Innehållsförteckning för January 2021 från Classics World

The Classic Jaguar giftshop, part of the Motorgifts group of online shops, is giving away a very nice 2021 classic Jaguar monthly desk calendar free with any pack of classic Jaguar Christmas cards, or virtually any other item from their new classic Jaguar giftshop on orders that total £9.50 or more. The A5 size monthly Jaguar desk calendar features a different classic Jaguar model every month, plus a clean, individual day-by-day layout for you to add your own personal information. Choose from a great range of prints, signs, books, DVDs, pictures, weather vanes, greeting cards, Christmas cards, mugs and much more and your calendar will automatically be added to the order free of charge. Click to www.jaguar-giftshop. com for more details.…

Britain’s original Formula 1 team, British Racing Motors (BRM), is celebrating its 70th anniversary with the construction of three ‘new’ 16-cylinder race cars – the iconic and awe-inspiring Type 15 Mk1 BRM V16 which is considered by many fans to be the finest sounding racing car in the history of the sport. The first car, which is expected to be delivered next year, will go to the Owen family and will fulfil a long-held ambition of one of the family’s oldest surviving members to see and hear this iconic British racing car in action once again. John Owen, now 81, was just ten years old when he first heard the unique wail of the V16 engine, which developed 600 horsepower thanks to its ability to spin at an incredible 12,000rpm,…

Not too long ago, I had cause to spend a day driving around the West Midlands, searching out the old (and in many cases demolished) places where Austin-Healeys had once been important tenants. All in all it was a depressing day, and suddenly I am reminded that my last port of call was on a scruffy road called Kelvin Way in West Bromwich a few miles north-west of Birmingham, where the Jensen-Healey breathed its last in April 1976. That death had been forecast for some years, so ultimately was not something that could be considered a surprise. The miracle, of course, is that such distinguished brands as Healey, Austin-Healey or Jensen-Healey should have preserved their reputation for more than 30 years, and that nearly 50 years later we still admire…

Dave Puzey is a bit of a Classics regular – this is his fourth appearance in the magazine. The first two were with a Rover SD1 Vitesse. There was another V8 in his third appearance, but that time with a 1965 Sunbeam Tiger which he restored. That car had been bought in 2005 as a bare bodyshell, and Dave was pushed to finish the restoration in time for the article in 2010. However, even as he was finishing the Sunbeam, Dave had already bought his next project. This was the 1958 Austin-Healey Frogeye Sprite we are featuring today, and in many ways it could not have been more different to his previous projects – small and with a tiny four-cylinder engine rather than a thumping big V8. Oddly enough though,…

‘ t was my dad who started I my interest in classic cars,’ remarks Lili Holdstock, a 19-year-old enthusiast from Kent. She learned to drive in a Series II Polo and currently owns a 1984 Polo 'Breadvan' – her third example already! Another member of her fleet is one of just a handful of Series One Suzuki Altos in the UK. GOT 344X was discovered in December last year on the Facebook marketplace by a friend of hers who buys and sells cars. Lili made the journey and drove in the VW to Worthing to have a look, even though she was not initially too keen on the idea of the Suzuki as she’d never heard of the Alto. However, when the vendor threw open the garage doors, she instantly…

As detailed last issue, I had compiled an extensive list of jobs to be done on our project Midget, divided into three categories: those required for an MoT, those that I wanted to do before driving it regularly, and those which would be nice to do if time and funds allowed. As is usually the case with any classic car, potentially the biggest jobs in terms of both time and money concerned the bodywork. In particular, the sills were clearly standing proud of the front wings and so were probably over-panels hiding rust, and there was also considerable filler in the A-posts and in the rear wings above the sills. None of this would have failed an MoT given that the areas in question were demonstrably solid, even if there…

An expat motoring author and journo resident in Vancouver, Iain was unable to resist the opportunities that comprise his fleet of projects, but is also unable to muster the focus, energy or organisational skills to complete them. MY FLEET 1947 BENTLEY MKVI OWNED SINCE: 2015 1957 BENTLEY S1 OWNED SINCE: 2019 1958 CHEVROLET DELRAY OWNED SINCE: 2005 1984 DODGE CAMPERVAN OWNED SINCE: 2009 1974 MINI MARCOS PROJECT OWNED SINCE: 2015 1990 ROVER MINI COOPER RSP OWNED: since 2016 1992 JEEP CHEROKEE OWNED SINCE: 2006 1992 MAZDA MX5 SUNBURST OWNED SINCE: 2015 199X COBRA REPLICA PROJECT OWNED SINCE: 2007…

