Indholdsfortegnelse for December 2025 i Classics World

There’s been much mention of the ‘Special Relationship’ in recent months but when it comes to cars, despite a shared language we’re often poles apart from our cousins acorss the Atlantic. While troubleshooting an erratic dashboard on an ‘R50’ first-generation BMW MINI recently, I fell to browsing the various online forums covering these cars and was astounded by the needless complexity of some of the solutions to what is actually a common issue. Several answers involved painstakingly wiring a separate power feed to the gauges, while others involved removing the main fusebox and several suggested the ‘$tealer’ might have to be called upon to recode ‘the computer’. The solution? None of the above: the gauge packs fail internally and it’s a five-minute job to plug in a replacement used tacho.…

Jaye Isherwood recently decided to buy a very unusual classic car – a 1966 Vauxhall Victor FC 101 De Luxe Ambulance with Martin Walter bodywork. Jaye was a member of the board of Trustees at Slough Museum when the opportunity arose to purchase an ambulance due to its connections to the town. For over two decades, the Vauxhall had served the Slough Industrial Estate, but unfortunately, “the museum did not have the space or the money to spend on this important item of Slough history,” Jaye tell us. She was already aware of the Victor’s historical significance – and the museum did have a picture of it on display – so out of historical interest she decided to travel to Yorkshire to view the ambulance. “Naturally, I fell in love…

Despite its reputation the Allegro was pretty rust-resistant by 1970s standards, although that’s not a very high bar. Rust is still the Allegro’s biggest enemy today, however, and should be your primary concern when inspecting a prospective purchase. Most of the usual problem areas apply: wheel arches, inner wings, sills, footwells and the boot floor all tend to corrode if neglected. An Allegro-specific weak spot is the bulkhead; blocked heater drains and worn windscreen seals can let water collect where it shouldn’t, leading to structural corrosion that’s difficult (and expensive) to fix. Always check for damp carpets, misty windscreens and any signs of bubbling or soft metal around the base of the windscreen and up the A-pillars. Engines are generally tough; both the 1098cc and 1275cc A-Series units will run…

There’s something rather charming about a car that was once the pride of company car parks and motorway service stations now finding its way into the realms of classic car enthusiasm. The Ford Mondeo ST24 is just such a machine: understated, affordable, and increasingly rare. While Escort RS Turbos and Sierra Cosworths are long since priced out of reach for many enthusiasts, the Mondeo ST24 still sits firmly in the ‘attainable’ category. For now. Which brings us neatly to the subject of this new Classics World project: a 2000-registered Ford Mondeo ST24 that we’ve rescued for the princely sum of just £500. Yes, a car that cost the first owner over £20k. And we bought it for the less what most people spend on three months’ council tax! As you’d…

The first Daimler to be based on a Jaguar saloon, the 2.5 V8 was also the first Daimler to feature a unitary constructed body. Introduced in 1962, the Daimler 2.5 V8 was a rebadged Mk2 Jaguar under the skin and was identified by having a traditional fluted chrome plated grille, special wheel trims and a different rear number plate surround. The 2548cc V8 engine fitted to the Daimler was 51kg lighter than the XK unit found the Mk2 and to enable the more compact engine to fit, the sump on the lighter engine had to be redesigned to clear the front suspension mounts. As the weight distribution of the V8 was also different, the Daimler’s suspension had to be revised accordingly, giving the 2.5 Litre a unique visual stance. Differences…

Before crossovers like the Nissan Qashqai and Ford Kuga became the default choice for family transport, it was the raised, plastic-clad estate car that helped to redefine the family car market. Subaru arguably got there first with its Outback-badged version of the Legacy back in 1996, but the concept only really caught the wider industry’s attention when the Volvo V70 Cross Country arrived in 1997. The Volvo struck a chord with American buyers in particular, swiftly becoming the brand’s best-seller in the US. Within 18 months, Audi had followed suit with its Allroad quattro, a car that resonated with well-heeled buyers looking for a touch of off-road capability to better facilitate ski trips and weekend camping trips. Today, the original Allroad is emerging as a modern classic, with enthusiasts increasingly…

