Classics Monthly April 2023

www.classicsworld.co.uk Classics Monthly, Kelsey Media, The Granary, Downs Court, Yalding Hill, Yalding, Kent ME18 6AL EDITORIAL Editor: Simon Goldsworthy Email: classics.ed@kelsey.co.uk Group Editor: Paul Wager Email: classics.ed@kelsey.co.uk Design: Focused On Design Ltd WITH THANKS THIS ISSUE TO Iain Ayre, Terry Burgess, Andrew Everett, Jack Grover, Rob Hawkins, Ivan Ostroff, Matt Richardson, Andrew Roberts, Derek Squires, Mike Taylor, Phil White, Alex Zeller ADVERTISEMENT SALES Talk Media Sales Managing Director: David Lerpiniere 01732 445325, david.lerpiniere@talkmediasales.co.uk Sales Manager Chris Jeffery: 01732 442144 chris@talk-media.uk AD PRODUCTION Tandem Media Production and Design Manager: Neil Hepden 01233 220245 Neil@tandemmedia.co.uk MANAGEMENT Chief Operating Officer: Phil Weeden Subscription Marketing Director: Gill Lambert Retail Director: Steve Brown Print Production Manager: Georgina Harris Print Production Controllers: Kelly Orriss and Hayley Brown Subscriptions Marketing Manager: Dave Sage Affiliate Marketing: Kate Chamberlain…

Welcome to the April issue, and as I am sure you have already noticed, we have gone to a new page size. As a general rule, we classic car enthusiasts don’t naturally react well to change – that is one of the reasons we are so drawn to nostalgia – and therefore I do not expect the change will be welcomed with wholehearted enthusiasm. However, I would urge you to withhold judgement and hopefully, before long the only time you will be reminded of the change is when you place the new issue alongside the old ones in your binders. Certainly I can assure you that we’ve not lost any content as a result of the slightly smaller pages, careful tweaking of margins and images have made sure of that.…

GOT A STORY TO SHARE? EMAIL IT TO CLASSICS.ED@KELSEY.CO.UK OR POST IT TO CLASSICS MONTHLY NEWSDESK, KELSEY MEDIA, THE GRANARY, DOWNS COURT, YALDING HILL, YALDING ME18 6AL Lotus founder Colin Chapman’s personal 1972 Lotus Elan +2 s130/5 has been entered in the Silverstone Auction at Race Retro on February 25th at Stoneleigh Park. Coming with an estimate of £60,000 - £70,000, the ex-Chapman Plus 2 joins a line-up of seven other Lotus Elans from the Piddington Collection to provide bidders with an unprecedented choice. Whilst current market values often don't show it, the Elan Plus 2 was a pivotal car for Lotus when it launched in 1967, representing as it did the marque's first real concerted push towards the upmarket sports car sector it inhabits today. Where the original Elan…

The Maestro and Montego Owners Club is hosting a major event this year – Maestro@40 to celebrate the announcement of the Austin and MG Maestro 40 years ago. The event will take place at the British Motor Museum at Gaydon in Warwickshire on 9th July and will be in conjunction with the annual BMC and Leyland Show, so other BMC and BL cars will be in attendance as well. This is a comparatively small owners club with some 200 members, but they have bold ambitions for the show programme. Already they have received over 80 expressions of interest from Maestro owners, so this will probably be the largest gathering of the model that will ever be seen. The organisers are hoping for more, though. 'The Maestro was never available to…

This month saw a revival of the government's proposal (previously discussed in 2016) to revise the MoT by extending the first MoT for cars and light vans from three to four years and for subsequent tests to be done after two fur ther years rather than ever y year. The government has issued a consultation which you can find on their www.gov.uk website, which also raises the question on whether a review or update of the MoT exemption for 40 year old cars that haven't been modified in the last 30 years should be carried out. This consultation gives quite a clear indication of the government's general thinking, such as asking whether the MoT should include a specific noise test rather than the current rather subjective tester's personal view, or…

The National Motor Museum at Beaulieu has recently acquired one of the most popular caravans of the 20th Century – aSprite 400 touring caravan. Built in 1971, the caravan will be used by the museum’s Learning Team to enable families to step back in time both at the museum and further afield. With its original four-berth interior intact, it is undeniably 1970s in style with woodeffect Formica cupboards, sleek cupboard catches, a gaspowered twin-burner hotplate and even its bold Sprite issue curtains. The museum plans to restore the caravan’s exterior and return it to its former glory with help from a local community group and kind sponsorship in part by the Caravan and Motorhome Club. The museum’s Learning Manager, Benedick Swann, explained the future plans for the caravan, saying: 'The…