Medlem Tony Wawryk

Hello Bob, thanks for reading and commenting. What I was trying to say – obviously not very clearly! – was that the Equipe (rather than specifically the GTS) was Bond’s first four-wheeler, but your more precise account is welcomed! I’m afraid I don’t recall the Bond stand at the NEC Classic, but there’s so much to see at that show…
Great that…[Læs mere]

As some of you might remember, I worked for BL in the early 1980s and the Rover SD1 was one of our flagship cars for the corporate market, competing primarily with the Ford Granada. The Citroen was never really in that sector, and unfortunately I have no experience of them.
A good SD1 was a fine car, even with the 2300 and 2600 engines (the 2000…[Læs mere]

I have always been a fan of German cars, currently own two Stuttgart classics (one of each make), have owned two classic BMWs and an Audi Coupe, as well as a BMW E36 Coupe company car. For me, they are better – on average – than pretty much any others, though I confess my C123 has been a bit disappointing recently on the reliability side.
I have…[Læs mere]

The current A110 is, for me, the most successful “re-launch” of a classic car, and I would certainly consider one if I had the spare cash. I love the look of the original A110 but can’t actually get in one – I have tried! – and the current model (which I haven’t tried to get into, yet) honours the original’s styling while meeting the requirements…[Læs mere]

I’ve admired Opel’s since first seeing Kapitän and Rekord P2’s back in the 1960’s when I was very young, on family visits to Germany, and been a fan of many of their cars up to and including the Calibra. I ran a few of the UK versions ie Vauxhalls as company cars – a fairly dull MkII 1.6L, two Mk III SRi hatchbacks and an SRi saloon, which were…[Læs mere]

It’s the very far from everyday Mercedes C111 (presumably on loan from the MB museum in Stuttgart?) and Bizzarrini that caught my eye, fabulous creations, both! Oh, and that 250LM and Citroen Bossaert Coupe…I’ve never seen one of those in the metal. Somehow I didn’t spot the Peugeot…

Those 70’s colours really lift the cars of that era, especially the more everyday ones – the yellow Golf, orange Polo and green Renault 16 all look wonderful. The scene stealer though is surely the 928, a far from ordinary classic, of course, but what a colour that is!

Have always ben a fan of the 928 – if I wasn’t in a 911, my Porsche would be a 928. Still the only sports car (though it’s really a GT) to win Car of the Year, for what that’s worth, the bullet-like lines have dated well, even with the additional spoiler and side rubbing strip on later cars. You could argue that the 911 is over-rated (you’d be…[Læs mere]

My father was the one who ignited my interest in cars when I was very young – 5 or 6, maybe – though I never got interested in the mechanical side of things, to my detriment. We used to go to local used car dealers to see what he might buy next – he came close to getting a Lancia Berlina 2000, which would have been interesting, but it was a…[Læs mere]

All these fairs sound great, and I look forward to reading about them in ViaRETRO. My first one will be the Practical Classics show at the NEC from March 21-23 – it’s a good event and I plan to share the experience with ViaRETRO readers.

For me, an all-rounder has to do most things well without necessarily being outstanding at any one thing (though it might also be that as well as good at many others). Must look good, be reasonably quick, comfortable on a long drive, have room for 2 plus luggage (I don’t need four seats), be reliable, good ride and handling, not too thirsty. Well,…[Læs mere]

It’s interesting how specific one becomes when picking a car, especially a classic, when we have a fixed idea of what it should be. My 2002 had to be manual, a tii, and either Inka or Golf. Luckily, the one I bought was all three. What it also had, was a lot of hidden rust…
Until I bought my C123, every car I ever owned had to be a manual,…[Læs mere]

@ce – I would also take a 3.0CSi over any of the Class of 1990 – the cure for your condition is clearly to buy one! I have always regretted selling mine and if I didn’t have my dream 911, I’d be back in an E9.

Interesting to see this year’s “classic graduates”, in Denmark, at least – in the UK, according to the DVLA (the main licensing body), a car needs to be 40 years old, when it becomes exempt from both vehicle tax and the need to pass an annual road test (MoT).
OF the cars listed, I ran two when they were new, both company cars, one imposed on me,…[Læs mere]

Completely agree with comments saying you should go for the W111, Michael – one of the most elegant and distinguished cars ever made, in my opinion, and made to be driven in a leisurely and relaxed fashion. If it is a grandfather car, it’s a very superior one. As the owner of another arguably grandfather Mercedes (a C123) and of grandfather age…[Læs mere]

Congratulations on the 12 year anniversary! I only wish we could have kept the international edition going, but it is what it is (or was). Here’s to the next 12 years!

That is just horrible – like so many modern cars, especially performance variants, it is over-designed and fussy, with excessive aero details and ridiculously large wheels (like the new Jaguar with it’s 23-inch wheels – when will that trend stop? ). I’m now trying to unsee it…

It’s one hell of a collection, and I guess at the age of 94 and with a huge tax bill to pay, now is as good a time as any for him to sell. It’ll be interesting to see what it fetches. A good read on Ecclestone is Tom Bower’s book, No Angel : The Secret Life of Bernie Ecclestone from 2012.

Not completely sure how relevant this comparison is, but how about the Mercedes W196R, which competed successfully in both open-wheel and enclosed wheel forms, with the latter Stromlinienwagen being – to my eyes – absolutely spectacular to look at, much more so than the open-wheel version, which is pretty much the same car underneath that glorious…[Læs mere]

@ce – I agree with you, fairs such as Brussels, the NEC Classic and others give opportunities to dream both unrealistically and realistically – at the NEC earlier this month it was the Honda Prelude that got me thinking “hmm, not a lot of money for a really uncommon car”.
The only time I’ve seen the SEAT coupe – a 1200 version – is in Spain when…[Læs mere]