Innehållsförteckning för August 2019 från Classics World

The English language is rich in proverbs, so much so that you can invariably find ones to express completely opposite opinions. He who hesitates is lost and Look before you leap are two classic examples, but there are many more. You’re never too old to learn disagrees with You can’t teach an old dog new tricks, Many hands make light work is the opposite of Too many cooks spoil the broth, and so they go on. However, there is one to which I can’t think of an opposite: Every cloud has a silver lining. You would be perfectly justified in asking why I bring this up here, but bear with me and all will become clear. It starts with the Reliant Robin feature on p106. Not only did I enjoy…

The late Barrie 'Whizzo' Williams’ collection is to be auctioned at the Silverstone Classic sale on the 26-28 July. Whizzo, who passed away in September 2018, was universally known and loved throughout the motorsport fraternity and was very well known for his exuberant antics on track. The collection includes Whizzo’s Mini Cooper 1071S, a 1972 Lancia Fulvia, a Fastakart and box trailer plus his paddock moped. The 1964 Mini Cooper 1071S, which Barrie ordered from his hospital bed after an accident and amazingly received just three weeks later despite the six month waiting list, gave the model its first international win in 1964 when Barrie entered and won the International Welsh Rally as a private entry with co-driver John Griffiths. Barrie continued to use the Mini for the next two…

MINI SCRAPBOOK 60 years of a British icon By Martin Port Softback, 176 pages, 240mm x 300mm. ISBN: 978-1-907085-94-9 Price: £20 This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Mini – a little car which made a big impact when it was launched in 1959. In this latest addition to the Scrapbook series from Porter Press, the story of this unique little car is broken up into accessible nuggets and supported by an extensive array of archive and contemporary photographs to illustrate just what makes the Mini so special, so loved and such fun. Covering the creation of the car, its production through to 2000, its competition life and even the BMW MINI with a look at 21st century incarnations including the 60th anniversary model, this book is lavishly…

There has been a creeping tendency in recent years for government clerks worldwide to take more control, of everything, all the time. That is why I am concerned that making cars over 40 years old exempt from needing an MoT test may be a well-meant gesture towards classic car enthusiasts, or it may be the beginning of separating classic cars into a different group that can be more easily controlled. In Australia, there is widespread use of concessional registration rates for classics that reduce the annual cost of running one, but in return there are restrictions on when you may drive them. Break these restrictions at your peril – the police come down on drivers pretty hard all round, with even minor speeding attracting fat fines. I don’t understand this,…

The car arrives home. This is always time for celebration… and just a little trepidation! The discovery of fibreglass in the wheelarches spelled a lot of work – time for Damien to hone his bodywork skills! Patching up the bodywork took a lot of time and patience. Damien had to learn several new skills, including welding. Eric and Damian share a joke, but the countless hours spent stripping the car’s interior was no laughing matter. Damien also worked on parts of the engine. Safety was paramount at all times. Damien starts work on the brakes – a fiddly job which could not be rushed.…

THE MK1: SPEEDO SWAP Fitting a more accurate mph speedometer to our Mazda Eunos has taken the stress out of flashing past Gatso roadside cameras PARTS USED Dash pod (used) £20 Instrument cowl (used) £12 Total inc VAT £32 As we’ve already reported in previous episodes, our bright blue MkI MX-5 is a ‘grey’ imported Eunos, and when it came into the country one of the conversions that had to be completed to make the car road legal over here was to swap the km/h speedometer for one calibrated to read in miles per hour. For some reason, the importer managed to scrimp on a few quid by retaining the original speedo and only replacing the dial with a nasty looking aftermarket MPH affair. This lash-up provided an inaccurate reading,…

A glitch with the TF jumped the queue of jobs-to-do this month, putting everything else a little behind schedule. What happened was that with no warning, the driver’s door decided it no longer wanted to open. The door lock button had popped up, but neither the inside nor the outside handle would release the catch. And a TF is not the easiest car in which to slide across so you can get out of the passenger door. Slightly perplexed, I played with the key fob buttons for a while and eventually the lock on the driver’s door relented and let me open it. Of course, I called my friend and font of all MG knowledge, Roger Parker, for advice. He thought my problem was most likely that the internal ‘Superlocking’…

