Innehållsförteckning för January 2019 från Classics World

It was good to see a growing number of immaculately restored ‘Seventies and ‘Eighties classics like this Chrysler Horizon on show at the recent Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show. In some cases there’s only a handful of roadworthy survivors left of some of these models and it’s thanks to a new generation of eager young enthusiasts that cars like this are being saved for the future. As well enjoying pouring over the cars on the club stands, I also enjoyed wandering around the tool and garage equipment displays. It’s amazing to see the amount of professional equipment; such as wheel free lifts and plasma cutters that are now available for use in a home workshop. A few years ago a roll over jig and an engine stand were considered the…

The Attwell Museum in Calne, Wiltshire, is offering the chance to win a classic Mini for just the price of a £1 raffle ticket. The museum has held an annual raffle for many years, previously organised by the Friends of the Museum and now by the Supporters of the Museum. This time the prize is a Platinum Silver 1996 Mini Equinox, a limited edition of 750 built and featuring with a 1275cc single-point injection engine under the bonnet. Found locally, the prize Mini has covered a mere 55,000 miles and still boasts its original Equinox decals and half-leather interior. Tickets are now available to buy at £1 each via www.atwellwilson.org.uk,as well as various shows including the Calne Winter Festival on Saturday, December 1. The draw will take place at the…

The long-term restoration of my Daimler V8 is progressing nicely but after removing the brakes they were found to be in a shocking state of repair. Both the front and the rear calipers, together with the separate self-adjusting hand brake mechanism were rusted solid. All these components will be sent away for a full restoration but in the meantime I simply doused everything in copious dollops of WD40. Hopefully this will help when the calipers are taken apart by the reconditioners. The 1988 XJ40 Sovereign is currently off the road awaiting repairs after the nearside rear was shunted by a 2007-reg VW Golf. The 1989 entry level XJ6 was on hand as alternative transport but over the last few months it had developed an elusive oil leak. No matter how…

For so long undervalued – the Jensen Interceptor fell in with cars like the Triumph Stag and Reliant Scimitar inasmuch that they became a bit unfashionable and either unreliable or cost a fortune to run. The Interceptor with its Chrysler V8 was horrific on fuel – you won’t see much more than 10mpg overall, 12 if you’re lucky and 15 on a long run. That made them dodgy used cars in the ‘Seventies when they got old and ropey and in the ‘Eighties, they were worth buttons, with very few cars being properly maintained. They sort of had a blip in the late ‘Eighties when all kinds of rubbish was dredged up and ‘restored’, fell out of bed again in the ‘Nineties and it’s only quite recently that they’ve begun…

When the novelty value of driving a classic car wears off and the irritation of panel rattles accompanied by the noise of the suspension crashing over speed bumps gets the better of you, don’t throw the towel in just yet. There are a number of aspects of a vehicle that can be checked, maintained and updated to help improve ride quality and handling to turn it into the classic car that you want to drive instead of having to put up with driving. The following pages examine the wheels and tyres, suspension components and geometry, whether the brakes are rotating true and if there’s too much free play in the steering, as well as how to reduce noise levels. All of these issues contribute to the ride quality and handling…

A three-pointed star has adorned the front of virtually millions of Mercedes-Benz vehicles but throughout the ‘Fifties, ‘Sixties and the early ‘Seventies, it was relatively rare to see a four-door saloon displaying the marque’s three-dimensional celestial emblem on this side of the channel. Up to then it was the two-seater SL that that had been flying the flag for Mercedes-Benz in the UK and it wasn’t until the launch of the finely engineered 200-300 W123 series in 1976 that the Stuttgart based company really started to make serious inroads into this country’s executive saloon market. The stylish two-door coupé and practical T123 estate quickly followed on from the four-door saloon and by the end of the decade Mercedes-Benz had introduced a civilian version of all-wheel drive W460 G-Wagen to square…

