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Keep up to date with the latest news and events from the world of classic cars.
MEET THE OWNER – ANDREW PYLE AND HIS VAUXHALL VIVA HA GT BRABHAM
- Ellie Priestley |
- 24th July, 2020
In our last blog about the Viva HB Brabham, we noted its HA predecessor and how just one is believed to survive. The owner of that very car recently contacted us and so here is the story of Andrew Pyle’s Vauxhall - one of the most exclusive vehicles ever to wear the Griffin badge.
THE JAGUAR XJ COUPE - A CELEBRATION
- Ellie Priestley |
- 24th July, 2020
Some cars have the rare distinction of being even more exquisite in the metal than they are in PR photos – such as the Jaguar XJ Coupe.
60 YEARS OF SEAT BELTS IN BRITISH CARS
- Ellie Priestley |
- 24th July, 2020
The Jensen 541S was quite a star of the 1960 London Motor Show. As compared with its 541R predecessor, it was four inches wider, lacked the familiar adjustable front air flap and featured a limited-slip differential and Dunlop disc brakes fore and aft.
THE HISTORY OF THE HIGHWAY CODE
- Ellie Priestley |
- 21st July, 2020
In 1931, HM Government published a new book for ‘ the instruction and education of all road users as to their duties and obligations to one another and to the community as a whole’.
THE AUSTIN MINI METRO – A CELEBRATION
- Ellie Priestley |
- 21st July, 2020
The 1980 International Motor Show was quite an event for my ten-year-old self, and two cars in particular attracted vast crowds at the NEC.
MEET THE OWNERS – FRED DUKES AND ADRIAN MILLER WITH THEIR VAUXHALL VIVA BRABHAMS
- Ellie Priestley |
- 21st July, 2020
Some vehicles take on an almost mythical quality; such is their rarity; the Morris-badged Metro Van, the basic-specification Austin A110 Westminster and, of course, the Brabham Viva HB.
60 YEARS OF THE BMC J4
- Ellie Priestley |
- 15th July, 2020
Few light commercials are an essential part of 20th-century music and film culture – but the BMC J4 achieved this on two occasions.
MEET THE OWNER – JOHN WORTH AND HIS “HEINZ 57” WOLSELEY HORNET
- Ellie Priestley |
- 14th July, 2020
The year is 1966 and families from Southampton to Croydon are avidly taking part in Heinz’s “Greatest Glow On Earth” competition. Entrants were asked to pair eight soups with a tempting array of main courses and to complete the phrase ‘I like to take Heinz soup on a picnic because…’.
60 YEARS OF THE PEUGEOT 404
- Ellie Priestley |
- 14th July, 2020
In the 1960s, advertisements for the 404 might contain the phrase ‘wins again!’, for the mighty Peugeot took first place in the East African Safari no fewer than four times.
Meet The Owner- Theo Kyriacou and His Lancia Trevi
- Ellie Priestley |
- 14th July, 2020
Anyone who visited the 1980 Motor Show will recall the crowds around the new Austin Min Metro and Ford Escort Mk. III – plus a new Lancia, for the Trevi made its British debut at the NEC.
DO YOU REMEMBER – THE MG MAGNETTE ZA AND ZB?
- Ellie Priestley |
- 13th July, 2020
It would be fair to say that the Magnette ZA created quite a stir at the 1953 Motor Show. The name may have been borrowed from a pre-war racer, but it was the first MG with monocoque bodywork and the first to use the British Motor Corporation’s 1.5-litre ‘B-series’ unit.
MEET THE OWNER – PAUL COLLARD AND HIS TRIUMPH RENOWN
- Ellie Priestley |
- 13th July, 2020
‘I’ve always liked the ‘30s and ‘40s look of British cars - the sound, the leather, the body lines - but had only owned ‘70s Triumph Dolomites! Approaching retirement from Sussex Police, I started to look for the next Classic’.
DO YOU REMEMBER – THE AUSTIN A70 HEREFORD?
- Ellie Priestley |
- 10th July, 2020
2020 marks the 70th birthday of several key post-war models, from the Ford Zephyr Mk. I to the Jaguar Mk.
MEET THE OWNER – TIM LEECH AND HIS ROVER V8S
- Ellie Priestley |
- 9th July, 2020
Forty-one years ago, the sight of a new Rover V8S in the company car park was a sign that its owner had ‘arrived’.
