Innehållsförteckning för September 2021 från Classic Car Mart

Welcome… PLATING UP Whilst we’re generally all for tolerance here at CCM and take the view that if it’s your car you’re welcome to do what you like to it, everyone has their own particular bugbear, whether it’s secretly not really liking MGBs or wondering why the Nissan Figaro isn’t more popular… but one thing we’re all agreed on is that number plates can absolutely make or break a car’s looks. We’re not talking cherished plates here – that’s a whole different can of worms best left unopened – but the more subtle aspects of style and presentation which can make a huge difference. Oddly though, once again we all have our different takes on the subject: contributor Peter SImpson gets particularly vexed about black-and-silver plates on post-’73 cars on…

Classic Crossword 188 Clues Across 1 South Korean car firm that took over Panther in the 1980s (9) 6 A Lancia model related to the Alfa 156 (5) 9 Famous marque behind the Type 57 Atlantic (7) 10 _ Panhard, French car pioneer (4) 11 Giotto Bizzarrini was a well-known one in the world of cars (8) 13 These Suzukis succeeded the original Baleno (6) 14 Protective concern of car manufacturers (6) 17 These cars were built in Wales (8) 19 Japanese truck brand that also made cars in the 1950s and 1960s (4) 21 What nationality were Paykan cars? (7) 22 MG model released in 1947 (1-4) 23 Rover 800s branded for the US market (9) Clues Down 1 Japanese saloon and estate launched in 1989 offered with four-wheel…

GAYDON GATHERING CM subscribers lucky enough to get their copy through the letterbox early in the month will still be in time for the Tuesday August 10th Gaydon Gathering at the British Motor Museum. Held outdoors between 5pm and 8.30pm at the museum site on the second Tuesday of every month, these informal events are free to attend and feature the ‘Gaydon Garage Feature’ at 6.30pm when the workshop doors are opened for a car from the collection to drive out which isn’t often seen outside the museum Refreshments will be on offer outside but although the event itself is free to enter, visitors must register beforehand at www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk/whats-on/gaydon-gathering-july.…

REVIEW: ANGLIA, ONLINE, JUNE 26/27 Trying to review an Anglia sale in just a single page is never an easy task and the June sale was no exception, with the 240 cars on offer spanning everything from a Honda Z600 restoration project to a £110,000 BMW CSL. Highlights for us at CCB included what must be the only running Audi 200 Quattro Avant left which sold as a project for just £2700, while the 1997 Bentley Brooklands LPT put our own Turbo R to shame and the 1991 example at £3240 needing some paintwork had us wondering if it was just possibly the steal of the year. Another rarity to stand out was the 1977 Fiat X1/9 which made £8640, while the sale included no less than three Escort RS…

CLASSIC ROAD TEST: VOLVO 1800S SCANDI COOL Volvo’s offering to the classic sports car market is a bit different, but it’s apparently a winning formula. WORDS: AARON MCKAY PHOTOS: GREGORY OWAIN Sports car is as fragile a term as classic car. It comes with certain expectations, which might be easy to meet if they remained the same for everyone. Sometimes a sports car must have competition pedigree to qualify in someone’s mind, or at the very least be a showcase of the latest sporting technologies for others. In the 1960s that would often mean twin camshafts, disc brakes, rack and pinion steering, and so on. At other times, and arguably more often than the former group might like to admit, a sports car is simply in form. The Volvo P1800…

ROUND UP: FIFTIES FAMILY CARS SOCIAL CLIMBING We round up the Fifties family cars which offered a step up from the neighbours. WORDS: SAM SKELTON Britain in the 1950s was a somewhat conservative place. The baby boom children hadn’t yet become adults, and the automotive sector was still targeted at a traditional market. Wood and leather were the order of the day in larger and more upmarket cars, as was staid design. But that doesn’t mean that these cars should be overlooked – for the traits that made them capable family cars in that period also endear them today as family-friendly classics. They don’t have to be the last word in driver involvement – their quality is their most enduring trait, and their ability to transport us to a forgotten…

DATABASE: BMW MINI THE MARKETPLACE THE CARS THE BEGINNING DATABASE: BMW MINI After two decades, the classic Mini world has finally accepted BMW’s reimagining of the car. We chart its life and times. Words: Paul Wager Of all the cars we might consider here under the modern classic tag, this has to be the most controversial: even the New Beetle – which was wildly different from its namesake – suffered little more than disinterested mumblings from the rear-engined air-cooled VW brigade, but the new Mini aroused unbridled hatred from owners of the original. Even today, nearly 20 years after the car was unveiled there are still those who insist on referring to the car as ‘Bini’ – the B referring of course to BMW. There’s no excuse for intolerance but…