Having got the Lowlight Minor up onto axle stands in the shed and removed the seats, carpet, soundproofing and gearbox cover. I was then able to properly investigate the exact source of the oil leak. As some of you may remember, the gearbox was built up from two different ones, the first being a non-overdrive Morris Marina box, and the second was a Triumph single rail gearbox with a J-type overdrive. Despite ostensibly being from different marques, the Marina box is in fact based on the Triumph box, the key difference being the input shaft length and the ratios. Putting the two boxes together using the case, output shaft and overdrive from the Triumph box and the input shaft, layshaft and all the gears from the Marina one means you…

Our most serious point of rust is on the lower rear section of the nearside front wing. This section will need cutting and welding. Other bits of corrosion are dotted about the bodywork, but most of those appear more superficial and none of it is too serious yet. Areas near the front bulkhead tend to rust badly, but ours seem OK, probably thanks to previously applied rust-proofing. Amazingly the sills still show original seam welds and are rust-free, suggesting we have landed an unmolested example. Jim of Tiger Racing casts his careful eyes over our 39-year-old Ford’s suspension and undercarriage, but finds very little of concern. This is in the nearside front inner wheelarch facing forward, and once again the metal is in impressively sound and original condition.…

There was a time when a mains-powered wander lamp was all you could hope for when it came to illumination, especially when working underneath a vehicle or in the darkness of a wheelarch. The yellow glow of fading fluorescent tubes never really helped, and when brighter halogen bulbs came along, we were often either nearly blinded by their light or burnt by the heat they generated. More recently, the technological advancement of light emitting diodes (LEDs) and rechargeable batteries means there is now a range of lighting equipment that’s portable and sufficiently bright to help with illumination, but also directional to ensure you’re not left squinting at the glare. Whether you’ve kept up with technology or not, the following pages outline some of the latest lighting equipment that’s mains- and…

Never has a car been quite so unfairly maligned as the Reliant Robin. The butt of innumerable jokes down the pub and lampooned with such glee on TV, many people can’t even get the name right – you’ll often hear it referred to as a Robin Reliant, and many people carelessly use the Robin name to refer to any Reliant with three wheels. Yet Reliant and its three-wheeled creations deserve far more respect than this – respect for the design ingenuity, the production skills and the way they helped bring motoring pleasure to many thousands of happy customers who might otherwise never have bought a car. Not that buying a Reliant three-wheeler was an option of last resort, because many loyal customers would never have considered anything else. It cannot…

WHATEVER WERE THEY THINKING...? THERE ARE SEVERAL EXAMPLES in motoring history of companies which have well and truly shot themselves in the foot. The Austin 3 Litre, Mk4 Zephyr, Austin Allegro, possibly even the Mk10 Jaguar were all misjudged cars that didn’t sell as well as those which went before. But as an attempt to wipe out complete marques, BMC gave it an excellent shot 60 years ago. Let’s look first at the Riley Pathfinder. This magnificent machine upset traditionalists because it looked so utterly different to the previous (and ancient) RM Series. It looked modern, sleek and Italian, prettier than a Mk7 Jag but not as fast. With its multi-link coil sprung rear axle and torsion bars up front it was certainly more advanced, and it made an effective…

The Peter James Insurance Bromley Pageant of Motoring returned to Norman Park in the suburbs of South London on 23 June. This huge event is spread over two fields, the first of them focusing on one-make parking and individual displays, while the other features club stands, arena, trade village and the all-important autojumble. With the suburban access roads to navigate, it’s the kind of show where exhibitors attend very early. Thankfully, due to a welcome break in the UK’s precipitation-laden summer, it was ice creams all round and lots of people milling around and catching up with friends late into the afternoon. The event attracts a really varied range of cars, from tiny bubble cars to huge American custom cars, plus everything new and old in-between. This year's award winners…

A new museum dedicated to motor racing hero Jim Clark is set to open in Scotland. The Jim Clark Motorsport Museum in Duns will replace the existing Jim Clark Memorial Room following a major revamp of the building, and will feature a wealth of memorabilia in an expanded exhibition space that will also include two of the great man's former race cars. Shona Sinclair, curator at the charity Live Borders, said: 'Jim's replica Indianapolis 500 trophy will be on display in the new museum alongside new items, film footage and photographs to showcase his inspirational career. A huge amount of work has gone into researching and preparing the collection for display and I'd like to thank the volunteers who have assisted the Jim Clark Motorsport Museum team with this task.'…

