Indice dei contenuti per June 2022 in Practical Classics

Our right to use our classic vehicles unhindered on the public highway is essential for the future health of our passionate pastime and the industry that exists to serve it. Our right, and the right of classic specialists, to work on them is also critical to that end as well, as is the future availability of the correct fuels to power our beloved cars. Our classic ecosystem relies on these assurances to thrive and keep our £7 billion p.a. contribution to UK plc going for many more years to come. Here’s the thing. I don’t see any reason why that shouldn’t continue to be the case. There’s an awful lot of ‘Daily Panic’ nonsense being paddled right now and it’s beginning to have an effect – creating the kind of…

IN THE NEWS Sir John Betjeman, became Poet Laureate in October, a role he held until his death in 1984. Betjeman’s poems were evocative celebrations of a Britain fast disappearing. Without him, St Pancras station would probably have been demolished. He was much less keen on Slough however. AT THE FLICKS In Hammer’s Dracula AD 1972, Christopher Lee starred as the world’s favourite blood-sucking Count, revived in modern London. His transport of choice was the Saffron Yellow Triumph Stag also driven by Sean Connery’s 007 in Diamonds Are Forever. IN THE CHARTS Out of the three singles Paul McCartney released during 1972 with his new group Wings, two were banned by the BBC. Give Ireland Back to the Irish was deemed too political, while Hi Hi Hi was censored due…

Dropping a Rover V8 into an MGB shell is a well-trodden route to achieving more power than the original B-series motor. But while planning his own conversion, Trevor Smith concluded that he could come up with something a little bit better. ‘My original idea was to go down the Rover V8 route, but it seemed like a lot of work for what would be a lovely sound, but only 137bhp and a basic gearbox. A casual remark by my son about using a Ford Duratec engine got me thinking. I discovered that it was quite easy to achieve 180bhp with a standard 2-litre engine, and because this engine is also used in the rear-wheel-drive Mazda MX-5 MkIII, a modern five- or six-speed gearbox could be used.’ As a retired engineer,…

In the 31 years since I dragged this old Fiat out of a scrapyard, I had never driven it until last year! The first test drive was terrible, but after all that time I was just happy to be carrying out the shake-down tests at long last. I bought the car in 1990 from a salvage yard. I probably should have left it, but there was just something about it that caught my eye. The 1300 and 1500 were nicely engineered saloons and estates, but the Pinifarina-styled Cabriolet was a cut above. I have to admit, I’d never clapped eyes on one until I found mine! Before this I had owned a Humber Sceptre, Ford Anglia, Zephyr 6 and various Mini vans and pick-ups, but I just really fell for…

I read the May issue of Practical Classics with great interest, especially James Walshe’s article about ‘classic car meets of the future’ and Richard Bremner’s article ‘25 Essential Drives’. I now work at college teaching Motor Vehicle to the next generation of mechanics and get asked what cars I would have if money was no object. They’re always amazed when I don’t respond with a list of supercars! I started working in the motor trade as an apprentice mechanic at a Mazda dealer back in 1985 when I left school. One day a customer brought in an MGB GT for service, I got the job and instantly fell in love with the little, underpowered Russet brown lump of rust, so much so that whenever it came back in, I would…

We’ve never been anywhere like this. Walking through the doors into the impressive reception area-come showroom of JLR classic is like walking into a modernist temple to these two great marques. When PC’s Matt Tomkins popped in to JLR Classic as part of his Team Adventure (see p34), he was completely blown away. Hosts Kim Palmer and Alistair Summerville take us deep into the 46,000 square metre facility, through glass doors and into the most incredible workshop we’ve ever seen. 54 dedicated bays allow JLR Classic to offer servicing and maintenance of classic Jaguars and Land Rovers, from E-type and Range Rover through to XJ220… the original factory wing protectors and tool shadow boards hang on the walls to the rear of the service bays. ‘Another part of the business’,…

1 How did you end up with an Isetta? ‘The car was bought by my great-grandparents in 1961. It apparently never ran properly, so it just got run around their land mostly. It is a UK-built (in Sussex) Canadian export car, all of which had four wheels. Sadly, for much of its life it sat outside the back of the house and the only attention it got was from me as a kid. I remember playing on it as a child in the mid-Nineties.’ 2 When was it rescued? When my greatgrandparents passed away, the car went to my greatuncle Gary in California, who stored it there. Finally, in 2020, I travelled down there with a trailer and brought it back to my garage here in Vancouver, Washington. I hadn’t…

