Classic adverts dodge charger 2 2 & shelby charger advert retro and classic cars

Back in the 80s the foxbody chassis from Ford was shared with Dodge to create 2.2 Charger.

Thrust ssc (supersonic car) the final run retro and classic cars

An outstanding achievement, which could well be matched or even better by the Bloodhound SSC.

Classifield hunting rover sd1 2600 retro and classic cars

At Retro and Classic Cars we enjoy these classic bargains, ones that involve a bit of work to get them roadworthy again.  We’ll admit at the time, when launched the Rover SD1 wasn’t the best in class in terms of it’s build quality,  nor was it’s flaky paint and the poor image which went with it.

The 2600 came with a 6-cyclinder with either the 5-speed gearbox or the three speed automatic.  It won’t set the world alight that’s for sure, but you’re looking at a car here that has history within the British Saloon Car Championship and the German Touring Championship.  Okay, this particular spec wasn’t raced, but you get the idea.

We’ll admit there are a few niggles with this one, but for the small sum of ?295 she’s a bit of steel.  The Rover does come with the rare feature of the Webasto sunroof; she has been wax oiled from new and comes with a delightful caramel leather interior.

There is the need for some welding in places, but all manageable. The 2600 is need of a clean up, but I’m sure for that small sum you certainly get a lot of British History.

The Rover 2600 is currently for sale on CarandClassic

The forgotten classics of yesteryear retro and classic cars

When you hear the phrase ‘classic car’ images immediately come to mind: MK1 Escorts, Capris, Land Rover Series 1s, Rolls Royse Ghosts, Mustangs, Californias, Imps, Minis, the list is endless. Most of these models are highly desirable, and therefore come with an enormous price tag, but what about the forgotten models. Those cars that sometimes have huge ‘claims to fame’ but are widely unremembered, and just left to rot in lonely corners. Well I’m here to bring back some of those names, and maybe, just maybe, inspire someone to rescue one of these poor forgotten models.

The Fiat 131 with its geometric shapes, quad headlights and velour interior it is the epitome of seventies styling.  The car was originally fitted with a 1.6 litre engine producing 75bhp, but this was then upgrade to a 2 litre twin cam producing 140bhp. Then Abarth, Fiats tuning branch got their hands on the engine, fitted gigantic wheel-arches and air vents to car, and put it into the world rally championships which it won 3 times, beating Datsun 240z’s and Ford Escort mk2s! Unfortunately this reign was taken over by the Audi Quattro, driven by Walter Rohrl, Fiats winning driver. Personally I think that the 131 was one of the best cars to leave Turin, with rear wheel drive it was had great handling. It is amazing how with such a great history a car can be forgotten so quickly? Well, this was probably due to the 131s only problem. In the seventies and eighties Fiat was notorious for its use of poor quality metal, which nearly caused the death of the company, and this led to the demise of most of its cars, making them undesirable, and causing real greats to be forgotten!

The rallying legend that didn’t make it to the top.

Skoda is a brand with a, shall we say, awful reputation. People scoff when they hear words! Skoda’s of many years passed are actually hidden gems, especially the 110R. With its coupe styling and large rear vents, it’s certainly a good-looking car. Its real asset is the rear engine, it only packs a sixty-five brake-horsepower punch, but due to fact it is all over the rear wheels the small chassis is very prone to slide, making it great to drive. Much like the 131 the Skoda 110R also has a rich rallying heritage, leading Skoda throughout rally championships of the seventies. The 110R has sadly been forgotten due to Skoda’s reputation of being a communist made car, similar to Lada, so many shy away from such makes, leaving models like the 110 to rot in corners of gardens, rather than being enjoyed.

