Classic Cars April 2022

Welcome This month we celebrate originals so special their makers revisited them. Did they do the right thing? Critics of retrospectively inspired modern car design – and I’ve been one of them – see a cynical attempt to cash in on old glories one more time by manufacturers too lazy to excite us with a fresh vision of the future. But creativity in everything from music to cars draws on a complex cocktail of both innovation and influence from what already exists, and that can include creations from the distant past, from sea creatures to cars. In his interview on page 64, Frank Stephenson’s description of how he arrived at a Mini design for the new millennium gives its shape a legitimacy that elevates it above those once-successful musicians re-releasing…

[The List] BMW E30 M3 Evo II ‘Oh yes, she can boogie’ As a young man Eoin McKenna owned an E30 325i Sport, but always lusted after an M3. Time to find out if four cylinders are better than six, as we put him in a BMW M3 Evo II Words ROSS ALKUREISHI Photography TONY BAKER Your dream drive made real Some things are preordained to happen; take this month’s List, for example. Dublin-based reader Eoin McKenna explains, ‘A few months back, I was sat by a swimming pool on the Portuguese Algarve flicking through Classic Cars and my other half asked what I was reading. I explained that a reader had written in with his top 10 dream cars and that the magazine had put him behind the wheel…

EOIN’S DREAM DRIVE LIST Lancia Delta Integrale Evo I (yellow) ‘Saw one outside an Edinburgh nightclub; it tore up the cobblestones in a flash, with crackles and bangs’ BMW E30 M3 ‘Incredible lineage of victories gives it a true racing pedigree’ AC Cobra ‘A handful of a car, even with its wide tyres – so cool for summertime cruising’ Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500 ‘Amazing power for its time and bold looks from a family car’ Ford Escort RS2000 MkII ‘Simple looks with some trick bits make this Ford a true driver’s car’ Porsche 911 (964) Turbo ‘Best looking Porsche by far, in my opinion. Fantastic burble, not to mention turbo lag that’d knock you into next week’ Porsche 356b Cabriolet ‘The original – such cool looks, and with a beautiful…

EOIN McKENNA’S CLASSIC CV 1989 DAIHATSU CHARADE GTTI ‘My first car – it was so light and quick. I blew the 1.0-litre engine up driving back from work and although I rebuilt it, it was never the same, so I moved it on.’ 1997 TOYOTA STARLET GLANZA V ‘A spotless Japanese import that I had for several years. As reliable as a Swiss clock and a great city run-around.’ 1989 BMW 325i SPORT (E30) ‘Crazy going into corners with a flick of the steering wheel – you really had to have your wits about you. Needed a lot of work, so sold to part fund an Interrail trip across Europe.’ 1993 NISSAN URVAN ‘2.3-litre diesel beast bought with two friends in Australia; converted it to a camper and travelled two-thirds…

CHASING CARS Quentin Willson’s hot tips High roller or eye roller? Even with an unseemly interior, Corniche convertibles are attractively low-priced I know I’ve tipped these before, but it wasn’t long ago that £36k only bought you a Rolls-Royce Corniche convertible that smelled of roused animals and needed absolutely everything doing to it. But over the last couple of years values have been ebbing downwards to the point that these days if you’re spending between £40k to £50k, you’re in the game for a very proper convertible Corniche. Just such a car presented itself at Bonhams’ Bicester sale in December. A ‘78 Corniche II in a rare and lovely shade of Caribe Aqua with 35,000 miles, it sold for a premium-inclusive £36,000 – and that’s a sum very close to…

ASK QUENTIN Aspirational dilemma I have a Porsche 993 Cabriolet manual with 74k and a 2004 996 Tiptronic with 36k, both in superb condition. But I have always promised myself an E-type. However, over the last two years my cars have increased in value while the Jag has remained relatively static. Should I wait longer to increase my buying power? Andy Baguley E-type prices have softened considerably over the last few years, so the finest restored or original cars are much better value – but in time, prices for this enduring icon will strengthen again. Watch the market, study the variants, drive them all, then search for the rarest model in the best, forensically detailed and correct condition to find the E-type you really like and that will be a…