Back Issues - 2004

December

Editor's welcome
Welcome to the December 2004 edition of Classic Car Times and may I start by wishing you all a wonderful Christmas. You will see that I have dusted off the festive site banner! ... [Read more]

- Events - Preview of the Coys 'True Greats' auction As usual there is a great selection of automobilia, toys, models, number plates and collectibles to purchase, many of which would make great Christmas presents, including a ... [Read more]

- Feature - The Trip (part 4) The Bugatti's where all restored though not to mint condition, the Rolls and Bentley section were sat on flat tyres and looking a bit tired ... [Read more]

- Free Prize Draw - Results of the Autoglym November 2004 Prize Draw We are very pleased to be able to announce that the November 2004 Autoglym Free Prize Draw has been won by ... [Read more]

- Events - A Triumph at the 18th UAC Circuit of Ireland Retro Rally (Part 1) For the second time I made the journey across the water to Ireland with my Triumph TR4, BST 82 B, again for the Retro ... [Read more]

- Events - It was all Ali’s fault A long time ago, in February 2004, Heather and I were minding our business one evening when the telephone rang. 'Can I speak to Heather, please?' 'Which of her boyfriends are you?' ... [Read more]

Petrol Head's views
Frankly, I found Autoglym Concours bit in last months edition rather disturbing. I can't understand why any bloke wants to spent most of his spare time polishing his car to the point where ... [Read more]

- Readers' Letters -
Petrol Head's rant
I have read your rant about classic motoring issues and I have to agree. I work for The Post Office(counters) and I have [Read more]

- Events -
Nearly £5,000 raised for prostate cancer in Sussex and Hampshire
A track day at Goodwood Motor Circuit near Chichester on Wednesday 22^nd September raised £4925 for the treatment of prostate cancer in Sussex and Hampshire ... [Read more]

- Events -
More 'Fun with a Purpose'
the next fund-raising track day for mainly older cars
I have been asked by the Goodwood Marshals’ Club to run a track day in order to raise funds for a new rescue unit ... [Read more]

- Readers' Restorations -
Esmond Tearle's Daimler Dart (part 16)
To be perfectly honest, I have done virtually nothing to the Dart over the past month. A combination of work commitments, a bout of the flu, and the ... [Read more]

- Readers' Letters -
HMP Silverstone
I was supporting a racing team at Silverstone (nothing fancy, VW Beetle lookalikes driving 3 hour race). To my mind the place looked like ... [Read more]

November

Editor's welcome
Welcome to what appears to be a bumper November 2004 edition of Classic Car Times. October saw the International Classic Motor Show at the NEC, featuring the Autoglym Concours Final ... [Read more]

- Events - 2004 Autoglym Concours Grand Final The results of the final of the 2004 Autoglym Classic Concours, held over the weekend (Oct 23/24) at the Classic Motor Show, NEC, are ... [Read more]

- Free Prize Draw - The November 2004 Autoglym Free Prize Draw Our friends at Autoglym have very kindly offered to provide one of their 'Immaculate Collection' valet packs (valued at £16.99) as a prize for a free readers draw to celebrate the final of the 2004 Autoglym Classic Concours Championship [Read more]

- Feature - Immortalise your classic on canvas Originally from New Zealand, I settled in UK in 1991,and have only been an artist since 1997,when I was able to devote more time to pursuing art more seriously than in previous years. In the 80's I started using an ... [Read more]

- Feature - Barn find TR2 as original as the day it was built A "barn find" Triumph TR2 has been described by classic car specialist David Eales as one of the most original 50-year-old examples of the marque he has ever seen ... [Read more]

- Feature - The Trip (part 3) Woke up to rain we decided just to throw the tent in the back and press on, this was to be a 12 hour day. Eventually the sun came out and we stopped to dry out the tent as the springs where banging the chassis. As we journeyed on it started to ... [Read more]

- Me & my classic - Nige Warner's dad & his 1936 Ford Model Y After my Dad retired he had quite often talked about getting a 'Classic Car' to enjoy throughout his retirement. This was 12 years ago and he was then thinking of getting an MGB. Quite often when I saw him the subject was bought up but ... [Read more]

Petrol Head's views
This seems as good a place as any to vent my spleen. I get more and more infuriated that those of us who choose to run old motors seem to be the ones always made to suffer ... [Read more]

- Readers' Restorations -
Esmond Tearle's Daimler Dart (part 15)
Why is it that whenever something special is going to happen the weather always seems to mess things up? ... [Read more]

