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Barn finds: one Bristol survives, one decays

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1970 Aston Martin DBS, £149,950

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Epic Restoration of the Year 2024

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Race Retro rockets back to life

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Quentin’s pick of the prestige bargains

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Ferocious ex-competition TVR Tuscan V8 driven

Epic Restoration of the Year in association with Machine Mart

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One-owner E-type in French auction sale

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1973 Jensen Interceptor £115,000

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The life story of a BMW E30 320i that went from family car to classic show machine

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Nathan finds the engine on his Alfa sparks a dilemma

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A beacon of Bugatti Type 35B originality?

CC reader finally drives his dream US classic

Bernie Ecclestone's classic motorsport car collection

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Bernie Ecclestone’s classic motorsport car collection hits the market

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Quentin Willson on the decline of used car temples

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The epic restoration of a Nissan Skyline: ‘Lots of holes had been drilled into it, and the wiring was a rat’s nest’

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Spring Sale: 3 issues for £5

## Refuel your passion for classics with _Classic Cars_ magazine

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**\[ MONTH IN CARS \] Barn finds**  
**Pair of Fifties Bristol 400s stored for over four decades have now been rescued**

**Garage-stored 400 is running and looking for a new owner**  
**S**teve Gray of Brooklands Cars Ltd received a call about two long-stored Bristol cars, one worth saving and one probably not. ‘If you want the good one, take the rough one too’, went the message. Suitably equipped, Steve and his team went off to meet the son-in-law of the original owner of the cars.

  
‘These were a pair of Bristol 400s from about 1950. They’d been bought together in the late Seventies or early Eighties, when the green car was still a running machine. Apparently, the chap who bought them took the second car for spares and just left it outside. That’s a shame as it seems this car may well have been the Vienna Motor Show car from when the 400 was in production.’

Garage car is more complete Engine checked and now runs  
The first production Bristol, the 400 was heavily based on the BMW 326 chassis, and used an improved 328 engine, with the camshaft in the block but secondary pushrods reaching to the other side of the cylinder head, allowing angled valves and advantages of a twin overhead-cam format. This provided 80bhp and proved tuneable, later fitted in other sporting cars such as the AC Ace. Like many cars of the era, the Bristol 400 still relied on a separate steel chassis and an ash frame to support the bodywork, both of which corroded extensively.

Spares car may be Vienna Motor Show machine  
‘The car fell to bits as we tried to move it,’ says Steve. ‘But it will provide spares for other cars. The green 400 tucked away in the garage was in far better condition.

Life outside has not been kind  
The owner was disappointed to find rust in the boot floor soon after he bought it, so he laid the car up intending to fix it, but never did get round to it. Since that time, the rear wings have disappeared but otherwise the car was stored well – it was up on axle stands and hasn’t suffered. We took it back to Brooklands and after we’d done some work to the carburettor and a general check over of the engine, it’s now running again. We’ll be looking for a new owner to take it on.’

Bristols unused for more than 40 years  
  
**True barn find Bentley**

**Bentley Park Ward out of 56 year storage**  
This 1936 Bentley 4¼-litre Park Ward saloon has been off the road since 1969 – as witnessed by the tax disc on the windscreen – and it looks every inch the long-stored barn find. And that’s just what it was when the car’s most recent owner acquired it in 2011, since when it has received much mechanical work to render it driveable. It hasn’t, however returned to use, because illness now forces a much-regretted sale. This creates something of an interesting quandary for the next owner, as Ian Johnstone of the Real Car Company, which is offering the Bentley for sale, describes.

**Engine is still the original factory unit**  
‘I don’t think the owner had it in mind to do much more to the appearance, and as such the car is an unusual survivor from the Sixties, when 30-year-old Derby Bentleys were still in use in quite shabby condition. This one has more holes than a colander but it could be used, as is, with a few more rolls of duct tape here and there. It would make an extreme “oily rag” car on the outside, while the interior is in quite decent shape. Or it could even be restored or indeed rebodied. Mechanically, it’s now in better condition than plenty of other cars this age that look immaculate.’

**‘Decent shape’ interior has survived well**  
The car – with chassis number B153HM – is reported as running well, with ‘fresh’ wheels and recent tyres, a partial rewiring, and springs that ‘have been attended to’. The engine is still the original factory unit, and it still has its twin ignition coils, two-piece starting handle and a Dunlop jack. Also included with the car is a history file that includes invoices, a summary of the work done and the parts supplied, and a logbook from the Sixties.  
  
