Innehållsförteckning för August 2024 från Classics World

In this issue's Postbag, regular correspondent Gordon Lang shares some great memories of being what his brother called a Marginal Motorist. This wonderful term refers to young drivers with little money to spare but ambitious motoring dreams. Gordon also recommends a book called Mind over Motor by W. H. Charnock, which I subsequently tracked down online and bought for just £12 delivered. Gordon was quite right in that this book is a fantastic read, full of nostalgia and humour. It tells of motoring from the pioneering days of the horseless carriage to the 1950s, and while I am too young to have experienced any of that, I can certainly relate to many of the tales that Mr Charnock tells. My first experience of motoring was on a Phillips Gadabout moped…

My first foray into sports cars was with a Frogeye Sprite when I was only 18 years old and had just passed my test. That was back in the early 1970s and it cost me £170, which sounds like an incredible bargain these days but was a lot of money back then. I did later work my way up to an MGA 1500, which was in fact quite a nice example, but I had to sell that some 30 years ago. That first MGA was followed by a succession of MGBs, probably at least a dozen all told over the years, but I'd always had a soft spot for the MGA. I think they are one of the best-looking cars of that period; I'd put them alongside the Austin-Healeys and…

PART 9 In some ways, I feel that since our last report on the Fiat, the project has taken two steps forwards and only one back, which must count as progress of a sort! As expected, I have found rust on the offside floorpan and front inner wheelarch that is very similar to the rust I’d found on the nearside, only not quite as bad. And since I will be making the repairs for the second time now, they do not seem nearly as daunting anyway. I had already bought new inner wheelarch panels – what I tend to refer to as the inner wheelarch is more correctly called the wheelbox, and comes in two halves: the inner section that abuts the front luggage compartment and to which the suspension…

In the April 2024 issue I discussed the Hillman Hunter and its derivatives. The Avenger was mentioned a couple of times. At the time I wrote that feature, I never gave the Chrysler 180, which appeared in 1970, a thought. In fact, I've hardly given it a thought in the last 54 years. There aren't many massproduced cars of that era of which I could say this. If you are a dedicated enthusiast of the type, then I'm going to explore my prejudices here and I'll try to do it justice, but I can't yet say what the outcome will be. I can say what I expect, though. My impression is that the 180 was an underwhelming car of indifferent reliability and abysmal durability, particularly with reference to its all…

FUTURE Classics FORGOTTEN HERO The C5’s beginning to attract something of a cult following, many seeing it as the last ‘proper’ Citroën. And rightly so, in our opinion. Introduced in 2001 as a replacement for the muchloved Xantia it boasted softer, more rounded styling than its predecessor. For that reason it was less quirky, but by looking less angular, perhaps it’s aged more gracefully. It introduced Citroën’s third generation of hydropneumatic suspension, aptly named Hydractive 3, which used sensors instead of mechanical height correctors to manage ride height. It would automatically lower the ride height by 15mm at the front and 11mm at the rear once speed exceeded 68mph, while on poorer road surfaces at under 44mph, ride height was raised by 13mm. There is also a sports mode on…

BOUGHT NEW IN MAY 1984 Andrew has only ever bought one brand new car. Fortunately, it was a Ford Ka. May this year marked 25 years since I bought my one and only new car, a radiant red Ford Ka. Up until then I’d been driving a never ending stream of cheap bangers – Alfasuds, Sierras and of course the inevitable BMWs. That was when you could buy a decent 15 year old 5 Series for under £500; that’s about £850 in today's money and you won’t find a good 2009 car for that. In those days I was doing a lot of magazine work across multiple titles and covering around 30,000 miles a year. Often I’d sit at home and think about the 250 mile trip, look outside at…

NOT JUST ANY CAR WWW.CARCOVERS.INFO ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW NOT JUST ANY COVER CONCOURS DE L'ORDINAIRE Hagerty’s Festival of the Unexceptional celebrates its 10-year anniversary at Grimsthorpe Castle, Lincolnshire on Saturday 27th July, with thousands of mundane motors on display. Launched in 2014, FOTU is a show dedicated to great everyday classic cars, the much maligned and longforgotten ‘ordinary’ classic cars of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. The Concours de l’Ordinaire selection celebrates the world of mundane motoring with a tongue-in-cheek take on the traditional concours format – think Fiesta over Ferrari and you’ll get the idea. As a preview to the 2024 event, the selection committee has just announced the Concours de l’Ordinaire star cars and their owners (below). There will be much else to see besides, including…

