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Vol. 15 No.09 August 2009

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WORKSHOP: MG MIDGET WING SWAP GET THE INSIDE LINE ON TECHNIQUES THE PROS USE EVERY DAY TVR GRIFFITH DRIVEN

ANGLIA COMPETITION JOINS THEMINIS FLEET

READER’S COMPETITION BIG HEALEY MINIS

COMPETITION THE BEST E-TYPE? MINIS

TON UP: CLUB CELEBRATES 100 GLORIOUS YEARS OF MORGANS

Rolls-Royce & Bentley Independent Specialists

Introducing Bentley Continental GT Servicing Balmoral UK are pleased to announce the introduction of Servicing for the Bentley Continental GT and Flying Spur.

Established in 1993 by Alan & Tony Ledington, Balmoral UK has always been proud of its commitment to provide top quality service. Their mechanical expertise has a combined total of more than 130 years.

Tony Ledington began his Crewe factory trained career on now classic Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow and Bentley T continued working on many other models such as the Silver Spirit, Mulsanne and Turbo R and joining forces with Alan hence Balmoral UK. Since joining he has worked on thousands of Crewe built motor vehicles. In more recent years his skills have turned to Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph and the Bentley Arnage range.

CCM0908 Balmoral - Pg1

Brian Byng joined Balmoral UK in 1995, continuing an impressive career as a factory trained Rolls-Royce mechanic which began in 1958 working on the Bentley R-Type and the MK6 following on was the Type series as well as continuing to work on many classic examples like the Bentley Turbo RT and Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit III Brian also applies his experience to the more modern Bentley Arnage Red Label and Arnage T and more recently a Rolls-Royce Phantom.

John Barson has been working for almost 40 years with both Rolls-Royce and Bentley motor cars starting with S Type to current Arnage models. As a factory trained mechanic, John began working for Balmoral UK in 1996 continuing to add his considerable knowledge to an already experienced servicing team.

1963 Bentley S3 HJ Mulliner Continental Flying Spur

Balmoral UK is pleased to introduce the newest member of the team Andy Shinton. Having considerable Crewe training and more recently with a Bentley main dealer since 1997, Andy has had the very latest training and expertise servicing Bentley Continental GT, Flying Spur and Arnage models.

Finished in Brewster Green with beige Hide and Cumberland Stone carpets, up-rated radio/cassette player in the glove box, fully Restored in 1990 (fully documented), first class condition mechanically, power steering and a four speed gear box, air conditioning.

With such a strong wealth of experience complete with a refurbished workshop equipped with the latest technology, Balmoral UK can continue to offer an unrivalled level of service for the past as well as the latest generations of Bentley and RollsRoyce motor cars.

ÂŁ110,000

For further information please contact us on 01562 711114 to learn more about us and what we can offer. Alternatively come and visit us or try our web site www.balmoraluk.com

Telephone: 01562 711114 Fax: 01562 711115 www.balmoraluk.com sales@balmoraluk.com Registered Office: Balmoral UK Ltd, Bromsgrove Road, Hunnington, Halesowen, West Midlands, B62 OJU

Rolls-Royce & Bentley Independent Specialists ‘It is now two years since I first came to see you pursuing a dream of owning a Rolls Royce. I just had to write to say that I have always found you and your staff to be very friendly, polite and extremely helpful. Your company, Balmoral UK Ltd, is a credit to the motor trade and I would have no hesitation in recommending you.

1999 Rolls Royce Silver Seraph Finished in Peacock Blue with Cotswold hide piped in indigo, indigo top roll, Cotswold knee roll, dark blue Wilton carpets and sheepskin over-rugs, veneered picnic tables, 57,500 miles, full service history.............................................. £42,950

1997 Bentley Turbo RT Finished in Diamond Blue Silver with Silverstone hide piped in slate, slate top roll, Silverstone knee roll, Granite Wilton carpets and sheepskin over-rugs, Mulliner side wing vents, 42,500 miles, full service history ......................................................... £24,950

‘I came to you after visiting other dealers that I found far less helpful than you. As you are aware I am a wheelchair user so life was a little more complicated for you with conversions to the car, VAT issues etc. From our initial meeting, I was impressed with your knowledge and experience of the Rolls Royce motor car. Nothing was too much trouble and I felt very welcome.

