Innehållsförteckning för December 2019 från Classics World

Going out on a stylistic limb can be a dangerous move for a car manufacturer. However much people like to complain that ‘all cars look the same these days,’ if you offer them something dramatically different then they usually run a mile, taking their cheque books with them. It is hard to believe now, but Ford encountered this problem with the Sierra in 1982, which was shunned initially as too futuristic compared to the outgoing Cortina – people tend to know what they like and to like what they know! A car like the Sierra that is fundamentally good will eventually sell enough to lose that oddball tag and become mainstream, but others really are just too wacky to ever blend in. The Fiat Multipla falls into that category, bless…

Hundreds of exotic cars and bikes attended the Footman James Coffee & Chrome event, held in the grounds of the Chateau Impney Hotel in Droitwich in September. The third running of this family-friendly event attracted a diverse range of machinery that included vintage, classics, supercars, bikes and military vehicles, as well as several classic car and classic bike clubs. The vehicles ranged from a 1923 Ford Model T Hot Rod through to a beautifully restored 1964 Citroën 2CV complete with a matching child seat in the back. A large gathering of TVR models was also in attendance, as was the Jaguar Enthusiasts Club. The Footman James Drivers Club offered members a relaxed space, as well as retro tunes and jazz that were played throughout the event. David Bond, Managing Director…

Occasionally, just occasionally, I am allowed to write about cars that the vast majority of us can see, admire and lust after, but never own. I suspect that I may not be allowed to do this too often, but this month I intend to ramble on about the Jaguar XJ220 – and particularly about its engines. Because I was involved in the original launch (though not the engineering) of this car, I can give chapter and verse as to the rather unfortunate story which evolved from 1988 when the original XJ220 show car appeared at the NEC in October and the first deliveries in 1992. The main upheaval which took place in that period was that the original mid-engined car was developed by Jim Randle’s engineering team at Jaguar with…

The grille is a Marmite item as Andy Perman admits of his 1976 Vanden Plas 1500 (they never wore Allegro badging), but it certainly helps to attract the attention of various passers-by in Lee on Solent. However, it was the interior that truly amazed the onlookers, resembling as it does a mobile cocktail lounge. You can just imagine Margot Leadbetter of The Good Life delighting in one, and Mildred Roper dreaming of owning such a fine machine. The blue 1500 is actually the second Vanden Plas in the Perman fleet; as Andy says: ‘There is no end to my sickness!’ He discovered his first 1500, a very rare 1974 Mk1 finished in Mirage, in 2010 when he was seeking a bonnet for his Vauxhall Astra in a scrapyard. ‘I saw…

In a way, my Lotus Elan story starts with a Triumph Spitfire 1500 that I did not really like. I’d had the Spitfire for many years after buying it cheaply and then slowly restoring it to a drivable condition. However, the bonnet didn’t fit properly, it vibrated badly, the axle needed overhauling – it was OK to drive, but I never really enjoyed it. I had made up my mind to sell it anyway, but then in 2003 a work colleague told me he was selling a Lotus Elan before emigrating to Australia. The Elan was in pretty good condition and had been resprayed, so how could I resist a test drive? I knew immediately that I wanted the Elan – it was great to drive, had brilliant road-holding and…

COSTS THIS ISSUE: Number plate plinth: £14.95 Bypass hose: £13.20 Cambelt kit: £126 Valve cover gasket: £15.34 Antifreeze: £10.80 Labour: £135 This is not a case of playing copycat with the Mk1, but a new number plate plinth was always on the cards for the Mk2 as well because the one on the car had been broken and bodged back together with insulating tape. There have been more serious issues to deal with too. For one thing, the car came without any service history, so we wanted to have the cambelt changed. From the Mk3 onwards the MX-5 had a timing chain, but the Mk1 and Mk2 have a timing belt. Official recommendations varied from market to market, but the consensus is that the belt needs changing every 60,000 miles…

Although I managed to take it to a number of classic car events over the summer, I am without my Porsche at the moment and will be for a while. As I’ve mentioned previously, I’d noticed spots of rust appearing here and there, and some very small dimples and blemishes. Some were as a result of the various scrapes and knocks which happened when the car was in the hands of a previous owner and weren’t serious, but they did require attention to stop a small issue escalating into a big problem. What was more worrying was the state of the offside sill. On closer inspection, I could see that rust was starting to take a hold on the surface. Porsche 944 sills are notorious for rusting anyway, and the…

