Innehållsförteckning för November 2019 från Classics World

As you can read on p112, I have just returned from driving to Italy on Club Triumph’s Ten Countries Run. This was a truly superb event, and a week later I am still buzzing from the incredible places we visited and the awesome roads we drove. However, I am also slightly concerned, worried that life-enhancing experiences such as this could potentially become a thing of the past. The problem is not with the cars, which like fine wines seem to become better as they get older, but with changing public perceptions. How much longer will it be acceptable to drive anywhere simply for pleasure, let alone such long distances? And I’m not talking here about legislative barriers, but changing public attitudes that could reach the point where simply driving an…

Examples from every generation of Mustang since the car’s launch in 1964 converged on Ford’s Lommel Proving Ground in Belgium on September 7th to help set a new world record for the largest number of Mustangs in a parade. Ford smashed its own record of 960 vehicles, set at Toluca in Mexico in 2017, with 1326 Mustangs from all over Europe making the pilgrimage to the Ford testing facility. To set the new record, the Mustangs were driven in an uninterrupted convoy with no more than 20 metres between each car. Watch a video of the day – which included a fly-over by a P51 Mustang, the fighter plane that gave its name to Ford’s iconic sports car – on YouTube at www.youtube.com/ watch?v=wijRBAmSi9o Ford’s Lommel Proving Ground is where…

IMPERIAL/METRIC TOOL TROLLEY Price: various Damar International Ltd now offer the Sonic S10 mobile tool trolley, specially arranged with both imperial and metric tools in clearly identified foam inserts. With four optional colours to choose from, you can now get the right trolley and set of tools to suit both classic and modern cars. The Sonic S10 is a new design with integrated can and paper roll holders, and is equipped with eight drawers as well as the latest ball bearing slides. The cabinet is provided with a powder coated exterior which is available in black, red, blue and grey. View the range and order online from www.sonic-equipment.com THE MGC GTS LIGHTWEIGHTS ABINGDON’S LAST RACERS By David Morys Price: £35 (plus p&p if ordered directly) Hardback,  245mm x…

It’s difficult to think of myself as a senior figure in the car magazine world, because I still deliberately charge through big puddles, and it’s not that long ago that I was driven at 150mph down Interstate Highway Five in empty Oregon State at 4am in a caged 1000bhp Toyota Supra on the way to a grudge-match shootout at a dragstrip in Sacramento, California. Senior I am, though. In 1996 I was the frisky young editor of Ford Heritage and then the launch editor of Classic Ford magazine, which I took to a very satisfying circulation over a few years before being replaced with in-house staffer Simon Woolley on cost grounds, a corporate financial decision with which I couldn’t disagree. He’s still there two decades later, so he obviously found…

The North Coast 500 route, as the name suggests, covers over 500 miles of Scotland’s most jaw-dropping scenery and incredible roads as it clings to the country’s northern coastline. You get it all on this route, with narrow single-track lanes, long straights, wide sweeping bends and mountain passes all included, as well as a variety of terrain. We’d chosen an electric trio of cars for our trip, but I quickly made a beeline for the MX-5 keys and wasn’t keen on relinquishing them as we piled on the miles. I’d only driven the more powerful 1.8 version previously, and had dismissed the 1.6-litre unit as fitted to our car as not worth bothering with. However, the smaller motor was a pleasant surprise. We already knew we had a good one…

As you can read in the feature starting on p112, early in September I went on Club Triumph’s Ten Countries Run. Until the last minute I was undecided whether to take the Herald or the Acclaim, but as part of my preparations I wanted to add some refinement to the Herald. I realise that no Herald – and especially a convertible – will ever feel truly refined and that is all part of their charm, but a little less road noise would not go amiss. I have seen a number of specialists who swear by Dynamat insulation on their upmarket creations, and our own Mike Taylor has it fitted to his Stag, so I thought I’d give it a go too. There were three products of interest. Dynamat Xtreme is…