Quirky matters with the Skoda 110R

You may be asking ‘what’s a Volkswagen doing in this list?!’ I believe the mk1 Polo should be included because when anyone thinks of an old VW they instantly think Beetle, Golf and Scirocco, leaving the Polo widely forgotten. The Polo and Golf share many styling cues, for example the swallow-tail rear, but due to the Polo’s smaller dimensions I think it’s actually a better looking car (sorry Golf lovers out there)!  The Polo is really quite a sad story as it was only forgotten as it was overshadowed by the greats, the seventies really was a brilliant decade for VW!

Audi 50 shared the same chassis as the VW Polo Mk1

Now, you are probably asking ‘what is the reason for my rant about these forgotten cars?.’ I fell we need to see the bigger picture in the motoring world, and not just love the well-known, but give some others a chance to before there is nothing left. One shining example of this is the tweeter @OneCarefulOwner, who has a passion for Allegros. Without people like him we would probably lose such cars! The selection of cars here is only a drop in an ocean of classics, there are so many more to be remembered.

So next time you’re trawling the classifieds, maybe think about looking further down the list at something you may never have thought of before.

Peter griffiths (dawning of a) new era retro and classic cars

There are an awesome amount of vehicles on our roads today. Even when you narrow it down to personal vehicles from commercial you find that 39% of households in the UK have two cars and a lot have even more than that. I’d not realised the extent to which this is true until I took a job at a vehicle rental company four years ago. This company had roughly 3,000 cars on its fleet in the Midlands alone which is amazing again once you realise that the branch at Los Angeles airport alone has this amount of cars at its disposal at any one time.

So we have a lot of choice which serves us well because everyone has their different needs, tastes and, beyond taste, budget. Now I’ve owned (two) and driven (countless) enough crappy cars in my time to be able to discern what is and what is not a quality product and a good drive. Rarely do the two meet but I am lucky to have found my beau in the E30 model range of 1980′s BMWs. Before we come to that, however, you must suffer a brief history so that you might understand.

The Rover 213i ‘Cheesewedge’ which I ran for several years was a 50/50 car in that the running gear was Honda and so the gearbox and engine were great for an ‘E’ reg but it was clothed and built by Rover – so it dissolved into ruin. I loved the precise short-throw gearbox and the responsive (if small) engine and that it did indeed take the two of us, a house tent, and attendant home comforts to the top of Scotland around and down again in brilliant style. However the Rovery-ness of the thing was its downfall and we scrapped it with 55k on the clock.

Then came a ’92 Toyota Carina E which was good for a naughty top speed, economy like you wouldn’t believe, total invisibility to thieves, genuine comfort and reliability. I loved and hated it as I did the Rover but for the simple fact that it was a nothing car. It was a waste of money and time for me because I love driving and the sensation of a great car under my seat. This was sold to some gentlemen on the doorstep after failing an MOT and is currently trolling around the Black Country somewhere, resurrected in the name of a quick quid.

The Toyota couldn’t match the E30, even on its merit of ecomomy

At this point my luck changed and a friend’s parents were moving back to Africa and were scrapping their two BMWs, an E34 518i and an E30 318i. The E34 was a genuine write-off but the E30 had tax and a test on it and was offered to me to drive away! I couldn’t believe my luck. These things I knew were cool and above all had the legendary M3 at the top of the model line-up so there must be something good in the base models, right? Obviously the car ended up on the driveway with my name on it and a eureka moment brought itself to bear: finally, a car that drives like I want it to, it pivots around your hips when you turn, the pedal box has room and a hinge on the floor for the throttle, the gearbox knew what it was doing and the rear wheels did the talking. Sweet relief!

This happened just after I took the job at the rental company and the world of brand new cars was opened to me for the first time ever. Now there are good cars and bad cars whichever way you turn on the roads and after a year working there it was clear that my 20 year old Beemer was only beaten in terms of general quality by vehicles which were similarly German but cost twenty grand at the least. This sounds crazy because the 318i kind of did stutter every now and then, there were dents combining with rust, and a steering wheel from the Cutty Sark - but it’s true.

