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ASTON VANTAGE

One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8

MINI COOPER 970S REBUILT FROM SHED-FOUND WRECK

Q U E N T I N W I L L S O N

On why you should buy an Audi Quattro,

Cosworth Sierra or Porsche 356

Porsche 356B coupéWe put one reader into his dream car

Renault 5 TurboHow to buy the ballistic bargainRenault 5 TurboHow to buy the ballistic bargain

Porsche 356B coupéWe put one reader into his dream carWe put one reader into his dream carPorsche 356B coupéWe put one reader into his dream carPorsche 356B coupéPorsche 356B coupéWe put one reader into his dream carPorsche 356B coupé

R-type Continental forerunner testedR-type Continental R-type Continental

Bentley coupé by Mulliner

1910 Benz Wild drive in a Prince Heinrich Trial car

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One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8

FORDMUSTANG

50th ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL

289 CONVERTIBLE 6-CYL NOTCHBACK

SHELBY GT 350

NEWS & EVENTSLondon to Brighton New entrants and a huge centenary display 14Jerez Masters Historic Spain rumbles to the sound of Can-Am 19 RAC Rally Who came out on top in the Scottish forests? 20 Walter Hayes Trophy Formula Fords’ thrilling season climax 23Winter Challenge Still a chance to enter 24Planner Fill up your calendar with the coming year’s best events 27The Market Revealed: how to sell your classic securely 37Your Letters Memories of armoured De Tomaso Deauvilles 57

THE INSIDERSQuentin Willson celebrates an atmospheric garage he swears by 51Tom Tjaarda recounts how he incurred Sergio Pininfarina’s wrath 53Simon Kidston gets cold and wet in Wales – and loves it 55

BUYINGSmart Buys Quentin Willson on the classics to buy now 30Market Watch Russ Smith on the key sale results 34Temptations See what’s piquing our interest in the months ahead 39Barn Finds Nigel Boothman reveals the latest discoveries 42Books and Models Latest releases rated 46 Buying Guide How to buy the best Renault 5 GT Turbo 108 Ads on Test Triumph TR3A, Aston Martin Lagonda V8 prototype, Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray and BMW M3 Evolution II 125

4

CONTENTS

London to Brighton, p14

Smart Buys, p30

Buying Guide, p108

Jerez, p19

Events planner, p27

Market Watch, p34

OWNINGLife Cycle Aston Martin V8 Vantage. A daily driver and family holdall, then treasured motoring companion. We explore this one-owner car’s life 70My Life in Cars Alec Poole. From racing a resurrected Frogeye to touring across Europe for MG and a stint running Nissan’s touring cars, Alec spills the beans on the cars that have shaped his life 76The Collector One man’s penchant for British sports cars revealed 88Epic Restorations Morris Mini-Cooper 970S. A heroic battle to turn a shed-found wreck into a vision of perfection 100Our Cars Quentin fettles his Rolls-Royce Corniche, Phil’s E-type provides inspiration and Sam tries to rescue his Toyota MR2’s paint 113Classic Punts Your tales of cars bought and sold on a whim 218

DRIVINGThe List Porsche 356. A reader’s dream drive comes true as we hand him the keys to the car that helped build the Porsche legend 6Mustang We celebrate its 50th birthday by testing a 6-cyl Notchback, 289 Convertible and a Shelby Fastback 58Bentley MkVI Testing one of three Mulliner-built prototypes of the R-type Continental 82Benz 21/80 We don goggles and wrestle with a Prince Heinrich Trial car. Just don’t mention the lack of brakes. Or the starting procedure... 94

ADVERTISINGDealer adverts 124Advertise your classic for free 185Insurance 199Services 206Clubs 208

SUBSCRIBEFOR THE BEST VALUE DEALS Call today on 0844 848 8872, visit greatmagazines.co.uk/classics or p120

CONTACT USVisit facebook.com/classiccarsmagazine or twitter – @classiccars_mag

I N T H I S I S S U E | J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 4 | I S S U E 4 8 6

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aston vantage

One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8

mini cooper 970s rebuilt from shed-found wreck

q u e n t i n w i l l s o n

On why you should buy an Audi Quattro,

Cosworth Sierra, or Porsche 356

porsche 356b coupéwe put one reader into his dream car

renault 5 turbohow to buy the ballistic bargainrenault 5 turboturbothow to buy the ballistic bargain

coupéwe put one reader into his dream care put one reader into his dream car

coupée put one reader into his dream car

coupé coupée put one reader into his dream car

coupéwe put one reader into his dream carw

R-type Continental forerunner testedR-type Continental

Bentley coupé by Mulliner

1910 Benz Wild drive in a Prince Heinrich Trial car

fordmustang50th anniversary special

289 convertible 6-cyl Notchback

shelby gt 350

One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8 One man’s 34-year story of life with a legendary V8

5

The Collector, p88

The List, p6

Benz 21/80, p94Epic Restorations, p100

Life Cycle, p70

30

PORSCHE 356Here’s a market anomaly. You can pay up to £30k for a replica plastic Porsche 356 roadster, but a real 356B or C Coupé is

only 20 grand more. That’s nuts, and one of the reasons why 356s are set for another rise.

