Classic Cars

With this being the height of show season, we decided that this week we should take a moment to look at the judging process in a concours d’elegance. Now, different shows do judging differently. There are, of course, the popular choice car shows, but even within the concours shows the judging can be varied.  Our video is The Judging Process at Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Some shows that I have attended have cared more about the presentation and condition of a car than its originality. Other shows have stressed original equipment and options even if that meant that condition may suffer a bit. Still, other shows want every part of the car to be of an original type and quality or be period correct, but the part itself does not need to have been original. Again, there are many variations and it […]

Classic Car Auctions (CCA) achieved a sales rate of 75 percent at its September Sale held at the Warwickshire Event Centre on 15th September, where 107 quality ‘everyman’ classics were sold to bidders around the world with total sales exceeding £1.8 million. British classics proved particularly popular at the sale with a beautiful, restored 1968 Jensen Interceptor Mk 1 manual at the center of the longest bidding war of the day. As one of just eight surviving examples of the 22 made and finished in striking Anthracite with a Black leather interior, the super rare manual sold for a huge £85,800, more than double its lower estimate.

Aston Martin Works’ new Heritage satellite showroom in the heart of London’s Mayfair is now open for business. Situated with the Aston Martin Brand Experience Centre at No.8 Dover Street, the Works Heritage showroom is a convenient destination for customers interested in acquiring a heritage model or learning about the restoration services available at Aston Martin Works Service in Newport Pagnell. Paul Spires, President of Aston Martin Works, said: The expansion of our Heritage showroom activity into Central London enables us to engage with our customers in the location where they work and live their lifestyle. It also supports the international appeal and invigorated interest in Aston Martin Heritage cars, allowing us to deliver a personal service to customers visiting the UK.

A landmark new history from design journalist Nick Hull, Land Rover Design – 70 years of Success offers a detailed insight to the company’s design story, from the early days of Land Rover in Solihull to the latest generation of the Range Rover Velar in 2018. The Land Rover was born from a desperate need by the Rover Company to develop a stop-gap model to provide cash flow in the post-war years. The original aim of a simple 4×4 agricultural tool soon developed into a multi-purpose vehicle that became the mainstay of the British Army and produced numerous offshoots for the emergency services, police, forestry and aid agencies worldwide.

Midlands classic motoring specialist RBW Classic Electric Cars has joined forces with world leading names to secure the future of classic motoring with the launch of two limited edition electric recreations. RBW is working closely with Zytek Automotive, part of Continental AG, who provides the world championship winning technology applied to Formula E racing cars. The aim is to create a stunning vehicle that has the aesthetic appeal of a classic car but with all the engineering of a modern electric vehicle.

British firm JD Classics, a dealer of classic cars but also an expert restorer and organizer of classic racing events, entered administration last Friday. This is the UK equivalent process to entering bankruptcy protection here in the US. And yes, this is the same JD Classics firm the only just a few months ago hired as its CEO former Lotus CEO, Jean-Marc Gales.

For our Video of the Week, let’s take a spin with something a bit on the lighter side. This is perhaps one of the world’s smallest races – in terms of the number of entrants, size of entrants, and the size of the cars. This is the Settrington Cup at Goodwood Revival, and the 2018 edition was held this past Sunday. Held annually at the Goodwood Revival since 2012, the Settrington Cup race is for children ages 6 through 9. Cool, you think … so go grab a pedal car and let your kind hit the track, you think. But no. In addition to the age restriction of the drivers, the only pedal cars allowed are Austin J40 models built by disabled coal miners beginning in 1949 (true story). Here is a quote from an original brochure for the car, which […]

McLaren Automotive is introducing a new service to authenticate the heritage of iconic McLaren F1 supercars. The launch of the new programme is coincident with the unveiling of the first F1 to be approved for certification, the renowned ‘25R’ 1997 F1 GTR Longtail. Pristine after a full restoration to ‘as new’ condition by McLaren Special Operations, the last F1 GTR to compete in period is one of the stars of the Hampton Court Concours of Elegance (31 August – 2 September 2018). Even among F1 GTRs, this car, designated ‘25R’, is unique – and now it is as near to being new as we can make it. The car is the exemplar of everything that the new certification programme stands for and we are proud to have ‘25R’ as the very first McLaren F1 Certified car. — Ansar Ali, Managing Director, […]

Our roving auction guy and contributor Bob Seidler was recently over the border in Canada and submitted this report on one of his excursions. So what do you do when your wife has a speaking engagement in Toronto and you have the day free? Of course, you Uber over to Legendary Motorcar Company in scenic Halton Hills, just west of Toronto. For viewers of The Velocity Channel, you know Legendary Motorcar as a mainstay of their lineup, dating back to the early days of Velocity when owner Peter Klute hosted DreamCar Garage. This was a delightful series in which two good-natured Canadians guys were buying, restoring and selling cars out of their garage.