Next on the scene is my current 1988 E30 325i Touring with 171k miles which I actually bought with my own money for once. I’ve had this car for 2 years now and have done roughly 20k in it since, taking it on a tour of the Scottish Highlands, through the Yorkshire Dales, through a deer at 70mph in Wiltshire (and getting it fixed up nicely by a talented lad in Stourbridge) and moving house with it twice. Every time I walk away from it after parking I take a peek back at it, having parked it in such a way as if it were in a photo-shoot. I’ve never done this with any car previously. It still has the majority of the 171bhp it was born with, looks great in a rich malachite green, has the correct wheels, fog light pack and headlamp wash-wipe system which all adds up to a classy look, it also sounds amazing, handles better than so many modern cars and is nicely fast.

The drama here is that the ongoing cash crisis which is unfortunately affecting more than 90% of the people of this country, let alone the rest of the world, did in fact cause me to list my current baby on a popular classifieds website for vehicles. The intention was indeed to downsize and economise with the interests of being able to keep food on the table and I breathed a huge sigh of resignation as the advert went live. My dad said ‘You’re doing the right thing, son.’ (or something equally Hollywood) and was kind of smiling at me with a distinct hint of Schadenfreude in his eyes. That was unpleasant. Anyway, there it was – listed, ready to go, it was a shoe-in to get the asking price, and I was gutted. Constantly reminding myself of why I was selling it. ‘You’re going to get a nice little Fiesta with one of those little typewriter engines, or a lovely little Renault 5! Yes, a Campus! That’ll be fun to tootle about in! Maybe pop a motorbike engine in when you get a bit more money…’

This sense of sacrifice gave me an immense feeling of pride which was compounded by the interest which the advert was generating. The first my wife knew of the E30′s impending sale was when I got telephone calls and I was describing it to the inquirer. She was silently impressed and kept her cool when submitting her own inquiries as to why I had decided to sell it. After turning down a couple of idiots who had either misread the advert or were trying to offer me ’500 nicker’ there was one candidate and he just needed a couple more pictures which I couldn’t do as the car was in Stourbridge once again with another genius of a man who was sorting an oil seal.

Build quality beats the flaws of such humble Rovers

During the week it was away my Dad loaned me his Mistubishi Carisma, the car they deliberately misspelled in order to give it some but actually accentuated its inherent worthlessness. This was exactly the kind of non-car I was considering replacing the E30 with. The seat brought pain into my body, the gearbox was a soul-crushing guessing game, and the handling required clairvoyance and the general feel of the car literally depressed me. It was a relief to be able to deliver it back to the parent’s house knowing I was to return to the driving seat of a real car. A car designed and built properly in the first place, with no pretence to charisma or anything else for that matter. The only cloud to this silver lining was that it was still for sale in the public domain. So I returned home to sunny Berkshire.

Have you ever had a scales-fell-from-your-eyes moment? A moment where your shoulders slump in relief while your heart simultaneously leaps for joy? A moment of pure reward and relief which you will not forget and in fact be able to tell where you were when you felt it? Well I have, and it was when my wife said: ‘You don’t have to sell it you know, you love it, it makes you happy! It’s worth it.’

Wow. I pulled over to the side of the road, pulled out my generic smartphone device to access the Interwebs, promptly deleted the advert and continued our journey with a warm feeling around the Tech-1 steering wheel and a spring in the pedal-box. All six cylinders rang out a tuneful round in celebration.

Last weekend it rewarded us with a 33mpg average on a 600 mile trip including an hour and a half of hot and dry Dales-driving.

The future is now bright. The vast selection of cars to choose from is ‘limited’ now to ones which are dynamically better than average and thankfully there are people out there who do not care about what they drive which leaves my conscience clear to keep pursuing my interest in proper motor cars.

You can’t beat an icon?

Welcome to retro and classic cars retro and classic cars

Hello all,

I’ve had this idea for a quite while, and I’m glad I’ve finally managed to bring the idea the alive. There have been some up’s and down’s on the way, but we’ve got there.