Porsche Boxster (987) (2004–2011) The second-generation Boxster was introduced at the 2004 Paris Motor Show alongside the 997-generation 911, with Porsche keen to emphasise that just 20 per cent of components were carried over from the old car. At launch, the standard Boxster used a 2.7-litre flat-six producing 237bhp, while the top-spec S model featured a 3.2-litre unit with 276bhp and 236lb.ft of torque. A six-speed manual or five-speed Tiptronic automatic were offered; in manual form, the Boxster S sorted the 0–62mph sprint in 5.5 seconds and accelerated on to a 167mph maximum speed. Standard S specification included 18-inch ‘lobster claw’ wheels, with optional 19-inch Turbo-style wheels available. The 987 was widely praised for its balance, steering precision and agility, offering a convincing alternative to the 911 Cabriolet at a…

EMAIL: CLASSICS.ED@KELSEY.CO.UK DREAM GARAGE I read with interest the feature in Future Classics on Bargain Supercars. An excellent read and good article, however, most of those cars are well beyond my budget and the misses would probably put her foot down anyway! What about an article on the more mundane, but sportier offerings in the first twenty years of this century from the likes of Mercedes, BMW and other manufacturers which I guess might be within reach of my budget and more practical. Classics World is an excellent magazine, thank you. Dougald Ballardie Thanks for the suggestion, Dougald; unfortunately I’m in the same boat, as much as I’d love an Audi R8 on the drive. Hopefully you’ll find this month’s roundup of superminis more wallet-friendly! We’ll keep your suggestion in…

Ah, the Austin Allegro - often the punchline of countless jokes about the British motor industry. But to truly understand this car, we need to rewind a bit and look at its origins and intentions. In the early 1970s, British Leyland needed to replace the successful but ageing ADO16. The result was two cars: the Morris Marina – a conventional saloon aimed at fleet buyers – and the Allegro, intended to be the forward-thinking, innovative option for private motorists. For its design, rather than commissioning Italian stylists like Pininfarina, British Leyland turned to in-house designer Harris Mann. His concept sketches were sleek and futuristic, with hints of the Citroën GS. Sadly, the production version looked nothing like them. Why? Because of multiple engineering constraints. The Allegro had to house existing…

The Allegro really wasn’t a bad car but as ever with BL was let down by detail. It was really the success of the 1100/1300 ‘ADO16’ range which put the Allegro’s relatively slow sales into perspective and in a changing market with Ford upping the game every few months, it would have been very tricky for BL to have repeated the success. In some ways, where BL went wrong was in trying to be more adventurous with the new car than it needed to be. The Allegro could so easily have been an extensive facelift of the ADO16 which already offered class leading interior space and a ride quality from the class above… but instead, the rising panic within BL meant they tried almost too hard with the new car.…

The original Mustang of 1964 was Ford of America’s first ‘pony car’, a model designed from the outset to be compact, stylish and affordable, but with a sporting twist. It was a brave move for any American manufacturer whose home market was dominated by gargantuan saloons, but the Mustang was a hit for Ford from day one. The newcomer was compact enough to also appeal to buyers on this side of the Atlantic, hence its third-place finish in the 1965 European Car of the Year contest. Ford didn’t rest on its corporate laurels, however; the first-generation model underwent numerous upgrades and restyles before being finally replaced by the short-lived Mustang II in 1974. At its US launch in April 1964, the Ford Mustang was available with a choice of hardtop…

Naturally we tend to focus on the cars when discussing Daimler, but the company was equally well known for its buses. Indeed, by the 1960s Daimler was the brand of choice for many municipal operators across the UK and had developed its own rear-engined low-chassis double-decker under the Fleetline name. Lyons was a canny operator and although the factory space was the prime objective in acquiring the Daimler concern, he realised that the bus building operation was notably more successful than the Daimler car business. While the Daimler cars marque was effectively reduced to badge engineering status, it’s said that Lyons took a keen interest in the bus business and even sanctioned the development of new models, Daimler becoming the second-largest double-decker bus maker during its Jaguar ownership. One of…

No Daimler feature would be complete without mentioning the luxurious DS420 limousine. Based on an extended Jaguar 420G platform, the DS420 was introduced in 1968 and replaced the V8 powered Majestic Major based DS450 limousine. As Daimler together with Jaguar had become part of the British Leyland empire that year, the DS450 also kicked the long in the tooth Vanden Plas 4-litre Princess Limousine into touch. Power is delivered to the DS420s rear wheels though an automatic gearbox by a 4.2-litre straight-six and although this stately Daimler looks impressive it’s not a very comfortable car to drive. The driver has to perch on a narrow leather covered bench seat and is separated from the passenger compartment, which can accommodate six occupants, by a glass division. Despite the final version of…

