Table of contents for March 2025 in Practical Classics

Recaro saved from bankruptcy Automotive parts supplier, Proma Group, has saved the world’s oldest seat maker, Recaro Automotive, from bankruptcy. Recaro went into administration in July 2024, but will be re-launched in Europe early next year. recaroautomotive.com Haynes big bash Haynes Motor Museum in Sparkford, Somerset, has announced its own signature classic car show, The John Haynes Classic, taking place on Sunday September 7, 2025. This new event pays tribute to John Haynes OBE, the visionary behind the iconic Haynes Manual and founder of the Museum, celebrating his legacy through a day filled with heritage, nostalgia, and motoring passion. Visit johnhaynesclassic.co.uk for more. GSF parts competition GSF Car Parts is launching its Get Your Motor Running competition this month. It wants to hear your tales of restoration and frustration and…

Castle show makes a comeback The Classic and Supercars show will again take place at Sherborne Castle in Dorset, on Sunday July 20, 2025. Last year, it raised over £65,000 for Rotary, Lions, Round Table and the Yeovil Opportunity Group. Barry shows off his own collection Isle of Wight motor trade legend, Barry Price, opened his own collection of classics to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease charities, after being diagnosed with the condition himself. Among the classics on show were an Enfield Electric and the garage’s own Mini van. Help find £3k for cancer sufferer to enjoy his Mini The wife of a Mini enthusiast with cancer is raising funds to get her husband’s Mini restored while he is still able to enjoy it. You can donate to Louise Carlisle’s…

One size fits all LOCKING ADJUSTABLE WRENCH £39.02 Although not a replacement for a nice set of Metric, AF or WW spanners, as applicable to your classic, a decent adjustable wrench is always a useful thing to have in your toolbox, or in the car, as it can get you out of trouble if you haven’t got the correct-sized spanner or socket to hand. But the very nature of the movable jaws means that it can slip or not grip very well, especially if the fastener is worn or rounded-off. Well, here’s the solution from Laser Tools: a 250mm adjustable wrench that features a grip-wrench-style locking mechanism, providing a superior hold on fasteners compared to standard adjustable wrenches. With an adjustable jaw capacity ranging from 0 to 30mm, this tool…

Beeley, Derbyshire, April 1976 A side from the demise of the post office (in the centre of this photo), Beeley in the Derbyshire Dales has scarcely changed in the 49 years since this picture. There’s even probably still a yellow Volvo estate parked somewhere here in Devonshire Square. Probably the most eye-catching car though is the Ford Escort Mexico in Monza Blue. Launched to commemorate Ford’s 1970 London to Mexico Rally success, 9382 of these attainable sporty MkI Escorts were built. Next door is a Volvo 240 DL, with the inaugural sloping grille and round headlamp nose. The wing-mounted mirrors are an unusual fitment given that Volvo provided door mounting options. A Jaguar XJ6 is next, although without seeing the grille, we can’t tell if it’s a Series I or…

What did your grandparents drive? This is my grandparents’ Standard 'Flying' 8. As far as I know the Standard was the only car they ever owned, and they were still using it when it was considered a very old car. It was mainly driven by my grandmother. I remember travelling in it as a child when it was loaded up with four adults and two children. The children sat on little wooden stools in the rear footwell. They finally sold it when they gave up driving. Peter Frost The last car my grandad bought brand new was a 1994 Hyundai Scoupe. I loved that car. Alex Iain My grandad Jimmy had a Fiat 500 and later a Cortina MkIII. The driver’s seat faced roughly 30 degrees from dead centre and…