The blog as it were has three different area’s, all of which will keep you up-to-date with both scenes, events, and show you hidden automotive gems.

I hope you enjoy the content, and will stay along for the journey.

Retro and Classic Cars

New meets old sunbeam alpine drives through tunbridge wells retro and classic cars

With thanks to Marc Crooks for the image

The 2012 british motor show is cancelled retro and classic cars

It has been revealed that there will no Motor Show for the UK for the coming year.

The Society of Motor Manufactures and Traders said that the decision had been following a consolation within the UK motor industry.

The 2010 Motor Show which was meant to be held this year, was called off due to the change of the economic climate in March 2009. This led to many manufactures pulling out of the show and a lack of interest.

“In recent years the show has played a less important role in influencing new car buyers and vehicle manufacturers are focusing their limited resources on events and activities that have a more direct impact on brand awareness and consumer decisions,” said SMMT chief executive Paul Everitt.

Paul also mentioned that the UK had a highly competitive motor industry with products that are admired around the world.

“Both SMMT and the industry are committed to displaying the achievements of the sector and providing our customers with an opportunity to experience the full breadth of models available in the UK.”

The replacement for this years show was shown at the Goodwood Moving Motor Show.

Lancia stratos on the cards for limited production retro and classic cars

The motoring press have finally got up close to the long awaited reborn Lancia Stratos, an original Stratos also came along and made an appearance.

The meeting between car and the journalistic world happened at the Alfa Romeo test track, Balocco. This was the same place which was the test cars stomping ground, and where those first scoop pictures were taken.

Lancia also took opportunity to name the man who funded the whole project, he was a businessman called Michael Stoschell. The car that was at the meet is Stoschell’s personal car. The car was intended to be purely a one off for Stoschell, however, the company has admitted that small scale production may happen. After all, the Morgan Aeromax was originally conceived as a one off for a Swiss banker, but the Morgan  entered production as did the Aero Supersports, Morgan are bursting at the seems to cater for demand. Lancia could potentially capitalise on this niche small scale market.

Now as I am sure you are aware, the Stratos shares its underpinnings with the Ferrari F430 Scuderia. Lancia takes the basic architecture of that car and fettles with it to produce a platform for the Stratos. The aluminum space frame is shortened to bring the character of the previous Stratos back into the new one. The Scuderias V8 unit is also tweaked to produce more power, albeit slightly more that the Ferrari. The newly released horsepower coupled together with the Stratos low kerb weight means that the new car should have an astonishing turn of speed. The Stratos  kerb weight is lower than the Scuderia due to extensive use of carbon fibre in the body panels and aluminum within the chassis and main parts of the space frame.

To put that into context, the Scuderia is the result of Ferraris engineers taking a not to portly supercar and taking it to the gym, pumping it full of steroids and striping out the interior and being completely obsessed with weight saving. The result is a power to weight ratio of 1220kg, but the Stratos will have a power to weight ratio of 1200kg! By using the F430 Scuderia as a base Lancia is playing a deadly game in terms of pricing. Lancia would to like to make the Stratos project profitable. In order to do that the list price for the Stratos may run into hypercar territory. This is the result of Lancia buying Scuderias base, in which is shared between the two cars.

However, if the car does make small scale production, I think Lancia shouldn’t worry about the pricing, look at Sypker for example, small dutch outfit, only makes a few cars a year and the ones that they do produce are hugely expensive, but somehow they survive, and even more surprisingly, they bought Saab!

It shows you that exclusivity DOES sell!

By Cameron Gibson

Peter griffiths time retro and classic cars

It is difficult to express in words the feeling of having suddenly found a routine to settle into. A routine which could last for many years in terms of having found a job which will challenge me to grow up properly, pay attention, and concentrate hard because it is what I want to do. The years ahead seem to stretch out in front as the grey ribbon to which so many racing drivers refer. That zone they experience when they get into the comfortable zone on a higher plain of concentration compared to driving through town to a car park. In the zone you’ll find that time slows to a crawl but shoots past quickly and that you look back and find that you actually did get up to a lot of exciting things.

