February 2016
My love of old cars stemmed from my parents only buying what they could afford to pay for without gettig into debt and as a result the cars that they owned were somewhat older than many of our neighbour's. I was born in the late 40s and my father bought his first car a 1932 Fiat 514 in 1950 and this was the one in which he past his test. In 1955 when I was seven he replaced it with a 1939 Wolseley 12/48 the first car that I drove aged twelve which served us well until 1964 when it was replaced with a 15/60. I have never been interested in fashionable or concours classics but I love those of the type that were owned by friends and relatives during my formative years and which are as I remember them, warts and all. I own a few cars that date from the early 30s to the late 50s all of which are in well used but good original condition. I realise that others have a different perspective on classic car ownership and all views are important to the survival of our hobby. Read more
Sad news. The classic car world has lost one of its legends. Read more
Please correct the mistakes in this sloppily-written piece - it's an insult to a great man. Couldn't even spell his name...
Does anyone actually know how many cars Seinfeld owns? I've heard it's between 40 and 50 but it seems a bit of a mystery... Read more
Wow! That is so tidy. I learnt to drive in a Metro and them as my first three cars. I thought I'd never go back, but seeing this has made me think again. Read more
That shouldn't be for sale long, whats not to like. Have some fun in it for a year or two and you may double your money.
I wonder who buys these cars and what they do with them? Are they bought and used? Or are they just put into storage in a private collection? Read more
I had two Rover 800s in teh 19990s as company cars (no choice!).
They wallowed like preganant hippospotamuses - S curves were not recommended - and were prone to all manner of minor faults (like window switches 6 times in 6 months) - and some major ones (like HG failure at 60k miles).... Read more
I have owned loads of these, mostly the 2.0 manuals and auto, I used them for my private hire taxi bussines and they were great cars. Comfortable good on fuel and I never had any problems with any I owned. I also had a 89 2.7 Vittesse auto that was the best of the lot, along with an 87 825 sterling that also had the Honda engine. I have only had a couple of the later V6 Rover engine cars but they were also good.
A classic? I think so, if your playing the numbers game they have got to be a good bet....
Thanks for this interesting and informative article. It's nice to see a piece focussing on the ingenuity and innovation within the British motor industry. Hope to make it along to Gaydon again to see the new developments and new vehicles on display. Read more
Regarding the Triumph Acclaim - this car was assembled at Cowley (North Works), where Austin Maxis, and Princessses were built. The Acclaim was indeed a Honda Ballade, with Honda supplying all the components - even fixings. The fact that this car was so reliable when Austins were not is down to the fact that Honda's designers made sure that the car could be built on a moving assembly line. Austins were, in Cowley vernacular, "NDH" (not designed here). So the poor quality of BL products could not be blamed on the workforce.
How easy is it to put the original tyres on a classic car . And are they as good or as mordern in make . ?? Because of insurence matters and looks of course .. Read more
I am finally buying an MGB GT. Which insurance companies will einsure it without being a member of the MG owners club (which I am currently not but hope to be). Thanks in advance
Browse
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I was driving a mk4 zodiac when the brakes failed and i hit a A60 right up the back he stopped and i hit it again we got and i had to put my hands up as it was my fault we were just exchanging details and he said what happens now ,i said the insurance company will write it off and give you the scrap value for it as its old he got upset and said it was his fathers car and father had died what could i do i offered to repair it if i could get the parts .long one short i found one in a scrap yard this was in the 80s i needed a rear wing and tailgate,and bumper cost £70 the rear wings had leaded joins to the body so i cut it off pulled the back out fitted the /tailgate but used flexible filler i could have lead filled it but that would have been to much work , it was a good job finished it off with trafalgar blue cellulose and took it back he was over the moon .
the Zodiac just pushed the bumper in i thought A60s were stronger than the ford but proved wrong , best Wolsey i liked was the land crab 1885s not a lot people liked them but they were very comfortabe i dont do classics anymore to expensive last one was a Scimitar price of parts was getting to dear £70 for a water pump rip off , rebuit the salisbury axel , did the heads /valves /cooling system but sold it off in the end to a guy who buys them, this spring im clearing out all of the stuff i used to work on them with i forgot how stuff i had .
Old timers were a lot easier to work on than the chip cars we got today ,i had to go through a new learnig curve just to maintain my chip car , gone are the days when i used to put 3ltr camshafts in a 2.7 volvo then when they went i took the engine out and graffted a 245 4 pot onto the v6 gearbox worked a treat .
doing the older cars i learnt to solder /braze /gas weld /mig weld and do lead repairs along with spray painting and body repair these days its all chip kids and buy new parts or junk it !