‘The car supplied, Silver Spirit III, has been a joy to own with only minor issues sorted out by yourselves with little inconvenience or hassle.’

2005 Bentley Arnage T Finished in Cypress with linen hide, Laurel top roll, linen knee roll, Conifer Wilton carpets, 19 inch split rim alloy wheels, satellite navigation, Mulliner level 1 which includes jewel filler cap, Le Mans style lower front wing vents. 60,000 miles, one owner, full main dealer service history....................................................... £54,950

1997 Bentley Turbo RL Finished in Wildberry with Sandstone hide piped in Wildberry, Wildberry top roll, Sandstone knee roll, Wildberry Wilton carpets and sheepskin over-rugs, picnic tables, veneered outer Steering wheel, 48,500 miles, full service history..................... £24,950

‘I waited a long time to own a Rolls Royce, and finally having got to the point of being in a position to do so, have found the experience nothing short of GREAT, aided by a company that cares about the cars they supply and the customers to whom they are supplied. Thank you for the recent service and please find enclosed a cheque to cover the work carried out. Again thank you and your staff for a friendly and professional service.’

G. Smith, CambridGe

Visit our web site www.balmoraluk.com Bromsgrove Road Hunnington Halesowen West Midlands B62 0JU 1996 Bentley Brooklands Finished in Sherwood Green with Magnolia hide piped in Spruce, Spruce top roll, Magnolia knee roll, Conifer Wilton carpets and sheepskin over-rugs, 47,000 miles, Full Service History ........................................................................ £18,950

1997 Bentley Turbo RT Finished in Masons Black with Wildberry hide, black top roll, Wildberry knee roll, black Wilton carpets and sheepskin over-rugs, special features fitted for the German Motor Show, heated rear seats, veneered picnic tables, champagne fridge, cocktail cabinets, television and video system, 107,500 miles, full service history............................................................................. £17,950

Telephone

01562 711114

2000 Bentley Arnage Red Label Finished in Silver Pearl with Masons Black hide, black top and knee roll, Black Wilton carpets, 56,000 miles, full service history...............................................................£34,950

2000 Bentley Arnage Red Label Finished in Black Garnet with Barley hide piped in Wildberry, Wildberry top roll, Barley knee roll, Wildberry Wilton carpets and sheepskin over-rugs, embroidered front and rear headrests, veneered picnic tables, 47,000 miles, full service history. ................ £34,950

01562 711115

CCM0908 Balmoral - Pg2

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Classic Car Mart

CONTENTS

AUGUST 2009

WWW.CLASSIC-CAR-MART.CO.UK

30 �Winner of more than 120 trophies, this 3000 Mk II has to be the finest example of its kind�

E U S IS W E N T A E R G R U O Y IN 08 PLUGS & LEADS Scrappage scheme claims more victims and Morgans take to the track

14 NEW PRODUCTS Plenty of tasty kit to drool over, including a rather fetching V8 pencil sharpener

19 WHAT’S ON Look forward to a 2CV spectacular and catch up with a fantastic hot rod event ON THE COVER

20 DRIVE ON All the latest classic events listed so you can make the most of the sunshine

23 POSTBAG History of the mysterious Vedette revealed, plus free beer up for grabs in the crossword ON THE COVER

27 READER SURVEY Tell us about your classic motoring life and be in with a chance of winning £100!

ON THE COVER

ON THE COVER

30 PRIDE & JOY

40 GARAGE LIFE

One of the best Austin-Healeys we’ve seen, plus some good-looking Italians

In the first of a new series, Classic Car Mart takes a look at life in a busy classic workshop

34 BURIED TREASURES

48 STAFF CARS

Mike Worthington-Williams uncovers some corking classics, including a Russian Ural

The Ed’s search for a new motor is over – but has he found the classic he wanted?

54

64

100

SUBSCRIBE TODAY! P50

SAVE 20% PLUS FREE GIFT 100 BUYER’S GUIDE Austins’s A30/A35 makes a great classic – avoid buying a stinker with our guide

108 CARS FOR SALE Whichever car you’re after, we’ve got hundreds here to tempt you

48

192 CLUB GUIDE Your handy list of UK classic car clubs

50 SUBSCRIBE TODAY

93 AUCTION NEWS

Save 20% on the cover price, get every issue delivered to your door – and get a FREE gift!

