HOW THE FERRARI 308/328 SURPRISED EVERYONE

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For years we doubted that the Ferrari 308 and 328 would climb in value much, simply because by Ferrari standards these were mass-production models, and they lacked the iconic supercar status enjoyed by their V12-powered big brothers.

**How the Ferrari 308/328 surprised everyone**

In the end their virtues of handling delicacy and pretty Leonardo Fioravanti styling have helped them to attract a new generation of buyers, that and the market’s increasingly broad appetite for anything Ferrari and old. The price analysis table in the latest issue of Classic Cars shows that over the past year the rarer glassfibre bodied cars from the start of production are averaging £133k, and even the steel-bodied cars average £60k in a price range of £33-145k.

For those of us who’ve been around for a long time it’s easy to be shocked at how expensive these former bargain £18k classics have become, but when you remember how expensive and exclusive they were new, they seem to have found a more logical place in current the classic car price hierarchy.

Buying advice and market analysis is part of 16 pages of buying information in every issue of Classic Cars magazine, including Quentin Willson’s Smart Buys, Russ Smith’s Market Watch, in-depth buying guides and Ads on Test.

Phil Bell

Editor, Classic Cars magazine

For more details of the latest issue, visit www.classiccarsmagazine.co.uk

PRICE RISE SPARKS MGB SHORTAGE

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Specialists are reporting a serious shortage of good-quality early MGBs and MG Midgets coming onto the market as values continue to rise.
The situation particularly applies to chrome-bumper MGBs, which it appears owners are now keeping and paying to have restored. Later rubber bumper car values are still relatively static.
David Abram at Norfolk-based MG Mecca said there was a real problem in sourcing excellent earlier MGBs in particular, with Midgets also hard to find.
“Obviously we have many contacts but even still we are finding it difficult to source cars at the right price,” he said. “Most cars are needing work to prepare them to the standards we would require to offer them for sale. We are not really sure why this is happening, apart from the fact people are hanging on to cars.”
David added that only the best MG Midgets and MGBs were commanding higher prices. While rising values have encouraged more owners to restore the early cars, there is now a gap in the market between highly-priced restored cars and examples needing expensive repair work. As a result, a widening gap for good-condition cars in the middle of the price spectrum has emerged.
Steph Gammons at MG specialist firm Brown & Gammons in Hertfordshire said the current economy meant people were tending to keep their MGs.
He said: “With interest rates still low, people are still saying that they may as well enjoy a classic sports car than just having money sitting in the bank. We are still getting cars in, and continuing to source them from the USA.”
Peter Snowden, manager at MG specialist Snowdens of Harrogate, said: “I think it’s because people are realising what good value these cars are. Most of their main rivals are twice the price.
“I think people are wanting to keep them, and they are prepared to spend money on restoration. You can now expect to pay the mid-teen thousands of pounds for an excellent roadster.”

• Brown & Gammons, 01462 490049, www.ukmgparts.com
• MG Mecca, 01953 717618, www.mgmecca.co.uk
• Snowdens of Harrogate, 01423 502406, www.snowdensmgs.com

DELOREAN'S NEW COMEBACK

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The DeLorean DMC-12 is returning with a limited production run in the USA taking advantage of a new law.

DeLorean Motor Company, Texas is about to sell new cars again.

DeLorean Motor Company, Texas can now build up to 500 DMC-12s a year due to new legislation, which allows old cars to be re-created and sold again. It hopes roll out the first car as early as next year.

DeLorean Motor Company acquired what was left of the original set-up 30 years ago including millions of spare parts. They have also manufactured many parts from new which means they have an ideal platform to begin production.

‘It’s huge for us. It means we’re back as a car company again,’ says Stephen Wynne, CEO of DMC. The new DeLorean is expected to have a 300-400bhp power unit.

There’s talk of improving the brakes, shock absorbers and wheels for greater performance, but the company still want to retain the car’s unique image.

‘There’s no reason to change the appearance of the car, as we go into the programme, we’ll decide what areas need to be freshened up,’ says Stephen Wynne.

The new DeLorean DMC-12 is expected to sell for around $100,000 (£70,000) and it’s hoped that 325 cars will be available in 2017.

HERE'S WHY THE BMW Z3 M COUPE IS A RARE COUP - FOR NOW

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Depreciation is a Robin Hood-like principle, stealing from wealthy new car buyers and delivering into the hands of poorer enthusiasts. And it applies to even the most desirable of marques – witness how you can buy a 15-year old Porsche, Ferrari or Aston for the price of a well-specced new family saloon.

But some cars, like the oddball BMW Z3M Coupé, are chased hard by enthusiastic buyers from the minute they slip into the secondhand market. And the analysis in the current issue of Classic Cars magazine shows how they lost just half of their value in the first three years before clawing their way back from a £10k low.

Now the climb is steepening, but at £20k they still seem good value for something so distinctive and pure to drive.

Phil Bell
Editor, Classic Cars magazine

EU DIRECTIVE TO EXEMPT PRE-1984 CLASSICS FROM MOT TEST IS 'LUNACY'

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A new European directive calling for almost all pre-1984 classics to be made exempt from MoT tests has provoked an angry response from industry experts.
Classic car specialists told CCFS that the newly agreed European Roadworthiness Directive, which argues that vehicles over 30 years old should be exempted from safety testing, will put drivers’ safety at risk.
Malcolm Gammons, managing director of Hertfordshire-based MG specialist Brown & Gammons, said: “The lunatics have escaped. We don’t even agree with pre-1960 classics being exempt from testing, as no one benefits.
“We even had one customer in recently saying that his car wasn’t handling very well and we discovered the reason – he had 42-year-old tyres!”
The new EU agreement suggests that cars which are at least 30 years old, out of production and running to their original specification should be exempted from roadworthiness testing.
However, because the rules are an EU directive – rather then an EU regulation, which must be followed to the letter – it is up to the UK Government how it chooses to implement them. A spokesman for the Department for Transport said: “We are planning to consult nearer to implementation of the Directive and will of course be seeking the involvement of stakeholders with an interest in classic cars as part
of that process.”
If the EU Roadworthiness Directive was implemented now it would bring the MoT exemption date forward from 1960 to 1984, and mean thousands more classics would no longer be required to pass an annual MoT test.
Stephen Hill, director of Thornfalcon Garage, which offers owners of pre-1960 classics a voluntary MoT-style safety check, said: “Exemption from MoT should stop at 1960. Cars of this age are owned by enthusiasts and tend not to be used every day.
“If exemption is extended to 1984 there will be people paying £2-300 and just driving away up the road without having to worry about it being MoT’d.”
The Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs said they had given the news a cautious welcome, because they were in a position to discuss with the Government how the new directive could be interpreted in the UK.
A spokesman for the organisation said: “The task now is to work with our national Government to ensure the most favourable outcome to the interpretation of the legislation.
The current MoT exemption for classics was brought in across Great Britain in November 2012, with Northern Ireland following suit last September. The UK government has until April 2018 to implement the EU Directive.

