LANCASTER CLASSIC CAR NEWS
Turning your hobby into your career: Joe Miller, Head of Video, Classics World
Getting paid to make classic car content is a but a pipe dream for many a young enthusiast, but for Classics World’s Joe Miller, head of video, the dream is very much a reality. It all began after YouTube viewers wanted to know more about his Fiat Seicento Sporting, a car which, nearly a decade later, is still on his drive.
Get your classic ready for the spring and summer
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.
MEET THE OWNER – DENVER VKNG AND HIS FIAT 128 3P PROJECT CAR
“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’.
MEET THE OWNER – JOHN EVANS AND HIS RENAULT 16GL
“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!”
THE DAY MY UNCLE BOUGHT A NEW FIAT 132
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:
THE RELIANT ROBIN AT 50
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.
THE SUNBEAM ALPINE AT 70
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.
Win a Car 2023 - Austin Healey Sprite MK4
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.
Meet Matt Richardson - Furious Driving
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.
WIN this Deluxe package!
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.
Clean air zones affecting classics
Clean air zones are spreading – will they affect your classic car? Classic car owners need to stop worrying about clean air zones – at least if their vehicles are aged 40 years or older. For owners of so-called modern classics (i.e. anything younger than that), it gets complicated.