A restored XK150 breaks the £50k barrier and a 1938 SS goes under the hammer

ON THE COVER

54 JAGUAR E-TYPE As it inches towards its half-century, CCM takes a look at one of Britain’s most beautiful cars ON THE COVER

95 MODERN CLASSIC Why we reckon Rover’s stunning 75 will be the one to watch in a few years

96 BOOK REVIEWS Find out which books have been by our bedsides

64 TVR GRIFFITH

98 PRODUCT GUIDE

Keith Moody pays tribute to TVR boss Peter Wheeler by getting behind the wheel of one of his finest creations

Seven of the best products to give your car a super shine this summer

72 SECRET HISTORY It was once the world’s biggest car maker, but now General Motors is bankrupt. Paul Guinness finds out what went wrong

81 SIX OF THE BEST It involved a few tussles, but we finally made our pick of the finest rear-engined classics.

Tell us if you agree.

91 TRADING POST Classic Car Mart’s buying section starts here

40

197 CLUB FOCUS We celebrate 100 years of Morgan with the Morgan Sports Car Club

202 BACKWARD GLANCE Sit back in the sunshine and enjoy a thick slice of classic motoring adverts

206 WHEEL NUT With the cost of ‘affordable’ motorsport rising, Paul Wakely comes up with a few new disciplines of his own

208 NEXT ISSUE Find out what’s coming up in September’s CCM

CHECK OUT LOADS MORE NEWS AT WWW.CLASSIC-CAR-MART.CO.UK

PETER WHEELER, 1944-2009

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e were saddened to hear the news that ex-TVR boss Peter Wheeler died on June 12, aged 64 – a man whose influence on TVR proved monumental after buying the company in 1981, just a year on from the introduction of the controversial Tasmin line-up.

For not only did Wheeler go on to revamp and re-engineer the ‘wedgy’ new TVR range, his 23-year stewardship of the Blackpool-based company also saw the introduction of some of its most exciting and most important models, including the Chimaera, Griffith, Cerbera, Tuscan and Sagaris.

Wheeler was also in charge of TVR when the company went the daring route of building and launching its own V8 engine, an impressively capable unit designed by Al Melling – and a major departure from the days of Ford V6s and Rover V8s being installed under TVR bonnets.

Wheeler went on to sell TVR to Russian businessman Nikolai Smolenski in 2004, but his passion for automotive design continued and, as recently as last year, he unveiled a bespoke RRV (Rapid Response Vehicle) by the name of Scamander.

By way of a tribute to Peter Wheeler, we take to the wheel of one of his all-time greats – the TVR Griffith – in this month’s Classic Car Mart. Don’t miss it.

8 Classic Car Mart August 2009

MORGANS TAKE TO THE TRACK

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o fewer than 20 four-cylinder Morgans – the largest number ever seen in one race – have been invited to compete for the Morgan Techniques Trophy at the two-day Bentley Drivers’ Club meeting at Silverstone, due to be held over the weekend of August 8-9.

And Morgans of all shapes and sizes will also be out in force in the Power Torque Morgan Challenge race, which promises a thirty-plus grid of Morgans from the 1960s onwards – competing against other classic names like AC, MG and Jaguar in the multi-marque races of the weekend.

While the major Morgan presence is particularly appropriate during this, the company’s centenary year, it’s not an unusual situation. In fact, the Bentley Drivers’ Club (BDC) has been hosting Morgan races at its Silverstone meeting since the 1960s – and for more than 20 years, the BDC meeting was the only event to stage a dedicated Morgan race. The links between the two racing fraternities are therefore historically strong, and even nowadays the grids are always packed.

Morgan specialist Brian Gateston told us: ‘We should have a full grid in the Morgan, MG and AC Scratch Race, with Morgans dating from 1952 up to the present day competing for the Techniques Trophy. A record 20 four-

cylinder cars would be a fantastic way to celebrate the BDC’s 60th Anniversary Meeting at Silverstone, as well as Morgan’s centenary.’

The competing Morgans will offer a fascinating array of different specifications too, as Power Torque Morgan Challenge co-ordinator, Kate Orebi Gann, explained: ‘We have raced at the Bentley Drivers’ Club meetings since August 1985, when it was the fourth race of our series’ first season. And this year, as well as the older Morgans, there will be a large number of the highly competitive six-cylinder Roadsters. We love coming back because it provides a wonderful family day out, with handicap and scratch races as well as the serious business of the Challenge round.’