DATABASE: BMW MINI THE GP Rarest of all the first-generation MINIs and something of a Holy Grail for R53 fans is the MINI GP – or to give it its proper name, the MINI Cooper S with John Cooper Works GP Tuning Kit. Just 2000 were built by Bertone in Italy and only 444 (or 500 depending on who you believe) stayed in the UK, with the specification including a 215bhp engine uprate, body styling kit and a weight saving of 40kg achieved by jettisoning the rear seat and much sound deadening as well as employing aluminium rear suspension arms, lightweight 18-inch wheels and a carbonfibre roof spoiler. In tuth, the GP was something of a cosmetic exercise with the car only 0.2 seconds faster than the regular Cooper S…

OR MAYBE..? Paul Wager, Group Editor – E38 BMW 7-Series The final fling for the traditional 7-Series, the E38 is now Sought-after by BMW enthusiasts, especially in the Sport trim off ered on later models. Essentially a bigger version of the contemporary 5-Series, it’s an easier car to own than the E65 and is decidedly more DIY-friendly too. Dave Youngs, Lancaster Insurance – Mercedes CLS Mercedes’ answer to giving a top-end luxury saloon a style makeover, the CLS was a coupe-styled version of the E-Class priced between the E-Class saloon and the S-Class which managed to be as elegantly stylish as the BMW was controversial. A bigger seller in the UK than the BMW, it shared more with other Mercedes models and so is an easier car to maintain. BUYING…

REBORN R5 CONFIRMED As part of its awkwardly-named ‘Renaulution’ strategy, Renault has confirmed that the reimagined and electrified Renault 5 previewed back in January will be making it to production, with a performance model marketed under the Alpine brand. Slated to be on sale from 2024, the regular model will use a 134bhp motor, with the Alpine getting a 215bhp version, or 160kW in new money. The bigger motor is physically longer than the regular unit, so with it mounted transversely expect the Alpine to feature chunky boxed arches in the spirit of the original 5 Turbo. The Alpine versions of the classic R5 were marketed as Gordini over here since Chrysler at the time owned the rights to the name, but following the revival of the Alpine brand in…

TWIN TEST: BENTLEY TURBO R v DAIMLER SUPER V8 BLOWN APART Turbocharged Bentley meets supercharged Daimler in a ‘Best of British’ duel. Words Paul Wager It’s a recurring theme when you’re writing about classic cars for a living, especially when the majority of them are British in origin, but history has taught us that if the British car industry has one strength, it’s creating success from unlikely origins: think MGF, Land Rover Discovery and countless others. And so it is with the pair we have here, both of which took an ageing design and created a car which won universal praise. In the case of the Bentley, no vehicle this large and this heavy has any logical right to offer such cross-country pace yet the basic design underpinning the unlikely…

Mk1 CAPRI PONYING UP Often overshadowed by the V6 versions, the early four-cylinder Capris make great and stylish classic Fords. Fancy one? Here’s what to look for. WORDS: CHRIS TILBURY Ford might have touted the Mk1 Capri as ‘The Car you always promised yourself’ on its February 1969 launch, but the distinctive coupé’s chances of fulfilling that somewhat tall order hinged a fair bit on what was under the never-ending bonnet. Granted, the Capri’s long nose, squat rear end and sloping roofline certainly attracted plenty of admirers, but fitted with the entry-level 1298cc motor it’s debateable whether it was anyone’s dream car. To have even a fighting chance of backing up the Capri’s purposeful looks, the 1599cc Kent engine was the absolute minimum and, even then, you really needed the…

DATABASE: BMW MINI THE CARS THE ISSIGONIS LEGACY In the early days of the MINI, classic Mini enthusiasts were vocal in their dislike of the new car, but the classic Mini scene owed more than many might have thought to the new car. Or rather, more specifically, to BMW’s desire to ensure that the iconic brand remained strong in its appeal until the new car was finally released to the showrooms. It’s often overlooked that amidst the chaotic background of the Bavarians’ struggle to turn a profit out of the ashes of the old BL empire, there was also major investment. A significant part of that went towards ensuring the Mini could live on long enough to welcome its own replacement. The major obstacles for the 1950s design were strengthening…

RETRO CARS MARKET TRENDS TOYOTA SUPRA Mk3 & Mk4 The market for Toyota’s grand tourer turned supercar killer. Words: Joe Miller The Supra started as an evolution of Toyota’s Celica coupe, adopting a longer wheelbase and larger engines to create a GT car. By the mid-1980s, the Supra was considered different enough for the ‘Celica Supra’ moniker to be split into two different models. With Celicas endowed with smaller, revvier engines and sportier handling, it left the Supra to embrace larger powerplants and cruising ability. Today the first Supras to ditch the ‘Celica’ badge are rapidly-appreciating classics. Mk3 SUPRA ‘A70’ (1986-1993) The Mk3 Supra was all new, five inches longer than its Celica little brother to allow for a genuine four-seater cabin. The ‘A70’ was offered with the largest Supra…

