Lancaster News

Latest news

Latest news

Welcome to Lancaster Insurance News

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

Small car

Staying Positive: The CitiCar walked so Tesla could run

  • 14th April, 2023

The battle between batteries and the internal combustion engine has been waged before – at the start of the 20th century. Before certain key developments put liquid fuelled cars out in front, it looked like electric vehicles were there to stay, even in the soon-to-be-car-mad United States, which soon rediscovered its love for EVs when the Fuel Crisis bit deep.

Man sat in car

DAME MARY QUANT - 11TH FEBRUARY 1930 – 13TH APRIL 2023

  • 14th April, 2023

London is switched on. Ancient elegance and new opulence are all tangled up in a dazzling blur of op and pop. The city is alive with birds (girls) and beatles, buzzing with minicars and telly stars, pulsing with half a dozen separate veins of excitement.

Man working on car

Get your classic ready for the spring and summer

  • 13th April, 2023

Classic car maintenance is something every enthusiast should be familiar with – and it plays a crucial role in how quickly you can recommission your car for the spring and summer months. While warmer weather is – for the most part – kinder to an older vehicle, the way in which it sits out the winter months is also significant.

Silver car bumper

THE SUNBEAM ALPINE AT 70

  • 5th April, 2023

In 1954, Alfred Hitchcock was planning To Catch a Thief and needed a car for Grace Kelly's 'Frances Stevens'. A Jaguar did not seem to suit the character, nor did a Mercedes-Benz, but the director's wife Alma saw an advertisement for the Alpine.

Three wheeled car

THE RELIANT ROBIN AT 50

  • 5th April, 2023

Some vehicles are vastly misunderstood, and the Reliant Robin falls into this depressing category. A) On its launch on the 30th of October 1973, it represented a genuinely bold attempt on the part of the Tamworth concern to tempt owners of four-wheel cars to three-wheelers. B) There is no such car as a ‘Robin Reliant’.  Finally, C) Only Fools and Horses used a succession of Regal Supervans, not Robins.

Car poster

THE DAY MY UNCLE BOUGHT A NEW FIAT 132

  • 5th April, 2023

In 1976, life in my small Hampshire village often lacked excitement. True, there was the ever-popular Southern Television quiz show That’s My Turnip and the occasion when some community elders decreed Ceefax to be witchcraft. But in general, it was a placid existence until my Uncle Brian arrived in his new car. The following conversation reputedly took place in the Post Office:

Beige Car

MEET THE OWNER – JOHN EVANS AND HIS RENAULT 16GL

  • 5th April, 2023

“I first fell in love with the 16, aged 18, in London, borrowing my uncle’s. Then at 21, at university, I got a 6-year-old ’76 TL. It lasted a year before dissolving, but it was a great first car at an exciting time. I was studying Engineering and looking back, my course mates had 2CVs, Renault 6 and Alfa GT... quirkiness reigned on our course! And after the 16, I got a Lancia Trevi - born to be different!”

Silver Car Bumper

MEET THE OWNER – DENVER VKNG AND HIS FIAT 128 3P PROJECT CAR

  • 5th April, 2023

“To be honest, I didn’t even know what sort of car was hidden under the cover.” Then, in 2020, shortly after the beginning of the pandemic, Denver and his family moved into a village and “on our daily walks I spotted the ‘thing’ covered up, so I always let my imagination have a go at the ‘guess the car game’.

Man and car

Meet Matt Richardson - Furious Driving

  • 30th March, 2023

Meet the owner, or meet the YouTuber? We should be told. A 1972 Rover 2000 P6 set Matt Richardson on the path to YouTube stardom. ‘I’ve had it since I was 17 – it’s not going anywhere,’ he said. Since then, the projects have fed the channel – and the channel has fed the projects.

Yellow Car

Win a Car 2023 - Austin Healey Sprite MK4

  • 30th March, 2023

With fresh bright work, wire wheels, and a smart black hood and new carpets, this Austin Healey Sprite MK4 is a car which had no expense spared in its journey to become somebody’s most loved classic. It has got a fantastic history and could be YOURS, if you enter Lancaster Insurance Services latest FREE competition.

Large House

WIN this Deluxe package!

  • 29th March, 2023

This quarter, Lancaster Insurance Services are giving you the chance to win: A weekend stay at Classic Lodges Bagden Hall Hotel with bed & breakfast and dinner. A year’s National Trust Membership. To drive 3 cars from any collection with the Drive Dad’s Car experience.

Blue car at car show

THE 2023 PRACTICAL CLASSICS CLASSIC CAR AND RESTORATION SHOW

  • 28th March, 2023

There it was, basking in its orange glory on the Lancaster Insurance Pride of Ownership stand – the vehicle of my childhood dreams. This was a 1977 Escort 1300 Sport Mk. II, one of a mere handful of survivors, and a vehicle that belonged in the Ford brochure of that era.

White VW Car

Behind the Shutters: Katie Bushell

  • 28th March, 2023

Workshop technician and YouTuber, Katie Bushell, has been into cars for as long as she can remember. Coming from a car-mad family, she was bound to end up a petrolhead, with her VW Scirocco GT2 appearing at shows the length and breadth of the country.

Red Car

Staying Positive: “Just remove the engine and gearbox” to make a classic electric vehicle

  • 28th March, 2023

There are three main reasons why you wouldn’t convert a classic car to battery power. In Part 2 of Staying Positive, Jérôme André, editor of the EV Builders’ Guide, identified cost as a major factor.