MODERN JAGUAR S-TYPE VALUES RISE

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Supercharged R version leads saloon’s charge into the classic world

Auctioneers are tipping the second generation Jaguar S-type, introduced in 1999, as a classic investment despite its current values being overshadowed by the larger XJ models.

Prices for the Geoff Lawson-penned executive saloon are currently stabilising, and specialists believe more desirable variants like the range-topping S-type R are now going up in price.

Rob George, co-director of Anglia Car Auctions, said: ‘The R model had the word classic written all over them even when they were new.

‘The 3.0-litre V6s in manual form fly along too and they’re all real driver’s cars, but for many the diesel model is the best.’

Barons’ Laurence Sayers-Gillan says the V8 models, and especially the S-Type R, are becoming more collectable but other models aren’t being snapped-up.

‘There hasn’t been a lot of interest because of the looks, but it’s not a bad car.

‘The normal V8 is a lovely car and it’s well built. The V8s are becoming more sought after.’

North Wales Jag Centre’s Matthew Norbury says very early (T- and V-plate) models are thin on the ground and suspension maladies have seen many S-Types being scrapped, but values of the performance R model are now on the rise.

‘You can get a mint pre-facelift model for around £1500, but facelift models (2005-on) will be dearer. S-Type Rs are going up in value and you’d be looking at £6000 for a very good example.

‘The R’s perhaps the best car you could buy pound for pound, but it’s important to buy on history and not on mileage.’

Richard Barnett

Looking to buy a Jaguar S-type? Here are our tips:

The bodywork tends to survive well, but on early models the floors can rust through, and that can be terminal. The doors, which are deep, can suffer from car park dings but smart repairs can put that right.

Later diesel models can suffer from diesel particulate filter problems and can blow if they are neglected. Diesels are also very oil level-sensitive and can blow up if they are over-filled.

Petrol engines, as long as they have regular oil changes, tend to be indestructible. Gearboxes are equally strong but on diesel models a failed oil cooler (replacement: £400) can wreck the ‘box, which can cost £3200.

Electrics tend to be pretty trouble free, other than the front wiring harness which can bring trouble. S-type buyers should also change the battery straight away and go for the highest-quality one available, which usually solves lingering electrical maladies.

WHY MY LOVE FOR THE PEUGEOT 205 DIMMA HASN'T DIMMED

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I've always had a 'thing' for the Peugeot 205 T16. A cherished model example I've had since I was seven adorns my desk, I had a book with a tasty cutaway drawing of one on the centrefold when I was a kid, and even in the Nineties Group B rallying was still a strong enough cultural memory to keep its flame alive – plus it was still winning the Dakar. As the last car to win a World Rally Championship under Group B rules, it had a reputation as the pinnacle of rallying achievement.
So imagine my excitement, as an impressionable ten-year-old, when a neighbour took delivery of one.
The operative word there is 'impressionable', mainly because the car in question was nothing of the sort, but rather a 205 GTi fitted with a Dimma bodykit. Of course I had absolutely no idea of this at the time – especially as the owner in question had seemingly replaced all the windows with giant Ray-Ban lenses so you couldn't see whether it had an engine in the back or not. It was also bright red – at the time I didn't know that all Peugeot's factory T16 road cars were finished in grey.
But somehow that didn't matter, because the sight of it made my day. And here's the thing – it still does.
Dimma somehow managed to extricate themselves from the early-Nineties Max Power malaise with a strange degree of dignity. I think it's simply because rather than going for the silly paint jobs, ugly for-the-sake-of-it body alterations and inappropriate wheels, their wide-bodied kits with faux-vents hinting at a mid-mounted engine – for the Peugeot 205 and Renault 5 – simply replicated the Group B versions line-for-line. Also, because they were still a hot Peugeot or Renault at heart, there was the sense that although they were 'fakes' there was something more 'honest' about them than, say, a Toyota MR2 made to look like a Ferrari F355. As a rubbernecker, you were being charmed rather than conned.
Dimma were also well aware that performance needed to match looks too, so they offered a Turbo Technics engine upgrade as an option as part of their bodywork conversion. The result is that this 205 GTi boasts straight-line performance capable of worrying a TVR.
The result is a genuine period curio that deserves to be cherished and preserved as a 'genuine Dimma', rather than pulled apart and returned to factory standard. Because such things were once a major part of aftermarket hot hatch culture when such cars were visited with a youthful second lease of life, and Dimma represented the most positive, acceptable face of it all in its pre-laddish heyday. To pretend that era never happened and lose the better examples to over-zealous value-chasing restorers would be a real shame.

WHO'S LAUGHING NOW? THE FORD PROBE

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The Ford Probe is a gloriously dreadful car. Take that statement in. An oxy-moron? You bet. Like bad sex or healthy cake. However, it’s having the last laugh - if you want to get all anal about it.

**Forget the dubious name and the build quality woes - The Ford Probe is great fun.**

The Probe is one car that Ford would like to forget ever existed- just as we do with healthy cake or bad sex– a face slappingly awful Japanese/Ford combo that looks as weird and as plastic as anything featured on 1980s Doctor Who. Except, this car isn’t from the decade of shoulder pads. Don’t let the pop up headlights and first production date of 1988 fool you – this is as 1990s as the Macarena or the Waif look. And like the Waif look and the Macarena, time hasn’t judged the Probe kindly.

With a name like ‘Probe’, it’s the blue oval at the front that saves it from mockery and gives it the small cult following it enjoys. This is the definition of irony, however, as the car itself is in fact a Mazda. And not one of Mazda’s finest moments, at that.

There was a huge amount expected of the Probe when it was unveiled and thrust onto the market within Britain during 1992. The Capri had been a huge success and was already imprinted in time as a cult piece of engineering; its replacement had the public foaming at the mouth with excitement, especially after Ford and Mazda had merged. Ford’s people pleasing styling mixed with incredible reliability created a deal that benefited everybody. Honda and Rover were getting together and now Ford had Mazda under its wing. West and east mixed and it was magical.

Except, it didn’t last long. Honda and Rover fell out and Ford cut ties with Mazda; but not before the Probe had enjoyed five rocky years on UK markets. Mazda rebadged the Fiesta in this time too, resulting in the rather awkward Mazda 121.