1971 Citroën D Super Engine 1985/4-cyl/OHV Power 99bhp@6000rpm Gearbox 5-speed manual Work done Inspection of all mud traps. DS daily driving comes with a need to keep it clean! Life with an icon, eh! Tough, isn’t it? Can’t get petrol without being engaged in a chat. I go shopping and have to wait while people take pictures. On the motorway, you become aware of those around taking snaps on their phones. This happened on the way home from the PC Resto Show at the NEC in March. One of them was madly trying to film while tucked into my rear bumper at 70mph. Nice to feel popular. Maybe this is what it feels like to be a celebrity! However, I can’t help feeling awkward most of the time. Such attention…

When I fitted a modified 2500 saloon engine to my GT6, I knew with a 30 to 40 percent increase in torque and power output, the transmission was bound to need strengthening. Last year saw me fitting a higher-ratio final drive with limited slip differential, but the original gearbox and puny D-type overdrive had struggled on, while I exercised some restraint by avoiding using all the engine’s performance in intermediate gears. The transmission was always on borrowed time with the bigger engine. The question wasn’t whether to upgrade but how? There were several possible options. One obvious answer was to fit the larger Triumph gearbox from a TR or big saloon, which normally sits behind the 2.5-litre engine and would undoubtedly be strong enough. However, because of its larger external…

By the time the BX was launched 40 years ago, Citroën was part of Peugeot’s PSA group. The use of common components, more conventional engineering and conservative design might have been expected to rein in the brand’s trademark uniqueness, but they didn’t. The GSA’s air-cooled flat-four and Robert Opron’s subtle curves made way for an equally recognisable and modern package, satisfying both the loyal Citroëniste and encouraging newcomers to the marque. With Flaminio Bertoni’s classic Citroën designs still respected and admired, Gandini’s trademark lines at (confusingly) Bertone were another radical new style for the marque – a development of those seen on the Lamborghini Bravo and Silhouette, Volvo Tundra and other concepts. As none reached production, apart from 54 Silhouettes, here was a Citroën that would look unlike anything else…

VW Golf MkI resto We meet the enthusiast who restored his super-rare VW Golf L Team Adventure Our Walshe takes on the roads of Scotland in fuel-saving classics Buying guides Tips on how to buy the very best Volvo 300 and Range Rover MkIII PLUS An epic Vauxhall Sports Hatch restoration, a Jaguar XJ40 with a 45mpg BMW diesel engine, supercar speed with four-seats including Audi S8, BMW M5 and Lotus Carlton, an MGB GT with GT6 power, plus essential tech advice from our workshop, including refurbishing your seats, nailing Triumph trunnions and fixing your hinges! JULY ISSUE ON SALE JUNE 8 MISSING US ALREADY? Then come join the conversation at Practical Classics on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter PAY LESS AND NEVER MISS A COPY! See p66…

SAT-SUN, MAY 7-8 WARKS Land Rover Show at the British Motor Museum, CV35 0BJ (britishmotormuseum.co.uk). SUN MAY 8 W YORKS Huddersfield Auto Retro Jumble, Old Market Building, HD1 1RY (phoenixfairs.jimdofree.com). OXON Wallingford Car Rally, town centre (wallingfordcarrally.org.uk). NORTH YORKs NY500 Autojumble, Malton, YO18 8EA (ny500.co.uk). SUSSEX Southern Classics Society meet, Shoreham Airport, BN43 5FF (southernclassics.org.uk). SURREY South of England Classic Car Meet at Leatherhead Leisure Centre, KT22 9BL (tssc.org.uk). ABERDEENSHIRE How Many Left (Rare Breeds Day) at the Grampian Transport Museum, AB33 8AE (gtm.org.uk). WEST MIDS Mini Day at Himley Hall, DY3 4DF (britishminiclub.co.uk). HANTS Basingstoke Festival of Transport, War Memorial Park, RG21 4AG (tinyurl.com/4ud3kxyu). MANCHESTER Breakfast Club at The Veterans’ Garage, Eccles, M30 7SA (veteransgarage.co.uk). TUE, MAY 10 WARKS Gaydon Gathering at the British Motor Museum from 5pm, CV35…