I’ve been using the Gentry regularly lately, but during the recent heat wave when it was simply too hot to sit in traffic in a car without weather protection, I really had to get the 1988 XJ40 Sovereign’s air-con working again. Just as the weather had started to get really warm, this had decided to pack up. As always, I called Denis Bourne at D& T Vehicle Air Conditioning Specialist (07703 878585). Denis came over and after a quick check discovered that the receiver-drier unit mounted up front next to the radiator was totally blocked. I knew that there could be a problem getting hold of a new drier from Jaguar and if I could find one, it would certainly be expensive. Luckily Denis was able to source an after-market…

Last month, we showed you how to cut out rusty metal and stressed the importance of doing it sequentially. In other words, you remove the corroded metal in, as far as possible, the reverse order to that in which it was originally put together. The reason for doing this should start to become clear now, as we move on to making up some repair sections with which to replace what’s been taken out. Some classics have great parts availability – Mini and MGB owners can even buy complete new bodyshells – whereas even some mechanical stuff for my 1958 Minx featured here is tricky to find. But even if your classic does enjoy nearly 100% replacement panel availability, there will be some situations where, quite apart from any issues around…

The Opel Manta was a pretty car, at least in its first and third generations. We shall skate over an awkward phase between 1975 and 1981 when it was basically a hunchbacked, two-door Cavalier. Otherwise it was a graceful sports coupé, an evolution of the Ascona saloon from a manufacturer whose offering was dominated by distinctly quotidian machinery. In 1989 Vauxhall repeated the same trick with the Calibra. Underneath it may have been the Mk3 Cavalier, but its pared-down profile made it one of the better-looking cars of its generation. It sold reasonably well as a result. The Calibra was very much the descendent of the Manta, as both were the work of stylist Erhard Schnell. He shares credit for the Calibra with another GM design legend, Wayne Cherry. The…

Club Triumph specialise in organising hard core touring events that test cars and crews to their limits. Their flagship event is the Round Britain Reliability Run, which is held every other year. This takes crews on a 2000-mile nonstop jaunt around Great Britain in 48 hours and while the sense of achievement afterwards is immense, I do liken it to banging your head against a brick wall in that it is lovely when you stop! On those years when the RBRR is not taking place, the club have a newer tradition of staging the Ten Countries Run. This one is for relative softies as it takes four days to cover around 2000 miles and visit ten countries, with overnight hotel stops along the way. It is still not to be…

An impressive line-up of classic cars celebrated the golden age of motoring as the brand new Golden Oldies display made its debut at Beaulieu's International Autojumble on September 7th and 8th. Driving more than 1000 miles from Sweden to take part in the display was a 1954 Wolseley 4/44, which had just been put back on the road by Nostalgia magazine after being unused for 30 years, while travelling from the Netherlands was an eye-catching 1952 Singer Roadster 4AD Ute and once-common 1969 Volvo 145. An imposing 1964 Rolls-Royce Phantom V and diminutive 1959 Fairthorpe Ashley Special showed the diverse range of the collection. Just as diverse were the cars in the Bonhams sale on Saturday. These included a colossal 1942 DUKW amphibious vehicle which sold for £43,700, while a…

The nights are drawing in and the days are getting cooler, which can only mean one thing – the Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show, with Discovery at Birmingham's NEC is just around the corner! If you have not visited this event in recent years, then you might be surprised by just how big it has grown. Featuring 3000 cars spanning over 120 years of motoring and displays from no fewer than 300 classic vehicle clubs, the range and variety of cars on show is immense. And that's before you get to the ones being offered for sale, either by dealers or in the auction. In recent years we have also been impressed by the variety of parts and memorabilia on offer in what is now the UK’s biggest indoor autojumble.…