Aston Martin stunned the world when it first unveiled DB4 in 1958 and now, on its 60thanniversary, an exclusive display will take place at the Concours of Elegance, hosted at Hampton Court Palace, from the 31 August until 2 September 2018. Assembled by the Aston Martin Owners Club, the line-up will include a DB4 prototype, an example of DB4 Series 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 plus an original DB4 GT, DB4 GT Zagato and DB4 Bertone Jet. The newly launched DB4 GT Continuation will also form part of the display.

An amazing collection of British classics including a 1968 Triumph TR5, a 1975 Bristol 411 Series 4, a 1971 Jaguar E-Type Series III V12 Roadster and a 1933 MG J2 Midget will head to auction at the CCA September Sale at the Warwickshire Event Centre on 15th September. An incredible 1968 Triumph TR5 on offer at the September Sale is undoubtedly one of the best in the country, following a painstakingly millimeter-perfect rebuild on a brand new factory spec chassis. The six-cylinder 2.5-litre engine has been fully rebuilt, including a new head suitable for use with unleaded fuel, and a full tune-up to give maximum performance. The bodywork has been completely rebuilt with new inner and outer sills along with a multi-coat repaint in a wonderful shade of Signal Red. Along with the repaint the TR5 comes with a brand new […]

Nearly 200 Triumphs and their owners gathered at the Radisson Hotel in downtown La Crosse, Wisconsin, for the 2018 VTR National Annual Convention.  A reception Tuesday evening kicked off the show’s autocross competition, riverboat rides, local driving tours, and rallies. The big events — the Participants Choice and the Concours Show – blossomed Friday along the mighty Mississippi in Riverside Park. Among the entrants were three rare Triumph Italia 2000 GTs from eastern Pennsylvania. Each was restored by Ragtops & Roadsters, with body, paint and upholstery work done by its sister shop Pollock Auto Restoration. Ragtops specialize in restoration and preservation of all British and European sports cars. From left to right; Vignale #194, restored by R&R in 1995, earned a Preservation Award with 385.5 points out a perfect score of 400 points — not too shabby after 23 years! Finished […]

Jaguar Land Rover Classic is demonstrating the brand’s commitment to classic vehicle owners and enthusiasts in North America by establishing a new refurbishing/restoration, sales and servicing center in Savannah, Georgia. Set to open in summer 2019, the facility will give access to a range of authentic classic cars, services, parts, and experiences across both British marques. The new 75,000 square foot facility will be the first for Jaguar Land Rover Classic outside Europe, with more than 75 highly-skilled full-time employees.

Land Rover took its 70th-anniversary celebrations to new heights by visiting a remote rural community in West Bengal that relies on a fleet of classic models for its very survival. Known as the ‘Land of Land Rovers’, the rural location in deep in the Himalayas is reliant on a fleet of meticulously maintained Series Land Rovers dating back as far as 1957.

British-made supercars rank as the most popular in 2018, according to JBR Capital, the UK’s leading independent finance provider dedicated to high-end vehicles. Four of the top 10 most financed cars by JBR Capital so far this year are made in Britain, ahead of exotic supercar rivals from Germany, Italy, and Japan.

DM Historics is pressing a historically significant 1959 Lotus Elite S1 race car back into competition following full race preparation by the Kent-based specialists. This special vehicle was campaigned in the early 1960s by Scottish racing driver Tommy Dickson. A member of the legendary Ecurie Ecosse racing team, Dickson had a successful racing career throughout the 1950s and ‘60s and competed in events such as the grueling 24 Hours of Le Mans and Nürburgring 1000km.

Tex has a long and distinguished history as the supplier of wiper arms, wiper blades and rearview mirrors to the British motor industry, but sales of the latter have declined steeply in the last 12 months, owing to an influx of cheap foreign copies. Since 2008, Tex Automotive has been a wholly owned subsidiary of British Motor Heritage (BMH), whose Managing Director John Yea has this warning for the classic car fraternity: Examination of these fake products reveals they are of less robust quality and the glass is not ‘E’ marked, meaning the optical properties will not meet the legislative standard that existed when such items were originally manufactured. Yet more concerning is the discovery that some unscrupulous traders are passing them off as the genuine article – something we have proved through a dedicated ‘mystery shopping’ campaign. Needless to […]

Our Video of the Week for this first week of June features another, and first of the well known, designs that took place under the leadership of Alec Issigonis.  This is the story of the Morris Minor. Over one-and-a-half million Minors were produced between 1948 and 1972. Initially available only as a two-door saloon and convertible, the range was quickly expanded to include a four-door saloon in 1950, a wood-framed estate (the Traveller) in October 1953, and panel van and pick-up truck variants from May of 1953. It was the first British car to sell over one million units and is considered a classic example of automotive design, as well as typifying “Englishness”. Eric Lord, the director of Morris Motors, said that Lord Nuffield thought that the new Morris Minor looked like a poached egg and that the car was narrow […]