Classics Monthly July 2021

editor

Newton’s third law of motion is widely quoted as saying that for every action there is an opposite and equal reaction. Since he died in 1727, I’m pretty sure that good old Sir Isaac knew as little about classic cars as I know about physics, but I do wonder if we are seeing proof of his science within the classic car movement. Last issue I mentioned the astronomical sums that some people were prepared to pay just for a personalised number plate. In a similar vein, we have become accustomed in recent years to seeing reports of Ferraris and the like selling for many millions, certainly far more than anybody could justify if it was ever intended to use the thing for its intended purpose. More recently, I’ve noticed the asking…

the great british car journey

Making the once ordinary extraordinary, the Great British Car Journey is packed with British marques and models that dominated the roads for nearly a century. Motors fixed in our memories like the Morris Minor, the Ford Capri and many others that were once commonplace but which are now rare fill a former wire works factory on the banks of the River Derwent in Ambergate, Derbyshire. Richard Usher, CEO of Great British Car Journey, explained: 'Four years ago, when I owned and managed Blyton Circuit, a gentleman approached me asking if I’d like to buy his 1989 Austin Maestro in mint condition with just 10,000 miles on the clock. My first thought was no, but it then got me thinking about when I last saw an Austin Allegro, Metro, original Mini or…

new healey exhibition

A new exhibition at the Market Hall Museum in Warwick that will run from May 2021 to Spring 2022 and is called Healey: Cars for Speed and Glamour, tells the remarkable story of the Donald Healey Motor Company using rarely seen archives, photographs and artefacts. That is inextricably wound up with the story of Donald Healey himself, from his time competing as a rally driver right through to the consultancy business he ran with his son Geoffrey in the 1980s. Some of the highlights to look out for are a typed letter from Donald Healey to one of the Riley brothers in 1945 right at the dawn of the founding of the company, a Gerry Coker design for the Healey winged badge, a report written by Geoffrey Healey verifying the…

light car racing returns with the vscc and longstone tyres

There is a buzz of excitement within the VSCC, as the Light Car race will be re-established at the club’s 10th July Oulton Park race meeting. This will be a 40-minute endurance race, contested by an amazing array of weird and wonderful light cars and cycle cars, the likes of which has not been seen this century. Back in the early days of motoring, small capacity lightweight cars and cycle cars were the order of the day, with cotton-and-bobbin steering, air-cooled engines, and just one or two cylinders powering cars whose transmission was often dealt with by belt or chain drive. This new race is the perfect antidote to the current celebration of fabulous cars such as a Ferrari 250 GTO fetching astronomical sums and Bugatti Veyrons being capable of 200mph…

baston car and bike show is go!

The Baston Car & Bike show will be returning to Grimsthorpe Castle in Lincolnshire in 2021, but this year it will be a weekend event taking place on 3rd-4th July. Hoping to attract all of the usual goodies with trade stands of all varieties, clubs, live music, revving engines and smoking tyres, this year will also see the introduction of a 4x4 adventure element with the show's very own off road course. If you have something special to show, you can join other private entries in Pole Position – tickets for this are just £10 per vehicle and include two day tickets. Or you can book through your club – club cars are subject to just a £5 administration fee per entry and include two adult day tickets. Club income will…

the first mazda to bear mx name

In the year that the Mazda MX-30 has gone on sale in the UK, Mazda Italy has carried out a restoration of the first Mazda to wear the MX badge – the Mazda MX-81 Aria. Returned to its original futuristic glory 40 years after its unveiling at the 1981 Tokyo Motor Show, the small coupé was designed by Marc Dechamps for Turin-based coachbuilder Bertone using Mazda 323 running gear clothed in a futuristic wedge-shaped hatchback. With its gold paint, huge glasshouse and pop-up lights it stood out at the 1981 Tokyo Motor Show, but with its recessed square steering wheel, TV screen cockpit and side swinging front seats, it was arguably the interior that was the most radical. A one-off concept, it led to things like the high-mounted tail lights…