Tag Archives: club

Classic Car BMW Mid 60s

bmw_photo1This range of cars was called the ‘New class’ and, introduced in 1962, was the start of the succession of cars that created the niche for BMW in the UK that it now occupies. There was a whole stable of cars all of similar design but with a variety of engines designed to suit a variety of tastes and pockets.

The most popular pre-1966 cars were the 2000 and the 1800 TI while after 1966, BMW produced the 1602 and 2002 series which, I think, became of the most popular BMWs of the whole decade.

The series ran from 1962 until the mid 1970s and produced a host of different models and types with a variety of engines but all of which, thankfully, look similar.

Continue reading

Classic Car Humber Sceptre

Humber_Sceptre_photo1Humber have been making vehicles since Thomas Humber’s bicycle company was founded as long ago as 1868 and for many years before have produced large, luxurious cars that were a delight to both see and ride in. However, in the 60s it was decided to give the marque to the masses and produce a car that was affordable but which still retained some of the class and luxury of the older models.

The Sceptre was based firmly on the Hillman Minx and was, in reality, an upmarket Super Minx. Between it and the Super Minx there came the lovely Singer Vogue with the double headlights but with a little less of the luxury of the Sceptre.

Continue reading

Classic Car Hillman Minx

hillman_minx_01Believe it or not the Hillman Minx model, both as itself and in the shape of various clones, have been on the British roads since 1932, before production ended in 1970.

In that time it is a model that must rank of one of the most successful of motor cars and of car designs having sold many models to satisfied customers both in Britain and around the world.

The basic model was adapted as an estate called the Hillman Husky, a van as the Commer Cob and also used as the base for many other cars from Rootes Group (who then owned Hillman) like the Sunbeam Rapier, the Humber Sceptre and the Singer Gazelle all of which will appear in these pages soon.

Continue reading

Classic Car Ford Corsair GT

ford_corsair_photo1The Ford Corsair, produced 1964 to 1971 was a striking car and one of the four models in the extended Consul family sharing many parts with the innovative Cortina, the great Ford Classic and, of course, the unforgettable Ford Capri.

In the mid 1960s Ford produced a formidable range of cars but the Corsair with it’s striking and unusual (even today) styling made quite an impact on the roads and was a popular car.

Ford had a habit of adding the words GT after the model of a car to indicate that it had better than standard performance but often did so when the performance increase was not as great as the buyer might have expected. It will be interesting to see, after all this time, just whether the Ford Corsair GT deserved the Grand Turisimo initials after its name!

Continue reading

Classic Car Marcos 1800

Marcos gtThe Marcos story started in Luton, in the UK just before the 1960s began when Jeremy (Jem) Marsh got together with Frank Costin. Not only did they merge the first three letters of their last names but they worked closely together to produce a car that would be at home both on the track and on the road.

In 1963, when the 1800 was produced, the company moved to Bradford on Avon which is in Wiltshire and stayed there until 1971 when, unfortunately, they went out of business.

Continue reading

Classic Car Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray

chevrolet_corvette_stringray_photo1The Chevrolet Corvette String Ray is one of a generation of Corvette variants made from 1953 all the way through to the present day. This particular one is the second generation made from 1963 to 1967. The next generation, also called Sting Ray, was made all the way from 1968 to 1982 and is, perhaps, the car people normally think of as the Sting Ray or Stingray as it seems to be called in America.

However, this generation was no slouch as the figures below show. The car was available in the UK although, it has to be said, it was something of a specialised car and, so far as I can recall, I don’t think I remember seeing more than a few at the time. (The next generation I believe sold more freely and you did sometimes see one of those.)

Continue reading

Classic Car Volvo P1800

volvo_p1800_PD_photo1I remember seeing the Volvo P1800 used in The Saint TV series shown on the TV in the 60s and wondering just what sort of car that was.  It was a rare sight on British roads and those that did appear usually attracted a lot of interest.

Like so many people I always wanted one but never had the chance so it’s nice now to be able to look back and see how good the Volvo was.

I don’t have any figures to support this but I understand that Volvo were happy to let ITC Entertainment have a Volvo for the series because it was good advertising and I believe that many people purchased the car because of that.

Continue reading

Classic Car Austin Healey 3000

Austin-Healey_3000_photo_1The ‘big Healey’, as these models are always known, began as a development of the Austin Healey 100 introduced as far back as 1952.

In 1952 the first Healey was just over two and a half litre using an engine from the post-war Austin Atlantic in a neat two-seat bodywork.  The Austin Healey 3000 continued this trend but this time added a three litre engine to the already pretty two-seat body made, incidentally, by Jenson Motors.

The original Big Healey was called the 100 because it was capable of 100 mph but his car was to go far beyond that.

Continue reading