A number of drivers who took part in the original 1985 Morgan Challenge BDC meeting race will compete at Silverstone once again in August, including Mary Lindsay, Leigh Sebba, Barry Sumner and Jack Bellinger. And a strong Morgan presence is also promised in the paddock; previous BDC meetings have seen TOK 258 (the 1962 2.0-litre Le Mans class-winning Plus Four) on show, and it’s hoped that this year’s displays will be just as impressive.

The BDC enjoys close links with Morgan racing.

Plugs & Leads: News

Have you got a plug or a lead you’d like to promote through Classic Car Mart?

These pages can provide valuable FREE publicity for you, your company, your club or your organisation. Send full details to: Plugs & Leads, Classic Car Mart, CSL Publishing, Alliance House, 49 Sidney Street, Cambridge CB2 3HX. Or email Paul Guinness direct at: paul.guinness@hotmail.co.uk

MAJOR MINI ACTION

ON THE WAY

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A

rt gallery Crane Kalman Brighton has staged its first solo exhibition by young British photographer Samuel Hicks, entitled ‘On The Way’ and featuring a series of images shot whilst on various assignments in the USA – with classic American vehicles playing a major part.

‘On The Way’ is characterised by Samuel’s fascination with light, and how it can transform a scene, change colours and create a mood. And, it seems, Samuel was pretty pleased with the end result: ‘The images are from three trips to the States over eighteen months, driving through Texas, New Mexico, California and Nevada. And these trips were essentially quite loose; sometimes we knew we had to be at a specific place in a week’s time, but how we got there and where we stopped was decided along the way, sometimes by looking at the map, or often asking someone what it was like there.’

The exhibition runs until July 19.

For further details, call 01273 697096 or check out the website at www. cranekalmanbrighton.com.

s part of the Mini’s 50th anniversary celebrations, the 2009 Goodwood Revival will see the St Mary’s Trophy saloon car race dedicated solely to Group 2 Mini Coopers for this year – typical of the cars that competed prior to 1966, when Goodwood hosted a number of Mini-only races at its legendary motor circuit.

This special saloon car race devoted entirely to Alec Issigonis’ masterpiece will be a one-off for this year’s Revival, which takes place on September 1820 – with a full 30-car grid of 1275cc Mini Coopers contesting what is sure to be a closely-fought contest.

The St Mary’s Trophy continues as a two-part race staged on both Saturday and Sunday, with an aggregate result. And pairing up with the owners once again will be a host of celebrity drivers, many of whom will have raced Minis during their professional careers. Expect to see Mini experts

including Sir John Whitmore, Alec Poole, Warwick Banks, John Fitzpatrick, Richard Longman and Barrie ‘Whizzo’ Williams battling it out with such luminaries as Derek Bell, Jackie Oliver, Bobby Rahal, Anthony Reid and Brian Redman.

And continuing the Mini celebrations, a tribute parade of 50 Minis and Mini-based derivatives will lap the circuit each day of the Goodwood Revival – which means everything taking part from ’59 Austin Sevens and Morris Mini Minors through to Mini-based ice cream vans, Wildgoose camping cars and a host of bizarre publicity machines.

There’s no other event quite like the Goodwood Revival – and for Mini enthusiasts in particular, this year’s looks like being unmissable. To find out more, call 01243 755055 or check out the website at www.goodwood.co.uk.

On-track action for the Mini’s 50th.

PARTS STILL AVAILABLE

T

his month’s Modern Classic feature on the Rover 75 coincides with a reminder from XPart that owners of all modern-classic MGs and Rovers still have access to genuine parts via its own specialist network – four years on from the closure of MG Rover.

XPart has worked closely with current MG owner Nanjing Automobile Corporation to achieve a smooth supply of parts manufactured from original MG Rover tooling at the MG factory in China, as well as maintaining supply agreements with

Metro finally gets its own ‘proper’ club.

original MG Rover parts suppliers.

Support for MG and Rover owners is offered through XPart’s AutoService network, providing technical support and full workshop facilities.

And at any one time, the company claims to hold around £20m of MG Rover parts stock. XPart is also responsible for the distribution of parts for the reintroduced TF, supplying the network of official MG dealers. For details of what’s available for your MG or Rover, log on to the website: www.xpart.com.

