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EAL D ED

UP P 80 159 C RIC DAT FAL LIM E G ED L E R B E UI S R R S DE EV AN

Cooper barn find restoration Unique Lancefield Alvis driven Dino: top 10 drive made real

Roadster

REVIVALISTS

Depreciation created six bargains but now the wind is changing

PLUS

GRANT LARSON Boxster 986 designer on its creation

SIX ROOFLESS ENTERTAINERS TO GRAB WITHOUT DELAY FEWER GOOD CARS

VALUES BOTTOMED OUT WINNING FANS

COLLECTABILITY GROWING

PRICES RISING

GETTING SCARCER

Quentin Willson Which Triumph, Merc and Rolls to buy NOW

Buy a chic and cheeky Fiat 500 without getting a slap

I S S U E £4 .99 SEPTEMBER 2021 ISSUE 2 1 J U LY - 1 7 A U G

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Welcome September 2021 Issue 578

A ride up Shelsley Walsh in a wild E-type has blasted off my classic year, but joy can be found without excess power

D

o you want a ride up the hill?’ The hill in question was Shelsley Walsh on the occasion of the E-type 60th anniversary event, the invitation was from Jaguar specialist Chris KeithLucas, and the car was Egal – a 1962 Jaguar E-type that was treated to a 7.0-litre Holman & Moody-tuned Ford Galaxie V8 in 1963 to make it more competitive. Some decisions are easier to make than others.

One minute I was innocently asking a few questions about the car for my event report on p27, the next I was tightening a lap belt and wondering what 600lb ft would feel like as it plucked a delicate little Jaguar from the start line and hurled it towards the heavens. The answer was surprisingly measured, at first. With no

helmets or other useful safety equipment, Chris wasn’t going to push the limits, so he made plenty of noise for his madly grinning passenger and spectators, without troubling the upper range of the throttle.

Until the final run to the finish, when he unleashed a ferocity that I have rarely experienced in decades of testing fast cars.

It took a long time for my adrenaline levels to fall back to normal; even longer for the hearing in my left ear to recover from the blast of exhaust sidepipe 24 inches below the open side window. As an opener for my season of car events, it was perfect, rounded off by a lengthy drive home in my own, suddenly tame-feeling 1962 E-type.

With a – still adrenaline-buzzed – sense that summer is finally with us, our halfdozen roadster revivalists from our cover theme offer an exciting, if less unhinged

set of choices for enjoying our new-found freedoms. I clearly remember my dismay in the Eighties when it became clear that most manufacturers were abandoning the pure joy of compact roadsters, understandably reasoning that hotted up hatchbacks and saloons were far less costly to develop and offered greater volumes and profits with less risk.

Fortunately, the next decade would bring back greater choice. Which of them would you pick for your summer of fun?

Phil Bell, editor

Cars in this issue 20 58 86 44 95 6 76 96 85 50 40 66 42 92 48 46 72 91

When Phil was offered a ride in an E-type packing a – now 8.5-litre – Ford Galaxie V8, he said yes. Any regrets now Phil?

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Alfa Romeo 1900C SS Alvis Speed 25 Lancefield BMW M3 BMW Z3 Bristol 400 Fiat Dino Coupé Fiat Nuova 500 Ford Anglia Jaguar E-type fhc Lotus Elise S1 Mazda MX-5 Mini Cooper 998 MGF Mercedes 280SL Mercedes SLK Porsche Boxster Tui BH2 Volvo 1800ES

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Three decades on, six Nineties roadsters are on the up

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‘Mazda had seen the future, and it laid in the past – the roadster thought lost to the Sixties’

‘It’s a state of mind’ – CC reader Peter finally drives a Dino Coupé

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Contents September 2021 Issue 578

The month in cars 24 London Classic Car Show Hammond launches resto project, and famous VW pops up 26 National Ferrari Owners’ Day First UK Dino 308GT4 among the highlights at Sywell 26 Yorkshire Motor Sport Festival Bentley stars at the inaugural Wolfstones Hillclimb British didn’t do deco? This Alvis will make you think twice

P58

27

E-type 60 Rare racers pay homage to Jaguar’s finest at Shelsley Walsh birthday bash

28 Events Planner Coming thick and fast now, including Sunbeam racers in Southport 30 Barn Finds Hillclimbing TVR with a V8 heart resurfaces in Wales after five decades

‘The Crossfire is a classic with few fine survivors – cherish it’

32

Next Month 2021’s Hot 30, and a lucky reader gets a Bentley 4.5-litre dream-drive

35 Quentin Willson notes that even in a grim year, there’s cause for optimism 37

John Fitzpatrick recalls frantic shunt-avoiding 1964 BSCC Mini Cooper antics

154 50 Years Ago Today CAR revealed rip-off prices, with 51-percent Mercedes markups

Owning

Ask Quentin, p15

66

COVER

Epic Restoration From bodged and rusty to perfect for Mini Cooper 998

72

COVER

Life Cycle Nearly 50 years on and off track with a Tui BH2 Formula Super Vee

85 Our Cars Phil’s E-type takes a leak (p85); Andrew saves his BMW M3’s electrics (p86)

Driving

From a pile of rust to good as new – it’s a Mini adventure

66

The List Reader Peter Warren experiences his ‘ultimate Fiat’, the Dino Coupé

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COVER

38

Roadster Revivalists As the great sports cars of the Nineties attain classic status, we revisit the Mazda MX-5, MGF, BMW Z3, Porsche Boxster, Mercedes SLK and Lotus Elise – which would you have? PLUS – stylist Grant Larson on saving Porsche

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COVER

COVER

Art For Art’s Sake? On the road in the beautiful art-deco Lancefield Alvis Speed 25

Buying Quentin Willson spots Rolls-Royce, Mercedes and Triumph drop-top bargains

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COVER

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Chasing Cars Russ reports on big-money Lancias and a celebrity Ferrari 275GTB

20 Market Highlight Evaluating the first Alfa Romeo 1900C SS on the market in years 76

COVER Buying Guide No longer cheap, but still very cheerful: buy yourself a classic Fiat 500

91

Ads on Test Evaluating Volvo, Mercedes, Bristol and Ford

P76

121 Advertise your classic for free 146

COVER Price Guide More than 1400 classic values tracked

153 Competition Win a John Ketchell art canvas

Contact us See page 33 Tui BH2 – discover the racing life of this ‘baby McLaren’ racer

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[ The List ] Your dream drive made real

‘It feels timeless when driving on the open road’ Reader Peter Warren once owned a Fiat 130 Coupé, but fancied trying a Dino – so Classic Cars made it happen Words ANDREW NOAKES Photography LAURENS PARSONS

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S

[ The List] Fiat Dino Coupé

omewhere in these tiny, twisty lanes, there is a classic car dealer with a Fiat Dino Coupé waiting for Classic Cars reader Peter Warren and I, but knowing it’s there and finding it are two different things. There’s no end of charming Cotswold villages and any number of picture postcard stone churches. Around every bend there seems to be a milk tanker or a massive tractor, the machines that make agriculture work around here. But this quaint corner of rural Gloucestershire isn’t giving up its secrets that easily – of Bertonebodied, Ferrari-engined exotica there is no sign.

Just as I’m giving up hope a flash of bright red catches my eye and there’s the Dino, the chrome bumpers sparkling in the sunshine as it waits in a courtyard alongside a handful of other cars under dust covers. We’ve found County Classics, where boss Andy Lerry has the Dino and a selection of other mouthwatering cars for sale, plus a few rare gems that make up his own private collection, from Fifties Fiats and Forties Americana through to a glorious, concours-winning 1966 Maserati Sebring.

‘I’ve always been a petrolhead,’ says reader Peter. ‘There was a time when I had three cars – a BMW 530, Porsche 911 and Citroën SM. I have to admit that I couldn’t really do justice to them. You’ve got to garage them and keep swapping them over. Other classics that I’ve enjoyed in the past include a Chevrolet Corvette and a Fiat 130 Coupé. Though the latter shares some DNA with the Dino, it’s a very different kind of car. The 130 Coupé is basically a saloon car. It’s an armchair ride. Two doors, about 15ft long, three-speed automatic.’ The Dino is nearly a foot shorter, a substantial 170kg lighter, and is motivated by a smaller, revvier V6 driving through a five-speed manual gearbox. It promises to be a much livelier machine than the patrician 130 Peter is used to.

Peter eyes up the handsome lines of the Dino in front of us. ‘I’ve always lusted after these,’ he says. ‘It looks modern still, despite its age.’ Bertone styled the fastback Coupé, a steel monocoque like the Pininfarina-designed Spider, which was unveiled at the Geneva show in March 1967. ‘It has lean lines that are good from every angle. There’s a hint of aggression from the forward-leaning

PETER’S DREAM DRIVE LIST Ferrari F550 Maranello ‘One of the best looking Ferraris, and with reasonable manners for everyday driving.’

Alfa Montreal ‘A charismatic flawed diamond.

It seems Alfa was jealous of the Fiat Dino success and rushed out the Montreal. A stylish high-speed cruiser – quite un-Alfa-like!’

Dodge Charger ‘It’s just the meanest looking muscle car in the world. It’s a beautiful sounding engine, very fast. It’s just a proper muscle car. And then there’s the Bullitt appearance, of course.’

Fiat Dino ‘I’ve always thought it was such a cool car – the ultimate grand tourer from the Sixties and Seventies. It’s got power, class, style. It’s a very clever hybrid of Fiat and Ferrari.’

Maserati Mistral ‘Stylish grand tourer, looks very classy. The sort of car that you drive

8

listening to Matt Munro singing On Days Like These.’

Bentley Continental S3 Flying Spur ‘About the smoothest of smooth cars. Electric windows, which were rare in those days. Beautiful lines.’

Sunbeam Tiger ‘Rare, very pacey, compact. A big V8 engine shoe-horned into a relatively small car, and an unusual sight these days.’

MG TC ‘I’ve got my eyes on a 1947 TC. I’ve always liked them. A mate of mine at university had one and I wished I could afford one. It’s a proper Mr Toad car – even though it’s flimsy and not very fast.’

Pontiac Firebird ‘One of my favourite muscle cars, not too outlandish to look at, fast and furious.’

Triumph GT6 ‘I had a TR6 so this is similar. Good balance, still looks good today, fast solid performer.’

‘There’s a hint of aggression from the forward-leaning fourheadlamp snout and a well-proportioned elegance’

Four-lamp nose and lipped Ferrari 308 wheels give the Fiat plenty of road presence

Reader Warren (left) and writer Noakes enjoy the plush cabin

Veglia speedo and tacho have unusual fishtail needles

9

[ The List] Fiat Dino Coupé

Peter found the Dino sure-footed to drive, even when the road was damp

four-headlamp snout and a well-proportioned elegance created by the flowing curves over the wheels and the neatly resolved tail.’

Peter can’t wait to get behind its tasteful wood-rimmed steering wheel, and I can’t blame him.

He settles into the driving seat and Andy talks him through the controls. ‘The steering is unpowered and when you’re going slowly it’s laughably heavy, so be prepared,’ he warns. Peter grips the steering wheel, ‘This wheel is a very Italian feature, a nice wood rim and perforated alloy spokes – it looks handsome and feels great.’ Behind it there’s a veneered plywood dash well stocked with legible black-on-white Veglia dials. The 9000rpm tacho and 250km/h (155mph) speedo, with their quaint fishtail needles, flank gauges for the oil and water temperature, oil pressure and fuel contents together with an analogue clock. A twist of the key and the V6 engine fires up with a lovely, bassy rumble through the big twin tailpipes, and soon Peter is nosing the Dino out of the gates and into the Gloucestershire countryside.

‘It takes a while to get used to it,’ he reports when we stop to get his first thoughts a few miles later. ‘It has a five-speed dog-leg gearbox, so it’s tricky to know which gear to be in sometimes.’

But he’s relishing the challenge presented by the unfamiliar gate pattern. ‘That’s the fun, isn’t it?’ he grins.

That dog-leg gearbox and the ‘Dino 2400’ badge on the back mark this out as a later version of a car that had been created as a

10

way to homologate Ferrari’s V6 engine for Formula 2 racing, which required a production engine block with at least 500 units built.

That was too many for Ferrari to handle, so it struck a cunning deal with Fiat to put the engine into a road car.

In 1969 the 2.0-litre V6 was replaced by a new 2.4-litre ironblock engine with an extra 20bhp and enough extra torque that the gearbox had to be upgraded to the stronger ZF unit with its dog-leg first gear. ‘The gear lever gate is quite narrow between second and third, so you can easily get fifth by mistake when changing up,’ Peter explains. ‘It doesn’t help that the lever is quite a stretch away, like the steering wheel.’

Peter’s getting to grips with the Dino now and pushing it harder, the V6 wailing away as he accelerates through the gears.

Contemporary tests gave a 0-60mph time of just under nine seconds for the Coupé, about half a second shy of the lighter Spider. It’s respectable performance for its era, about the same as a BMW 2500CS. When we stop to take a look at the motor and raise the forward-opening bonnet we’re a bit disappointed by the sight.

‘The engine bay is dominated by that big grey airbox,’ Peter says.

‘It would be nice to get a glimpse of those three Weber carburettors. At least there are the bright orange cam covers on each bank of the engine. If you look carefully you can see the cylinder numbers and the engine’s firing order cast into the cylinder heads.

It has electronic ignition too – I believe it was the first production

‘The torque means there’s little need to extend the V6 into the yellow sector of the rev counter’

Orange cam covers and interesting details under the bonnet

Air box conceals the triple Weber carbs, to Peter’s disappointment

All the Fiat Dinos have double wishbone front suspension, but car to have it as standard.’ He’s right – it’s a capacitive discharge system that was developed by Magneti Marelli for the Ferrari Dino where the earlier Dinos have live axle and leaf springs at the back, racing cars, hence its name – Dinoplex. The Fiat was the first road- the 2400s have a strut-type independent rear end, ‘Just like my going application, beating Ferrari’s own 206 Dino by a year. An old 130’, Peter says. ‘It looks like this car has Ferrari 308 five-spoke ‘Emergenza’ switch on the side of the ignition unit engages a backup wheels in place of the original magnesium-alloy Cromodoras. It’s points system should the Dinoplex fail, which suggests the makers good to see it has period-style Michelin XWX radials – they have gripped well, even through that rain shower. The car is very sureweren’t entirely convinced of the system’s reliability.

Peter loves the V6’s sound. ‘It’s got a beautiful bark,’ he says. footed, althought it’s also quite firm on the road. In the wet, it ‘There’s also a particularly positive throttle response, and the car doesn’t hesitate or jump or wiggle at all.’

Like all Dinos this one is left-hand drive, which some drivers holds its own very well in modern traffic, with great acceleration.

The extra torque of the 2.4-litre engine means there’s little need to struggle with on UK roads, but it’s no problem for Peter. ‘I think extend the V6 into the yellow sector of the rev counter at 7250rpm left-hand drive is just an attitude of mind,’ he says. ‘I’ve had lefthand drive BMWs in this country before – so what? You’ve just got and up to the redline at 8000rpm. to look over your shoulder more.

‘I’ve stopped using first gear now. You ‘But I have to say, while the steering don’t need it – I realised you can pull 1971 Fiat Dino 2400 Coupé is well-weighted and communicative away in second quite easily, and I’m using Engine 2419cc V6, dohc, three Weber 40DCNF on the open road, it’s proving to be second, third and fourth most of the time. carbs Power and torque 178bhp @ 6600rpm; 159lb hard work at parking speeds, just like Fifth is like an overdrive. Getting into ft @ 4600rpm Transmission Five-speed manual Andy warned. The straight-arm driving reverse is a little bit tricky sometimes. gearbox, rwd Steering Rack and pinion Suspension Front: independent, double wishbone, coil springs, position doesn’t help, either, making You’ve got to put your clutch foot right anti-roll bar. Rear: independent, semi-trailing arms, it harder to get decent leverage on the on the floor because the bite point is quite coil springs, anti-roll bar. Brakes Discs all round wheel rim. It was almost impossible to low. The relationship between the pedals Weight 1400kg Performance 0-62mph: 8.7sec; Top turn at one point back there. When the is well judged, though, and the brakes are speed: 130mph; Economy 18mpg Cost new 4.1m car’s not moving you’ve got the whole well up to the job.’

Lire (£2717) Classic Cars Price Guide £22k-£50k

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[ The List] Fiat Dino Coupé The Dino Coupé emphatically retains its spot in Peter’s dream garage

PETER WARREN’S CAR CV Style is clearly an attribute Peter values

FIAT 130 COUPÉ ‘Enzo’s favourite daily driver. I bought it from a dealer in Italy – I didn’t even go and see it. They had 48 pictures of it on their website so I was happy they weren’t trying to hide anything.’

dead weight of all 1400-odd kilos against you. It’d be a challenge in a city. Once you’re moving it’s a lot easier to turn the wheel.’

The same is true of many classics with unassisted steering, of course – back in the day, new drivers were always taught not to turn the wheel when the car was stationary, but it’s an increasingly forgotten technique in an era where virtually all cars have power steering. ‘Modern cars do everything for you and it’s not such a pleasurable driving experience,’ Peter says. ‘People don’t learn to drive any more – they learn to press a few buttons on a computer.’

There would be little to keep technophiles occupied in the all-analogue Dino beyond electric front windows. ‘These must have been a rarity back in the early Seventies,’ Peter remarks. ‘The heating and ventilation system has only produced satisfactory results throughout the day after considerable trial and error with the control levers. But I suppose we could have taken the last resort and consulted the owner’s manual.

‘It’s a well-appointed interior with inviting, well-shaped seats trimmed in a tasteful check cloth. They’re very comfortable.

There’s space for four people inside because the Coupé has an extended wheelbase compared to the Spider – though inevitably the fastback roofline compromises headroom in the back.’ That extra length, and the 120kg additional weight in the fixed-roof car, also gives the Coupé a more composed ride than the Spider. ‘I’m finding it very comfortable,’ Peter says. ‘I don’t feel like I’m in a sports car that’s shaking me about.’

We head back to County Classics, where Peter sums up the Dino’s appeal. Apart from the heavy low-speed steering and unfathomable heater controls, he’s thoroughly impressed. ‘It’s a beautiful car,’ he says. ‘It felt timeless when driving on the open road, and sure footed. It didn’t feel like a boy-racer-type driving experience – it’s a bit more sophisticated than that.’ It’s rare, too: fewer than 8000 Dinos were built and they were never officially imported to the UK. Dino guru Mark Devaney reckons there are around 75 in this country, which makes it scarcer today than the much more valuable 246 Ferrari with which it shares its engine.

This example, on sale for £55,000, must be one of the very best.

‘It’s solidly built, no squeaks or rattles, and spacious in front and back,’ Peter says, eyeing up the elegant Bertone shape one last time. It’s lovely – a proper thoroughbred. It definitely lived up to my expectations, and it keeps its place in my top ten. I’ve loved it!’

Thanks to Andy Lerry of County Classics (countyclassics.net)

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CITROËN SM ‘I’ve always liked it. I bought it in Italy where most of them are. It was very advanced with the oleo-pneumatic suspension and five-speed gearbox. A beautifully designed object.’

MASERATI QUATTROPORTE ‘A beautiful car. It rode well and had proper road presence but was ruinously expensive to run. It needed new windscreen wipers – but you have to buy the motor as well, and it’s £500.’

[Want a Drive?]

Classic Cars will make a dream drive happen for one reader in every issue.

Send us your list of the ten cars you’d most want to drive and why, along with a CV of the classic cars you’ve owned to classic.cars@bauermedia. co.uk. Be prepared for the photoshoot glamour of an early start and a long drive to get there.

NEXT MONTH BENTLEY BLOWER

CHEVROLET CORVETTE ‘I loved the shapely view from the driving position. It was not subtle, but had very cool lines, and was great in summer with the T-top roof panels removed.’

AUSTIN CHAMP ‘When I was a student in 1966, me and four other blokes drove one all the way to Istanbul, Turkey, 5000 miles. It was a huge adventure. I thought one day I’m going to have one.’

CHASING CARS Quentin Willson’s hot tips

Corniches are in the shadows With certain Rolls-Royce and Bentley values slumbering, now is the time to pounce

J

une saw a very original and keenly priced Rolls-Royce Corniche coupe go under Tennants’ hammer. Just £28k bought an unmolested and very correct ’71 in light metallic blue with blue leather, 58,000 miles, rare factory wood-rim steering wheel, valuable non-dating plate and a long history. I thought it was well bought for such a proper example with long provenance.

Corniches can often be nasty, neglected and knackered but this one looked like it was 1971 all over again. Values of these graceful coachbuilt Shadows have been softening recently though. In April Mathewson’s sold a ’72 FHC in green with 75,000 miles for £24,912 and in March Bonhams at Bicester knocked down a smart Seychelles Blue ’75 with ‘large history file’ and 94,000 miles for £25,875. Convertibles and Bentley variants may be more desirable but it looks like £25k

is a new benchmark for decent, solid and historied Rolls-Royce FHCs. The convertibles seem to have weakened this year as well. In March, SWA in Poole sold a very nice white ’81 with an indicated 49,000 miles, original service book with 15 stamps, folder of receipts and a non-dating plate for £36,500. There was a time when a Corniche in this condition would have brought £50k. In December last year, H&H dispatched a cream ’74 convertible with 63,000 miles on the clock, original service book with supplying dealer stamps, sundry bills and MoTs for just £29,250.

Cream may not be the most flattering hue for a Corniche convertible, but at less than £30k it was a reasonably cheap entry ticket into drop-top Roller ownership.

Having run a ’74 convertible for several blissful years I can testify that they’re not that hard to own – if you find a friendly independent garage.

Compared to modern Rolls-Royces and Bentleys these analogue dowagers are relatively simple, with great parts availability and lots of talented specialists. I can also vouch for the supreme sense of occasion you get whenever you close the door. And let’s remember, each Corniche took Mulliner in London over a year to hand build. In its day this really was the ride of the rich and I think we’ve forgotten what a class act they used to be. Given their glamorous image and head-turning looks these current prices do feel on the light side. I reckon cheap good examples like these need to be snapped up.

VALUE 2014

£29k VALUE NOW £25k

Although DHCs fetch extra, £30k will buy you a fine example

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ASK QUENTIN Righthand drive conversion?

I’m restoring a 1960 Austin-Healey 3000, lefthand drive from Nevada, United States. Should I convert it to right-hand drive?

Mike Oakes.

Wrongly snubbed R107s escaping bidders’ attention

I

n today’s uncertain market there are always pricing aberrations, even among perennial favourites.

Take Tennants’ light blue ’88 Mercedes 300SL, sold in June. With just two owners, a warranted 5594 miles (that’s right, five thousand six hundred) and described in the catalogue as ‘breathtaking’ and a ‘potential concours candidate’, you might have expected it to make at least £65k to £75k. But no, it was hammered away to one lucky bidder for just £45k. And I know last month I said that tiny-mileage R107s have been making stratospheric money, but this was a genuine surprise to everybody. The car was absolutely perfect, and proof that if you keep scanning the auction catalogues you’ll always stumble across something that’s being undervalued.

Mind you, that wasn’t the only cheap R107 under the hammer this quarter. In May, H&H sold another 300SL, an ’87 car in champagne with three owners, 96,500 miles, original stamped-up service book and a run of MoTs going back to 1990, for only £18k. That felt very reasonable compared to some of the money we’ve seen for 300SLs earlier in the year. Remember that the post-’85 galvanized R107s are much more rust-resistant than earlier models, and the lighter six-pot instead of the heavier V8 makes the 300SL more nimble and almost as quick. R107 aficionados tend to favour the early V8 350/450s or late 500s but I think the 300 represents better value. It might be worth watching values of 300SLs over the next few months, just in case these two cheapies have a knock-on effect on hammer prices.

VALUE 2014

£25k VALUE NOW £33k

Left-hand drive isn’t such a turn-off now as it used to be. I know enthusiasts who now buy left-hookers because they’re better for European touring. Unless you really feel uncomfortable driving on the wrong side, I’d keep it lhd. I always think it’s part of the car’s story if it’s come from the States. And any notional reduction in value for it being lhd would be cancelled out by the cost of the conversion. Good luck with the restoration.

Quentin Willson Chrysler Crossfire or BMW 335D? Someone has asked me if his 2016 BMW 335D will be a classic in the future. It’s an X Drive, M Sport with 26k miles and will hit 60mph in 4.8 seconds. (He’s an 80-year-old speed lover.)

Also, will my 60th birthday present, a Chrysler Crossfire, become a classic? It’s a 2005 cabriolet, manual, in black with 30k miles supported by MoT certificates, in immaculate condition.

Philip Barton I don’t think the BMW 335D will be considered a classic for a while yet. There were just too many made. The Crossfire, on the other hand, is already a neo-classic with very few fine survivors. Yours with 30k warranted miles, desirable manual gearbox and in best-selling black sounds a peach. Look after it!

Quentin Willson Volvo diesel future classic?

Do you think diesel cars will ever become classics? My wife has a 2007 Volvo C70 D5 Auto with a little over 30k miles and a full Volvo service history. We are considering selling it as it’s NOT SURE barely used, but I am WHETHER NOW’S reluctant to part with THE RIGHT TIME TO it because it’s so BUY, SELL OR HANG nice to drive. Will ONTO THAT CLASSIC? it ever become a Email classic.cars@ classic, and should bauermedia.co.uk with we hang on to it?

‘Ask Quentin’ in the Nigel French. subject line.

These drop-top gems aren’t butch enough for some

W

ill someone tell me why Herald convertibles seem such a snip? You can buy a tidy daily driver for £5k and a really good one for £8k. Encounter one on the road (a rare sight) and you’ll be captivated by how charming they now look. Compared to the default choice of a Minor convertible, Heralds are more stylish, better to drive and roomier. It pains me to say this but I think values are being held back by the drop-top Triumph’s feminine image and the notion that ‘real men’ don’t drive Heralds. Utter tosh, I know. We must still be suffering from the hangover of all those Sixties and Seventies print and TV ads with the ‘little woman’ swanning around suburbia in her headscarf and dainty two-tone Herald convertible. Back in May, Bonhams MPH offered a 1966 car with a reputed 12k miles from

new but it didn’t sell – even with an estimate of £10k to £12k. How cheap do they need to be?

Last December, Mathewsons sold a recently restored, red ’69 13/60 convertible, subtly updated with twin SUs, overdrive gearbox, Minilites and a new hood for only £6376, while Anglia Car Auctions sold a decent, white, 1969 12/50 with 60k miles for just £4028. A private seller in Essex is offering a smart, white 1962 1200 with warranted 77k miles, long supporting history and many recent bills for £6500.

For well-kept and restored convertibles these prices are well behind what their owners have invested and MORE out of step with general values.

Find a fine survivor at these QUENTIN behind-the-market prices and WILLSON you shouldn’t go wrong.

VALUE 2012

£5750 VALUE NOW £8000

p35

I can’t think of many diesel cars that will become collectible.