While there’s a landmark car for every year of the past century, the stars have aligned in 2022 for some truly significant birthdays… not least the centenary of Britain’s ‘motor for the millions’, the Austin Seven. In one fell swoop, Herbert’s little scamp wiped virtually every dismal ‘cyclecar’ from Britain’s roads in the Twenties and made its creator a wealthy man. Austin, having patented so much of the Seven’s tech, gave himself a two-guinea royalty on each car built and thus, a soon-to-be illustrious British car industry was born. The opposite end of the 20th century is represented by another momentous Brit motor. Jaguar’s final fling on the classic XJ theme is 20 years old this year. The X350 is represented here by 250bhp of woofling 3.5-litre V8. Similarly elodious…

Clues Across 1 Informal term for a convertible (7) 5 Which new body style joined the Porsche 911 range in 1967? (5) 8 Range of TVR sports cars from the Seventies (1-6) 9 Lancia coupe and saloon that survived until 1984 (5) 11 The name behind the Ariane (5) 12 See 20 across 14 & 3 down He designed the Volkswagen Beetle (9,7) 18 Era of the Riley Pathfinder (7) 20 & 12 across Virages and the like (5,7) 22 Honda’s luxury brand (5) 23 The Vauxhall Carlton’s big brother (7) 24 A 903cc Lancia car made until 1953 (5) 25 It was replaced by the Daimler Conquest (7) Clues Down 2 Volga country (6) 3 See 14 across 4 Kadett-based GT produced between 1968 and 1973 (4) 6 Estate…

Austin Cambridge A60 Parked outside the old County Hall on Station Road, Truro. Crispen Rosevear, Truro 1999 Nissan Maxima QX V6 I saw this Maxima QX in Woodbridge. It looks like a daily driver. Richard Smith, Ipswich 1996 Alfa Romeo 164 Super This was at the local vet’s in Richmond. Can’t remember the last time I saw one. James Glen, North Yorks 1983 Fiat X1/9 Took my wife’s 500 Abarth to Tesco and found this X1/9 in the car park. The dashcam suggests it’s in regular use. Chris Gunzi, Southsea Fiat 850 I thought you might like this Fiat that I spotted in Faro, Portugal. Hugo Hughes, Berwick-upon-Tweed 1984 Renault 4 I snapped this LHD import in a car park a short walk from home. Never saw it again, sadly.…

Calm yourself now… I know how exciting this must be for you to read. It’s exciting for me though, as this new tank takes the 2CV’s fuel capacity from 24 litres to 40. Made of thick plastic and filling the void around the 2CVs chassis, it’s simply plug and play and means a potential 350 mile range flat-out at 70mph when I hit the road to Italy next month. I bought it from Burton 2CV Parts in The Netherlands but forgot about import tax and was stung with a £72 charge. My first lesson in this new post-Brexit world. PAID £244.31 VERDICT Bigger tank means many extra miles of fun!…

Exotic… yet satisfyingly sensible. The ‘Sports Leicht’ series of Mercedes-Benz has been providing well-heeled owners sumptuous cabin comfort combined with outstanding road manners and svelte good looks decade after decade. Here, we study the full range of SL models from the first of the breed, the graceful ‘Pagoda’ to the SL 55 of the new Millennium, with its absurdly brutal performance. In between, there’s the Seventies svelteness of an R109, peerless quality of an R127 and the baby SL of the Nineties, in the form of an SLK. All aim to achieve the typical Stuttgart principle of finest quality engineering hand-inhand with subtle style, but which one would we want in our fantasy garage? Our writers head for the Fantasy Forecourt to decide which SL is the one for them.…

1988 TOYOTA MR2 Andy Wilkin, T’North The original – and most would say best – Mr Two. Just be sure to look out for rust, Andy! 1994 FORD ESCORT COSWORTH Phil Pughe, Brighton One of the most popular (yet least successful) rally cars. Because Ford. 1986 FIAT PANDA David Worrall, Liverpool Also not known for its corrosion-resisting abilities is Dave’s ace little Panda. Looks like he keeps it in fine fettle, too. We can help… So many cars here that we would all love to have on our drives. Call us to discuss your requirements, so we can help turn your modern classic dream into a reality.…

Buying & selling modern classics in the real world Nathan Chadwick They say never go back. Relationships, homes, Peterborough city centre... but also cars. Better to move on to brighter things, they say. Sorry to let ‘they’ down – I’ve just bought my old Alfa 166 Ti back, three years after I sold it following it being deemed a Cat D write off. Readers of Modern Classics will remember the story, but for the uninitiated... a one-family-owned car from Bedford, I bought it in early 2018 and was working through the many bodges when an Audi driver used it as a brake one morning. Fixing bodges and the crash damage were too much for my meagre stipend, so I passed it onto some fervent 166 enthusiasts. The thing is, as…