Having spent some time out on the road in the Lowlight saloon, I have now been back home and plugging away on welding the 1950 Lowlight Tourer. The key objective was to get the welding finished so that I could complete grit blasting and painting before the winter. When I’d last focused on this, I’d managed to replace the chassis legs, floors and rear spring hangers. However, there were still lots of patches and seam welding to complete to tie everything together and make the car structurally sound. Although I hadn’t fully thought this out at the time, focusing on the larger panels and then coming back to the patches has served me well. The car looked complete, was stronger and I didn’t get bogged down tying the larger panels…

Do you remember when Minis were cheap to buy and incredibly cheap to run, the ideal first car for a generation of pimply faced youths? If you do, then you must have quite a memory because those days disappeared at least 30 years ago! Today, a classic Mini is still incredibly cheap to run, but in many ways it is very expensive for what you get in pure motoring terms – an engine dating back to the 1950s, a four-speed gearbox, a complete lack of gadgets and gizmos... heck, Leyland finally got around to fitting a heated rear screen in the 1970s, but the switch for this was added to the dash as an afterthought (bringing the total of dashboard switches to three!) and looks very aftermarket indeed. However, all…

Spanners and sockets are without doubt the core element of any mechanic's toolbox, whether you are working on cars for a living or as a hobby and just for fun. At first sight a feature solely on these tools might seem a little ambitious, but as you will hopefully discover, there is a whole lot more to the subject than simply 'metric or imperial.' In fact there are tools of all shapes and sizes, reflecting the many and varied ways that access to fasteners can be obscured in a cramped engine bay, and you really can't have too many spanners. You may only need that C-spanner or the extra thin stubby 1/2in once in a blue moon, but if you have it to hand when that blue moon rises, then…

The first time I can recall seeing a Hillman Imp was in the tiny village of Arbirlot near Arbroath in 1974 or 1975. I would have been about 7 and the trip up in an Escort Mexico seemed to take an eternity. I passed some of the time counting 1100s and 1300s on the M5 and M6, but I gave that up after reaching 100. The Imp in question was sat, minus wheels and on its belly, in a driveway opposite the local church. An early red one, it would have been at least ten years old so it hadn’t done badly. I distinctly recall the odd indicator and light stalks protruding from the dash and how different it was to a Mini. Of course, in the 1970s Imps were…

On 20th October, Volkswagen celebrated the 50th anniversary of their K70, the first VW with a water-cooled engine and front-wheel drive. 'Love the VW K70 – because it opens up a new VW era' was the advertising slogan used for the launch of the K70 50 years ago at a press conference held in Salzgitter, where Volkswagen presented the new car and the plant built especially for the production of this model. With the K70, Volkswagen accomplished the changeover to a drive concept that was entirely new for the brand and would later achieve success with the Passat and Golf. The K70 also had a state-of-the-art chassis with independent suspension, while the long wheelbase allowed for an especially spacious interior and provided very good handling. There was also an emphasis…

The annual Royal Automobile Club Art of Motoring exhibition traditionally takes place at the Pall Mall Clubhouse as part of London Motor Week, and is the premier showcase for British automotive art. Rather than cancelling the 2020 edition due to the pandemic, the Club collaborated with respected motorsport commentator Andrew Marriott and Rupert Whyte of Historic Car Art to curate a virtual event. Now in its sixth year, the Art of Motoring exhibition was launched on Saturday 31st October and draws together the works of nearly 20 prominent motoring artists and sculptors, many of which have not been seen under the same roof for more than a decade. The artworks that are being showcased are hugely varied, but immediately recognisable to a motoring art enthusiast, from John Ketchell’s semi-abstract style…

40IDA3C PORSCHE 911 WEBERS Price: £3100 per pair After an absence of 30 years, the genuine Weber 40IDA3C triple carburettors to suit the Porsche 911 are back in production after Webcon and Weber teamed up to manufacture these legendary carburettors using all new tooling. This tooling has been produced from the original 1960s factory drawings so you are ensured of absolute accuracy and historic integrity, and the finished product is simply superb. Extremely competitively priced at just £2590 plus vat per pair, Webcon UK Ltd are on Dolphin Road, Sunbury, Middlesex TW16 7HE – call them on 01932 787100, email sales@webcon. co.uk or visit www.webcon.co.uk THE REAL R3 STORY By John Batchelor and Craig Cheetham 80-page colour booklet. Price: £10 (inc. p&p) The last small car to be created by…