Launched as a replacement for the trend setting 190, the mid-sized and totally new C-Class was available first as a four-door saloon and later as a five-door estate. The new model was longer than the outgoing one but featured more usable cabin space. Just like its predecessor, the good looking new ‘Baby Benz’ continued to attract new, younger owners into the Mercedes-Benz fold. Engine choices offered over the C-Class range included a 1799/1998/2199 or 2295cc inline four, a 2398cc OHC V6, a 2779/3606cc straight-six and a 4266/5439cc V8. Diesel options included DOHC 2155cc or a 2497cc straight five. The C230 introduced the company’s first modern supercharged or Kompressor engine since the ‘Thirties and a mild facelift in 1997 resulted in the C-Class range featuring a version that would appeal to…

The 1997 introduced W163 M-Class launched Mercedes into the four-wheel drive SUV market and by the start of the new Millennium the range included five different petrol and diesel engine options. The van-based V-class MPV came on the scene in 1996 and was Mercedes-Benz only attempt at producing a competitive people carrier. Customer options for the W208 CLK coupé and its fabric topped four-seat convertible class mate were huge and included a range four, six and eight cylinder power units.…

Mercedes in the early ’Nineties was a safe, if rather sensible bet: the cars still enjoyed the over-engineered reputation that had built the brand and technically were beyond criticism. However, the range was rather conservative: essentially saloon cars in three different sizes from C-Class to S-Class with the odd coupé, estate or convertible derivative and the expensive SL as the halo model. In common with most prestige European makers during the same period though, the need to expand the range in order to achieve increased volume became evermore evident. New niches needed to be explored and the first of these was the radical A-Class, tainted by the infamous Elk test but a radical and very clever design nonetheless. The company was also painfully aware that apart from the A-Class it…

DIAGNOSTIC CODE MEMORY SAFE Anyone who regularly works on modern classics will know the problem of locating a ‘lost’ security code and having to re-programme them into the car’s on-board electronics when reconnecting or replacing the battery. Sealey’s new VS2076 - Diagnostic Socket Memory Safe can preserve the memory of on-board electronics while the vehicle battery is disconnected and is connected via the vehicle’s EOBD port or accessory power socket. The unit features an internal 12-volt, seven amp hour sealed battery, while LEDs provide battery condition status and a charge indicator. Sealey’s Memory Safe comes with a mains charger and more information and a detailed technical specification is available at www.sealey.co.uk or alternatively call their customer service department on 01284 757500. INTELLIGENT BATTERY CHARGER Your car’s battery must be ready…

When the MGC was introduced at the 1967 Earls Court Motor Show, great things were expected from what at the time was considered to be the most powerful road going MG to date to exit the gates at the company’s Abingdon-based assembly plant. Unfortunately for MG and its parent company British Motor Holdings (BMH), the hype surrounding this powerful new sportscar started to unravel almost before the ink on the car’s glossy sales brochures had dried. This sad state of affairs was down to successive period road testers commenting about being left breathless by the MGC’s heavy steering and expressing their disappointment at the lack of grunt produced by the new MG’s twin SU fuelled 2912cc straight-six. It didn’t help the MGC’s rapidly depreciating image when BMH’s over imaginative marketing…

The location for our photoshoot was on the remarkable Newport Transporter Bridge, which is one of only two such structures left in the UK. Costing £98,000 to originally build, the bridge first opened to traffic in 1906 and has dominated the Newport skyline ever since. The Newport Transporter Bridge spans the River Usk in South Wales and was originally built to allow deep-sea shipping to pass safely underneath it. This Grade 1 listed structure can really be described as a suspended ‘ferry’ that operates far more efficiently than conventional water borne craft. A high level boom suspended from tall towers at each end of the bridge carries the rail track on which a moving carriage or ‘traveller’ runs. A 36 tonne moving gondola or platform suspended from the carriage is…

In last months article I started to go through the purchase, inspection, registration and strip down of the US sourced E-Type and left off with the front end slowly and methodically coming apart. This is the first time for a while that I’ve restored a complete car, as everything I’ve tackled lately came in cardboard boxes chucked inside a rusty bodyshell. It was nice therefore to take a slow methodical approach this time, so I bought a huge variety of clear bags in lots of sizes along with a cheap little label printer, as my handwriting is so terrible I often can’t read it. The advantage of a full strip down on an E-Type is that you can remove the bonnet for greater access and not worry which way the…

