Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2022 i Classic Car Mart

54 I’ve often commented in this very column to the effect that one of the great things about the old car scene is that it’s constantly evolving and it’s something that’s particularly appropriate this month, since after 11 years this will be the last time you’ll see me and the Morris Minor in the corner of this page. If all goes according to plan, you’ll find current Markets Editor Jeff Ruggles there instead as he takes over the CCM reins. Naturally I’ve taken the opportunity to glance back at my first editorial welcome column in April 2011, when I commented on just how much I’d enjoyed a Mk1 Golf GTI and how fresh it felt even after 30 years – acomment I stand by even now these cars are celebrating…

Insurance specialist Hagerty is launching a 12-month paid internship in conjunction with charity StarterMotor, providing the successful applicant with an opportunity to gain real-world automotive industry experience. Following an initial application, selected applicants will be required to complete a series of tasks, including a video exercise and face-to-face interview. All applicants must be 18 or over on January 1, 2023, and must have at least five GCSEs (or equivalent) including English and Maths at Grade 4/C or better. The successful applicant will be awarded a 12-month paid internship, working with all areas of the Hagerty UK team – from planning and attending events to devising new marketing campaigns. Most of the internship will be based at Hagerty International’s UK headquarters located in Paulerspury, Northamptonshire. Anyone interested can apply for the…

1960s ROLLS-ROYCE & BENTLEY With the hefty body-on-frame construction and imposing grandeur of the Silver Cloud and S-Series models phased out in favour of the more compact unitary approach of the Silver Shadow and T-Series, automotive gatekeepers have often regarded the 1960s as the end of the traditional Rolls-Royce and Bentley. But while the outgoing models marked the end of an era, they offer good value when compared with some of the two marques’ later models. These separate-chassis 1960s models were continuations of the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud and Bentley S1 models first launched in 1955, which in standard saloon form were badge-engineered versions of the same car and only differed in minor details. However, by the beginning of the 1960s, customers could choose between the new Silver Cloud II and…

For six decades, the Porsche brand has been defined by the iconic silhouette of the 911 and despite an ancient Beetle-era design philosophy which persists today, it’s proved pretty much impossible to replace. Not that Porsche didn’t try of course. As early as 1977 the wraps came off the 928 which with its futuristic styling, front engine/rear transaxle layout and all-alloy V8 was as modern as the 911 was dated. It was, of course, very different though and the Porsche faithful largely stayed away, a problem not helped by the 928 being even more costly than the 911. The result was that the 911 stayed on... and on... and on. The alternative solution was to improve the firm’s offering at the other end of the range in order to bolster…

T heidea of a convertible with a a new one, but it’s fair to say the Mercedes-Benz folding metal roof wasn’t SLK kick-started the genre in the modern motoring age. Appearing as a concept at the 1994 Paris Motor Show it garnered plenty of attention, and with production model making its European debut at the 1996 Turin Show it arrived in the UK later the same year. Styled by Bruno Sacco, the compact roadster got its name f rom ‘Sportlich/Leicht/Kurz’ or Sporty/ Lightweight/Short, and it pretty much achieved each of those. Power initially came from a supercharged 2.3-litre four-cylinder that provided ample performance – 0-60mph took seven seconds – but as part of a facelift in 2000 that was joined by the SLK 200K with a 2-litre engine. At the…

I t’sperhaps not unreasonable to say that the BMC Landcrab missed its mark. Intended initially as a replacement for the Farina series, it grew too big, lacked the sense of style that came naturally to an Italian styled saloon, and unless your budget would stretch to a Wolseley the interior was austere in the extreme. Alec Issigonis was famously arrogant, and felt that regardless of the size of the car there was no need for any sort of luxury aside from space. Even when the car gained a six-cylinder engine, it stole few sales from Ford or Vauxhall. Ultimately the Landcrab would fracture Leyland’s mid range – there were two further efforts to replace the Farina in the form of the Maxi and the Marina, and it was this range…

Check out loads more news at WWW.CLASSICS-WORLD.CO.UK A lmost 40 years after its creation, Westfield Sportscars – the West Midlands-based company best known for its Caterham Seveninspired models – has gone into administration. A statement on Westfield’s website explains that Mark Bowen of MB Insolvency has been appointed as Administrator with immediate effect. Westfield had sold more than 13,000 cars worldwide since being founded by automotive engineer Chris Smith in 1983. Output peaked at around 400 cars leaving the company’s Kingswinford base each year. The first Westfield offered was a replica of the 1956 Lotus XI Le Mans car, which was usurped by the 7SE – paving the way for further Lotus/Caterham Seven lookalikes. So similar to the original was that early Westfield, Caterham objected and decided to sue. The…

