When it comes to project cars, there can be good times and bad times. I know this all too well due to the shenanigans ProjectC70 has put me through. What if though, instead of getting a relatively good example of a project car, you decided to get a car that had been laid up for a good 17 years or so? Well, that was what my good mate Joshua decided to do.

Instead of buying something relatively popular and easy to fix, in 2017 he decided to go out and buy a 1971 Triumph Toledo 1300. Known as ‘Lucille’, the car was in a right state when he bought it, it was so far gone that it was almost falling in half when he got it, this was due to the strengthening bar down the driver’s side being pretty much non-existent. Along with even more rust in different places, Josh only had one real option and that was to buy a donor car.

Josh had been looking for a classic that needed some well-needed love and attention as he was wanting to do his first-ever restoration with his dad as their first joint project. He found Lucille up for sale and with some help from his late grandad, the rest was history. With Josh wanting to go down the fast road route with his Toledo, it was time to get to work.

The first job was to strip down the donor car and fix or replace the panels on Lucille for better ones. Amongst the numerous amount of cutting out old rust both visible and under layers of undercoat and welding in new pieces, one of his big jobs was a new front end taken straight from the front end of the donor car as the old one was completely gone.

On top of that, the running gear was been completely stripped down and now has a rebuilt 1300cc engine with a stage three highlift cam, stage 3 racing head and a stage 3 racing flywheel built by an ex triumph specialist. to run alongside that it now also has a stage 2 racing clutch. The carburetors were ripped out for Dolomite 1850 ones and now also runs a twin chain timing gear. The bottom end has also been rebuilt with a balanced crankshaft to make it even smoother when running. With all that being done, the next thing to do is to pair it to a Spitfire 1500’s gearbox with overdrive. The last touch in the drive train is a new exhaust made up from both Dolomite & Spitfire pieces, this is due to the fact that is going from a 4-1 into a 4-2-1 setup.

Suspension wise, its getting poly bushed all round as well as a disc-brake conversion on the front. originally Toledo’s had drums all around until discs became standard in ’73 and because Josh’s car is a ’71 it still has drums fitted. When finished, the car will be sitting on a set of Carmona Engineering Mod Mistral Minilites to set the car off.

Differential wise, it is going to have a 1500 rear axle & differential fitted for now until Josh gets enough together for a potential LSD setup. an LSD can be used in them but due to costing around the £1000 mark, they’re definitely not cheap to pick up.

Lucille is also going to get resprayed in its original color of Mallard Blue, on top of that it is also going to get front fog lights fitted and a heated rear windscreen as well. Interior wise will mostly be original apart from a custom made steering wheel made just for the car.

Now, for those of you that may not know that much about the Toledo, simply put it was the successor to the 1300 & 1500 and the predecessor to the Dolomite. You had two engines available and these were the 1300cc unit and the 1500cc unit. The main difference between the older 1500 and the Toledo was the front end arrangement. see, Triumph 1500’s had twin-headlamps whereas the Toledo had rectangular units set in a grey plastic grille.

The main difference was the move to rear-wheel drive with a live rear axle. Power outputs for the 1300 engine were 58bhp whereas the output for the Toledo 1500 engine was 61bhp for a single carb model and 64bhp for a twin carb setup.

The Toledo came in two body styles, a 2-door saloon, and a 4-door saloon. Even though the 4-door model was longer and larger than the 2 door model it only weighed 50kgs heavier, this meant a curb weight of a lowly 890kg, impressive for a 4 door saloon.

The main differences between the two body styles were as followed. in the 4 door, you had two extra ashtrays in the rear doors & radial tires instead of the cross-ply’s the 2-door came with. Even though the two body styles looked similar, there were subtle changes made for both models. These included non-wraparound front & rear bumpers for the 2-door and also under riders as well whereas the 4-door got wraparound bumpers from the start. By 1972/1973 these were later changed on the two-door models.

