Classic Cars

The one millionth Morris Minor car ever built has been sold at an auction for 25,760 pounds. The classic British-built car was sold earlier at the Surrey auction house, Historics at Brooklands. It was one of 349 “millionth” Morris Minors built in 1960, however, this car was the actual one millionth built. Stewart Banks, from Historics, said there had been an “awful lot of interest” in the car, which had an estimate of between 22,000 to 26,000 pounds. “There were 349 made but this is the only one with the million mark on its chassis. The Morris Minor has a very loyal fan base – people have them for years. This particular car has been owned by the vendor for 19 years,” Banks was quoted as saying by the BBC. “It is just the quintessential British motor car.” The “millionth” […]

With all this talk of the Geneva Motor Show and all the focus on nice new shiny, not to mention expensive, cars, some of us may be feeling a little left out. What if you can’t afford to get on the waiting list for one of the new Morgans? Or what if you desire the Bentley EXP 10 Speed Six but just live a few too many miles away from the dealership to make those regularly scheduled oil changes convenient. Well then, do we have a solution for you. Not only will our proposed solution net you a car you can afford, but it is recyclable and can even be made from recycled materials itself. Of course, there is the problem of there being no engine and no way to actually use the car for any practical purpose, but at least […]

Feb. 19, 2015, Southlake, Texas – SVRA and Motostalgia have entered into a joint venture and multi-year agreement, with Motostalgia being recognized as the Official Auction Company of SVRA and hosting exclusive car auctions at select SVRA events- beginning this year with the Brickyard Vintage Racing Invitational. This joint venture will provide the true enthusiast the opportunity to enjoy two of the most exciting experiences in motorsports: auctions and vintage racing! “Working with Motostalgia Auction Company was the next logical step for SVRA, given our demographics and national footprint,” said Tony Parella, President and CEO of SVRA. “Adding a car auction to the Brickyard Vintage Racing Invitational will make this an even more special event.” “SVRA’s schedule is a perfect fit for us. This leading racing organization offers us access to world class cars. With the scale of SVRA’s customer […]

For this week’s Video of the Week we are going to go 35 years back. Yes, back all the way to 1969 for some great BBC footage of the British national saloon car championship from Crystal Palace. Above the race, you can hear commentary from Murry walker. As the original poster of this video to YouTube stated, “this is a great video and I wish motorsport was a bit more like this these days and less technical and money orientated.” I can whole-heartedly agree with that. 1969 was the last year of Group 5 in Britain – and the last year of that plastic bomb called the Falcon Sprint. The rules had become a little more strict now – so no FVA engine in Cortinas or Escorts now, in line with the rest of Europe. Class divisions were like 1968 […]

Classic Minis United is going back to Cherokee, NC for the base of their 3 day driving adventure. This 56th of their gatherings will be held April 15 through 18, 2015. Cherokee is located at the south entrance of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and at the beginning of the Blue Ridge Parkway. As with all of CMU’s events, they like to drive, and that’s what they’ll be doing. The club will have drives each of the three days with plenty of stops and things to see. In addition to all the usual Mini and automotive stuff, “The Mini Hippie Film Festival” will be shown during the Hippie party Friday night! Even if you can’t make it to the event, you have a chance to show off your short film and win some cash. The film festival is sponsored […]

After a brief absence, we return with a new Video of the Week. This week MGBs are on the mind and so our video will be one entitled “The Car’s the Star”. It is a documentary on the famous MG which was produced for basically two decades. For those who have been living under a rock and aren’t familiar with the MGB, the ‘B’ as it is known is a two-door sports car manufactured and marketed by MG Cars and its successors as a four-cylinder, soft-top roadster (1962-1980) — along with variants including the MGB GT three-door 2+2 coupé (1965-1974), the six-cylinder roadster and coupé MGC (1967-1969), and the eight-cylinder 2+2 coupé, the MGB GT V8 (1973-1976). Replacing the MGA in 1962, production of the MGB and its variants continued by the British Motor Corporation and its successors, British Motor […]