Have you noticed how years pass as days, decades pass as minutes, weekends take aeons to arrive, and deadlines loom and pass whether you hit them or not? I believe Pink Floyd said it best when they blessed us with the tune to which I pay small tribute in the title of this piece. We plan our holidays ahead in detail, we’ve just put a deposit down on two holidays for next year already, and we want to make the most of the weekends which are brilliantly regular.

Since having worked for three years at an inhuman place which took over your life I want to make the most of this glorious amount of time I now have. So I worry about missing out on something because there is so much going on surrounding passions and interests which would turn me grey if that process wasn’t already highly advanced for other reasons. Wait – no – worry is the only reason.

Now, revelations – they don’t come along too often – but this one was a cracker and it was a much welcome relief and that is the realisation that letting go of the worry (which would cripple me if I were not aware of it) is absolutely crucial.

Life has worriers and doers, fuzzy and sharp brains, men and women who, while each annoys the heckins out of the other, would not be able to function without the other for many boring reasons. My beautiful wife is a morning person and I am not. She loves pop trash in print, sound, and cinematic form and I do not love it (only small bits of each). She loves hot and boring holidays where I love interestingly cold and active ones. She is not a worrier and I am a big stupid worrier.

After one year of marriage which has legally capped off a relationship which reaches back to the previous century we are settled into the grey ribbon as far as can be, short of major disaster. This is obviously great and we are both making the most of it but there is a sort of finality to it. After a chaotic Naughties in terms of locations, jobs, education, health and varying fortune, we have settled into the Tens and landed with a bump into the routine of living together. It was definitely a bump; strap yourselves in to the roller-coaster of marriage!

What we have agreed is that we do not want to get bored so we’ve done things about that, but routines have still appeared just in different time-scales. Being a racing driver has already been ruled out, purely on financial grounds you understand; otherwise I’d be chasing Vettel down. Or Matt Neal. The other path is to consider just going all out and getting a different car every year or so depending on whether it’s any good or how expensive it is to keep rolling. Imagine the possibilities! A big old 1980′s Mercedes SEC 500 just flashed past my inner eyes. The Triumph Acclaim on BMW Mini wheels which I met mid-week was annoyingly appealing.

When you’re lusting another car for the fleet, build quality tends to get forgotten.

Surely the variety of such a life of buying cars would satisfy? There is a mine of information to go through, the even more interesting secrets and tricks to their ownership. These two in combination with pursuing the ability to expertly modify each one as it passes through ones hands to pass to the next and preserve for the future generations who have been mentioned here before definitely appeals.

The only barrier to this way of motoring, for me, is my love of the E30 (excluding chrome and cabriolets) and my pledge to always have one in my life. I wish to remain loyal to BMW but fear I may not be able to afford a second car to mess around with at the moment. Many people out there can afford more than one car on their drive, more than one brand-new car, and those people just don’t care about cars. How is that fair?

The BMW E30 Touring love remains

There is at least one website and forum dedicated to each and every vehicle ever made to date, and some that haven’t been made, with so many enthusiastic people out there willing to swap and change parts, offer ideas on styling and open to your own interpretations of what looks good or not. Imagine what you don’t know about the Bristol 411, or the Saab 96! This is near-senseless name-dropping of course but you love it because it is not possible to pin down what one car you would be happy to own forever if there was no question of reliability. This question was posed by one Twitterer and I’ve still not decided. Probably some sort of Lancia Fulvia.

Perhaps a five-year plan might be in order, one hears they are quite popular and work quite well. This way deals with the student debts nicely, and I’m not talking about the loan, it’s the credit cards one gets carried away with and then fail to deal with for five years! That way frees up so much more extra cash and, if living within ones means can be kept in check, that means I can go out and buy a Sunbeam, or a MK4 Escort, or a 1965 Ford Galaxie with the 427ci block. Then at least motoring life gets fascinating and engaging.

