Classic American July 2021

One of the nicest things about the past couple of months has been the sense of at least a partial return to normality, as Covid restrictions have relaxed. I never knew a haircut could be such a treasured experience… or going to the pub for that matter. Likewise, getting in one of my cars and being able to drop the top, put the car into Drive and head out for a random drive has been a real joy. Sunny days are here again and that will hopefully mean, for many of us, time behind the wheel or at car shows or just tinkering around with our four-wheeled friends. If anything, there should be a renewed appreciation of our American vehicles – classic or modern, as the past year and a half…

The clocks are ticking to Classic American’s very own show, Stars & Stripes, held over the weekend of July 3 and 4 in the beautiful grounds of Tatton Park, Knutsford, Cheshire. Now in its fourth year under the management/ ownership of Classic American’s parent company Mortons, Stars & Stripes has become a must-attend event for any American car enthusiast in the UK and is easily reached by motorway from all over Britain. As in previous years, attractions include just about every type of American vehicle imaginable, from pick-ups to hot rods, customs, military vehicles, big rigs, Harley-Davidsons… even Airstreams and amazing American motorhomes. There’ll also be traders aplenty, including some familiar names from the pages of Classic American, including North Hants Tyres, Farm Fresh Trucks and Gliptone leather care, so…

Regular CA contributor Keith Harman has irons in many fires. As well as writing for CA, he has also been known to import a few classic vehicles from the US, and buy and sell a few car, truck and Harley parts as well. Then there’s the famous brand of hair pomade with the rather risqué name that he’s been marketing online for the last few years too. Keith was recently in touch to let us know that he now has a new e-commerce website up and running under the name Crossroads Speed Shop to showcase the latest range of Hop Up merchandise from the US, including T-shirts, hats, stickers, etc,. etc. The pomade range is also on there in case your barnet needs post-lockdown attention! Finally, there is also a category…

It’s amazing what you can find for sale in Classic American’s private classifieds section. We spotted this 1962 Mercury Custom and had to investigate it further. We spoke to Ian Birks, who submitted the ad on behalf of his friend Ian O’Connor, and found out some more details from him: “Seen here are some ‘before’ and ‘after’ pictures. Briefly it’s a 1962 Mercury Comet Custom two-door post car with a 140cu in/2.3-litre six-cylinder engine and manual ’box (effectively it’s the rarer Mercury Division version of the Ford Falcon). It was imported from California in 2011 and is UK registered (119 YUM) and has been barn stored since 2014 due to ill health, so the MoT has expired. “It will need recommissioning and some cosmetic attention but should run and drive with clean…

UK fans of the popular Discovery Network show Fast ’n’ Loud will be able to see the head ‘Gas Monkey’ himself, Richard Rawlings, in the flesh when he attends the Petrolheadonism LIVE show this September. A new car show to add to everybody’s calendar, Petrolheadonism LIVE is the brainchild of Italian-Englishman Ciro Ciampi from Bedfordshire, and Rawlings is coming over to add some star power to what promises to be a top-end show. “With more than 1000 cars on display from Supercars to classics, Americans to the highly modified and the ‘interesting’, it’s going to be quite an event!”, said Ciro Ciampi. “Plus, there’ll be a £50 million Hypercar enclosure literally in the shadow of Grade II-listed Tudor-Gothic mansion, Knebworth House.” Knebworth is famous as the venue of some gigantic concerts from…

Cost: £249 plus subscription fee from £6.99/month Available from: Skytag/Heritage Insurance Trackers have become quite the big thing in vehicle security in recent years and now some insurance companies, such as Heritage Insurance, have begun to collaborate with tracker operators such as Skytag. Why consider a tracker? Well, a significant number of us have to store our vehicles away from home, due to their size or the fact that they’re being laid up over winter. The prospect of leaving your pride and joy in a barn or lock-up miles away can be a bit of a worry for many owners, so a tracker makes great sense in offering peace of mind, as it alerts you if the vehicle is moved from its designated position and offers live locations of the vehicle via…