The Tayside Classic Car Show is one of the top rallies in Scotland and raises a large amount of money for local charities. The Tayside Classic Car Club can trace its roots back to 1989, and the first rally took place in 2006. Open to a wide range of cars, motorcycles, commercials and agricultural vehicles as well as various car clubs, the show is held to raise funds for children’s charities including Cash for Kids, and over the last 13 years the club has been able to raise over £54,000. This year the 14th rally took place in June at Morris Leslie’s vehicle auctions HQ at Errol airfield near Dundee and attracted a healthy crowd as Scotland’s car clubs turned out in force, including the Independent Porsche Enthusiasts Club, Imp…

IF I WON £1,000,000 ON THE LOTTERY... In the June issue, you asked what five cars we would buy if we won £1m on the lottery. Here is my jackpot selection: Gordon Keeble – a good looking car from every angle, with great performance too. Triumph Stag – a car I own, and with the original engine it sounds superb. It looks superb too, with the hood up or down. Jaguar XJC – Arguably the best Jaguar ever, I rate it as better looking than an E-Type, but I would fit a 3.6 XJS/XJ40 engine and manual gearbox. This too can be viewed from any angle and it will always be a thing of beauty. Riley 2.5 RMF – a 1953 model was the second car I owned and the…

A century ago Laurel & Hardy were the original ‘men behaving badly.’ Unlike so many other early film stars, they successfully made the transition from silent to ‘talkies’. Although some people (mainly female, if I’m allowed to make a sexist observation!) just can’t understand why repeatedly falling over and hurting yourself should be funny, the rest of us continue to be amused. rofl, as they say. Stan and Ollie used virtually anything as props, from pianos to gorillas and from cabbages to kings, but cars were an intrinsic element of most plots. In particular, Ford Model Ts were routinely battered to death in the cause of humour. It seems only one of possibly hundreds used on screen survived, to spend its days in an American collection before starring in the…

What was it that made you opt for the rather unusual classic choice of a Roadster? In the 1950s and 1960s, my father ran a Standard-Triumph dealership in Wolverhampton. When I wasn’t at school, it was my job to wash the cars before they went back out after any work had been done. I washed and leathered a couple of Roadsters and I don’t know exactly what it was about them, but I always told myself that if I ever bought an old car, it would be one of them. That time finally arrived in 1979 when I came across this one when it was lying in ruins. In 1979 the classic movement hadn’t taken off to anything like the extent it has now. Did friends and family look at…

I knew trouble was brewing with the Landcrab, but to be honest, I’ve been too busy to do anything about it. But the starting problems have quickly worsened, and the reluctance to turn over on the key (even with a freshly charged new battery) had quickly declined into just a distant clicking from the solenoid even when trying to jump start. Perhaps a little too hopefully, I’d decided that it was just a case of poor earthing. The battery to inner wing earth cable was to my optimistic mind looking a little sad, and the connection was no doubt corroded. So I unbolted it, cleaned up all the connections and found that the cable itself was in fact quite sound. Not the cause of my problems then... The next bout…

A dynamo is essentially just copper wires spinning between two electromagnets. The more current you put into those magnets, the stronger the field becomes and the more electricity the dynamo generates. When the dynamo is not required, turning down the feed to the magnets turns down the output from the dynamo – this is what the regulator does. The faster you spin a dynamo the more it outputs, so you have to control the output at higher engine revs. Before regulators came into use, they did this in the 1920s by developing the three-brush dynamo – the two main brushes cope with the charging currents, but the third brush picks up current from the commutator and feeds it to the field windings (magnets). Moving the position of this third brush…

The appeal of the Austin-Healey ‘Frogeye’ Sprite is, quite literally, simplicity itself because it really was (and is) as basic as a car could be. However, while the Sprite’s reputation for driving fun has not diminished with time, it has somewhat lost touch with its low-cost roots. While its later Austin-Healey Sprite and MG Midget siblings can still be found for a lowish four-figure sum, the Frogeye commands prices in the region of £15,000-£25,000. On top of its undeniable fun factor, its rarity (only built for three years and of those fewer than 10,000 were UK-market cars and it’s estimated that globally only around 2000 Frogeyes are left in roadworthy condition) and its status as the original Sprite and one of its era’s most desirable and successful sports cars boosts…