By 1976, the 2-door model faded out while the 4-door stayed on for its final year when it was produced alongside the then all-new Dolomite. This was the only time where they got a facelift that consisted of black & silver grilles instead of the grey, mirrors were also added & so was chrome trim down the lower part of the door as well as on the rain gutter.

Like a lot of people who know, project cars are never easy to work with, but with the path that Josh is going down with his Toledo, it is sure to be a little firecracker when finished. With the work that has already gone into it and the work that is due to be done in time, Lucille will be a Toledo like no other. With cars and owners like these, this is pretty much what keeps the classic car scene continuing even to this day and long may it continue.

 

Hope You Enjoy!

By Alex Jebson

When it comes to dream jobs, there’s a lot to choose from. Whether it’s becoming a musician or even a comedian everyone has their dream job. One of those dream jobs for a lot of people is to become a pilot, I mean what exactly is cooler than flying a plane and seeing the world from a completely different perspective? Well, for my good friend Keiran, he is lucky enough to be in a position to be a pilot. Because of this, he needs something a little extra special to drive around in when he’s not in the air. Thankfully for him, he has such a car, a 1971 MGB GT.

Now personally, I love the MGB GT and I always have since the day I first clocked eyes on them but for some reason, I’ve never had the notion to own one. Keiran, on the other hand, had to have one. See like a lot of people, the MGB GT was one of his dream cars. With an E-Type Jaguar out of reach, Keiran settled on his affordable dream car instead, this 1971 MGB GT.

Lovingly named ‘Molly, Keiran has owned this MGB for exactly a year now and as mentioned above it has been a car that he has cherished pretty much all his life. Being around classic cars and immersing yourself in that community is an amazing thing and Keiran has done exactly that, he lives & breaths classic cars. No surprise really when his Dad started up a  company manufacturing knock-off spinners & hubs.

Now originally the MGB was a two-door roadster to compete in the ever populated ‘British Sports Car’ craze of the late ’50s & ’60s. rivals included the Triumph TR-series as well as the Sunbeam Alpine. originally powered by an enlarged 1.8l tuned variant of the MGA’s 4-cylinder B-series engine, output was measured at 95bhp & 110 ib-ft torque. By 1965 MG released the MGB GT which was a two-door coupé based on the roadster. With the rear hatch designed by Pininfarina, it certainly looked fantastic and due to it being a coupé it was both weathertight & also benefitted from a large boot area. With later models being both powered from the C-series 3.0 i6 and then the 3.5 Rover V8 unit, there was an engine for everyone.

With this in mind, the MGB GT soon got the title of “Poor Mans Aston Martin” and I can see as to why. See unlike a DB5 or even an E-Type the MG was by far cheaper to buy and run. In fact, in some cases, you could have two MGB’s for the price of one DB5 or E-Type. It wasn’t as if you were even lacking in anything really as even the interior & build quality on the early models were on par with anything considerably more expensive.

Getting back to Keirans car again, his MGB GT is a 1971 MK2 model, you can tell this by the toned-down chrome around the grille and lack of wire wheels. Originally built at the renowned MG Abingdon factory in Oxfordshire, Keiran’s model is a very late MK2 model with the older styled dashboard and center console carried over from the MK1. When the MK3’s were released,  the interior, along with some exterior features were changed.

Being an MK2, Keirans car has what is known by MGB people as the “Fish Mouth” grille, named aptly due to its recessed nature. Add in the chrome bonnet trim and it is a very rare feature to see these days. In fact, this grille was the first attempt by MG to break into the American market before regulations changed. by 1974, every MGB was given new black bumpers known as “Rubber Bumpers” due to the material used.

Along with the rubber bumpers, the US cars got their ride height increased by 1.5 inches and also a detuned engine producing a lowly 60bhp. This made the MGB a bit of a flop in the US market when launched which is rather unfortunate.