It’s no secret that cars have swollen in size over the last few decades, with manufacturers forced to keep pace with safety legislation as well as customer demand across a number of international markets where bigger means better. In a world where a MINI is bigger than a Mk1 Volkswagen Golf and the latest Renault 5 weighs 1.5 tonnes, it’s easy to forget that genuinely small cars used to be a much more common sight on our roads. Thankfully these are still available; the classifieds are awash with small yet interesting cars that offer a fantastic tonic to their bloated modern equivalents. Here are some of our favourite superminis currently on track for modern classic status. Dacia Sandero Dacia UK probably owes a debt of gratitude to James May and…

Significant though the new Mulsanne was, its life was overshadowed by the death of a living legend: the 6.75-litre L-Series V8. Despite the acrimony between BMW and Volkswagen Group in 1998, the L-Series was only discontinued for the 1998 Bentley Arnage; it used a 4.4-litre BMW V8 (a choice perhaps motivated by the aero-engine ties between Rolls Royce plc and BMW AG). The Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph used another BMW unit – this time a 5.4-litre V12 – up until the end of production in 2002, as per the agreement reached between BMW, Vickers and Volkswagen Group. Even when VW re-engineered the L-Series to go into 1999-onwards Arnage Red Labels (BMW V8 cars were badged Green Label and as a 52-unit final run of Arnage Birkin cars until 2001 to use…

There was a time when rivalry between the MG and Triumph camps was both deep and heartfelt. Those were times when an enthusiast wearing a T-shirt proclaiming ‘I’d rather walk than ride in an MG’ would come face to face with an enthusiast wearing one saying ‘I’d rather walk than ride in a Triumph’ and you never quite knew if it was going to end in blows. I never did understand the logic behind this because I would happily have ridden in any of them, but I guess it was a tribal thing and jeering at the opposing camp gave people a sense of belonging in their own. Thankfully, over time this rivalry became much less bitter and more light-hearted as classic enthusiasts realised that whatever marque they favoured, there…

CLASSIC FORD 2026 CALENDAR £9.99 — shop.kelsey.co.uk Enjoy 12 months of brilliant photography capturing iconic Ford cars, courtesy of the new 2026 calendar from our sister title, Classic Ford. A must for any Blue Oval enthusiast, it could make an ideal Christmas present. FORD GT MODEL SET £159.99 — uk.corgi.co.uk Expected next spring but available to pre-order now, the Corgi Vanguards Ford GT Collection is a 1:43 scale, die-cast, four-car set that includes a Ford Escort Mk1 1300GT in Aquatic Jade, a Capri Mk1 2000GT XLR in Amber Gold, a Cortina Mk3 2000GT in Vista Orange and a Ford Consul 3000GT in Sapphire Metallic. Only 1000 sets will be sold. MINI SPARES CATALOGUE £9.50 — minispares.com Mini Spares has released a revised parts catalogue that covers the whole production run…

Imagine how excited any of us would have been back in 1986 if we’d just taken delivery of a brand new Silver Spur, built to order and to our own specification. It’s the kind of scenario that most of us could only dream about at the time. But then imagine how we’d feel if that very same Rolls-Royce turned out to be a disappointment, with faults that saw it being returned to Crewe for rectification and labelled on internal paperwork as the ‘Complaint Car’. Unfortunately, that’s what happened with this particular Silver Spur, which was delivered to Lord (Arnold) Weinstock – a Rolls-Royce customer of long standing – in early ’86. He was a hugely successful businessman, famous for instigating the 1963 merger between his father-in-law’s Radio & Allied Industries…

The Allegro’s sales may not have broken any records but the car does have the distinction of recording the highest number of miles driven in reverse. Back in 1980, BL dealer Hartwell of Bath arranged for an Equipe to be driven backwards for a total of 27 hours as a charity fundraising exercise. During the run it was refuelled on the move from a Marina pickup and covered a total of 551 miles. History doesn’t record if the eventual purchaser of what was presumably a demo car ever returned complaining about a noisy gearbox……