Sales in Britain didn’t hit anywhere near where Ford bigwigs had hoped, down to huge prices and questionable build quality. Panel gaps on certain models were large enough to fit garden ornaments, the ride was deemed harsh and legroom in the back was pitiful if you were over 4ft 8in.

Looking like something out of a Barbie party pack, expensive, christened with a dubious name and offering the build quality of a shredded wheat – it was never going to be a big seller. Between 1992 and 1993, the Probe had £2k taken off its sale price (from £14,800 down to £12,700), which proved that the original asking price of £19,350 was a pipe dream as large as the hoover dam.

Its rivals were cheaper and offered a wider array of engines, which is curious, as out of all its rivals it’s the Probe that has developed the fan clubs and following.

And there is a good reason for that – it’s good fun. Most cars of character are monsters with jittery rides or ferocious fuel consumption or dreadful build quality or comedy handling or huge design flaws or truck like driving experiences or square looks. While the Probe certainly doesn’t look square, it ticks a lot of those boxes. Yet, you forgive it because it shows you a good time.

Every small back road and every motorway is a fantastic experience thanks to the smooth 163bhp V6 or 128bhp straight four paired with a neat gearbox and chuackable handling. And they are cheap, I mean really cheap. £750 secures you a Probe with tax and MoT ready for taking that corner in a rigorous manner and then blasting along the straight. Numbers are thinning and its not very often that you come across one parked on the street, it’s therefore very quickly becoming a very different and special purchase.

And its practical. Lack of rear legroom aside, the boot is a decent size and front passenger comfort is sublime. It’ll fit your golf clubs and your kids, your dog, your weekly shop and your partner all at the same time. No other £750 sports car can do that. Not many £750 cars can do that; certainly not one taxed and MoT’d.

Values are starting to kick-start themselves into life again. If you are tempted, watch for accident damage and ignition problems which plagued these models from new. V6’s often need new timing belts and many have sat around outside - brake discs can rust and exhausts suffer extensively.

So, what’s the verdict? Well, it’s a mixed bag of brilliance and flaw that didn’t sell very well and was, simply, an MX-6 with Ford badging. It has a scary number of design faults but its fun, cheap and practical - all of the things that Fords should be.

Should you buy one? Hell yes – it’s easy to live with and not bank-breakingly expensive to run. They aren’t going to be around forever – enjoy them while you can as what they are: A retro Ford that is gaining status as fast as they are disappearing from UK roads.

A recipe for a fantastic future classic and a gloriously, gloriously bad car that you will seriously fall in love with.

THE INBETWEENERS CAR: FIAT CINQUENCENTO

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It’s got a boot smaller than Victoria Beckham’s breakfast, it’s got a serious lack of power steering, it doesn’t work with a conventional design and is built like a wet cardboard box. Famous solely for being picked on throughout Channel 4’s The Inbetweeners, don’t rule the Fiat Cinquencento out as a great car to own. This is as close to roller-skating on the road as you can legally get.

**The Fiat Cinquencento now has cult status thanks to The Inbetweeners.**

People with no money or sense could often be found buying a Fiat Cinquencento back in the day. Weak gearboxes, rampant build quality issues and Italian poilitician-esque reliability sent most customers scurrying furiously into the arms of Volkswagen, Ford and the Japanese. In typical Fiat fashion, Cinquencentos have all but disappeared from our roads- but they've got a legacy that will live on thanks to Channel 4 comedy The Inbetweeners.

Almost like origami held together with a rubber band, or sitting in a helmet with wheels, the Fiat Cinquencento made for a perfect reflection in car form of our four favourite onscreen teenagers. The famous Fiat Cinquencento first appears in episode three of the now cult sitcom, a gift to Simon (Joe Thomas) from his parents upon passing his driving test. His reaction can be viewed below, although the Hawaii edition is a fictional aspect. (Choice language rampant throughout the video - you have been warned!)

Suffering serious abuse throughout the three-season run, the Fiat eventually ends up in a lake with a smashed window and headlights blaring - and is never heard from again. A fitting place for it really, as the Fiat Cinquencento isn’t what you would call robust motoring.

The driving experience is unbearable after more than an hour, unless you are genetically engineered just to drive a Cinquencento, due to a rigid seating position and off-set pedal arrangement. Reliability is pretty poor, coming a lowly 29th from bottom in a Top Gear survey covering 137 models back in 2003, ending with a 74.9% satisfaction score in 2005 (18th from bottom) and making various motorists lives agony. Oh yeah, and then there is the crash protection - or lack thereof. If it weren’t making your life hell, it would simply send you to it instead.

So, in reality, chances are that Will, Simon, Jay and Neil would never have made it to school without the assistance of the AA.

There are upsides to the little Italian Fiat, however. There is an immense sense of speed on offer despite not going very quickly, almost like a distressed go-kart. The experience is rather exhilarating too; due to the impending sense of death upon leaving first gear. Handling is also charismatic in the same way Sean Penn is charismatic - unforgiving on bumpy surfaces due in part to firm suspension and flimsy construction; it’s the B-roads where this supermini belongs. And, at the end of the day, you have the car from The Inbetweeners at your control. Forget the James Bond Aston Martin, this is the king of showing your classy nature - in that you clearly couldn’t care less.

At the end of the day, you shouldn’t expect miracles from such a budget car. Complaining about the lack of rear legroom is like bemoaning the difficulty in parking a limousine. Complaining about the trifling issue of boot space is akin to getting grouchy over a 4x4s fuel consumption - the Fiat Cinquecento is what it is. Besides, there are a number of things you can fit in the boot.

Things you fit into the boot of a Fiat Cinquencento:

A Penny

A Bic Biro

Most of the spare wheel

Warwick Davis

We can’t forget that the little vehicle was actually revolutionary for Fiat, too. It opened up a new market to Fiat - and can claim to have set the path towards the uberpopular contemporary 500.

And of The Inbetweeners car itself? It’s still alive despite being vandalised at Thorpe Park by a party of insulted Down's Syndrome children, having the passenger door ripped off to be replaced with a mismatched colour, literally being sexually abused - all before ending up underwater. It was put up for sale in aid of Comic Relief, quickly becoming the most expensive secondhand Fiat Cinquencento ever.

NEW WINDSCREENS FOR CLASSICS

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Pilkington Automotive will unveil a new website at the NEC Classic Motor Show this weekend, capable of supplying 6000 different windscreens for more than 600 different vehicle manufacturers, covering everything from AC to Zastava.