With every classic car & owner story, Keiran absolutely loves his MGB. Even though he’s only owned the car for 1 year, he says that he feels as if it’s been about 10 years. It evokes a feeling you just don’t get in a modern car, whether that be the smells or even the view you get from behind the steering wheel, owning an MGB is a magical experience to behold. With the long bonnet and the Mota Lita steering wheel that is fitted to Keirans car, it feels special before you even start it up and take it for a drive.

Repair wise, Keiran has done a fair amount to his MGB GT to make it outstanding. These include a new stainless steel exhaust system fitted, re-chromed bumpers as well as numerous mechanical parts fitted. Mechanically speaking he has replaced the condenser, fuel pump, fuel sender & rocker cover to make sure that the 1.8 B-Series purrs along nicely and doesn’t give him any untoward aggro.

In the year of ownership, Keiran hasn’t been afraid of using his car to its full potential, trips have included a convoy around the Peak District with his mate and their S1 Jaguar E-Type. It’s recently been on show at this year’s NEC Classic Car Motor Show down in Birmingham which is a massive car show here in the UK. On top of that, it has also been driven around the BBC’s ‘Peaky Blinders’ set which is undeniably cool. It has also spent some time driving around the Black Country Museum as well.

Next year, Keiran wants to take it on even more adventures, these include the Beaulieu National Motor Museum as well as the small village of Goathland on the Yorkshire moors. Goathland for people who don’t know was the home of the TV Drama Heartbeat which also happens to be one of Keiran’s favorite TV programs.

Even though Keiran is only 21, he is already a committee member of the MG MG Car Club Young Members Branch where owners and young enthusiasts of both classic & modern MGs under the age of 25 can come together to enjoy these cars. With a lot of young people not getting into classic cars, Keiran and his branch try their utmost to keep the classic car scene alive by getting members to sign up. Simply put, if no one does anything, these cars and the scene that comes with them will simply disappear into the history books if nothing is done about it. Keiran is so passionate about classics that he will take 5 or so minutes out of his day simply to let people come up and chat about his car to passers-by.

For anyone wanting to look into buying a classic car and are considering an MGB, go and take a look at the ‘MG Car Club Young Members Branch’ as you’ll find a lot of like-minded people who’ll take you under their wing so to speak and help you out with anything you may need.

 

Hope you Enjoy!

By Alex Jebson

Being in the automotive journalism scene, over the years of doing this I’ve been able to join a good amount of car groups through social media. Now for me being a massive lover of classic cars, it was only right that my Facebook newsfeed was pretty much covered in classic car groups & their posts. Through these groups, I’ve been able to meet some very good people with equally as good classic cars and make some good mates in the process and recently I have been able to do that. So, with that in mind, I’d like to introduce you to my mate Harley and tell you the story behind his Triumph Herald.

Harley is a 16-year-old lad who has a love for classic cars and just like a lot of classic car enthusiasts when it came to picking his first car he didn’t want a Corsa or a Fiesta, in fact, he had something completely different in mind. Instead of buying any of them, he decided to buy a 1966 Triumph Herald instead. So what is a Triumph Herald you may ask? Well, during the late ’50s Triumph decided to build a replacement for their Standard 10 to compete with both Rover & Riley and the likes.

The Herald was released with 5 body styles. These included a 2-door saloon, a 2-door coupé, a 2-door convertible, a 2-door estate & last but not least their 2-door van known as the courier. Originally powered by a 948cc engine, they were soon updated and powered by a 1147cc unit in 1961 giving the car a massive 39bhp. Compared to the old engine, the newer 1147cc unit had a power increase of a truly incredible 5.5bhp.

As I’ve already mentioned, Harley’s example is a 1966 1200 Saloon and is in incredible condition for a 53-year-old car. With hardly any rust or paint issues to be seen, this Herald has to be one of the cleanest ones going. To keep it being one of the cleanest cars going however hasn’t been an easy task at all, like all cars it has had a lot of work done to it to keep it in tip-top condition. These include new driveshafts, new brakes all round, some snazzy yellow headlamps, a restored interior, a tuned-up engine with a rebuilt carburetor. On top of that, it has had new parts fitted like a new lift pump, fuel lines and last but not least some really rather lovely banded steels with wider tires.