Since my last article, I have finished tacking in both chassis legs on the front of the 1950 Lowlight Tourer and am now awaiting receipt of some new engine bay floors to enable me to weld up the whole front body assembly. Reassuringly, I offered up the original front panel of the car and it lines up well, showing that the car is still square and true. This was also confirmed by further measuring of key datum points after tacking the legs into place. While I await the new panels, I decided to take the plunge and remove the sill covers to establish what work these would need and give me a clearer idea of a future work plan after I have finished the front of the car. These were…

MG TF REINSTATING AFTER STORAGE Q I have just bought a 2005 MG TF 135 that has been in storage since 2007 when the owner tragically died. It has only done 6500 miles. It is virtually a brand-new car, but I will of course change the head gasket and cam belt. Underneath, the car is exceptionally clean apart from surface rust on the suspension components, especially the nuts and bolts. There are still bar code stickers on the subframes! I don’t want to dismantle anything, so what would you recommend I use to kill the surface rust and then treat the metal work to prevent it reoccurring? Jan Taggart A There are a few points to consider, and one of those is that due to the circumstances, the vehicle…

Broadly speaking a diesel engine has no ignition system, relying instead on the heat generated by the extreme compression of air in the combustion chamber to set a finely-metered quantity of injected fuel alight. But that causes issues for starting diesels in cold conditions – the metal of the block and cylinder head, the coolant sat within them and the air being drawn into the engine are all at ambient temperature, which can cause the heat generated by compression alone to leach away. Even if the engine does start, it may run unevenly, not idle properly or emit unpleasant clouds of smoke until the engine temperatures begin to rise and combustion takes place as it should. Therefore, most automotive diesel engines of the past 80-plus years have been fitted with…

The story of Ford’s Consul Classic saloon and Consul Capri coupé is seldom accurately told. Most journalists will have you believe they were commercial flops, the wrong cars at the wrong time with styling that was just plain weird. The problem is that those journalists are wrong. We will concede that the cars’ timing was unfortunate, but this was due to outside circumstances that we will come back to later. As for the rest, the cars were visually striking, reasonably ergonomic and sold well by anybody’s standards at the start of the 1960s. So why do they seem to attract such negative press? Well, if you are sitting comfortably, then I’ll begin... In the mid-1950s, Ford had two sectors of the market brilliantly covered in the UK – some of…

TOYOTA CROWN THE SUPER SALOON WITH TOYOGLIDE! AUSTIN SEVEN MINI VS FIAT 600D TWO MINI MARVELS FOR THE 1960S BUYER E-TYPE ON A BUDGET HOW A YOUNG OWNER REALISED HIS DREAM RENAULT’S 4 GTL HOLDALL UK SURVIVOR FINDS ENTHUSIASTIC HOME ALSO IN THE ISSUE • Project Car: Introducing our new Morris Minor • Buying Guide: The many Cobra replicas • Marques and Models: The Bond Equipes • Project Car: Our Ford Escort Mk3 gets paint • Emerging Classics: 1st Generation Hyundai Coupe • Workshop Skills: Bodywork skills series part 5 • Tech Focus: Talking distributors with H&H • Top Ten Trivia: The Maestro and Montego All content subject to change…

The birthplace for a host of British classics looks set to be lost, with news that work to demolish the historic former car assembly buildings at Longbridge could begin in November. Developers plan to clear a significant chunk of the south Birmingham site, meaning only a tiny fraction of what was once a bustling car factory will remain standing. Site owners St Modwen are planning to demolish Car Assembly Building 1 (CAB 1), Car Assembly Building 2 (CAB 2) and the paint shop, starting on November 4 and completing work by the end of August 2020. Longbridge had already been a car factory for over 40 years when CAB 1 was opened as a state-of-the-art facility in 1951. Expanded in 1956 and given a makeover for the Metro in 1980,…

Beaulieu’s 2020 calendar of events has been announced. For an early season highlight, the Spring Autojumble on 16th-17th May will gather more than 1000 stands offering classic car parts, motoring literature, automobilia bargains and classics for sale. Special displays will include one by the Saab Owners Club GB marking 60 years of the Saab 96. On 5th-6th September, the International Autojumble will build on the success of this year’s popular Golden Oldies featuring a brand new classic car display, as well as 2000+ stands at the UK’s biggest autojumble and rare finds at Bonhams auction. The high-octane Beaulieu Supercar Weekend on 8th-9th August will celebrate the event’s 10th anniversary with even more incredible supercars, sound-offs, special features and demonstration runs to put some of the world’s greatest performance cars to…