The company’s Queenborough factory in Kent has made classic windscreens for the aftermarket since the late 1950s and still retains the vast majority of its tooling.
To order a windscreen you can simply log onto the company’s website and type in the details about your car and location to find the nearest distributor. Orders take roughly six weeks to complete. In many cases, the original classic cars were built with glass from a Pilkington company, such as Triplex, Sigla, Bilglas, and SIV, and the glass can be supplied with the original trademark. What’s more, the company can create bespoke windscreens and is happy to work with enthusiasts and clubs who still have original CAD data, designer drafts or technical drawings.

All glass from Queenborough is handmade and Pilkington can adapt, rebuild or modify its tooling to produce a suitable windscreen. Bespoke ‘screens for kit cars and replica classics are also available.

“We at Pilkington Automotive know that finding the right windscreen for a classic car can be a long, arduous and costly task,” said Mike Rotin.
“With the launch of Pilkington Classics we can bring our knowledge and expertise to the market place and, in most instances, fit the replacement windscreen for the customer.”

TIME FOR SOME TR6 APPEAL

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Sheer numbers have long kept prices of the brawny Triumph TR6 in check – nearly 95,000 – compared to the near 70,000 TR4/4as and just over 11,000 TR5/250s built. As a result, TR6s have sold for around half the price of a TR5 in similar condition.

The Analysis table in the latest issue of Classic Cars reveals that the 13 TR6s that have come to auction over the past year have sold for £4-32k with an average of £16k and most exceeding their pre-sale estimates. So the characterful TR6 is no longer cheap, but it still represents a lot of fun for the money compared to a lot of classics out there.

Buying advice and market analysis is part of 16 pages of buying information in every issue of Classic Cars magazine, including Quentin Willson’s Smart Buys, Russ Smith’s Market Watch, in-depth buying guides and Ads on Test.

For more details of the latest issue, visit www.classiccarsmagazine.co.uk

To see the digital edition for Android devices

WHAT WENT WRONG? : THE FORD EDSEL

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The Ford Edsel is often viewed as the biggest automotive marketing failure in history. Confidently forecasting trade figures of over 200,000 sales per year, everything then went horribly, horribly wrong. It didn’t really help that the grille appeared to resemble something out of gynaecologist monthly.

**What do you think the Ford Edsel Grille looks like?**

Making a glamorous debut in 1957 after one of the most elaborate pre-release publicity campaigns America had ever seen, only two years later the Edsel was canned with a loss of at least $250 million for the Ford Corporation- nearly $2 billion by today’s inflation. While nearly sixty years have passed since the infamous Edsel first appeared on highways throughout the land of the free, its lingering smell still haunts the Ford Motor Company to this day.

Much to the embarrassment of a company credited with crafting the modern automobile, the Edsel turned Ford into a worldwide laughing stock. One of the most cutting jokes from that time went: ‘What does the ultimate loser look like? Answer: Richard Nixon driving an Edsel’. The resurgence of Ford’s talent with the likes of the Mustang, GT40 and the Bronco didn’t seem to make any difference; the Edsel remains an enduring icon of failure Ford can’t shake off.

While some cars can fall foul of simple factors, the Edsel is something of a rarity; as it suffered from a perfect storm of disastrous attributes. It’s looks were heavily criticised, that now notorious grille compared to a toilet seat or, more famously, a woman’s Lady Garden. Some journalists remarked that the Ford Edsel resembled an Oldsmobile ‘sucking on a lemon’. Yet, in the eyes of the contemporary motorist, the aesthetics don’t emerge overly gruesome.

Although the majority didn’t delve any deeper than the controversial looks, those who did found themselves disappointed further. It was the bog standard Ford/Mercury in a party frock - offering no improvement on acceleration, speed or handling. While this is common practice today, with such an aggressive advertising stance expectations were understandably high. This was the Quantum of Solace moment no car manufacturer wants. Not that it was completely Ford’s self-flagellation on the power front, as the Edsels’ arrival coincided with the Automobile Manufacturers Association’s horsepower ban.

Just to further confusion, potential customers were confused by the Ford hierarchy and where the Edsel sat within. Then, almost like the final nail in the coffin, due to an early launch date in an attempt to dominate the interest of new car buyers, the Ford Edsel was pushed into showrooms carrying 1958 model-year prices. These prices were noticeably higher than end of ’57 price tags; stunting sales to dramatic effect. Then, adding insult to injury, America was slipping into recession with compact cars being the order of the day. The likes of Packard, Desoto, Hudson and Nash all fell by the wayside as the recession ravaged old-school car manufactures who struggled to move with the times.

However, the final blow was the name. Within the Ford Motor Company Edsel Ford (Henry Ford’s only recognised son) remained a beloved figure despite being largely overshadowed by his father. He sadly died in 1943 due to stomach cancer, but surely naming a much-trumpeted design after a corporate legend couldn’t hurt? All the big names - Dodge, Oldsmobile, Chevrolet - had previously taken the same route. This felt out of date in an era of forward-looking, space-age enthusiasm - but it was the Ford family themselves that poured hatred over the name. Edsel Ford’s son, Henry Ford II, declared that the thought of his father’s name spinning on thousands of hubcaps greatly upset him - while ‘Edsel’ sounded almost alien and snobbish.

Urban legend states that other names considered included ‘The Mongoose Civique’, ‘Pluma Piluma’ and ‘Pastelogram’. When writing to poet Marianna Moore, who was unofficially enlisted to help with brand name development (although her suggestion of the ‘Utopian Turtletop’ doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue), a Ford spokesman scripted ‘Our name, dear Miss Moore, is - Edsel. I know you will share your sympathies with us.

Sadly, these aspects mask the Edsel’s merits. Often referred to as the automotive Titanic, Ford would rather you forgot about the Edsel. However, for history’s sake, we reckon it should be preserved as a warning to modern manufacturers about the dangers of flaunting a vehicle promising the public what can’t be delivered. Someone should really have told Enron.

BRAZILIAN RARITIES ARE UK HITS

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A classic Volkswagen dealer has decided to offer Brazilian-made examples of the marque after three he imported were given the thumbs up by potential buyees.

**1973 and 1972 Variants, a 1965 Microbus, a 1980 Brasilia, and a 1975 Puma on display at VolksWorld.**

Hampshire-based Just Kampers presented three ‘VW do Brasil’ vehicles, including a Beetle-based Puma sports car, at the VolksWorld Show at Sandown Park, Surrey on 2-3 April. They were such a big hit with showgoers that the wheels are in motion to bring in some more.