Britain has a long and proud automotive history and a large part of that legacy is rooted in sports cars. Originally produced for use in motorsport, early pre-war examples combined small, lightweight bodies with powerful engines and a focus on performance over creature comforts. This recipe, pioneered by the likes of Vauxhall and MG in the early 20th century, would go on to underpin an entire industry, with manufacturers big and small all having a go over the ensuing decades. And while racing successes and hit sales were common before the Second World War, it was the post-war period that saw the British sports car really hit its stride. Join us as we explore the landmark models that defined this golden era of British sports cars and helped to cement…

Originally introduced in 1959 as the Daimler Dart 250, the ‘Dart’ part of the car’s name had to be quickly dropped due to a pending lawsuit with Dodge who owned the trademark. Power for this lightweight glass fibre bodied open top sports car was provided by Daimler’s silky smooth 2547cc V8 engine mounted in a ladder frame chassis based on that used for the Triumph TR3. Although the ungainly looking SP250 had a top speed of over 120mph and was used by traffic police as a high-speed pursuit vehicle, the car’s chassis flexed badly and could even cause the doors to fly open at speed! One of the first jobs Jaguar did was to redesign the SP250’s chassis but despite a further revised C-spec SP250 being introduced in April 1963,…

2005 Mercedes SL350 ● WB & Sons, September 13 Sold for: £5722 Resplendent in metallic red with contrasting tan leather, this V6-powered SL had just two former keepers and 58,000 miles under its belt and an MoT until July next year. Guided at £4000–£5000, this great example – complete with folding panoramic glass roof – looked great value at its eventual over-estimate sale price 1991 Peugeot 405 GLD ● WB & Sons, September 13 Sold for: £1962 This XUD-powered 405 surely has loads of life left in it with just 100,000 miles under its wheels. 17 service stamps and plenty of history backed up its fine condition, as did a fresh MoT. Guided at just £500–£1500, this remarkable survivor was secured for less than £2000 - a great Festival of…

Kia’s startlingly attractive but strangely named Stinger broke cover in 2017. It was the firm’s first modern rear-drive car and with its long bonnet and sculptured, fastback styling it immediately grabbed the attention of motoring pundits and potential buyers alike. It had performance to match, too. Alongside a 197bhp 2.2 CRDi diesel (from the firm’s Sorento) there was a 244bhp 2.0-litre petrol that was able to dispatch 0-62mph in under six seconds, while the real firecracker was twin-turbo 3.3-litre V6 with 365bhp on tap, slashing a second off that figure. The Kia was equally alluring inside and surprisingly well appointed. Perched behind the wheel with its rakish screen and sporty driving position, you’d easily forget you were behind the wheel of a family car. Kia didn’t skimp when it came…

My usual source of finding cars is British Car Auctions (BCA). Our MX-5 was located at one of BCA’s holding sites near Gatwick airport, which isn’t too far for me to collect. So, I bid on this 102,083 mile, 2.0-litre Sport Tech in Stormy Blue Mica paint. First registered on ‘new plate’ change day of September 1st, 2010, the car has now turned 15 years old and came with a fresh MoT. A guide price for the auction was set at £3150. I prepared myself to bid and was rather surprised; I was the only bidder at the starting price of £1900, plus fees of £334.96. The total paid was £2234.96 – not bad. But would it be driveable and would there be hidden rust? Time to find out… First…

2005 – Development work begins on ‘The Grand Bentley’ or ‘Project Kimberley’, named after the Kimberley diamond discovered in South Africa during the 1869-1914 diamond rush 2009 – ‘All-new’ Mulsanne debuts at the Pebble Beach Concours, with new bodyshell and extensively reworked, twin-turbocharged 6.75-litre L-Series V8 2011 – Mulsanne Executive Interior Concept Shown at the Frankfurt and LA Auto Shows; previews Theatre (HD LED screen) and iPad packs (with twin keyboard-equipped iPads) 2012 – Mulliner Driving Specification upgrades made available with 21-inch wheels, wing vents and exclusive seat stitching Sunroof and bottle cooler (with champagne flutes) added to options list 60-unit Diamond Jubilee Edition to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee 2013 – Equipment update arrives with Comfort, Premiere, Entertainment and Executive Interior packs; privacy curtains and a Wi-Fi router…