During December 1960, sales of the Morris Minor hit the 1,000,000 mark. The Minor was the first British car ever to attain this motoring milestone and to celebrate, BMC created a special edition: the lilac-hued Minor Million. But I digress, if only slightly! The feature car is a Rose Taupe 1965 Minor 1000, which is obviously not a Minor Million. However, it is well on the way to having covered a quarter of a million miles, the majority of which have been driven by its owner, Steve Chater. Steve has actually owned and cared for this marvellous Minor for the best part of 51 years, which must be some kind of record. He’s cared for it exceptionally well too, seeing that it still retains many original panels, as well as…

Former Jaguar chief test driver and development engineer Norman Dewis OBE passed away on 8th June at the age of 98. Dewis joined Jaguar in 1952, and helped to test and develop everything from D-Type racers to the XJS in a career that spanned 33 years before retirement in 1985. He also campaigned Jaguars in events such as the 1955 Le Mans 24 Hour race, and set a production car speed record of 172.412mph in a modified XK120 in 1953. In all he is estimated to have covered over a million test miles at an average speed of over 100mph, and survived three huge crashes despite having no seat belts or rollover protection. Following retirement, he spent over 30 years as an ambassador for the Jaguar marque. In recent years…

The Pre-1940s Triumph Motor Club held their annual rally at Wroxall Abbey in Warwickshire this month. A full weekend event, Saturday saw a tour of the local area by vintage coach, while on Sunday there was a static show in the magnificent grounds. Many of the participants dressed in period which, with the wonderful backdrop of the historic Wroxall Abbey Hotel, only added to the atmosphere. A total of 23 cars were on display on the Sunday. The oldest was a 1928 Triumph 15 that was enjoying its first outing after nine years on axle stands, while the youngest was a 1939 1½-litre Dolomite with the bigger 14/60 engine that was offered as an option in the final year of Triumph production. In between there were tiny Super Sevens and…

The 2019 London Concours Icons Award, sponsored by Footman James, in association with Azure, was won by the 1912 ‘Taj Mahal’ Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost of Katie Forrest. In a category comprising 13 truly special vehicles, the iconic cars were all invited to attend the prestigious international concours held in the manicured and historic grounds of the Honourable Artillery Company in the heart of the City of London. After much deliberation by the judges, the 1912 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost was awarded the trophy for its incredible condition, remarkable provenance and engaging back story. Ordered new by Rolls-Royce Bombay, it was built for the Indian market and was designed to withstand tropical climate and usage. Specified with additional features including higher coachwork to protect occupants from wildlife and with upgraded wiring to…

The Standard Motor Club dodged some unseasonably wet weather at the end of June and enjoyed sunshine (and only the occasional shower) for their International Rally held at Oxford Belfry. The standard of cars at this event seems to get higher every year, and this year there was a great turnout of cars from the 1920s through to the very last Vanguards produced in the 1960s. The weekend featured road runs, a trip on the preserved standard gauge heritage Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway, a gala dinner and a static rally with a silver band on the Sunday.…

Every classic car enthusiast – yes, all of us – must surely know that the original Issigonis Mini was launched almost exactly 60 years ago at the end of August 1959. But how many of you were around when that happened? Well I must admit that I was. Although I was recently fresh out of university and already working in the motor industry, I admit that I, along with almost all my chums, knew very little about the Mini until it was proudly – and suddenly – introduced by BMC. Those were the days, of course, when the internet had not been invented, and they were also the days when an embargo was obeyed by the motoring magazines of the day. You will therefore understand, I hope, that when I…

Let’s face it, restoring any old car while still at school is quite an achievement, but TVF 443G is not just any old car! A Jaguar Mk2 is still the height of cool and harks back to the days when British marques dominated the luxury car market. However, while you certainly had to be well-heeled to own this big cat, there was a sinister element lurking behind the Mk2’s distinctive radiator that gave the car a bit of a bad-boy image. This was fuelled by popular 1970s television dramas like The Sweeney where the Mk2 always seemed to be the favourite getaway car for London’s gangsters, or Inspector Morse when it was used to catch them. Certainly the Mk2 was a fast and capable saloon in line with Sir William…

