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In the spring of 1980, a new motoring title hit the W H  Smiths and Martins of the nation. The front cover featured an Austin A40 “Farina” and a Riley 4/47 while the name of this new publication was Practical Classics. And, in the words of the 2020 editor Danny Hopkins ‘the 40^th anniversary edition is the May issue which goes on sale on 15^th April’.

Danny joined Practical Classics ‘early 2000 and left in 2004 to join Country Walking and then Steam Railway. I re-joined PC in September 2010 with the December 2010 issue as my first edition as editor’. The cover stars were a Ford Cortina Mk. III, a Vauxhall Victor FE and a Morris Marina plus – as a reminder of how distant that year now seems – a strapline reading ‘Your 10K E-Type – it’s out there’.

The key to the continuing success of PC is, in Danny’s words, because ‘all of the cars are as special as the owners think they are’. Every vehicle, be it an Austin Allegro 1100 De Luxe, a Toyota Crown Custom Coupe or the Volvo P1800 that starred in the early episodes of The Saint. It would be verging on the impossible to select Danny’s “Most Memorable Car” - however, he does vividly recollect one Browns Lane project car. ‘It was a Jaguar 240 that was such a basket case that the superstructure fell in half!’.  

Over the past four decades, Practical Classics has ‘saved dozens, and dozens of cars’ and perhaps the most famous of these is YFF 348. This was a 1959 Standard Ten that in 2017 was in real danger of an appointment with the crusher due to Ford’s Scrappage Scheme. Danny recalls that ‘We became so actively involved with saving this car that James Walshe went all the way to Scotland! I spent weeks negotiating with Ford and raising the case with the All-Party Parliamentary Historic Vehicles Group. The result of these concerted efforts was both the perseveration of a rare classic but also Ford changing its scrappage scheme policies.’ As Danny explains, ‘they are now closer to Vauxhall’s scheme; if a classic is donated to the scrappage scheme, the relevant owners’ club will be contacted first’.

And, above all, Practical Classics maintains its standing due to the fact, as Danny puts it, ‘we reflect the concerns of the readers’. It is the only “classic” title with its own workshop, for PC is a magazine that celebrates its involvement in all aspects of the old car movement.  It could be mechanical or bodywork advice, a road trip in an Austin Maxi – or a re-enactment of  Minder with the actual Ford Capri and Daimler Sovereign that caused a minor sensation in a previously quiet corner of Acton. Here is to the next forty years of PC adventures.

Why choose Lancaster Insurance?

Here at Lancaster, we love classic cars as much as you do and we understand what it takes to protect them for future generations.

We have links with some of the top classic car clubs around the country and some of our policies even offer discounts of up to 25% for club members.

Other benefits of classic car insurance through Lancaster can include:

• Historic rally cover
• Static show cover
• Limit mileage discounts
• Choice of repairer
• 24-hour claims helpline

Give your classic the protection it deserves and get a quote for your classic today.