pulled along a tunnel on a linear motor, which released just before the car hit the block. In the early days…

David Jackson is now 71 years old, and he comes from a family of engineers. It took him a while to find his calling though, working first in insurance after leaving school before starting in the motor trade working as a panel beater for Ford main dealer J P Hensmans of Brentwood. After that he started his own business, Jackson Coachworks, later moving into management with another main dealer for several years before becoming an insurance assessor for an independent company. I mention all this here because otherwise you may wonder how a self-employed pest control operative could turn out cars as perfect as this. Pest control operative? Yes, because having served his time in the motor trade, David had decided a change of direction was called for and gone…

The handbrake on the 1989 XJ6 has not been holding the car on a slope, and with the car jacked up I could tell that the nearside wheel was the one not being held as it should be. I have never replaced the handbrake shoes since I bought this car 13 years ago, so to be absolutely sure the linings were not worn down, I decided to remove the nearside disc and drum assembly just to check. Fortunately, the bolts holding the disc caliper freed off easily, as did the set screw securing the handbrake drum in place, which can be a devil to move. Once the drum was removed, I was relieved to see that the linings still had plenty of meat on them. Therefore, I simply replaced the…

TRIUMPH DOLOMITE SPRINT COIL REPLACEMENT Q Recently I have felt a stuttering when accelerating in my 1976 Triumph Dolomite Sprint. The points system was changed some time ago for the Lumenition optronic system and has been trouble-free, but I think the fault may be with the 9v ballasted coil. With this in mind, I was wondering if I should discard the ballast system and revert to a standard 12v coil? Mike Perry A The short answer is no, I would stick with the 9v ballasted coil arrangement and if you suspect it is the resistor which is to blame, then the complete coil and resistor unit can be purchased from Rimmerbros.com for under £30. The ballast system is designed to improve starting as it uses a direct feed to the…

The first motor oil was produced by Valvoline in 1866 and was a monograde mineral oil, derived from crude oil through fractional distillation of petroleum. More modern synthetic motor oil is often derived from mineral oil, but it also contains synthetic additives to help improve its lubrication, working temperature range, ability to withstand extreme temperatures and its drain interval (how long it can be used before the engine oil needs to be changed). The greater quantity of additives means it has a greater ability to provide lubrication at a wider range of temperatures without breaking down. And since it can provide better lower viscosities resulting in less friction and greater fuel economy, it’s better at protecting an engine’s internal components to help reduce wear. According to the history books, the…

For much of its existence Rolls-Royce had a rather uneasy relationship with innovation. It wasn’t a firm to push the boundaries of technology – the boundary it pushed was in the execution of existing technology to hitherto-unknown levels of quality and reliability. Whenever it was deemed necessary to make advances, they were introduced after years of analysis, development and testing, at a pace that would not be rushed. Which made the arrival of the Silver Shadow in 1965 all the more shocking, since this was not only the most innovative car ever to come from Rolls-Royce, but it marked an entirely new approach to both design and marketing at Crewe. The Shadow positively bristled with the very latest engineering and design the industry had to offer – not since the…

THEY DON’T MAKE ’EM LIKE THEY USED TO! Recently in a fit of lockdown boredom, I bought a load of CAR magazines from 1970-76 as well as some Car Mechanics mags from a similar period, and it reaffirmed one thing – mass produced cars back then could be rubbish compared to what’s around now. Before you angrily compose a strongly worded email, let me explain. I’m not talking about styling, performance or even handling as despite the last two not being able to hold a candle to moderns, a car from 1972 such a 2000 Cortina, XJ6 or even an Austin 1300GT can be quite lively and fun to drive. No, it’s the lousy and variable quality I’m referring to. ‘Well equipped and built to last’ crowed the Ford advertising…