The radio was the first thing I changed on my Rover 2000. This was probably done as soon as I got the car home back in 1992, as even then there wasn’t much on Medium Wave I wanted to listen to. The replacement unit had a pull-out head-unit (remember them?) and played tapes but this has been upgraded several times over the years, so the latest change may not look period correct. But it does bring me bang up to date for the technology I use and this car is a driver, not a trailer queen. I’ve become used to DAB radio in the car, as well as playing music from my ‘phone and having Bluetooth hands-free. I’ve always liked Alpine equipment, so picked up a CDE 196 DAB head…

Just as I’d predicted, the project to restore my Mum’s old Minor Van has got much larger, more invasive and with more rust to contend with than first expected. Dad and I had agreed to keep to the bare minimum required to get the van back on the road due to the fact that we both have our next major restorations lined up. We just want to get the Van going again, as it’s such a useful workhorse. However, we aren’t up for any terrible bodge. There’s no satisfaction in doing that, so you may as well do a ‘proper’ job in the first place. We’d originally hoped to avoid splitting the back of the van from the cab. However, further investigation showed that in order to gain access to…

With prices for a decent looking Jensen Interceptors starting out at around £49,000 in the UK, we thought it would be worth casting the net a lot further in an attempt to find a decent road worthy example and a quick online trawl netted this left-hand drive Californian based 1971 MkI for sale at $29,500 USD. That amount of greenbacks converts to around £23,000 and even allowing for shipping costs and taxes, this has to be a keen price considering the same website included a UK located ‘barn find’ Interceptor requiring a full restoration for what we thought was a heavyweight £5500. If this US based car looks as good as its described in the advert, it’s a bargain despite having the steering wheel on the wrong side of its…

The Citroën 2CV was once seen as an ideal starter classic or ultra cheap run-around, but it’s no longer the preserve of students and eco warriors. Tracing its roots back as far as the late ‘Thirties, the Citroën was conceived as affordable, basic transport for French farmers. The mythical brief was that the car had to be robust enough to carry 200 pounds of produce while have suspension supple enough that would allow a basket of eggs to be carried on the back seat while driving over a ploughed field without breaking a single one. Much of the engineering employed in the 2CV is unconventional to our modern eyes. Powered by an air-cooled flat twin which ranged from miniscule (earliest cars boasted 375cc and just 9hp) through to adequate (the…

The amount of camber at the road wheels is important for handling and can affect tyre wear if it’s incorrect. If the ride height of the car has been lowered, or suspension parts have become worn, then the camber can be incorrect and may need rectifying to resolve any handling issues and reduce excessive tyre wear. So it’s worthwhile checking the camber at each wheel using a suitable gauge. Camber is measured in degrees and if a road wheel is perfectly vertical, then there are zero degrees of camber. If the top of the wheel is leaning into the car and the bottom of the wheel is leaning out, then there will be a negative amount of camber. A positive amount of camber is if the top of the wheel…

This is the first issue of Classics Monthly to bear the 2019 cover date and with the Season of Goodwill fast approaching, it seems the perfect time to look back over the last 12 months of Reader Restorations. Over that time we’ve featured 36 very different restorations covering an interesting range of saloons, estates and sports cars to suit all budgets and tastes. As any enthusiast of our fascinating hobby will agree, the classic scene never stands still and as models that were once a common sight on every high street reduce in numbers, well-presented survivors are fast tracked as the classics of tomorrow. We’ve really enjoyed looked back through the last 13 issues of Classics Monthly and we've selected what we consider to be the pick of the restorations…

Originally produced as a military vehicle, a civilian version of the Daimler-Benz and Styer-Daimler-Puch developed all-wheel drive G-Wagen, or GeländWagen, was introduced in 1979. The following year the Vatican took delivery of a specially modified G-Wagen featuring a unique clear plastic ‘Bubble’ top, a vehicle that was quickly dubbed the ‘Popemobile’. The body on frame constructed G-Wagen was built at the Styer factory in Graz in Austria and was initially available with a choice of either a 2.3 or 2.8 litre petrol engine, with 2.4 or 3.0 litre diesel options becoming available from 1988. Three different sized wheelbases were offered along with a pick up version and the G-Wagen was one of only a few civilian four-by-fours that utilised three fully locking differentials. A major refresh in 1981 included the…