Classic Car Mart August 2009 9

SIXTIES CHIC Jaguar’s E-type is as functional as it is breathtaking – and it’s a design that has stood the test of time.

Keith Moody goes on a voyage of rediscovery

Words & Pictures: Keith Moody

F

or a car that reaches its fiftieth birthday in a couple of years, the Jaguar E-type still looks pretty good for its age – but then Malcolm Sayer’s design always was a work of great beauty. For me at least, though, it’s more than that: the history of the E-type is, in many ways, the history of Jaguar itself. Derived from the D-type, the look and feel of the E-type was as functional as it was breathtaking. Take that long bonnet for instance: it’s much longer than it needed to be to conceal the engine, but Sayer wanted to create a car that was as aerodynamically efficient as possible. There are faired-in headlamps and smooth bumpers to reduce drag,

54 Classic Car Mart August 2009

pursed ‘lips’ at the front designed to keep the mighty XK engine cool and slats on the bonnet to help heat from the power source escape at speed: Sayer’s design is subtle, bereft of the bells and whistles that were commonly found on rival works at the time. Yet, as well as the car’s simplicity, the design is also highly sophisticated: just look at the complex curves of those muscular rear haunches.

It will come as no surprise, then, that Sayer learned his craft at the Bristol Aircraft Company where he worked as an aerodynamicist before joining the team at Brown’s Lane. He brought with him a scientific approach to car design, but one combined with a genuine understanding

and appreciation of beauty and taste.

What might come as a surprise, however, is that Jaguar boss Sir William Lyons only planned to make 250 or so of the new grand tourers.

Of course, that was before the covers came off the gunmetal grey E-type show car in 1961. The Geneva launch was held not, as usual, at the motor show but brought forward a day, allowing Jaguar to steal a march on rivals Ferrari and Mercedes-Benz. The reaction was extraordinary: press and public alike could not get enough of the car. So high was the demand for demonstration rides, Jaguar had to call back to the factory and get another car rushed over.

Road Test: 1966 E-type Roadster S1 4.2

Test driver Tony Dewis was recalled from brake testing at MIRA, handed an overnight bag, a passport and a ferry ticket and pointed towards Geneva. He left the factory at 8pm, booked on the Dover ferry at 9.45pm. He made it, just, and arrived at Ostend the next morning while it was still dark. Tired from a full day’s testing, he got virtually no sleep on the ferry and had to drive non-stop to the show, arriving fifteen minutes before the doors opened to the public. ‘Oh, good show Dewis, you made it alright,’ said Lyons, as if Dewis had driven just a few miles down the road to get there. After a week of non-stop demo rides, Dewis must’ve been glad to see his own bed.

Lyons’ plans for just 250 units didn’t last long, which put enormous pressure on the production line. Jaguar’s decision to move from a traditional separate chassis to a monocoque meant that a high tooling-up cost was avoided – but the downside was that the E-type was incredibly labour intensive to put together. It was, in fact, the closest you could get to a hand-built, high volume sports car at the time.

In fact, part of the E-type’s appeal was how it managed to offer such fantastic value for money. At £1934 (including Purchase Tax) for a 4.2 Roadster, it cost virtually the same as the XK150 it replaced and offered headline grabbing

150mph performance – few of its rivals could touch it. An Aston Martin DB6 Volante, for example, cost £4998 while a Ferrari 275GTS Spider went for £5973.

Sure, an Austin-Healey 3000 Mk III was nearly half the price at £1107, but it couldn’t get close to the E-type’s performance. The Coventry cat would clock 50mph in 4.8 seconds before marching on to the magic 150mph – the Big Healey was a full two seconds slower to fifty and ran out of puff at a pedestrian 123mph.

But despite the positive reaction, the car was not without its faults – something that Jaguar sought to correct when the 4.2-litre was unveiled in 1964. �

Classic Car Mart August 2009 55

64 Classic Car Mart August 2009

Road Test: 1992 TVR Griffith

NORTHERN ROCK Following the death of ex-TVR boss Peter Wheeler, Keith Moody takes a timely look at one of his finest creations – the Griffith

W

hen a straight-talking, chainsmoking petrol head by the name of Peter Wheeler took over at TVR, the Blackpoolbased firm wasn’t exactly in the best of health. Sure, the company founded by Trevor Wilkinson in 1947 still inspired fanatical enthusiasm amongst its followers and fired the imagination of car nuts worldwide – but it wasn’t selling many cars.