I will start this story with the Jaguar, because that is the car I have owned the longest. I bought it in 1987, a time when some E-Types were still being driven into the ground as everyday cars, and mine had been messed around with substantially. If some readers with long memories think it looks a little familiar, that may be because this part of the story was told in a feature back in September 2008. In short though, it was something of a wreck at the time and a massive project. The thing was that I'd always wanted an E-Type, but never thought I would be able to afford one. In 1981 I'd seen an MoT failure being offered for £2000, which doesn't sound much today, but back then…

As you might expect from its aerodrome location, the primary focus of the Shuttleworth Collection is on aeroplanes. These range from some of the earliest craft up to the 1950s and are sure to be of interest to any classic car enthusiast, but also dotted throughout the museum are a number of cars, tractors and other forms of wheeled transport to add interest to your visit. The trustees of the collection are also very aware of the crossover of interest between classic cars and classic planes, and have put together some cracking deals for clubs. They offer a club package on nonflying days that is extremely competitive – entrants pay just £10 per vehicle, which entitles all people in that car to museum entry. So if you turn up with…

PART 7 Like any major obstacle, the MoT test can be negotiated in a number of different ways. For instance, as I mentioned previously, as far as the tester is concerned if you don’t have a windscreen you don’t need windscreen wipers, so on a car without either you could don goggles and drive it to the MoT station. I kid you not. It’s the same with seats and seatbelts – you don’t need a seatbelt for a seat that doesn’t exist, so if you only have a driver’s seat you only need one seatbelt. And like anything complex, the MoT has also garnered its fair share of myths over the years, helped along by the fact that the rules change quite frequently as the authorities introduce new legislation, designed…

MARQUES & MODELS THE BMW 3-SERIES The 3-Series design was the brainchild of Paul Bracq, BMW Director of Design, who created the distinctive lines that the company unveiled at the Munich Olympic Stadium in July 1975. Compared with the 02, the new E21 was longer with a 2½in longer wheelbase to improve the rear seat accommodation. The 3-Series featured independent coil spring suspension, powerassisted front disc brakes plus rack and pinion steering in place of the 02’s worm and roller box. Inside, the dashboard was angled towards the driver, a feature copied by subsequent BMWs. Your dealer might also tell you that not a single screw was visible in the interior, a primary BMW concern of that era. They could further point out that the E21 boasted computer-calculated multi-stage crumple…

Rough ones are still lurking in the classifieds for as little as £500, but values of looked after C5s are on the up. A tidy Mk1 estate that’s belonged to a caring owner might easily sell for £1500. As already stated, the facelift cars are the most sought after, and a cherished car is likely to be £2000-£3000. Curiosity got the better of us when writing this and looking online we spotted an ideal contender – a 2012 2.0 HDi VTR+ Tourer in white with 99,500 miles, just two previously owners and a full service history for £2795 being sold by a trader in Worthing. That has to be worth a punt, surely?…

PART 2: LOVE AND ATTENTION After introducing our ST170 project in conjunction with Machine Mart last issue, we have wasted no time in getting stuck in with the spanners to carry out a full service. As is usually the case when you get a new project, the initial clean and full checkover had revealed a long list of jobs that would need tackling to bring it back to rude health. In due course we will be upgrading the suspension, replacing all the worn rubber bushes, overhauling and improving the braking system and fitting some new grippy tyres. But the first thing on our list was to give that fabled 2.0-litre 16-valve engine some TLC, starting with something we spotted when underneath the car – a badly corroded sump. Engine flush…

When the original Vanguard Phase 1, named after the Royal Navy's last-ever battleship, debuted in July 1947, it caused considerable interest. The 1941 Plymouth inspired the bodywork, while the engine was related to (but definitely not the same as!) the Ferguson tractor unit. Mark points out that it replaced every previous Standard, and was created for the Export or Die era – in the late 1940s, British car manufacturers reserved the bulk of their production for overseas markets, and to be eligible for a steel quota the government required them to export 75% of their output. Standard proclaimed the Vanguard was 'Made in Britain; Designed for the World.' When production commenced in May 1948, power was from a 2088cc unit. The following year, Motor Sport regarded the Vanguard as possessing…