Suzuki is celebrating its centenary this year, Michio Suzuki having first started in business in 1920 with the manufacture of textile looms. Initial development of Suzuki’s first car began as far back as 1937, although this had to be shelved later with the outbreak of WW2. Research and development finally resumed in 1954 when the Suzuki Motor Co Limited was formed. Michio Suzuki began development by researching vehicles produced overseas, quickly gaining a wealth of knowledge that enabled him to build the first Suzuki car, known as the Suzulight. This was a compact vehicle weighing just over 500kg and powered by a 360cc, 15PS, two-cylinder, two-stroke engine. It was the first car in Japan to feature a FWD/front engine layout, and was ahead of its time in other ways too,…

Midget owners are already spoilt for choice when it comes to ways of modifying their cars, but now a new option is being offered by Tifosi, who already manufacture the Rana which is a kit that gives any Midget or Sprite the Frogeye look, the SS which recreates John Sprinzel's Sebring Sprite with a roof, and the J.E.M. which is a replica of Dick Jacob's fastback – the latter only available as a converted shell or a completed car rather than a kit of panels. Now Tifosi have added a Peel fastback to their range. This was originally created in period when a damaged Sebring Sprite was rebuilt by Peel from the screen backwards. Having recently completed the rebuild of a Peel-bodied fastback Midget shell, the owner of that car…

SOME MORE MOTORING MEMORIES I just picked up my first copy of Classics magazine as part of my lockdown reading and was pleasantly surprised to see you as Editor. You and I corresponded in the past as I used to own a green Trabant which had previously been in your care. With regard to family motoring snaps, I have attached a couple which you may find interesting in spite of the rather grainy quality. They both date from the early 1990s. The first shows my daughter (who is now 33) standing in front of my pink Trabant which I had recently purchased from Fairfields Garage in Erdington, Birmingham. Fairfields imported 17 of them following the collapse of the Wall, some of which were supplied to rock band U2 whilst the…

Chatting with Barry about cars, it soon becomes clear that he has had the pleasure of owning some very exotic and desirable cars. Jaguar, Aston Martin, Ferrari – it seems that just about the only glamour marque he's not had parked on his drive at one time or another is Lamborghini. However, one sports car marque that is conspicuous by its absence from the list is MG. 'Well that is not quite true,' he adds, 'because I did have an MGC when I was in my 20s, but that was the only MG I've ever owned before. I have always been drawn to sports cars rather than large and luxurious ones, so it is a little surprising that I never stumbled across the Midget earlier in my motoring career. I've…

The SL name tag has a long history with Mercedes, having been introduced on road-going cars on the 300SL in 1954 and still going strong in sixth generation guise today. That 300SL was the legendary Gullwing, something of a design icon and whilst the comparatively plain-Jane 190SL introduced alongside it may have been more affordable and the 300SL Roadster of 1957 more practical, it is the Gullwing that has always had the mega-rich reaching for their cheque books. In 1963 these original SLs were replaced by the W113 ‘Pagoda’ 230SL. Easily identified by its vertical headlights and concave hardtop (a shape that gave rise to the Pagoda nickname), these cars moved the model line further from sports car territory towards the luxurious tourer end of the market – the 230SLs…

With Lily my 1967 Morris Minor now back on the road, I had intended to help dad get the 1970 Morris Minor Van ready to paint. However, dad was driving his 1962 Series 2 Land Rover and suffered a rather catastrophic mechanical failure, which meant there was no drive to any of the wheels and some expensive gearbox noises. Naturally, this happened during rush hour at traffic lights, causing much embarrassment and a traffic jam. There was no hope of getting it fixed at the side of the road, so dad admitted defeat and was taken home on a low loader. However, we still had the difficult task of getting it down to the shed at the bottom of the garden. A little internet research suggested a broken layshaft was…

So far, the work we have carried out on our Figaro has concentrated on making it safe and reliable on the road – new tyres, exhaust, drive belts, cambelt and indicator relay. With the car then running sweetly, last issue we took it to Simon Smith of the Figaro Owners Club for his impressions and while he did point out a few tasks that needed doing, it is fair to say that he was very impressed with the car overall and especially with the way that it drove. Our next port of call was The Figaro Shop in Didcot, who have been specialising in the model for the best part of a decade now. Owner Tobyn Brooks had very kindly offered us a space in the workshop in which we…