There were several reasons for this, but the main one seemed to be the wedgy Tasmin of 1980. Lumbered with a (rumoured) £500,000 development bill and finding only a handful of buyers, you could say it was the car that nearly killed TVR. It certainly plumbed the depths of the then current owner’s pockets, forcing Martin Lily to sell the company in 1981 to a young-ish chemical industry consultant… and massive TVR fan.

That man was Peter Wheeler and the company he would go on to create in his own image changed the face of the British car industry forever. Wheeler was the very embodiment of TVR’s no bullshit, politically incorrect, Blitz spirit. Suitably, he became the marque’s longest serving and most successful owner.

Words & Pictures: Keith Moody

ANIMAL MAGIC Wheeler dragged the company up off its knees, lit a cigarette and began his quest to improve the performance of all TVRs. It probably didn’t take him too long to realise that the answer to most of his problems could be found in the Buick-derived, Rover-built all-aluminium V8.

Wheeler quickly shoehorned it into the Tasmin – the public loved it and TVR never looked back.

Such bluff and gusto carried the company through the Eighties with Wheeler stopping only to create an entry-level ‘S’ version of the doorstop 350i powered by a 2.9-litre version of Ford’s ‘Cologne’ V6. By the end of the decade, however, the world was changing – but TVR wasn’t changing with it. The ‘big engine, small car’ idea was wearing thin and people began to ask if Wheeler’s cars still had a place in Nineties’ Britain.

‘Yes,’ was Wheeler’s short (and polite) answer. With one swoop of his pen hand, he killed off the wedges and ushered in a new era of excitement and design. The new car was pure Wheeler: retaining the traditional TVR elements of rear drive and backbone space frame, but adding the purity of organic curves and forward-looking styling. The Griffith, as Wheeler called it, signalled a new era for �

Classic Car Mart August 2009 65

FROM THE WORKSHOP

In the first of a new series, CCM takes a look at life in a hard-working classic car restoration firm and gets the inside line on techniques used by the pros

WHO’S WHO: Edinburgh Sports Cars is a longestablished classic car restoration and service company based in Dalkeith, on the outskirts of Edinburgh. They specialise in MGs, but as you’ll see, get involved in all kinds of work on all kinds of classics.

Andrew Doney is the boss, and the rest of the gang are Nick, Stephen, Robb and Lucas. Not all came the conventional route into the motor trade; in fact between them they have training in civil engineering, geology, furniture design, philosophy, roofing and psychiatric nursing. Just the right mix, you might argue, for dealing with classics. Between them they have a formidable arsenal of skills required to keep old cars on the road.

1973 ‘round-arch’ Midget needs a new wing before it can be resprayed.

MIDGET’S WING On the day we took these photos, there was also a Lancia Delta Intergrale, a Renault Caravelle, a TVR Griffith, a Series 2 E-type, a Fiat 500, a Porsche Boxster, a Renault 5 Gordini and sundry MGBs kicking around.

The work for each car ran from minor brake repairs or touch-ups to full-on restoration, and with such a varied roster of tasks to tackle, we won’t be short of a different

40 Classic Car Mart August 2009

practical demo to bring you each month.

This time around, we’re starting simple by removing the front wing from an MG Midget that’s being prepared for a respray.

This 1973 ‘round-arch’ Midget might look rather faded in the pictures, and indeed it is about four different shades of orange in real life. But under the skin it’s pretty solid, partly because it’s been looked after by the same family all its

From The Workshop

Austin’s A30 and A35 have bags or charm and are easy to keep on a popular choice. But don’t part with your cash until you’ve read our guide

life and partly because it’s only done Wing is marked with an ‘X’ to the road, making them ensure the right panel is replaced.

28,000 miles from new. Anyway, no serious rust repairs are on the cards, nor much surface bubbling, all of which makes it relatively quick and easy to respray. There is, however, one rusty area in the nearside front wing. It’s not bad really, just a lot of filler at the front and some rot low down at the rear, but it’s most cost-effective to replace the wing. It makes sense – if hours are spent welding in repair sections, the cost climbs significantly as much work is needed to eliminate every last wobble in the finished surface, and if you try to do it on the cheap by trowelling in loads of filler, the chances are the new paint will start to suffer in months rather than years.