70 years ago, on 8th October 1949, the British Military Government handed over trusteeship of Volkswagenwerk GmbH to the Federal Republic of Germany. The young West German state, which had only been founded shortly before with the promulgation of the Basic Law on 23 May 1949, assigned responsibility for the administration of the company to the state of Lower Saxony. The British had laid the essential foundations for the later global success of the Beetle and of Volkswagen itself, with the British Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) being responsible for the Wolfsburg plant from June 1945. Senior Resident Officer Major Ivan Hirst came to the plant in August, and immediately started to establish a functioning automobile plant for the VW Beetle (Type 1) with pragmatism and a far-sighted approach.…

WEBCON 70MM MESH AIR FILTERS Price: £43.14 To complement its recently reintroduced 56mm and 63mm diameter mesh air filters, Webcon now has a 70mm version available as well. The 70mm filter is manufactured in the UK and features the same three-layer mesh technology as proven on the previously introduced filters. It is suitable for Weber 48DCO/SP and 48IDA carburettors as well as other 70mm O.D. air horns, and can be ordered in pairs as part number AFM4870. Call 01932 787100 or visit www.webcon.co.uk ALFA ROMEO 105 SERIES SPIDER – THE COMPLETE STORY by Jim Talbot and Andrew Brown 192 pages, hardback, 225mm x 268mm. Crowood Press, ISBN: 9781785006494, Price: £25 It is always difficult to justify a new book on a car about much has already been written, but this…

Many classic car collectors also have an impressive collection of models reflecting their tastes, and for those obsessed with particular marques or cars, the nicely lit cabinets are inarguably attractive, even if you’re not a model enthusiast. I never have been, particularly. I spent a lot of time writing about and being scarred and bankrupted by kit cars, which are actually just very big models. My Ayrspeed Six was a full-scale replica model of a Jaguar XK120, so I guess I am as much of a modelling enthusiast as any, I just prefer to do it at a scale of 1:1. I have bought small models to help with making big models, though. There are a few XK120 models in the basement, although I was actually taking moulds off real…

It is very easy when talking about Rolls-Royces to quickly get side-tracked onto the subject of money. After all, they are famously expensive to buy new, and fuel economy was never their main priority so fear of the running costs can give the uninitiated a bad case of the collywobbles. Of course, there is always an argument for buying quality that lasts rather than cheap tat which has to be discarded and replaced in short order. I have even heard it claimed that in the long run a Rolls-Royce could end up being the cheapest car to own, but I suspect that only really applies to anybody who bought a 40/50 Silver Ghost in 1907 and still has it today! The problem with this fixation on money is that it…

The words ‘Triumph’ and ‘Stag’ are so inextricably linked that it may surprise some people to learn that as a concept, it did not originate from Canley. Instead it began life as a styling exercise by the gifted Giovanni Michelotti in Italy, intended as a show car to demonstrate his creative skills and prototype production abilities. It was, though, based on a Triumph 2000 saloon, not surprising really since Michelotti had become Triumph’s go-to stylist ever since he had dug them out of the small-car mire by styling what became the Herald. Then the Spitfire, the GT6, the 2000 saloon, the TR4, the 1300FWD... However, when Triumph boss Harry Webster saw the graceful lines of the 2+2 convertible early in 1966 during a visit to Turin, he liked it so…

At the start of this project, we asked MX-5 racing champion Brian Chandler and Lancaster Insurance Service’s Car Club Manager Dave Youngs to test and evaluate both cars. Since then, work on the Mk1 has included new brake discs and Greenstuff pads, new rear dampers and a conversion to manual gearbox, while work on the Mk2 has included having its brakes serviced, a four-wheel alignment, a new steering rack and four new tyres. So as the projects draw to a close, we invited Dave and Brian back to sample them now. MK1 In the June issue, Brian had said of the Mk1: ‘...the front end felt nice and positive. The same can’t be said of the back end because the rear shocks are absolutely knackered. The tired rear shocks manifest…