The Vauxhall Cavalier might not be an oil painting, but it has the retro appeal on its side.

Unless we get kids.

Peter griffiths tell me when my light turns green retro and classic cars

Well the national budget cuts have filtered down into local government and only now are they dealing with the roads which have been crumbling since the snows and ice of early 2010. It’s getting pretty wearisome to have to wend and weave amongst the holes and cracks in the tarmacadam of the roads around Reading because, despite owning an exceptional but older car, there are clunks and creaks and rattles which do annoy. You also worry about what’s being loosened and worn excessively such as eyes and ear canals, let alone tail-gates and bushings.

Last year the local councils went around with buckets and spades filling in and patching up holes with loose stuff and tamping it down in half a day with a ‘that’ll do’ attitude borne of the councils not paying them enough to do a proper job. So now we have these other lumps and bumps around the place, as if they have simply inverted the holes which were present, so it is just as annoying.

The next complication is the reason there was a hole in the first place, the road had weakened in that spot so the road around the repair is weak too, which means the hole continues to expand and degrade leaving a halo of a trench around the patch-up half-a-job. Fantastic. This jerks our tyres around, stresses corroded suspension mountings, and tracking is messed up. Thanks, local council money-grubbers.

This always makes me think of the Germans and how they are famed for their autobahns and roads not being half as bad as ours. What is it that makes the difference? Well they built their roads properly in the first place by investing heavily in correct materials, and taking their time getting it done right first time. The obvious logic to this, sorry to point it out, is that it will last longer and so will not need huge expense laying out to repair it. How did they work this out? How did they keep this secret from us in the UK? They must have kept it secret because it’s too good an idea not to copy. Isn’t it?

Ford, when developing the first generation Mondeo, rented various BMW E30s during their R&D processes in order to simply copy how BMW had made their seats. They must have looked at and copied other aspects of the E30 because the Mondeo turned out to be a great car, and that is the only thing the ex-Ford engineer told me about when he told me of their rental games. His identity will remain secret – so don’t bother asking – because I’ve forgotten his name.

So what did Rover do? When was the last time they laid down firm foundations and built a car in the right way first time? They did not. British Leyland did not do that either. How did Jaguar make it out alive? They sold themselves to Ford, and then to Ratan Tata who has started to make properly quality stuff which cannot be denied, and they are still made in the United Kingdom for now. The point is that Jaguar have not had British backing since 1989 because BL were so incompetently short-sighted.

You may shout about crystal being as mud in comparison to hindsight but consider this – how did Mercedes, BMW, Toyota, Nissan or even General Motors survive where BL failed? They must have done something different. The argument about labour costs and unionisation falls down at the mention of GM because the American unions have been some of the most powerful in history and the wages were low but must still have been on a level with UK rates. US car sales have been so monumentally huge that profit margins in the showrooms alone must have paid for the warranties and servicing required on the mostly terrible products they spewed out.

Research reveals that Merc and BMW employed cheap labour from their bordering neighbour nations and beyond at pitiful levels, which means that they must have countered this by making sure the parts go together well and properly on the assembly lines, the slaves simply could not build them badly if they tried. The story is similar in the Orient but not exactly the same. Honda can build their motors to such high tolerances and, along with their compatriots, have forged a reputation for reliability which has only recently been hapeth of tar’d to near catastrophe by two small bits of metal being absent from the pedal box.

Now, patriotism is a mug’s game and a dangerous thing in the hands of idiots so I do not subscribe to it. It would be great to have a motor industry to be proud of in this country but we do not and will not, so don’t expect me to be happy about the ‘return’ of the MG brand because it hasn’t returned.