What goes around comes around, as an American once said, wisely if obliquely. The Indians were building temples and the Chinese were inventing gunpowder while the Brits were painting themselves blue and eating mud. Then the Brits got their turn. They – or at any rate the Scots – invented the modern world, kicked the poo out of everybody else and ruled the roost for a while. Now the Indians and Chinese are on the way up again, and the Brits are in post-imperial decline. This is a natural macro-organic process, much like autumn, and there’s nothing you can do to change it. That's why assorted foreigners whose economies are currently on the rise have been trampling around the undefended treasure store of automotive Blighty and looting it. Rolls-Royce and…

Stephen Shacaluga is a retired baker living on the Rock of Gibraltar. He has been a classic car enthusiast for many years and has owned several interesting cars in the past, including a Daimler Barker Special Sports, a Singer Gazelle and an Alfa Romeo Duetto. The car that he always longed for above all else however, was the Volvo P1800. 'I used to watch Roger Moore as The Saint on TV in the 1960s driving that white Volvo P1800 with its distinctive ST1 registration, and really liked the looks of the car,' he explains. 'Then back in 1963, I noticed a chap driving a Volvo P1800 here in Gibraltar. That did it – although I was only 15 years old at the time, I was hooked and I knew one…

Although serious discussions about a replacement for the Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow began as early as 1972, it wasn’t until eight years later that the eagerly-awaited Silver Spirit finally took a bow – and along with it, its Bentley Mulsanne cousin. The Silver Shadow had remained in production for an impressive 15 years and had become the highly respected elder statesman of the ultra-luxury car market. Remarkably, however, the Silver Spirit-based family was to enjoy an even longer career, with its eventual successor – the Silver Seraph – not arriving until 1998. An 18-year run is impressive in itself, made all the more remarkable by the Silver Spirit employing essentially the same platform as its long-lived predecessor. Rolls-Royce hadn’t designed an all-new car since the Phantom III of 1935, and they…

Picking up where I left off my Stag report in the November issue, now that I had manufactured all the components for fitting the CVjointed driveshafts it was time to assemble everything. The original shaft sliding splines were located midway along the shaft and were a relatively small diameter that allowed the complete assembly to be withdrawn as a single piece through the trailing arm. The upgraded shafts were a completely different design comprising a large diameter cylinder that is bolted to the differential flanges, which contains both the CV joint and sliding section. The larger diameter of inner section prevented it from passing through the trailing arm bore, so the replacement shafts required fitting in two sections, meaning the hub assembly had to be removed from the shaft, thus…

Will has a collection of Morris Minors. This column follows the maintenance and modification of them for daily use, as well as the long-term restoration of a 1950 Lowlight Tourer from a desert scrapyard in America and a 1970 Morris Van which has been in his family for nearly 40 years. MY FLEET 1950 MORRIS MINOR LOWLIGHT SALOON Owned since 2012 1950 MINOR LOWLIGHT CONVERTIBLE Owned since 2017 1967 MINOR SALOON Owned since 2010 1970 MINOR VAN Owned (by mum) since 1980…

Simon Goldsworthy’s reflection on the classic Mini seems to sum up my life during the 1990s when I was in my twenties and running Minis as everyday cars on a tight budget. I didn’t need to spend more than £500 to find a useable Mini and often spent much less – as a student I had a £125 Mini Pick-up, and when I started freelancing for MiniWorld magazine I paid £150 for a 1098cc saloon which became one of the many budget bangers I ran for that publication. I have to confess I generally prefer rear-wheel-drive cars, but I won’t bore you with the details and excuses. However, when it comes to FWD the Mini is hard to beat for what Simon rightly describes as being part of the car…

1 980s British motoring had many highlights, but very few of them fulfilled the task of getting five or seven people plus an assortment of large objects from place to place. For several years Renault’s Espace reigned supreme in the MPV (Multi Purpose Vehicle) sector. Very minor competition was provided by Toyota’s quirky Space Cruiser, a member of their Town Ace van family. In various guises this family and leisure vehicle proved extremely popular in a number of markets – including Japan itself and Australasia – but it was little-known elsewhere. Toyota’s people-carrier offering only really achieved global success when the Americans got involved. The minivan had been a US staple since the early 1980s, when Chrysler’s Dodge Caravan captured the heart of suburban America. The MPV sector achieved huge…

Mazda is introducing an expanded range of official reproduction parts for the Mk1 MX-5 – in total there are now 156 righthand drive vehicle parts available to support first-generation MX-5 restoration projects. To ensure they introduced the most needed parts, the company consulted specialist retailers and MX-5 fan clubs across Europe. All the parts will be manufactured in Japan using modern methods and the highest quality materials, while maintaining the look and feel of the original components. The new range includes parts that enthusiasts have been searching for, including a newly-developed fabric hood that uses the same rear screen material as the original version. Continuing the authentic approach, Enkei Wheels will be manufacturing aluminium wheels that perfectly match the original design, but using modern technologies to make them lighter and…