- In the Hot Seat with ... -
Jim Vokes
I guess it started at the age of 12 when me and my younger brother bought a dead field bike, against dads approval, so when it broke (frequently!) we had to learn how to fix it ourselves on pocket money and borrowed tools ... [Read more]

- Events -
More 'Fun with a Purpose'
the next fund-raising track day for mainly older cars
I have been asked by the Goodwood Marshals’ Club to run a track day in order to raise funds for a new rescue unit ... [Read more]

October

Editor's welcome
Welcome to this, the October 2004 edition of Classic Car Times. This month it is the International Classic Motor Show 22nd – 24th October at the NEC, Birmingham. Due to ... [Read more]

- Event preview - Top Marques For Autoglym Concours Final Aston Martin, Austin Healey, Ferrari, Jaguar, MG, Porsche and Triumph are among the classic marques which will draw the crowds at the final of the 2004 Autoglym Classic Concours Championship at the NEC ... [Read more]

- Show report - Uxbridge Auto Show This year, on July 18th, the Rotary Club of Uxbridge had it’s 21st annual Uxbridge Autoshow on the Middlesex Showground and ... [Read more]

- Feature - The Trip After we returned I realised the Schlumpf Brothers collection had been in the public eye since 1978 because the French government had declared them bankrupt, the museum was not ... [Read more]

- Show report - The 12th Notts Classic Car & Motorcycle Show Trips to the Greenwood’s classic car shows at Thoresby Hall have pretty much become an institution in our family and this year has been no different ... [Read more]

- Letters to the Editor -
My first classic
I have just received an old car - Scimitar GTi, and am only 14 so it cannot drive it for a few years ... [Read more]

- Events -
More 'Fun with a Purpose'
the next two fund-raising track days for mainly older cars
So far this year the track days have generated over £7,000. 20th March raised £2816 and was part of the weekend Regis Classic Tour which raised a total of ... [Read more]

- Readers' Restorations -
Esmond Tearle's Daimler Dart (part 14)
It seems like ages since I actually sat down to write about the progress on my Daimler Dart restoration, and I bet that some of the regular readers were wondering if ... [Read more]

September

Editor's welcome
Welcome to the September 2004 edition of Classic Car Times. This month I am very excited to be able to tell you all about a brand new facility on the site ... [Read more]

- Show report - Northern Round Of The 2004 Autoglym Classic Concours The results of the northern round of the 2004 Autoglym Classic Concours, held at the Tatton Park Classic Car Show, are: ... [Read more]

- Free Prize Draw - Results of the Haynes Prize Draw We are very pleased to be able to announce that the Haynes August 2004 Readers Prize Draw has been won by ... [Read more]

- In the Hot Seat with ... - Stephen Pierce My name is Stephen Pierce. I am 38 and live in Sydney Australia. When I was a child I had a book that had illustrations of C-Type and D-Type Jaguars winning Le Mans. The beautiful shape of those cars caught my imagination. When it came time to replace my latest rep-mobile ... [Read more]

- Events - Preview of the Blackpalfrey tour of Kent Following on from the success of our first touring event in 2003, we’re pleased to offer you another enjoyable day out in the Kent countryside with ... [Read more]

- New Feature -
Classic Cars Reunited
This facility on the site has been devised to allow people to trace their former vehicles ... [Read more]

- Feature -
The Trip
I had been collecting Rovers since 1974 when I bought a 47 16hp saloon followed by a 47 12 4 seat open Tourer then I found Jerry, (short for geriatric) it’s a 1933 Rover ... [Read more]

- Events -
Trip to Le Mans Classic 24 hours
The Sunbeam Tiger Owners’ Club is a small club with less than 500 members. It organised a major expedition to this event as it was 40 years since the Sunbeam Tiger was ... [Read more]

- Events -
More 'Fun with a Purpose'
the next two fund-raising track days for mainly older cars
So far this year the track days have generated over £7,000. 20th March raised £2816 and was part of the weekend Regis Classic Tour which raised a total of ... [Read more]

August

Editor's welcome
Welcome to this, the August 2004 edition of Classic Car Times. Last month I predicted that July would be a good one for me and it certainly has been ... [Read more]

- Free Prize Draw - The Haynes Prize Draw Our friends at Haynes have very kindly offered to provide a copy of "Specialist Sports Cars" as a prize for a free readers draw ... [Read more]

- In the Hot Seat with ... - Pete Giles I have been in the motor trade since 1966. Most of today’s classics I remember new but I like pre war cars ... [Read more]