MG Midgets, like a lot of cars, have bolt-on wings. This makes removal and replacement fairly straightforward, and �

Bumper is loosened...

... and pop rivets are drilled out.

Rob tackles this Marcos’ mis-aligned steering column.

MIS-ALIGNED MARCOS One other interesting (if frustrating) job that Edinburgh Sports Cars were dealing with recently was this very yellow Marcos 3-litre, the steelchassis version with the Volvo 164 straight-six. The steering had been assembled following a rebuild in such a way that the column met a universal joint, which angled a shorter shaft down to another UJ, and which changed direction again and finally sent the steering input into the rack. Fine in

theory, but the changes of angle were so severe that the UJs were binding slightly, giving a distinctly notchy feel to the steering. What’s more, the rose joints that supported the intermediate shafts were wearing, and were themselves mounted on threaded shafts that weren’t very tightly fixed to the chassis tubes. This kind of thing isn’t uncommon in kit or component cars (the mainly Sixties and early Seventies machines that could be bought

mostly complete but requiring a little finishing by the owner to avoid purchase tax) which are all slightly different from one another. What’s required is ingenuity, as you rarely get a definitive answer from a workshop manual – even if you can find one. It was all a bit of a puzzler, as clearance in the Marcos’s engine bay wasn’t good past the wishbone mounts, but in the end Robb cured his headache by shortening the main column

and bringing the first UJ further back, opening all the angles. He also consolidated the rose joint supports and used new, smaller UJs to allow re-positioning without clouting the chassis tubes.

It’s good that this will render the car more useable, because it’s really cool, with the lowest driving position this side of a GT40. But like many of this ilk (Gilbern, TVR, Ginetta) you’ve got to be resourceful to get them properly sorted.

Classic Car Mart August 2009 41

BUYING A BABY AUSTIN

100 Classic Car Mart August 2009

Buyer’s Guide: Austin A30/A35 (1951-1968)

Austin’s A30 and A35 have bags of charm and are easy to keep on the road, making them a popular choice. But don’t part with your cash until you’ve read our guide Photos: Magic Car Pics (www.magiccarpics.co.uk)

W

as there ever a car more cute and cuddly than the Austin A30/A35? They’re the sort of motors you expect to see in the form of a soft toy, clutched by a young child – and they’re so simply constructed that junior could easily overhaul them too. Let’s face it, the average Meccano set is more complex than Austin’s first post-war baby car.

Despite their simplicity, though, the A30 and A35 are still great fun to drive. The lack of pace is perhaps the biggest sticking point in modern traffic, but upgraded mechanicals can easily be slotted in. What’s more, values are on the low side so you can buy a minter for peanuts. Even better: maintenance is dead simple thanks to great club support. Of course, the A30/A35 won’t tick many boxes if you’re a speed junkie, but if it’s cheap, reliable, fun transport you’re after, then look no further.

When you think of classless cars you tend to think of the Mini, but the A30 and A35 are much the same: their appeal is universal thanks to the great looks and superb usability – especially if a few sympathetic upgrades have been incorporated. With so much going for it, we recommend buying a really good example for regular use and home maintenance – you’ll love every minute of it.

WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR Bodywork Rust strikes readily, even though basic rustproofing was applied on the production line. But while original panels are now very rare, there’s a wide range of repair sections available for inner as well as outer panels.

Although there aren’t any repro full external panels available, refurbished front wings are £235 each, while decent used bonnets, boot lids and doors are usually available through the club.

There are lots of solid A30s and A35s left, but restorations are usually relatively costly, so down-at-heel examples tend to get overlooked.

We’d recommend buying a car that needs little work, but many examples can be rebuilt thanks to excellent club support. You need to know exactly how much work is needed before you commit to purchase, though – it’s common for things to be worse than they look.

Start off by inspecting all the visible areas of the car, like the valances, sills, door bottoms and floorpans. You’ll also need to look underneath before buying. Panel seams harbour corrosion, while the inner wings rot out after mud is allowed to accumulate in the wheelarches (get your head into each wheelarch and take a good look, ideally taking each wheel off to see better). �

Classic Car Mart August 2009 101

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