Sixties/Seventies Mercedes diesel saloons and early Range Rover diesels already are, but the availability of diesel for passenger cars will be a problem one day.

However, yours must be one of the lowestmileage C70s around. I drove them at the original launch and was impressed. I’d keep it.

Quentin Willson

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CHASING CARS Russ Smith’s market analysis

Beta maxed

C

Record for supercharged Lancia at CCA

lassic Car Auctions returned to live action with an outdoor sale held as part of the London Classic Car Show in Syon Park, Brentford. It was a happy return that hit the spot with buyers, with a good audience and a very decent 77 per cent of the 108 vehicles finding new homes.

One of the big draws was a small collection of superb Lancias, mostly offered with no reserve. There were no bargains among them though and one proved to be the star of the show. The 1984 Beta HPE (below) was one of the rare VX supercharged models sold towards the end of production. Looking like new, it had been a bare ’shell restoration based on an already pretty good 42,000mile car. There probably isn’t another like it so you cannot argue with the £23,865 paid – easily a record for one of these. You couldn’t replicate it for that so in a way it’s actually cheap.

SOLD NO RESERVE

SOLD WITHIN ESTIMATE

34.3% SOLD ABOVE ESTIMATE

SOLD BELOW ESTIMATE

17.6%

13.9%

11.1% CCA’s results went pretty much to script.

Just over three-quarters sold and almost half of those matched their estimates. The only marker is on the over estimate score – a little behind what we’ve seen so far in 2021.

NOT SOLD

23.1%

Beta HPE Volumex made almost £24,000

Market indicators From small family estates to the jet-set, values continue to rise across much of the market

1972 Lancia Fulvia Rallye 1.3S £16,740 ACA, King’s Lynn, 27 June Subject of much refurbishment by the vendor over the past seven years, this pretty Fulvia is a rare right-hand-drive UK-market car. Its Mendoza Blue was recently applied and it was only for sale because of ill health. We’ve suggested that Fulvias look undervalued several times. Not to the extent of ACA’s slightly mean £9.5-£10.5k estimate, but the result here was still a surprise and a bit of a wake-up call to the market.

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1985 Audi Quattro £23,865 CCA, Syon Park, 27 June You have to wonder what some clubs base their valuations on. This car was recently valued by the Quattro OC at £39,000, though it is merely nice and not exceptional – good at glance and with an interior that doesn’t show the 137,000 miles. CCA was rather closer to reality with its £24-28k estimate, but the market decided this Audi’s true worth. And at £15k less than that club valuation it’s a pretty accurate reflection.

1966 Ferrari 275GTB £1,943,950 RM Sotheby’s, Milan, 15 June Added value from celebrity owners is a fickle element of classic car values. It must be the right people, linked in the right way. Like Jane Fonda and Roger Vadim, the enduring international star couple who owned this 275GTB from new and were photographed with it in France in period.

With triple-carb steel-bodied GTBs topping out at £1.6m, this recently restored one got close to a 20 per cent boost from its flawless celeb history.

Market starts to move on BMW Z3s

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here’s growing evidence that BMW’s Z3 has bottomed out of its depreciation slope and has started to climb back up the other side. Baby steps so far but more and more are appearing at classic sales and prices paid are edging up – even for the underwhelming four-cylinder models.

The six-pots are leading the way, with values at least 50 per cent higher than for their lesser brethren. They still look good value though, with really nice examples of the former to be

found for around £4000. But numbers are declining quite quickly and as they do the values of better cars are only going one way.

This looks like that golden phase that comes in the lives of most cars, where you dive in now and snap up the best one you can find or regret it at your leisure later on. It’s also a good time to re-appraise those four-cylinder cars; they’re not as bad as early road-testers made out. Build quality is pretty good too and they are silly cheap at the moment.

VW Karmann-Ghias still a good idea

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pitched the Karmann-Ghia as a cheap alternative to the Porsche 356 – another pretty German car that looks faster than it actually goes – when I last wrote about it more than four years ago.

Since then the Porsche’s values have barely budged – at least for the regular models – but those for the KG have risen by around 40 per cent. Not that they are challenging their Stuttgart rivals, even now. In fact, at four times the price the 356 still looks expensive in comparison so my former comments still stand.

Anyone who stepped up and bagged one back in 2017 can validly wear a smug grin these days. And those grins may be about to get even broader because there’s been even more upward movement on the Karmann-Ghia

recently, suggesting that the market still sees these cars as good buys.

The truth is, they stand out just as much as a 356 in pretty much any show line-up and give you access to the massive movement that surrounds VWs. Something that you can buy with greater than average confidence.

PRICE GUIDE MOVERS On the up Lots of activity for affordable classics led by plenty of interest in Jaguar XJ-Ss at last Make and Model Alfa Romeo GTV V6 Cup Aston Martin DBS6 Vantage Aston Martin DB7 Volante Austin Seven Chummy BMW 2500/2800/3.0/3.3 BMW 3 Series (E30) convertible BMW 850CSi BMW Z3 4-cyl BMW Z3 6-cyl Chevrolet Corvette C2 S/W cpé Chevrolet Corvette C3 Daimler DB18 Sports Special Datsun 260Z Ferrari 250GTE 2+2 Ferrari Dino 246GT Ferrari Dino 246GTS Ford Prefect E493A Ford Cortina MkI GT Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500 Honda CRX del Sol Jaguar XJ-S S1 auto/HE Jaguar XJ-SC 3.6 cabrio Jaguar XJ-SC V12 cabrio Jaguar XJR-S Jaguar XJS Jaguar XJS convertible Lanchester LD10 Lancia Fulvia Coupé Lancia Beta Coupé Lancia Beta Coupé Volumex Lancia Montecarlo Lotus Elan Plus 2 Lotus Elise S1 Lotus Elise S2 Lotus Elise 111/S Mercedes-Benz 220A/S Ponton Mercedes-Benz 280S/SE Mercedes-Benz 350/450SE/SEL MGB MkII roadster MGB MkIII roadster MGB GT MkIII Nissan Skyline GT-R R32 Nissan Skyline GT-R R33 Peugeot 406 Coupé Renault 5 Turbo 2 Rover SD1 Vitesse TP Subaru Impreza 22B Triumph Stag Vauxhall Wyvern E Volkswagen Karmann-Ghia T34 Volkswagen 411/412 Volkswagen Golf cabriolet Volvo 244/264 Volvo 240 Volvo V70R

Year 01-02 67-73 96-99 25-34 69-77 86-93 92-96 96-01 97-00 63 68-72 48-52 74-79 60-63 69-73 72-74 49-53 63-66 87 92-98 75-91 83-87 85-87 88-93 91-96 91-96 46-51 65-76 73-84 83-84 76-84 67-74 95-00 00-05 99-05 56-59 72-80 72-80 67-71 71-74 71-74 89-94 95-99 97-03 83-86 85-86 98 70-77 51-57 62-69 68-74 80-93 74-79 78-93 97-00

Concours 13,000 170,000 28,500 19,750 14,000 12,500 47,500 3750 6000 87,500 30,000 42,500 20,500 340,000 295,000 330,000 8000 24,000 72,500 3350 12,500 12,000 13,750 22,000 12,000 17,500 7500 16,750 7000 9000 25,000 27,500 17,500 15,000 18,000 18,500 11,000 14,000 15,250 15,000 11,500 35,000 32,000 3000 80,000 16,500 100,000 20,000 9500 16,000 7250 11,000 5000 5250 7500

Mint 10,000 135,000 23,000 15,000 9250 8000 38,500 2600 4000 65,000 22,500 30,000 15,000 275,000 240,000 275,000 5250 17,500 52,500 2400 7250 8500 9500 15,000 7500 12,000 5000 12,500 4750 6000 17,500 18,500 13,000 12,500 14,500 13,500 6750 9000 11,250 11,000 7000 27,500 25,000 1750 57,500 11,500 80,000 14,000 6750 10,000 5000 7500 3250 3750 5250

Good 5500 80,000 17,500 10,000 4250 3250 29,500 1350 2100 36,500 13,000 16,000 7000 225,000 175,000 190,000 2500 8000 32,000 1000 3250 3950 4400 7500 3500 5500 2400 6000 2100 2850 8500 10,000 9500 10,500 12,000 6500 3000 4000 5500 5250 3000 16,000 14,000 700 32,500 5500 60,000 5750 3000 5500 2400 3000 1600 1800 2400

Rough 2500 50,000 13,500 5000 2000 1250 20,000 550 975 25,000 5750 8250 3500 175,000 100,000 110,000 1250 3500 21,000 375 900 1750 2000 3500 1600 2500 1200 2500 900 1450 3000 6000 6750 9000 10,000 3500 1100 1500 2500 2250 1500 10,000 7500 350 22,500 2500 47,500 2000 1500 3000 1200 1200 750 750 1400

% up +30% +31% +3.6% +3.9% +3.7% +14% +5.6% +4.2% +4.3% +6.1% +7.1% +42% +2.5% +9.7% +7.3% +10% +14% +37% +3.6% +3.1% +14% +2.7% +2.2% +22% +32% +9.4% +15% +20% +7.7% +13% +25% +25% +9.4% +3.4% +2.9% +12% +10% +7.7% +1.7% +7.1% +4.5% +19% +33% +9.1% +11% +65% +18% +8.1% +3.2% +4.3% +21% +38% +3.0% +5.0% +3.4%

On the slide Another month of strong demand means few fallers, though AM values are still readjusting

1964 Triumph Herald estate £10,696 Brightwells, online, 23 June It’s easy to forget that Triumph made an estate version of the Herald 1200, so rarely are they seen now. Which largely explains why this sold for almost double the top value of a saloon and more than a convertible would have made in similar condition. There’s more to it than rarity though – this was an immaculate car out of 21-year ownership, with history back to day one. Something that will always find a buyer.

1988 Ford Capri 280 £24,840 ACA, King’s Lynn, 27 June The 280 was a collectors item from the off, and most of the 1038 built have led sheltered lives. They also acquired strong values pretty quickly, but have slowed in recent years and been caught by other rarer Capri V6s. This one came from long-term enthusiast ownership with a genuine 98,000 miles. The £18-22k estimate was about right; the result suggests that they’re on the move again.

Make and Model Alfa Romeo 6C 2300 Touring Alvis TD21 saloon Aston Martin DB4 con Aston Martin DB5 Aston Martin DB6 Aston Martin DB6 Volante Aston Martin DB9 Audi Quattro Turbo BMW Z4 S1 Ferrari Dino 206GT Ferrari 308GTB (grp) Ferrari 365GTC Ferrari 550 Maranello Lamborghini 400GT Morgan Plus 4 Porsche Carrera 3.2 Supersport Porsche 911 C4S/C2S (993) TVR T350

Year 33-37 56-63 61-63 63-65 65-70 66-70 04-08 80-89 03-05 68-69 75-77 68-70 96-01 67-68 50-53 84-89 95-97 02-06

Concours 1.05m 33,500 950,000 690,000 310,000 600,000 35,000 37,500 4250 365,000 115,000 515,000 90,000 375,000 35,000 75,000 90,000 28,000

Mint 850,000 25,000 775,000 550,000 215,000 500,000 30,000 27,000 3000 310,000 89,000 400,000 72,500 310,000 25,000 60,000 72,500 24,500

Good 700,000 14,000 650,000 420,000 150,000 400,000 20,000 12,500 1800 265,000 70,000 360,000 55,000 255,000 17,000 35,000 49,500 20,000

Rough 500,000 7500 550,000 295,000 127,500 330,000 15,000 5500 1200 180,000 50,000 320,000 42,500 200,000 11,000 26,500 30,000 15,000

%dwn -4.5% -4.3% -2.5% -1.3% -2.7% -4.0% -6.7% -1.6% -6.5% -2.6% -2.5% -3.3% -1.5% -5.1% -2.8% -6.3% -5.3% -3.4%

17

CHASING CARS Russ Smith’s market news The new Hamster-boosted outfit showed off its first completed projects (see p24 for more details)

IN THE TRADE

UPGRADED E-TYPES Kent-based Jaguar restorer E-type UK has launched the Unleashed brand, dedicated to the creation of upgraded S3 V12 E-types, as an expansion of its business. The pictured demonstrator has been created using a 400bhp 6.1-litre fuel-injected version of the V12 along with a five-speed gearbox, strengthened chassis and uprated suspension.

The body has been subtly restyled and there’s a custom interior too. The cost is around £325,000 plus a suitable donor car. See etypeuk.com

TV host’s resto business

Richard Hammond announces launch of The Smallest Cog

B

est known for his long stint as a Top Gear presenter, Richard Hammond is also a keen classic car enthusiast with a sizeable collection.

That alone might not seem the best credentials for setting up a restoration business, but Hammond has set up The Smallest Cog in conjunction with restoration experts Neil and Anthony Greenhouse – the father and son team that has successfully renovated a number of Hammond’s own classics.

Hammond explains how it came about, ‘They did a brilliant job on my E-type, XK150 and Bentley and were about to lose their workshop, which would have been a terrible waste of

skills. I didn’t want to employ them – there’d be no dignity for someone who’s been running their own show in rural Herefordshire for 26 years to start working for some bloke off the television who might suddenly decide he doesn’t want to restore any more cars this year.

‘So together we decided to set up a proper restoration business,’

Hammond continues. ‘They have all the skills and I can help with initial funding to get things off the ground.’

But will he be getting his own hands dirty? ‘Absolutely. I’ll be spending time in the workshop learning from them how to paint, weld, fabricate – I’ll never be as good, but I can set off on that path. It’s in my bones. My grandfather was a coachbuilder; he worked at Mulliners in Birmingham and Jensen in West Bromwich.’

It has also been announced by Discovery that there will be a series of TV shows following the early fortunes of The Smallest Cog. The business is based near Hammond’s home in Herefordshire. Contact 07506 218080 or info@smallestcog.com

MODERN CLASSICS AT ACA Anglia Car Auctions is experimenting with a run of ‘Future Classics’ sales, the first set for 28 July. ACA’s Guy Snelling told us, ‘There’s no set rules for what qualifies, it’s for cars that don’t quite fit our classic sales but are quirky, survivors, on the classic borderline. It will also be cheaper at £25 to enter a car compared to £125 for a classic sale. We’ve already had a lot of interest and hope to run five sales a year.’ Early entries include an ’95 Hyundai S Coupé.

See angliacarauctions.co.uk

WHAT THE K500 MARKET INDEX SAYS ABOUT THE…

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500

Surge in values while other A-listers were going the opposite way

400

300 K500 index value versus 1994 baseline

Lamborghini LM002 K500’s Simon Kidston says, ‘The Rambo Lambo. Mad off-roader with a set of tyres that cost as much as some small cars. Started as a project for the US military, which never bought any.

Ironically became a favourite of dictators like Saddam Hussein and Ghaddafi. Early LMs have fuel tank under the rear seats, leading to cabin vapours. European clients received full-fat carburettor engine from Countach QV. Top pick would be Eurospec carb LM002 with later tank location.

Huge outside, cramped inside, built like a tractor and drinks like a private jet.’

200

Steady rise until after the rest of the market had topped out

100

0 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

SPECIAL INTEGRALE A Lancia Integrale customfinished for the Fiat-owning Agnelli family is being auctioned by online site Well Bought Well Sold. One of just 310 Integrale Martini 6 Evo 1 models, it was completed by Abarth with unique features including electric rear spoiler, longer wing vents, turquoise Alcantara interior and fewer decals. The no-reserve auction ends the day after this issue goes on sale.

Bidding at the time of writing had reached £65,000. See wellboughtwellsold.com

CHASING CARS Russ Smith’s market headliners

‘It wasn’t a UK-market car but has earned the right to remain in its adopted home, having lived here since May 1960’

The finest Fifties Alfa?

A

Stunning Super Sprint on market for first time in 36 years t a glance you know that this Alfa Romeo 1900C Super Sprint is something special. There’s an exquisite delicacy in the detailing applied to Touring’s flowing and slim-pillared styling. Something that puts it on the same playing field, maybe, as Fabergé or Rolex and would have an Antiques Roadshow expert digging deep into their vault of superlatives.

This 1954 example wasn’t a UK market car – opinion is still divided on just how few of those there actually were – but has earned the right to remain in its adopted home, having lived here since May 1960. It is one of only 854 Super Sprints built from late 1953 to 1958. Most, like this, were Touring coupés built on the shorter wheelbase ‘C’ 1900 chassis. All used the new 1975cc version of Alfa’s iron block/alloy head twin-cam engine which delivered what seems now like a modest 115bhp. But to put that in

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context, Brits were at the time excited about the new Triumph TR3 producing 95bhp from its two litres.

The 1900C Super Sprint also enjoyed an upgrade to a rather decadent five-speed gearbox, though perhaps oddly it was operated by a column shifter.

Silverstone Auctions is to offer this Alfa at its annual Silverstone Classic sale on 31 July. It comes with comprehensive history right back to its first buyer in Italy and has had just five UK owners since arriving here, the last for 36 years. He embarked on an eight-year restoration soon after acquiring it, completed in 1994. Since then the car has been meticulously cared for and regularly maintained and improved. That includes more recent engine and gearbox rebuilds. An electric cooling fan has also been added and the headlamp bowls changed for units that incorporate sidelights so the original sidelamps can be used as indicators.

These are all sensible and reversible modifications that will have no negative impact on the car’s value. There’s further evidence of that care and attention in the fact that the Super Sprint most recently picked up a show trophy just two years ago. Like most of us it hasn’t been out much since then.

Gleamingly well presented, this truly is a collector-grade Alfa in get-in-and-go condition, to enjoy for what it is or strut its stuff proudly at any event. The flanks are straight, the shutlines even and the two-tone Connolly leather wearing the mildest patina.

This kind of quality doesn’t come cheap of course, but it should be noted that something similar with a more prestigious badge would be more expensive by orders of magitude.

Silverstone’s £165,000-£175,000 estimate for the car concurs nicely with our guide valuation of £165k for one in mint condition.

For more details see silverstoneauctions.com

Super Sprint’s eightyear restoration was completed in 1994 and its engine and gearbox have been rebuilt since. It now carries a £165,000£175,000 estimate

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CHASING CARS Russ Smith’s tempting buys

A whole lotta Lusso 1963 Ferrari 250GT Lusso For sale at RM Sotheby’s, Monterey, 13 August, rmsothebys.com Why buy it? This has to be one of the best 250 Lussos around. Restored by top marque names like Skip McCabe and John Hajduk, it has since won numerous concours awards. It also has a sprinkle of stardust, being owned for the last seven years by Adam Levine, a renowned sportscar enthusiast and frontman for rock group Maroon 5. Wonder if it ‘Moves Like Jagger’...

Estimate Tba

1939 Morgan 4/4 S1 For sale at Silverstone Auctions, Silverstone, 31 July, silverstoneauctions.com Why buy it? One of a pair of pre-war 4/4s two chassis numbers apart that have been restored to very high standards by the vendor, this one stands out thanks to its rare 1098cc ‘Le Mans Replica’ Coventry Climax engine – ‘Guaranteed to exceed 80mph’. It looks superb in every respect. Estimate Tba

1960 Austin-Healey 100/6 For sale at SWVA, Poole, 30 July, swva.co.uk Why buy it? This would make an interesting project, especially for historic rallying. With the same owner from 1966 and rallied by him, it has been in dry storage since 1980. Mods include a Works hardtop, overdrive gearbox, larger carbs and 12-port cylinder head. Sale includes spare bodywork and wire wheels. Estimate No Reserve

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1936 Delahaye 135 Coupé For sale at Mecum Auctions, Monterey, 12 August, mecum.com Why buy it? Just 30 Competition Court 135s were built, using a race-spec swb chassis. Of those just six were, like this example, bodied in exquisite teardrop style by that most revered of coachbuilders, Figoni & Falaschi. A restoration was completed in 2001 and the car was last sold at auction for $2.4m in 2013. Estimate Tba

UPCOMING SALES Please confirm sale status with auction house websites before making arrangements.

JULY Wed 29-Wed Aug 4, RM Sotheby’s ‘Open Roads’ online sale. rmsothebys.com Fri 30, Dorset. South West Vehicle Auctions’ classic sale, Parkstone, Poole. swva.co.uk Sat 31-Sun Aug 1, Northants. Silverstone Classic Sale, The Wing, Silverstone Circuit. silverstoneauctions.com AUGUST Thu 5, Herefordshire. Brightwells’ Classic & Vintage, Leominster, timed online. brightwells.com Wed 11, Derbyshire. H&H Classic Auctions, live online. handh.co.uk Thu-Sat 12-14, California, USA. Mecum Auctions, Hyatt Regency Hotel. Monterey. mecum.com Thu-Sat 12-14, California, USA. Russo and Steele, Old Train Station, Figueroa St, Monterey. russoandsteele.com Fri 13, California, USA. Bonhams, Quail Lodge Golf Club, Carmel. bonhams.com Fri-Sat 13-14, California, USA. RM Sotheby’s, Monterey Conference Center, Monterey. rmsothebys.com Sat-Sun 14-15, California, USA. Gooding & Company, Pebble Beach Equestrian Center. goodingco.com Fri-Sat 20-21, North Yorkshire. Mathewsons, live online, Thornton-Le-Dale. mathewsons.co.uk Sat-Sun 28-29, Norfolk. Anglia Car Auctions’ classic sale, The Cattlemarket, King’s Lynn. angliacarauctions.co.uk

ANGLIA CAR 28&29 SATURDAY SUNDAY

AUCTIONS

11 AM

WATCH LIVE ON

YOUTUBE AUGUST & ONLINE

CALL US ON 01553 771881 OR VISIT

angliacarauctions.co.uk

SELLER’S FEE 6%, BUYER’S FEE 8% l FREE STORAGE l NATIONWIDE TRANSPORT

SALES FROM OUR JUNE CLASSIC ALL PRICES INCLUSIVE OF BUYER’S PREMIUM

1972 BMW E9 3.0CSL

1986 PORSCHE 911 3.2 SUPERSPORT TURBO BODY CABRIOLET

SOLD FOR: £110,700

SOLD FOR: £61,560

2008 LAMBORGHINI GALLARDO LP500 COUPE E-GEAR

1959 ROLLS ROYCE SILVER CLOUD I

1971 BUICK SKYLARK CUSTOM CONVERTIBLE LHD

SOLD FOR: £64,800

GUIDE PRICE: £20,250

SOLD FOR: £10,530

ENTRIES INVITED FOR OUR AUGUST AUCTION

MONTH IN CARS Events

Classic reborn at Syon Park London Classic Car Show’s move to outdoor format brings spectacle and celebrity

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celebration of Jaguar’s E-type and the evolution of car design headlined the London Classic Car Show, relocated outside to Syon Park in Brentford and to a June date. Grand Tour presenter Richard Hammond took the opportunity to launch his new restoration business, and present its first completed project, and a famous VW paid a visit.

Jaguar XK150S Richard Hammond revealed this newly-restored works-prepared Jaguar XK150S rally car at the show as the first to be completed by his new restoration business, The Smallest Cog. ‘I’m still finding out more about its early history. It was bought in 1959 and did the Tulip Rally in 1961,’ explained Richard.

‘My understanding is that it was originally a standard car that was sent back to Lofty England’s Competitions Department at Browns Lane to be converted to S-specification for rallying. Incredibly, I had no idea it was a works-prepared rally car when I bought it, it was something I found in the history file, but since then the family of the original owner has been in touch. They remember it well, and have a mountain of old paperwork and photos of it.

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‘It was ragged around a lot for years, generally not worth much, and ended up being widely abused. At some point it was repainted red and fitted with black seats. Eventually it ended up with a friend of mine, I bought it from him, and my team at The Smallest Cog got started on it.

‘It looked reasonable at first, but as we took parts off we realised how bad it was and the project got bigger and bigger. We found accident damage it had sustained from the rally back in 1961, and had to replace the wings. One day I came into the workshop and found the C-pillar had completely rotted through. I thought that was the end, but then my bodywork guy got out his English Wheel and made a replacement section in 15 minutes. On another occasion he phoned me up and admitted something was nagging him about the sills, so he got up in the early hours of the morning, came in, cut the entire driver’s side lower sections off and re-did the whole thing properly aligned with strings and lasers.

‘I really want to promote these people’s skills because they are incredible. Our next project is a Jensen Interceptor that was signed off the line at Castle Bromwich by my grandfather.’

Debut for Richard Hammond’s newly restored Jaguar XK150S rally car

Sixty-six genre-defining classics were driven on the show’s Grand Avenue

Curious Africa-built Dilambda racer retains sliding-pillar suspension of its saloon-car basis Monteverdi boasted an Okra interior

The original, cut-andshut Herbie

and he took it back to America to do hill climbs in it. Throughout its life in the US its various owners didn’t know what they had. It’s only since then that we’ve found photos and its history from Eritrea.’

Monteverdi 375L

London Classic Car Show stars included this Bugatti Type 55

Lancia Dilambda 232 ‘It’s the first time this car has been seen in the UK, and it’s only just been returned to running condition,’ said James Brown of his unusual Lancia racing car. ‘It’s a 1933 Dilambda 232, and its early racing history comes from Africa, where it competed in street-races and hill climbs in Eritrea.

‘Whoever built it shortened the chassis to the same length that Alfa 6Cs were using at the time.

It was narrowed at the back and retained the sophisticated sliding-pillar arrangement of the saloons at the front, although they look very tall on this low-slung car. The engine is a 4.0-litre V8, with a 24-degree vee, more like a staggered in-line engine really, big but compact. It made 100bhp in the saloons but I suspect this one was modified further.

‘We don’t have a precise date of its conversion, but it was driven by Gigino Gregori, a wealthy privateer living in Asmara, possibly in the 1938 Coppa de Natale, a race held on Christmas Day, although the photos we have are undated. When Mussolini invaded Eritrea, a lot of Italians moved in and a Lancia dealership, Strazza, was set up in Asmara, so there’s a possibility that this conversion work was carried out by Lancia itself, but no records exist. Either way, it’s the only known racing Dilambda. Strazza used to take the engines up to 4.3 litres in some saloons, and the internals of this engine were definitely changed, but I don’t quite know whether it’s a Strazza engine.

‘It was picked up after World War Two by a US airman after the USAF set up an airbase in Eritrea,

This Monteverdi, the first production 375L, emerged into the light at the London Classic Car Show after an exhausting nine-year restoration for its owner, Alan Carrington. ‘I found it in Berlin in late 2011, where it was still with its second owner,’ said Alan. ‘It was supplied to Germany when new, the first of just 65 built. The first owner had it from 1970-1980, and this guy ended up with it from 1980-2012. However, it had been taken off the road in 1984. When I found the car, it had no interior, and the original Chrysler 440 engine was running on gravity-feed only.

‘The restoration took a long time, mainly because we had to make a lot of things from scratch that you simply cannot buy off the shelf – windscreen rubbers, and Fissore’s coachbuilder’s badges, for example. It took six months to find the correct windscreen wiper arms, and it took Michelin several months to supply the right tyres for it. I also had to get a windscreen specially made.