The American MGB Association’s 38th Annual Meet – AMGBA MEET 2015 – for the MGB, MGB-GT & Midget – Myrtle Beach, South Carolina – October 3, 2015 MG sports car production as we know it was discontinued in 1980 with the closing of the famed Abingdon-On-Thames works in the United Kingdom. But these modern day classics are being preserved forever here in North America by members of the American MGB Association which serves enthusiastic MGB, MGB-GT, and MG Midget owners throughout the USA, Canada and throughout the world. Each year, the AMGBA holds its National Meet. The 1978 initial gathering was held in Chicago. In 1979 and 1980 the AMGBA National Conventions were held in New York state, in Ithaca and Glens Falls. The organization’s success led to renting the world famous Indianapolis 500 Motor Speedway in 1981 for the […]

The founders of most automakers aren’t still with us. Enzo Ferrari, Ettore Bugatti, Henry Ford, Louis Chevrolet, Kiichiro Toyoda, Soichiro Honda and so many others have long since left this world. Those who are still with us – like Christian von Koenigsegg, Horacio Pagani and Elon Musk – got into the game much later. Brian Lister hit the scene a long time ago, but until just the other day, he was still with us. But now his time on the racing circuit has come to an end. The founder of Lister Cars, one of Britain’s most legendary racing constructors, was born on July 12, 1926, the scion of a proud family of engineers. After training as an engineer himself, he joined the Royal Air Force just after the end of the Second World War, and soon after started trading up […]

British Leyland – The History, the Engineering, the People is a book for those of us with a love hate relationship with the ubiquitous British Leyland. During the 1960s vehicle makers all over the world were looking to expand and amalgamate as at the time it was considered the only way they could survive. As a major manufacturing nation Britain at the time had a large number of makers of all kinds of vehicles and gradually many of them joined together to form two large companies. The first of these was the Leyland Motor Corporation which was principally involved with the manufacture of commercial vehicles although they had also recently diversified into cars. The other major concern was British Motor Holdings, owners of some of Britain’s iconic car makes including Austin, Morris, Wolseley and Riley to name but a few. […]

The British Car Club of Charleston will be holding its 30th Annual British Car Day at Memorial Waterfront Park, Mt. Pleasant, SC, just over the bridge from downtown Charleston. Wow, 30 years! And by the way, yes. I was there at the first of these shows nearly 30 years ago. In fact I was the organizer of that first show, and that show was held at Charles Towne Landing.  But let’s not dwell on my age, instead go enjoy the beautiful cars. In addition to the British car show itself, of course there is the beauty of the water front park to enjoy. SATURDAY – October 25, 2014 British Car Show – Let’s show off all those great British cars we have acquired and love to share. You are guaranteed to have enthusiastic admirers. The show is open to all British beauties, not just […]

For our video this week we have the second installment in Michael Austin’s “Allegories In The Garage” series. I first stumbled on Michael and his videos via the forums over on The MG Experience. If you haven’t hit that site, and are a fan of MGs, you owe it to yourself to do so. The video itself is a wonderful exploration of relevance and why we might chose to drive an MGB in this modern world. What can an old car, of antiquated design, without computers, without GPS, with a need for personal maintenance, provide for us in this day and age of automation and hands-off motoring? To quote Michael on this, “This is a very personal and unusual series that I have decided to do. It is a reflection on life as viewed through the projects in my garage. […]

Octane Magazine is reporting that Jaguar Land Rover is to expand its Heritage division in what senior executives are referring to as a ‘complete change of mindset’ within the group, clearly aiming to emulate the success of Aston Martin Works and Ferrari Classiche. The revamped division will be based at Jaguar’s spiritual home, the Browns Lane factory site in Coventry, where production was based until 2005, when it moved to Castle Bromwich. The first of six ‘continuation’ Lightweight E-types is currently in build there, as revealed by Octane in May, but the buildings are now being equipped with service and restoration bays. These will allow owners of classic Jaguars to have their cars serviced, repaired and restored at Browns Lane. All classic Jaguars will be catered for, not just the traditional XKs and E-types, and there will be particular emphasis on […]