Volkswagen have presented a concept for the electrification of the historic Beetle, using an electric drive, one-speed gearbox and battery system based on the new VW e-up! The conversion to create what has been dubbed the e-Beetle is being carried out for Volkswagen by specialist company eClassics. The e-Beetle's electric drive reaches performance peaks of 60kW/82PS. The battery system is built into the underbody, and consists of up to 14 modules. Despite the new total weight of 1280kg, the e-Beetle accelerates to 3omph in just under four seconds and to 50mph in just over eight seconds. The range of the e-Beetle, which reaches top speeds of up to 93mph, is 124 miles. The higher performance and the increased weight due to the extent of electrification required the adaptation and reinforcement…

STOP TAKING DIGS AT OUR FORDS! I've had Classics Monthly on a subscription since 2013, and bought it regularly before that. I used to read Practical Classics before that until it became a bit stale. I used to Rally a 123E Anglia Super in the 1970s, and have rebuilt cars all my life. I am a dyed in the wool Ford enthusiast, although I raced a Morgan in the late 1970s and early ’80s. I have in the last 10 years rebuilt a Series 3 SWB Land Rover from a wreck to a working classic, a Morgan 4/4, a Class1 Historic Rally 123E Anglia and am at present rebuilding a Lotus Elan +2 that had been stripped completely to the last nut and bolt in 1978. So I am a…

BIO: Having already spent a few years breaking lawn mower engines, from the age of 14 Rod concentrated on breaking motorcycles, often by falling off them. The inevitable move to cars followed, eventually leading to an accidental career in journalism. Keeping a beady eye on the auction scene, my attention has recently been diverted by Cobras, those almost mythological monsters created by fitting a ridiculously big engine in a small sports car. The news was that one of only two 212 S/Cs made by AC went under the hammer recently for £84,560 – at the low end of its estimate, but about 30% more than its cost new in 2001. To explain why this might be of interest (and it’s not that I was a bidder!) let’s fill in a…

When Renault unveiled the 30 in March of 1975, it was their first post-war offering with six-cylinder power and Europe’s first large executive hatchback. It is quite a challenge to convey just how exotic the first RHD examples appeared to the Great British public in the late 1970s. Just envisage the following scene – you are travelling to Fareham on a Woodbine-infused Leyland National when you espy a svelte-looking five-door saloon powering its way down the A27. The contrast between this Renault and the various various Commer PBs and secondhand Hillman Hunters is wider than the gulf between the Beatles and Britain Has A Dearth of Talent. Nor should it be forgotten that the 30 made its bow in an era when anything out of the ordinary arriving in suburbia…

Svenska Aeroplan AB was formed in 1937 when several engineering concerns were amalgamated into one company intended to provide Sweden with a home-grown aircraft industry for the coming conflict. When the war was over, Saab needed to find a new line to keep its engineers and production lines busy, and they decided that if they could build planes, a car would be comparatively simple and employ many of the same skills. They took as their inspiration the German DKW, a car which had become popular in Sweden during the 1930s. Saab’s engineers reckoned this was large enough to cope with long distances on the poorly made roads of the time, but small and light enough to motor across the snow and ice of a Swedish winter. It was also front-wheel…

After all the work on the P1 and the early summer weather not being great for classic motoring, it was over to the Allard M and its first run of the year. After checking all the oils, and having found the rear axle over-filled by almost a pint, we were nearly ready. After running the engine up carefully and noting the oil pressure was nothing special, I checked the headlights and got – nothing! I took the fuse box cover off and fuse out, cleaned the holder, refitted everything and again – nothing. Colin got the test light out and after spending nearly an hour I came back to see the lights working, but turning them off and back on again showed they had packed up once more. So we…

The original Lucas 11AC alternator on my E-Type has a history of problems that recently resurfaced. The alternator was overhauled in the early 90s and operated well until I upgraded the electric fan in 2010 to overcome overheating when sitting in traffic. Originally the E-Type was fitted with an electric fan, although calling it a fan was stretching the point – it was a Lucas wiper motor fitted with two blades with very little angle on them, therefore a very small movement of air and certainly not up to the task of summer cooling in Queensland. This was replaced with a Kenlowe 14in high performance fan that was mounted in the nose of the bonnet just in front of the stone guard. I chose this fan on its high airflow…