From the 1920s, dynamos, batteries, electric powered lights and starters began to be fitted to cars. They were normally wired in conjunction with an ammeter to confirm that the dynamo was indeed supplying charge to the battery. In many cases the electrics were 6 volt with a small total load, enabling a relatively low output dynamo to keep up. Later, 12 volts became the standard and as the electrical loads increased, the dynamos were struggling to keep up with reduced output at low engine revs, resulting in charging issues when the vehicle was stationary in traffic. Higher output alternators started to replace the dynamo, the alternator’s construction enabling it to operate at higher rpm and therefore increased output at low engine revs, and it soon became the standard fitment. The…

The bodywork was in remarkably good condition when we bought our Escort Mk3. There were a few minor scabs of rust and perhaps one point of rot that we could readily identify, as we did in the first episode of this project series when we visited Tiger Racing. With the mechanical side of things now pretty much sorted, we returned to Tiger and had a good chat with Paul, their bodywork specialist, about where to go next in returning our old Ford to a brighter glory. The Roman Bronze paintwork may well have looked good at a distance, but upon closer inspection we began noting more points needing attention. The worst areas of concern were, as before, seen on the lower parts of the bodywork, particularly along the doors, sills…

It really was very appropriate that by the time MG unveiled its new sports car in 1955, it had used up most of the letters of the alphabet on its previous models. In 1953 had come the Z-type Magnette, which raised the question of what the next MG was going to be called, and a new naming scheme was only proper for a car which redefined what an MG sports car was like. The new MGA was longer, wider, heavier, more spacious, more comfortable and more refined than any of its sports car predecessors. Gone was the pre-war styling, to be replaced with arrestingly pretty and streamlined full-width bodywork, sweeping blended wings, integral headlamps and a reclining grille. The new body was supported by a brand new chassis with the…

‘Steering – one finger does it! Go! 40 - 50 - 60 UP! Stop! And it’s done in the span of a moment – smooth as silk – with the famous Vauxhall brakes.’ That was the 1930 copywriter, writing about the Hurlingham Sports Roadster and getting entirely carried away. It reflected the recent and controversial takeover of posh British Vauxhall by brash American General Motors. Vauxhalls may still have been ‘Made from 97% British parts,’ but the company had been 100% American-owned since 1925 and was changing dramatically. By 1930, the GM parts fitted included the Delco distributor and coil, US Lovejoy hydraulic shocks, a belt-drive generator, a Trico wiper motor and additional American bits, but it still retained its British major components including the seven-main-bearing straight six engine. Before…

China’s first – and only – private historic vehicle museum has just joined FIVA (the Fédération Internationale des Véhicules Anciens). The Sanhe Classic Car Museum in Chengdu boasts a collection of some 230 historic cars with more than 30 marques, dating from the early 1900s to the 1990s. 'It’s hard to overstate the importance of welcoming a Chinese museum to the international community of classic vehicle enthusiasts,' said Dr Mario Theissen, Senior Vice President of FIVA. 'A passion for historic vehicles, and for the culture that lies behind automotive history, is a relatively new phenomenon in China. This makes it a particular pleasure to share our mutual interests with the Chinese, and we look forward to exchanging valuable ideas.' So far there are just three museums in China that address…

Classic Car Auctions have a new event which aims to help owners prepare their car and get it ready for auction. Called Cars, Coffee and Consignments, it is taking place at the British Motor Museum in Gaydon, where the CCA team will be on hand to help you learn about the auction process. The next one is being held on 6th November, and it is a great opportunity to get advice if you are thinking of entering your car into one of CCA's auctions – if you book an appointment, you can get your car valued, and as part of the process their professional photographer will be on hand to take a selection of pictures to help market your car, use on your entry listing and in the sale catalogue.…

The annual Bonhams London to Brighton Veteran Car Run has always been a magnet for people from all walks of life, from families who have participated in their cherished automotive heirlooms for generations to well-known personalities. In recent years famous faces driving on the annual pilgrimage from capital to coast have included the 1996 F1 World Champion Damon Hill, broadcaster Chris Evans and supermodel Yasmin Le Bon. On Sunday 3rd November 2019 another familiar TV broadcaster – Alan Titchmarsh MBE – will be motoring to Brighton. Titchmarsh is a huge classic car enthusiast – his first such acquisition was a 1928 Morris Cowley, and today he owns a 1929 Bentley Le Mans 4.5-litre and a fully restored 1963 Jaguar E-type. On the day of the Run he’ll be behind the…