Just received the latest e-newsletter from Charles Runyan of The Roadster Factory. In it there is an interesting bit about the value of classic British cars and the effect that the parts used in repairing and restoring them can have on those values. Of course Runyan has a vested interest in this because of his business, but I really do agree with him. With the value of all British cars rising, I believe that enthusiasts should buy parts based on quality rather than on low price. In fact, a letter was received from British Motor Heritage this week deploring the practice of selling Heritage products at discounted prices. John Yea, Director of BMH, believes that this lowers the value of the cars over time, and this writer agrees. There is a trend in the U.S. to sell lower-quality parts at lower […]

An unregistered 1980 MG Midget with just 162 miles on the clock, fetched over £11,000 when it went under the hammer at Anglia Car Auctions on Saturday. The Vermillion red car sold for £11,025 well ahead of expectations that it might fetch between £7,000 to £9,000. “It was a very good sale – an exceptional price,” said Simon Whitmore, of Anglia Car Auctions (ACA), based at Beveridge Way, Hardwick Narrows Estate. “It had no reserve on it and the vehicle has never been registered.” Also up for auction the same day, but which failed to sell, was a 2001 Mercedes Benz S500L, purchased new by former England captain David Beckham and originally registered as Y3 DVB in June 2001. The car was up for sale with all manuals, service book and the original V5 bearing David Beckham’s name, with 117,000 […]

The Hilton Head Island Motoring Festival & Concours d’Elegance, one of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing automotive and motorsports enthusiast event weeks, has selected Jaguar as the Honored Marque for the 2014 Festival. With nearly 80 years since the SS Jaguar name first appeared, the marque has far-reaching appeal and a wide breadth of history to feature at this year’s Festival, to be held October 24 – November 2. Both Motoring Festival venues will honor the contributions Jaguar has made to the automotive industry: Hutchinson Island’s The Westin Savannah Harbor Golf Resort & Spa (Savannah Speed Classic) and Hilton Head Island’s Port Royal Golf Club (Concours d’Elegance, Motoring Midway and Car Club Jamboree). “With a display of Jaguar racecars planned for this year’s Savannah Speed Classic and three classes of Jaguars to be displayed at this year’s Concours d’Elegance as […]

A bit surprising considering the competition maybe, but Autocar magazine readers voted the classic Mini ahead of McLaren F1, Jaguar E-type and the Range Rover. And there is nary an MG, Triumph or Austin Healey to be found on the list. The poll also named Norfolk-based Lotus as the most popular British manufacturer, with seven of its models making the 100 best British cars list. Autocar brand editor Chas Hallett said: “It comes as little surprise that the original Mini has topped the list of all-time British greats. “It’s such an iconic vehicle and represents a lot more than the British car industry; the Mini is associated with Great Britain around the world and, in many ways, it was ahead of its time.” He went on: “Everyone loved and still loves an original Mini. It ensured a fabulous drive every time, […]

We are starting a new feature this week. We have always put a nice little YouTube video over there in the sidebar for your enjoyment, but a lot of folks either didn’t realize it was there, didn’t realize they could blow it up to a larger size to watch, or just generally ignored it because … well, I don’t know. Maybe they thought it was an advertisement or something. Anyway, from now one we are going to feature the video in a post each time we change it, and this should be every week. Hopefully every Wednesday. Why Wednesday? Because it is a pretty boring day in general and we could all use a little something to brighten it up. Maybe a nice little video about some aspect of the British car fascination will do this. Hopefully it will give […]

Seems to be the month of the Aston Martin, not that there is anything wrong with that. On 17 May, 2014, Bonham’s auction house will conduct a special auction of Aston Martin cars and related books, artwork and ephemera. There are some great items, and collectors are sure to turn out in force. Two examples include a special coachwork ’56 DB2/4 and a 1:8 scale model of the Aston Martin ‘DP214’ 1956 Aston Martin DB2/4 MKII fixed head coupe with coachwork by Tickford, Chassis no. AM300/1241, with a bid estimate of £160,000 – 200,000 (US$ 270,000 – 340,000). A 1:8 scale scratch-built model of the 1963 Monza winning Aston Martin ‘DP214’, built by Javan Smith, with a bid estimate of £1,800 – 2,200 (US$ 3,000 – 3,700).   Also on auction will be the Aston Martin DBS that featured in the British television […]