Soldering tools are available in all shapes and sizes, ranging from small and compact gas-powered devices to traditional stick-shaped irons and more powerful guns armed with a boost trigger for a quick burst of heat. The following pages outline a wide range of the popular soldering tools that fall into these categories, and we have tested and assessed all of them. However, there’s no clear winner because the best soldering tool for you all depends on how much soldering you need to do and how often you need to do it, along with other considerations such as access to a power supply and whether you are working within the confines of a car or elsewhere, such as on a workbench. If you’re new to soldering, then this guide is ideal…

Vauxhall’s Tigra wasn’t the best little coupé on the street – the Civic-based Honda Del Sol was more technologically advanced and dynamic, while three years after the Tigra’s 1994 launch, the Ford Puma blew it out of the water in terms of performance, handling and refinement. The Honda had sharp driving dynamics and a trick targa roof, while the Puma boasted all-independent suspension and thoroughly modern Zetec engines. By comparison the Tigra rode on a chassis virtually unchanged since the 1982 launch of the Nova. Its engines were essentially 16-valve versions of Nova units too. Despite this, the Vauxhall enjoyed more commercial success in the UK than the other two put together for one simple reason: it looked the part. Vauxhall’s target customer for the Tigra was neither technologically literate…

If you are running any kind of Rolls-Royce or Bentley, then Flying Spares is a name you'll want to remember. The firm can supply everything from recycled used parts to brand new spares for the whole range of Rolls-Royce and Bentley-badged cars, which can make a big difference to the cost of running them, especially if you're prepared to get stuck in with the spanners for the smaller jobs. Having made its name with the older cars, Flying Spares now covers the modern generation too, and can supply everything you might need to bring something like a tired Continental GT back to life.…

Widely regarded as the greatest racing driver never to win the Formula One world championship, Stirling Moss was born into a family imbued with the competitive gene. His father Alfred raced at Brooklands and Indianapolis, while younger sister Pat would make her own mark as an accomplished rally driver. Stirling’s breakthrough would come aged just 21, when he won the 1950 Ards Tourist Trophy in a privately entered Jaguar XK120. Momentum built swiftly, and by 1954 he was tipped for a place at Mercedes-Benz on its return to grand prix racing, only to be judged too inexperienced. To set that right his father bought a Maserati 250F, and Stirling’s impressive performances in that secured him the coveted Mercedes seat for 1955 as a teammate of Juan Manuel Fangio. That year…

Fiat has announced the end of one of the longest-lived production car engines. The eight-valve version of its Fully Integrated Robotised Engine (commonly known as the FIRE unit) is ending production after 35 years and over 23 million units sold, having resisted many attempts to replace it. It first saw use in the Autobianchi Y10 (badged the Lancia Y10 for most export markets and pictured above) in 999cc and 1108cc guises. Over its 35 years, FIRE derivatives were used in over 30 different FCA models, as well as the second-generation Ford Ka and the Indian Tata Indigo. Emissions are cited as the reason for the FIRE ending production.…

Pioneers of the virtual classic car rally, the Cambridge-Oxford Owners Club celebrated Drive it Day by having a forum-based event called Don't' Drive It Day, Selfie-Isolation. Members were requested to send in a 'selfie' image of themselves and their car, taken without the help of another person using the self timer or a reflection, then vote on their favourite entries. Well over 200 members visited the forum site during the day, and organiser Eddie Foster said: 'We were really pleased with the variety and enthusiasm of the entries, and I hope it helped cheer people up a little in these strange times.' The winner was Christopher Rose, pictured here sitting in front of his Mk4 MG Magnette looking suitably sad that he couldn't drive it. Other popular entries included Scottish…

Jaguar Land Rover Service Programme Engineer Jack Palfrey’s boss was involved in the development of the XK8, so it could surely be argued that Jack is well-placed to run one of these cars. They’re far from perfect, with talk of plastic timing chain tensioners for the 4.0-litre V8 engine being susceptible to fracturing and failing (upgradeable with later steel tensioners), not to mention lots of scare stories over the early engines having Nikasil liners that resulted in engine failure. And then there’s the corrosion that seems to be a typical inheritance with almost any steel-bodied Jaguar from the 1990s or before. Sills, wheelarches, rear quarters and chassis legs – none appear to escape the dreaded tinworm. However, if looked after, the XK8 is a fantastic and remarkably cheap high-performance sports…