So, as you can already tell, Harley loves this little thing but there might be a question you might be wondering and that is this. Why exactly did Harley go for a Herald and why does he love them so much? Well, simply put, Harley has had a fondness for Heralds ever since he was 13. He knew someone with one and simply fell in love with it and vowed to own one when he was older. His Herald isn’t actually the first one he looked at, see like any other petrol head, it took him quite a bit of time to find the perfect example within budget and with his car, the wait certainly paid off.

Another reason why Harley got the Herald is due to the simple yet innovative mechanical setup. Being a small, low powered car everything is easy to get to and fix and it is even easier to drive and that is no surprise really, with light steering and its small size, it made the Herald such easy to drive.

The only real issue with the early Heralds and other Triumphs of this age was the handling characteristics. See, early Heralds had a tendency to be a handful at high speeds, to overcome this issue, Triumph came out with what they called the “Swing Spring”. This was a “limited” independent rear suspension setup that made the car a whole lot more planted. Thankfully there are many companies that do Swing Spring Conversion Kits to make the earlier examples handle like the later cars for not much money. They also promise easy fitting even from a home mechanic with no bodgery involved.

It’s never easy buying a classic car for your first car simply because there are so many cars for the taking. With so many of them being out of reach it is great to see one you’ve always dreamed of owning still being easy to get into and with the Herald, they are still at a price where they are relatively affordable and really easy to own.

Harley here really fell on his feet with his Herald, it has to be one of the cleanest examples in the country and even with the modifications done to it thus far, it’s not been ruined or distastefully modified. On top of all that, it has been really looked after well both by Harley and its previous owners. This is a car to be proud of and with Harley working on it, I can see this Herald being something even more special than how it currently is.

 

Hope You Enjoy!

By Alex Jebson

In this day & age, it is very easy to go out and buy a large and rather powerful saloon car, go into any high-end dealership these days and pretty much every company offers one for sale. These could be anything from a brand new E-Class Mercedes-Benz all the way up to a Bentley Flying Spur. With many different manufacturers offering a big saloon in their line up, it seems strange to remember a time when a company known for making normal cars created something rather special. If you go back in time to the swinging ’60s, however, you’ll see a different story.

See, back in the ’60s if you couldn’t afford the likes of a Rolls Royce or Bentley then you had no other option than one of two brands. From the UK you had Jaguar with their wonderful Mark II and from Germany, you had Mercedes-Benz with their 300 SEL. Now, these two cars were fantastic and have had a cult following ever since release but what if I was to tell you that there was a 3rd option in this list? Well, this is where humble Rover comes in. See, in 1958 Rover released the P5 as the replacement to their P4, at the start of its life it originally came with a 3.0 straight-six engine that pretty much stayed with it through a majority of its life until the late sixties when ultimately the best version of the P5 came out, I am of course talking about the P5B.

The ‘B’ moniker stood for Buick and this was significant as it meant that the P5 was now powered by the now legendary Rover 3.5 V8 engine taken pretty much straight from Buick. Buick used this engine under the Buick ‘215’ moniker in some of their cars as it was very lightweight and could get some decent power figures but after a few years, it got dropped due to reliability issues & cooling problems.

This is where Rover came in. See, at the time Rover was wanting to experiment with a gas turbine-style engine but due to funding, they could never make that dream a possibility. It was only until Rover decided to send Mr. J. Bruce Williams into looking into purchasing a small V8 that they came across the Buick lump. With an all-aluminum design, the new Rover V8 wasn’t just more powerful than the 4 cylinders it was replacing, it was also lighter & smaller too. Power was rated at 160bhp with torque coming it at 210Ib-ft. With a top speed of 115mph that may not sound like much these days but in the late ’60s – early ’70s, this was a relatively quick car.