Saab 900i In Tenby and I spotted this superb condition Saab 900, complete with North Wales registration. Chris Gunzi, Southsea Mazda 626 My son Oliver and I spotted this old Mazda 626 in Dronfield near Sheffield recently. It was well used and abused and still in everyday use by the looks of it! Matt Lee Smith, Scarborough Ford Consul MkII I spotted this Ford Consul MkII in the town of Viñales, obviously surviving both the ravages of time and current severe shortages of fuel. Geoff Bell, via email Land Rover SII I saw this Land Rover in Aldeburgh, Suffolk – pretty certain it’s still a daily driver! Richard Smith, Ipswich Renault 4TL I spotted this almost-perfect Renault 4TL while on holiday in Sintra, Portugal. Roy Jeffrey, London Fiat Croma Rare…

Like many of us into the most popular of classics, I have been spoilt rotten in my fifteen years of Morris Minor ownership. While parts are easily obtainable for every technical obstacle encountered, it’s also thanks to great support from an extremely active Morris Minor Owners’ Club. However, there are so many British badges that don’t receive the same level of widespread adoration – and I worry that many of them face an uncertain future. Through my YouTube channel IDRIVEACLASSIC, I have been focused lately on connecting with clubs dedicated to the less well-known car makers – the underdogs of our community. One of those, is Standard. Supporting Standards from pre-war to the post-war demise of the marque; the Standard Motor Club is brimming with enthusiasm and an army of…

As someone who’s lived and breathed cars all my life, there’s a bitter irony in struggling to keep my own vehicle roadworthy. Welding, that essential skill for saving cherished classics, is starting to feel like an endangered art form — and it’s driving me to despair. I know, I know, this is Practical Classics and I should do my own, but having tried it years ago, I became a master of creating something resembling bird guano. It was a mess. When the bright lights of motoring journalism drew me south, I found myself working around classic cars. Joining the Practical Classics team meant I had easy access to people who could weld, and I took this abundance of talent for granted. But fast forward to 2023, and things have changed.…

Having only very briefly mentioned the Renault Trafic camper belonging to my parents in my most recent Staff Car Saga (PC, December 2024), I was pleasantly surprised by the number of readers who took the time to email me in answer to my closing question – did the old van deserve to live again? The responses received were universally in agreement with the conclusion that I’d quickly come to myself, in that it was indeed worthy of some time and attention to (hopefully) get it back on the road. One kind reader even approached my colleague Matt Tomkins at the NEC Classic Motor Show at the NEC in November, clutching a Trafic workshop manual that he thought might prove useful to me. Sadly, Matt didn’t quite catch the gentleman’s name…

My Ford special was created by its builder, Bill Alderton, for a single purpose: for him to use to go hillclimbing and sprinting. He competed in the car from 1958 until he sold it on three years later. He won his class at Harlyford in 1960 and competed at North Weald and Westbrook Hay but I am trying to research other entries and results – if you can help please get in touch. Sadly, many hillclimb venues have been lost to property development and the need to meet modern noise and safety regulations. But one venue has reversed this trend: Kop Hill. The original Kop Hill Climb ran until 1925 when an accident caused not only the end of competition on Kop Hill, but the end of all high-speed public…

Clubs from all corners of the classic car world have announced a range of exciting anniversary events for 2025. Plans are in full swing to mark a significant year for models including the Lotus Esprit and Éclat. The Chapman family will host the third annual Classic Team Lotus Garden Party in June to mark 50 years of the two sports cars, seen here being launched at the British Motor Show at London’s Earl’s Court in 1975. Dozens of Lotus classics will be shown at East Carleton Manor in Norfolk on June 14- 15. Tickets are available at CTLgardenparty.com. The Triumph TR7’s 50th birthday will be celebrated on the weekend of August 22-24 at Silverstone Festival where owners get the chance to take part in an anniversary lap of the circuit. That’s just…

A classic car enthusiast whose charity car tour featured in PC earlier this year has handed over £1200 to the Multiple Sclerosis charity, MS Trust. Worcestershire-based Mark O’Neill, a retired gas engineer who restores cars for fun, set up Classic Car Charity Tours via Facebook, and decided to support MS Trust in support of a friend. ‘I heard a dear friend had been diagnosed with Multiple sclerosis and the condition was progressing, compounded by long-Covid and diabetes,’ said Mark. ‘He and I spent years hiking and climbing mountains together, training and supervising young people engaged in the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme. ‘It is hard to believe how the health of an amazingly fit and strong young man could be so heavily and diabolically affected by this horrid disease. The…