I did an apprenticeship at Vauxhall, starting at Dixons in Hull when I was 16. This would have been in 1996, so I grew up working on cars like the Cavalier. A four-door family saloon may not have been an obvious choice for a 16-year old, but the GSi was a pretty sporting option in its day and it was my dream car. Of course, on an apprentice’s wages I couldn't afford one, all I could get was a Metro. Unfortunately the Metro I bought turned out to be totally rotten – don’t forget that I was an apprentice so I was still learning! Anyway, I got the Metro welded up and ran it for a while, then moved on to a Sierra. And yes, I was still at the…

The Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow was built from 1965 until 1980, and sold a total of around 30,000. This was six times as many cars as the previous Silver Cloud model, so it was a success by anyone’s standards. The elegant and understated body was designed by John Blatchley, who had also been responsible for the larger and more voluptuous Silver Cloud. He was treading a fine line with confidence and talent, because Rolls-Royces need to be reasonably up to date, but they also need to be reassuringly old-fashioned. When new, they were generally bought by the financially and chronologically mature, although the current new BMW RRs seem to attract youthful Chinese gangsters. Perhaps it’s the multitude of little shiny LEDS in the headlining... However, back in 1966, the trad Greek-temple…

Prior to refitting the front carpets in the Stag, I decided to fit a driver’s left foot rest. The original had been removed when the front speakers were installed and could not be replaced, so after taking some measurements, a replacement footrest was fabricated from steel bar with a bottom flange that could be bolted to the floor. Two rivet nuts were inserted into the floor, so after painting and fitting a rubber pad to the footrest it was a simple task to bolt into position before replacing the carpet. By the time I had completed this, the LED bulbs had arrived from Classic Car LEDS Ltd in the UK, so I set about fitting them. The plastic lenses were removed from the front lights and LED bulbs replaced side…

Classic car shows always seem to be miles away, so when I heard about Classics at the Manor just up the road in St. Albans, I had to go along. Held in the gardens of the St Michaels Hotel there was a good selection of vehicles ranging from a fantastic Lagonda LG6 which was first registered in April 1939 and had covered fewer than 40,000 miles from new to a pristine restored early Mini. There were various nice Porsche 911s, several Ferraris, a good showing of Mercedes, a cracking Alfa Romeo Duetto and lots more. I shall certainly be back there again next year. Driving along in the 1989 XJ6 recently, I could hear an ominous noise of metal against metal coming from the nearside rear. Initially I suspected that…

When this project was first suggested, there was talk of a 1600 Ghia, but it sold before we could get to it. I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for the Mk3 Escort Ghia’s thin wooden strips on the door cards and plush interior fabric, so I must admit I felt a pang of disappointment when I heard we’d picked up a 1.3L instead. However, after I’d taken custody of the bronze beauty, I couldn’t help falling for its modest charms, and it inexplicably took me back to a time before my own – this car is 11 years older than me, but somehow it still picks me up and places me in 1981! Apparently it does the same thing for a surprising number of other people too,…

To British eyes the Impreza seemed to come from nowhere. One moment we were celebrating Ford’s Sierra Cosworth as a psychotic icon of motoring madness, the next our rally stages were bristling with Imprezas, which then proceeded to dominate British motorsport for more than a decade and a half. As a road car the Impreza also excelled, and it is perfectly reasonable to hail it as a car that took the 1990s by storm. In doing so it established Subaru as a manufacturer to be reckoned with. Subarus were a rare sight in the UK until 1989, when the Legacy arrived on our shores. This quickly established itself as a highly capable, reliable and generously-sized car. Rather like Volvo’s big estates, it maintains a loyal following of long-term owners who…

WHAT IS SPECIAL ABOUT THIS CAR? The fact that it’s been in the family since it was almost new. WHAT REACTION DOES IT GET? The Minor is still widely recognised and lots of people come up and say how beautiful it looks, or chat about how their mum and dad learnt to drive in a Minor etc. All the comments are fond memories. WHAT WAS THE BEST MOMENT OF THE RESTORATION? I think the best moment has to be when the bodyshell came back from painting and I started fitting the rebuilt components and trim. WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF? That we kept the car and that I decided to treat it to a full restoration. WHAT’S IT LIKE TO DRIVE? It’s very comfortable, soaks up the bumps, and…