As the theme for this year’s Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show is “Built to Last”, what car merits this description more than the Peugeot 404? It is the sort of vehicle that you would encounter across the world long after its production ceased.
The theme of this year’s Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show, with Discovery, has been revealed as ‘Built to Last’.
What are the elements that you mainly associate with Minder? There are the cars of course – Terry’s array of slightly down-at-heel Capris, the Daley Jaguars and Daimlers, Detective-Sergeants Chisholm and Rycott attempting to fight crime in a Vauxhall Cavalier Mk. II or a Talbot Solara.
How many of you remember this TV licensing warning from 1977 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRau5ysqrXY? There is the stern voice-over from Edward Judd, the idea that watching Columbo is to be utterly condemned - and that blue-grey Commer.
My Lancaster Insurance Hyundai Coupe headed for Mallory Park for rounds 7 and 8 of the Cup, our mid-season meeting, and the sun was shining! We were without a win so far this season and there’s been a fair amount of head scratching at previous meetings as to why we were almost, but not quite, on the pace.
After many years – decades even - of viewing some of the finest spy/thriller shows to hail from the ITC empire I feel that I have identified the vital ingredients behind their success.
My love for classics stems from my family, like so many in our industry. My dad was, and still is, a massive motor enthusiast and he and I share this passion today.
Graeme Aiken is not only the proud owner of one of Britain’s rarest cars, he also delights in the confusion it often causes. ‘My best overheard conversation was in Sainsbury's car park: Wife: What's that little yellow car dear? Husband: It's a DAF love, rubber band gearbox. Wife: But is says Volvo on the back... Husband sighs No Dear, it's a DAF...’
This is a sweeping question but what are the ingredients for a “cult” vehicle? What are the elements that are guaranteed to draw onlookers to a car, whether it is parked on the street or attending a classic show?
There is one very important aspect of the Citroen Mehari – i.e. it is not a car for a poor climate and indeed it was never officially marketed in the UK. It belongs under the Mediterranean sun and indeed I first encountered it in Santa Ponsa some 36 years ago.
When you are visiting a car show, the first vehicle that you immediately head towards often says a great deal about your classic-related tastes. On Sunday 20th May, I visited the splendid Chiltern Hills Vintage Vehicle Rally and my initial call was not to the Austin A110 Westminster, looking resplendently municipal, the Pontiac with the famous silver streaks decorating its bonnet.
Some cars are genuinely individual but in ways that are not entirely to be recommended. We are talking about the automotive equivalents of taking off all your clothes and dancing the twist in the tinned soup aisle of Asda or having Albert Steptoe as a sartorial role model for a crucial job interview. In other words, vehicles such as the AMC Pacer.