Reliant introduced their Robin in 1973 to replace the Regal. It started off with a 750cc engine, but this grew to 850cc in 1975. The Robin was restyled and renamed the Rialto in 1982, but returned as a more upmarket companion with a new hatchback body in 1989. The Rialto lasted until 1998, but the Robin continued and was given a further facelift in 1999. Reliant built their last one in 2001, but an unsuccessful attempt to restart production under license by BN Plastics saw a further 40 vehicles completed before it all came to an end in 2002. The model on test is our own 1997 LX Robin, which was one of the most luxurious produced up to that point and retailed when new for £9000. It is small…

BUYING GUIDE Launching in 1972 and surviving for 12 years, the first-generation Renault 5 proved to be a major success. Unlike the Fiat 127 and most later rivals, the Renault employed a longitudinallymounted engine rather than a transverse one, but in every other respect was a genuine supermini with neat looks, an entertaining driving style, hatchback versatility and a wide range of derivatives. Although the French-spec 782cc version was never imported, UK buyers would be offered 5s with 845, 956, 1108, 1289 and 1397cc engines over the years, as well as a wide range of trim levels and – in later life – a five-door version. It even helped to invent the hot hatch segment thanks to the launch of the Gordini (known as the Alpine in France), featuring a…

MG Magnette Mark III I should make clear right from the start that I am a big fan of the BMC Farinas and tried fairly hard a few years back to put an MG Magnette version on my drive, but even an enthusiast like me can't help thinking that the marketing men were over-egging the pudding with this brochure. Aside from the speed lines trailing the artistically drawn images, describing it as having 'a flawless sporting pedigree' and offering 'all the familiar magic of its successful sporting forebears' was somewhat wide of the mark. More accurate were the boasts that it featured 'Farina elegance expressed in sleek lines and radiant colours.' In fact, a lot of play was made of the new Continental lines, courtesy of the Italian styling. Leyland…

Classic Car Auctions, March 23/4 CCA returned to Birmingham’s NEC for the Restoration Show at the end of March, with both sales packed full of enticing lots. While classic purists were no doubt attracted to the raft of rare BMWs and various 1980s Ford Capris, a host of modern classics slipped through the net. That said, the rare, low mileage Miami Blue Peugeot 205 GTi in the sale exceeded its £14,000£18,000 reserve, so not everybody was napping! 2001 Porsche 996 Carrera 4 — £15,750 This Seal Grey 911 seemed cheap, especially as a Porschesupplied replacement engine was fitted at 60,000 miles, just 47,000 miles ago. It was also being sold with a full service history which is pretty crucial with one of these. The only negative was the yucky coloured…

FUTURE Classic BUYING GUIDE Nostalgia sells, which is why folk have always had a soft spot for the pintsized Fiat 500. A bit like the first generation MINI and New Beetle, the diminutive Fiat instantly captured the imagination when it appeared in 2008, proving it’s entirely possible to own a chic modern city car that isn’t boring. With its distinctive shape and tiny proportions (it’s a meagre 3.5m long) the 500’s certainly inherited the character of the original, the Nuova 500, which ran from 1957 through until 1975. And with a car this fashionable, you’d be right in expecting there would be plenty of scope for personalisation. Indeed, Fiat offered a raft of colour, trim and wheel options so you’ll be hard pushed to find two 500s the same and…

Toyota GT86 (2012-2021) Developed in conjunction with Subaru (it was built in the same factory as its BRZ model) the GT86 will appeal to those looking for an affordable driver’s car that’s light, indecently quick and very unlikely to go wrong. The reason it’s likely to become a classic one day is because it’s refreshingly simple; a slinky coupé body cloaks a well-balanced chassis, while a normally-aspirated fourcylinder engine drives the rear wheels via a six-speed manual or auto gearbox with a limited slip rear differential to glue it to the road. While the 197bhp from its 2.0-litre flat-four engine might not seem much, it’s enough to propel the lightweight GT86 from 0-62mph in only 7.6 seconds. It wasn’t really about the numbers though, but about having fun at sensible…