Classics World May 2018

For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been dodging around in our former project Triumph 2500TC after collecting the big brown estate from the NEC at the end of last month’s Practical Classics Restoration Show. Our Triumph was displayed on the Lancaster Insurance stand alongside the very smart 1981 MkI Golf GTI the insurance specialist will be giving away later this year in its recently announced prize competition. We will be covering all the work Lancaster’s planning to do to the Golf before the car is given away. The first part of this new series starts in this issue and covers how the GTI was sourced, bought and prepared for the NEC. When Lancaster suggested a Golf GTI for its new competition, we thought this hot hatch was an excellent…

ROLLS-ROYCE SELLS AT TRACTOR SALE: Spotted in the Pentland Auctions 1200 lot sale held during the Tractor World Scotland show at the Royal Highland Showground, Ingliston, Edinburgh on Saturday, March 24, was a 1929 Rolls-Royce 20/25. Over 10,000 visitors came to the show and a good many were still around when the Rolls came up for sale later in the afternoon when hard working auctioneer Graham Burke finally knocked the ‘Roller’ down for £39,220. This was a very good price for an example in this condition that will require recommissioning, but most importantly the car came with a V5c. A total of 3827 20/25's were produced and around 70 per cent survive today. VIPER FACTORY TO BECOME MUSEUM: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles North America has announced that the factory used to…

The DVLA recently calmed classic car enthusiasts’ fears regarding the MoT exemption process for historic vehicles by revealing form V112 will exempt vehicles of historic interest (VHI) from further MoT tests. It will need to be done every year at a Post Office or if declaring by hard copy is inconvenient, an online portal similar to the ones used to tax vehicles, notify the DVLA of a change of keeper or to declare SORN is to be created. Both the updated V112 exemption form and its online equivalent will be made available before MoT rules change on Sunday, May 20. Forty year old tax exempt classics won’t need a MoT from this date, provided the vehicle hasn’t been ‘substantially altered’, although sensible safety modifications such as better brakes are allowed…

Vauxhall’s historic Luton factory complex – currently home to the Vivaro van and the Heritage Collection – is to produce a new Griffin-badged van by next year. Owners PSA Group, which bought Vauxhall as part of the ailing General Motors Europe conglomerate to add to its portfolio of Peugeot, Citroën and DS Automobiles, wants to increase production on the site from 60,000 vans to over 100,000. Its other van factory at Hordain in France is flat out producing vehicles and Luton has the required capacity. As a result, Luton is one of the few full-height commercial vehicle lines in Europe with a suitable paint shop and will receive further investment to produce the next Opel/Vauxhall Vivaro, securing 1400 jobs past the year 2030. PSA Group considered other plants on its…

Over the weekend of March 23-24, Barry Cotgrave Auctioneers hammered away many of the lots offered in the Sewell Manor collection, including the motoring items on the Saturday of the sale. The sale took place near Dunstable in Bedfordshire and the vendor, Jonathan Beacon, hasn’t thrown anything away and has been collecting for over 50 years. With the house sold, sprightly Jonathan is currently downsizing in preparation for a move to France and will be taking a selection of his machines, including his beloved red 1949 Allard K1 206 and other vehicle gems with him. The 1,500 plus item sale saw 19 examples from his car collection come under the hammer as well as a raft of dusty autojumble parts. Many of the vehicles were in need of restoration and…

After 42 years, Contour Autocraft has announced that it is to stop making replacement body panels for XK series Jaguars from June 2018. Iain Macleod started making these panels using traditional wheeling and panel-shaping techniques in 1976. Since then, he has passed his skills on to son Bruce who now runs the business. The company has also expanded into other areas; chiefly the manufacture of one-off panels and parts and running training courses in traditional wheeling and shaping techniques from their base in rural South Lincolnshire. These now require even more time, while demand for XK panels has, as Bruce puts it, “waned”. Bruce added: “We would like to thank all the restoration companies, car owners and enthusiasts for their support over the last 40 years. We have met some…