The labour rates in this nation are obviously sustainable for the Japanese to make certain models here but Rover couldn’t handle it. The unions didn’t kill Rover in this country, British Aerospace Engineering did. BAE bought Rover, stripped and sold their assets, and sold the remainder to BMW. What was BAE going to do with the worlds greatest 4×4 system and the Mini brand? Nothing.

The story of the time BAE spent in ownership of Rover is not oft told, chiefly because it is so short, but mainly because it is gory and would be funny if not so embarrassing. They did exactly what I just said they did. So BMW came in and had a little fun with the last remaining truly British motor manufacturer which resulted in, when they finally fled, leaving some of their own countrymen in the lurch - not only without jobs - but without jobs in the middle of Birmingham.

This left Rover in the hands of a conglomerate of suits who quickly realised the extent of what they did not own. Quite who fooled them into thinking it was a goer is beyond this keyboard surfer but own it they did, and they clearly regretted this given their hasty exits to tropical beaches with (below-averagely) hard-working people’s pensions in their back pockets.

You may think that Vauxhall are and have been a manufacturer of sub-par and average cars over the years and you’d be right, but it’s nothing compared to the inadequacies that Austin Rover have foisted upon this nation (never the world) for so many years. The Montego screams out at me from under the feet of even the equivalent rubbish of the time, the cynicism and insult of using the MG badge on it and the paltry Maestro was too much for me even as a 10-year-old.

Yes - I’m ranting now!  It is because I am angry about it. But you must see that it is basically a result of my disappointment that we cannot represent on the world stage as a mainstream and large-scale manufacturer of quality cars in the same way as Germany or Japan can. Rover embodied the elementary mistakes which brought down every single other British car company, complacent management, heads buried in the sand in accounting, and a lack of imagination in R&D.

So when the holes and cracks developed they filled them with Z-cars. Not lovely honest cars like Zephyr’s or Zodiacs, but re-badged beige saloons and hatchbacks. Re-badged! The only interesting thing to come from it was the ZT-260 and that had an ancient American heart. And at the very end, when even I could pinpoint the exact date of their total failure, they ‘made’ the CityRover. How could anyone take that seriously? We blew our chance of retaining one of our last great industries on a half-star crash-rated wooden shed with two-pence pieces for wheels. That man who made that decision is probably the man who fills in the holes in our roads now, instead of doing a proper job of it.

Peugeot 205 rallye sleeper retro and classic cars

Thanks to Failcar for sending us this sleeper.

Under the hood of this Rallye hides a rally engine out of a Peugeot 306.

Crazy? Just a little. Top retro  find.

Rover p6 3500 v8 retro and classic cars

Spotted at the Little Gransden Air and Car Display 2010, by James Morris.

Snap of the day at caffeine cars and croissants show retro and classic cars

Renault 5 Turbo II spotted at the Caffeine, Cars and Croissants Show meet in Birmingham, Michigan

Ram kanadia market watch jaguar x350 xj retro and classic cars

It is not uncommon for me to spend the next few hundred words explaining why I had lusted after a certain German or British barge, and this time it’s no different apart from the fact that I have owned such a car. It has become somewhat uncommon to find interior panels smothered with wood; rather it is much more popular to have lavish coverings of imitation carbon fibre in the middle managers Audis A4/A5 and BMWs 3/5 series and now the ever popular Jag XF.

Jaguar has always been a brand that has interested me, the history, tradition and the evolution of the styling or lack thereof mean it has been the default choice for the older gentleman. More recently that has changed somewhat, and appeals to a younger generation – there are more edges than ever and the use of the word sport is now compulsory in the marketing material. The X350 XJ was one of the last, traditional Jags quintessentially true to the core strengths and values that have made generations of the car so popular. For more than three decades, the XJ has been the definitive Jaguar saloon. It has poise, elegance and a rather understated image. These are all reasons why I chose to buy one for my first car, aged only 18 – a surprised look on the dealers face was worth it!