Josh Reynolds, spokesperson for Just Kampers, says: ‘We had them on display at VolksWorld to give people a chance to see these wonderful, and unusual Volkswagens up close and personal. Now that the show is over for another year, and we’ve had such amazing feedback about the vehicles we imported, they are are now for up for grabs through us.

‘We have more vehicles in the pipeline, so it’s time to clear some space and help these vehicles find new homes in Britain and Europe.’

The Brazilian oddities now on sale at Just Kampers include a 1973 VW Variant 1600, available for £9995, a 1980 VW Brasilia, with only 5000 miles on the clock, for £19,995, and a 1975 VW Beetle based Puma sports car, for £19,995. A 1965 Brazilian built 15 window split-screen Type 2 is being offered for £28,500.

In addition to this, a rare 1970s Volkswagen SP2 sports car is en route from Brazil. Andy Talbot

www.justkampers.com

WHO’S LAUGHING NOW? : THE CITROËN 2CV

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Did you laugh at or judge the Citroën 2CV back in the day? Well, with prices on the rise and iconic status certified, the Deux Chevaux is having the last laugh.

Why were we laughing at the Citroën 2CV?

There are few cars out there that stereotypically symbolise an entire nation on the whole. Britain has the Mini, Germany has the Beetle, America has the Ford Model-T and Italy has the Fiat 500. Cars that develop a cult following are almost always vehicles that helped the masses to move around, often for the first time. It comes as no surprise, then, that Frances little baby is the humble Duex Chevaux.

Upon the mere mention of Citroën, the 2CV will almost immediately spring to mind. Talk of France and it’ll be on the forefront of your mind. Mention a tin shed and most 2CV owners will assume you’re talking about their mode of transport. For decades, the Citroen 2CV was one of many laughing stocks nuancing the UK tarmac - compared to an upturned pram and dubbed the ‘tin snail’ - but now, the 2CV is enjoying a monumental surge in value.

The idiosyncratic French creation rolled out of showrooms in Britain for £4552 back in 1990, the equivalent to roughly £8764 today. Refurbished examples now cost upwards of £11k. That’s beyond the amount a much-more respected Jaguar XJ40 of the time exchanges hands for.

As with any insanely popular car, its regard stems from a result of crafty engineering and uncomplicated design. Unveiled to the public in 1948 as a follow up the Traction Avant, the little French creations remarkable 40-plus years in production saw five million examples - with variants including vans, Dyane hatchbacks, 4x4s, twin engined cruisers, pick-ups and convertibles. A truly versatile vehicle indeed, and yet, not everyone took the Duex Chavaux to their hearts.

Some found the interior scary - some had metal rimmed steering wheels while the seats held a simplistic deck-chair design which acted like a hammock - while the fabric roof and flip-up side windows may indeed have saved weight, but that made the utilitarian 2CV a tad frightening to those comfortable with their post-1980 automobile comforts. A speedometer and battery charge display is all that early models featured and later models didn’t really come with much more.

What seemed to really impress people however, were the mechanicals of the 2CV - long traveling suspension supplied anoutstanding ride and while the handling may have been a bit on the wallowy side, its grip on the road was exciting to say the least. Not that you could get to exciting speeds, even the very last examples churned out a paltry 29bhp. Early vehicles, working with 12bhp, could just about crack 45mph on a long, straight road while later ones could hit 60mph in the same length of time Stephen King takes to write a new book. 29.8 seconds to reach 60mph in 1990 proved how outdated the 2CV was, but those focusing on speed with a Duex Chavaux were missing the point.

The engine could run at high revs for over 50,000 miles before it needed some TLC and fuel economy reached an incredible 50mpg. According to 2CV experts, engines from the 1970s onwards could happily run on unleaded, too.

The original looks might not have been overly appreciated, with a ridged corrugated bonnet and a single headlamp like a wart on its face, but as slight tweaks to its exterior came about it won an army of appreciative followers. The beatniks seemed to love them, too.

However, motoring journalists and those with the ability to shower their opinion on us whether we like it or not - we are talking about you, the ex-Top Gear trio - turned many against the stalwart Citroën. It was true, engines could smoke badly, the chassis rotted, the body rusted, certain jobs were surprisingly difficult for such a simplistic design and clocking is still a problem.

Those jumping on the Clarkson-opinionated bandwagon will lampoon the 2CV for a ‘beardy’ look and bemoan that safety is non-existent, thieves can break in with a spoon and many owners find their keys open other 2CVs without so much as a hint of protest. Final models were built in Portugal, and apparently, held up so badly that they didn’t last very long before falling back into component parts. Then people attacked it for being slow, bouncy, old, feeble, unable to cope with side winds, unable to cope with life and unable to change with the times.

Yet, the car is having the last laugh with a fan base ever growing and prices skyrocketing above levels no one could have predicted fifteen years ago. If you want to grab hold of a decent Citroën Duex Chavuex these days, expect to pay more than ten times that of a decent condition BMW 5-Series or Jaguar XJ from the same era.

It appeared to be the car equivalent of Marmite - people loved it, or hated it. Whatever way you look at it though, its one of the immortals housed within the automotive hall of fame and if you fancy one brand new, yes - brand new, then you can contact www.frome2cv.co.uk and relish in a new, shiny cultural icon.

However, if we were to recommend one particular example for sale – it would be this one. This one rolled off the production line on July 27 1990, the last day of 2CV production. It's in absolutely immaculate original condition with only 1300km on the clock.

TIME TO INTERCEPT A JENSEN BEFORE YOU REGRET IT

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There’s a group of cars that are so ubiquitous in the classic scene that they get taken for granted, their appeal blunted by over-familiarity. While that might be mildly disappointing for owners, it’s of course very healthy for aspiring enthusiasts. But a couple of factors can drag such cars into the spotlight, with a commensurate effect of values: a more desirable alternative spiralling out of reach so that buyers seek out the next best thing, and the hubbub surrounding significant anniversaries.

The latter certainly shifted the perception and values Jaguar XKs and E-types for example, but has left other models untouched. The Jensen Interceptor could benefit from both, because for a long time this hugely glamorous and drivable GT has lived in Triumph TR price territory, its appeal held in check by a disproportionate fear of its mid-teens fuel consumption, which is little worse than the Daimler Sovereign Series III that I once ran. With the 50th anniversary in 2016 and the ever higher values of its rivals and equally thirsty Aston Martin DB6 and DBS, the days of the accessible Interceptor and derivatives could well be numbered.

Buying advice and market analysis is part of 16 pages of buying information in every issue of Classic Cars magazine, including Quentin Willson’s Smart Buys, Russ Smith’s Market Watch, in-depth buying guides and Ads on Test.