Officially marketed and universally referred to as the E-Class, the W124 proved an instant hit in the UK. Like its W123 predecessor, the new model was available as a four-door saloon or a five-door estate and the new model filled the gap between the compact 190 and executive-sized S-Class. The W124 floorpan provided the basis for the stylish 300CE two-door coupé (produced between 1987 and 1995) plus a drop head convertible and from 1988 fuel injection replaced carburettors on all models. A foot operated ‘hand’ brake revealed the W124’s US influence and a popular choice in the UK was the 2962cc straight six powered 300E. In 1988 Mercedes-Benz introduced the all-wheel drive 300E 4-Matic but its £6000 selling price ensured sales were rare on these shores. Engine options for the…

1275GT – A MINI MARVAL 2019 WILL MARK 50-years since the Mini Clubman made its debut. This was the one and only effective facelift on what was then a very familiar ten-year old car that was due for replacement – if Issigionis had had his way, the original Mini would have been superseded by then. But the newly formed BLMC had bigger fish to fry and the Mini was selling strongly – 1972 would be its zenith year, with sales only really starting to drop off in the late ‘Seventies. Before the 1275GT came the Mini Cooper and Cooper S. At that point, both had been remarkable competition cars – the S especially – and there was a sound argument for keeping one or the other in production. The S…

Would you or a close relative be up for the challenge of having a classic car to use free of charge for a year? Through the Classic Car Loan Project, which is now in its third year, you may be eligible to have a classic car on loan for up to 12 months in 2019. To be eligible you would need to be ideally 25 years old or more with a full UK driving licence, have a facility to securely garage the car and demonstrate a strong desire to become part of the classic car scene. Car’s on offer for the 2019 Classic Car Loan Project now include the following: 1929 Ford Model A Phaeton; 1934 Morgan Super Sports three-wheeler; 1934 Austin 7 saloon; 1936 Austin 7 Ruby saloon; 1950…

DAF MEMORIES I read with interest your article about CVT transmission systems (CM, Sept 2018), as in 1966 (just!) when I was sixteen my father bought me a scooter fitted with a similar drive as the Daf Variomatic. I don’t recall the make, but do remember it had a pull cable start. I used it to go from Doncaster to Jersey via the Weymouth ferry to get a summer job. It was not an uneventful trip! The machine failed to start after a short stop half way during the journey, but of course it would not push start. Anyway, I got to Weymouth eventually and the following day it was loaded on the ferry (by using a crane and rope) and I drove from St Helier quay to where I…

You have to admire some car manufacturers in their various bids to encourage a sense of corporate aspiration – or, put another way, ensuring that their entry-level models were as miserably equipped as possible. A 1984 Austin Metro City is devoid of a passenger door mirror, a rear wiper and a heating element for the back windshield, halogen headlamps, reclining front seats, a second sun visor and – possibly my favourite detail of all – amber-coloured reflectors have replaced the indicator repeaters on the front wings. At least BL didn't place the steering wheel or fuel gauge on the optional extras’ list but judging by the brochure it's clear that they would have done if presented with the opportunity. You have to a) sympathise with the copywriter reduced to boasting…

Last year, Just Kampers Insurance ran a competition to win a Karmann Ghia cabriolet, which went down a storm hence, when it came to picking a vehicle to overhaul and give away in 2018, the JK team certainly had their work cut out for them! Mark Reynolds called together his staff to discuss some options and, whilst chatting, it seemed that one of the sales team, Alex Nole, had just the kind of vehicle they were looking for in the shape on an unfinished Bay window Camper project. Like so many JK employees, Alex is a pretty serious VW fan and always has a project of some kind on the go. He explained, “This Westfalia Camper was a project I’d started a while back, but just hadn’t had the time…