Volkswagen Beetle This ‘Herbie’ is no replica – it’s the real thing, and the first time it’s made an appearance at a classic show. ‘It’s H2, a Porsche 356-engined car built by

EMPI Racing in California for the racing scenes in the original 1969 film The Love Bug,’ said owner Luke Theochari of Terry’s Beetle Services. ‘It has Porsche finned brakes, Koni dampers, revised rear control arms, a front anti-roll bar and a internal roll structure.

‘It’s actually a 1963 Convertible from the windscreen forward, and a 1960 saloon from the screen backwards – it was a cut-and-shut made from used Beetles that EMPI picked up.

‘I found it in Florida in 2005. After the film, Disney sold it to the Brooker Museum, which in turn sold it to collector Greg Carr. It’s always been looked after and arrived to me as-is. It’s never done a classic show before, but when the London Classic Car Show relocated to Syon Park it was just two miles from my workshop and I thought, why not?!’

BMW 530MLE ‘This is the only BMW 530MLE in Europe, and its restoration was only completed on Thursday night!’ said the BMW Owners’ Club’s Richard Stern of the star of his stand, a South Africa-only homologation special. ‘This is one of just 12 in race specification, full of drilled lightweight parts and aluminium body panels that got its kerbweight down to 1230kg. It’s got Scheel bucket seats, a unique rear spoiler, and an unusual engine specification with triple Weber 45DCOE carburettors, giving 200bhp at 6000rpm and 204lb ft at 4200rpm. That translates into 130mph and 0-60 in 8.5 seconds.’

The 530MLE was one of just 100 built at BMW’s South African factory in Rosslyn in 1976

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MONTH IN CARS Events

Painting Sywell Rosso

Lightweight 348GTB Competizione

Inaugural National Ferrari Owners’ Day floods Northamptonshire aerodrome with supercars

S

ywell Aerodrome’s first national-scale event by the Ferrari Owners’ Club brought hundreds of classic and modern examples to enjoy a combination of traditional show and high-speed airfield track day. Two in particular stood out for their significance.

Dino 308GT4 It’s the first time this secretive Dino – the first to come to the UK – has been to a big show. ‘It was

Ferrari’s press car,’ said owner Gary Gordon. ‘It was registered in October 1974 and featured in its first road test in Autosport’s 12 December issue, so it had been in the country a matter of days when they drove it. Motor tested it in January 1975 too.

‘It came to me in 1984 in need of work, before which it had passed through several owners’ hands. It had quite a chaotic history, being repainted white at one point then back to its original red just six months later!

‘I treated it to a full engine-out restoration in the early Nineties, but it’s been barely used since, covering 2500 miles in nearly 30 years. If it did 100 miles a year it was lucky, so at this show I figured I’d put a For Sale sign on it.’ Two days later Gary sold it to someone who drove it back to Chippenham.

Ferrari 348GTB/C Lightweight After a successful track career, this rare 348 of Richard and Angela Preece is now doing the show circuit. Richard explained, ‘At the end of 348 production, Ferrari made 50 Lightweights in order to homologate Oscar Larrauri’s GT racer, only eight of which were right-hand drive – most of which went to New Zealand, some to Brunei. This is car 39.

‘I managed fourth in the FOCGB Hillclimb Championship with it, but I’m too scared to push it because parts such as wheels are irreplaceable.

‘It was built on the same production line as the F40, and it was one of the first Ferraris to use carbonfibre in its structure, including the sills. The lightweight seats are unique to the car too.

‘It drives differently from most 348s. It’s so light and the engine is more free-revving. If you look at the engine you’ll see a raised plenum chamber, part of modifications that gave it more torque.’

Dino, barely used since its Nineties resto, made its show debut

Bentley triumphant in Yorkshire

MG ZR restored to works livery

INAUGURAL YORKSHIRE MOTOR SPORT FESTIVAL CELEBRATES THE BEST OF BRITISH

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ith themed days celebrating Bentley, Aston Martin and CanAm, Yorkshire Motor Sport Festival also marked one of the first uses of the new UK closed-road motor sport legislation to create the Wolfstones Hill Climb.

Bentley Eight Litre The ‘Bentley Day’ saw this freshly-restored Eight Litre make its debut. Owner Jonathan Turner said, ‘It was originally an HJ Mulliner-bodied saloon, but after World War Two it existed as a cut-and-shut racer. Then Bentley collector Keith Schellenberg converted it into a rally car and did the Londonto-Sydney Marathon in it! He failed to finish, rolling down a hill in India.

‘I bought it from Keith when he couldn’t drive it any more, and it was in bits. He had run it as a supercharged two-seater, lengthened it and also used it to tow the Barnarto-Hassan single-seater Brooklands outer-circuit car at one point.

Eight Litre restored as Gurney Nutting saloon

26

‘However, as with all Eight Litres, it was originally a luxury car, so restorer David Ayre and I decided to build it as a Gurney Nutting two-door saloon because none of the surviving Eight Litres have been. This one is also the only one to retain its original chassis, axles and engine. However, its original Mulliner design was pretty ugly and there’s not much choice of Eight Litre saloon bodies, so we decided to recreate the most beautiful.’

Ensign 179 It’s the first time the historic collection of former F1 team Ensign has been seen in public since they raced in the Eighties. ‘They belong to Bob Fernley, former Force India team principle, who began his F1 career at Ensign,’ said Mark Busfield, director of the National Centre for Motor Sport Engineering at Bolton University, which had them on display.

‘They lived at Force India in an anteroom; noone knew they were there. There’s this 179, a

Ensign 179 hidden away for decades

1984 IndyCar, and a 1980 180B – ground effect is returning to F1, so my students are studying it.

‘The 179 has been sat in wraps for as long as anyone can remember. Its main driver was Derek Daly, whose name is still on it, although it was probably driven by Ensign’s other drivers, Patrick Gaillard and Marc Surer, in the 1979 Formula One World Championship.’ Irishman Daly struggled in the Championship, only finishing in Argentina and Brazil before switching to Tyrrell mid-season.

MG ZR It’s the first time this unique ex-works MG rally car has been seen on home soil since Gwyndaf Evans drove it on the 2003 Wales Rally GB. ‘MG had been rallying in the S1600 class, but something went wrong with the usual car so this one was built to Group N specification for Evans. It won its class.

‘It only did one other rally with the works team – the 2004 Arctic Rally, with Tony Jardine. It came 37th out of 81 finishers in Lapland, but Jardine said it was the toughest rally he’d ever done, “passing wrecked cars on every corner”.

‘MG sold it off to Hungarian team Speedy Motorsport during 2004, where it was driven by Szijja Csaba. I sourced it in Romania last year. I’ve restored it to its original specification and livery.’

Photo: Oliver Fessey

Egal now packs the 8.5-litre V8 it acquired during its restoration in the USA

Special E-types storm Shelsley E-type 60th anniversary celebration draws a crowd of significant showstoppers

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andmark examples of the E-type breed were out in force for the 60th anniversary celebration weekend at Shelsley Walsh in Worcestershire, including all three 1961 Geneva show cars and the 1961 Oulton Park first and third place racers.

The wild one

The crowd-pleasing crown must go to Egal, the 1962 E-type that was treated to a 470bhp, 7.0-litre Holman Moody-prepped Ford Galaxie V8 in 1964 by engineer Geoff Richardson, to give owner Rob Beck the edge in club racing and sprint events.

Jaguar specialist Chris Keith Lucas has it now, ‘After it was sold to the United States it was almost lost. My interest grew when I read in Philip Porter’s Definitive E-type book that it had been raced by Barrie Williams, who I used to know. Then, oddly, two years ago I was asked to go to verify it in New York State. The owner had had it restored, converting it to 8.5 litres to make it more exciting!’

In Beck’s hands, Egal had proved effective with club race wins at Silverstone and Castle Combe ahead of competition including Ferrari 250GTOs. That was until a test day accident at Castle Combe in 1965 shattered his confidence in the car, after which Chris Summers and then Williams raced it before it was sold to the States.

Keith-Lucas said, ‘I intend to return to how it was when Williams raced it, on narrower Borrani wheels for example, but all of that needs research.

‘People love it, it’s a real hairy monster.’

The ‘wooden crate car’ The first E-type unveiled to the press made a rare trip to the UK for the E-type 60th celebrations.

Mansour Ojjeh, 1952-2021 Mansour Ojjeh, the Saudi Arabian businessman who helped fund and control McLaren

Chassis 885005 was the fixed-head coupé revealed from a wooden crate at the restaurant Le Gastronomic du Parc des Eaux Vives on the Lake Geneva shoreline, the night before the 1961 Geneva show, where it also appeared on the Jaguar stand.

It was re-united at Shelsley with 885002, the fhc registered 9600HP that was presented outside the same restaurant before taking up demonstration run duties alongside 880003, the earliest surviving open two-seater, registered 77RW. Said Georg Dönni, who restored the car for Swiss owner Christian Jenny, ‘It’s the first time that all three have been together since the launch.’

After Geneva, 885005 has spent its whole life in Switzerland, first with race team owner Georges Filipinetti and eventually experiencing the fate of a typical ageing E-type until being identified as the Geneva car in 1999 and bought by Dönni in 2002.

‘It was the wrong colour and had been bodged up.

But it was such a historic car, I had to have it. The body had been patched over, so I bead-blasted it and carefully ground off the repair pieces. That’s when I discovered that it was all hand-made –

S850006 began life as a nearstandard road car

during its glory years in the Eighties, has died aged 68.

Ojjeh’s Techniques d’Avant Garde (TAG) organisation first entered F1 sponsoring Williams in the late Seventies, culminating in 1980 and 1982 F1 World Championship wins.

He then joined forces with Ron

I could see where the roof had been raised, the handmade stiffener panels, the welding on the A-pillar and lots of differences from the production cars, like the roof which is more bowed.’

The first Lightweight Ex-Jaguar competition department mechanic Rob Wilson had a ride up the hill in the first E-type to become a Lightweight, chassis S850006. It was registered BUY 1 when Roy Salvadori drove it to third place in the E-type’s first race, at Oulton Park in 1961, before being re-registered 4 WPD later that year. ‘The last time I went in it was when I drove it around the Jaguar factory perimeter road in 1964, a 1.5-mile run to warm it up and make all of the usual checks. It could have been yesterday; a part of my life indelibly etched on my brain.’

‘When Salvadori wrote it off at Goodwood in 1962, we rebuilt it with a thinner-gauge steel bodyshell, but it was still too heavy. In September it was decided to go ahead with an aluminium car. Once it had the aluminium body and cylinder block it was really competitive.’

885005 made a rare pilgrimage

Dennis at McLaren for 1983, working with Porsche to create the TAGPorsche engine, which McLaren used to win three World Championships in 1984, 1985 and 1986 with Niki Lauda and Alain Prost. Ojjeh stayed on the board of McLaren, overseeing 10 drivers’ titles.

He was also instrumental in the creation of the McLaren F1, deciding to commit funds to build a roadgoing British Ferrari rival after a conversation between himself, Dennis, Gordon Murray and Creighton Brown about potential future directions for the firm.

27

EVENTS PLANNER

July-December highlights July 30-August 1 Silverstone Classic. Silverstone, Northamptonshire silverstone.co.uk 31 Festival of the Unexceptional Grimsthorpe Castle, Lincolnshire hagerty.co.uk

August 7 Shelsley Walsh Autojumble.

Shelsley Walsh, Worcestershire shelsleywalsh.com 7-8 VSCC Prescott.

Prescott Speed Hill Climb, Gloucestershire vscc.co.uk 7-8 Beaulieu Supercar Weekend.

Beaulieu, Hampshire beaulieu.co.uk 8 Leighton Hall Classic Car Festival. Leighton Hall, Carnforth, Lancashire leightonhall.co.uk 12-15 Monterey Motorsports Reunion. Laguna Seca, California, USA co.monterey.ca.us 13 The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering. Quail Lodge, Carmel, California, USA peninsula.com 13-15 Oldtimer Grand Prix.

Nürburgring, Germany avd-ogp.de 13-15 Retro Carfest.

Bicester Heritage, Oxfordshire carfest.org 14-15 Classic Sports Car Championships.

Snetterton, Norfolk snetterton.msv.com 15 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

Pebble Beach, Monterey, California, USA pebblebeachconcours.net 19-22 British Motor Show.

Farnborough International Expo Centre, Surrey thebritishmotorshow.live

The Classic brings motor sport enthusiasts of all churches to Silverstone, 30 July-1 August

21-22 Historic Rally Festival.

Weston Park, Shropshire historicrallyfestival.com 21-22 Passion for Power.

Tatton Park, Knutsford, Cheshire tattonpassionforpower.com 22 VSCC Mallory Park.

Mallory Park, Leicestershire malloryparkcircuit.com 22 Tewkesbury Classic Vehicle Festival. Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire tewkesburycvf.org 22 International MG & Triumph Spares Day. Telford International Centre, Shropshire mgandtriumph sparesday.co.uk 27-29 Carfest South.

Laverstoke Park Farm, Hampshire carfest.org 28-29 Oulton Park Gold Cup. Oulton Park, Cheshire oultonparkgoldcup.com 30-September 4 Tour Auto Optic 2000.

Location TBC, France peterauto.fr

29-31 Algarve Classic Festival.

Autódromo Internacional Algarve, Portimão, Portugal autodromodoalgarve.com

September

October

1-5 Salon Privé.

Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire salonpriveconcours.com

1-3 Spa Six Hours.

Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium spa-francorchamps.be

3-5 Concours of Elegance.

Hampton Court Palace, London concoursofelegance.co.uk

1-3 Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este. Como, Italy concorsodeleganza villadeste.com

November

4-5 International Autojumble.

Beaulieu, Hampshire beaulieu.co.uk

2 Autumn Classic.

Castle Combe, Wiltshire castlecombecircuit.co.uk

6 Regent Street Motor Show.

Regent Street, London regentstreetmotorshow.com

13-17 Scottish Malts.

Edinburgh, Lothian, Scotland heroevents.eu

2-3 McRae Rally Challenge.

Knockhill, Fife, Scotland knockhill.com

7 London to Brighton Veteran Car Run. Regent Street, London to Madeira Drive, Brighton veterancarrun.com

17-19 Goodwood Revival.

Goodwood circuit, Sussex goodwood.com

7-10 Malta Classic. Mdina, Malta maltaclassic.com

17-19 Circuit des Remparts.

Angoulême, France circuitdesremparts.com

7-10 Zoute Grand Prix.

Knokke-Heist, Belgium zoutegrandprix.be

18-19 HSCC Mallory Park.

Mallory Park, Leicestershire malloryparkcircuit.com

10 Southport Classic & Speed.

Southport, Merseyside southportclassicandspeed. com

25 Rallyday.

Castle Combe, Wiltshire castlecombecircuit.co.uk

16-17 Goodwood Members’ Meeting. Goodwood Circuit, Sussex goodwood.com

25 HERO Challenge 3.

Bicester, Oxfordshire heroevents.eu

21-24 Auto e Moto d’Epoca.

Fiera di Padova, Italy autoemotodepoca.com

4-7 RAC Rally of the Tests.

Leeds, Yorkshire to Edinburgh, Scotland heroevents.eu

12-14 NEC Classic Motor Show.

NEC, Birmingham necclassicmotorshow.com 25-29 Roger Albert Clark Rally.

Multiple locations, Scotland, Wales and England racrmc.org

December 4-7 LE JOG. Land’s End to John o’ Groats heroevents.eu 5-9 1000 Miglia Experience UAE. Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates 1000miglia.it

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MONTH IN CARS Barn Finds

Rear lights were originally Cortina MkI ‘ban the bomb’ units; a pair was found on the back seat

Buried TVR-Buick hill climber

T

V8-stuffed competition curio found in Welsh barn after 45-year slumber

his muscular-looking TVR saw considerable success on the hills in 1967, ’68 and ’69 – yet that wasn’t enough to save it from a subsequent 45-year internment in the Welsh garage from which it was recently extracted.

The baby brute’s triumphs came at the hands of Brian Alexander. He bought the car new in 1966 as an 1800S, the MGB-engined model that succeeded the very similar Grantura. Alexander, a skilled engineer and tuner, had considerable success before a

radical engine swap. For the 1968 season, he replaced the B-series with a 3.5-litre Buick V8 he imported, mating it with a Vauxhall Cresta gearbox – the only thing he could find that would handle the torque.

Alexander fabricated his own wishbones and uprated the dampers, then took on the big boys, often beating lightweight E-types and the famous Ferrari 250LM of Jack Maurice. Class wins followed at the likes of Wiscombe, Prescott, Pontypool, Loton Park and Gurston Down, where Alexander felled the hill record three times in one day.

He sold it after the 1969 season, at which time the second owner commissioned TVR to fit the later rectangular rear lights and changed the colour to brown. It was sold again in the mid-Seventies and changed colour once more to black, then disappeared into a large wooden barn in mid-Wales, from which it has only recently emerged. The owner was a client and friend of Cheshirebased coachbuilder Dave Moroney, who assisted the family with clearing the building after the gentleman died earlier this year. It was a huge task. ‘When you

Have Dino 308 values reached the point where this one will be restored?

30

At Prescott Hill Climb circa 1969 wearing plenty of rubber...

One-owner Wolseley was a birthday present This Wolseley Hornet Sports was owned from new by a gentleman called Arthur Long in 1931, and recently found a new owner for the first time in its life after a lengthy lay-up.

It’s thought to have been Long’s first car and a photograph exists of him in the driving seat, aged about 18. After he married, he made a gift of the car to his wife, Pam, as a 21st birthday present. The car had probably seen some competition by then, or else it received a few sporting modifications afterwards – the Longs were keen competitors. It retains the remote gearchange and twin fuel tanks, and Hartford Dash is non-standard; modified by its enthusiast owner

friction dampers that are probably a conversion from the original hydraulic kind.

At some point the Longs laid up the car, possibly because it was superseded by quicker competition machinery, and it’s spent the ensuing decades in a barn on a large property between Deal and Dover.

The widowed Pam Long left the car to a friend, Mike Gaskill, when she died last year.

‘It still only shows one owner on its old logbook,’ says Mike. ‘They never actually changed it over into Pam’s name. They had a large collection of classics, a lot of them much more valuable than this one , but they were auctioned off some time ago. This is the one Pam kept, and when I contacted the Wolseley Hornet Special Club, they said it was unknown to them.’

The bodywork is credited to Eustace Watkins, the London Wolseley dealer who commissioned bodies from Abbey, Salmons and Whittingham & Mitchell until absorbing W&M around 1932. Sports and Special Hornets were popular, nippy little cars thanks to the tiny 1271cc ohc straight six, and this one soon found a new home when offered online.

‘I don’t have the space or capability to do it, at my age,’ says Mike. ‘While it needs a full rebuild, you can get the parts and it’s not a complicated car.’

Stashed 1931 Sports wasn’t on the Hornet Special Club radar

...which was too wide for trailer until spacers were removed

opened the doors, you couldn’t see the cars at first, there was so much stuff in there,’ he says. ‘It turned out there were 21 vehicles in and around the property, including a shortened 1928 Riley Nine rolling chassis and a 1932 Wolseley Hornet.

With the other cars now sold on, Dave is hoping someone can return the TVR-Buick to the track. He says it needs a considerable amount of work but is certainly no wreck – it can be jacked up safely, for instance.

The car’s registration is being retained by the family, but Moroney has matched the chassis plate and engine number to the documents, removing any doubt about its identity, and has applied for the number it wore during its career. Queries to classic. cars@bauermedia.co.uk will be forwarded.

Italians count on uneconomical repair Two sporting Italian classics of the Seventies emerged at Brightwells’ June sale after resting in storage since the late Eighties. The 1975 Dino 308GT4 looks like a stalled project rather than a barn find, but it’s both – it was bought in this state from Ferrari specialist DK Engineering for £9500, back in 1988 – the height of the first classic car boom. The owner had intended to take it racing, but work never began.

Barn Finds presented with Alfa 2000 Berlina is a two-owner car... small consolation

SEND US YOUR BARN FINDS – BEST ONE WINS £100

The Alfa Romeo 2000 Berlina is also a 1975 model and has been in the same ownership since 1976. This car’s owner, who has some more exotic Italian machinery, parked it in a barn near Hay-on-Wye in the late Eighties where it was free to oxidise at will. It sold for just £1092, while the Dino made £11,424.

MILLE MIGLIA GTS POWER CONTROL For when you need power in reserve Self-winding 60hr power reserve stainless steel

Next Month

The October issue of Classic Cars is essential reading

Classic buys tipped for the year ahead

OCTOBER ISSUE ON SALE 18.08.21

PLUS

• Bentley ‘Blower’ reader bucket list drive • Lotus Elan 26R track-tested • Life Cycle of the ex-George Harrison Mercedes 600 • driving a Citroën BX survivor • Buying a sharp BMW Z4 with confidence, and much more…

Contents may change, but it will still be a great issue

LETTERS

The missing Monza

LETTER

Catching up on the December 2020 edition, the £15k coupés feature has a glaring omission.

OF THE MONTH If you are looking for a competent, rapid, driverorientated and increasingly rare Eighties coupé capable of daily transport even at 35 years of age – mine shares daily duties with a 2000 Impreza Turbo – look no further than the mighty Monza.

What is there not to like about a big rear wheel drive coupé with a 180bhp, fuel-injected straight-six, five-speed manual, Recaro seats, four-wheel discs with ABS, LSD, all round independent suspension and the groovy LCD dashboard. Probably not as quite as quick as the 2.8 Capri, or as unruly as the BMW, but nevertheless very effective. They are stylish old things and attract significant attention.

The Monza also has a proud motor sport heritage – I remember cheering on Gavin Cox in his bright orange 3.0E on the RAC rally in the late Eighties/early Nineties. The sound of the thunderous 3.0-litre six echoing around the forests was unlike anything on the event.

So break away from the easy options and take a look at the forgotten performance Opel before they are all gone, you may be surprised to find out how good a car it really is!

James Adams

E10 to kill classics?

Will we still be able to run our favourite classics when the government changes petrol to the new E10 standard? I have been saving for a Roller but if there is no petrol on which to run it, will the market crash?

Dr Steven R Hopkins The switch from E5, containing up to 5% ethanol, to E10 in September only applies to regular unleaded; Super grades of 97 octane or more will remain E5 ‘protection grade’ thanks to a five-year concession which is expected to be extended. Super grades aren’t mandated to contain ethanol; some don’t.

For example, Esso’s website specifies which UK regions have its ethanol-free Supreme.

Phil Bell

Not too precious to drive I spotted the pictured Aston Martin DB3S parked outside Muircot Coffee shop in Clackmannanshire. The couple were inside having a coffee. She drove a Ferrari California and he the Aston. Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to chat to them.

Julian Bell The registration number is for DB3S/5, the car that started out with an experimental glassfibre body before being repanelled in aluminium for a racing career that began

with a second place for Roy Salvadori in a support race for the 1954 British Grand Prix. It later starred in 1960’s ‘School for Scoundrels’ with Terry Thomas.

Phil Bell Low emissions fear I used to go to several classic car shows in and around London but this year onwards, I will boycott any car show in or near a Low Emissions Zone that does not have exemptions for classics over 40 years old.

Jerome Sellick Vehicles more than 40 years old and registered as classics are exempt from LEZ charges. The problem is for younger classics.

Phil Bell Volvo 850 Turbo I couldn’t follow the logic of the higher price being paid for British Volvo 850 Turbos (Buying Guide, July 2021) versus rust-free Japanese imports. A rust-free import surely must be a more sensible option – money spent repairing the corrosion could be used to make the Volvo a true road burner.

I’ve just bought a rust-free Subaru Outback 3.0 RN with 245bhp for £2400. It has a service history, 12 months MoT and 146k miles. It will give a Volvo 850 Turbo a run for its money and handles better.

Ian Smith Tail lights The Bricklin (On a Wing and a Prayer, August 2021) did indeed use the same rear lights as the De Tomaso Pantera and they came from the Alfa Romeo 2000 Berlina.

Norman E Hawkes

SEPTEMBER ISSUE

ON SALE 21 JULY - 17 AUG EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES

Classic Cars, Media House, Lynch Wood, Peterborough PE2 6EA Tel: 01733 468000 Fax: 01733 468379 Email: classic.cars@bauermedia.co.uk EDITOR Phil Bell ASSISTANT EDITOR Russ Smith NEWS EDITOR Sam Dawson ART DIRECTOR Karen Nunn DESIGNERS Rachael Bambrough, Chelsea Nelms PRODUCTION EDITOR Joe Breeze HEAD OF PRODUCTION Rob McCabe OFFICE MANAGER Pam Webster Contributors this month Ross Alkureishi, Nigel Boothman, Jordan Butters, Stuart Collins, Richard Dredge, John Fitzpatrick, Jonathan Fleetwood, Neil Fraser, Paul Guinness, Richard Gunn, Ian Hunt, Andrew Noakes, Laurens Parsons, Mike Renaut, Quentin Willson Cover photography Jordan Butters Advertising enquiries Classic Cars, Media House, Lynch Wood, Peterborough PE2 6EA. Fax 01733 395045 Commercial Director Kelly Millis, 01733 468422, kelly.millis@bauermedia.co.uk Key Account Directors Katie Phillips, 01733 468482, katie.phillips@bauermedia.co.uk; Alice Sumner-Andrews, 01733 366432, alice.sumner-andrews@bauermedia.co.uk Telesales Account Manager Farah Bell, 01733 366347, farah.bell@bauermedia.co.uk Dealer telesales Annie Mulcrone, 01733 366374, annie.mulcrone@bauermedia. co.uk Production Jane Constantine, 01733 468360, jane.constantine@ bauermedia.co.uk Acting Marketing Manager Sarah Norman, 01733 468845, sarah.norman@bauermedia.co.uk Digital Marketing Executive Abbie Blundell, 01733 395033, abbie.blundell@bauermedia.co.uk Acting Publisher Rachael Beesley, 01733 395168, rachael.beesley@bauermedia.co.uk Private cars for sale 01733 366483 US advertising Kate Buckley, +845 266 4980, buckley@buckleypell.com

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33

THE INSIDERS

Quentin Willson

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Covid has taught us a lot about the classic car movement, and despite the upheavals we’ve all endured, there’s plenty to be optimistic about

ooking back over a year that could easily have threatened our hobby, we can be relieved that it has done more than merely survive; what we’ve seen is something more seismic. In 2020/21 there were plenty of signs that the financial, economic and social foundations upon which our industry rests are more robust than we ever believed. And ‘industry’ is now definitely the right word.

Surveys tell us that the economic activity generated by classic cars in the UK totals in the region of £8bn-£9bn with direct and indirect employment of 30k-50k people.

And here’s the thing – our industry actually expanded during the pandemic. There are now 1.5million historic cars registered with the DVLA (up 50 per cent since 2016) and 200k more owners have joined the movement, a rise of 40 per cent. We can also see this in the form of greater coverage in more mainstream media.