- Feature - Mini Trackday Back in Autumn 2003 I moved departments at work and I was very fortunate that the team I was leaving had a collection for a leaving present. I’m never sure whether it’s a huge complement or an insult, but the collection did quite well. This was back when I was considering buying a Mini Cooper S ... [Read more]

- Book Review - "Specialist Sports Cars The good, the bad and the ugly of a very British breed" by Richard Heseltine The title tells it all as far as the content of the book is concerned. This is a Large-format hard backed book consisting of 152 pages. It is easy to read and is one of those books ... [Read more]

- Readers' Restorations -
Rob McCall's 1955 Austin A30 (part 5)
Well, long time no.... bore I suppose! Since my last update, I have really progressed in the engine department. No more will we be just ambling along with the original 803cc ‘A’ series engine, but we now have a full ... [Read more]

- Product News -
Austin-Healey Sprite wiring diagrams
Nick Raymond Electrical have recently announced the Austin Healey Sprite range as the latest addition to their range of full colour wipe clean wiring diagrams ... [Read more]

- Events -
Preview of the Woodvale Rally
Woodvale Rally is one of the finest classic car events to take place in the country. This year we expect to be, as previous year's, hosts to over 80 car and motorcycle clubs and over 600 individual entrants competing in ... [Read more]

July

Editor's welcome
Welcome to the latest edition of Classic Car Times. As I’ve been compiling and editing the articles for this month’s update I have been struck by how many of these are ... [Read more]

- Show report - Jaguars in June The rolling hills and farms of central Ohio provided the place, the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course provided the facilities, and vintage cars provided the artistic ... [Read more]

- Free Prize Draw - Results of the NRE Prize Draw I am very pleased to be able to announce that the NRE May/June 2004 Readers Prize Draw has now been drawn ... [Read more]

- Show report - Southern Round Of The 2004 Autoglym Classic Concours The results of the southern round of the 2004 Autoglym Classic Concours, held at the Bromley Pageant of Motoring, Kent, are: ... [Read more]

- Show report - The Nostell Priory Steam Fair It’s a bit of a convoluted and, to be honest, dull story why we ended up going to the steam fair at Nostell Priory. I had never been to a steam fair before and no idea what to expect. Obviously there would be ... [Read more]

- Show report -
Carole Nash Beale Country Park Classic Motor Show
This was a new Greenwood Exhibitions venue for 2004. You have to book your car in for their exhibitions and it costs £2 which allows ... [Read more]

- In the Hot Seat with ... -
David Olivant
I am a newly retired professional engineer, 58 years old living in Scotland. I have worked in maintenance most of my life, so I know which end of a screwdriver to hold ... [Read more]

- Readers' Restorations -
Esmond Tearle's Daimler Dart (part 13)
As I sit here on an early summers evening writing this latest update, the rain is falling and the wind is blowing. Hard to believe it was the longest day of a year ... [Read more]

- Events -
Preview of the Woodvale Rally
Woodvale Rally is one of the finest classic car events to take place in the country. This year we expect to be, as previous year's, hosts to over 80 car and motorcycle clubs and over 600 individual entrants competing in ... [Read more]

June

Editor's welcome
Welcome to this, the June 2004 edition of the site. This month has been particularly gratifying for me for a couple of reasons ... [Read more]

- Feature - The Repatriation of LM 1350SS I first got wind of this car on the internet and saw it advertised on a jolly good website for vintage cars. The picture looked attractive but ... [Read more]

- Events - Preview of the Woodvale Rally Woodvale Rally is one of the finest classic car events to take place in the country. This year we expect to be, as previous year's, hosts to over 80 car and motorcycle clubs and over 600 individual entrants competing in ... [Read more]

- In the Hot Seat with ... - You? The 'Hot Seat' is an interview in the form of a questionnaire. It was conceived to allow people to easily become involved in contributing to the site. People have told me that they would like to contribute but find it daunting sitting down with a ... [Read more]

- Show report - Morris Minor Owners Club Barnsley Branch Rally In total, I counted about 60 Minors on the day but may have missed a few, as they were coming and going all of the time. At least 4 branches of the MMOC were ... [Read more]

- Free Prize Draw - Readers Prize Draw It seems as if entry to this competition has been causing some confusion this month. As a result we will be extending the entry deadline to ... [Read more]

- Workshop -
My Method of Spraying a Car
I have been painting cars, mostly on an every now and then basis ie. when I have restored a car, for over 30 years. The following is ... [Read more]

