Oct
22
Yes, we have posted a bunch of MK 2 Jaguars and that is because we probably want one ourselves. The 4-speed 3.8 is the one to get but sometimes, condition and price trump power. In this case, it looks like an exceptional example of a 2.4 liter Jaguar with a manual transmission. Read More
Oct
19
The British Top Gear TV Show voted the Morgan 3 Wheeler the “It’s not a car, car of the year” award. We can’t say anything about the Morgan better than Jeremy and the gang so we quote a little snippet from them. “By modern standards, it isn’t fast, has a quaint attitude to cornering and uses a V-twin engine that delivers torque like a sledgehammer: one massive thud, and then it’s all over. And yet this literally pointless grown-up tricycle is an utter joy, precisely because of its deficiencies rather than in spite of them. You have to drive a 3 Wheeler, immerse yourself in the experience, invite the entire world into your exposed, noisy, furious explosion of wind-whipped hair and manic grinning. Read More
Oct
18
Britain suffered from a lack of resources after WWII therefore many of early production cars had some creative use of materials. Early Land Rovers for example, were all the same color, Army Green, because they had a lot of paint left over. So our research tells the story of this rare bird – an Austin A70 Countryman. The engineers at Austin thought using wood was a good way to save on the amount of steel used. Read More
Oct
17
We’ve had a number of these handsome Jaguar Saloons on Mint. Each one we claim to be the best one we’ve seen. The last one, was probably one of those too good to be true cars and we really should follow up and see if we were right. The one before that was a 3.4 in Old English White that was crazy expensive. A Jaguar Club member owns it, and you know how fastidious club members are.
Oct
16
You have to be pretty careful when you buy a Jaguar XKE. These cars are like sirens calling you from the sea or something like that. You tend to get caught up on what it is like to own one while you should be doing your homework. These Jags are great cars but very expensive to restore or make right. It is good to know the ownership history too. Today’s featured Jaguar has been in the same family for 25 years. The seller doesn’t say much about where it came from other than it is a San Diego car all of its life. Read More
Oct
15
It seems that the collector car world has provided us with so many ways to participate in our hobby with all sorts of rare and unique vehicles. Rallies, tour and vintage racing plus concours events make up the majority of pastimes. You can go mainstream and find a nice Jaguar, Mercedes, Lancia or even an American collectible. Or you can search for the more obscure marque to challenge your parts sourcing acumen or wood refinishing skills. Today’s find is one of those. It is a rather elegant British saloon from the late 1940s or early 1950s. Read More
Oct
15
There aren’t that many choices if you want an alternative to a vintage Triumph or MGB. You could consider a Jensen-Healey but maybe you ought to re-think that. Maybe you should push outside of the box and look for a well-priced Lotus? The tiny Lotus Elan, remains a benchmark for handling. With its pop-up headlights, curved windshield, and roll-up windows, it was a symbol of Swinging London, immortalized in The Avengers television series. The Elan was built with a backbone frame and a fiberglass body, and had four-wheel independent suspension. Its Ford 1600-cc four-cylinder engine developed 105 hp and featured Lotus’s own twin-cam head, like the Lotus Cortina. Weighing only 1,420 pounds, early cars could do 0-60 mph in 7.1 seconds, with the quarter-mile in 15.7 seconds at 87 mph. Read More
Oct
12
We admired a Morgan 4-seater while we were at Lime Rock Park Race Track today. It was a full race car with tartan plaid interior door panels – a tribute to the Scot who owns it. And then, like magic, one appears in our In Box later today. We restored a ’65 Morgan Plus 4 so we think we know these cars pretty well. This is a nicely done sports car that was treated properly in the restoration. Many of these Morgans get all dolled up and they lose the hand-made look a Morgan should have. Read More
Oct
12
We drove up to Lime Rock Park this afternoon to follow the VSCCA Fall Finale. We found a spot in the paddock near this amazing Jaguar XK120 Vintage Racer. We didn’t call the phone number on the For Sale sign but what we do know is Tom Jaycox, one of the foremost experts on early Jaguars, is selling this one.
Oct
11
In Ian Fleming’s Novel, Goldfinger, Bond drives a DB2/4 MKIII. In the movie version, James gets a bump up to a DB5, one of the most iconic cars in all of film. A 1959 review of a DB2/4 MK III by Road & Track magazine praised the car for everything but its $7,450 price. “A car for connoisseurs,” they called it. “The Aston has many virtues and few faults.” Among the faults was too-heavy steering effort, high door sills, and a stiff ride. R&T failed to comment at all on the car’s innovative hatchback body style, complete with fold-down rear seats, although this had been first introduced in the 2/4 MkI in 1953. Read More
Oct
11
The Big Healeys had a really great run selling well from the early 1950s until the last batch was built in 1967. This is one of those last year cars that feature 2 small directional/running lights under each headlamp. This one isn’t one of those exceptional Kurt Tanner restorations but it does look like a nice, solid driver for $39,995. Read More
Oct
10
We featured a rare Triumph Stag with a manual transmission during the summer and then this nice automatic shows up. Years have gone by without seeing a decent Stag and then we come across two. Giovanni Michelotti took over as Triumph’s chief stylist and he really mixed things up. Most of the work of Michelotti was an immediate success. And then there was the Stag. The Stag was designed years ago by Les Moore. Giovanni revised the idea and the result was undeniably a handsome, a 4-seater with both hard top and soft top. To help stiffen the body, a T-bar stayed in place when the tops were removed. Approximately 25,000 Stag were made and around 7,500 were exported. 
The Stag is powered by a 2,997-cc, 145-hp V-8 that was based on two SOHC Triumph-built Saab 99 engines back to back, with aluminum cylinder heads. Read More
Oct
7
This wonderful XK120 OTS (open two-seater) has been in the current owner’s possession for 50 years. That by itself doesn’t mean it is in spectacular condition, it just means you’ll be able to unlock the mystery behind the car more easily. In this case it is simple. A French medical student owned the car originally and when he left Canada in 1960, the current owner purchased it. He didn’t use it much and the 25,000 miles are said to be original. If you look at the interior you might believe it. Read More
Oct
7
Malvern, Pennsylvania is on Philadelphia’s Main Line and that is one of the wealthiest stretches of real estate in the country. Coincidentally, the Radnor Hunt Concours we attended was held in Malvern. We happen to like the Jaguar XJS Coupe with that glorious V12 engine so when this one cropped up from Malvern, we thought we should take a look. Any low mileage Jag from this area signals a charmed life and the photos substantiate what looks like a really nice example. Read More
Oct
4
This is a really nice looking early Tiger. The seller says it is the 234th made and that we are sure is easily substantiated. The most important feature is the STOA Certificate of Authenticity. It is too easy to clone a Tiger with a donor Alpine. This one has the original 260 V8 and it has been rebuilt. Same for the Ford Toploader transmission. Read More
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