Gone are the days when good ones were £25,000 and over the past fi ve years they’ve climbed steadily. But with 911s (and now 912s) performing so strongly, it is time we revalued their beetle-backed forebear. And I know which Porsche radiates the most charisma.

A well-sorted and restored 356 makes a disarming and reliable daily driver and is massively distinctive. Blue Dragon Cars in Essex has a fi ne silver 1961 356B for just £44,995 while the Old School Garage has a stunning white 1963 356C with two owners from new at £65k. But what’s signifi cant is that 356s are getting hard to fi nd now with the posh trade buying up proper ones and doing the Price On Appli-cation thing.

You don’t see many at auction like we used to and they seem to sell fast in off-the-radar private sales. The £61,000 paid for a tired but solid 1959 356B roadster at ACA’s bumper Porsche auction back in August now looks temptingly inexpensive, because restored, it could make £175,000. American 356s are cheaper and much more plentiful – plus with the dollar so weak it makes sense to think about bringing one into the UK. Even with shipping and duty you could land a shiny, reasonably restored 356 for only £35k.

And once everyone gets over the current fad for Seventies 911s, the 356 will start to move into that very exclusive territory of tweedy gentleman’s sports car like the AC Ace and Aston DB2. All the credentials are right – looks, shape, gorgeous detailing and

£30k

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£40k

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For years collectors only wanted six-cylinder Porsches

Sparked interest as early 911s become expensive

Rate of rise starts to slow

Market fi nally wakes up to 356’s charms

PORSCHE 356 COUPÉ LATE DEVELOPER

the heritage of being the chosen wheels of German barons. Exclusive, originally expen-sive with a halo of cool Prussian precision, I’m betting that the 356 is set for a big renaissance.

FORD SIERRA COSWORTHLow survival rates push up prices so we shouldn’t be surprised that the three-door Sierra RS Cosworth is on the move. Top, tiny mileage cars can now make up to £60k but you can still fi nd Cossies in the clas-sifi eds for £10-17,000. The other day I saw a private ad for a mint 1987 with 80,000 and full Ford history for just £10,750, while Mac West Motors in Wigan has a beautifully detailed D plate with 90,000 for £16,995. And the reason the three-door models are increasing in value is that so many got thrashed, crashed and stolen. This was a riotously fast 150mph car that

became the favourite midnight ride of joy riders and thieves. And when secondhand prices were low many an unskilled owner came to grief stuffi ng their fast Ford on greasy country roads. At one stage the Cossie was almost uninsurable. DVLA records show that there are just short of 1000 RS Cosworths still licensed which is a frightening decline from the 5545 built between 1986 and 1990.

But fi nd a survivor with all its factory locks and glass, that hasn’t been on its roof, and you’ll have bought a very rare car indeed and one that’s a landmark Eighties performance icon. One need only look at the enthusiasm shown by one reader in December Classic Cars’ The List feature to understand this car’s appeal.

Originality, mileage and history exert a huge infl uence on values so avoid anything that been modifi ed or uprated. Cars with continuous Ford histories, matching dealer window stickers and number plates are fi ercely prized and can carry large premiums. Simply put, the more original the RS Cosworth, the more it’s going to be worth. In July H&H sold a beautifully unmolested 54,000 miles two owner ’86 RS for £18,400, which is probably worth £25k now. But just to prove that you can still fi nd cheap Cossies away from the usual classic market sources how about this? As I write Targa Florio Cars in Chichester are adver-tising one of the ultra-rare homologation RS500s for just £37,995. Number 36 of the limited 500 production run, it’s totally orig-inal down to the windscreen, has covered a genuine 74,000 miles and is in absolutely perfect factory specifi cation. Needs buying, that one…. The 356 was late to the Porsche price gain part, but it still seems good value

WILLSON’S SMART BUYS This month the curvy Porsche 356, cult hero Ford Sierra Cosworth and Audi Quattro quicken Quentin’s pulse

1987 2010

31

A disappointing month for Fords, and elsewhere Porsches seem to be struggling – has the 911 exposure in 2013 dried the market’s palate?