THE DALE MOTOR CAR: THE CON OF THE CENTURY

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This story involves a ‘car’, a transgendered woman, four shots to the face, 14 years on the run and $30 million worth of fraud. Brace yourselves for the story of ‘The Dale’- the forgotten automotive con that rocked America.

This rather unreal saga starts deep within the decade that taste forgot, just as fuel prices began an upsurge rise and drivers began an almost forced downsizing operation from beloved V8s of the time – people simply didn't like the idea of putting an internal organ on the black market when a trip upstate in the Mustang loomed. Frankly, the public were yearning for a cheaper mode of transport. The Dale then appeared to fit that bill perfectly.

Embellishing everything you would expect of a 1970s futuristic vehicle, The Dale even had three wheels - just, because - with two wheels up front and one to support the tail. The bodywork was apparently constructed from ‘Rigidex’, which was seemingly impregnable, dubbed ‘rocket structural resin’. This could apparently survive a direct blow from a sledgehammer without issue.

Twentieth Century Motors Corporation, the company behind the revolutionary new automobile ‘designed to go to the Moon and back’, printed a brochure claiming that fuel economy would be upwards of 70mpg, top speed would sit at 85mph and price would cost under $2000. Even by 1970s inflation, that was seriously cheap.

As if that wasn’t suspicious enough, the car apparently worked with no wires, no wires, using a printed-circuit dashboard instead. Now, unless the dashboard ran the entire length and scope of the car, this made no logical sense whatsoever.

However, your biggest worry was the engine. It was a relatively sound unit - a BMW flat-twin, air-cooled motorbike mechanism - yet the brochure presented the engine in a vertical position. Now, physics probably wouldn’t allow this - and only God knows how it would leave the driving experience.

Nevertheless, The Dale found investors in their droves - and that was the work of company founder Geraldine Elizabeth Carmichael. Known as Liz, she claimed to be the widow of a former NASA structural engineer and a mother of five. She was unusually large, at least 6ft and 200lbs, but there was a reason for this - Liz was actually a man. His name was Jerry Dean Michael and he was actually wanted on counterfeiting charges. Just to add to her story, Liz apparently held degrees in mechanical engineering and marketing - traveling to Los Angeles after her husband died in 1966.

Producing a few prototypes, Liz could certainly talk her game and managed to raise $30 million in funds, resulting in a barely working prototype meandering in for display during the 1975 Los Angeles Motor Show. It was here that they claimed high-volume production by June that year - an insane target, just like getting the vehicle crash tested and Environmental Protection Agency approved.

Strangely, at this point, time was spent selling stocks and shares rather than developing the car itself - despite not holding a permit to do so. Liz even began to sell dealerships - without a permit for that, either.

Then, as January 1975 came to an end, The Dales salesman, William D.Miller, was found in his office having been shot four times in the face. The main suspect for this rather brutal murder was fellow employee Jack Oliver, having previously served with Miller in prison - a nice, friendly, law-abiding work force, then.

After this Murder-He/She-Wrote style event, the entire firm and all its persons within underwent an investigation. This is where the car came under scrutiny. It was clearly not the vehicle it claimed to be. It was a con.

As disaster of epic proportions hung over Liz and her ill-fated company, she escaped from LA towards Dallas, Texas to re-establish the business - renaming the creation from The Dale to The Revette. Just because there are a number of transsexual woman with three-wheeler-future cars from start-up companies in the world…

Then, in a move even Inspector Clouseau would face-plant, Liz went about promoting the new Revette vehicle with gusto, following the exact same strategy implemented previously. It was even endorsed as a prize on The Price Is Right in early 1975 - the murder of Miller still creating a storm at this point- although, luckily, the contestant failed the challenge and the embarrassment of winning a car unable to move under it’s own power was unrealised.

However, almost immediately after that, things began to fall apart, with an injunction from the Superior Court of California - assisted by an engineer hired to help develop the Revette - claiming that the company was, in fact, unable to physically produce a car. Always a step ahead, Liz escaped from her house just as police arrived, leaving a meal on the table - and a device used to disguise sexual organs.

Finally arrested in April 1975, convicted of all his charges as a man, and then charged with all her accusations as a woman for the fraudulent Dale/Revette, Liz was sentenced to $30,000 in reimbursement to investors and given twenty years in prison. A weirdly small sentence, considering the scale of money effectively stolen. Yet, none of that mattered, as she managed to escape. Again.

It wasn’t until mid-1989 that Liz was eventually re-captured, the police receiving tip-offs after NBC’s Unsolved Mysteries programme aired the story.

Calling herself Katherine Elizabeth Johnson, she was found in - of all places- Dale, also in Texas, running a roadside flower-stall staffed mainly by children. Finally doing ten years in prison, Liz died from cancer in 2004.

Supposedly, ABC-TV acquired the rights to the entire story, but we hope it doesn’t end up a small-screen special. This holds all the hallmarks of a Martin Scorsese picture for the cinema screen - perhaps with Jason Statham or Nicholas Cage in the lead role.

EAST BEATS WEST

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They do things differently in Japan, but they do it very, very well. We take nine Oriental gamechangers - three each from the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s - and decide if they are still hero cars today.

It's exactly 50 years since the first Japanese import rolled into the UK. The Daihatsu Compagno was the first in a tidal wave of cars - some good, some bad, and one or two that were brilliant. It could be argued that it's since the 1980s that the Japanese motor industry ceased apeing the Europeans and started innovating in its own right. And once that moment passed, the entire fabric of the motor industry changed.

These cars are the result of the Japanese industry's obsession with perfection. Its carmakers would spend decades and billions of yen to develop the car most suited to its job and wouldn't stop 'til they'd hit the bullseye. History is littered with such cars. Toyota took the recipe for the Ford Escort MkII and improved it significantly. The same firm's engineers then shattered the mould with the masterpiece that is the Lexus LS400. Honda's CR-X proved that fun small cars don't have to wear a GTI badge, and the Mitsubishi Evo showed that it was possible to use technology to practically rewrite the laws of physics. There are very good reasons why the Mazda MX-5 is the best-selling sports car of all time. Many reasons.

Many have been engineered to a level of perfection the west is incapable of meeting, yet remain within the budgets of everyman. Their reliability remains intact long after most cars have become vague memories in the minds of their former owners. But is that enough to make them exciting modern classics you'd yearn to have in your garage? Let's find out...