Kettle on... time for some tall tales from the PC workshop You know what you are letting yourself in for with an Alfa, heaven and hell. I’ve enjoyed the services of two 156s in the past, a V6 and a Twinspark, both excellent and beguiling in equal measure, but for me the Nineties hero that Alfa gave us has always been the Type 916 GTV. I’ve driven both V6 and four-cylinder cars, in both coupé and Spider form and have some very specific responses. The V6 delivers power and noise, the four-cylinder balance and poise. Which means in the 916 Spider I prefer the V6… it makes for a fantastic boulevard cruiser and top down power house. For the Coupé however, it has to be the Twinspark. It’s lighter and…

We left you last time just a week away from the PC Classic Car and Restoration Show, where the Rebel was set to be unveiled on the Classic World Arena. However, the bodywork was turning into a time-sponge and the 261 polyester spray filler had only just been applied to the body. After a day off to let the 261 harden fully, Steve Brown, Technical Manager for HB Body was back at CBR and joined by Matt Tomkins and CBR’s Jon Bentley for a day of blocking. Steve had sprayed a guide coat on top of the 261 to help identify any low spots and the chaps set to work. First, 320-grit paper was used to shape the car before 500-grit abrasive was used to remove any scratch marks left…

START DAY 1 REMOVE GEARBOX Three-piece kit This three-piece kit includes the clutch friction (or driven) plate, the clutch cover with its diaphragm spring and a new release bearing. Merely replacing a worn friction plate is a false economy. Gaining access Disconnect the battery. Raise the car and secure on axle stands to get access to the gearbox from below. If the gearbox is removed through the cabin, remove front seats, carpets and transmission cover. Remove clutch actuation For hydraulic clutches, unbolt the slave cylinder from the bellhousing and tie it out of the way. Cable operated clutches will need the cable to be disconnected after slackening off its adjuster. Remove starter motor The starter motor bolts through the engine backplate and bellhousing. Undo its mounting bolts, withdraw from the…

THIS MONTH WE LOVE… Sealey’s new Modular Storage System Combo Promo Price: £3299.94 sealey.co.uk Proper storage can lift a workshop from being simply a dry space to work to a place of pure joy. We’ve just installed this modular system from Sealey in the PC workshop and it has already won the hearts of us all. Sturdy, self-supporting, well thought out and offering sufficient storage for everything you could need for your classic – as well as an integrated bin and blue roll holder – it allows everything to have its place and trip hazards to be a thing of the past. Plus, because it is modular, you could add extra units to the set-up as space and budget allow to create your own perfect workshop. The units are heavy,…

1988 Land Rover Ninety Engine2494cc/4-cyl/OHC Power 85bhp@4000rpm Torque 150lbft@1800rpm Gearbox 5-speed manual + LR 0-60mph 22.3sec Top speed 76mph Fuel economy 18mpg A Defender 90 was the first vehicle I ever laid a spanner on. At the tender age of 11, and as a Boy Scout eager to get my ‘Mechanics’ badge, it was a school playground brake pad swap that first introduced me to the world of spanner spinning. So I blame troop leader Steve Rolfe entirely for my latest folly, the joint purchase with my wife, Emmy, of a very broken 1988 (pre-Defender) Ninety from a family friend. Emmy’s a gardener, I tow things occasionally and we live in the countryside where snowfall sometimes reaches three or four… centimetres… so it wasn’t difficult to sell ourselves on the…

‘Untarnished by the trappings of history’ Of the many great conversations I had during the wonderful Practical Classics Classic Car and Restoration Show that recently took place at the NEC, one wedged in my mind tighter than a rusty wheel nut put on by a tyre and exhaust chain some twelve years ago. I was making my personal tour of the halls in a landaulet carriage pulled by four strong horses, meeting the public as an elder statesman does. ‘Ah, Michael Brewer. I see. What exactly do you do?’ ‘Hello, Daniel Hopkins. Ah!’ I was delighted to attend a gathering organised by Motul to meet two 23-year-olds, Lucy Busby and Ethan Blake-Jones. They are presenting a new televisual programme called Paddock Speedshop, to be shown, we gather, later in the…