October saw another anniversary being marked – this time it was Citroën marking 40 years since the launch of the Charleston special series of 2CVs. In 1980, Citroën released 8000 Charleston models designed to satisfy 2CV fans with iconic round headlights and striking maroon and black paint. It marked the start of a new wave of limited editions. With a finish borrowed from the Citroën 2CV Club, the 2CV6 Charleston stood out from the crowd with its special upholstery and round headlights, just like those on the 2CV Spécial. The limited series model was so popular that the following year, in July 1981, it was put into mass-production at the Levallois plant in France and added to the Citroën catalogue. This version differed from the limited edition with its chrome…

MINTY LAMB AND CARB NEEDLES I've just had a pleasurable read through the November issue and noted in your report on the Minor's carburettor woes that you mention the needle is a number 6. That is quite different to the H6 needle, which is the rich needle 1098cc option. For many years I have found the website at www.mintylamb.co.uk/suneedle to be a brilliant way of viewing the profiles of different SU needles, helping to work out alternative needles when looking at non-standard changes on an SU equipped engine. This site really helps focus on detail changes in areas of the needle profile where you have a need to alter mixtures. For example, attached is a screen grab from the Minty Lamb website where it shows the profile of the standard…

Yet again, my relationship with the Dodge campervan, a vehicle which I swear is possessed by evil spirits, has deteriorated, and this time to the point of divorce. The van worked adequately for three weeks. That is to say it still ran like a pig, but it ran like a consistent pig and did not break down. The bad running transcends the laws of physics. The engine, simple as a president, is a crude but tough 1980s Chrysler 360 V8 with a single four-barrel carb. The carb has an accelerator jet so that when you press the throttle, it squirts more fuel into the main barrels, and in theory the van smoothly accelerates. The jet system has been rebuilt, a couple of times in fact. Then a replacement carb was…

Earlier this year, Carolyn and I took the Porsche 944 Turbo to Prescott Hillclimb to take part in the Bugatti Owners Club Members ‘Drive Thru’. This non-competitive and very well organised event (which marked the re-opening of the hill) was run under the government’s Covid-19 regulations and proved to be a huge success. I was pleased at how well the car felt during our two climbs, its handling in particular, although I did get the impression that the engine was down on power. Thanks to a run of decent weather, a few weeks later I decided to give the 944 Turbo another good run. I checked it over, topped up the engine oil, checked the coolant level and the tyre pressures – I even drained the transaxle oil and refilled…

Preparation is in many cases more important than application when it comes to painting and protecting a classic car, or even just a small component that’s fitted to it. There may well be products that promise to cover and protect metalwork with one single coat, but there’s no escaping the fact that if you remove corrosion and key the surface properly, there’s a greater chance of success. Flaky rust and unknown contaminants from previous resprays are some of the problems waiting to threaten fresh paint and ensure it will fall off or react within a few days or weeks. Choosing the right paint is essential too. For small jobs such as painting a suspension component or a mounting bracket, most of us choose to apply paint from an aerosol can…

“An ad on the MMOC forum asked: 'Anyone interested in a police car project?'” It could almost be a scene from Wycliffe, Spender or any other 1990s police drama now haunting daytime television. The grim-faced leading man would arrive by Vauxhall Senator or Rover 827 to investigate an outbreak of skulduggery in the middle of Longbridge, while in the background would be the uniformed extras in their Maestro. Such patrol cars had pretensions to neither speed nor glamour, but they provided hardworking and reliable transport for many constabularies. Today, Anthony Ellis is the proud owner of the example pictured here, thought to be the only surviving police Maestro in the UK. Many readers will no doubt recall the interest provoked by the new BL product that promised ‘Driving is Believing’…

INNOCENTI This car is, of course, an Austin A40 at heart, but it was built by Innocenti of Milan, Italy. They had started building CKD A40 kits from 1960, but soon progressed to building the entire car. We suspect this image may have been from those early years because in 1962 the Innocenti version was renamed the A40S in honour of having the bigger 1098cc engine (up from the previous 948cc). For 1965, Innocenti also redesgined it with a single piece lifting tailgate hinged at the top to make it a true hatchback, a style never developed in the UK. Innocenti built a number of Leyland vehicles, and in 1972 British Leyland bought the operation. Four years later the British company was broke and Innocenti moved to pastures new. JAGUAR…