On the Triumph Sports Six Club (TSSC) stand at the NEC in November, you may have spotted a Spitfire project, with a fascinating story behind it. Simon Morgan is one of the area organisers for the Shropshire group of the TSSC, and he told us: ‘In the Eighties, Karen Miller was given this Spitfire MkII by her father for her 18th birthday, but she didn’t enjoy driving it. Her dad put it in his garage to restore for his retirement, but things got in the way, and it sat in his garage, up to the point about 15 years ago when he died, in Severn Hospice in Shrewsbury. ‘Karen contacted the TSSC Shropshire group to see if we could use the Spitfire to somehow raise cash for the hospice. Since then…

Q What is your job? ‘I am Chief Executive of the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu. Beaulieu is basically a family concern and, as a visitor attraction, it includes the house and the grounds. The National Motor Museum is part of that attraction… its shining star if you like. Although I would say that! Officially the NMM is an independent charitable trust within the Beaulieu attraction. This relationship came about because Edward Lord Montague, the previous Lord Montague, decided to put his entire collection, which formed the basis of the museum, into trust for the benefit of the nation. It makes the place unique. The whole concern is a family and our staff retention rates reflect that. I have been here since January 2022, so I’m a mere youngster, although…

£1 AN ISSUE JANUARY SALE* *Offers available from 30/12/24, T&Cs apply With over 40 titles to choose from, find your next subscription and save on shop prices at greatmagazines.co.uk/jansale T&C’s: *Saving applies to initial trial term. The minimum term is 12 months. Offer closes on 2 February 2025. Subscriptions will start with the next available issue. Offers cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer. Trial prices vary based on magazine title and type of subscription (Print only, Print+ or Digital) For a full list of available subscriptions and prices, visit greatmagazines.co.uk/jansale. Trial offers are vailable via recurring payments only and will automatically convert to a 3-month, 6-month, or 12-month subscription payment after the trial period. If you wish to cancel before the end of your trial period, please…

Daimler V8 250 On the outskirts of the Lake District lies an assembly of corroding classics in a quiet country lane, as spotted by Jon Sole from Cambridge. Best of the bunch, a soggy and beautifully patina-laden Daimler 250 V8. Rotten row of classics Old Land Rovers and Jeeps add to the diversity of the collection, and at the end of the line a Rover 60/75 P3 (or its predecessor, the Rover Ten). Rover P4 Alongside the Daimler sits a suicide-rear-door Rover P4 awaiting a potential future restoration (along with the rest of the row, we hope!). Triumph Spitfire 1300 Mike Bean from Maidstone presents a dying-to-be-saved Triumph Spitfire MkIV in a barn near Maidstone, and is in touch with the owner if anyone fancies a challenge! Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow…

1990 VW GOLF DRIVER Andy Duncan, East Yorkshire Keeping hold of his first car, Andy’s enjoyed his tastefully tweaked MkII for eight years so far. 2005 BMW Z4 Heath Ellis, Derbys Heath has owned his rare Maldives Blue Z4 for six years now, and it won Best Modern Classic 2022 with Great British Motor Shows. 1987 FORD FIESTA MKII Carl McDermott, West Mids Carl’s pride and joy – he’s a big Ford nut. It’s only done 27,500 miles and is a true survivor. Katie says… ‘Modern classics are essential for a thriving future. That’s why FJ is right behind JJ and the team at PC, bringing modern classics to life every four weeks.’ INSURANCE SPECIALISTS AT YOUR SERVICE…