Classic car auctions embraced new online buying formats with such gusto and professionalism that everybody now agrees that they won’t be disappearing anytime

soon. The effect of buying classics remotely actually firmed up prices and brought new buyers into the fold who previously found the old car market too intimidating.

In 2020, £155.68m was spent at UK old car auctions – up £22m on 2019 – and sale rates improved by five per cent. One auction house, Silverstone, grossed £33m in 2020.

And, remarkably when a pall of gloom was supposed to be shrouding the country, visiting auction house Gooding & Co from California sold 93 per cent of its entries for an astonishing £34m at its Hampton Court Palace sale. Set against the tribulations of Covid, such numbers and enthusiasm seem truly gravity defying.

And in 2020 and 2021 values neither fell nor climbed significantly. Prices have broadly stayed steady, with slight rises on modern metal and expected dips on Fifties cars. No violent, stock-marketlike gyrations – just a gentle value curve that’s behaved with reassuring poise and predictability. Given all the uncertainty, anxiety, fear and economic contraction in other sectors, nobody would have been surprised to see the classic car market go

into a terminal nose dive. In such historic, testing times, dalliances like buying an old Austin-Healey might not be expected to feature very high up on people’s list of priorities – but they do. Very much so. In that respect, we’ve underestimated the allure of classic cars as a special antidote to dark times. In fact, the nation’s affection for old motors has become so entrenched that 21 million (around 30 per cent of the population) see them as an important part of this country’s heritage. That’s a reassuring indicator against anything else the future might chuck at us.

Perhaps the most amazing thing is that all this enthusiasm took place without any classic car events happening at all.

The tremendous energy has been selfpropelled, and created almost entirely by the determination of enthusiasts. We should remember 2020 and 2021 as the years when our industry came of age, contributed strongly to GDP and expanded when other sectors contracted. So yes, it’s time to celebrate. Our silly old cars are making millions of people happy.

Quentin Willson had a nine-year stint presenting the BBC’s Top Gear, has bought and sold countless cars and has cemented a reputation as everyone’s favourite motoring pundit.

Fresh data from the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs (FBHVC) makes for reassuring reading – the strength of our industry seems to have been bolstered

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THE INSIDERS

John Fitzpatrick

J

Seeing Anita Taylor’s Cooper S at Shelsley Walsh brough back some vivid Mini racing memories, not least a final corner close shave at Silverstone

ust returned from a splendid weekend at Shelsley Walsh celebrating 60 years of the Jaguar E-type and Mini Cooper. I competed at Shelsley in my early career but had forgotten how narrow and steep the hill is. The thought of driving a 500bhp-plus single-seater up the hill at well over 100mph is frankly quite terrifying. I was amazed at the number of spectators and it’s good to see how popular the sport still is. The display of E-types was amazing with every model, year and variant on show.

During the weekend I spent a lot of time with Paddy Hopkirk and Warwick Banks.

All three of us had a lot of fun driving the works Mini Coopers together in the British and European Championships in the mid-Sixties. Paddy was unable to drive in every race because of his rally commitments so it was left to me to gather enough points to win the 1964 championship. We would always be glued

together, slipstreaming each other, but he would let me stay ahead to build up the points. Jim Clark in the Lotus Cortina was my main opposition for the championship, which he ultimately won. In the British Grand Prix round at Silverstone, Downton Engineering had entered a Mini Cooper the same as our works cars for Dutchman Rob Slotemaker to help us defeat the Ford Anglias of brothers Mike and John Young, who were becoming very competitive. The Downton car was faster than our works cars but it was agreed that he would let me through if he was leading towards the end of the race. His main aim was to keep the Ford Anglias behind so that Paddy and I could gain maximum points.

We had been lapped by the Ford Galaxies and hadn’t realised that our race would be one lap shorter. With what we thought was one lap to go, Rob was leading our group with me in his slip stream trying to stay ahead of the Anglias but the chequered flag was being waved as we rounded Woodcote

corner and Rob suddenly braked to let me through. The Mini was very much on the edge going flat-out around Woodcote so there were Minis and Anglias flying in all directions when he braked in front of us. I managed to keep it on the road and finish second in class behind Paddy. John Cooper was not best pleased.

The Cooper S that Anita Taylor drove in 1964 was also at Shelsley. Anita was one hell of a driver and joined me in the Broadspeed Ford Team in 1966 in the British Saloon Car Championship.

The Mini Coopers had 1071cc engines in those days but the 1275cc was introduced mid-way through the year and we had a small advantage over the private teams for a few races. I wish I had kept one. A 1275 now, with a bit of history and reasonable condition could be worth £35,000-£45,000.

Paddy was at Shelsley driving the new Mini Cooper S ‘Paddy Hopkirk Edition’, just announced to celebrate his 1964 Monte win. A snip at £27,000 with just 100 examples available.

John Fitzpatrick began his racing career in the British Saloon Car Championship, winning it in 1966. He was European GT Champion in 1972 and 1974, and became a team owner in 1981.

Photos: Ian Hunt

Right: the ex-Anita Taylor Aurora Gears car was one of several important Minis that drew crowds at Shelsley; Below: John is reunited with fellow Cooper comrades Warwick Banks (centre) and Paddy Hopkirk (right)

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38

ROADSTER

REVIVALISTS

After the Eighties power-war imploded, car makers rediscovered the lure of compact, lower-cost roadsters.

Depreciation then made them bargains but the tide is turning

Words SAM DAWSON Photography JORDAN BUTTERS

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R

ecession, war and punitive emissions legislation rarely make for decent sports cars. But ironically that’s precisely what happened in the Nineties.

Car-wise, the Eighties came to an end some time between August 1990 and September 1992. The first date saw an oil-supply crisis as a result of Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait, and the latter saw the introduction of the EU’s first round of emissions regulations, mandating catalytic converters. Amid an economic recession that swept the Western world, skyrocketing insurance premiums and the ditching of the old Group A legislation that generated so many great touring-car homologation specials, affordable performance cars were rapidly dropped from price lists.

But over in Hiroshima, Mazda had seen the future, and it lay in the past. The simple, lightweight MX-5 didn’t need much oomph to get decent performance, and it was good-looking and glamorous to boot. It deliberately recalled a kind of car that had previously felt lost to the Sixties – the small roadster. And within a couple of years of its 1989 launch, a host of rivals released their own ripostes.

It’s the Mazda’s sense of emotionality that sets it apart from its 1989 contemporaries. Launched at a time when most performance cars looked like an aggressive explosion of wings and spoilers, engineered for lap times, the MX-5 is engineered to tug at the heartstrings. It’s a Sixties sports-car ‘greatest hits’ compilation –

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the finger-pull doorhandle is Alfa Romeo Spider, the overall shape is Lotus Elan, as is the wrist-flick gearshift action and the engine’s cam-cover styling. Get in, fire it up and the exhaust note is tuned to snort at the same pitch as an MGB’s. The black plasticky three-spoke wheel and the steering’s heft – unassisted, unusual for 1989 – is late Triumph Spitfire. The whole car is a deliberately tactile delight, devised partly by IAD in Worthing to remind a po-faced Cosworth world of the carefree joy it had been missing. But the engineering is resolutely modern, unlike the long-toothed ‘heritage’ roadsters of the era like the Alfa Romeo Spider S3, Morgan +4 and TVR S. Purists won’t want to hear this, but the classic British sports car which the MX-5 is most similar to drive is actually the Triumph TR7, albeit with the 16-valve engine it should always have had. The MX-5’s relatively hefty steel hull robs it of Lotus-style flyweight acceleration, and the unassisted steering gives just enough feedback to respond to the road rather than intimidating drivers new to sports cars, brought up on front-drive and power steering.

Push it hard into a tight bend and it clings on for dear life rather than offering an instant hint of oversteer and inviting you to play.

And yet, it’s the emotional factors that make it so much fun, and such a market revolution. Who cares about how fast you’re going when its 130bhp peak power is delivered at a yowling 6500rpm, the exhaust note evolving from MGB burble to Formula Junior howl en route. As I drive, my peripheral vision picks up regular cues that speak of a bygone classic era. A barrel-sided British Racing Green curve here, a glint of chrome there, the way the hood sits, recalling no end of great classic roadsters, ones which now carry

Roadster Revivalists [ The Big Test ] A tactile driving experience, with plenty of classic design cues

A tremendous machine for the money, if you can beat the rust

‘The simple, lightweight MX-5 didn’t need much oomph to get decent performance’ vast price tags and demand mechanical knowledge and sympathy in extremis. Not so with the MX-5 – you can jump in it and drive away as you might your commuter hatchback.

Thankfully, although launch-year examples are fetching sums the other side of £5k, this tactile joy can be found for a lot less.

Japanese-market Eunos-badged cars, typically lacking early service history, usually go for around £3500, but can be found for much smaller sums; we spotted one in Lincolnshire for £1700. At the other end of the scale, KGF is selling a mint UK special-edition Berkeley model with just 1900 miles on the clock for £21,795. An outlier, but also indicative of the interest a nice MkI generates.

It’s a fundamentally tough, reliable car but it’s dreadfully rotprone. Eunos models in particular weren’t undersealed when new, so make sure this has been done since. Sills are rot-prone, and a torn hood or leaking door seals will cause water to collect in the doors, ultimately rusting the bottoms out. Sorting out a pair of rotten sills will run to £600 per side, while replacing the hood – possibly the root cause – is £300. Thankfully, everything is available to restore one – just ask the man who drove this car here today...

130bhp goes a long way in such a well-engineered little roadster

Owning a Mazda MX-5 1.8 Former Le Mans Prototype racing driver turned Mazda UK PR manager Owen Mildenhall presides over the firm’s heritage fleet. ‘We have four MkI MX-5s,’ he says. ‘This 1.8 is nicely original – unmodified ones are getting extremely difficult to find now, because people like buying them for club motor sport and the first thing they do is alter the suspension setup.

‘It’s effectively stepped into the shoes of the MGB as the classic world’s go-to roadster, and Mazda is replicating that MGB ownership experience to a degree by ensuring almost all parts for them are readily available through our dealer network, so you won’t run into that sense of worry that you find with some classics, where some things are just unobtainable.

Anything we don’t make is provided by aftermarket suppliers who we can point you towards, such as MX5 Parts.

‘They’re reliable too – it may be a rear-wheel drive roadster, but all the parts were adapted from the 323 hatchback, and they go on forever so long as they’re properly serviced.’

1994 Mazda MX-5 1.8 Engine 1840cc four-cylinder, dohc, Bosch L-Jetronic fuel injection Power and torque 130bhp @ 6500rpm; 112lb ft @ 5000rpm Transmission Five-speed manual, rear-wheel drive Steering Rack-and-pinion Suspension Front and rear: independent, double wishbones, coil springs, telescopic dampers, anti-roll bar Brakes Servo-assisted discs front and rear Weight 990kg Performance 0-60mph: 8.2sec; Top speed: 122mph Fuel cons.

32mpg Cost new £15,410 Classic Cars Price Guide £1200-£4750

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[ The Big Test]

Roadster Revivalists

‘In the MGF, the overall impression is one of urbane sophistication’ A comfy and sporty cockpit, despite slightly odd seating position

Ease of engine access is hardly an MGF strong-suit...

W

hile the MX-5 was under secret development at Mazda, over in Longbridge MG was looking to the future. Antiquated Sixties-rooted sports cars had given way to hot hatches, but Roy Axe’s design team was tasked with dreaming up a halo model to reintroduce the idea of an MG sports car to the buying public.

What resulted was the 1985 EX-E, a mid-engined, four-wheel drive V6 supercar concept based on the Metro 6R4 Group B rally car, which could have taken MG toe-to-toe with Ferrari had it gone into production.

It was deemed to be too expensive for an MG, but stylist Gerry McGovern evolved it into something smaller, simpler and more affordable, yet still mid-engined. Management scratched its head, but once the MX-5 had proven wildly successful, the MGF – named after the F16 Falcon fighter jet from which McGovern drew inspiration – was enthusiastically given the green light.

I’m taken back to September 1995 and my first day at secondary school when I slide into the driving seat of this MGF. Not because I sat in one then, but because of the euphoria it generated upon launch.

It embodied the Sixties-tinged but resolutely modern mentality that ‘Cool Britannia’ popular culture oozed back then. Its launch made the mainstream newspapers. Kids talked about them in playgrounds.

A friend of mine entered a prize draw to win one by collecting and

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posting crisp packets. He was 11 at the time, and that memory sums up these cars for me – every patriotic British car enthusiast wanted one even if they couldn’t drive. Second-hand examples were more expensive than new ones well into 1996, such was the demand, and for a while the MGF comfortably outsold the MX-5 in the UK. There’s a hint of TVR in the way the interior’s sculptings sweep and curve around its occupants. That, and the exterior styling aft of the doors, where we see the main aspects of the EX-E to survive into the F. The driving position is nicely relaxed and reclined, although the pedals are all but invisible beneath the chunky dashboard, and descend in an awkward manner that strains my ankles.

Its driving style couldn’t be more different from its Mazda rival.

There’s an overly damped and isolated feel to the pedals, steering wheel and gearchange that makes it feel imprecise at first, and while the 1.8-litre Rover K-series engine gives an intoxicating growl, it’s quiet and well insulated. But put faith in the F and it rewards.

Hydragas suspension means it remains eerily level through slalom manoevres, like Nigel Mansell’s 1992 active-suspension Williams F1 car, and that sense of insulation makes such things effortless.

As a result, the overall impression is one of urbane sophistication, something that makes the MG seem more grown-up and GT-like than the MX-5. The boot is bigger than you might expect (although the result is woeful engine access), and it’s easy to imagine taking a long cross-country drive in the F, casting it in the mould of a sort-of modernised, British Matra Murena or a downsized Dino.

Like the Mazda, there’s no threat of oversteer when pressing hard into corners (if anything there’s more understeer, odd for a car

with not much nose-weight) but catch it on a pothole mid-corner and those Hydragas spheres will set it bouncing like an old Mini.

Build quality is excellent, and they’re far more impervious to rot than an MX-5, but unfortunately that sweet-revving K-series has design flaws that cannot be overlooked. Designed as a 1.1 to 1.4-litre engine, its 1.6 and 1.8-litre bores were a step too far for the block, reducing the size of the coolant jacket. All it takes is a small leak or the coolant momentarily running low for it to overheat, blow the head gasket and warp the cylinder head, an issue made worse by the use of plastic through-bolts that had a tendency to snap, or stretch causing the head gasket to ‘float’, and also the original silicon gasket itself perishing when heated. You can mitigate against this by fitting an upgraded multi-layer steel gasket from a Land Rover Freelander, and a low coolant warning system, for £150 and £130 respectively. That said, attention to coolant levels will make the difference between a K-series living or dying.

Fear of the gasket-failure issue, plus the loss of MG from 20062011, kept prices for MGFs rock-bottom for years and helped to thin the herd. During that time though, the peerless MG Owners’ Club has embraced them and they’re as well-supported as the ’B. Hydragas spheres, for years irreplaceable, are now available again.

As a result, prices for decent MGFs mirror MX-5s, with 1.6s cheaper than 1.8s, viable projects starting at £1k, and most settling between £1.5k and £3.5k. There are bargains though; we found a 1.6 with head gasket upgrade in Northern Ireland for £1k, for example.

And of course there’s the 159bhp VVC, typically £5k-plus, although we found one in Hampshire for £3995, in iconic Trophy Yellow too.

Owning an MGF Frank Clemmey comes from a family of serial MG-buying enthusiasts which has been home to this rare Wedgewood Blue MGF 1.8 SE since it was new in 2000. ‘My son Nick bought it new, although recently it’s spent many years in storage before being recomissioned during lockdown. That has probably helped maintain its condition, and it’ll no doubt see a lot more regular use while we overhaul our next project – a rare Downton MGC. ‘Touch wood, it’s been reliable, although that’s possibly down to keeping to the original maintenance schedule and not always running it as a daily driver. Although they were actually very well made (they’re not rust prone) there’s no getting away from the head gasket issue, and it’s worse in the MGF because the radiator is at the opposite end of the car to the engine, and the pipes under the car are vulnerable to cracking and leaking. But technology exists to keep on top of it now, and these cars are very well supported by the MGOC.’

2000 MGF 1.8i Engine 1795cc transverse four-cylinder, dohc, MEMS MPI electronic fuel injection Power and torque 120bhp @ 5500rpm; 118lb ft @ 4000rpm Transmission Five-speed manual, rear-wheel drive Steering Electrically-assisted rack-and-pinion Suspension Front and rear: independent, double wishbones, Hydragas spheres, telescopic dampers, anti-roll bar Brakes Servo-assisted discs front and rear Weight 1320kg Performance Top speed: 120mph; 0-60mph: 8.6sec Fuel consumption 38mpg Cost new £17,995 Classic Cars Price Guide £800-£3000

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N

o other car here – not even the MX-5 – sums up the Nineties roadster revival quite like this unmissable Dakar Yellow BMW Z3. The Z3 seemingly picked up where the odd, conceptual disappearing-doored Z1 (1986-91) left off, but there was much more to it than that.

Firstly, when it was conceived in 1992, impending Euro I legislation and Super Touring racing regulations killed off BMW’s much-loved halo-car, the E30 M3. The E36 replacement was much more soft and nondescript, not to mention expensive in a recession. To make matters worse, the 1987 stock-market crash had dropped the value of the US Dollar against the Deutschmark, making BMW’s cars unfeasibly expensive in its biggest export market.

The success of the MX-5 was a godsend to BMW. It already built rear-drive saloons, so adapting the E36 platform to make a roadster was much easier than MG’s task in fitting a transverse front-drivetrain in the back of a bespoke chassis. And BMW set up a factory to build it in Spartanburg, South Carolina, taking advantage of the cheap dollar to keep the price down – not only in the United States but around the rest of the world too.

Just four months after the MGF endeared itself to Brits, BMW’s marketing department played a blinder by putting one in Goldeneye, the first James Bond film in six years, the first starring Pierce Brosnan, and yet another part of that confident British cultural surge of the era. That said, the deal was tied up at the last

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minute, so there was no scope to write in any scenes in which it got to fire the missiles that were supposedly hidden in its headlight units. It didn’t stop everyone wanting one though, and it gave the Z3 a far more macho image than the MX-5.

Like the MX-5, it’s another emotionally-led piece of design, but its inspirations seem rooted in an even earlier era. Those gills and side-badges recall the 507, and the long crocodile bonnet and pinched waist are reminiscent of the Jaguar XK120’s. Get in, and you find yourself sitting right on the rear axle with the bonnet stretching away in front and the big steering wheel thrust into your chest, like you would find in an AC Ace, Austin-Healey 100 or MGA. The seats feel like thinly-upholstered concrete, the footwell is cramped, and the wheel, instruments and pedals are all slightly offset to the right. Again, these are usually Fifties sports-car issues.

The 1.9-litre engine sounds like a massive vaccuum-cleaner under load, but it’s fast enough for fun. As I press on, the car imbues a sense of high quality too. The gearshift action is beautifully machined in its movement, and heftier and more substantial than the Mazda’s or MG’s. Pile hard into a tight bend and it feels impressively neutral, but unlike the remote-feeling MG and deliberately safe Mazda, there’s a hint of drift, an invitation to steer it on the throttle. There’s great feedback from the brakes too.

Crucially, the Z3’s retro demeanour is only skin-deep. There are no specially-tuned exhausts here. It feels serious and focused, more like an E36 318iS Super Touring homologation-special with a Chapmanesque paring-down process applied to it. The result is something that drives not unlike a Porsche 944 with the wick

Roadster Revivalists [ The Big Test ]

‘The Z3 feels serious and focused, not unlike a Porsche 944 with the wick turned down’ M Sport options make this cabin very difficult to replicate 1.9 four-pot has punchier cousins, but still delivers a rewarding drive

turned down, admittedly made slightly woollier by the addition of some scuttle-shake, although it’s hardly terminal.

Incredibly, the four-cylinder Z3 is one of the most affordable Nineties roadsters nowadays. At £20k new it vied with fullyoptioned MGFs, and excellent build quality means the pool of survivors is large. It feels the pressure of its six-cylinder brethren too. It’s not that the 1.9 is slow, especially in 16-valve form (1995-99), but when faster versions exist, that’s what it got called, especially when the power was dropped to 116bhp in 1999 to move the fourcylinder car well clear of the new 2.0-litre straight-six version.

As a result, you can pick up a high-miler for very little. A dealer in Colchester has one, admittedly with 161k on the clock but in seemingly excellent condition, for just £1895, and there’s a privately-sold example in Gloucestershire with 113k for £2100, again looking presentable. You’ll pay £2.5k-£4.5k for most sub-100k milers, but it’s testament to how reliable and usable they are.

Because there isn’t really much to worry about on a Z3. The fourcylinder models didn’t suffer the scary issue of tearing differential mountings that their more powerful cousins did. Your main concern should be service history, bearing in mind that it’s possible for the unscrupulous to reset the on-board service indicator, making the dashboard claim the car’s been serviced when it hasn’t, so insist on a full set of stamps in the book. Hoods can often tear and leak too – a full replacement, including rear window, is £350.

Removable aluminium hardtops are a desirable way to broaden the car’s appeal, but you can’t just buy one and bolt it on, so make sure it comes with its fitting kit, and expect to pay £1000 all-in.

Owning a BMW Z3 1.9 ‘I used to have an E30 325i cabriolet – that was my introduction to classic BMWs,’ says Z3 owner Kieran Monaghan. ‘Then, ironically when I had children I got an MGF as a second car, and the kids would argue over who got to go to the supermarket! It got too impractical.

‘Once they’d grown up, I realised how cheap BMW Z3s had become. I found this one for £5000 and decided to take the plunge. They’re well-made, reliable, and cheap enough to take a punt on nowadays. It’s proven cheaper to run than my old E30 and feels much more solid. It hasn’t needed anything other than straightforward servicing, although I did treat it to a bespoke cover because it has to live outside.

‘Mine is well-known as ‘Omelette’ within the club – zroadster.org – for obvious reasons! It’s one of the few Z3s to be unmodified nowadays, very rare in Dakar Yellow, and had the whole M Sport interior trim set thrown at it when new.’

2002 BMW Z3 1.8 Engine 1895cc in-line four-cylinder, sohc, Bosch Motronic 1.7.1 fuel injection Power and torque 116bhp @ 5500rpm; 133lb ft @ 3900rpm Transmission Five-speed manual, rear-wheel drive Steering Power-assisted rack-and-pinion Suspension Front: independent, MacPherson struts, coil springs, telescopic dampers, anti-roll bar. Rear: independent, semi-trailing arms, coil springs, telescopic dampers, anti-roll bar Brakes Servo-assisted discs front and rear Weight 1160kg Performance 0-60mph: 10.4sec; Top speed: 123mph Fuel consumption 35mpg Cost new £21,480 Classic Cars Price Guide £1250-£3600

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P

orsche was in an even greater degree of trouble than BMW by the early Nineties. As well as suffering the same set of economic woes, it had no volume-built products in its range to bail it out. Its only profitable car, the 944, was rendered prohibitively expensive by its Euro I-compliant transformation into the 968, and in the midst of recession the 911 had acquired a yuppie image problem. Suddenly, you were more likely to find one in a satirical newspaper cartoon than starring in a Hollywood blockbuster.

A plan had been brewing for a four-cylinder baby 911, the 984 Junior, since 1984 but the 1987 crash had killed it off. The concept resurfaced as the midengined Boxster at the 1993 Detroit Motor Show, but in order to productionise it Porsche had to go cap-in-hand to Toyota to learn the ways of lean mass-production. It couldn’t be totally bespoke – from the A-pillars forward it’s pure 996, as is its M96 flat-six in a smaller-displacement setup – but these economies got it to market.

In my opinion the 986 Boxster is better-looking than its more 911 stablemate. There’s something more lithe and balanced about its Coke-bottle, 550 Spyder-referencing lines compared to the heavybottomed Carrera. Given that both cars’ design cues began on Grant Larson’s Boxster concept, it could be argued that it’s the 996 design which is the true compromise, not the Boxster.

The concept-car adventurism extends into the cockpit, with its floating boomerang-shaped instrument shroud and ellipsoid air

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vents. Allied to the extensive use of contrasting leather, it looks and feels far more bespoke than the likes of the parts-bin BMW. Unfortunately, as with all early Boxsters, this one – the first in the UK and the star of CAR’s original road test – has an awkward driving position compromised by a steering wheel that’s too big and doesn’t adjust enough. It was something Porsche addressed fairly quickly in production, but not before the infamously longlegged Jeremy Clarkson had complained in his Top Gear Magazine review that he couldn’t put his foot fully down on the accelerator, and during a thrash across the North York Moors found himself outdragged by a Vauxhall Corsa.

I’ve got the same problem, although I can forgive the Boxster as it somehow conspires to make it feel more exotic and old-fashioned than it actually is. So does the clonky, long-throw gear lever. These are the same kind of physical cues you encounter in a Dino 246GTS. It sounds and feels very undramatic at low speeds, as though it’s deliberately town-friendly. However, push it beyond 3000rpm and the flat-six gives off a steely howl as the nacelled bonnet lunges for the horizon with Seventies-supercar urge. This feels like a lot more car than the £5000 or even less that it’d typically cost you.

It’s definitely not a 911, although in the corners that’s no bad thing.

There’s a wonderful feeling of mid-bend neutrality and balance, no sense that you have to rein in its bulk or think about all the weight in the tail. Instead, the car seems to pivot around the base of your spine, just like the 914 did before it. This layout could cope with so much more power, and it’s interesting that although the Boxster was always intended as the sub-911, Porsche has gone on to do just

Roadster Revivalists [ The Big Test ]

This very early spec interior does have its limitations Front and rear storage is one of the Boxster’s great practical strengths

From all angles the 986 is a bold and effective piece of design

‘The Boxster is definitely not a 911, although in the corners that’s no bad thing’ that. As later 911s became more complicated, the Boxster and its Cayman coupé cousin have become Porsche’s purest drivers cars.

Unfortunately, one of the reasons why these early Boxsters are so cheap is down to the market’s fear of intermediate shaft bearing failure on the M96 engine reducing it to scrap value. In truth, it affects fewer than five percent of M96s, although for your own peace of mind a specialist like RPM Technik can upgrade the bearing for around £700. It’s a lot of money if you’ve just shelled out £3850 for an example like the 1998 2.5 we found in Nottinghamshire, but it’s worth it. It’s also worth pointing out that although this bearing failure has seemingly happened at random, it appears to be worse on little-used cars where owners have skimped on oil changes.

With this in mind, service history is vital when it comes to buying a Boxster, especially given that Porsche build quality means the bodywork rarely rusts so it scrubs up well. If you’re on a budget, go for a high-miler rather than something with patchy paperwork – £4000 would get you 100k-plus-milers we found in Birmingham and Kent. For the very best you need to spend £6k-£10k, but it may pay off – the days of the £2.5k banger-Boxster seem to be over.

