Classics Monthly May 2021

Spending my days putting Classics Monthly together and most of my free time of an evening and at weekends in the garage, I think it is fair to say that I live and breathe classic cars. Naturally I have my own personal favourites, but I can’t really think of any car from the 1980s or before that I wouldn’t like to try. Yet despite this, I have always maintained that if you stand back and look at the hobby dispassionately, then it makes little sense to try and keep a car in shape and on the road for many decades when it had an original design life of just eight or ten years. Increasingly though, I am less and less sure this is the case. It is invariably true that tailpipe…

Spending my days putting Classics Monthly together and most of my free time of an evening and at weekends in the garage, I think it is fair to say that I live and breathe classic cars. Naturally I have my own personal favourites, but I can’t really think of any car from the 1980s or before that I wouldn’t like to try. Yet despite this, I have always maintained that if you stand back and look at the hobby dispassionately, then it makes little sense to try and keep a car in shape and on the road for many decades when it had an original design life of just eight or ten years. Increasingly though, I am less and less sure this is the case. It is invariably true that…

Mitsubishi Motors in the UK has announced details of its heritage fleet auction, which is scheduled to run from 1st April to 30th April on the specialist online platform Auto Auction. All 14 cars are up for grabs, with detailed descriptions and a comprehensive array of images and videos for each vehicle, as well as introductory films by TV presenter and ex-Mitsubishi racer Tiff Needell. Amongst the cars on offer are two of the earliest original UK Mitsubishis ever registered in the country (a Colt Lancer and a Colt Galant), the brand’s flagship sports cars of the 1980s and 1990s (a Mitsubishi Starion Turbo and a Mitsubishi 3000GT) as well as three of its iconic 4x4 vehicles – a Mitsubishi Jeep and a Mk1 and Mk2 Shogun. Of most interest…

Mitsubishi Motors in the UK has announced details of its heritage fleet auction, which is scheduled to run from 1st April to 30th April on the specialist online platform Auto Auction. All 14 cars are up for grabs, with detailed descriptions and a comprehensive array of images and videos for each vehicle, as well as introductory films by TV presenter and ex-Mitsubishi racer Tiff Needell. Amongst the cars on offer are two of the earliest original UK Mitsubishis ever registered in the country (a Colt Lancer and a Colt Galant), the brand’s flagship sports cars of the 1980s and 1990s (a Mitsubishi Starion Turbo and a Mitsubishi 3000GT) as well as three of its iconic 4x4 vehicles – a Mitsubishi Jeep and a Mk1 and Mk2 Shogun. Of most interest to performance…

In February, the rally world said goodbye to one of its best loved characters from the glory days of the sport when Johnstone Syer lost his battle with cancer at the age of 87. The former miner and later professional photographer started competing in rallies in 1956, and ended up partnering some of the biggest stars of the day in a career that lasted until the 1993 London to Sydney Rally. Johnstone was particularly noted for his partnership with Brian Culcheth, the duo competing together in a wide variety of cars that ranged from Minis to Morris Marinas and from Triumph 2000s, Dolomites and TR7s to a number of Opels. Brian said of his friend and former colleague: 'For 58 years Johnstone was a special friend, and despite living 400…

In February, the rally world said goodbye to one of its best loved characters from the glory days of the sport when Johnstone Syer lost his battle with cancer at the age of 87. The former miner and later professional photographer started competing in rallies in 1956, and ended up partnering some of the biggest stars of the day in a career that lasted until the 1993 London to Sydney Rally. Johnstone was particularly noted for his partnership with Brian Culcheth, the duo competing together in a wide variety of cars that ranged from Minis to Morris Marinas and from Triumph 2000s, Dolomites and TR7s to a number of Opels. Brian said of his friend and former colleague: 'For 58 years Johnstone was a special friend, and despite living 400 miles apart,…