A couple of months ago the E-Type had been booked into an annual Jaguar Club organised car show that's held on the front lawn of one of the members country property. This event is a private ‘invitation only’ affair with limited car numbers and no spectator entry and is a super day spent talking to other enthusiastic car owners. Obviously there was no chance the Jaguar would be mobile, so I advised the organisers I would arrive in the Stag, so they switched my allocated parking area to the Triumph rather than Jaguar area. The weather for the day was terrible, varying between heavy rain and light showers, resulting in over 100 cars failing to turn out, which was a shame as the entry fee was going to assist the…

The last instalment on the Land Rover was a tale of woe. In an attempt to make the bulkhead whole again, it had been necessary to deal with a whole load of rust and new panels that didn’t want to fit together. And that was just the driver’s side. After several days of grinding, welding and just a touch of hammer work, I had something that resembled a Land Rover bulkhead similar to when it would have left the Solihull factory all those years ago. So my next task was to make sure it stayed that way, which meant paint was the next job. I’ve sprayed cars in the past, but DIY spraying brings with it a whole load of problems. It’s expensive, it’s noisy, it’s dirty and not least,…

The Jeep Grand Cherokee is proving to be a good purchase. It has a real charm and there’s something rather captivating about its no-nonsense design and build. Then there’s the lusty V8, with its plentiful torque and sultry soundtrack. Mind you, it’s good that it’s been converted to run on LPG. This is the only way that my son David could afford to run such a big-engined beastie! Talking of big engines, due to the sizeable and potent power plant, this particular Jeep is fitted with large diameter disc brakes ...all-round. However, when David bought this Jeep, the seller did mention that it suffered from some brake judder ...and he went on to say that the anti-roll bushes had developed some play. But he took these issues into account and…

You’d think that deciding on what to run as one of our future long-term projects would be easy but there are a few important factors that have to be taken into account first and unfortunately these tend to narrow the choice a bit. The main points we have to consider when sourcing a new project is that the car should be able to hold it’s own in modern traffic and be capable of being parked outside without deteriorating too much, factors that rule out a lot of very desirable classics. Price obviously comes into the equation and a scan through the emerging classics for sale on that well known internet auction site threw up a couple of suitable candidates. Head and shoulders above the rest was this 1989 Saab 900…

After the conclusion of my Silver Shadow II’s exhaustive health check at independent Rolls-Royce service, maintenance, repair and restoration outfit, Colbrook Specialists (www.colbrook), and a subsequent test drive to confirm the large barge’s six-and-three-quarter-litre V8 is in good working condition, I was ready to place an order for the list of suspension and braking components my car has been crying out for following my decision to recommission it after the two years it has spent in a state of suspended animation. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the catalogue of requested items sent to Matt at Rolls-Royce and Bentley parts supplier, IntroCar (www.introcar), was extensive! Though none of the necessary bushes, mounts, ball joints, bearings, nuts and washers are particularly expensive, the fact all these suspension items needed to be replaced at the same…

In 1982 Mercedes-Benz threw a large set of metric spanners into the compact executive car market with the introduction of the W210 190 range. With well over £600 million spent on its development, the 190 was always considered extensively over engineered and immediately went head to head with arch rival BMW’s popular 3-Series. Known as the ‘Baby Merc’, the 190 featured the same sophisticated rear five-link suspension set up as found on its bigger E-Class sibling. During its production run, the 190 (again, the E suffix was used on fuel injected examples) came with what at first sight appears to be a confusing range of engines, ranging from the entry level 2.0 litre inline-four and rising through the ranks to a pair of barnstorming 16 valve 2.3 and 2.5 Cosworth…

The two-seater SL convertible has always been a firm favourite in the UK and in 1989 Mercedes-Benz replaced it’s popular R107 series with the all-new R129. Entry level to the new SL range was the 300SL powered by the company’s 24-valve twin-cam 2960cc inline-six but the model that made the most waves was the highly refined 4973cc V8 equipped 500SL. Despite what engine was under the bonnet, handling and ride was exceptional on all R129 SL’s and the model was the first two-door soft-top car to feature an roll-over bar that automatically deployed to protect the occupants at the first sign of a potential roll-over. Anti-lock brakes were standard across the range and in 1992 Mercedes-Benz raised the bar even further with the introduction of the barnstorming V12 powered SL600.…