THE 1980s

Lexus LS400

Lexus came to the party with a development bill of more than $1bn, taking a team of thousands more than five years to get to launch in Detroit in 1989. What they created was a credible challenger to Mercedes-Benz and Jaguar, with unheard-of build quality. The engine - a purring quad-cam V8 - was the smoothest available, and a drive in Toyota's own 100,000-miler still attests to that. It made use of the pneumatic engine mounts to further reduce vibration, and even the propshaft was designed to sit absolutely straight - hence the engine being tilted backwards. That's attention to detail.

The interior still feels impressively high quality, although it might now be lost on you that the wood finish was applied by piano-builders at Yamaha. Its dash features innovative vacuum-fluorescent instruments, which look deeply cool. The seats are also incredibly comfortable, and the engine note is absolutely epic in a muted kind of way. You'll relish any long distance you can throw at it, especially if you have tapes for its magnificent sound system.

Verdict: We'd still have an XJ40, despite the grief.

Toyota Corolla GT

This diminuitive-looking machine is the car that kicked off an entire subculture in Japan. We have but one person to blame for this: a racing driver by the name of Keiichi Tsuchiya, otherwise known as Drift King. As his name suggests, Tsuchiya was infamous for powersliding his AE86 around the mountain passes in Japan, with the entire drfiting culture following in his tyre tracks.

The Corolla GT Coupe - known in Japan as the Levin or affectionately as Hachi Roku, which translates to Toyota's factory code of '86' - oversteered its way into the lives of motor sport enthusiasts' lives and was entered into countless stage rallies. With a very light kerb weight and twin-cam engine powering the rear wheels alongside a factory-option LSD, handling is as sprightly as you'd imagine, the chassis blessed with beautiful balance.

It's not intimidating to drive. Its 4A-GE lump is tractable yet loves to be revved hard. This is a car in which you can have a lot of fun at legal speeds, but bolting on a set of modifications gives you something scarily capable.

Verdict: An all-time legend.

Honda CRX

This featherweight front-wheel drive coupe redefined the cheap, reliable and fun sports car. Launched in 1987 as the second generation of the CRX, it's a technical marvel that handles superbly. For the ultimate in performance, you'll want to find a car fitted with the legendary 1.6-litre B16A VTEC engine. Its 150bhp makes it very quick, but the remarkable thing is its power delivery. There's that grin-inducing VTEC step in power from 5000rpm, climaxing at 8000rpm. Frantic yet wonderful.

It's a car with a laid-back nature during normal driving, but one which transforms into a screaming banshee when you're on it. It was only the second Honda to get a VTEC engine - the first being the Integra.

The CRX stacks up as a great modern classic - it makes you feel alive, and is a genuine joy machine on the right road. Don't be tempted to lump it in with its pointless 1990s namesake, though.

Verdict: MG Midget for drivers in a hurry.

THE 1990s

Mazda MX-5

The MX-5 is the best-selling sports car of all time, so it deserves its place here. Mazda is selling the fourth generation because the MkI was a gamechanger, proving Japan could strike right at the heart of Europe by building a roadster with heart and soul. Today, if you're looking for a truly pure driver's car for blatting up B-roads, there are few more rewarding machines. But then the MX-5 was designed to be a great British sports car built in Japan.

Drive one for five minutes and we guarantee you'll get it. The rear-wheel-drive chassis is beautifully balanced, the engine has pin-sharp throttle response and the gearchange is one of the best ever made. The ways it snicks between ratios is so rewarding.

Driving an MX-5 is seriously rewarding and a pain-free car to run all year round. So, get in, drive and enjoy a modern classic wihout any downsides.

Verdict: Nobody could match it - and they still can't.

Toyota MR2

The oft-overlooked MR2 is a fantastic value buy, and was a gamechanger for giving us a taste of the exotic for sensible money. It's a mid-engined two-seater sports car with a transverse inline four-cylinder and styling that makes it look like a baby Ferrari. You can still pick up an MR2 for peanuts these days and we'd recommend you do just that.

A true driver's car, the MR2 was developed to perform well on the track as well as the road. Those fancying a bit of open-top action could plump for the T-bar version, but this does have a negative effect on the body's rigidity and handling.

If you're after real performance, there's always the option of finding a grey market Turbo - a performance car hero that can make even serious drivers go weak at the knees.

Verdict: Flawed but worth a punt.

Toyota Supra MkIV

This is where Japanese performance got serious and gamechanging shifted up a gear. The fourth-generation Supra was launched in 1993, and went to the head of Toyota's range. It was a seriously fast GT with bags of character, real motor sport pedigree and a rear wing that wouldn't be out of place at Heathrow.

It certainly makes great use of its 320bhp twin-turbo straight-six, with great traction and adjustable rear-wheel-drive handling. The majority of Supras had a four-speed auto featuring a manual mode, which suits the Supra better than the six-speed manual.

While it couldn't match the Honda NSX's lofty supercar dynamics, the Supra was significantly cheaper to buy, and potentially way quicker. And for a certain generation, now with money to spend, it was a siren star of the first instalment of the Fast and Furious film franchise. And that makes it an icon of our times.

Verdict: Hilarious amounts of go for your cash.

THE 2000s

Honda Integrale Type-R

Behold the best-handling front-wheel drive car of all time. Quite a claim, sure, but it's a fact, and that makes it a gamechanger - even if the rest of the world has yet to catch up, and which it may never. The DC2 Type-R broke the mould and injected some youth appeal into Honda's product range. An uncompromised engineer's car, the company ended up making a loss on each car sold.

So what makes it such a fine-handling car? To begin with, it has a seriously stiff bodyshell. There is extra bracing to keep things pointed in the right direction, a firm yet compliant suspension set-up and a Helical LSD up front to mete out torque efficiently. Its steering is super responsive, but it's an easy thing to get used to.

Then there's its Type-R engine, which revs to a frankly hilarious 9000rpm, screaming all the way. It's raw joy that, once experienced, you will yearn to return to.

Yes it's flawed. It's noisy on the motorway thanks to low gearing - but it's a trackday car for the road and a huge amount of fun. The perfect modern classic, in fact.

Verdict: The most fun you'll have in an FWD car.

Nissan 350Z

The significance of the 350Z is sometimes forgotten - but as an affordable sports car, with bags of character and power, it has all the ingredients to be a true gamechanger. It's brimming with simple pleasures - uncorrupted steering, and an easily controlled rear-end: Porsche power without the price, with a bellowing old-school engine note thrown in for free.

This Z car is more of an old-fashioned brute. The gearshift feels incredibly solid, albeit a little agricultural, and you can feel each turn of the engine through the lever.

It feels right inside too, with a low-slung driving position, and sculpted dashboard with deep-set instruments that reassuringly harks back to the 240Z. We love it for that, it's clearly a car conceived by enthusiasts.