Will EVs ever become classics? There are some very good arguments to say that they might not. Soulless, cold, potentially deadly at very short notice if you work on them and, to some, fundamentally lacking an element that inspires passion. You simply can’t love them. Or can you? Some people are beginning to form relationships with these things. And I might be one of them. Now before you cancel your subscription, I want to put your mind at rest. I won’t be planning regular EV features in PC. ICE cars still rule the roost here and even EV conversions of existing classics will be given a careful consideration before they grace these pages. But I’m enjoying an ownership experience that’s made me look at EVs with a petrolhead’s eye. Of…

Following the immense excitement of the past few months; racing the Seven, supercharging the Morris Minor and generally pushing myself (and my wallet) to the limit, this month has been one of mopping up and tying loose ends as the curtain falls on 2024. It’s felt like a circus act, spinning plates aplenty. To learn more about the supercharged Minor and it’s journey from reassembly, which was almost complete by the end of the last instalment (PC, January 2025), to it’s position on the cover of this issue – in Cornwall – turn to the Winter Warmers feature on page 22. Likewise, for the full story of how I turned a £10 SAAB 900 into a daily driver in just a few hours, you’ll have to turn to page 100…

Matt Tomkins PROJECTS EDITOR Our workshop puppet master, young Matt has a penchant for restoring British classics in particular. This month Has been getting to grips with a modern classic Saab in Bangernomics and delving into the world of racing gearboxes. Rich March PRO BUFFER New recruit Rich runs UK Detailing Academy. Our expert at making things shiny. This month Shows you how to deal with plastics in Nailing It, including demonstrating how to carry out a spot repair. Ed Hughes WORKSHOP GENIUS A former teacher, Ed singlehandedly keeps a fleet of obscure classics on the road. He’s never owned a modern car and intends keep it that way. This month Visited a collection in Chennai which included a Mini van, new to the British Ambassador to India in 1976!…

TUE, JAN 14 SUSSEX Weald Classic Car Club monthly meet at the Jack and Jill Inn, Clayton, BN6 9PD (wealdclassicvehicle.club). SAT, JAN 18 DERBYS Classic cars at the Cooper’s Arms, Weston-on-Trent, DE72 2BJ (coopers-arms.co.uk). LEEDS Japanese car meet at The Motorist, LS25 6JE (themotorist.com). SUN, JAN 19 W YORKS Huddersfield Auto Retro Jumble, HD1 1RY (phoenixfairs.jimdofree.com). LEEDS Coffee & Cars at The Motorist, LS25 6JE (themotorist.com). KENT Sevenoaks Monthly Motor Meet at The Wheatsheaf, Bough Beech, TN8 7NU (tinyurl.com/bscxdxuj). LINCS Boston Classic Car Club meet at Langrick Station Café, PE22 7AH (bostonclassiccarclub.org.uk). HANTS VW camper van and bus meet at Port Solent, PO6 4TP (tinyurl.com/yuu8zj52). KENT Mid-Kent Auto and Bike Jumble, Lockmeadow Market Hall, ME16 8LW (midkentsautojumble.co.uk). WED, JAN 22 S YORKS Traditional Car Club of Doncaster meeting at The…

Make memories while you can I have just read Danny’s piece about his trip to France with his dad (PC, February 2024) and it brought back memories of the times spent together with my own dad many years ago. Dad was alongside me, his youngest son, when I bought my first car at the age of sixteen. The 1934 Austin 7 was delivered by the vendor – who quickly took £15 of my well-earned paper boy delivery savings and left! When dad saw it, he pledged to me that together, we’d make a decent car out of it. Over the next year I learned about rebores, crank regrinding, big ends, valve grinding and painting with beloved Valspar. Much more, I learned that my dad was a good bloke in so…

‘I built my own dream supercar’ De Tomaso Pantera Fredrik Ogren, Sweden Many years ago, I got myself a pair of carbon fibre seats, so decided I wanted to fit them to something! My first project was a 1968 Mustang, which I found in an abandoned silver mine in Sweden, but I wanted my next car to be a mid-engined supercar. I couldn’t afford a Lamborghini or Ferrari at the time so started looking at Panteras, as I’ve always liked its presence and good proportions. The example I found in 2017 was not in great condition and had a blown engine. It had been stored in a shed for 20 years. It had no wheels or floor, a door was missing, and the engine had blown. There were a lot…