PORSCHE 924 ROUGH RUNNING QI have a 1980 Porsche 924 which is being restored. It had a failed head gasket and I have had the cylinder head professionally overhauled, including the fitting of a new camshaft. After rebuilding the engine, it starts and runs, but not very evenly. It has an erratic idle speed which alters by around 200rpm, and when accelerating the engine hesitates and misfires at around 2500rpm. I used a strobe light to check the timing, but the marks on the flywheel seem to jump around. The problems only show up on the engine when it is hot, and it starts from cold easily. I have replaced the HT leads and spark plugs as well as the distributor cap and rotor arm, but none of this…

The list of tools and spares that could be needed to fix your classic car should it break down or should you need to check something is probably enough to fill the boot three times over. There’s no definitive checklist that will cater for every potential problem, but there are some useful and clever gadgets that can help minimise the space needed and several practical steps to be taken to ensure you have the essential tools to fix the common problems that can arise while far from home. Modern cars have perhaps spoilt most of us into being ill-prepared for a breakdown or routine checks. Many of these modern cars are not even equipped to allow a wheel to be changed. Classic cars bear no relation to this and most…

The Performance & Tuning Car Show 2020 is searching for the top tuned car – and the winner will have the opportunity to showcase their customised vehicle at the four-day event. With the tuning industry being transformed from a culture of street racing into an automotive art form that has captured enthusiasts’ imaginations, show organisers want to celebrate with a new feature they call the Revving Red Carpet. The new customisation competition will allow enthusiasts to submit details of their top tuned car to a panel of tuning experts, who will select their top 20 of 2020. It will then be up to the public to choose the overall winner in an online poll. As well as winning four VIP tickets to the show, with luxurious overnight hotel stay and…

The Bentley Drivers Club smashed its '1001 Bentleys at Blenheim' target during its Concours d'Elegance on Sunday 8th September, with an incredible world record gathering of 1321 Bentleys eventually parked up on the historic palace’s pristine lawns. And of these magnificent Bentleys of all ages and models, Dean Kronsbein’s beautiful 1953 R Type Continental (on right of picture) was named Best in Show. BDC President Duncan Wiltshire commented: 'To smash the 1001 target by over 300 cars is a truly fitting tribute to the Bentley marque’s centenary. To say the assemblage made for an unforgettable spectacle is an understatement! The club would like to sincerely thank all our members and guests who attended the event, along with Bentley Motors and Salon Privé for their amazing support.' GOT A STORY TO…

David Brown Automotive has revealed Mini Remastered, Oselli Edition, a one-of-a-kind performance version of the celebrated city car. The highly tuned Mini Remastered, to be made in a limited production run of 60 cars to mark the first Mini launching in 1959, will be made in partnership with classic car performance specialist, Oselli. The powertrain unit has a punchy 1420cc Stage 3 engine delivering in excess of 100bhp with buckets of torque to make for a thrilling driving experience. The uprated engine will be paired with a remastered five-speed gearbox, while a strong focus on race-ready driving means the chassis is uprated with key suspension and brake enhancements too. However, such bespoke craftsmanship comes at a price. Pre-orders are open now for the Mini Remastered, Oselli Edition, with first deliveries…

Maybe you missed this, but when Wales Rally GB takes place early in October, it will be the 75th time that this event (or those predecessors which carried different titles!) has been run in Great Britain. The first event of all, which finished in wintry Torquay in March 1932, was a gentle 1000 mile tour of the country, with a few sea-front driving tests to sort out the winners. The first one to have an International Permit (where overseas drivers could compete) ran in 1951, and the first featuring proper Forestry Commission special stages took place in 1961. When Martin Holmes and I were commissioned to write a complete book about this event and its history (The Great British Rally, about to go on sale from Veloce Publishing) we concentrated…