STAFF CARS RETRO CARS STAFF CLASSICS It’s more change on the fleet as we revisit some old projects, welcome some new members to the collection and look into staffers’ own garages. Honda Insight Jack Grover And now for something completely different: the feast of single-minded engineering purpose which is the Honda Insight. The first production hybrid car to appear on the European market, the Insight was typically Honda in its make-up, using a bespoke lightweight aluminium body powered by a three-cylinder VTEC engine working in conjunction with a compact starter/motor/generator just 60cm thick and going by the name of Integrated Motor Assist or IMA. We’d been toying with the idea of acquiring an Insight for a while and after missing out on a likely example we got into conversation with…

RETRO RIVALS: FORD MONDEO Mk1 v VAUXHALL CAVALIER Mk3 OFFICE RIVALRIES The Mk1 Mondeo and Mk3 Cavalier ruled the fast lane in the 1990s, but which of these business machines on wheels was best – and which is the best modern sales rep classic today? Words: Craig Cheetham It may be an area of the car market that’s dead in the water today, but back in the early Nineties the mid-size saloon or hatchback – or D-Sector to use car industry jargon – was absolutely thriving. Back then, the letters GLS or GLX were seen as badges of honour. If you had a car with those on the back, you were flying high above those with an L or LS – and in the UK, the social stratification of car…

TAILGATE GRAND DESIGNS Are electric classics the equivalent of a modern barn conversion? I remember the launch of the new MGB. Not the 1962 launch, for obvious reasons – I was born almost 30 years too late to witness that. Nor was it the early ’80s attempted revival by Aston Martin, for the same reason. No, this was back in about 2014, when Frontline Developments launched its new MGB. It really looked good in that pale green paint and sitting on those replica Dunlop steels. This was exactly the car the MGB world had been waiting for – none of your Signal Red cars on wires, this was big boys’ stuff. And moreover, it was reliable stuff, courtesy of its modern Mazda powerplant. Sure, it wasn’t cheap but you weren’t…

ANOTHER NEW AGE FOR BUGATTI The turbulent history of Bugatti takes the marque in another new direction with the announcement this month of a joint venture with Croatian EV maker Rimac. The agreement sees the establishment of a new company, Bugatti Rimac which will be led by Rimac founder Mate Rimac as CEO. Rimac Group will hold a 55% stake, with Porsche holding 45%. Both Bugatti and Rimac are to continue as individual marques, with Bugatti retaining its production facility in Molsheim, although its headquarters will eventually be moved to the recently announced Rimac campus near Zagreb. Meanwhile, a separate company, Rimac Technology will continue to provide EV expertise to car makers. It doesn’t take a leap of imagination to predict that the result of the move will be electric…

ULTIMATE X-TYPE RESURFACES After being hidden from view for some 15 years, an intriguing V8-powered Jaguar X-Type racer has now reappeared and is currently for sale at Gloucestershire motorsport engineering specialist CNC AWS Engineering. The car was originally built up by legendary touring car racer Andy Rouse’s company Rouse Hall Motorsport back in 2003 for a race series to be known as SCV8. The series was to use production bodyshells over a spaceframe chassis with 550bhp Nicholson McLaren V8s driving through a Hewland gearbox, but despite support from Jaguar, Peugeot and others, the series ultimately never got off the ground. “It’s a fantastic car, superbly built and specified with the best parts,” says CNC AWS’ Alan Strachan, who was employed by Rouse when the car was being built. “It’s also…

DAVID BROWN AUTOMOTIVE OPENS LONDON SHOWROOM David Brown Automotive, makers of the Speedback GT and Mini Remastered, has expanded from Silverstone into central London with a new showroom in the prestigious St John’s Wood area. The purpose-built dealership is in Park Road, next to Lord’s cricket ground and Regent’s Park and is the first of its kind in the UK for the company. It can display three cars indoors and three outside, with test drives available by appointment. Both of David Brown Automotive’s flagship models are accessible at the new showroom, as will be future models to be announced over the coming years. The Silverstone HQ and factory, where the company has been since 2017 after relocating from Coventry, will continue as a retail space and workshop. It’s the first…