This is your modern classic smart buy, one to enjoy, and offers scope for values to increase.

Verdict: Underrated and brilliant.

Mitsubishi Evo VI Tommi Makinen

As an investment in Japanese car heritage, there aren't many better than this. It's the ultimate Evo VI, built to celebrate its namesake, rally driver Tommi Makinen, winning his fourth World Rally Championship. While Mitsubishi sold plenty of Evos you'll need to search far and wide to find another Tommi Makinen - 2500 were made, but few made it to the UK, and they're super rare now.

The other features particular to this rarest of Evo VIs are the white Enkei alloys, front bumper with no foglights, and seats stitched with Tommi Makinen's name. In case you forget.

As with all Evos, it's powered by a strangely flat-sounding four-pot turbo engine, but the real highlight is handling you simply have to experience to believe. The chassis features Active Yaw Control and a four-wheel-drive system delivering masses of grip. The addition of Brembo brakes slowing the thing down means there aren'tmany quicker cars point-to-point.

Steering is light yet responsive, the five-speed gearbox slick in operation and the rest of the controls beautifully judged. Yes it has a plasticky cabin, but it's also investment-grade fun.

Verdict: Rallying legend unbeatable on the road.

WHY AN ASTON MARTIN V8 VANTAGE SOUNDS LIKE THE ANSWER TO EVERY PROBLEM

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The following video may not be a treat for the eyes – I’ll admit that straight off the bat. That may seem strange, as the Aston Martin V8 Vantage is bite-the-back-of-your-hand beautiful in a forcefully brutal way; the kind of car that just looks like it’s up to no good despite its high society status.

Nor is it a video that really shows off the blunt force trauma of its sub-six second 0-60mph time and its thunderous 170mph top speed; you do get to see a lot of well weathered asphalt. Don't click away just yet.

And neither do you get to see the beating heart of the operation, the powerhouse X-Pack-equipped V8 that produces in advance of 410bhp and 395b ft of torque thanks to Cosworth pistons, enlarged inlet ports, four 48mm Weber carbs and a smattering of further tweaks. We also won’t be able to tell you if it's had the extra tasty Aston Works Service conversion, which provided a big bore exhaust, 50mm carbs, straight-through exhausts and 430bhp. Bear with us, we’re getting to the point.

What this video provides is an absolute treat for the ears as Bruntingthorpe reverberates to one of the most soulful, heart-yearning and addictive V8 roars the world has ever heard. While Italian V8s fizz at the higher reaches of the rev band and American V8s burble with full-on might, the eight-cylinder concerto under that muscular bonnet delivers it’s mighty roar with a refined acoustic blast akin to the London Symphony Orchestra in full-on brass section overload. It really is a treat for the ears. And just when you think it’s over, you can hear it again, and again, and again.

Now having heard that, of course you want one. A brief dig in our ads reveals this 1989 car that’s had a lot spent on it to keep it in tip-top condition – nearly £44,000 in fact. It’s had some tasteful upgrades to the handling and all-important rustproofing.

Alternatively, there’s this example. The car dates back to 1981 and was restored in the Nineties, and was fitted with the X-Pack engine later in its life, and has done just 6000 miles on it, with sub-80k on the clock in total.

Or if you prefer to experience that V8 roar with the hindrance of a roof, then this drop-top car should fit the bill; some might say the Vantage bodykit is a bit too OTT on the convertible but with the foot buried you won’t hear any of the snide comments anyway, you’ll be bathing in that V8 delight. This particular car has an interesting tale to tell, you can read more here.

However, do you want the absolute daddy of V8 Vantages, replete with celebrity ownership? Well how about this 7.0-litre, 500bhp brute that was the place where Elton John parked his behind. Have you checked last night’s Euromillions numbers?

But what if you fancy some Vantage action but without quite as much cash involved? This DB7 Vantage V12 has four more cylinders, 184mph top speed, 5.1 seconds to 60mph, 420bhp and a manual gearbox. It is also less than £30,000 – around the same price as an expensively optioned Golf GTI.

Sounds great to us.

DAYTONA BREAKS UK RECORD

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Coys is claiming a new UK auction record for a Ferrari Daytona, after it managed to move on a 1970 example for £765,640 at its Blenheim Palace sale on 11 July.

This Daytona is the first UK RHD version, and made £765,640 at auction

The Daytona 365GTB/4 was the first right-hand drive example sold in the UK – and was imported by Maranello Concessionaires, before being sold by John Coombs and Sons to Dick Wilkins, Dunlop’s then racing manager. He had actually waited two years for the car to be delivered and kept it on for seven years before selling it to Henry Pearman, owner of Jaguar E-type specialist, Eagle.

The mileage of the car at the sale was 30,600, and the car remains unmodified, which made it really appealing at the auction, which takes place every year at one of the UK’s most prestigious locations, alongside a popular Coys Concours d’Elegance event on Blenheim Palace’s lawns.

Other big sellers included a 1956 Mercedes-Benz 300SL (£925,000), a 1938 Mercedes-Benz 320 Cabriolet (£166,440) and a 1969 Lamborghini Islero S for £165,320.

Chris Routledge, managing partner at Coys, said: ‘We saw some fierce bidding for many of the cars, specially the Daytona, from all over the world, which shows the international reach of the company.’

WHY THE JENSEN INTERCEPTOR IS FUEL FOR THOUGHT...

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Don’t you just love the way that brand snobbery can hold back the values of some cars? In its day the Jensen Interceptor had all of the glamour and exclusive appeal of an Aston Martin DB6 or V8, but as a classic car its Chrysler V8 engine denies it the purity chased by collectors.

So, even with recent growth these powerful and luxurious GTs can still be bought for a fraction of Aston prices. For how much longer I wouldn’t like to bet – the price tracker graph in the latest issue of Classic Cars magazine shows an abrupt awakening of interest that started around 2006 and, occasional wobble aside, continues to push prices with the best now changing hands for £45-50k.

Their detractors are quick to cite a vigorous thirst for fuel but really they’re no worse than any other car in this class. And anyway, if you cover typical classic mileage that amounts to less than £600 a year in fuel, just over twice what you’d burn in something considered frugal. Hardly significant compared the true cost of keeping a hand-built classic car running and in top condition.

Buying advice and market analysis is part of 16 pages of buying information in every issue of Classic Cars magazine, including Quentin Willson’s Smart Buys, Russ Smith’s Market Watch, in-depth buying guides and Ads on Test.

Phil Bell
Editor, Classic Cars magazine