No car is easy to restore, but some are definitely easier than others. A general rule of thumb is that the bigger and more expensive a car was when new, the harder and/or more expensive that restoration will be. This is only a general rule though, and as we saw last issue, something as small and economy-minded as a BMW Isetta can turn into a mammoth project. Clearly though we are not looking at a bubble car today, but something rather more sleek and luxurious. As for expensive, Jaguars may traditionally have been a bargain when new, but that was only relative to high end competitors from the likes of Mercedes and, as many owners who aspired to such luxury but could only afford to buy a down-at-heel example on…

When the reformed Alvis Car Company announced in 2015 that it was building a new Continuation Series based on some of the marque’s greatest models, the motoring world sat up and took notice. However, these gleaming new cars are a far cry from the challenge facing Max Lourie when he decided to build his own roadster back in 2002. A plant operator by trade, this was the dream of a lifetime. ‘I’d always been keen on classic cars, and particularly liked Alvis,’ he explained. ‘My first classic was an MG Midget, and this was followed by several others. In my younger days I worked as a panel beater, and always wanted to build my own car. It was around the time of the Millennium that I decided to take the…

COSTS THIS ISSUE:  Auto to manual conversion using new and secondhand parts, including labour: £1500 We have been working on our Mk2 MX-5 this month, but our report on that will have to be brief because the major story concerns Lancaster’s MkI Eunos. As we’ve mentioned previously, the decision to swap the automatic gearbox in our 1989 example for a five-speed manual wasn’t taken lightly. Although there had been a few mutterings about how an automatic gearbox spoiled a good sports car, many of us were won over after trying it out. Not everyone agreed though, which was why there had been considerable debate with Lancaster over the path to take. However, although our automatic Mazda provided a very relaxing drive, we’d started to notice that all was not well…

You’ll remember from the last issue that on our test drive following the fitting of our new unleaded compliant head, the temperature was still a little wavy at times. Well, we had already spotted the poor condition of our old radiator and so before Q prep could sign off the work on the Escort, replacing this was the last big job to be done. As all the equipment for the change was being prepared, I popped the bonnet and grabbed some photos of the small but crucial touches given to our CVH engine while here in the workshop. The first I noticed was our new oil cap, and I followed its breather pipe down to where it neatly lined up with that of the gearbox – a solution to the…

The Karmann Ghia has often been dismissed as all style and no substance. The first part is certainly right – few cars have been so explicitly and entirely about looking pretty and the result is one of the most distinctive and attractive classic cars there is. But no substance? That’s a charge made in error by people expecting the Karmann to back up its sleek, jet-age looks with similar performance. All the Karmann Ghia ever had to do was be a very handsome variant on the Beetle, and it does that superbly – in teaming the stylistic masterstroke of one of the great Italian design houses with the high build quality of a German coachbuilder, VW cooked up a recipe for an enduring and very appealing car that was a…

Like many famous automotive industry figures, William Rootes (senior) had an early association with bicycles. In the late 1800s he set up a general engineering business in his Kentish home town, increasingly involved with the bicycle boom. A lover of all things mechanical, pedal-powered two wheelers inevitably gave way to internal combustion four wheelers. In 1895, Rootes attended a motor show held in Tunbridge Wells and duly bought one of the new-fangled motorised contraptions. Sons Billy and Reggie, born 1894 and 1896, were also keen to get out on the road, and in 1905 ‘borrowed’ Pater’s motor, only to crash it – not an auspicious start. Leaving school in 1909, Billy was taken on by Singer as an apprentice, but in 1913 he left to set up in the car…

THE ONLY CAR I EVER BOUGHT NEW... IT IS NOW WELL over two decades since the Ford Ka made its startling debut. 1996 wasn’t really a very good year for anything that I can recall, just bloody awful Britpop and an overwhelming blandness in most things. Cars were nice in the main, but mostly unmemorable. Then the Ford Ka was launched on September 11th 1996, although eager buyers had to wait until early 1997 before they could get their hands on one. This was Ford’s first foray for decades into making interesting cars; the original Mondeo from 1993 showed that Ford could make genuinely good cars after years of so-so porridge, all it needed was a bit of style so it didn’t look quite so much like a Primera. The…