Classic Cars June 2020

Welcome June 2020 Issue 563 It’s time to celebrate the car that scrambled and heaved its way over every obstacle to eventually change the World Of all the cars launched 50 years ago, only two model lines survive, the Suzuki Jimny and the Range Rover. I don’t recall the pint-sized Japanese offroader being much talked about back in 1970, but the Range Rover made quite a splash, not least for its hefty £2000 price tag at a time when the average house price was just a vinyl roof option shy of £5000. I even had a Corgi Range Rover of my own in Police ‘Vigilant’ spec and enough traffic cones and signs to cordon off the inevitable accident between my permanently car-chasing Aston DB6 and Jensen FF. I don’t believe…

Of all the cars launched 50 years ago, only two model lines survive, the Suzuki Jimny and the Range Rover. I don’t recall the pint-sized Japanese offroader being much talked about back in 1970, but the Range Rover made quite a splash, not least for its hefty £2000 price tag at a time when the average house price was just a vinyl roof option shy of £5000. I even had a Corgi Range Rover of my own in Police ‘Vigilant’ spec and enough traffic cones and signs to cordon off the inevitable accident between my permanently car-chasing Aston DB6 and Jensen FF. I don’t believe a Jimny was even available in the Congleton toy shop. If it was, one never made it into the Bell shoe box known as my…

[The List] Your dream drive made real Mercedes-Benz ‘Pagoda’ 230SL ‘There’s not a bad aspect – the Pagoda carries its years lightly’ Driving a W113 SL is a decades-long dream for Simon Dodds. Will the sixties two-seater be the car he imagined? Words EMMA WOODCOCK Photography NEIL FRASER Stocklund Square car park in Cranleigh is a normal place to leave a perfectly normal car. Yet today, standing in the quietest corner, something abnormal catches the eye. Pert yet balanced, ringed with chrome but never excessive, the Paul Bracq lines of the Mercedes 230SL ‘Pagoda’ have Classic Cars reader Simon Dodds entranced. This is one of his dream cars, and he’s about to slip behind the wheel for the first time. ‘It’s even prettier than I remember,’ he remarks as we…

Stocklund Square car park in Cranleigh is a normal place to leave a perfectly normal car. Yet today, standing in the quietest corner, something abnormal catches the eye. Pert yet balanced, ringed with chrome but never excessive, the Paul Bracq lines of the Mercedes 230SL ‘Pagoda’ have Classic Cars reader Simon Dodds entranced. This is one of his dream cars, and he’s about to slip behind the wheel for the first time. ‘It’s even prettier than I remember,’ he remarks as we orbit the two-seater body. ‘The Pagoda is a very, very attractive shape.’ The removable hardtop roof stops Simon in his tracks. A popular optional extra, it was designed with a mild concave curve to increase strength without compromising cabin access, and remains the car’s most distinctive styling feature. Likened…

SIMON’S DREAM DRIVE LIST Bristol 411 ‘So elegant. I used to call into the showroom and stare like a kid in a sweet shop!’ Mercedes ‘Pagoda’ ‘Understated and competent, and surely a joy to drive long distances.’ Reliant Scimitar GTE ‘A car I always promised myself but have never got around to owning’ Alfa Romeo Spider ‘My friend used to run GTVs – I’ve wondered how this generation of Alfas drives,’ Lotus Elan +2 130 ‘I just know I’d like to drive one.’ Frazer Nash Le Mans Replica ‘Perfect from every angle and always the car I most want to take home from Goodwood.’ Rover P5B ‘The last of the real hairy-chested Rovers.’ Porsche 911 pre-impact bumper ‘One of the purest expressions and something of a duty call.’ Jaguar XK…

Bristol 411 ‘So elegant. I used to call into the showroom and stare like a kid in a sweet shop!’ Mercedes ‘Pagoda’ ‘Understated and competent, and surely a joy to drive long distances.’ Reliant Scimitar GTE ‘A car I always promised myself but have never got around to owning’ Alfa Romeo Spider ‘My friend used to run GTVs – I’ve wondered how this generation of Alfas drives,’ Lotus Elan +2 130 ‘I just know I’d like to drive one.’ Frazer Nash Le Mans Replica ‘Perfect from every angle and always the car I most want to take home from Goodwood.’ Rover P5B ‘The last of the real hairy-chested Rovers.’ Porsche 911 pre-impact bumper ‘One of the purest expressions and something of a duty call.’ Jaguar XK 150 ‘A neighbour of my grandparents ran a succession of XKs in…