MARKET TRENDS B WITH BITE Tracking the values of six and eight-pot MGBs. Words: Jack Grover MGC (1967-1969) The short-lived MGC is symptomatic of the general managerial chaos that gripped the British Motor Corporation in its final years. Intended primarily as a replacement for the popular Austin-Healey 3000, and effectively fitting that car’s 3.0-litre C-Series engine into the MGB, the work required fitting entirely bespoke torsion bar front suspension. There were also new wheels, brakes, steering and gearbox. The C-Series engine itself was redeveloped to be stronger, lighter, shorter and narrower. At the press launch itself the cars had their tyres inflated to incorrect pressures and the press material stated that the steering ratio was the same the MGB, when in fact it was significantly lower – the first error…

FLYING SPARES If you're DIY-minded then there's a lot you can do yourself on these cars and it won't be too long before you find yourself on first-name terms with the helpful sales team at Flying Spares. Starting out as a specialist dismantler, the firm has evolved over the last 25 years to offer owners the ideal choice between used parts, OEM-quality equivalents or original Bentley-branded products, as well as operating its own remanufacturing and reconditioning programme for mechanical items. Flying Spares can supply parts for any Rolls-Royce or Bentley from 1946 and our own Turbo R is already wearing a selection of their products. Without firms like this to support these cars, they would certainly be a whole lot more tricky to own and it's certainly made our life…

OR MAYBE..? Paul Wager, Group Editor Ford Mustang Wthout the Mustang, we'd never have had the Capri and without the Capri we'd probably never have had so many of the saloon-based coupes it inspired from other makers. Conceived to appeal to an affluent post-WW2 ‘baby boomer’ generation, the Mustang was Ford downsizing from 1950s land yachts and it was a success, with 100,000 sold in the first four months. It was never officially sold over here but plenty have been imported and in some ways they're an easier car to own and run than an early Capri. Dave Youngs, Lancaster Insurance Capri II If you fancy a Capri but values of the Mk1 leave you shocked and you really don't want to go with the herd and be just another…

RIVALS: TRIUMPH vs MG SIBLING RIVALRY Triumph and MG are two giants of the British sports car fraternity and forever rivals. It’s a story of success, failure and missed opportunities. WORDS: NIGEL FRYATT When production was at its peak, the rivalry between Triumph and MG owners was a powerful sales tool, with both marques dominating not just the British sports car market but also overseas, especially in the US. In today’s classic car market, that rivalry has grown exponentially. In football terms, it is now at a level of passion that occurs at Liverpool versus Manchester United games. For some, it has an almost religious fervour that puts it closer to the Scottish ‘Old Firm’ conflict of Rangers versus Celtic; it is simply impossible to support both sides. Of course…

BUYING GUIDE: E65 BMW 7-SERIES LUCKY SEVEN The fourth generation of BMW’s 7-Series turned the luxury saloon market on its head. This controversial modern classic still impresses, but you need to know your stuff before taking the plunge. Words: Andrew Everett It’s now 20 years since this magnificent beast exploded onto the scene, and what a car it was. The first BMW to bear the influence of newly-appointed design chief Chris Bangle, its appearance was controversial. Bangle’s declared mission was to move the firm away from ‘cookie cutter’ design which simply offered the same shape in different sizes from 3 to 7-Series and the distinctive design was certainly unlike any previous BMW. You either loved or hated the styling (we think they’re superb, especially the pre-facelift cars) but you really…

ENDANGERED SPECIES: ALPINE GTA/A610 ESPRIT DE DIEPPE Supercar looks and performance don’t always translate into superstar sales, as these pair demonstrate, but that rarity makes them all the more intriguing. Words: Chris Randall A lightweight 2+2 with good looks, plentiful performance, and from a manufacturer with motorsport pedigree sounds like an enticing confection. It also sounds a lot like the Porsche 911, a car with which these Alpines would inevitably be compared, but Renault was clearly convinced their challenger from Dieppe could provide stiff competition to Germany’s finest, not forgetting the likes of Lotus, too. Launched in 1984, it would be another two years before right-hand cars made their debut at the British International Motor Show but it looked to have been worth the wait. Badged as the Renault GTA…

LIVING WITH THE AUDI TT PROOF OF CONCEPT Audi’s TT went from motor show concept to production reality little changed and makes a stylish, affordable modern classic today. Just don’t mention the Golf. Words Paul Wager The science of badge engineering may have been established by Rootes and BMC back in the ’60s but the idea of platform sharing – where a range of models is spun off the same basic floorpan architecture – is rather newer. It had been tried successfully before of course in a limited way as the basis for ‘world car’ designs from multinational makers, incuding the Chevette, the Mk2 Cavalier and even the Escort but all these were recognisably similar. Ultimately it was the Volkswagen Group which really got stuck into the science of platform…