The P5B came standard with a Borg Warner Type-35 Gearbox as it was the only gearbox Rover had at the time that could handle the power of that big V8 and with the gearbox handling the smooth & effortless shifts, it slowly but surely became the newest sporting saloon ever to grace the roads. Now may it not have been the quickest sports saloon going nor the most direct, the Rover made up for it in its cruise ability, this was a car that could easily reach the speed limits on the then-new motorway networks and happily sit there burbling along without a care in the world.

So, what made the P5B actually cool then? Well, first of all, it looked absolutely stunning, especially in Coupé form. While it wasn’t exactly a proper two-door coupé, it was the first-ever 4 door coupé and that has gone on to bring us some rather good looking cars, including the SD1, the Rover 800 Fastback & the Mercedes-Benz CLS. Secondly, it epitomised the ’60s and the era it was in, even though the P5B came out nearer to the ’70s, with its chrome & black Rostyle wheels and its added extra fog lights made it a stylish icon of the ’60s. With the V8 from Buick now fitted instead of the older 3.0 straight-six, it made a wonderful noise and because of the engine’s lightweight, it meant it was significantly quicker as well. By far the best feature, however, was the interior. It was truly gorgeous, the inside was befitting of royalty and high ranking officials. Whereas the likes of a Jaguar MK2 went down the line of sportiness, the Rover was like stepping inside a gentleman’s club.

The P5B was so undeniably cool that it was the car of choice for both the UK royal family and the UK government for well over 10 years or more. It’d always be a common sight to see a high ranking official to be seen getting chauffeured around in the back of a P5B going from place to place. It was so cool that even Queen Elizabeth II has one, in fact, it was the same one that appeared on an episode of Top Gear in 2003.

These days if you want a P5B you’ll need relatively sized pockets as these are going up in price day by day. for a good coupé, you’d be looking at about 13,500 upwards whereas its £6500 upwards for a similarly aged saloon.

By 1973 it was placed by the ever-popular P6 V8 which went on to further stamp Rover as a manufacturer of really good, slightly left-field sports saloons. The P6 was idolized by many compared to the P5 and P5B and that was due mainly to the P6’s world-class construction and ease of maintenance. It was only until the mid-’70s that Rover would come back with a coupé like design with the SD1.

Even though the P5B was only ever out for a few years before being replaced, it set a trend for the Rover company and helped them build some truly fantastic V8 powered beauties over subsequent years and for me and many others, it remains as an affordable dream classic car.

Hope you Enjoy!

By Alex Jebson

 

The world of motoring is always evolving, new cars are launched with a plethora of ground-breaking gadgets & gizmo’s, more reliable engines and better safety equipment. So it only makes sense to go buy a brand new car right? Well, this is unfortunately where the majority of people are wrong. Because what you really need to do is buy an old car and here are the reasons why.

 

Their Better Built.

Now yes, on first glance, this may seem crazy to say, modern cars have better build quality and on the whole are quieter, however, this doesn’t always mean they are built better. A lot of manufacturer’s older cars were constructed better than their more modern counterparts and were built with better components and stronger metals, this means that they are surprisingly solid. Now sure, not all old cars will be as reliable as newer ones but with better materials used, it’s not the first time a classic has been known to outlive a car considerably newer.

They Look Far Better.

How many times have you driven into a car park and noticed cars looking identical with the styling? With old cars, you don’t get this for good reasons. First of all, designers back then really were on top of their game producing some really iconic shapes with some even going to style houses. This made for an interesting time in car ownership and easier as you could distinguish cars from each other, it also meant that truly gorgeous cars like the shark nose BMW’s of the ’80s or the classy grace of an old Mercedes-Benz instantly became a hit and even now are still in demand.

They’re Easier To Work On.

