Practical Classics November 2021
Practical Classics magazine has a 30-year tradition of delivering the very best, hands-on classic car experiences to its readers. Every staff writer and contributor works on and restores their own classics. Each issue is packed with: * Rigorous buying advice * Real-world product tests * Inspirational classic driving features * Fascinating historical insight Practical Classics is also a campaigning title, taking the concerns of classic car owners to Parliament and keeping its readers' classics where they belong - on the road. So come and join PC in the workshop - the kettle's on.
in this issue
welcome to the workshop
Now, I have spent a lot of hours at the wheel of older cars, but never have I driven for as long, and quite as far as I drove recently in the Practical Classics/Lancaster Insurance VW Van. I drove at an average of around 55mph from Cambridge to Beaulieu, to Woolacombe, back to Kent, then all the way up to Bamburgh and back via Norfolk over the course of five days. At every stop we (the team came along too in their own classics) were greeted by you lot, the fantastic readers of this magazine. I should feel absolutely dead, but I don’t and there is a simple reason. When you drive at a slower pace, and you know there’s no point in even trying, you change gear in your brain.…
life’s a beach!
All you need to know about everything important It went down to the wire, with an MOT the day before departure and the retrimmed seats fast-tracked to the PC Workshop in a frantic rush, but the wheels on the bus went round and round the coast on a tour of Britain’s best beaches. What’s more, Camper Round the Coast followers and PC readers showed astonishing generosity, raising over £1000 for Prostate Cancer UK by coming out to join us. The first stop on the CRTC tour was the Beaulieu Autojumble, where the Type 2 was star of the show. Then it was onto the top five beaches in Britain, as voted for by PC readers and Lancaster Insurance customers, starting off at Woolacombe in Devon (above). The run then took in Camber…
news in 5 pictures
The new Morris JE, an electric van styled to look like the original Morris J-Type, made its debut in September at the Fully Charged Live show at Farnborough. Morgan is working on a new three-wheeler to replace the outgoing model. An early glimpse shows an engineering prototype undergoing durability testing. Classic owners are being asked to submit their cars for judging at a virtual Hot Wheels Legends event on October 14, 2021. Visit hotwheelslegends.com now. 101-year-old Harold Baggott, who learned to drive at the wheel of a Model T, this month, became one of the first in the UK to drive the all-new Mustang Mach-E! Radford unveiled its Type 62-2 for the first time, in Gold Leaf at the Quail Lodge show. The Lotus Type 62-2 coachbuilt by Radford is limited to just 62…
starting handle
It simply isn’t going away. The quality of classic car replacement parts is still, at best, variable, with even reputable distributors now falling victim to suppliers that cannot seem to be able to make a component that will last more than a few journeys. This would be annoying at best if it weren’t safety critical. Many of the most consumable parts we all have to buy are brakes or fuel related… when things go wrong in that department, we should all be taking notice. Luckily however, we have a new trade organisation to help take these concerns forward. The Heritage and Classic Vehicles Alliance is here to help with these concerns and, I hope, over the next few months, will take on cowboy suppliers or distributors who will not take their…
dull but important!
CHANGES FOR YOUNG DRIVERS WHO WANT TO TOW The law around towing is changing for younger drivers. Anyone who passed their driving test after January 1, 1997 will no longer have to sit a test in order to tow a trailer or caravan weighing up to 3500kg maximum authorised mass (MAM) from autumn 2021. The changes are the result of a recent government consultation and will enable more lorry tests to be offered instead, helping to combat the shortage of lorry drivers in the UK. The exact date of the change has yet to be confirmed, however car and trailer driving tests (Category B+E) will stop from September 20, 2021. Find out more from the government website via tinyurl.com/trailertests.…
beaulieu is back!
The much-anticipated International Autojumble returned to Beaulieu on September 4/5 for a busy weekend of non-stop buying and selling. 25,000 show goers turned up with Saturday, in particular, feeling just like the good old days. The impact of Brexit and COVID restrictions on international visitors was obvious however, as the entire Yellow Field remained empty, one third of the site. Following the show’s postponement in 2020, its sundrenched return delighted stallholders and visitors, but with only two fields active and a tiny number of European stallholders and punters, the title ‘International’ autojumble was brought into question. Huge customs and COVID test costs at borders, along with associated mountains of paperwork, discouraged the international brigade. Beaulieu is understood to be actively exploring ways in which international visitors and stallholders can be attracted…