Check out loads more news at WWW.CLASSICS-WORLD.CO.UK O ne of the UK’s bestknown track experience days, the Lotus Driving Academy (LDA), is relaunching, offering customers the chance to get behind the wheel of the all-new Lotus Emira. LDA sessions start on June 22 and will run on a Thursday, Friday and Saturday three weeks out of every four on the famous 2.2-mile test track at Hethel, the home of Lotus since 1966. Initially, three distinct LDA courses will be available: A Taste of Lotus, offering a 20-minute Emira drive on the full Hethel test track; An Introduction to Sports Cars, comprising a full-day programme giving guests two 20-minute driving sessions with a professional instructor, followed by a guided Hethel factory tour; and Tailor-Made Advanced, a bespoke full-day course with skills…

T heysay you shouldn’t meet your heroes but in this case it would also seem like a bad idea to revisit them. Not because the passage of time has dulled the feisty spirit of the iconic hot hatch you see here but because the sticker in the screen of this low-mileage, exceptionally tidy example makes me wish I’d held on to the identical car I sold many years ago. And when you factor in the little detail that the 205 GTI was kept company in the garage by an Escort RS Turbo you can see where the regret comes in... put the two together today and you could wave goodbye to most of the mortgage. Anyway no use crying over red pinstripes and all that; rising interest rates aside, it…

The best things come to those who wait – or at least that’s how the saying goes. Sometimes, they don’t come at all, which was exactly the case for Jaguar during its period of British Leyland ownership and the drawnout replacement for the XJ6. It took 14 years and a release from Leyland ownership to finally get the XJ40 from the drawing board to the showroom, or about six times the usual length of time for a new car’s development. The Alfa Romeo 164, by contrast, was ‘only’ a decade in gestation, which was still a woefully long time to wait compared with the norm. Yet, when both of these cars appeared, they were the most soulful and characterful of all the executive cars of the late Eighties and early…

Ifmildest of evolutions from the original Mk1, the Mk3 which was unveiled to the European press in September 1980 was a the Mk2 Escort had been the revolution. Not only did the car represent a giant multinational reacting neatly to a changing and more sophisticated car market but it also represented a shift in engineering principles. Whereas the first two generations of Escort had deliberately employed basic and conventional engineering in the interests of both ease of ownership and cost of production, the Mk3 leapf rogged the competition to provide independent rear suspension and modern lean-burn engines – plus of course, the f ront-wheel drive and hatchback which were now the norm across Europe. Project Erika as the car was known began life in 1976 and was to be a…

A fter a three-year pandemicenforced break, the Bromley Pageant of Motoring – one of the biggest one-day classic events in the UK – made its comeback on Sunday, June 12, when thousands of vehicles descended on Norman Park once again. With dozens of car clubs, special vehicle displays, a live arena and a brilliant mix of trade and autojumble stands, there was plenty for the whole family to enjoy. But as always, it was Bromley’s famous One-Make Parking that really drew the crowds, with huge numbers of individual entries representing most marques and all eras – including a number of real rarities. We were also there in force, handing out copies of CCB and offering the full range of Kelsey’s classic titles, with the Classics World stand also featuring three…

REVIEW: HISTORICS, ASCOT RACECOURSE, MAY 21 Performances were robust across many price ranges here, with two of the three vintage cars included in the auction selling for over £70,000. Pre-war results were also strong, as evidenced by a charming 1933 Morris 10/4 that shot past its estimate of £19,000 to sell for £28,000. The other end of the age scale showed similar vitality, with a 2015 Ferrari 458 Special proving its collector car status by settling at £379,200 to become the biggest sale of the day. It was a good day for top-end replicas too, with a wonderful 1953 Jaguar C-Type evocation making £164,600 and an Aston Martin DBR1 replica soaring over its estimate to reach £91,840. Adding a restomod twist was a 1983 Porsche 911 remodelled by Riviera Autobody…

I fyou want something quick, interesting and useful, there is only really one suitable class of car. The hot hatch. But its evolution over the years has been interesting to chart. Starting in the 1970s with what amounted to sports cars in hatchback shells, the genre was tamed in the otherwise excessive 1980s and slowly returned to its roots through the 1990s and 2000s. A modern Golf R owes more to the Talbot Sunbeam Lotus in concept than to the Mk1 GTI for instance – atrue alternative to an open sports car but with space for the family. And over the course of the hot hatch’s near 50-year concept life, that variety has meant that there’s something for almost anyone who wants to take the plunge. With that in mind…

The Orion’s next appearance will be at the Classic Ford Show, which takes place on Sunday 10th July. More details at www.classicsworld.co.uk. BENTLEY TURBO R Of all the cars on the fleet, our Bentley Turbo R responds worst to sitting around; as previous long-term custodian Paul Wager found, it’s best used at least once every week to keep its various complex and obtusely engineered systems ticking over. That schedule has been maintained by its newest carer, Rolls-Royce and Bentley Driver editor Nigel Boothman, but it had been a while since the car’s legs had been more thoroughly stretched. With a big trip in Scotland planned, I offered my services. The fuel costs attached to a long trip in our Turbo R have gone from pricey to absurd in recent months,…