Lancaster News

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Latest news

Welcome to Lancaster Insurance News

Keep up to date with the latest news and events from the world of classic cars.

CAR OF THE MONTH – MICHAEL WALL AND HIS 1970 HILLMAN AVENGER SUPER

  • 25th February, 2020

‘The younger generation sometimes say, “is that a Mk.1 Escort?” – much to my annoyance! I am very occasionally asked “is it a Viva?” but the most common reaction is “what is it?”.

MEET THE OWNER – LUKE HARWIN AND HIS FORD ZODIAC MK. III FARNHAM ESTATE

  • 24th February, 2020

'My late father was into classic commercials and did the steam rallies when I was a kid with his old AECs and Fodens. I wanted to do the rallies again with my kids, so it needed to be able to tow a caravan. I'm into 50s and 60s Fords so it had to be a Mk. II or Mk. III Zodiac or Zephyr'.

MEET THE OWNER – STEPHEN HITCHCOCK AND HIS AUSTIN A35 VANS

  • Lancaster Insurance Services |
  • 20th February, 2020

‘I’ve always been more a van man than car man’ remarks Stephen Hitchcock and, as proof, he is the proud owner of not one but two Austin A35s. The 1959 orange example has been a part of his fleet for the past two years and the grey (and red) 1960 model since 2004 - ‘I used it to advertise my business’.

MEET THE OWNER – NATHAN WILLMOTT AND HIS HEARTBEAT MORRIS MINI VAN

  • Lancaster Insurance Services |
  • 20th February, 2020

‘I don’t think there’s another programme quite like Heartbeat. I think younger people relate to it being a part of their childhood as many I talk to had to go to bed after it finished on a Sunday evening watching it with the family and it also meant school was in the morning. Us older people appreciate the vehicles and the music’.

50 YEARS OF THE HILLMAN AVENGER

  • Lancaster Insurance Services |
  • 20th February, 2020

The Hillman Avenger is one of the most uber-1970s cars that you are likely to encounter - one that firmly belongs to the realm of Fletcher Maths, How We Used To Live on ITV “Schools Television” and those strange “Pink Panther” chocolate bars from the corner newsagent.

DO YOU REMEMBER THE SUNBEAM IMP SPORT AND THE SINGER CHAMOIS SPORT?

  • Lancaster Insurance Services |
  • 14th February, 2020

A select group of cars are instantly likeable – cars such as the Sunbeam Imp Sport and the Singer Chamois Sport. Their combination of looks, performance and charm, are quite formidable – ‘Sparkling sports performance with luxury saloon comfort’, as the Rootes Group put it.

The UK’s best surfing hotspots

  • Lancaster Insurance Services |
  • 12th February, 2020

Before you strap the surf boards to the roof and jump into your trusty campervan, check out our top UK locations where you can find some serious surf action.

Fire safety when touring in your campervan

  • Lancaster Insurance Services |
  • 12th February, 2020

Fires in campervans are extremely rare, but when they do happen they can cause a huge amount of damage. If you have ever lost a campervan to fire or seen one go up in flames, you’ll know just how dramatic, upsetting, and costly it can be.

MEET THE OWNER – MATT DEBBAGE AND HIS TRIUMPH DOLOMITE

  • Lancaster Insurance Services |
  • 4th February, 2020

When Matt Debbage takes LLW 911K for a spin, the reactions from members of the public are usually ‘any combination of “nice car, my Dad / Grandad had one” /”I had one - it was so rusty” / “awful cars”/ “ooh look - a ‘Doloshite’” / “Is it a Sprint mate?”’.

THE FORD POPULAR 100E – A CELEBRATION

  • Lancaster Insurance Services |
  • 3rd February, 2020

The Ford stand at the 1959 Motor Show famously hosted the new Anglia, but it also featured an old favourite with a fresh set of badges. The 105E did not entirely succeed all of Dagenham’s small cars, for the Prefect was upgraded with the 997cc engine as the 107E while the “New Popular replaced the venerable “sit up and beg” 103E.

DO YOU REMEMBER – THE SUZUKI WHIZZKID?

  • Lancaster Insurance Services |
  • 3rd February, 2020

I recently had the pleasure of experiencing the SC100 “Whizzkid” in the metal – and I had forgotten just how small they are. There were moments when I was convinced that it was ankle-height and the Suzuki remains one of the few cars that makes an Austin A35 seem as large as a Ford Granada.

Best classic car shows of 2020

  • Lancaster Insurance Services |
  • 3rd February, 2020

The start of a new year means a whole heap of new and exciting car shows to put in your calendar.

FIVE 1970S ENTRY-LEVEL LARGE SALOONS

  • Lancaster Insurance Services |
  • 3rd February, 2020

Or, how to achieve style and comfort with a minimum of outlay. Austin/Morris 1800 “Wedge”. When BL unveiled their replacement for the “Landcrab” in March 1975 -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxgdRAuDsTEhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxgdRAuDsTE - the focus was inevitably on the flagship Wolseley, but the four-cylinder Austin and Morris was equally important.

ONE FAMILY FROM NEW – MICHAEL WRIGLEY’S RENAULT 20 TS

  • Lancaster Insurance Services |
  • 30th January, 2020

‘She’s a 1978 4 speed TS. The 5 speed came out May 1979, much to the chagrin of my father who bought her new’, remarks Michael Wrigley of his utterly magnificent one family Renault 20.