LANCASTER CLASSIC CAR NEWS
The challenges facing classic car owners in London
It can be tricky running a historic vehicle in any city, but our capital poses its own unique challenges. As the expanding Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) will affect owners of modern classics after 29 August, Lancaster Insurance caught up with Darren Vince, founder of Waterloo Classics, to better understand the situation from within Greater London and the Congestion Charge zone.
Behind The Shutters: Courtney Ward, Ambassador, Mazda MX-5 Owners’ Club
Classic car clubs have a vital role in preserving historic vehicles. Aside from the spares, camaraderie and events, they need to be a welcoming space for all interested parties. The best way to get into older motors is to start young – and Courtney Ward, Mazda MX-5 Owners’ Club ambassador, joined when she was 11.
MEET THE OWNER – STEVE LLOYD AND HIS OPEL COLLECTION
Many readers who live near Milford Haven will know the Vauxhall dealer W P Lewis & Son. Their managing director Steve Lloyd is also the custodian of four very rare cars that hail from when his family’s company was an Opel franchisee.
DO YOU REMEMBER – THE DATSUN SKYLINE 240K COUPE
When I encountered a Datsun Skyline 240K Coupe for Classic & Sports Car nearly twenty years ago, I wrote that it hailed from a time when "a ceramic cooker hob, Texas Speak & Spell and a car with electric windows were the three essential prerequisites for middle-class success".
Summer driving: We pick the UK’s best roads
The lure of the open road becomes all the more special behind the wheel of a classic car. It’s the antithesis of the motorway grind on the cross-city commute; even if your historic vehicle isn’t particularly quick, it’s the experience and the scenery that counts more than making progress.
Behind the shutters: MG Owners’ Club Race Championship
Since 1981, the MG Owners’ Club’s Race Championship has given drivers of all skill levels a chance to race for an affordable sum. Run to strict safety standards, differing little from how they left the factory, MGs from Abingdon, Cowley and Longbridge compete on circuits the length and breadth of the UK.
Understanding TVR: the life and times of an unforgettable British car maker
The appeal of a TVR is obvious: powerful, affordable, and handsome. Before and after the closure of the Blackpool factory in Bristol Road in 2006, the TVR Car Club enthusiastically supported (and continues to support) every TVR, from the earliest specials to the last Sagaris or Typhon.
Eight summer drop-top convertibles for £10k or less
Winter blues be gone! As the days get longer and the nights shorten, the chance of decent weather grows by the hour – and there’s plenty of open-top motoring to be had, even on a modest budget. For those seeking miles of headroom, our cheapest cars hail from the mid-Nineties and early Noughties at £2500 and wind back the decades just before breaching £10,000.
The MG Cyberster is set to become a future classic
Britain’s sports cars are among our most precious motoring legacies; of all the storied marques of yesterday, MG is sorely missed. Fans have been waiting nearly a quarter of a century for a new MG sports car – and if everything goes to plan, they’ll get one sometime next year: the Cyberster, an all-electric cabriolet that’s set to go toe-to-toe with Tesla’s second-generation Roadster.
Our ten favourite English motor museums
Museums still have a lot to offer classic car enthusiasts. They’re part of the preservation movement that keeps historic vehicles on the road; not only are venues given over to exhibits, but space is also allotted to owners to gather and display their cars. As institutions, they repair and display our past motoring heritage.
HAPPY FATHER’S DAY
Father’s Day will soon be upon us, so I would like to celebrate the return to the road of one of my parent’s projects – his 1983 Talbot-Matra Murena 1.6. Here is what I wrote about his previous projects in 2018:
STARS AND THEIR CARS – BARRY NEWMAN AND THE DODGE CHARGER R/T 440 MAGNUM
The passing of Barry Newman on the 11 May means there can be only one choice for ‘Stars and Their Cars’ for this month. Some readers may remember the actor as Petrocelli, a television series filled with Cadillac Fleetwoods and other fine Detroit machinery. But for countless film enthusiasts around the world, he will forever be Kowalski, the driver of a supercharged white 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T 440 Magnum in Vanishing Point.