Owning a Porsche Boxster 2.5 ‘We go back a long way, this car and I,’ says cardiac surgeon and official Formula One Doctor Christopher Efthymiou. ‘I was a lucky 19-year-old with a VW-Porsche 914 1.8 back in January 1997, when Hilton Holloway and John Simister of CAR magazine called me up and asked whether I wanted to take part in a twin test, comparing the last time Porsche built a small, mid-engined roadster with this new Boxster. We took them to Hemel Hempstead in the snow, and I got to drive the Boxster – the first in the UK. ‘Incredibly, in 2017 I found that very car for sale. It’s worth £12k now, a lot for an old Boxster, but given its history, tempered by the high mileage – the result of a lot of roadtesters and Porsche UK using it extensively before selling it on the open market – it’s good value for a piece of history. That use did take its toll, so this year I renewed the suspension. I did the work myself – at a specialist it would’ve cost £400 per corner plus £800 labour. The engine’s never missed a beat.’

1996 Porsche Boxster 2.5 Engine 2480cc horizontally-opposed six-cylinder, dohc per bank, Bosch Motronic DME fuel injection Power and torque 204bhp @ 6000rpm; 180lb ft @ 4500rpm Transmission Five-speed manual, rear-wheel drive Steering Power-assisted rack and pinion Suspension Front and rear: independent, MacPherson struts, coil springs, telescopic dampers, anti-roll bar Brakes Servo-assisted discs front and rear Weight 1250kg Performance 0-60mph: 6.6sec; Top speed: 149mph Fuel consumption 29mpg Cost new £33,950 Classic Cars Price Guide £3600-£6500

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[ The Big Test]

Roadster Revivalists

‘Don’t let the almost inevitable automatic gearbox fool you into thinking the SLK is not a proper sports car’ Less visceral than some of the other convertibles here, but more flexible Pushed hard, the forced-induction four-cylinder is a proper screamer

T

he R170 Mercedes-Benz SLK is another German recession-baby. Its big-brother R129 SL was considered one of the finest cars in the world upon its 1989 launch, retaining R107 deportment while adding Corvette-like sportiness. But it was eye-wateringly expensive. By 1991, Mercedes was feeling the need for something smaller and cheaper, based on the shortened floorplan of its forthcoming C-class 3 Series rival. But it needed a USP of a kind its rivals couldn’t muster. In 1993, rather than releasing a concept car in the manner of Porsche, Mercedes filed a patent. One that I’m about to enjoy the fruits of as I hold back the little roof-shaped switch on the centre console.

An SLK’s Vario-Roof in action is pure automotive theatre.

Mercedes even went to the extent of ensuring its angles mimicked those of a Fifties 300SL’s gullwing doors as it arced backwards.

Interestingly, 300SL bonnet humps aside, Mercedes designer Bruno Sacco avoided the retro-inspiration road paved by Mazda, BMW and Porsche. Viewed side-on, the SLK is a striking wedge. The deliberate dischord between the angles of doors and bonnet, and the way the rear light clusters eat into as much of the sides as they do the rear, bring to mind Nineties postmodern architectural forms from the likes of Zaha Hadid and Daniel Libeskind, all clashing steel shards and towers of unusual glass formations.

Don’t let its almost inevitable automatic gearbox fool you into thinking it’s not a proper sports car. Compared to the cramped Z3

48

and ergonomically awkward Boxster, its driving position is straightlegged and hard to fault. Flick the gearbox into Sport mode and it holds ratios a little longer, the supercharged 2.3-litre straight-four whooshing and screaming beyond 5000rpm, genuinely translating into Boxster-humbling pace. Left to its own devices, changes on the automatic gearbox are slow-witted. Thankfully though it has a manual-override mode that allows ratios to be flicked through sequentially, and changes are near-instantaneous so long as they’re accompanied by a throttle lift. Once you’re acclimatised to moving the gear lever right to shift up and left to shift down, you can go on a proper B-road attack in the SLK. Admittedly its recirculating-ball steering lacks feel and feedback compared to the rack-and-pinion setups it’s up against here. But unlike Mercs of yore there isn’t a slack dead-zone in the middle.

Insulated it may be, but it’s precise, and similar to the MGF. There is scuttle-shake though, although you can pretty-much neutralise it by pressing down on the little plastic model roof and watch the Vario perform in reverse. Roof up, you hear little squeaks and rattles, but those slabs of steel effectively brace the car in a way that no canvas top could hope to.

The result is a remarkable dual-role machine. With roof up, Sport mode engaged and shifting manually, it’s a compact and defthandling coupé to bother BMWs with. But with roof down, Sport mode off, leaving the gearbox to do its own thing and settled in to relaxed wafting down a motorway, it’s – well, a Mercedes-Benz SL. Ultimately, it robs you of the kind of tactile involvement that the Mazda really excels at – the steering doesn’t kick back at you, there’s

no scope for clutch control or jumping two ratios in the automatic, and if you do manage to find a rare manual it’s a clunky, longwinded affair that makes the Porsche’s shift feel like the Mazda’s.

But no other car here is quite so adaptable. And it’s also interesting to see how BMW, in evolving the Z3’s Z4 successor, has gone down the electric-hardtop sequential-shift route.

Incredibly, given its abilities and £32k price tag when new, the SLK230 Kompressor is the cheapest car here. This one, laden with Special Edition options when new, cost its owner just £700, and we found one with just 87k miles on the clock in Leicester for £1900. A Birmingham dealer is selling an unusual green one with 113k miles for £1695 complete with warranty. Even the very best, like the one at Rix Motors in Warrington, will only muster £5950.

Unfortunately one of the reasons for these low prices is the car’s complexity, plus unfortunately poor build quality. Although German-built, it suffered the cost-cutting compromises of Mercedes’ short-lived merger with Chrysler, and rust issues are common. Rear subframe rot can cost £450 to put right. Surface rust is easily tackled but if it eats through a wing you’re looking at another £400 per panel. Electrical faults can get serious too.

Replacing a faulty headlight switch assembly costs a scary £450.

But the worst-case scenario involves fixing the Vario-Roof. Make sure it drops all the windows, flips open the bootlid, folds the roof in two, stores it under the lid and raises the front windows on one hold of the button. Any hesitation or jamming and you’re looking at a combination of electrical and hydraulic work that won’t leave much change from £3k to fix. But it’s still an attractive gamble.

Owning a Mercedes SLK230 ‘It’s actually my first car – I’m learning to drive in it,’ says Nicola Weeks of her SLK230 Kompressor. ‘After contemplating some old C-class Coupés, this SLK came up, surprisingly within my price range, so I decided to take a punt on it. It was a bargain – on sale for £800, but I haggled the seller down to £700 on account of it having no service history. However, it had been owned by a professional mechanic who had always kept it serviced. I kept the rest of my budget aside for any remedial work, bit the bullet and took it to a Mercedes main dealer for a full checkover, but it turned out that aside from some cosmetic rust spots around the wheelarches it was a really good car.

‘Running costs are average, but the main concerns are electrical. If the roof fails it costs a fortune to fix, and the dashboard is prone to throwing up MoT-failing warning lights that turn out to be false alarms on professional inspection.’

2000 Mercedes-Benz SLK230 Kompressor Engine 2295cc in-line four-cylinder, dohc, Bosch ME-Jetronic fuel injection, Eaton M62 supercharger Power and torque 193bhp @ 5300rpm; 207lb ft @ 4800rpm Transmission Five-speed automatic, rear-wheel drive Steering Power-assisted recirculatingball Suspension Front: independent, wishbones, coil springs, telescopic dampers, anti-roll bar. Rear: independent, five-link axle location, coil springs, telescopic dampers Brakes Servo-assisted discs front and rear Weight 1250kg Performance 0-60mph: 7.3 sec; top speed: 142mph Fuel consumption 24mpg Cost new £31,640 Classic Cars Price Guide £1200-£4750

49

I

t should have been so different for Lotus. Given the clear pent-up demand for small convertible sports cars in 1989, its ahead-of-the-curve Elan M100 should have cleaned up and finally provided the company with the kind of volumeseller that it could only have dreamed of during Colin Chapman’s luxury-GT era. There were some problems though – it was front-wheel drive, unprofitable to sell and about £5k too expensive to buy.

The Elise which replaced it had a strikingly short gestation period of just two years from sketch to launch. Lotus knew it couldn’t deliver Mazda-style mass-production, so it took aim at a different market entirely: superbike riders.

I’m made acutely aware of this as I slide myself vertically into this Elise. Described aptly as a ‘step-in car’ by designer Julian Thompson and inspired by a combination of Lotus 23 sportsracer and Ducati 916 motorcycle, it requires me to contort myself around the steering wheel as I descend. The sills are so high I can use them as armrests. The roof was a last-minute afterthought – early Elise concepts didn’t even have doors – and once ensconced I find myself in a world of bare aluminium and a deeply-scooped windscreen that looks like it came from a Group C car. It’s wilfully user-unfriendly and I’m amazed that Lotus sold so many. But this was the late Nineties. Ordinary people had more disposable income pre-2008, and they splashed out on toys.

There is Sixties inspiration here, but unlike the MX-5 it’s the motor sport of the era that’s lent a guiding hand. As I fire the engine, slot the bare metal shaft of the gear lever into its ratios and

50

accelerate away, I can scarcely believe this is the same mechanical package that shifts the MGF. Here it’s savage and cacophanous.

The gear lever, aluminium pedals and tiny steering wheel all responding to the tiniest of inputs. The car seems to lack anything extraneous that could upset its sense of balance, and this inspires the confidence to chance outrageous cornering speeds.

As the K-series howls and spits, the gear lever clanks home satisfyingly and the windscreen and headlamp nacelles funnel my awareness, encouraging me to concentrate on cornering lines and apexes, those Sixties motor sport visions coalesce into something more definite. No MX-5 could ever hope to generate this sensation regardless of offering an optional wood-rimmed steering wheel – in the Elise, I’m transplanted into period footage of the Targa Florio in the era of Nino Vacarella and Vic Elford, of flimsy roofless mid-engined sports-prototypes hurtling down dusty, sun-baked country lanes. An Elise S1, an MSUK Interclub licence and a season of HSA sprints would fulfil the kind of racing fantasies no other car here would have a hope of matching.

Unfortunately, the motor sport inspiration extends to the one weakness of the Elise driving experience in terms of road driving – its brakes. Intent on keeping the drive as pure as possible, Lotus didn’t even bother giving them a servo. If you come to an Elise from a more conventional Nineties sports car, the shove you need to give the brakes to bring the car to a halt or scrub excess speed off is harder than you might expect. Still, as with everything on an Elise, it’s something you soon adapt to. It’s a piece of sports equipment, and as with a tennis racket, its movements ultimately follow yours.

Roadster Revivalists [ The Big Test ] Elise will tingle your senses like no other car here, so for some it’s too harsh

Everything you need if you enjoy driving; luxuries are for softies

Twin-cam K-series four-cylinder is well suited to the featherweight Elise

‘I can scarcely believe this is the same mechanical package that shifts the MGF’ Despite costing £20k when new - Z3 money - the Elise S1 depreciated the least, and prices started to climb a long time ago. The cheapest decent one we found was a 1998 model in Birmingham for £15,700, but very low mileage examples are prevalent at £20k-£25k asking prices, like the yellow 2000 in Kent for £23,995. Although it has the same engine as an MGF, lower mileages and less heft to shift tends to mean Elises avoid head gasket failure, but they still need regularly servicing and coolant attention. The main worry is trackday damage to the aluminium chassis; some specialists will take on repairs on a case-by-case basis, but Lotus won’t warrant them and insist on a new chassis, costing £8k plus fitting.

Each of these cars offers something dramatically different, from the retro thrills of the MX-5 and Z3 to the futurism of the MGF and SLK, and the exotic Boxster. However, while the MX-5 reintroduced the sports car, the Elise reinvented it for a world of track days. It led to the likes of the Ariel Atom, KTM X-Bow and Alfa Romeo 4C, and with them a whole new era. And yet, would any of this have happened without the original Mazda MX-5? Emphatically not.

Owning a Lotus Elise S1 Neil Marshall has only owned this Elise a week, but he has a long history with S1s. ‘In 2000 I had a 1996 S1 for four months as a stop-gap, and of all the cars I’ve owned it’s the only one I wanted to go back to,’ he explains.

‘For the best ownership experience, it had to be standard specification with an undamaged chassis.

Before this, I bought one unseen from a friend and it turned out to have 15-year-old chassis damage. It’s easily overlooked because track-day damage doesn’t turn up on the insurance database, but I struggled to find a repairer and had to get rid of it for a big loss. Basic floorpan sections can be repaired, and racing teams have ways of riveting repairs, but it leaves a question mark over durability and badly harms resale value.

‘I got this Elise from Castle Lotus for £20,000 and the fact that it had an undamaged chassis was the most important thing for me. Otherwise, running costs are very low. About £500 a year is normal and I’d be gutted if I ended up spending more than £1000 a year running it.’

1997 Lotus Elise S1 Engine 1795cc transverse four-cylinder, dohc, MEMS MPI electronic fuel injection Power and torque 120bhp @ 5500rpm; 118lb ft @ 4000rpm Transmission Five-speed manual, rear-wheel drive Steering Rack and pinion Suspension Front and rear: independent, double wishbones, coil springs, telescopic dampers Brakes Discs front and rear Weight 731kg Performance 0-60mph: 6.1sec; Top speed: 126mph Fuel consumption 44mpg Cost new £20,950 Classic Cars Price Guide £9500-£17,500

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[ Interview]

‘I stil get younger designers telling me it was a really cool car’ Grant Larson joined Porsche’s design department in 1989 aged 32. Just two years later he found himself styling a new model that had a big job to do Words NIGEL BOOTHMAN Photography PORSCHE ARCHIVE

B

y late 1991, Porsche was in trouble. Annual sales had dropped from 40,000 to 15,000 as the company struggled to shift an increasingly expensive range.

There were painful redundancies and changes at board level too. Nonetheless, an idea was taking shape for a small roadster that could share components with the next-gen 911. As R&D director Horst Marchart sought board approval for this plan, a young American-born designer was suggesting something similar elsewhere in the company. That man was Grant Larson, who is today Porsche’s Director, Special Projects. Twenty-five years on

52

from the 986 Boxster’s successful launch, he spoke to Classic Cars to share his memories of an exciting and challenging time.

‘My boss, Harm Lagaay, told me to participate in something called the Advanced Development Group where people from various Porsche departments could talk about what they wanted to develop next. I listened to all their plans and when I was asked I said, “Let’s combine all this stuff and do a lightweight roadster.”

And parallel to that, though I didn’t know it, Horst Marchart was talking to the board about the exact same thing.’

Porsche was still a far from happy place in mid-1991. The company was well advanced with a four-door 911-based proposal called the 989, on which Larson was working. High projected cost led to its cancellation and the mood in the company was low. But approval from the board to do a pre-study on the Boxster project brought some optimism with it, and late in the year the design team decided to build a show car to explore the look that the little roadster might have – and to tease the public a little.

‘Every August I went to the Oldtimer Grand Prix,’ says Larson.

‘You think there are some pretty great classic cars around if you go to events in Southern California but when you come to Europe, it blows you away! I loved historic Porsches and in particular the 718RSK, more so than the 550 Spyder. I still have a picture of the RSK as inspiration next to my sketch board. I wanted the Boxster to have a longer front end than the little flat-nose 550. Proportionally I wanted a longer nose, but a tight, small, rounded rear end.

Early sketch from 1990, before Larson knew Porsche might build a new roadster.

Note the simpler shape of the modular headlamps

Side view of the production Boxster with optional hard-top fitted

Concentrating on symmetry here, with everything leading to the central exhaust

An early ideation sketch from circa 1991

Early concept for rucksacks on the backs of the seats, circa 1992

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[ Life in Cars]

Grant Larson

Colour work of show car showing smaller, neater rear lights than what the 986 ended up with

‘I drew sketches for a show car proposal and by the end of March 1992 we had a rough wood and foam modelling buck; in April the clay started going on. But around summertime, work started on the production car too, so from the middle of ’92 we were doing two cars at once, and taking them in two different technical directions.

We were done with the show car by August or September because it had to be built in time for the Detroit show in January 1993.’

Doing two different cars at once seems at odds with German efficiency until Larson explains how it worked. ‘Harm Lagaay made up this name, “simultaneous engineering”’, says Larson with a chuckle. ‘The two teams fed off each other and it meant that we could do two things at once; the car as we really wanted it, and also the production car as it had to be for packaging reasons.

And the show car played a big role in getting the Boxster down to the compact dimensions it ended up with.’

The show car’s reception at Detroit was so positive that Porsche’s management instructed the team to stop series design development for the Boxster and build the concept. Easier said than done, of course, and so began two years of work in which the packaging requirements and the styling aims were gradually integrated. One of the Boxster’s most recognisable shared features with the 996, those famous ‘fried egg’ lamps, was already in place though.

‘The modular headlamps were a team effort,’ says Larson. ‘The design side came from me and a British designer called Steve Murkett who participated in the early phase, plus Harm Lagaay.

But the main push was from cost-saving, and also from a real clever inventor and tech wizard in the electric department called Hans Weiner. He was so tickled about getting some high-tech stuff in there. He saw it as a challenge because the board of directors said you have to pack it all in one unit. Look at typical older Porsches like the 928 and 993 and they have round lamps with little additional lamps down below, but we didn’t have the money for that!’

From a production point of view, the approach made excellent sense. ‘If you’ve ever removed or installed a Boxster headlamp… it’s so fast,’ says Larson. ‘Dr Wendelin Wiederking was really streamlining production, especially on the Boxster and 996.’

54

One early sketch shows a Boxster with great, thick doors and heavily bowed-out front wings that curve into the centre line, giving real logic to the shape of the lamps. This had to be toned down by the time it met reality in the show car, but Larson still feels it worked well – though rather less so in final production form.

‘On the front of the 986 Boxster you’re sharing two designers’ handwriting (because of the amount shared with the 996, including the bonnet panel and front wings): mine and Pinky Lai’s. I had more freedom at the back. I think that’s where the car is mostly admired; it looks good with the 18-inch wheels, the general contouring, and the central exhaust idea from the “peashooter” on the 550 Spyder.’

Larson is still a little rueful about the long list of features that didn’t make it through to production, including a central air intake at the front and visible moving ventilator fans in the cabin. ‘I’m a big fan of race cars and I like to see how the air gets in and out of a car,’ he says. ‘I was keen to show that but once we knew we had to share the 996’s side radiators rather than using one central one, that idea for a central cooling intake had to go.’

Another change you’ll notice from the show car to the production version is the air intakes on each side. They’re down low, almost in the sills on the show car. Why did they have to move? ‘That was all to do with the body-in-white and the chassis construction underneath,’ says Larson. Body-in-white is the industry term for the body’s structural assembly before exterior panels, sub-assemblies and mechanical components are added.

‘If you look at that triangular space behind the cut-line at the back of the door and in front of the rear wheel, we found there was only one little spot where air can enter the body-in-white, where the roll-bar structure comes down. I tried to stretch the vents down, but the hole was at the top so I felt like I was over-styling and getting away from the functional quality of the design. It was important to me to give it some depth, though. Also, engineering said that road debris would get into the intake in the original position.’

That phrase – ‘cut-line’- is one Larson comes back to. To the rest of us it’s a shut line or a panel gap, but to a designer, it’s a line you get to draw that helps define the car’s shape.

This early Larson sketch exploring cut lines and proportions, circa 1992

The show car in build, Weissach, autumn 1992

The clay model, mid-1992. Note 964 Cup wheels and lack of side-vents

Very wide, 1992 concept with extra-thick doors

Show car in build, Weissach, weeks before the Detroit show in Jan 1993 Larson getting the rear end right quite early, circa 1993, with lots of focus on the central exhaust

55

[ Life in Cars]

Grant Larson

‘My only regret is that we didn’t get more of the show car into the production version’ ‘You describe details and parts of the car with the cut-lines,’ says Larson. ‘The one down at the front slices through and separates the blinker (the indicator part of the modular headlamp). It was the trend at the time and it’s something we picked up on.’

Another topic that exercises Larson is that of wheels. ‘The wheel design, especially their position, the stance it gives – that’s everything. I think the 986 suffered at the front because of what we had to share with the 996, so I have 18mm spacers on the front of my Boxsters, but that’s another subject!

‘Budget was lacking, so carrying over older wheels for the production Boxsters was inevitable. The base models came with 16-inch and 17-inch wheels but it wasn’t until the Boxster S arrived with 18-inch wheels that it started to look how I’d imagined. I feel sorry for the souls who ended up with early cars on 16-in wheels because they look tiny, but we nearly ended up with some 15-inch aluminium wheels that were very inexpensive to make. Thankfully Harm convinced the board it was not the way to go.’

When the long months of packaging and productionising were finished, the Boxster was finally launched in September 1996 to a reception so positive it outdid even Porsche’s expectations. How had Larson walked that tightrope between creating something recognisably new and yet obviously a Porsche?

‘I was lucky; I’d just done enough by then to imagine a Porsche of the future, but I would also credit Harm Lagaay for convincing me to make a bigger splash, to go a little further. When I was working on the show car I felt pressure from the board of directors on the one hand, but then when they scrapped the early production designs and I found myself working on the road car, the pressure came from the outside world. You’re just never sure how the public will react. But it was good, really good, and my only regret is that Larson’s Boxster show car in the Porsche museum

56

The team with the show car in 1993, with Grant Larson on extreme left

we didn’t get more of the show car into the production version. But we had to keep an eye on cost and try to save the company.’

The original Boxster has been slow to date – a feature common to many successful Porsches – and when asked about the timeless quality of the design, Larson simply says, ‘I wanted to be able to look at it ten years later and still like it.’

He must still like it, because Larson has three 986 Boxsters of his own, amongst older Porsches and VWs and the odd reminder of home (a 1968 Dodge Charger R/T and a ’72 Chevy ‘clamshell’ wagon). One 986 is used for driving to the office, one is having parts removed to add lightness – ‘I want to see how much I can take off before it looks silly’ – while one, a 2.5 bought as a wreck, is a long-term project being re-bodied by Larson to his own design… eventually. ‘I’m removing everything from the car because I think the platform is excellent; I’m disassembling it and I’ll re-body it into something. I want to dig into it and see where it goes.’

Back in the Nineties, Larson’s quest for timelessness worked almost too well. He was a little frustrated that strong sales allowed Porsche to delay the introduction of the Boxster S, then the Boxster’s facelift, then the follow-up model. And he reminds us that despite being the entry-level Porsche, the Boxster was pretty bold.

‘It arrived a few months after the Mercedes SLK and the BMW Z3 but it was the only six-cylinder, mid-engined roadster around.

Nobody was doing that. And nobody had a central exhaust, though someone said, “There goes your chance of fitting a trailer hitch!” I don’t know what you’re supposed to tow with a Boxster anyway.’

How does he feel about I now?

‘It was an interesting time. We did the best we could with what we had, and we got pretty lucky. It was a really cool car and I still get younger designers telling me that. It did influence a lot of people.’

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FOR ART’S SAKE? In contrast to the cheerful, functional Alvis models of the Twenties, coachbuilders conjured striking grand routiers on Thirties Alvis chassis. None is sleeker than this unique Speed 25 Words NIGEL BOOTHMAN Photography JONATHAN FLEETWOOD

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[ Alvis Speed 25 Lancefield]

Y

ou wouldn’t think so to look at it, but there’s a large, muscular animal concealed in that gown-like coachwork of this Alvis. The straight-six, triple-carburettor ohv engine seems larger than its 3571cc reality, both in the sound it emits and the amount of urge available. It ticks over with a polite burble, but if you keep your foot down rather than short-shifting through the easy synchromesh gearbox, the volume rises and a lovely, throaty growl emerges, hardening as the revs increase.

And it really does go. The performance of any Twenties or Thirties car tends to be one of the following: embarrassing, adequate or caddish. Here, we’re firmly in driving-like-a-cad territory. The figures don’t sound dazzling today, with 0-50mph coming up in ten seconds, but when 50mph was all that most cars could manage and 40mph was a more normal cruising pace, even on trunk roads, it was electric.

Within a few minutes of setting off in this long, low machine, you’re hunting for dawdlers on a straight stretch of road. A drop into third gear, perhaps an unnecessary double-declutch and a bark of revs, then swing out and storm past.

All the way to 97mph, in theory. Speed Model Alvises, especially the larger 3.5-litre and 4.3-litre models, are all luxury expresses so the acceleration and effortless high-speed cruising shouldn’t be a surprise. What’s distracted us here is that extraordinary body. It’s

60

almost too decorous to be fast… you’d hardly expect a bride to hitch up her wedding dress and hurdle a gate.

The bodywork was constructed during the late summer of 1937 by the London coachbuilder Lancefield for the Earls Court Motor Show, opening on 14th October that year. Compared with some of the more venerable outfits, Lancefield was a fledgling firm, exhibiting for the first time in 1929 at Olympia but soon making a name for itself. A craze for aircraft-inspired, modernist forms had been intensifying since the Twenties and it came to a head with a sudden bloom of streamlined car designs that appeared across the world in 1934. Lancefield was very much a part of this, exhibiting fastback two- and four-door Alvis saloons. One, on a Speed 20, even attempted faired-in headlamps, giving a chubby-cheeked look.

Lancefield then went further with an ungainly full-width design on a Hudson chassis, which ended up so wide that it fitted four across the front seat – one outside the driver – while an incredibly rakish body on a Siddeley Special chassis suggested a young stylist set free with a blank sheet and a set of French curves. The point is this – innovative streamlined design is one thing, making it beautiful is quite another. But by 1937, it achieved that aim with perfect success when it created this car.

Nick Walker summed it up well in his A-Z of British Coachbuilders, ‘Some of these streamlined creations look ugly to modern eyes, but Lancefield was also quite capable of producing designs which are as stunning now as the day they first emerged from the works.

Supreme amongst these must be the concealed-head coupé of

Speedo may not function, but engine note speaks volumes

‘The strakes along each spat might as well be the speed lines cartoonists use to add “whoosh” to a moving car’ 1937-’38, first shown on a Speed 25 Alvis at the Earls Court Show and subsequently applied to Bentley, Mercedes, Lagonda and Hotchkiss chassis.’ Of those, only the Bentley example looked markedly similar to this Alvis, and then a little less sporting thanks to the Bentley’s higher bonnet line. A large part of the success of the design comes from not messing about with the car’s handsome face. The shape, size and position of the Alvis radiator relative to the front axle line, those huge Lucas P100 lamps, the Silver Eagle mascot and the two spotlamps would look good almost anywhere, so we must move a little further back for the magic touches. Both front and rear wings have a fluted line scalloped into the top outer edge, something that must have created twice as much work for the panel maker and which was originally picked out in red amongst the beige and ivory. Perhaps this over-stated the effect as subsequent owners haven’t chosen to repeat it, but the scalloping in the wings sets up the sculptural quality of the car’s tail perfectly.