Year Make/Model Estimate Sold for Below est % below

1975 Aston Martin V8 50,000 39,160 10,840 21.7

1949 Bentley MkVI saloon 14,000 12,600 1,400 10.0

1951 Bentley MkVI Mulliner saloon 20,000 16,800 3,200 16.0

1963 BMW 700 coupé project 5,000 612 4,388 87.8

1968 Fiat 500 4,800 3,584 1,216 25.3

1929 Ford Model A Phaeton 5,115 2,564 2,551 49.9

1955 Ford Thunderbird 21,930 18,954 2976 13.6

1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1 20,000 17,920 2,080 10.4

1959 Jaguar MkI 3.4 15,000 10,080 4,920 32.8

1973 Jaguar XJ6 2.8 4,000 3,360 640 16.0

1965 Mercedes-Benz 230 SL 38,000 34,110 3890 10.2

1961 Morris Mini Minor 6,500 4,704 1796 27.6

1976 Porsche 911S 10,000 7,840 2160 21.6

1977 Porsche 911 2.7 Targa 33,900 28,263 5637 16.6

1980 Porsche 924 Carrera GT 38,000 31,186 6814 17.9

1994 Porsche 911 Carrera 18,000 15,680 2320 12.9

1955 Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn 28,000 22,321 5679 20.3

1982 Rolls-Royce Silver Spur 11,935 9,746 2189 18.3

1903 Winton Runabout 130,000 107,900 22,100 17.0

Year Make/Model Estimate Sold for Above est % above

1966 Alfa Romeo Duetto Spider 23,870 30,775 6905 28.9

1972 Alfa Romeo Junior 1600 Zagato 33,900 37,950 4050 11.9

1991 Alfa Romeo SZ 29,838 38,982 9144 30.6

1992 Alfa Romeo Spider S4 15,250 17,439 2189 14.4

1939 Austin Seven Special 6500 8624 2124 32.7

1956 Austin-Healey 100M 128,650 145,853 17,203 13.4

1937 Bentley 3.5 Litre VDP Drophead 180,000 212,800 32,800 18.2

1903 Clement Talbot CT4K 18HP 450,000 606,300 156,300 34.7

1977 Citroën HY pick-up 8,475 16,316 7,841 92.5

1951 Daimler DB18 Drophead 26,000 32,000 6000 23.1

1977 Daimler Double Six coupé 3,000 6,272 3272 109.1

1972 Ferrari Dino 246 GT 179,000 213,377 34,377 19.2

1983 Ford Capri 1.6 LS 3,000 4,088 1,088 36.3

1962 Jaguar E-type 3.8 fhc 32,000 42,940 10,940 34.2

1965 Jaguar E-type 4.2 roadster 70,000 100,800 30,800 30.6

1970 Jaguar E-type SII fhc 15,000 19,210 4210 28.1

1970 Jaguar E-type SII 2+2 24,000 28,000 4,000 16.7

1990 Jaguar XJ12 SIII saloon 10,230 13,336 3,106 30.4

1990 Jaguar XJR-S 6.0 6,000 7,840 1,840 30.7

1991 Lamborghini LM 002 76,250 141,314 65,064 85.3

1962 Maserati 3500 GT Spider 341,000 471,890 130,890 38.4

1966 Matra Djet V Luxe Coupe 34,100 45,137 11,037 32.4

1976 Mercedes-Benz 350 SL 7,000 8,475 1,475 21.1

1987 Mercedes-Benz 560 SEL 10,230 16,413 6,183 60.4

1952 MG TD 16,000 17,920 1,920 12.0

1961 MGA MkII Roadster 16,000 18,480 2,480 15.5

1992 Mini Cooper 1.3i 12,700 20,400 7,700 60.6

1961 Morris Mini pick-up 13,000 15,680 2,680 20.6

1957 Nash Metropolitan Coupe 18,800 27,569 8,769 46.6

1955 Peugeot 203 Cabriolet 46,888 59,500 12,612 26.9

1994 Porsche 911 (964) Carrera RS 3.8 169,500 229,000 59,500 35.1

1933 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Continental 30,000 62,720 32,720 109.0

As Alfa Romeo’s 4C is bringing back some focus on the Italian marque, the iconic Spider is just one of several breeds of Alfa across the age spectrum that have performed well at auction recently

T R A D I N G H I G H

T R A D I N G L O W

Market is waking up to the 356

Fancy being Andy Rouse on the

ring road?

£18k

£15k

£12k

£9k

£6k

£3k

£020132010200520001995

£21k

£24k

Motor sport heritage, a cult following and the shape that launched many a child’s love of motoring. Could a Sierra really nudge the £100,000 mark in roadgoing RS500 form?

This month the curvy Porsche 356, cult hero Ford Sierra Cosworth and Audi Quattro quicken Quentin’s pulse

FORD SIERRA COSWORTH EIGHTIES NOSTALGIA TAKES EFFECT

Ford Focus RS brings Cossie back to collective consciousness

Rarity means that dream becomes less attainable

Childhood dream car becomes tangible reality for children of the Eighties

Fancy being Andy Rouse on the

ring road?