With new cars coming out every other day, manufacturers make it really difficult to stop everyday people working on their cars. While this works for people who don’t really have a clue about how cars work, for people like myself and others who are about the place, we find it annoying, to say the least. You have to strip down a lot of plastic to get to the engine and then you have to strip down even more of the car to change a starter motor for example. With older cars you’ll be surprised at how much space you have to work with, take both my mothers Lexus RX400h & my Volvo C70 for example, now these cars are premium cars from high-end manufacturers but you’ll discover the slightly older Volvo easier to work on. The Lexus has acres of plastic covering everything. Even removed, there’s no space to put a hand let alone a spanner or ratchet which makes typical maintenance a pain, made even worse by Lexus’s Hybrid system which dominates most of the car’s engine bay.

You Actually Have To Look After Them.

This statement links in with the one above but it’s a tad different, with a modern car, you can be 100% certain that it’ll do everything you’ll ask of it and more and won’t put up a fight, it’ll do the job of ferrying you and others around. However with older cars, especially classics, the same can’t be said. You have to listen out for noises & smells, you have to watch air/fuel ratio as well as make sure the temperature of both the water & oil are where they should be. If a classic car has a choke you have to be careful that it’s not running too rich or too lean as this will wear down the engine. Now to the average person, this is too much to worry about, however to people who love old classics and retro’s, we won’t have it any other way, we love fixing our cars as nothing comes close to the satisfaction of fixing something broken.

The Community & Clubs are Brilliant.

If there was ever a reason to buy a classic it’d be this, the classic car community & the vast amount of classic car clubs around the world are really good, unlike a lot of groups, there’s no hate towards specific cars or makes, anything goes as long as it’s within the certain age limits the different groups make up. For example, I’m in two groups with my car, one of which is ‘Retro + Post Millennia 365 Motor Club “aka” RPM 365’ and the other is ‘Young Retro Motor Club’ and there are very good reasons to why. First off, the people in both groups are fantastic and the admins who make the group what it is have done a fantastic job, the other cars in the respective groups are also lovely and have stories behind them. Whether they are family cars handed down or barn finds which have taken on a lot of work to make them into a show winner, there’s a story to be found with each one. Thirdly the group is so welcoming to people. Now even though my car is over 18 years old now, it’s certainly not the oldest car around — in fact some consider mine new compared to what they have which is fine. I’m still allowed in with open arms in both groups and there’s not a lot of hate with anybody, everyone is chilled and in certain circumstances, help is given out either physically or over the internet. Even though I’ve only had 4 years of car ownership, the best kind of community for me personally is the classic car community as they are a cut above the rest.

There’s No Badge Snobbery.

These days badge means everything so it’s such a refreshing feeling to see an old Austin Metro get the same amount of love as a similarly aged Rolls Royce or Bentley, regardless of budget, favorite manufacturer or dream car there is no sniggering or bad comments about cars people own. In fact, there’s often a mini group of people within an already existing group that like the car you seem to have and this is brilliant for meeting friends. You can own a car with a lesser-known badge or from companies which built cars to a low cost & you’ll be able to find someone who can easily look over the badge and will love it regardless.

There’s A Vast Array Of Different Vehicles.

This is no surprise however it makes for a fantastic variation of cars, there’ll be times, for example, you’ll be at a car show and see a car you’ve never seen before and one conversation later with the owner and you’ll have information on a car you never knew existed or on a vehicle you’ve never looked up before. Even a simple search of the classifieds and you’ll see something which is like nothing else on the road. Add club posts into the mix and you’ll have something nobody would’ve known existed which is also a very refreshing thing to see. Being able to share information about it to people who might won’t know much about the car in question is an amazing feeling.

You Keep Specialists In Jobs.

This is weird to say however bear with me, with old cars comes rare parts and tools. Dealerships get rid after cars have turned an age limit as they fix the new stuff which is nothing new. These parts & tools wind up being acquired by specialists who then take over the work if you don’t fix cars. Now, these are mainly small garages with maybe a few people employed who work on one specific kind of manufacture — there’s always that one “guy” if you will. Now these guys are the unsung heroes when it comes to the classic car scene as they know everything there is to know about the cars they fix, whether it be a Ford specialist or a Mopar guy, there’s information to be had from these people and with more people buying modern stuff, these guys go under the radar even more than what they already are which is a crying shame.