We have recurring teardrop shapes – look at the rear wing with the spat covering most of the wheel. It’s a teardrop on its side, with the lowermost 40% cut off. A few inches further in, the shape is repeated, but an inch or two larger, where the petrol filler emerges on the nearside. A half-step further and we see the shape repeated again by the falling line that begins in front of the door handle, and then it repeats for a final time by using the car’s waistline to fall away through the lighter paint on the boot, right to the tip of the tail. The three strakes along each spat might as well be the speed lines cartoonists use to add ‘whoosh’ to a moving car.

Steering wheel controls not a modern phenomenon

Torque arrives at 1000rpm, real drama from 2500rpm Clean woodcapped line resembles a motor launch

[ Alvis Speed 25 Lancefield]

With that unaltered radiator and lamp treatment you have to admit that the aim has moved from cheating the wind to pleasing the eye, though the concealed hood arrangement achieves both.

It was another vogueish idea in the mid-Thirties and there were many solutions, albeit few as elegant as this.

If it’s coming on to rain, or if high-speed roofless motoring is about to mess up an expensive hairdo, you release the close-fitting steel tonneau panel behind the back seat via a key inserted into the small hole in its centre. Raise it carefully and with a colleague on the other side of the car, lift the hefty roof frame upwards. There are out-folding arms that swing forward to create the top of the window channel above each door and to latch with the header rail. Close the tonneau panel and you’re done. It’s a lined, luxurious arrangement and with the windows up it does a convincing impression of a fixedhead coupé; it feels warm and weatherproof. On the other hand, you’re suddenly aware of all the exhaust boom and gear whine that was escaping straight up in the air…it’s now bouncing around the cabin, so the Alvis is actually noisier with the roof up than down.

Driving the car, while exciting, also reminds you just how far we’ve come in the last 84 years. You sit behind an enormous wheel, necessary to give some purchase on steering that becomes lorrylike at low speeds, but which exaggerates the amount of play when the effort lightens with pace. Nonetheless, the seats are deliciously comfortable and create a good driving position, hampered only by a handbrake under one knee and a gear lever under the other,

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if you’re long in the leg. In truth, any thought of ergonomics was decades away, so the narrow aperture between the seat and A-pillar means you can hardly get your feet in and out.

It turns heads like few other cars, though nobody knows what it is. Even within spitting distance of the present Alvis Car Company headquarters in Kenilworth and a short jog down the road from the old Alvis works in Coventry, we only get one correct guess from passing dogwalkers all day. Why? Hard to say, but it feels as though people can’t believe anything this glamorous is British without being a Rolls-Royce or a Bentley, never mind native to Warwickshire. Someone suggests Mercedes.

Perhaps it’s understandable. After all, no-one remembers how millionaires of the Thirties caught special trains from London to Scarborough to go big game fishing for 700lb tuna, so why should anyone be aware of the magnificent British cars they drove when on dry land? Lagonda, Invicta, Armstrong-Siddeley, Marendaz, Talbot, SS, Atalanta, Sunbeam, Railton, MG, Jensen, British Salmson, Brough Superior and of course Alvis all made powerful chassis available as glamorous open four-seaters. And we could include the purer sports cars like Frazer Nash, Aston Martin, Lea Francis and Riley, too.

Alvis, like many other firms mentioned above, established itself in the Twenties with medium-priced four-cylinder models.

A versatile chassis and a wide choice of coachwork allowed the company to build on a sporting reputation earned at Brooklands

‘People can’t believe anything this glamorous is British without being a Rolls-Royce or a Bentley, never mind native to Warwickshire’

Potent 3.5-litre straight-six fed by twin fuel pumps

Handle for built -in jacks below wheel mallet

circuit, while genuine innovation wasn’t far behind with the front-wheel-drive 12/75 road model of 1928, based on earlier frontdriven racing cars. Alvis sold its first conventional rear-wheel drive six-cylinder chassis the year before and by 1932 it had developed extensively into the 2511cc-powered Speed 20.

The Speed models nailed down Alvis’s place at the top table, with increased engine capacity and technical advances (not least independent front suspension and the world’s first all-synchromesh gearbox) arriving soon to propel the later models into direct rivalry with Derby Bentleys and 4½-litre Lagondas. As well as Lancefield, all the well-known British coachbuilders of the era got their chance to show what they could do on Alvis chassis, with the most exalted being the dozen Vanden Plas short-chassis 4.3-litre tourers. Mind you…there’s only one Lancefield drophead like this.

It’s impossible to spend long in the driver’s seat without concocting fantasy trips or appropriate missions for this car. Bends in the B4113 become sinuous curves leading down to a holiday in the Loire… brake, downshift, load up the steering and power through, tyres just starting to squirm as the torque does its job. It’s a great big charismatic thing and not really suited to pottering (or even thundering) along country lanes in Warwickshire. But thanks to the pandemic, any thoughts of posing with admiring crowds outside an Art Deco casino or giving lifts at Ascot on Ladies’ Day will have to wait. In the meantime, with abundant grunt and excellent brakes, we can give a few moderns something to think about.

CONTINUING THE BREED Alan Stote reformed the Alvis Car Company in 2012 to begin limited manufacture of select classic Alvises, one of which is this Lancefield model. And no, it’s not built on a modern platform or powered by a 21st-century powerplant, it’s manufactured using the original Works drawings for the ladder chassis and powered by an Alvis 4.3-litre engine, with the crankcase, block and head freshly cast in the Black Country.

The 4.3-litre was always externally identical to the Speed 25 engine and was available as an option in period, so if you can have the performance from an extra 700cc, why not?

‘It’s well underway at the moment,’ says Alan. ‘We digitally scanned the car and from that, we’ve been able to make an ash frame for the body. The chassis and engine have been done, so we’ll be on to the panel work next.’

Despite the modern tech involved in capturing the car’s shape in 3D, the skills employed in turning it into metal are entirely old-school, with everything coach-built by hand as it was in period. So Alan’s team will soon be facing the same challenges posed to Lancefield’s workers when they were presented with sketches like the one shown above – this original rendering and others like it will form part of the reference from which they work.

‘We are the Alvis Car Company and we’ve started building cars again in exactly the same way. We’re using the same drawings and methods as we did up to 1967 – it’s just been a long time between orders.’

The only concession to modern times will be a fuel injection system to allow the car to meet emissions standards – as trialled on the firm’s already completed, Japan-destined Continuation Vanden Plas 4.3 tourer – and a six-speed manual gearbox.

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[ Alvis Speed 25 Lancefield]

‘It joined the show circuit, being selected as “one of the world’s most beautiful cars”’

It may be a glimpse of a vanished world, this car, but we can track it down in 1993 and found it was in storage with some Bugattis only enjoy that glimpse thanks to the efforts of Alan Stote to bring and all sorts of other cars, down in San Diego. I flew over to attend it home to UK. Alan is the proprietor of Red Triangle, the Alvis the Hershey autojumble and Laguna Seca, and we went to see it. specialist based at the firm’s old service department in Kenilworth, I never met or spoke to the owner, but my friend ended up taking and of the re-formed Alvis Car Company on the same site. He phone calls from him, calling from all over the world, once or twice located the Lancefield Speed 25 in California nearly 30 years ago, a month until the deal was finally done in 1994. Some collectors can be unusual characters and you have to be patient and persistent.’ but before that, it had seen a few adventures.

The car was wearing a variation on its original colour scheme, ‘I know it was in the London showroom for quite a while after the Earls Court show,’ says Alan. ‘I once met the son of one of the but in salmon pink. The Ace wheel discs had gone, so despite its Lancefield partners and he remembered being taken to school in basically sound condition, Alan treated the car to a repaint back to Earls Court show colours and acquired the correct discs to finish it, so it definitely didn’t sell immediately.’

This could be down to the weighty price. We don’t know what the the look. As Alan’s involvement with Red Triangle and eventually full total was, but Alan’s educated estimate of £1200-£1300 would the launch of the Alvis Car Company took over, the Lancefield have required a wealthy customer at a time when a semi-detached dhc was both a personal treasure and an asset to the business. It’s house might cost £250. However, the car did eventually find a home been shown around the UK and in France and then travelled on and remained in private hands in the UK for another 25 years or so, exhibition to Dubai in 2015 and to Japan in 2017, which led to the before turning up in Kingston, Jamaica in 1967. In the late Seventies first order for a Continuation version (see boxout previous page).

As we crawl back through Kenilworth’s traffic to put the car away, an American collector bought it and it moved to Los Angeles. He must have appreciated what he had, because the car was allowed it’s tempting to leave the last quote to one of the men responsible for this high-water mark of British out onto the show circuit, being selected motoring glamour. Bob Gaisford, along as ‘one of the world’s most beautiful cars’ 1937 Alvis Speed 25 Lancefield with his brothers Harry and Edwin and for the Autoshow der Superlative, Veedol Engine 3571cc in-line six-cylinder, ohv, three SU their partner George Warboys, founded Starparade, in Berlin in 1982 and then side-draught carburettors Power and torque 115bhp @ 4000rpm, torque (est) 175lb ft @ Lancefield Coachworks in 1922. In old age, for an appearance at the Pebble Beach 2000rpm Transmission Four-speed manual, he spoke to a previous owner of the car, Concours d’Elegance in August 1983. rear-wheel drive Steering Marles worm-and-roller who passed this nugget on to Alan Stote.

Next it was owned by a film company, steering box Suspension Front: independent by ‘Of all the cars my brothers and I in the hands of two rather eccentric lower wishbones, upper transverse leaf spring and friction dampers.

Rear: live axle, leaf springs, friction designed,’ said Bob, ‘the concealed and secretive individuals resident in dampers. Brakes Drums front and rear Weight drophead coupé was my favourite.’

Switzerland and California. It dropped (est) 1524kg (3360lb) Performance 0-60mph: After a day with it, taking in this out of sight for a decade. ‘I was aware of 13sec; Top speed: 97mph Fuel consumption unique blend of Alvis performance with it because I like unusual coachwork,’ says 18mpg Cost new (est) £1250 Value now (est) Lancefield’s artistry, I can see why.

Alan. ‘A friend in America managed to £350,000-£400,000

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66

[ Epic Restoration]

‘Somebody had used part of a Castrol oil can to repair a hole’ Having narrowly dodged the scrapyard, this Mini Cooper then languished for almost three decades in its owner’s garage before beginning its journey back to factory perfection Words ROSS ALKUREISHI Photography STUART COLLINS

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I

[ Epic Restoration]

Mini Cooper 998

bought this 1969 MkII Mini Cooper nearly 30 years ago from a friend of my wife, because I didn’t want to see it go to scrap,’ explains self-employed builder Gerald Thorman. His recalls the car requiring significant work, even back then. ‘It was in a bit of a state. I towed it home and can remember trying to start it, but I didn’t push it because it hadn’t been running in a while – I never even got to drive it. I then decided to try to restore it myself, but work and life intervened.’

As with many a project, everyday detritus soon submerged the Mini in his garage; and yet it lurked, always at the back of his mind as the years passed.

‘Over the last few years the idea of it being a retirement project began to form, but I’m 71 and still haven’t retired. If I didn’t do something about it then it just wasn’t going to get done. A friend mentioned Richard Browning at Brownings Restoration in Keysoe, Beds. After a chat I decided to go with him.’

So the Mini finally emerged from its suburban slumber, with its suspension slumped on one side and exhaust scraping along the tarmac. ‘There was obviously a lot of filler in it,’ says Richard Browning, as he recalls collecting it. ‘But it still looked fairly good.’

Mini looked solid, but was riddled with rust

Rotten floor was replaced by an adapted Mini van section

Rot, rot and yet more rot – oh, and bodges In the workshop, stripping began in earnest. With the bodyshell exposed, it became clear that there were significant structural rigidity issues. ‘It’s a cliché but the best way of describing it is as a colander or sieve,’ says Richard. ‘The boot floor, cabin floor and sills had gone completely. The bottom four inches of the car was rotten. The front roof corner had gone too – they always do, because foam was inserted during manufacture to hold the wiring loom; condensation gets in and it rusts from the inside out.

Somebody had also tried putting new wings on it, but the gaps were miles out and they didn’t match up over the wheel arches.’

With the Mini’s bodywork revealed to be more suitable for rinsing salad, the best was yet to come. Body man Better than expected Robert Szkotak takes up the story, ‘The Mechanic Tim Soames says, ‘The engine bottom of the battery box was rusty, but Low point hadn’t seized and wasn’t that bad inside. when I looked underneath somebody had ‘Disappointment at just The overhaul included the usual re-bore used part of a Castrol oil can to replace how rusty it was, when because the bores had lost their crossa hole! But, believe it or not, it’s not the it initially looked in hatch honing and were rusted, porting worst we’ve seen – at least there were no of the cylinder head to improve gas flow, pop rivets with fibreglass over the top.’ fairly good nick’ and fitting a 731 Kent camshaft.’ The remit The first job was to get some strength Richard Browning from owner Gerald was to keep the car as into the body, so Robert set to fabricating close to period-correct as possible. a jig to pick up points on the steering, ‘The cam was a period upgrade, thus acceptable, and fitted for front crossmember and front and rear subframe mounting points – bolted to them, everything would stay where it was supposed to a bit of extra zip. But as an aftermarket camshaft the position is during cutting and replacement of metal. ‘We can fabricate little different from standard, so it required a variable chain pulley to parts on site, but it’s more cost-effective to buy panels,’ explains allow the cam to be moved to get the correct timing. Also it’s a Richard. ‘That said, floors aren’t available so we had to buy one for duplex, giving more strength at high rpm. As it’s a 998cc unit and not a 1275cc one, it adds more peak power, making it more drivable.’ a Mini Van and shorten it by six inches.’

Having completed no more than 40,000 miles, the gearbox Luckily, Brownings had another Mini Cooper restoration in progress – Richard’s own car – and that provided the perfect three- internals were in good condition with unworn synchromesh and dimensional point of reference. ‘When Robert tacked something the differential – with its Cooper-specific ratios – was also good. in, he could check it before welding. He tends to MIG weld a panel Tim rebuilt with new gasket kit, seals and bearings.

After servicing the carburettors with a rebuild kit, which replaced in place and then gas weld for a smoother and stronger weld. I’d say the floor was definitely the biggest challenge on this car; again, worn parts that included the butterfly spindles and included fresh the jig is key here, because Robert is able to ensure that any new gaskets, Tim set the engine up on a little stand-mounted rig. ‘I ran panels meet its contact points correctly. This also helps further it for 15 minutes just to get it up to temperature, bed it in, tune down the line with fittings items such as doors and front wings; the twin carburettors and check everything. The carbs have to be balanced to give twin draw, involving a suction vac gauge over the the better a job you do here, the less adjustment is required.’

He then added new metal to the bases of the crumbling A- and mouth of one carb at low idle and high idle to set, then repeat on B-pillars before the strengthened bodyshell, the sub-frames and the other carb and match the draw by adjusting the needle control.’ crossmember were sent to Edds Sandblasting in Great Staughton.

‘It’s more aggressive, and you’ll find more holes, but we had issues Nerves of steel after having an Audi Ur-Quattro dipped – the acid wasn’t correctly ‘It’s important that the owner sees the car after it’s been sandblasted, so they can see what we’re looking at – it’s amazing what paint neutralised and the sills began rotting out before our eyes.’

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Chas Lee applies the final polish

Aftermarket sunroof visible on fully braced car

Steel wheels replaced alloys fitted for that period correct look

Rebuilt engine refinished in correct Middle Bronze Green

Matthew Pirks carries out a final bleed of the brakes

Crumbly door jambs were part of a complex panelwork challenge

Removing aftermarket sunroof

Tim Soames tunes the twin SU HS2 carburettors

Instrument cluster kicked off interior reassembly

Gearbox rebuilt with new gasket kit, seals and bearings

Gerald opted for a bespoke leather interior

The time spent on metalwork alone ran to in excess of 210 hours

Mini Cooper 998 [ Epic Restoration ]

can hide,’ says Richard. Despite its new floor and provisional sitting. Gerald decided to reinstate the original steel wheels; after sandblasting, they underwent an identical process. strengthening, the Mini clearly still required extensive panel work.

Finally, Chas masked and sprayed the engine in original Middle Says Gerald, ‘After viewing it on return from sandblasting it was worse than I first thought and did look quite bad. I was aware of Bronze Green, ready for final assembly. ‘All colours are original the work required, which was substantially more than originally from factory, and easily found in the old manuals we have. I used thought, but it needed finishing. I already had a rough idea of two-pack for the engine, spraying at 20 degrees C and then baked off at 50 degrees, with two days curing for a more resilient finish.’ what the cost was going to be, but it went a bit further than that.’

He then used a 3000-grit disc to deal with any final imperfections.

The bottom four inches of the car that first appeared to need replacement had now grown to more like six. BPG Motor Sport in ‘I polished it in three stages to make it as shiny as possible.’

Beds supplied replacement panels and body The final furlong man Robert set to work once again, fitting a High point Trim is proprietor Richard’s domain and luckily, new front valance, rear valance, inner and despite being split, cut and faded, the entire outer wings, rear quarter panels and door skins.

‘A lot of people would interior was present. ‘I was able to take patterns Up top, Gerald had decided against keeping have considered it and transfer to new,’ he explains. ‘I literally did the aftermarket sunroof so the front half of a just too far gone, but the whole lot – headlining, rear shelf, all sideroof section came from a donor second-hand another genuine one cards in the back, door-cards, and new carpets. bodyshell that Richard had bought for his own It’s best to buy the latter in a roll and make it Mini’s restoration. ‘You have the seam right has been saved!’ yourself, because you get a neater and better across the middle, because you have the shape Matthew Pirkin finish. Gerald wanted the seats in leather, which of the two roofs, but it’s much easier to hold wasn’t an option when new, but the door cards its shape than it’d be using unformed sheet metal. That said, it’s still tricky to do – it’s a large panel so there’s in vinyl, so we matched the embossing. Someone had made a dash a lot of movement in it; it’s essential to avoid warping. Bracing is to go in it, but it was horrible. My friend David Robins, who I used key, so we secure the windscreen frame and doors. Robert also uses to race Minis with in my youth, actually owns BPG Motor Sport, a notch step-down on the metal, so it overlaps when welded in – and luckily he sorted me out with a lot of little things that you can’t this endows it with strength and gives a nicer finish, with less filler normally get, including a plastic centre console.’ Other hard-to-find items like door switches for the courtesy light were sourced from required. He did a great job on it – you can’t see a join,’ says Richard. someone who knew someone who had some, while difficult to find replacements for the cracked rear lenses came from eBay. Layer upon layer...

Matthew Pirks carried out most of the final assembly work. ‘It was The returned body had gone into Lechler epoxy primer straight quite straightforward; when you’ve done as many Minis as I have…’ away and paint man Chas Lee continued to apply it to protect any fresh metal. ‘Robert does his best to avoid minor warping of panels After fitting brake lines, he added the Hydrolastic suspension pipes and he did a great job on the Mini’s bodywork – it didn’t require any and spheres. Richard explains, ‘The spheres are essentially metal rectification before I finished it with filler. The key to that skill is to cones with rubber bags inside them; if the cones are rotten they’ll separate your spot welds out and then work your way a few inches leak when pressurised. This we do at double the rate at which they at a time. After filler I like to try bits of trim back on the car – such as run, before leaving for four hours. Two leaked, so second-hand the windscreen and rear screen – to ensure they fit, and nothing’s replacements had to be sourced, again from eBay, before being moved. Seam sealing, to prevent moisture build-up between painted and fitted. It is possible to have the system refurbished, but panels, took a day and a half. As a company we like a nice and neat it’s just the pipes that are replaced – nobody actually restores the finish, so I run an inch tape masking all the seams, apply the sealer units themselves, so you have to locate good ones to begin with.’

With the built-up sub-frames in, Matthew fitted the engine and and brush it flat before removing the tape. It’s a time-consuming piece of art – you need to tape cross-joining panels in a certain way, ancillaries. ‘We salvaged the original wiring loom,’ says Richard. cutting the shapes out with a Stanley blade – but definitely worth it.’ ‘Testing it for continuity, to ensure each wire went to the right place, and replacing any iffy joints or minor damage.

He applied a high-build primer with a flat The front brakes required new calipers and block to ensure everything was straight and discs, but the rears were beyond saving and smooth. ‘Minor dents stay darker, so I add filler MY FAVOURITE TOOL replaced. Where we could, we tried to service and sand it back, repeating the process until I the original parts; seat frames and the dynamo can see no more low spots.’ Chas used a 320-grit were refurbished in house. A correct MkII block, followed by a 610 disc on the doublesteering rack (again, supplied by Dave Robins) action sander to remove scratches. replaced its MkIII rack – the only differences are With the bodyshell now upside down on the castings – purely for the sake of originality. a 360-degree jig, he painted the underside ‘It turned out stunning, considering our relatively thickly in its original colour of Old starting point. I’m proud of the team’s ability English White two-pack before applying stoneto recreate its factory look and being able to chip through a spray gun, then following with Richard Browning’s sewing machine restore it from start to finish, with everything another coat of paint. ‘Two-pack gives it the ‘My Consew industrial sewing being done in-house, feels brilliant.’ machine is at least 40 years old, period-correct, slightly orange-peely look – the but I love using it to sew leather That said, Gerald did allow himself one modern clearcoat-lacquer-over-basecoat route shapes together. The walking final upgrade – a stainless steel exhaust would look out of place on this type of car. I also foot means that the top and the system was sourced from Mini Spares. sprayed all the areas that you don’t normally get bottom of the material are pulled through at the same time [rather ‘I’m delighted with the finished car,’ he says. to; the underside of the roof, under the dash, and than just the bottom on lesser ‘Brownings have done a great job, and it’s as the upper sections of the engine bay and boot machines], which gives more near original as they could get it – I can’t wait area, so everything was covered and protected.’ control and results in a better finish. It can also deal with more to take delivery. I haven’t actually got any The jig allowed the body to be flipped back layers at a time.

I can lose hours plans as such, although my wife and I still over and Chas sprayed the remainder of the using it; last Christmas I used it to know the people I bought it from, so it’d be body before finishing the roof in black; he then make a leather handbag for my nice to show them it. I’m just going to enjoy it.’ completed the doors, bonnet and bootlid in one wife Jane to match her boots.’

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1973: Mike scrapes Lydden Hill tarmac in Tui’s first race

1974: marshals spy oil as Mike heads for Thruxton spin

[ Life Cycle]

The life story of a

Tui BH2

This ‘Baby McLaren’ lured a disillusioned racer back to the track, before deteriorating in a garden and re-emerging victorious as a unique historic competition car Words SAM DAWSON Photography NEIL FRASER

1973 – Mike Eaton picks the Tui BH2 over a Dino ‘I’d previously done a season and a half in Formula Ford with a Dulon LD9 which I’d bought from Max Pareto in Didcot,’ says Mike Eaton as he recalls his open-wheel racing exploits in the Seventies. ‘But I’d got disillusioned by its lack of performance and decided to get rid of it. Not only that, I was ready to get out of racing altogether, and was thinking about using the proceeds from the sale to buy a Dino 246 or a Sunbeam Tiger, a toss-up between having a nice road car to drive about in and enjoy, or go motor racing again. Back then, a Dino cost about the same as a Formula Ford car and a season’s racing – not something you could say now!

Another option was to try another racing formula.

‘I contacted Jan Bannochie via Volkswagen UK’s headquarters, which was supervising Formula Super Vee at the time. I explained what I was looking for, and she suggested that the Tui BH2 would be in my price range. It was designed and built by a New Zealander, Allan McCall, who had worked for Lotus and McLaren before setting up his own firm. He had also built Formula Two cars for Bert Hawthorne.

‘I bought my Tui BH2, chassis 109, on 1 February 1973 from Fallend Ltd, trading as Malaya Garage, for £1250. It was a bare chassis, so I then sourced the other bits to complete it. On 6 May I bought a Broadspeedtuned VW engine from Alan Cornock for £450 – and many years later he confessed that the engine was crap! I also sourced a gearbox and sent it all back to Fallend, and they assembled the whole thing.’

72

Mike reveals a photo of the Tui negotiating Paddock Bend at Lydden Hill with just two wheels on the track and the underbelly scraping the sharp edge of the tarmac. ‘That was my first race in the car,’ he says.

‘Lydden Hill was a long way from where I was living in those days. I drove down there with a friend, and the car on a trailer I bought from a Clubmans racer called Max. That groove left by the edge of the track is still on the chassis! I can’t remember where I finished in that race, but I always used to finish mid-field; I never managed to get into the glory, just respectability.

‘I soon discovered the Broadspeed engine wasn’t good, but persevered. Downforce wings were permitted on Formula Super Vees so I had a front and rear set made by SFK Engineering in Poole, originally in glassfibre. The rear one wasn’t effective though, so I had Haggisspeed, local to me and run by an ex-Lotus aerodynamicist, remake it in aluminium.

‘The Broadspeed engine used to blow its oil out, and I have a photo from a race at Thruxton in 1974 where the marshals are clearly peering from the pit wall directly at the source of the smoke coming from the back of the Tui, wondering whether it was dropping oil on the track, but it wasn’t – it would all burn off on the exhausts. I later span in that race, but only because I went much too fast into a corner.

‘Broadspeed obviously did much better engines for other cars and formulae but it didn’t pursue Super Vee any further, so no development went into it and I was only sticking with it because I didn’t have the

1975: with his airport-obtained black-and-yellow livery, Mike fends off competition at Silverstone (left) 1976: ‘Take your helmets off, Volkswagen wants a photo!’ Mike pre-race posing at Brands Hatch (above)

John Stapleton (left) reunites Mike Eaton (right) with his Tui BH2

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[ Life Cycle]

Tui BH2

money to replace it. In the end, I realised I wasn’t going to get anywhere with the Broadspeed, so I bought a second-hand Heidigger engine from a chap called John Morrison – a previous Formula Super Vee Championship winner – in 1976 for £1000.’

Mike digs out a letter, on the headed notepaper of Morrison’s then-employer John Brown Wheels. ‘This is a memo from 1977 reminding me that I hadn’t paid for the engine I picked up in 1976!’ he laughs. It reads, “You might be interested to know (at your expense) that I’ve been running a Lola F2 T360 with a 280bhp Richardson BDG. It’s doing real damage and I haven’t enough bread to test it!” Mike paid Morrison his final instalment of £80 on 8 February 1977. Morrison had indeed been competing at the sharp end of British motor sport, in the ShellSport Group 8 Championship.

The Heidigger engine made Mike’s racing much more enjoyable in the 1976 and 1977 Formula Super Vee seasons. ‘Aintree, Castle Combe, Brands Hatch – I had a lot of fun. At Castle Combe I had a race-long duel with Glen High in his Royale, getting my place back on the final lap,’ Mike recalls. ‘At Brands Hatch, just before we were about to go out on track, someone came running to tell us to take our helmets and balaclavas off. It turned out Volkswagen wanted photographs of all the competitors sitting in their cars, so they snapped me at the wheel, looking very professional.’