**One-owner Rover V8’s condition helps impressive price**

Genuine one-owner Rover survivor with only 47,00 miles  
True single-ownership cars from the Seventies are becoming more and more unusual, so this dusty 47,000-mile British survivor caught the eye at Manor Park Classics’ sale on Saturday 15 February. Little was sadly offered in the way of history, other than the car falling out of use in 2007 due to bereavement rather than any breakdown or other incident.

**Four-speed manual ’box is unusual find**  
The V8-engined Rover is thought to have spent its whole life in Cheshire with the same one owner. It was bought new on 17 June 1975 from Royles, the Rover dealer in Altrincham, finished in Teal Blue with a black vinyl roof. It still has a ‘remarkably clean and tidy’ black velour box-pleat interior, complete with the original radio. Being an 3500S, it’s equipped with a four-speed manual gearbox rather than the much more usual BorgWarner automatic. Described as ‘requiring paintwork’, but otherwise ‘quite straight’, it looked entirely and enticingly original and was offered at no reserve with an old service book and a few elderly MoT certificates.

**Structure found to be solid**  
Bidders who bothered to peer under the car and inspect the Rover’s structure found it to be remarkably solid. This helped it make an impressive sale price of £6210 – such was the true magic of a one-owner barn find and a manual gearbox, versus a less-sound automatic example in the very same sale that sold at £1610. Described as a ‘project’, the almond-coloured car – also from 1975, and set at no reserve – had a tan leather interior and no paperwork.

Rover ‘quite straight’  
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**\[ ADS ON TEST \]**  
This example of the once-overlooked DBS/6 makes a strong case for itself, especially in Vantage spec, finds Richard Gunn

£100k spent on this DBS, and it shows  
**T**he DBS has been regarded as a stop-gap in the David Brown Aston range; carrying over the DB6 engine to a heavier machine always intended for a V8. Let’s face it though, Aston Martin was notoriously over-optimistic about its Sixties cars’ power output, and if a well-rebuilt straight-six makes anything like its quoted 325bhp it matches an early factory V8’s anyway.  
This car’s three Weber carburettors seem perfectly in tune with each other, so there’s no rough idling or hesitation during acceleration. The ZF five-speed manual transmission does its job well, although its oil does need to warm up properly for it to feel properly slick through the ratios. The power steering is well-weighted and accurate, the brakes responsive enough to rapidly bleed offspeed without any noticeable issues.

Interior patinated, gearbox needs warming up  
While it’s unclear when any restoration was carried out, the excellent state of this DBS suggests some work in the not-toodistant past – the history folder totals £100k-worth of receipts over the years. Where that’s most obvious is on the black front valance, a hefty panel that often deteriorates. Here though, there are just a few blemishes and stonechips; even the mounting bolts are free from rust. The Fiesta Red paintwork is unmarked and of a consistent shade throughout. Chrome is sparkling with only minor tarnishing in a few isolated spots. The wire wheels are similarly good, albeit with the hub spinners displaying a few scratches. Tyres are Avon 205 R15 97H radials and while they look fresh enough with plenty of tread, we couldn’t locate date stamps.  
Inside, the cabin looks largely original. And it is holding up well. Carpet wear is minimal and there’s some patina of medium cracking and creasing on the leather seats. The door cards and footwell linings have some minor marking, and it looks like there’s some surface rust under the mats around the pedal cluster. The organ-type accelerator pedal has similar corrosion too. The panel around the ignition barrel has some scratching. A modern Alpine radio/CD player is fitted but for anybody wanting something more period, there’s a Radiomobile eight-track – with some ABBA cartridges – loose in the boot. All gauges and controls appear functional, with even the clock working.

Triple Webers equals Vantage specification  
The engine bay is generally clean and tidy but not overly-detailed so the black-painted inner wings show a little grime and dirt. All wiring looks stock. Corrosion is confined to the exhaust manifold and around the brake and clutch fluid reservoir, both prone areas. The DBS fires up easily and shows a reassuring 80psi on its oil pressure gauge at cold idle. All the fluids are topped up and look clean, as does the air filter. Beneath the Aston, a stainless steel exhaust has been fitted and comprehensive undersealing undertaken.  
Of the 787 six-cylinder DBS models produced, just 300 received the more potent Vantage engines, so there’s a premium price tag to this car. However, it is in lovely external condition, with a well-preserved cabin and a charismatic and fabulous way that it behaves in action.  
  