The Gentleman’s cabin

 Only a year and several other cars later, prices seem to have crashed further. I only sold my latest Range Rover for a more economical Volvo because it was almost half the cost of the big V8 – now it seems for the same price as my Volvo, I could once again own the big cat. Prices now seem to range from ?4500 to ?20000 for the X358. To understand the significance and value for money, it is fundamental to look into the cars history. The X350 was launched at the Paris motor show in 2003 – for the first time it used a technology that was more ordinary with its German counterpart. The whole car was made from aluminium and its underbody components were bonded together with aerospace-grade epoxy adhesives while around 3,200 self-piercing rivets, this made the car even lighter than the smaller X-Type. “We chose lightweight aluminium vehicle architecture for the new XJ not because it was something new, but because it enabled us to deliver real and significant benefits to our customers” David Scholes, Chief Programme Engineer. To show this off, the launch car was shown with polished aluminium bodywork as shown below.

Polished aluminium bodywork - more than just a stunt!

The use of rivets is not very welcome in XJ circles of today mainly due to the contamination of steel with aluminium causing bubbling and corrosion across many parts of the bodywork.  The issue has been reported widely across numerous forums but Jaguar only ever offered to paint some cars which were under 5 years old. Fundamentally, this never cured the problem. Instead it covered the problem up with shiny paintwork. My car also suffered from this problem, and despite being in its early stages I just could not live with it. Due to the age of the vehicle, most cars which would be affected have been affected, so buy carefully.

The X350 also sported air suspension rather than conventional springs and dampers; most of these systems as used in Range Rovers and BMWs often suffer from compressor problems, these are relatively cheap to replace at an average cost of ?250 for the part. Other cars have more severe issues, for instance I was, without warning faced with an Air Spring Failure; ?1000 was kindly taken for me and three days spent in a workshop. Despite these faults, it was a very enjoyable car to own – the quality of materials used was very good and has stood the test of time. Other cars with similar age and mileage tend to suffer from odd squeaks and rattles but all the XJ’s that I have experience of have been free of faults. “The interior of the new XJ is epitomised by true craftsmanship, a sense of greater space and what I believe are the most comfortable seats we have ever designed. There is warmth and richness that welcomes you into the car and makes you feel special.” Ian Callum, Director of Design.

Since its launch in 2002 the XJ’s exterior styling attracted much criticism from many motoring journalists who claimed that the car looked old fashioned and barely more modern than its predecessor; though that was much of its appeal.  In response to this, Jaguar modified the car for the 2007 model year. Introducing a mildly revised front grille, though still of a similar design to that of the pre-facelift XJ, while the new front bumper assembly featured a prominent lower grille. Finally, the front wings on all models were remodeled to feature side vents. This in my honest opinion made the car look like an OAP dressed up in a hoody and a pair of low slung jeans.

Facelifted but more youthful than a Gentleman’s transport should be

For me, the search begins to find another XJ – though this time, in V8 form.

Lotus elite in racing specification retro and classic cars

With news of a new Lotus Elite in 2014 we thought we would share this original classic with you.

Classic group one chevrolet camaro z/28 retro and classic cars

Allen Weyman charges ahead in his Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.

060 magazine porsche 911 rauhwelt in tokyo retro and classic cars

Always wanted a retro hard-core Porsche? You should give these guys a look. The Japanese are certainly good at this drool-worthy game.

Ford escort mexico (roger clark replica) retro and classic cars

This was spotted in North Wales by  Marcos James, and is a replica of Roger Clark’s 1972 RAC winning car LVX 942J. It has been said that this Escort Mexico was a perfect copy albeit it was only powered by a 16 x-flow. The attention to detail was amazing and going by the signature on the dashboard it had got the approval of Roger Clark’s old co-driver and ex Top Gear host Tony Mason.

Jaguar etype spotters guide retro and classic cars

At R&CC we think knowledge matters, so we thought we would share this video hosted by Hagerty about the differences of the E-types.