- Letters to the Editor -
Spares stock for sale
Sorry to trouble you but I was wondering if you could maybe provide me with some assistance or point me in the right direction ... [Read more]

- Letters to the Editor -
Daimler Dart bubbling paint
Regarding your article on the Daimler Dart restoration, I have a Series B Dart which is being restored at the moment and am experiencing problems with ... [Read more]

- Me & my classic -
John Cooper & his 1958 Morris Minor Convertible (part 3)
So far, I haven’t said a great deal about the interior of XOE 886. To be brutally honest, I would have to describe it as being ‘tired’ at best, and in reality probably edging more towards ... [Read more]

May

Editor's welcome
Welcome to the May 2004 edition of the site. The warmer weather is now upon us and the shows are starting. I'm embarrassed to admit that ... [Read more]

- Free Prize Draw - Readers Prize Draw Our friends at NRE are very kindly offering five (5) full colour wiring diagram posters from the current range as prizes for a free readers draw ... [Read more]

- In the Hot Seat with ... - Roy Johnson I had an interest in cars for as long as I can remember. My father had a passion for anything mechanical and ... [Read more]

- Travels with my camera - A postcard from Portugal Over the Easter holidays, I managed to book us a last minute family holiday to the Algarve in southern Portugal. Being last minute, we weren’t really prepared ... [Read more]

- Free Prize Draw - Results of the Haynes Prize Draw We are very pleased to be able to announce that the Haynes April 2004 Readers Prize Draw has been won by ... [Read more]

- Letters to the Editor -
Daimler Dart bubbling paint
Regarding your article on the Daimler Dart restoration, I have a Series B Dart which is being restored at the moment and am experiencing problems with ... [Read more]

- Letters to the Editor -
Austin A40 Somerset trafficators
I am currently restoring an Austin A40 Somerset which has trafficators (and I am wanting to add indicators as an extra but can easily be ... [Read more]

- Readers' Restorations -
Esmond Tearle's Daimler Dart (part 12)
After a bit of a panic last month when we found that the calliper fixing bolts were no longer where they should have been, I was not looking forward to the quest of locating new ones. As it happened, after finding out that ... [Read more]

- Me & my classic -
John Cooper & his 1958 Morris Minor Convertible (part 2)
Last month I explained how we came to own our 1958 Morris Minor convertible and about getting it back to dad’s garage. It was a couple of weeks before ... [Read more]

- Events -
Morris Minor Rally - Sandtoft Trolley Bus Museum
This was our Morris Minor’s first show and it turned out to be a great day held at a great location ... [Read more]

April

Editor's welcome
I’d like to welcome you to the April edition of Classic Car Times which has now been running for a year... [Read more]

- Free Prize Draw - The Haynes Prize Draw Our friends at Haynes have very kindly offered to provide a copy of "Jaguar E-Type" from their Haynes Great Cars Series of books as a prize for a free readers draw... [Read more]

- Readers' Restorations - Nigel Warner's TVR 3000S (part 9) I decided to restore the hood frame next. The frame was broken in a couple of places and it has been repaired a few times before, one of which had ... [Read more]

- In the Hot Seat with ... - Ian Wilson My first car in 1973 was a 1968 998cc Mini MK11 ... [Read more]

- Me & my classic -
John Cooper & his 1958 Morris Minor Convertible
It must be about 3 or 4 years ago now that I first thought that I might like to own a classic car. During this time it’s probably fair to say that I’ve ... [Read more]

- Letters to the Editor -
Austin A40 Somerset trafficators
I am currently restoring an Austin A40 Somerset which has trafficators (and I am wanting to add indicators as an extra but can easily be ... [Read more]

- Readers' Restorations -
Esmond Tearle's Daimler Dart (part 11)
Since last month, I have actually managed to find a pair of original equipment Daimler Dart air filters. These were on the ebay auction site and whilst they are still listed on a leading parts suppliers list, I was unable to access the website to ... [Read more]

- Book Review -
"JAGUAR E-TYPE" by Nigel Thorley
Like the others I have reviewed for the site, this book was received as a gift, recent birthday I think. The overwhelming thing that struck me as I unwrapped it was the ... [Read more]

March

- In the Hot Seat with ... - Mike Peacock My first car was a mid/dark blue, 1966 Austin 1100 bought for £110 in Mar 1978 just after I passed my driving test. I only kept it for a few months before moving onto my next car (Fiat 124) and sold it to a ... [Read more]

- Me & my owner - 1985 Ford Granada 2.8i Ghia X & it's owner Mick Dean This story is about me and how I came into the possession of my present keeper, Mick Dean. But first a little history. The first few months of my life I was a beautiful top of the range ... [Read more]