But there were spills as well as thrills, which gave Mike pause for thought. ‘At Silverstone in 1977, I span and very nearly hit the pit wall at speed,’ he says. ‘We were coming out of the old Woodcote corner and I decided to pass Bob Birrell on the inside, with two wheels on the grass. As I span, I had terrifying images

2012 – John Stapleton buys the Tui as a project John Stapleton took his first steps into single-seater open-wheelers when Mike’s enjoyment of the Tui was at its height. ‘I went to Brands Hatch Racing School in 1977, where I was taught by Tony Lanfranchi,’ says John. ‘But I never took advantage of that training until 1993 when I was living in Ireland. I bought a Sheane, and took up Formula Vee when I returned to the UK in 1998. Super Vee was a natural progression.’

As John accrued Formula Vee experience, Mike was wondering what to do with the Tui, still languishing in his sister’s garden. ‘When I retired, I had time on my hands to restore it, but instead I contacted John Bowles, the UK’s Historic Formula Super Vee registrar, who came to an agreement with John Stapleton over the price,’ he says. John bought the Tui in 2012.

‘I embarked on a rebuild,’ says John. ‘It came to me without an engine – that having been destroyed at Castle Combe in 1978 – but I completed the restoration in 2013 ahead of the 2014 historic racing season. I took all the steel suspension wishbones off, took the body off the original frame, and sent the chassis off to be sandblasted, powdercoated and chromed. The body paint was stripped bare and I decided to finish it in the very first colour Mike painted it. It had been running a bag-style fuel tank – I had to replace that and rehome it behind the seat to comply with modern regulations.

‘People doubted I could find a genuine windscreen until Simon Hadfield noted that he had a mould for a McLaren M7 Formula One car screen – it turns out that, because of McCall’s McLaren connections, he re-used this part from the M7. There’s a good reason why the Tui was known as the ‘Baby McLaren’ in the Seventies.

‘It runs shorter races now.

There aren’t enough Super Vees left in the UK for us to have our own dedicated race, so I run the Tui in an invitational class in historic Formula Ford 2000s.

When I started racing with the Tui there were four Super Vees, but it’s just me now.

‘My first race in the Tui was at Donington Park in 2014. I’d raced in Formula Vee since 2003, and the main differences between the Formulas were Super Vee’s use of Hewland gearboxes, different gear ratios, slick tyres and downforce wings. But as part of the Tui package, Mike had included all his gear charts and adjustment tables to suit various British circuits.

‘I’ve finished first in class every time!’ John laughs.

‘Formula Super Vee Class Champion five times. I set personal lap records every season, but it’s a longer learning curve than Mike’s – he was racing every other weekend; in historics it’s just four or five times a year.’

It’s been anything but sedate though. ‘At Thruxton in 2018 I ran without front wings after hitting a piece of metal on the track that ripped them off!’ says John.

‘Those were the SFK glassfibre originals from 1973, but I had Paul Healey make replacements in aluminium.

‘That was a memorable year. I also raced at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium but the engine blew just before the Bus Stop chicane; John Bowles rebuilt it, and some parts had to be specially commissioned.

It’s been very reliable since then, thankfully.

‘Lately I haven’t raced full seasons – I need races that I can get there and back from in a day: Snetterton, Silverstone... and Brands Hatch is on my doorstep.’

‘The livery depended purely on what paint was going cheap from the local airport’ in my head of the accident Jody Scheckter had had at that very spot not long before.’ In 1973, his debut F1 season, Scheckter’s McLaren span out of Woodcote and hit the pit wall on the opening lap of the British Grand Prix, prompting a 150mph nine-car pileup, and career-ending injuries for Brabham’s Andrea de Adamich. It’s still considered one of F1’s worstever accidents. Mike still shudders as he recalls the incident, but it wasn’t what finally ended his track time with the Tui. ‘My last race was at Castle Combe on Easter Monday in 1978,’ he says. ‘An oil line came off and all the oil drained out, blowing the engine to bits and I didn’t have the money to repair it.

‘Racing was a hobby for me, nothing more. We never got anything for doing it other than oil from Castrol and Duckhams. But it was a different kind of motor sport world back then. The entry fees were just £4 a race and your biggest expenditure – not cheap, but manageable – was the initial outlay to aquire the car.

I wasn’t even very mechanically minded, I just had friends who were. The livery on my car changed four times during my years with it, based purely on what paint was going cheap from the local airport.

‘I ended up storing it in my sister’s garden under a tarpaulin, where it remained for 34 years.’

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1977: Silverstone – seconds later, Mike nearly hit the wall

2013: John rescues the garden-based Tui. Resto begins

After 34 years in a garden and a full restoration, the Tui races once again as John Stapleton returns it to Brands Hatch in 2014 – still with original glassfibre front wings

Allan McCall’s Tui engineering drew on his McLaren experience

2018: Tui loses its front wings in Thruxton accident

John explains the F1 origins of much of the Tui’s design

‘It wasn’t like that before!’ Mike and John talk engines

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‘The 500 has long been a cult car, but since Fiat revived the brand in 2008 interest in the originals has gone stratospheric’

7 steps to buying a

Fiat Nuova 500

It’s a charming, usable classic, but there are poor examples trying to ride the wave of renewed interest. Here’s how not to get swept up and caught out

D

Words RICHARD DREDGE Photography BAUER ARCHIVE

esigned by Dante Giacosa as a fourwheeled equivalent of a Vespa scooter, the Fiat Nuova 500 (the original one was the Thirties front-engined ‘Topolino’) has been a hit with urbanites since it was launched in 1957. Available as either a saloon or an ultra-cute estate (dubbed Giardiniera), there’s little significant difference between one Fiat 500 derivative and another. They’re not just for nipping around town either: Carlo Abarth worked his magic to transform it into the 595 and 695, making an impact in racing and rallying.

The 500 has long been a cult car, much-loved as a promotional vehicle by businesses for years, but since Fiat revived the brand in 2008 interest in the originals has gone stratospheric. As a result, some Nuova 500s change hands for far more than they’re worth – but don’t be taken in by a shiny paint job, because if you don’t do your homework you could end up buying a tarted-up parts car. To avoid this scenario, we spoke to Manj Lal of Weenie Fiats, Tony Castle-Miller of Middle Barton Garage, and Cliff Peters of Auto Rossa.

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[ What to pay ]

Despite a sprawling model range, there’s little difference in prices between basic 500s/Giardinieras.

The conventionally doored 500F is the most numerous in the UK. Pay £3750 for an average driver, rising to £8000 for the best private sales and £12k at a dealership or for a concours example.

Abarths are a different quantity altogether. There’s no major premium between 595, 695 or SS models. Usable cars start at £25k, rising to £40k for the best and £52.5k for those with competition history.

Which one to choose?

Supplementing the new 600, the smaller two-cylinder 479cc Nuova 500 was launched in July 1957, in ‘Normale’ (15bhp) and ‘Economy’ (13bhp) forms.

After Carlo Abarth offered tuning parts, Fiat responded with the in-house 500 Sport of 1958, with shorter sunroof for stiffness and 499cc, 21.5bhp engine.

‘Economy’ was treated to a full-length roll-back sunroof from 1959, and renamed ‘Transformabile’.

500D released in 1960, replacing entire range. Based on the 500 Sport bodyshell, it introduced a folding back seat. Giardiniera estate version added at the same time.

Standalone Abarth models began production in 1963.

The 27bhp 595 was first. Abarth had a blitz in 1964 with the 32bhp 595SS, the 689cc 695 in 30bhp standard and 38bhp wide-arched, disc-braked 695SS form.

500D saloon was replaced by 500F in 1965. Engine up to 18bhp, body restyled with front-hinged doors.

Luxury ‘Lusso’ 500L supplemented the 500F in 1968.

Also in 1968, 500D Giardiniera production was outsourced to Autobianchi, and continued to 1977.

500L and 500F replaced with 500R in 1972, sharing the 126’s floorpan and 594cc engine. Phased out in 1975.

Fiat 500 [ Buying Guide ]

Bodywork The 500 can rot badly. If there are visible signs of significant rust, much worse is likely to be hidden, although few panels are double-skinned so spotting damage is easy. Lift the front bootlid and examine the battery tray, which rots once the drain holes block and the tray fills with water. Check the wings and wheelarches, taking the wheels off for a thorough inspection. The whole length of each sill also needs checking closely because bodged repairs are common.

Inside, check the floorpans and inner sills for rot, especially behind the rear seats where the supporting metal can rust unseen; lift the mats or carpets to do it properly. Expect corrosion in the door bottoms – the window seals rot away and the drain holes become blocked. The front-hinged doors of post-1964 cars can be sourced easily, but earlier cars’ rear-hinged doors have all but disappeared. The shallower windscreen of these earlier cars is also hard to get. The outer panels are as susceptible to rust as the inner ones, especially anything aft of the B-post; the metal at the base of the rear screen dissolves and the engine cover can too, especially around air vents. Wings rust at both ends

but decent replacements can be bought. Thankfully, parts supply is better than it’s ever been, with most panels that you’re likely to need readily available.

Prices aren’t high; a front panel costs £95, a front wing is £47 and a complete door (skins aren’t available) is £342. An inner sill panel is £35, outers are £37 apiece and a complete rear wing is just £150. However, only pattern parts are available and none fit as well as the originals, so they need some fettling and this is reflected in the labour costs required to fit them.

Simpler panels like doors or the nose panel might cost around £80 to fit; a sill or wing will be three times that.

500s do have a tendency to rot, so it’s important to not take what could be a ‘resale respray’ on face value – you should probe hidden areas dilligently

Engine If the engine is really raucous the timing chain has probably worn; a DIY fix costs £42 or it’s a £250 garage job. Oil leaks from the rocker cover or sump gaskets are common and easily fixed, but if the dipstick is being ejected from the engine a £1400 rebuild may be needed – or it could just be a failed valve in the £10 oil filler cap.

Blue smoke from the exhaust on the over-run points to worn valves and guides; budget £600 for a reconditioned exchange cylinder head. A

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A minimalist interior and affordable trim part prices means an overhaul needn’t be a daunting prospect

‘All spares are cheap, partly because they’re small’ thermostatically controlled air vent should open once the engine is warm; it can fail, but usually in the open position, so there’s no damage. If the engine overheats, the head gasket will probably fail, making the engine run badly. The outlet pipes either side of the engine will also be pressurised (put your hand over them to discover if they are). The fix is a new gasket – £400 if you go to a specialist. A correctly adjusted fan belt cuts the risk of overheating, so check its tension.

Gearbox Gearboxes last well, but with no synchromesh they can get damaged by ham-fisted drivers; trying to engage first on the move will probably break it, so see if the car jumps out of first and reverse. If the gearchange is really nasty, the linkage probably needs adjusting. A Metalastik bush in there perishes over the years and the only solution is to renew it at £25 plus £40 to fit.

Oil leaks can be caused by weeping joints, or by overfilling the gearbox; there aren’t any gaskets, which doesn’t help. A major gearbox leak takes five or six hours to fix, which can run to £500. Driveshaft gaiters can leak, too. Two types of driveshaft were used, with those on pre-500L cars being slimmer; many earlier cars have now had the thicker driveshaft fitted.

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Steering and suspension The simple worm-and-sector steering box is durable but the idler bushes can perish, leading to play in the steering. Uneven tyre wear suggests fresh track rods are needed at around £20 apiece. New idler bushes are about £11, while an exchange idler costs around £160.

An exchange steering box will set you back £354, or you could convert to a rack for about £500. Fitting a new box is a simple £80 job, but conversion to a rack is much more involved as it involves adapting a 126 assembly and welding on bespoke brackets.

The suspension is simple, but even if the front kingpins are greased the metal can still wear, because the design is poor and the lubricant doesn’t get to where it should. The result is a worn or seized bottom bearing, a £180 fix. The front suspension’s single transverse leaf spring can also suffer wear, so see if the car sits level from head on; if it leans to one side a new spring is needed at £72 for a standard part or £132 for one that lowers the car. The telescopic dampers can also wear; replacements cost £80 per pair.

The biggest potential suspension issue is corrosion in the swing arm. If this has cracked or rusted the arm may break away and you could lose control of the car.

A specialist will charge £300 to put it right.

Fiat 500 [ Buying Guide ]

[ Owning a Fiat 500 ] Geoffrey Alton, Derbyshire

Engines can have as little as 13bhp as standard, so you should manage your performance expectations

Geoffrey Alton bought his 1972 500L five years ago from a student who had restored it with his grandfather. He says, ‘They did a fantastic job; it’s like new. It took me six years to find the right car but I’m so glad I did. I also have an Aston V8 Volante and a Bentley Continental GTC, but the 500 gives just as much pleasure.’

‘They’re very easy to restore as well as cheap to get work carried out on, so home-restored cars can be very good buys if they were done properly like mine was. You can get everything you need for a complete mechanical rebuild and interior trim is also available off the shelf. The only significant parts that aren’t available are right-hand drive wiper motors along with steering boxes and idlers.’

Colin Smith, Oxfordshire

Colin Smith is the long-term owner of two 500s – a 1975 500R and a 1968 car fitted with a Suzuki Hayabusa engine. ‘I’ve been as far afield as Hungary in the 500R and have fitted four dogs in it!

‘They’re not great on motorways – you’re doing well to get 60mph downhill – so as you can imagine the tuning scene for 500s is massive. However, it’s ultimately a crude two-cylinder engine that you might increase in power from 18bhp to 35-40 – very expensive horsepower.

‘They’re easy to work on and cheap to run as a result, especially if you’re handy with spanners. Points and condensers are a problem – aftermarket reproductions are unreliable – but I converted mine to electronic ignition for just £50. All spares are cheap, partly because they’re small. Tyres, for example, only cost £35 each.’

Christine Anderson, Berkshire

Christine Anderson says of her 500F, ‘It’s been in my family since 1969 when my Mum bought it, and I learnt to drive in it in 1972. I took it on in 1979, using it for the 40-mile commute until rust took it off the road and two children got in the way of its restoration.

‘I got it restored at Ravenscroft Coachworks in London in 1997. It cost £12k over two years, driven by sentimental value because it wasn’t worth that at the time. It was partly because parts supply for 500s was so bad back then and a lot needed to be remade from scratch. It would cost comparatively less now and be a lot easier because the parts supply situation is very different nowadays.

‘Since then it’s been taken as far afield as Italy, Holland and Sweden – all on its original-spec 499cc 18bhp engine!’

Brakes The all-drum braking system works fine if it’s maintained, but wheel cylinders seize on cars that have been left standing, so see if the car pulls to one side under braking. Replacement cylinder seals don’t last long, so check for leaks from perished rubbers.

New cylinders are £40 each plus £20 each to fit.

Trim and electrics Apart from a few early cars, all 500s have a sunroof.

As it ages the material loses its weatherproofing, but an entire new roof (covering and frame) is just £120.

The retaining catches should be metal but sometimes cheap plastic replacements are fitted instead, and they break. Metal catches are available for £14 apiece.

High-quality trim is available in red, tan or black.

You can buy a complete set of seat covers for £390, while a carpet set is £144. You can even buy a repro rubber mat set for the 500F for a hefty £340.

The electrical system is simple but can give problems. The fusebox that sits in the nose is usually reliable, but the wire connecting the ignition coil and the distributor becomes brittle and breaks, so the engine cuts out or won’t start. But it’s a very cheap fix because a new wire should sort it.

Find a good example and a 500 should prove to be a straightforward, inexpensive running proposition

[ Sponsored by Carole Nash insurance ] Peter McIlvenny of specialist car insurer Carole Nash says, ‘This little Italian classic has soared in popularity in the last ten years with its cheeky looks and quirkiness you just don’t find with modern cars.

But don’t be fooled into thinking these little cars are a quick and cheap fix up that you can do on a bank holiday weekend.

Although the increase in values in the last few years has made some potential scrappers into viable propositions, take time to check the body for rust. Values are unlikely to rise above the market in the next five years but the 500L built from 1967 probably represents the best value and one you will be able to get the most out of and enjoy.’

Classic car insurance quotes: 0333 005 7541 or carolenash.com

1963 Fiat 500 Transformabile Lovely lhd example finished in Chiaro Verde and Aquamarine. Imported from Italy, the car had undergone a full restoration in 2016 by the previous owner. The car starts beautifully, runs well and is a joy to drive. The brakes are particularly good for a car of this age, the steering is tight and ride very comfortable.

Bought as a gift for my wife, the car just isn’t being used enough and deserves to be driven more. £16,950

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BOOKS & MODELS MODELS

1:18-scale Ferrari 328GTS KK, £96.99 This is mid-priced for a big diecast these days, but cheap for a highdetail Ferrari. It’s sealed-body but the roof panel comes off, giving a great view of the photo-realistic interior. Tantalisingly, the engine can be glimpsed through the louvres on the rear deck.

By Keith Bluemel, £95, speedagebooks.com, ISBN 978 0 9930251 2 9 Subheaded The Evolution of the Ferrari Testa Rossa, this gorgeous slipcased tome, the latest from Ferrari authority Keith Bluemel, does exactly what it promises and more. Although the potted history of Ferrari’s early days seemingly has to introduce every book on the marque nowadays, Bluemel acknowledges it but dispenses with it swiftly and gets straight down to detailing Ferrari’s Fifties racing masterpiece, the Testa Rossa.

Bluemel skilfully gives every reader something to enjoy here. Historians will relish the tales of Enzo clashing with the likes of Aurelio Lampredi and Romolo Tavoni. Motor sport fans will love the race-by-race accounts as the car attained greatness. And technical buffs will love the deep-dive into the secrets of chassis 0774, courtesy of owner Chip Connor.

The pop-art sense of fun that the cover heralds continues inside the book too, lending it a welcome lightness, an antidote to stuffiness. Discussions of the merits of the big-block fours versus small-bore V12s are interspersed with track maps, reproduction documentation and gorgeously indulgent studio photography. A beautiful, satisfying addition to the Ferrari canon.

Jensen

By David Davies, £25, joc.org.uk, ISBN 978 1 80049 560 9 Further titled The Surviving 3½ & 4½ Litre Cars, Davies’ book takes a break from the Jensen norm. So much of the marque’s literature is focused on the 541, CV8, Interceptor and Healey that it’s easy to forget Jensen’s prewar era. Sadly that’s not hard to do, because as Davies explains, there are hardly any of these glamorous art-deco cars left.

This is Davies’ first book. He’s a retired forensic scientist, and that approach serves him well here as he treats these cars’ histories as mysteries to be solved with relish. It’s more than just cars for Davies – he whisks us into the world of Thirties high-society, as fascinated by the characters who commissioned these cars as he is their technical aspects – but don’t worry, we get those as well.

Davies’ next book is about a lost mansion that his childhood home was built upon. It’s not about cars but we don’t care – we can’t wait to read it. More please!

Rover R8

By James Taylor, £15.99, amberleybooks.com, ISBN 978 1 3981 0121 0 This Nineties Rover may not appear to be the most popular of subjects, but Amberley’s fact-packed approach and willingness to tackle niche subjects with respect and comprehensiveness results in a fascinating book.

Taylor tells the story of the car that brought a sense of prestige to the Ford Escort class – and briefly knocked that car off its perch. It’s also a plucky tale of engineers squeezing a lot from a little, and Rover striving – successfully, it is argued – to establish a distinctive British mass-market semi-luxury identity apart from its partner Honda, with cars such as the Cabriolet, Coupé and Tourer.

We also get long-forgotten stories, such as the establishment of Rover Sport, the overlooked hot-hatch and even racing variants, and glimpses of what might have been, like the MG R8 Targa prototype. Well worth a £16 punt – it’s just downright interesting.

MORE T0 ENJOY Original Jaguar E-type

By Malcolm McKay, £65, porterpress.co.uk The classic everything-youneed-to-know guide revised and updated – by our own Malcolm McKay, no less.

Essential if you’re restoring or evaluating one.

Shutter & Speed 2

By Gary Critcher, £15, shutterandspeed.com More earthy, behind-thescenes glimpses at the oily side of Formula One in the Sixties and Seventies. A different, grittier slant on the high-profile glamour.

Humber Cars: The Post-War Years

By Stephen Lewis, £15.99, amberley-books.com More great value from Amberley on a lost British marque, including the intended Chrysler V8-powered Seventies rebirth that could have seen it re-emerge as a Jensen Interceptor rival, but which never happened.

Interesting reading.

Morgan 4/4: The Essential Buyer’s Guide

By Phil Benfield, £13.99, veloce.co.uk Gen up on everything you need to know about buying Morgan’s mainstay, including the charms and pitfalls of partwooden construction and how to evaluate examples for sale.

Vital if you’re buying a 4/4.

All these books are available from Chater’s, many with discounts. Go to chaters.com to find out more.

1:43-scale Audi 80 Quattro Norev, £39.99 A great affordable diecast of the car that brought Quattro to the masses. It’s inherently satisfying with neat proportions, and subtle replication of things like headlight mouldings. The metallic black paint is unusual for a model and picks out the sharp lines too.

1:43-scale Lotus 102B Spark, £59.99 It’s good to see Team Lotus’ last gasp of competitiveness captured like this. A surprisingly busy model given its simple lines, thanks to a complex livery reflecting Lotus’ sponsorship woes. Tells a bittersweet tale as well as replicating a great car.

1:43-scale Alpa LM Spark, £59.99 A what? Spark’s Le Mans odyssey continues to shine a light on unusual subjects, including this 1994 Group C oddity. It has a hefty resin construction and the shape is beautifully detailed – you’ll spend ages staring at its wheels, headlights and wing assembly.

All models are available from diecastlegends.com

Enzo’s Ultimate Redhead

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OUR CARS

Bicester Scramble ended in fuel leak

Standing out from the crowd wasn’t easy at Shelsley E-type 60th event

Proper mileage, at last 1962 Jaguar E-type fhc Owned by Phil Bell (phil.bell@bauermedia.co.uk) Time owned 11.5 years Latest/total mileage 458/108689 Latest/total costs £10.94/15,854 Previously Replaced half of the rear hatchback seal before Drive It Day beckoned

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y local roads must have two 185mm-wide grooves worn into them from 15 months when I could rarely take the E-type far. Then June arrived, and with it the first Bicester Scramble of the year followed by the E-type 60th anniversary gathering a week later at Shelsley Walsh hillclimb. With my new hatchback seal fitted, there was nothing to do but enjoy 45 miles of A-roads from Bedfordshire and to Oxfordshire. Proper E-type driving.

As the airfield, hangars and pre-1990 car park filled my windscreen, it felt like coming home and strangely alien all at once. Ahead lay a kaleidoscope of cars and despite visitor numbers clipped to 4000, there were enough to sustain the Bicester buzz without crowding. I had to remind myself to keep my distance and avoid the

temptation to rush around trying to speak to all 4000 people.

I left the event on the sort of high that saw every gearchange held off until the XK twin cam had given its best and the run home under a baking sun was as glorious as it was uneventful.

Well, until a whiff of fuel pervaded the cabin post fill-up.

I’d spilt a little, so didn’t worry, until that whiff became a stench when I parked at home. Lifting the boot floor panel revealed a puddle of petrol around the fuel gauge sender, and a dribble Fuel sender gasket running off the side of the tank. had smelly failure By the time I had a new cork gasket and the time to fit it, it was the night before E-type 60. After siphoning by brimming the tank I decided to head fuel to below the sender I had a tense for E-type 60 with it part full. The final leg time trying to scrape off crumbly old red after escaping the M5 for Worcestershire’s silicone sealant without it falling into the rolling landscape was bliss, and I enjoyed tank, until I had the idea of blocking the meeting a wave of 400 other E-types hole with an inverted beer bottle wrapped clinging to Shelsley’s steep hillside. in gaffer tape. Cork is on the FBHVC’s list As I wandered down to the paddock to of ethanol-incompatible materials, but mix it with historic examples awaiting I couldn’t find an alternative and in any their turn on the hillclimb, I mentally case, it has no trouble sealing my bottles thanked Jaguar’s engineers for giving us of malt whisky. Rather than test the seal such effective handbrakes.

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OUR CARS

The bacon saver, at least for the short term

No chance of the new battery overheating back here

Vent may look inconsequential, but it isn’t...

New-fangled battery puts BMW in charge 2004 BMW M3 Owned by Andrew Noakes (c/o classic.cars@bauermedia.co.uk) Time owned Eight years Latest/total mileage 650/104,204 Latest/total costs £104/£6062.66 Previously Fixed rear-view mirror

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t was in the middle of Storm Ellen that the BMW decided its battery was going flat. It helpfully indicates this by sounding its anti-theft alarm and refusing to shut up until the battery is dead flat, unless you do something about the dwindling voltage. Rigging up a battery charger in the middle of the night under a torrent of freezing rain was, predictably, not a lot of fun.

In any case that turned out to be a shortterm palliative rather than a permanent cure, as the battery wouldn’t hold charge. I’ve killed a few batteries over the years because the M3 tends to be used sporadically and drains its battery quite

rapidly when not in use. Unfortunately it isn’t parked near to a mains power supply so it can’t be conveniently trickle-charged.

I hook up a charger on a long extension lead and give it a boost when I can but often that isn’t enough to prevent the battery from becoming deeply discharged, rapidly leading to its failure.

A new battery was called for and I could have replaced like with like, but I wondered if there was a better option.

Modern cars with automatic stop-start systems tend to work their batteries hard and are often therefore fitted with absorbent glass mat (AGM) batteries.

They’re more robust and tend to have a long life even when ‘deep cycled’, which is the battery nerd’s term for ‘allowed to go (almost) flat’. Would an AGM battery last longer in a modern classic?

Bosch, Varta, Yuasa and Exide all confirmed that an AGM battery could be fitted and might survive occasional use better, though there were caveats. One was that AGM batteries needed to be kept cool,

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which could prove tricky for a battery in a hot engine bay but is no problem in the E46 coupé, where it’s mounted in the boot behind the rear wheel arch on the driver’s side. Another problem was that the high cost of AGM compared to conventional lead-acid batteries might render the whole exercise pointless, in financial terms at least. In the end the Exide EK700 AGM battery I found (£104 from tayna.co.uk) cost about 50% more than a normal battery but that was actually less than I paid for the one it was replacing. Shopping around certainly pays off – one well-known online retailer wanted to charge me a whopping £429.99 for exactly the same item.

Fitting was straightforward, though you have to remember to locate the tube and its connection elbow and fit them to the vent hole on the battery. If you don’t then as the battery charges there’s a chance of ending up with a bootful of very explosive hydrogen – the consequences of which might be even more irritating than the alarm going off in the middle of the night.

Learn how to restore, maintain and improve your classic car at www.skillshack.co.uk

CARS FOR SALE

HURST PARK Classic Cars A family business founded in 1938

AUSTIN MINI COOPER Mk 1 998cc 1966: Tartan Red with a Black roof, Red & Gold/Grey interior. Steel wheels. An original RHD Home Market example finished in its original colour scheme and retaining its original engine and registration number. A very nicely presented example. ...................................................... £26,995

MG MIDGET MK2 1098cc 1966: Tartan Red with Black interior piped in white.

