Classic Cars October 2019

You’ve probably seen those same cars that stick around in the advertisements for months, noticed models that go home from auctions unsold or barely squeak past their lower estimate, and heard the rumble that many classics have slipped from their 2015 peak. It would be all too easy to conclude that values are slipping back in one big slow-motion avalanche. If only life were that simple, we could all sit back and wait for that elusively expensive classic to fall into the welcoming embrace of our personal budgets. Aston DB4 Series II, here I come. Hold on a minute Phil. Plenty of cars are stubbornly clinging on, some have slipped a little, only to start climbing again, others have merely stalled and are showing early signs of moving up again. The tricky…

Welcome With classic prices at all levels of the market behaving strangely, we asked some wise heads for buying advice You’ve probably seen those same cars that stick around in the advertisements for months, noticed models that go home from auctions unsold or barely squeak past their lower estimate, and heard the rumble that many classics have slipped from their 2015 peak. It would be all too easy to conclude that values are slipping back in one big slow-motion avalanche. If only life were that simple, we could all sit back and wait for that elusively expensive classic to fall into the welcoming embrace of our personal budgets. Aston DB4 Series II, here I come. Hold on a minute Phil. Plenty of cars are stubbornly clinging on, some have slipped…

Arriving at Bedfordshire-based Morgan and Lotus specialist Allon White Sports Cars, I feel slightly embarrassed ahead of today’s dream drive. Usually I like to form a welcoming committee when our lucky reader arrives ahead of the big reveal of the car they’ll be driving for the day. ‘I usually like early examples of cars – they tend to get messed with as they get older – but I feel the opposite way when it comes to Lotus Esprits’ But today, even though I’m half an hour earlier than planned, Classic Cars reader Simon Lister is already here, leafing through a Lotus brochure, determining the perfect specification for a new Elise. ‘There are eight Lotuses in my back catalogue,’ he explains. ‘Mainly Elites and Excels, plus the Holy Grail Elite – a Riviera –…

[ The List ] Your dream drive made real ‘You can feel the shape around you’ Simon Lister has owned eight Lotuses, but never an Esprit. How will he fare when we let him loose in a mighty V8GT? Words SAM DAWSON Photography JONATHAN FLEETWOOD Arriving at Bedfordshire-based Morgan and Lotus specialist Allon White Sports Cars, I feel slightly embarrassed ahead of today’s dream drive. Usually I like to form a welcoming committee when our lucky reader arrives ahead of the big reveal of the car they’ll be driving for the day. ‘I usually like early examples of cars – they tend to get messed with as they get older – but I feel the opposite way when it comes to Lotus Esprits’ But today, even though…

SIMON’S DREAM DRIVE LIST Ferrari F40 Self-explanatory. TVR 350T Car-gazing on the internet often ends up with me landing on these. Lamborghini Espada A low-down four seater, like my Eighties Lotus Elite, but with the famous V12 engine shared with the Miura and Countach. Ferrari 288GTO My money-no-object car. Brutalist beauty and brawn. Jaguar E-type Unrivalled styling with a great choice of engines. Iso Grifo 7.0 Admired since childhood. Italian design and American muscle – a great combination. Maserati Khamsin Origami design with a few subtle curves (and a V8). Porsche 928GT/GTS Such a different shape, which is still appealing to this day. Lotus Esprit V8 A Lotus, a V8 and two turbos; what’s not to like? Audi Quattro 20V Rally legend and a forerunner to the Mitsuibishi Evo VIs…

Ferrari F40 Self-explanatory. TVR 350T Car-gazing on the internet often ends up with me landing on these. Lamborghini Espada A low-down four seater, like my Eighties Lotus Elite, but with the famous V12 engine shared with the Miura and Countach. Ferrari 288GTO My money-no-object car. Brutalist beauty and brawn. Jaguar E-type Unrivalled styling with a great choice of engines. Iso Grifo 7.0 Admired since childhood. Italian design and American muscle – a great combination. Maserati Khamsin Origami design with a few subtle curves (and a V8). Porsche 928GT/GTS Such a different shape, which is still appealing to this day. Lotus Esprit V8 A Lotus, a V8 and two turbos; what’s not to like? Audi Quattro 20V Rally legend and a forerunner to the Mitsuibishi Evo VIs that I’ve previously owned.…