LANCASTER CLASSIC CAR NEWS
THE OLDEST OFFICIALLY IMPORTED DATSUN IN THE UK
Mark Ashbridge is the owner of one of the most historically important foreign-built cars in the UK. It is not a vehicle that can claim dramatic 0-60 figure or a thrilling top speed, and nor would it claim to be radical in form or content.
STREET SCENES – THE 1970s
A warning to any to any reader of an age to remember The Goodies, Rentaghost and Cadbury’s Aztec Bars – these film clips may make you feel slightly older than Methuselah.
DO YOU REMEMBER – THE VAUXHALL CHEVETTE 2300 HS?
In the very late 1970s, you might sometimes encounter owners of the Vauxhall Chevette L engaged on secret work in their lock-up. After months of carefully applying “Strobe stripes”, a front spoiler and a home-applied change of body colour from ultra-sensible brown to silver, they too could to take the roads in their own interpretation of the incredible 2300HS.
BUILT TO LAST – THE MORRIS MARINA
The Morris Marina never set out to be one of the more controversial cars from the British Leyland (BL) empire – indeed its specification and appearance both went out of their way to be as straightforward as possible.
BUILT TO LAST – THE SAAB 96
You could almost always detect the arrival of an early Saab 96 long before it came into view. Firstly, there was that engine note – a succession of popping noises – and then there was the unmistakable aroma of the two-stroke engine.
STREET SCENES – THE 1960S
Or, a trip into the real 1960s, as opposed to the myths about “Swinging Britain”, a decade of shops with striped awnings, chaps with Hank Marvin/Peter Sellers glasses and when parking seemed laughably easy by modern standards
70 YEARS OF THE SUNBEAM-TALBOT 90
There are those cars that possess an innate sense of dash – cars such as the Sunbeam-Talbot 90. You can imagine Leslie Phillips or Terry-Thomas driving one to Goodwood or Henley, the hood down on the drop, the sliding roof open on the saloon, overtaking Ford Consuls and Vauxhall Wyverns with zest and élan.
40 YEARS OF A VERY ROYALE VAUXHALL
October 1978 saw the launch of two crucial Vauxhall models, ones that were aimed at the sort of driver who thought nothing of using Luncheon Vouchers five times a week. We have already encountered the Carlton earlier this year and it was complimented by the first really upmarket Gryphon-badged product since the demise of the wonderfully flamboyant Viscount in 1972.
FATHER’S DAY BLUES – OR THE TALBOT-MATRA MUREENA REVISITED
As Father’s Day has just passed, I would like to celebrate the Talbot-Matra Mureena – a fine motor car and the latest in an extensive line of my own father’s ‘projects’.
Drive-In - Or The Best of 1970s Motoring TV
Drive-In, for those readers who are too young to remember the great days of ITV, was Thames Television’s motoring programme and the editions posted to YouTube provide viewing that is not so much unmissable as totally addictive. Plus, there is a special guest appearance from a Womble - enjoy!