Silver wire wheels, disc brakes. Original red soft-top and tonneau cover. Last family owners since 1968. 53,000 miles only from new. Lovely example of the most desirable Midget models ...................................................................................... £15,995

FERRARI 550 MARANELLO 1997: Argento Silver with Blu Scurro interior.

Alloy wheels. 32,000 miles only from new. Comprehensive service history. UK supplied example. 6-speed manual gearbox. Air conditioning and other usual refinements ...................................................................................................... £89,995

MERCEDES-BENZ 230SL (W113) 1967: Silversand with matching hard-top, black hide interior and black soft-top. Original steel wheels with body coloured hub caps. Automatic/P.A.S. Excellent history from new. A well-maintained example which has been the subject of much mechanical and cosmetic attention. Previously supplied by ourselves......................... £109,500

JAGUAR S-TYPE ‘R’ 4.2 Ltr SUPERCHARGED 2006: Liquid Silver with Warm Charcoal hide interior. Aluminium veneers. 18” Vulcan alloy wheels.

Two owners. 60,000 miles only from new. Full service history. Ultra-rare Eaton M112 supercharged, 400 BHP example. 0-60 in 5.3 secs.

JAGUAR XJ 4.2 Ltr ‘SERIES 3’ 1982: Sapphire Blue with Isis Blue hide interior. One registered owner. 25,000 miles only from new. A most unusual discovery ......................................................................................................... £19,995

AC ACE BRISTOL 1958: Dark British Racing Green with Red hide interior. Silver wire wheels. Green weather equipment. A BEX chassis numbered car supplied new in California. Purchased by a friend of ours in 2000 and subjected to a meticulous restoration and subsequent diligent maintenance. Fitted with overdrive, disc brakes to the front, a steering rack conversion, Halda and a Spitfire time clock! 25,000 miles since and well proven both in the UK and overseas....................................................... £229,000 JAGUAR XK 140 MC ROADSTER Left hand drive 1956: Signal red with Biscuit hide interior. Chromium wire wheels. Matching numbered example with a C-Type cylinder head and original overdrive gearbox. It now benefits from front disc brakes, electric fan, alternator et ................................................................................................................. £125,000

JAGUAR XJ6 3.6 Ltr (XJ40) 1988: Solent Blue with Savile Grey hide interior. Alloy wheels. Three owners. 36,000 miles only from new. Electric sunshine roof, rear sun blinds, heated front seats and other usual refinements. Last owner since 1991! ...£9,995 JAGUAR XJ-S 4 Ltr FACELIFT COUPE 1994: Jaguar Racing Green with Magnolia hide interior. Alloy wheels. Two owners. 57,000 miles only from new. Full service history. Air conditioning and other usual refinements............................................£15,995 MERCEDES-BENZ SL 320 (R129) 1994: Brilliant Silver over Graphite with Navy Blue hide interior and matching power operated soft-top. Silver hard-top. 8-hole alloy wheels. Three owners. 35,000 miles only from new. Rear seat, cruise control, heated electric front seats, headlamp wash/wipe. Original sales invoice, Data Card, tool roll, unused spare wheel. Comprehensive service history. Previously supplied by ourselves. ..........................................................................................................................................£14,995

WANTED: WE ARE ALWAYS IN SEARCH OF LOW MILEAGE ORIGINAL OR FULLY RESTORED EXAMPLES OF CARS OF THE TYPE THAT WE SELL. PLEASE ADVISE OF ANY SUITABLE CARS YOU MAY HAVE, OR KNOW OF, WHICH MAY BE FOR SALE ALL OUR CARS ARE ORIGINAL UK SUPPLIED UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED VIEWINGS STRICTLY BY APPOINTMENT

Hurst Park Automobiles Ltd

www.hurstpark.co.uk Tel: +44 (0)1372 468487 sales@hurstpark.co.uk 90

For thousands of cars for sale visit classiccarsforsale.co.uk

ADS ON TEST Panelwork is among this Volvo 1800ES’s strongest attributes

Several tasks for the new owner Idles a little high but no red flags

1973 Volvo 1800ES £18,650 Celebrity ownership, decent usable condition and not silly money – Nigel Boothman spies a smart buy

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his Volvo’s first owner was comedian Jimmy Tarbuck. His name, address and signature are on a copy of a microfiche record of the original log-book. Then from 1979 to 2015 it enjoyed one long-term spell of ownership.

Many receipts in the history folder are from specialists, although its MoT history shows little use in the last 10-15 years. Its last test expired in 2018.

An original brochure and handbook accompany the car, along with handwritten records of various works, although the date of them is not clear.

The comfy, high-backed seats prepare you for a relaxed experience rather than a sporty one. The selector track for the BorgWarner automatic gearbox needs a careful hand and ideally some adjustment; reverse is tricky to find and the D and 2 positions can be confused. But the transmission works well, with the car romping away and changing gear as it should. Once in top it’s more leisurely; the weighty steering and body roll dissuade you from flinging it through bends. There’s a bit more engine noise than expected – it might benefit from

some sound insulation, and the Webasto sunroof generates a ‘whoosh’ at 60mph. It stops as it should, straight and true.

The vinyl roof covering is in excellent shape, bar small blisters at the top left corner of the rear screen and under the offside quarter window. The panelwork is the car’s strongest point, with not a ding to be seen. Lower down, there is some overspray on the fuel tank, while much of the underside is covered in bituminous underseal, making it difficult to assess.

The history suggests periodic work rather than a full, off-the-road restoration. The wheels have some flaking paint, with smart rim-trims and Vredestein Sprint tyres that are starting to perish on the sidewalls. The chrome is generally very good.

The interior doesn’t quite live up to the beauty of the exterior. The seats are very good – re-trimmed in blue leather in the front while the back seats may still have their original vinyl. The elasticated door pockets are split and the carpets aren’t a great fit, the driver’s side sliding away to reveal some flaky paint that’s allowed surface rust to form. The centre console with the attractive Volvo eight-track player and radio moves around when your left

1973 Volvo 1800ES

legs knocks against it. Up above, there’s a split in the corner of the headlining by the sunroof, but the rest of it appears sound.

The engine bay looks serviceable rather than smart, with no leaks. Belts and wiring look fine (though the fuse box inside the car has no cover). The engine appreciates a dab of throttle to start first time, then settles to an idle of around 1000rpm – a little high but with no worrying noises, smoke or smells. It keeps its cool, and the brake fluid and engine oil are clean.

This is a pleasant old thing, with the air of an original car maintained as needs be. We’d want the gear selection sorted out before sale and the next owner could invest in the interior. It’s a little pricey but, given its history, it’s worth the outlay.

CHOOSE YOUR VOLVO 1800 Designed in 1957 by Pelle Petterson to replace Volvo’s glassfibre P1900 sports car, the P1800 didn’t enter production until 1960 after Volvo struck a deal with Jensen to build the car.

Volvo moved production to Gothenberg in Sweden in 1963, updated the car with straighter bumpers and a new name: 1800S. New 2.0-litre engine followed in 1969, although the 1800S remained visually unchanged.

Bosch D-Jetronic fuel injection was added in 1970 for the new 1800E. The car also received four-wheel disc brakes, alloy wheels, a black plastic grille and optional automatic gearbox.

Jan Wilsgaard-designed estate version, the 1800ES, joined the range in 1972, lasting two years before all 1800E production ended.

Quote £266.04 Comprehensive, 5000 miles per year, garaged. Call 0333 323 1181

Price £18,650 Contact A1 Classic Cars, East Lothian, Scotland (07730 921 769, a1classiccars.co.uk) Engine 1986cc four-cylinder, ohv, Bosch D-Jetronic fuel injection Power 125bhp @ 5250rpm Torque 115lb ft @ 3000rpm 0-60mph 11.3sec Top speed 116mph Fuel consumption 27mpg Length 4400mm Width 1700mm

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ADS ON TEST Apart from a few touched-in paint chips, the body seems excellent

Very tidy, with only minor flaws

Straight-six engine is in rude health

1981 Mercedes-Benz 280SL £29,995 This R107 is believed to be in unrestored, original condition, and has covered few miles during its 40 years, notes Richard Gunn

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his Mercedes SL is a cherished long-termer. It was with its first owner until 2006, having been in dry storage between 1994 and 2001. When he sold it, it had covered around 55,000 miles; since then it has only put on an extra 5000 or so. With service history dating back to its early days, there’s no evidence of this car ever having been restored.

Its condition is remarkable. The bright and shiny Signal Red paintwork is in excellent order, and stonechips are minimal; some have been touched up, but you need to look carefully to find them.

The most obvious blemish is the edge of the driver’s door which has lost some paint, but this has been nicely touched up too. The chromework is similarly fine and the colour-coded aluminium wheel trims are undamaged. The tyres are Kumho Solus KH17 195/70 R14 91H items all around, dated 2013, with plenty of tread left. The black hood is still very taut, with its three plastic windows unclouded.

The Cream Beige Sports Check interior is clean, with minimal wear. The carpets, protected by over-mats, display little

marking, and even areas such as the door pulls on the spotless door cards show no discolouring. There is a small mark on the right-hand side of the driver’s seat, which looks like it might have been made by a pen. The wood veneer has only a few tiny areas where the finish is beginning to lift, mainly around switches. A modern Caliber retro-styled radio/CD player is fitted; with its old Becker-style looks, it suits the car well. Electrics and dials function as they should, although the oil pressure gauge doesn’t always give a reading.

The engine bay has been well-detailed, and even the cam covers have escaped the usual mottling. Everything looks standard, with a lot of the original stickers still in place. The engine starts on the first turn of the key and runs smoothly and strongly, with no disconcerting noises. Beneath the car, the chassis has been thoroughly undersealed, and aside from one area in front of the offside rear wheelarch where the protection has cracked and allowed some surface rust to break out, there’s only sporadic cosmetic corrosion to be found.

Thanks to religious servicing, according to the service history, there is little to fault with the driving experience. There’s no

1981 Mercedes-Benz 280SL Price £29,995 Contact Greenside Cars, Holt, Norfolk (01263 713362, greensidecars.com) Engine 2746cc 6-cylinder, dohc, Bosch K-Jetronic fuel injection Power 182bhp @ 6000rpm Torque 177lb ft @ 4500rpm 0-60mph 9.5sec Top speed 129mph Fuel consumption 19-33mpg Width 4630mm Length 1791mm

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roughness when cold, and the car behaves exactly as it should, pulling strongly with no hesitation. For a convertible, there’s very little flimsiness – even on rough roads, scuttle shake is practically non-existent.

The four-speed automatic gearbox, rebuilt a few years back, does its job perfectly, and this SL is lively and responsive throughout its range. Kickdown gives a nice injection of zest, if needed, while the steering is sharp and direct, and the brakes highly effective. It’s a very easy classic to drive.

This is an excellent specimen that drives superbly, with its originality and low mileage adding bonus points. Although the price is hefty, it feels justified for such a prime example of one of Mercedes-Benz’s most enduring and popular classics.

CHOOSE YOUR MERCEDES-BENZ SL (R107) Launched in 1971, the V8-engined 3.5-litre 350SL marked the European debut of the third generation ‘Super-Leicht’ Mercedes-Benz, alongside its C107 coupé SLC counterpart.

The six-cylinder 280SL gave more frugality from 1973, but was joined by the 450SL. The range was mildly revamped during 1980, with the 350 and 450 variants replaced by the 380SL and 500SL. The 280SL disappeared during 1985, replaced by the 300SL which revived a hallowed MB title. Elsewhere in the range, the 380SL metamorphosed into the 420SL, and there was a new V8 flagship: the 560SL. After total production of 237,287 cars, the final R107 was built in August 1989.

Quote £442.91 Comprehensive, 5000 miles per year, garaged. Call 0333 323 1181

Jaguar XKR 5.0 V8 Supercharged Convertible (Face Lift Model) ONLY 28000 MILES. Midnight Black With Full Ivory Leather Electric Heated Memory Seats. Factory Options Included: Colour Touch Screen Sat/ Nav, DAB Radio, Bowers & Wilkens Premium HiFi with ipod /USB Connection, Reversing Camera,6 CD Player, Bluetooth Phone with Music Streaming ,Heated Steering Wheel, Ali Interior Pack, Wind Deflector, Red Brake Calipers, 20” Jaguar Alloys, Front/Rear Park Distance, Active xenon Headlights, Keyless Entry ,Full Jaguar Main Dealer Service History with Full MOT History. 2 Keys and all Booklets. These Final Edition LED XKR Models Have become very Collectable.Ultimate Colour Combination is without. Doubt One of the very finest we have seen. For More Detailed Information Please Call or email. ..................................................£41,995

Mercedes Benz CL63 V8 AMG Coupe 2007 7G Tronic Auto. ONLY 36800 MILES. Iridium Silver With Full Black Passion Leather Electric Heated Memory Seats. Colour Sat/Nav with Linguatronic, Dynamic Multi -Contour Front Seats with Massage, Reversing Camera With Guidance Lines, Front Seats Comfort Cool Air Ventilated, Black Ash Wood Pack, 20” AMG Alloy Wheels 5 Spoke, Harmon Kardon Surround Sound System with Logic, TV Tuner Digital reception, Keyless Go, Electric Rear Roller Blind, Intelligent Light System Xenon Headlights, Glass Tilt/Slide Sunroof, IWC Classic Interior Clock,Multi Function Steering Wheel. Full Mercedes Benz Main Dealer Service History with Service Invoices. and Full Book Pack. The Ultimate Modern Classic. For More Detailed Information Please call or email .........£32,995

BMW 330i M Sport Saloon 3.0i Petrol Automatic ONLY 38000 MILES. Metallic Le Mans Blue With Full Lemon Dakota Leather. Only 2 Previous Owners for many years and Sold by Sytner BMW in Sunningdale. Factory Options Included: BMW Professional HiFi, Special Order Lemon Dakota Leather, Heated Seats, M Sport Leather Steering Wheel with Multi Function Options, Cruise Control, 18” M Sport Alloys, Le Mans Blue Paint, Walnut Interior Wood Pack, Rear Park Distance Control, Power Fold Mirrors. Fully Documented Service History With Full MOT History, 2 Keys with Full Book Pack. These M Sport Cars are Now Very Collectable. One of the Very Finest Colour Options. For Detailed Information Please Call or email. ................................................................................................. £12,995

Jaguar S Type 2.7 V6 Diesel SE Automatic. ONLY 11000 MILES FROM NEW. (Face Lift Model) . Metallic Platinum Silver With Full Charcoal Leather Electric Memory Seats. Options Include: 17”Jaguar Alloys, Factory HiFi with CD. Walnut Interior Wood Pack To Dashboard And Door Capings Leather Electric Adjustable Multi Function Steering Wheel Including Cruise Control. Electric Seats. Auto Lights And Rain Sensitive Wipers.

On Board Computer. Ice Warning. Outside Temperature Gauge. Traction Control. Jaguar Premium Hi Fi Pack Including C D ) Auto Touch Electric Windows. Tinted Glass. Electric Door Mirrors. Jaguar Chrome Sports Grille And Twin Chrome Tail Pipes. Fully Documented Service History with Full MOT History. For more Detailed information Please call or email. .......................................................................................................£13,995

Jaguar S Type R 4.2 V8 Supercharged Petrol. ONLY 52000 MILES FROM NEW. Finished in Stunning Metallic Midnight Black With Full Charcoal Leather Electric Heated Memory Seats. Supplied New by Guy Salmon Jaguar of Maidstone on the 13-07-2007. Factory Options Included: Touch Screen Colour Sat/Nav, Alpine Premium HiFi With Multi CD, Adaptive Cruise Control, Ali Interior Pack, Heated Front Seats, Heated Front Screen, Bluetooth Phone, Power Fold Mirrors, Front/Rear Park Distance Control, 19” Jaguar Alloys, Cats ‘R’ Suspension. Fully Documented Jaguar Service History with Full MOT History, 2 Keys and Full Book Pack. This car is one of the very finest examples we have seen for a long time. For More Detailed Information Please call or email. .................................... £15,995

Mercedes Benz E400 AMG Convertible 3.0 V6 Twin Turbo Petrol 2015. ONLY 33000 MILES FROM NEW. Finished in Special Order Metallic Obsidian Black with full Red Leather Electric Sports Seats.Factory Options Inc: Red Seat Stitching,MEMORY PACKAGE FOR FRONT SEATS, BLACK ASH-WOOD INTERIOR TRIM, AIRSCARF NECK LEVEL HEATING AND REVERSING CAMERA WITH GUIDANCE LINES HARMON KARDON AUDIO SYSTEM,Bluetooth Phone/ Music,LED INTELLIGENT HEADLAMPS, 19” AMG ALLOY WHEELS,Colour Sat/Nav COMAND ONLINE , HEATED MULTICONTOUR FRONT SEATS. Full MB Service History A Very Rare Model and a Superb 4 seater Convertible...... £24,995

Mercedes Benz SL350 V6 Petrol 2003 Convertible. ONLY 30,000 MILES FROM NEW. Finished in Beautiful Brilliant Silver With Full 2 Tone Pale Grey Leather Electric heated Seats. MB Factory Options Inc: Glass Panoramic Power Roof, Colour Sat/Nav, 5 Spoke MB alloys, Power Fold Mirrors,Rear Park Distance Control, Grey Beech Wood Interior Pack, Wind Deflector, Multi Function Steering Wheel. Fully Documented MB Service History with Full MOT History. A Beautiful Classic Mercedes SL350 in Superb Condition. One of the very finest we have seen for a long time. ...................................................£14,995

Jaguar XJ 3.0 V6 Sovereign 2005 Petrol. ONLY 41000 MILES FROM NEW. Finished in Metallic Platinum Silver With Full Charcoal Leather Electric Heated Memory Seats. This One Previous Owner Car was Supplied New By Dunham Jaguar in March 2005. Factory Options Inc: Colour Touch Screen Sat/Nav, Rear TV/DVD Screens Multimedia Switch Pack, Adaptive Cruise Control, Front/Rear Park Distance, Xenon Headlights, Heated Rear Seats, P/fold Mirrors. Fully Documented Service History, Full MOT History. A Rare and Low Mileage Example. For More Information Please Call or email. ............................................................................................................... £14,995

Lagonda M45 Tourer

Milton Keynes

Aston Martin 15/98 Short Chassis 2 litre touring

Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato Race Car (Replica)

Jaguar E Type Series 3 V12 Coupe

Aston Martin DB2/4 MKIII

Aston Martin DB6 Manual

Aston Martin V8 Volante POW Spec LHD Manual

Jaguar XK150S LHD

Aston Martin V8 Vantage Zagato Left hand drive

Jaguar C Type Replica “Closest you will get to the real thing”

Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Aston Martin DB2 Drophead Restored Aston Martin DB4 S1 RHD Aston Martin DB4 S5 SS LHD Aston Martin DB6 Saloon Man RHD Aston Martin DB6 Volante Man RHD Aston Martin DB6 Vantage LHD

Aston Martin Jet Shootingbrake Aston Martin One-77 LHD Aston Martin Vanquish S LHD Aston Martin V8 S2 Saloon LHD Aston Martin V8 Vantage N400 Roadster Aston Martin V8 Vantage Special Manual Aston Martin V8 Vantage X Pack Coupe LHD

Aston Martin Virage Coupe Aston Martin Virage FULL 6.3 Man RHD Aston Martin V8 Volante LHD Aston Martin V8 Volante RHD Man Aston Martin V8 Volante Man RHD Jensen Healey LHD Rolls Royce Silver Spirit

ADS ON TEST The panelwork looks good and the paintwork is presentable

Lovely cabin could be made even better Six-cylinder ohv engine has some upgrades

1949 Bristol 400 £65,000 This is a rare opportunity to acquire the earliest of Bristols, but as Mike Renaut asks, how well does it justify the money?

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ith just 487 examples built, it’s unusual for a Bristol 400 to come up for sale, and this one is a lovely example. It boasts a few upgrades that make it better suited to our modern roads, and overall it has the feel of an older restoration.

The body and wings are in decent condition with no obvious damage or corrosion. The panel gaps are extremely good, and all the glass is perfect. Around the front screen some of the trim is tarnished, but otherwise the brightwork is decent. The paint is generally presentable but with overspray on the bonnet seals, some runs on the inside edges of the doors and a few small areas of microblistering.

Modern flashing indicators have been fitted fore and aft, as has a rear fog light.

The trafficator arms are present but not connected and the rear brake lights have been replaced by LEDs fitted in the original housings. The wheels are powdercoated and currently have no hubcaps.

The interior is the highlight of the car. The leather seats are in excellent

condition, and have probably been recently re-trimmed. Both doorcards are tidy while the carpets remain good overall, although the wooden dashboard is cracked in several places and would benefit from a polish to lessen the small scuffs. The period HMV radio has modern internals, including an MP3 input, and the dials and gauges all function – even though the rev needle bounces around a little under acceleration.

The headlining has some staining around the rear window, but we found no further water damage. The original jack is in the boot – no other tools, sadly.

The engine churns on the starter for a few seconds but soon settles to a steady idle.

The gearbox feels stiff – apparently because of the conversion to a Frazer Nash closeratio competition unit – but once familiar with its narrow gate the all-synchromesh unit is a joy to use, and the J-type overdrive works well, reducing revs by about 800rpm.

Steering is light at speed and admirably precise, while the brakes too are excellent – a result of the upgrade to front discs with four-piston calipers. The superb handling inspires confidence, even on bumpy roads.

A welcome addition is the conversion to an unleaded cylinder head, along with

1949 Bristol 400

modified combustion chambers with larger 100-series inlet valves, and gas-flowed inlet and exhaust ports. Indicated oil pressure was around 70psi when driving. Some oil seepage is to be expected and what little we spotted wasn’t of great concern.

The engine block has undergone a welded repair at some stage. Electronic ignition and an alternator have also been added, as has a larger brake servo and electric fan. Four Michelin radial tyres and a spare were fitted in 2012.

There’s a decent history file, including the original buff logbook and receipts for many of the upgrades. While the car shows its age in a few places, it certainly drives well. This, and the lovely interior, are the strongest selling points of this rare car.

CHOOSE YOUR BRISTOL 400 Introduced in 1946, the 400 was the first car built by Bristol, using Frazer Nash-BMW technology. Although chassis three and four were convertibles, standard bodywork was a two-door, four-seater saloon. The Type 85 straight-six was available in four states of tune: single-Solex with 75bhp, 85A with triple-SU D2s and 80bhp, 85B with a high-performance camshaft and 85bhp at 5000rpm, and 85C with three Solex 32B1s and peak power at 4200rpm.

The 400 Series 2, introduced 1948, was mechanically unaltered but featured bigger bumpers and a redesigned boot, with the spare wheel now externally mounted. Although succeeded in 1949 by the new 401, production of the 400 continued until 1950.

Quote £492.57 Comprehensive, 5000 miles per year, garaged. Call 0333 323 1181

Price £65,000 Contact SLJ Hackett, Warminster (01985 219551, sljhackett.co.uk) Engine 1971cc, six-cylinder, ohv, three Solex 32B1 carburettors Power 85bhp @ 4200rpm Torque 96lb ft @ 3000rpm 0-60mph 18.9sec Top speed 87mph Fuel consumption 26mpg Length 4663mm Width 1646mm

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ADS ON TEST

Red on red, on red...

A wonderful restoration, with rust-beating glassfibre wings

997cc ‘Kent’ unit is exceptionally fine

1966 Ford Anglia 105E £12,000 This may be considered big money for a little car, but when did you last see an Anglia this eye-catching, asks Paul Guinness

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his Ford Anglia is an unusual offering. A top-notch home restoration by a skilled former owner, it’s good enough to show, although not completely original in its specification.

The service history may not include much early paperwork, but the restoration is fully documented with a photo casebook so you know what you’re getting.

This is one of the best-driving 105Es we’ve encountered in recent years, with its fully rebuilt 997cc ‘Kent’ engine being delightfully smooth at idle and equally impressive through the gears. It feels genuinely eager. The four-speed gearbox (with synchromesh only on the top three) is slick and precise, the steering feels as sharp as any 105E’s ever did, and the non-servo brakes bring the car to a brisk halt. There’s nothing about this Anglia’s driving that causes concern; it feels like a well-sorted example that’s ready to go.

The restoration took the bodyshell down to bare metal, and there’s an impressive standard of finish. However, the front wings are glassfibre rather than steel – understandable given the cost and rarity

of new-old-stock wings. The replacements have been well fitted and the panel gaps are excellent, helping the car to look authentic. The paintwork is impressive, with only a small amount of bubbling in the front lowest corners of the doors, and the chromework is top-notch. There’s a slight crack in the nearside-rear jacking point and the front jacking points have been replaced at some stage, but everything looks structurally very sound. The matching set of King Star tyres appears to be very recent.

It’s exceptionally tidy inside, having been re-upholstered by its previous custodian and given new carpets. The red vinyl seats are in superb condition, as are the matching door cards and rear side panels. The red colour scheme extends to the steering wheel, carpets and painted metal dashboard, making this a particularly stand-out car. The red banding around the speedometer is non-original but looks the part, while the ‘Valerie’ insignia (presumably a previous owner’s name for the Anglia) won’t please everyone but should be removable. The odometer shows just under 42k miles which may be genuine given the way the car drives, although sadly it can’t be verified by service history.

Ford Anglia Price £12,000 Contact Bill Postins, Solihull (01676 533949, billpostins.com) Engine 997cc four-cylinder, ohv, Solex 30PSE1 carburettor Power 39bhp @ 5000rpm Torque 56lb ft @ 2700rpm 0-60mph 27sec Top Speed 76mph Fuel consumption 35-38mpg Length 3900mm Width 1435mm

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The engine bay is well presented and features the same red paint as the body, with re-sprayed black ancillaries. There are very slight cracks where the glassfibre front wings meet steel, but that’s to be expected. The rot-prone areas around the MacPherson strut mounts are excellent, with no signs of rust or previous repairs.

The wiring is tidy, and the coil and dynamo look quite recent. The same can be said for the hoses, and we discovered no traces of any coolant or oil leaks.

The humble 105E is no longer cheap and cheerful, hence the five-figure price tag.

This car is ready to show and enjoy, thanks to the high standard of its restoration, and the engine is one of the smoothest Kent units we’ve experienced in an Anglia.

CHOOSE YOUR FORD ANGLIA 105E Introduced in 1959, the 105E supplemented the old 100E Anglia, which was renamed the Popular. The new 105E was all-new, with Ford Thunderbird-inspired styling and a 997cc OHV engine known as the ‘Kent’. De Luxe trim option added a full-width chrome radiator grille.

In 1961, three-door estates and Thames vans were added to the range.

A faster version, the 123E Super, joined in 1962, with side-stripes and an 1198cc Kent engine.

A Michelotti-restyled version of the saloon with more conventional, less American lines, the Torino, was built in Turin from 1965 by OSI, and sold in mainland European markets.

Anglia production ended in November 1967 ahead of the Escort’s launch two months later.

Quote £215.17 Comprehensive, 5000 miles per year, garaged. Call 0333 323 1181