A disappointing month for Fords, and elsewhere

T R A D I N G L O WT R A D I N G L O W

As Alfa Romeo’s 4C is bringing back some focus on the Italian marque, the

70

2014:Vantage wears its road rash and fly squash well

71

One owner from new and still maintained for him by the Aston Martin factory

Words: RUSS SMITH Photography: RORY GAME

The life story of an

ASTON MARTIN V8

L I F E C Y C L E

1979 Neil Phoenix buys the car brand-new for £23,700

‘I wanted the Vantage because of the extra 100bhp; that made it interesting. The regular V8 is pretty ordinary.’ That’s a pretty assertive opinion; possibly fi ghting talk in the wrong company. But when you realise the speaker was looking to move on from a Lamborghini Espada and already had a V12 E-type in his garage, it starts to make perfect sense. Neil Phoenix, a chartered surveyor, is a man who knows his fast cars.

So began a 34-year journey through life with this Aztec Gold Aston Martin V8 Vantage – in its day the fastest four-seater ca r in the world – though not without a fact-fi nding detour to southern Europe fi rst.

Neil says, ‘On holiday in Italy in 1978 we had a tour of the Lamborghini factory, but sadly that was six days after they’d gone bust. I then test-drove Maseratis, but they didn’t impress, and I felt the Ferrari 412i was ugly. On our return I had a drive of Aston’s Vantage demonstrator. No contest; this was the car. I wanted to part-exchange my Espada for it, but didn’t like Aston’s

£8000 trade-in offer so I sold it myself privately for more.

‘As years have gone by I’ve never regretted buying the Vantage. It’s a proper GT with a big enough boot for the family to use it to go on holiday in. We had two daughters under ten when I bought it, so that was important. I also like that there’s a fuel fi ller on each side. I am also intensely patriotic: in my work we always specify building materials made in Great Britain.’

The car was ready for collection from the factory on 6 April 1979, once a quick ‘under the counter’ modifi cation had been made, ‘Once it had been signed off as legal the car was taken to the other side of the road in Newport Pagnell to have two silencers removed, on the recommendation of sales director Tony Nugent. He assured me, “It will sound like a Ferrari that’s been to Oxford!”’

Neil’s patriotic streak has also seen his Vantage return to the Aston Martin factory in Newport Pagnell for every service and virtually all repair work. Not that it’s been the smoothest of rides. Part of this car’s unique history is a fat fi le of correspondence

1979: The fi rst Aston family holiday with friends in Kent

100

‘It probably wasn’t ratIonal,’ says bryan smart of the perfect renaissance of his august 1964 Morris Mini Cooper 970s. ‘It becomes almost illogical to talk about saving a bodyshell when you’re having to replace so much

metal, and you’re spending so much time completely unpicking it and putting it back together. It would make more commercial sense to have found another, better shell – but then it would be a re-shell and I didn’t want that.’

For bryan, authenticity and provenance are vital. they are the cornerstones of what makes a car a genuine piece of history, not a recreation, a facsimile or – as is worryingly commonplace with Cooper ss – a clone. these cars now have a value undreamed-of back in the days of the regular re-shelling of hot-but-rusty Minis, so the temptation for the less than scrupulous to make a car seem something that it isn’t can be huge.

bFX 322b has impeccable provenance, which is one reason why bryan bought it. ‘It had one owner and a credible history, having been taken off the road in 1973 and languishing in a garage ever since.’

and there was the fact that it’s the rare – fewer than 1000 made – 970s. ‘I tend not to buy the obvious car in a model range, the ones that the market assumes are best. I thought that a homologation special with a Formula Junior engine is a more interesting thing to have, and so few of them remain.’

bryan saw the Mini in an advertisment showing only the speedometer that read (a genuine) 24,894 miles. It gave a hefty price, which related to what was planned to be a restored car. nippycars of burnham-on-sea, somerset, was building its reputation as a top Mini restorer, one of its cars having won best-of-show at the Fuji concours in Japan, and the company’s Fred walters had placed the ad.

‘I went to see the car, by then dismantled,’ says bryan, ‘and to check I could trust nippycars to do the job. I saw a Morris Minor van that Fred and his father tony had just completed. If you can do it to that standard, I said, you’ve got the job.’ bryan originally wanted nippycars just to restore the shell so he could do the rest of the work, a process he had enjoyed years before when he restored a 1071s. Fred, however, had other ideas…

‘I love that It’s stIll

the saMe Car’

Words: John SimiSter Photography: LaurenS ParSonS

e p i c r e s t o r a t i o n s

Black paint was just one of the Mini’s troublesome Sixties modifications

101

Thirty-nine years in a leaky garage took its toll – rust was everywhere

and the engine was seized solid. Nothing that 550 hours’ work

couldn’t put right…

1964 Morris Mini Cooper 970s