FANCY A PUNT? ‘Set against the market, this is good news’ The MGB had, until recently, proved remarkably resilient in a market that has seen values of most other Sixties British sports cars sliding downhill. There is probably a good reason for that – it is, after all, one of the ‘safe’ rocks on which the classic car scene was built. The model also enjoys a vibrant club scene and superb specialist backup. But none of that makes it immune and 2024’s auction results show that the MGB’s tide has finally turned, too. It’s a trickle rather than a rush though, nothing for owners to lose sleep over. My data shows chrome bumper roadsters down by just 3.8 per cent on 2023 values, with the GTs performing only slightly worse…

‘Are motoring stereotypes fair?’ I’ve recently returned from a trip to Italy, where I was ensconced within the heart of that famous motoring nation’s automotive culture. I was met with a palpable sense of honouring heritage and celebrating forebears. Naturally, terms like passion and emotion were exchanged every other minute, which got me thinking, are national stereotypes remotely helpful and do they have a grain of truth? I avoid stereotyping in my writing, though sometimes it can prove to be more on the nose than we’d care to admit. For example, having travelled around the world for work, I’ve encountered views of our own nation’s motoring output, from a variety of sources. The Americans generally look favourably upon our ‘golden era’ of sports cars yet see these machines as temperamental.…

At their very core, these pages are about enjoying daily motoring, in interesting cars, for a tiny outlay. But to me they are also about taking cars from the scrapyard gates and returning to them to the road. So, when I spotted this 1996 Saab 900S for sale by PC’s Memory Lane man Richard Gunn, a non-runner with a non-functioning soft-top, at £200 I was tempted, but circumstances conspired such that I let it slide. However, no-one else fancied it either and the car’s fate rested in the balance, so Rich dropped me a line a few weeks later to ask if I could be tempted by a nominal price of just £10. Pledging to see him right on a split of any profits come sale time, I dispatched Clive…

For the second time in my life, I have chronicled my struggles with a Saab. Back in 2017, it was a troublesome 96 V4, which just didn’t want to live despite endless hours of dedication and expense. I’ve owned a few very nice 900s and 99s before and since – all roadworthy and trouble-free – but I seem to have an aversion to project Saabs. Or, rather, they have an aversion to me. At times, this 900 Turbo has tested my sanity – and I very nearly binned it once and for all. No, really. I’ve never done that before but it very nearly happened. This car seriously ravaged my mental health. But… we persevered, despite some cars wanting to live, and others fighting you all the way. Recently, Clive…

My Standard story starts in 2020, when I was invited by a complete stranger to road test his collection of pre-war Standards. He was keen to help highlight the manufacturer in a bid to get new people engaged with the joys of Standards and pre-war motoring. We hit it off and I’ve since befriended plenty of others in the Standard Motor Club, enjoying many events over the past few years. At some point, I’d made a throwaway promise to seriously consider any Standard 10 under £1500. As you’ll have read in my column (see p76), in September, an attendee of last year’s Rustival event thrust a piece of cardboard into my hand which simply read: ‘Standard – under £1000 – call Steve’. As you know, buying unseen cars is a…

EXPLAINER SCUFFED BUMPERS AND CRACKED DASHBOARDS How many times have you nudged the garage wall with a plastic door strip? Or had a bit of a whoopsie in a supermarket car park? Have you parked your convertible in the sunshine one time too many and your dashtop has suffered the consequences? Plastics have been used in the automotive industry for countless years in a number of different forms to manufacture everything from bumpers to steering wheels. An incredibly versatile material, but not without problems. The most common complaint is the fading of exterior trims – the result of ultraviolet bleaching, compounded by the use of cleaning products that are literally trying to degrease something made from oil. Doh! The wise folk at Practical Classics Towers can only give me limited…