The Modifications Are Fantastic.

When it comes to car ownership, the first thing that us car owners love to do without a doubt is to make it our own, whether it be a simple thing of changing wheels or fully modifying a car, it’s in our blood, it’s something we can’t get rid of. Now in the classic & retro car scene, this is where it’s at its best, the modifications both done & seen to classics are just amazing.

Take this Vauxhall Viva, for example, this is my mate Darryl’s Viva, now, I met Darryl through the Facebook group “RPM 365” & just like me, this is his first car & also like me he works on his car outside his house using the limited tools that he has. However, unlike my build process where I’m going down the OEM+ route while fixing all its bad bits, Darryl here went with a completely different route. He started off with a 1972 Viva 1.3 5 door which in itself is a pretty solid choice for a classic car.

However, as you can see this isn’t any normal Viva because it’s currently running a tuned 1256cc Chevette engine with a stage 1 clutch which is pretty good however Darryl wants to change this to small block Chevy V8 for that gorgeous old school V8 rumble.

Exterior wise, its matte black with subtle satin black ghost flames on the front end of the car which looks really rather swell if I do say so myself.

Like most people, Darryl has two sets of wheels for the car which include the good old Cobra drag slots & also a lovely set of Cragar 4 spokes as well to fit in with the muscle car vibe this beautiful car has in spades.

It sits on upgraded front suspension which means, unfortunately, the Slots won’t fit just yet. To fit in with the muscle car vibe, it has chopped front springs and custom rears for that really lovely 80’s rake it fits so well.

The front end is all fiberglass and these include both the front end & wings which makes this car light at just over 700 kg, it also has a Magnum front end which makes the car look a bit more aggressive with its 4 round headlamps and magnum grille. The headlamps have also been changed for custom halo units. To go with the muscle car vibe, it has the obligatory front spoiler with again custom projector spotlights fitted as well as custom halo indicators, add these into the rest of the package and it’s a one of a kind car.

What makes this special however is what’s been done to the doors. Remember I mentioned that it’s a 5 door? Well, Darryl has smoothed off the rear door handles so it looks like a 3 door and to the unsuspecting eye it can be believed to be a 3 door car until you get up close to it and find out otherwise.

Now let’s talk under the bonnet, shall we? I’ve already mentioned that it’s currently running a tuned 1256 Chevette lump with a stage 1 clutch but what I haven’t mentioned is that upon further inspection there seems to be no battery under there and no washer bottle. Why is this exactly? Yet again, Darryl and his remarkable mechanical & engineering skills came into play as he was able to relocate both of them to the boot to save weight & gain better access for his potential V8 swap.

It’s finished off with some other small but really nice details like American style plates and color changing bulbs as the originals weren’t up to the trick of lighting up the road anymore.

Want to know the best bit of all though? All of that work was Darryl’s own, instead of buying a modern car and going through the process of mapping it & putting wheels on it and then calling it a build, he took a car that no one really knew a lot about, saw potential in it and made it his own. So much so that last year, it was featured in a Street Machine magazine article which is no easy feat.

And this is what is seen a lot of in the classic car scene. Taking cars which aren’t around anymore, having a vision and then carrying it out and making it look spectacular.

 

In Conclusion.

If you want to get into car ownership where there is a loving community with fantastic cars and tons of owners with stories to tell, it makes sense to buy an older car over a newer one. Sure reliability won’t like a new car and you will have to keep an eye on what the car is doing but that is the charm of owning a classic car, add in a different kind of driving experience & looks that classics have and it’d be a no brainer to go out & buy one.

 

Do you think I’m correct in what I’m saying and if so, what would you add? Also, do you like old cars as well and if so are you considering buying one? Let me down below and I’ll be sure to comment on my thoughts.

 

 

Hope You Enjoy!

By Alex Jebson