Our 1967 two-door Morris Minor has received plenty of welding repairs in the past. A lot of that welding took the form of patch repairs rather than entire panel replacement, which is a shame as inevitably this won’t last as long. However, most of the welding looks sturdy enough, if a little agricultural in places. There was one place where the rust was bubbling up and spoiling an otherwise nice and tidy car though, and that was towards the bottom of the passenger door skin. We saw last issue how Alan Denne had cut out the offending metal and found that the door frame itself and the upper two thirds of the skin were still in good shape. That was fortunate because repair panels are cheap enough at £25, but…

I have been working through a list of jobs to be done on the Volvo 340, and this issue I will be focusing on the front of the car. There were three problems to deal with here, and it made sense to group them into a single task in order to avoid repeating the same dismantling steps at a later date. One problem was that the wiper on the nearside headlight turned freely, meaning it was not controlled by the wiper motor. The second was that I wanted to check how straight the bumper iron was after its knock on that corner last year at the hands of a previous owner. And thirdly, while I was in there, I also wanted to see if I could do anything about the…

The Figaro Shop offer an unrivalled range of services for Nissan Figaros, including sales of hand-picked, low mileage cars, complete renovation and refurbishment of your Figaro, not to mention a bodyshop where they carry out restoration work, full and partial resprays, as well as crash and insurance repair. The service department deals with everything from engine rebuilds to MoT repairs and oil changes, while an extensive parts department sells replacement and upgraded items which can be purchased online, by phone and in their shop. Rich’s Sidings, Lower Broadway, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 8AG Tel: 01235 812511 www.thenissanfigaroshop.co.uk…

7in WIRE STRIPPING PLIERS MB499-7T £27.48 Features include an adjuster screw for required wire diameter 0.2-4.5mm, return spring and an ergonomically designed two component TPR grip. Made from medium carbon alloy steel. 6in TPR GRIP HEAVY DUTY SIDE CUTTERS MB442-6T £16.20 These heavy duty side cutting pliers feature high carbon steel, an 80° cutting edge angle and titanium coated joints. AUTOMATIC WIRE STRIPPING PLIERS CP60 £48.60 Automatic cable strippers, wire cutters and crimping pliers. Easily strips cables between 0.13mm and 8.0mm² and is suitable for insulated and non-insulated terminals 0.5 to 6.0mm. Features a return spring and bi-material grips. GENERAL CIRCUIT TESTER 9850 £9.48 General brass 6-24 volt DC auto electricians circuit tester with a steel probe and a screw-on cover. The…

It is really amazing that events from 50 years ago can still be recalled in reasonable detail. I have a theory that this is only possible for significant events that become milestones in our lives, and the Stag launch was definitely a milestone in my life. It certainly takes precedence over any other stag parties that I have been to! What prompted me to reminisce about this was a recent and unexpected phone call from an old colleague, Simon Pearson. Simon was Triumph’s Press Officer and he had tracked me down to ask if I had any recollections of the Stag launch at Knokke. We spent the next 20 minutes or so reminding ourselves of the excesses of that launch and laughing heartily at some of the more ridiculous happenings…

AUSTIN We'll kick off the feature at Longbridge with this shot of Mk1 Austin 1100s coming off the assembly lines. It is a wonderful shot in its own right, but contains an extra layer of fascination because in Anders Ditlev Clausager's book, Complete Catalogue of Austin Cars Since 1945, there is a photo on p75 that shows the cars and the workers in exactly the same positions, and I do mean exactly the same positions. However, it is only after doing a second take that I realised the cars in the book had the wider MkII grilles that met and curved under the headlights. BMC must have retouched the original photo rather than shooting a fresh one! BMW It may not be 'The Ultimate Driving Machine,' but this Dixi is…