SURELY EVERYTHING IS RELATIVE? Of course an old car has dirty exhausts, but aircraft pollute heavily (every now and then you can smell the fumes when waiting at the gate), that nice wood-burning stove pollutes, boats (especially large vessels) have no exhaust cleaning or legislation and use the very cheapest fuel they can find. Diesel heaters on new vehicles seem to have very relaxed legislation too, as they make clouds that my old two stroke Saab would have a hard time to match. So I don't feel too bad about my Saab. It is pretty fuel efficient too, around 6L/100km (47mpg) this summer. And speaking about CO2, taking that plane usually means going much further away – a weekend in Nice is very realistic, but a weekend with the classic…

Almost exactly 60 years ago as I apply digit to keyboard, Earls Court opened its art deco doors to the British International Motor Show of 1959. This promised to be a vintage event, marking the debut of three important mass market cars. Despite ironic government warnings that the public shouldn’t come to a car show in a car for fear of bringing gridlock to Kensington, over half a million attended. The milestone models were, of course, the Mini Minor, Triumph Herald and Ford Anglia. With the benefit of hindsight, which was the most significant? Well, even though I’m a long-serving Triumph nut, man and boy, I have to concede that the Herald and its family of separate chassis oddballs was an evolutionary dead end. That being the case, the contest…

COSTS THIS ISSUE: Number plate plinth: £14.95 Paint and clips: £37.13 Labour consumables and painting : £195 Secondhand boot carpet: £33.99 The MkI Eunos that belongs to Lancaster Insurance has always looked great and driven well, but with its appearance at the Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show, with Discovery, in Hall One of Birmingham’s NEC on 8-10 November fast approaching, we had just enough time to attend to a few cosmetic details. The car will be going to Meguiar’s for expert preparation before being presented to the new owner, so we could concentrate on tidying up one or two niggles around the front bumper. One of the problems was that the paint had worn away from the bumper at each end, where it met the front wings. That could have…

There are quite a few different cars to report on, so you may have to concentrate to keep up! I’ll start with the 1988 Renault 21 Symphony, which I borrowed from the Kelsey fleet for a couple of weeks. Back in the October issue I detailed how the screen washer pump had failed, and accidentally sending the wipers across a dry and dusty screen reminded me that this really needed to be fixed. Unfortunately, the pump is integral to the washer bottle and I could not find the correct replacement, hardly surprising when you think about how few Renault 21s have survived. So instead I bought a universal remote pump for under a tenner, and then looked for a way to attach it as unobtrusively as possible. The screenwash bottle…

There are two places I go for MoTs. One is TJ Motors, an old fashioned and incredibly thorough garage who can tackle anything on any car of any age, but is an annoying drive from me. The other is a fast-fit MoT place five minutes from home who are friendly, but can’t do much on older cars so I only use them when I think the test is just a formality. There were two tests looming recently. First up was the Rover Tomcat – it was running well, so I took it to the fast fit guys and went for coffee. An hour later I was handed a fail sheet with three ‘serious’ problems – a suspension spring was broken, a track rod end had too much play and once…

If automotive history teaches us one thing, it is this: the great British public loves an outsider, even if we tend to sneer at it when it arrives. Many iconic British cars pushed boundaries a long way at their launch, and when Chrysler’s PT Cruiser wandered across the Atlantic in 2000 boasting American Gothic looks that only a mother could love, we reacted with a combination of horror, derision – and desire. Of the 1.35 million PT Cruisers sold during its decade-long career, over 300,000 were bought outside the USA and its largest foreign market was the UK. Despite being, as one British review put it, ‘something of an artful sham,’ the PT Cruiser became the most profitable product in Chrysler’s history. It has been claimed that the PT was…

ONE OF THE BEST THINGS about being middle aged [Don’t you mean ‘about the only good thing...’? – Ed] is that you can remember all the cool garages that were around when you were a car-mad kid. You can remember sunny (or otherwise) days cycling up there, running the gauntlet of the owners whilst rooting through the scrap part exchanges out back and nabbing brochures for whatever was deemed interesting at the time. The downside of having these memories is that you feel the terrible pang of sadness as they are closed one by one, bulldozed and replaced by appalling new-build cardboard starter homes. “Scrapyards are much the same. I can still recall going with my dad, circa 1974, after an engine and gearbox for a Morris 1100 MkII. Not…