**CHOOSE YOUR ASTON MARTIN DBS**  
► After announcing its intention to build a 170mph four-seater V8 supercar in 1966, Aston Martin commissioned the design for the new DBS from Touring of Milan, which produced two prototypes. The design was rejected because of anticipated servicing problems as well as development delays with the new 5.3-litre V8 engine.  
► The William Towns-designed DBS was rushed into production for the following year, albeit with the straight-six in SU-carburetted standard tune and Weber-equipped Vantage specification from the outgoing DB6.  
► DBS V8 finally available in 1969.  
► Both cars restyled in 1972, named simply V8, and AM Vantage for the six-cylinder car. The latter was discontinued in 1973. The former remained in production for another 18 years.

**_1970 Aston Martin DBS Vantage_**  
**Price** £149,950  
**Contact** Greenside Cars, Holt (01263 713362, 07831 463743, _:a[greensidecars.com]{href='https://greensidecars.com' }_)  
**Engine** 3995cc six-cylinder, dohc three carburettors  
**Power** 325bhp @5750rpm  
**Torque** 290lb ft @4500rpm  
**Top speed** 150mph  
**0-60mph** 7.8sec  
**Fuel consumption** 10.7-21.9mpg  
**Length** 4580mm  
**Width** 1830mm

**Restoration**  
We look back on a year of huge restorative endeavours, from vintage sports cars to modern-classic technology. Vote for your favourite and you could win a workshop’s-worth of quality tools too  
**Author** SAM DAWSON **Photo credit** STUART COLLINS, JONATHAN FLEETWOOD, JONATHAN JACOB, LAURENS PARSONS, ROSS PERRY & IAN SKELTON

  
Every month, _Classic Cars_ celebrates the skills that keep the old-car world alive. _Epic Restoration_ sees complete wrecks brought back from oblivion, iconic cars brought up to a level of perfection not even their manufacturers envisaged, and motorsport and car-industry heritage saved.  
But the stars of this regular feature series are not really the cars, but the craftspeople who build them. It’s in their wide range of skills, artistic abilities, technical precision and mastery of often-ancient and forgotten techniques that the real key to these cars’ salvation lies.  
Now, in Epic Restoration of the Year, we’re giving you the chance to nominate your favourite renovation project featured in the last 12 months. And together with Machine Mart, the chance to win the kind of quality tools to enable you to undertake an epic restoration of your own – or just get round to that job you keep putting off.  
‘The craftsmanship and attention to detail in the restorations are as impressive as the quality of the overall finish, and the difficulty of the projects has been completely jaw dropping! All of the entrants really should be incredibly proud of their work’  
**James Lewin, Machine Mart**

  
**‘We had to get it finished for the Goodwood Revival’**  
**Year:** **1977** **Make:** **Alfa Romeo** **Model:** **Alfasud Giardinetta**

**RESTORED BY:** **HC CLASSICS**  
**RESTORATION HIGHLIGHTS**  
Seventies Alfa Romeos are notorious for rusting away. However, HC Classics is always up for a challenge, especially when unusual estate cars are concerned. Not only was its subject an Alfasud, it was a South African-built Giardinetta estate model.  
This complicated things enormously. Naturally, it was thoroughly rotten and demanded ‘welding, welding, nothing but welding!’ as restorer Ilja Szklinski put it. But in addition, the unusual two-box coachwork necessitated rare trim and suspension parts that simply aren’t readily available even through the usual Alfa channels. New old-stock parts ended up being tracked down as far afield as Japan, Argentina and the US.  
It also drew HC Classics out of its comfort zone. Usually, Richard Carp’s team specialises in British luxury cars, in particular Bristol, Range Rover and Bentley. With this in mind, working with vinyl, rubber and plastichrome was a huge departure for the team, which is itself divided between sites in the UK and Poland, with restoration projects travelling between countries depending on which specialists are required next.  
Despite the apparently humble subject, the restorers embraced cutting-edge technology when restoring the Alfa, using a mobile high-pressure water blaster instead of chemical dipping to avoid weakening the structure while de-rusting it, and using a 3D printer to replicate unobtainable parts for the heater unit.  
  