- Book Review - "Mad Cars" by Giles Chapman What I neglected to mention in my last book review, "The worst cars ever sold in Britain", was that at the same time I also received its sister book "Mad Cars" also ... [Read more]

- Letters to the Editor -
A plea for restoration help
I have a 1966 Triumph Mark One, owned by my late father. I've tried to sell it, to a 'good home'; one where it would be restored, or at the very least ... [Read more]

- Me & my classic -
Esmond Tearle & his 1964 Daimler 2½ litre V8 (part 2)
A few weeks after acquiring my new toy, I met a man at a major classic car show. I was actually looking at the cars he had displayed and they were all for sale. Dare I say that the three Daimler V8's were certainly no better than mine was, but they were priced ... [Read more]

- Readers' Restorations -
Nigel Warner's TVR 3000S (part 8)
I took the runners off the seats and rubbed them down as they were quite rusty. They were then painted ready to put the seats back in. I also gave the ... [Read more]

- Letters to the Editor -
Restoration advice needed
I read with great interest the restoration of the Daimler Dart article and was very impressed with the methods and results ... [Read more]

- Readers' Restorations -
Esmond Tearle's Daimler Dart (part 10)
Last month, I rather optimistically predicted that the cylinder heads would now be firmly in place, on the immaculately restored engine, and I was also rather hoping that the fitted up chassis would be mobile in so much as ... [Read more]

February

- Events - 1700 Miles of Ireland – the Circuit of Ireland Retrospective Trial I didn’t expect to be doing this event, in fact Id never even heard of it until I received a phone call from a very decent Irishman called Terence Bradley who wanted to buy a ... [Read more]

- Workshop - LPGas Conversion into a Granada 2.8i Ghia X Estate In the words of Val Doonican, “I wanna tell you a story…” What started this entire LPG lark off was a conversation with my brother about a diesel Isuzu trooper I was looking at buying. We were talking about cheap fuels and ... [Read more]

- Me & my classic - Esmond Tearle & his 1964 Daimler 2½ litre V8 I suppose that by now, I really should have given more mention to my 1964 Daimler 2½ litre V8, as so far I have only ... [Read more]

- In the Hot Seat with ... -
Iain Nicolson
The first car I bought was a Formula Ford Hawke! I was lucky enough to have a company car at the time, and so I was able to buy (and race) a racing car which was ... [Read more]

- Book Review -
"The worst cars ever sold in Britain" by Giles Chapman
What would Christmas be the traditional presents of socks, books and a tie? I don’t seem to have reached the sock age yet and ... [Read more]

- Readers' Restorations -
Nigel Warner's TVR 3000S (part 7)
I have managed to get the interior all back together apart from the seats. I didn't have any problems until I went to fit the ... [Read more]

- Letters to the Editor -
Circuits des Ramparts accommodation
I own a lovely restored 18th century farmhouse near Angouleme, in south west France. The town of which is home to the famous ... [Read more]

- Readers' Restorations -
Esmond Tearle's Daimler Dart (part 9)
After a period which was rather inactive on the restoration front, things are starting to happen again ... [Read more]

January

- Free Prize Draw - Results of the Autoglym Christmas Prize Draw We are very pleased to be able to announce that the Christmas 2003 Autoglym Free Prize Draw has been won by ... [Read more]

- Travels with my camera - A postcard from Cyprus Every month we all flick through the pages of our favourite classic car magazines and invariably find a feature about unearthed cars suitable for restoration, usually under a snappy and witty title containing ... [Read more]

- Events - British Sports Car Day - Shuttleworth 2003 The 'British Sportscar Day' is organised each year by the Gordon-Keeble Owners Club. It celebrates the best of British Sportscars from both past and present. Last year it was changed from ... [Read more]

- Letters to the Editor -
Picasso
I am researching a Picasso sculpture called 'Baboon and Young' which features ... [Read more]

- Readers' Restorations -
Nigel Warner's TVR 3000S (part 6)
The boot lid is now sprayed black and is looking good and just need a polish when the paint has hardened, the inner wings have also been sprayed. I have inspected the rear tub ... [Read more]

- A short story -
Only Annie brings me flowers
They always say fate plays a part in life, but for me fate dealt a pretty bad hand. The things I did in the past sort of caught up with me, and I paid the price all right. Five years is a ... [Read more]

- In the Hot Seat with ... -
Keith
Mini Estate ... [Read more]