Why you want one Back in the mid-Fifties, just as the Suez Crisis was causing fuel shortages, BMW made use of the licence it had recently bought to build a tiny Italian car. The firm flung its own single-cylinder OHV motorcycle engine into the back of the Iso Isetta and the little mite began flying out of showrooms. It was even made in Brighton from 1957 to 1964, such was our appetite for the bubble car. BMW refined the design with meticulous attention to detail and was rewarded with sales that lifted the company from the doldrums and set it on the road to world-beating success. When launched, the Isetta was minimal motoring at its finest – a comfortable, spacious driving position high enough not to feel intimidated by other…

To say the XJS took a while to come good is putting it mildly – it took decades for it to emerge from the long shadow cast by its predecessor. But Jaguar never gave up on it and by the Nineties, it had finally evolved into the car it always should have been. As is often the case with machines made on these shores, the later XJSs are the finest. Best of all is the Celebration Convertible. This striking example, offered for sale recently by The Market, is one of these unicorns. Its 4-litre straight-six engine makes 238bhp and allows this party Jag to hit 60mph in seven seconds and top out at 150mph. What was this even plusher XJS celebrating I hear you ask? The 60th anniversary of Jaguar…

If you’re after a classic supercar with blistering performance but an engine that doesn’t explode every ten minutes, you’ve come to the right place. Add stunning good looks and surprising comfort to the list of strengths, and the first-generation Honda NSX presents itself as one of the most uniquely brilliant sports cars of all time. That Honda badge means Jazz reliability with an added dose of over-engineering, thanks in part to some influence from Formula 1. Honda-engined cars from both McLaren and Williams won the F1 world championship every year between 1986 and 1991, and that race-winning engineering expertise was crucial when it came to making the NSX a successful production reality. Previewed in 1984 as the HPX concept (HPX stood for Honda Pininfarina eXperimental), the project was given the…

Danny Hopkins Probably the least glamorous, but most useful car I have ever bought. It’s perfect. Precisely the sort of car that makes Bangernomics a ‘thing’. Unremarkable, unvalued and unappreciated – this is a car of a certain age that would otherwise be crushed. Previous owner, Kenny Robertson of Edinburgh has been buying Practical Classics for years and had had the Civic off the road for about four years. He had hoped to do some work on it but was about to lose his driveway space so he got on the phone to me. A deal was struck and a place on Clive’s trailer of transportation was booked. The Civic was running when Kenny parked it up and, after arrival on the trailer from Scotland, his prediction came true… it…

Service due! Is it that time already? I’ve been putting a few miles on the Puma and although on paper it doesn’t need a service, an oil change seemed wise as the engine was reinstalled way back in October and I’ve piled on the miles since then. Having too much fun, you see. I don’t want to run it into the ground, but when the opportunity comes up and I am due to be somewhere with fun roads in the vicinity, the temptation to take the Puma is too much to resist. A recent trip to Sheffield meant a spin through the Peak District (PC, Spring 22) and most recently, I returned to my Gloucestershire hometown for the weekend. This usually means a dull trip down the A14, M6, M42…

It was the moment of truth. I’d trailered the Land Rover 90 project my wife Emmy and I had just bought as a joint project to Shropshire to see the experts at Britpart behind Land Rover Owner International magazine’s late 110 Defender (see Team Adventure on p34) and, notebook and screwdriver of truth at the ready and the car raised on a four post ramp, it was time to find out exactly what I’d bought. Britpart MD Paul Myers might be the man in charge of this enormous company, but his roots as a Land Rover enthusiast are clear. Shirt and tie, but filthy hands within minutes of the car going up in the air, it’s clear we’re going to get along. Armed with an encyclopaedic knowledge of the parts…

I own a Mitsubishi Space Wagon and various electrical things either don’t work, work slowly or dimly, or have a life of their own. The loom is full of Scotchloks, extra switches and other unfathomable additions. Where do I start?! FIRST IMPRESSIONS 1 Where to start? Get a wiring diagram. It’s impossible to guess how things are connected on all but the oldest and most rudimentary cars. Designers can wire things in ingenious ways and it’s impossible to second-guess this. 2 Uninvited guests That’s why looms end up with crude additions, Scotchloks, extra wires etc – someone has failed to understand the problem (usually a simple one) and has (often badly) reverse-engineered a solution. 3 Unwanted extras In the case of a loom with lots of unfathomable additions, we’d advise…