**‘The only way to rectify it was to go back to square one’**

**Year:** **1962** **Make:** **Maserati** **Model:** **3500GTI**  
**RESTORED BY:** **PROJECT HEAVEN**  
**RESTORATION HIGHLIGHTS**  
Few exotic classics have been quite so badly bodged as Will Tomkins’ Maserati 3500GTI. As well as having a misshapen bodyshell clearly full of filler, it also transpired to have a rear axle from a Reliant Scimitar, upside-down rear halfshaft bearings, a Toyota gearbox, a piece of garden hose standing in for a fuel line, an air conditioning unit from a house, and, perhaps most surprisingly, the engine’s gaskets were discovered to be artfully made out of cardboard cereal boxes stuck down with bathroom sealant. Originally intending to restore it as cheaply as possible, Tomkins soon realised that starting from scratch actually made more sense than trying to rectify such amateurish bodges.  
Thankfully, he could call upon Project Heaven to build his dream Maserati. The finished result has an electronic fuel injection system hidden inside the original Lucas mechanical-injection housing, and a modern ZF five-speed gearbox made by the same company whose original transmission had been supplanted by the Toyota unit.  
The sheer craftsmanship involved in completing the Sixties Maserati coupé has been exquisite. From having to mix the Blue Sera paint colour itself as no commercially available shade is sufficiently accurate, to straightening out and re-welding the maze of steel Superleggera tubes lying beneath the aluminium bodywork, Project Heaven’s result is both usable and show-worthy.  
  
**‘I really wanted to do one last big project’**  
**Year:** **1968** **Make: Alfa Romeo** **Model:** **Giulia GTA**

**RESTORED BY:** **COLIN WILSON-BROWN, TIM DOYLE, MICK MITCHELL, VIN SHARPE**  
**RESTORATION HIGHLIGHTS**  
Having failed to get Alfa Romeo restorer Tim Doyle to sell him his Giulia GTA to restore, Australian enthusiast Colin Wilson-Brown tracked down his own. He found the perfect candidate on eBay – an Autodelta race-prepared GTA Junior Corsa, with period race history at Daytona. But, it was in New York.  
Undeterred after GTA expert Vin Sharpe verified its authenticity via photos, Wilson-Brown bought it without seeing the car in person. When the project arrived in Melbourne, salt water had somehow got into the shipping container and damaged the crankshaft and various suspension components beyond repair. The original engine was later tracked down to Atlanta, Georgia.  
During the stripdown, Doyle realised that the bodywork was misaligned, thanks to a poor repair following a serious frontend racing smash. The entire front end of the car needed removing and reforming on a genuine original Alfa Romeo factory repair jig, and the thin-gauge, racing-specification aluminium bodywork needed double-TIG welding.  
The resulting restored GTA hasn’t just won awards at both the celebrated Motorclassica in Melbourne and Auto Italia in Canberra classic events, it’s also returned to the track, taking on Phillip Island and Eastern Creek. So much so that Wilson-Brown doesn’t really use it anywhere else. ‘As a race car, it’s really not very happy on the road,’ he admits.  
  
**‘The damage was worse than we first thought’**  
**Year:** **1936** **Make:** **Fiat** **Model:** **Balilla**

**RESTORED BY:** **DTR EUROPEAN SPORTS CARS**  
**RESTORATION HIGHLIGHTS**  
After Craig Jones’ son crashed his rare 1936 Fiat Balilla 508S at Prescott while trying to beat his father’s best time up the hill at a Vintage Sports Car Club event, Jones returned it to the specialist he bought it from originally – DTR – for repairs. Unfortunately it didn’t take long to reveal that the damage was far more severe than originally anticipated, and years of racing had resulted in a scruffy, hacked-about car. As one of just 20 survivors from a tiny 36-car production run, Jones realised the responsibility of returning the Balilla to its best condition.  
After DTR’s Rob Reed re-jigged the crash-bent chassis, he set to work on the elegant aluminium coachwork, soon discovering that at some point the bulkhead had been removed to lighten the car for racing. Looking for a suitable former, he beat out a replacement panel over his thigh. Meanwhile, workshop manager Andy Warboys delved into period Fiat tuning archives to fabricate parts for the rare 995cc engine. The result is reputedly capable of 100mph.  
Will Jones find out if it’s true though? The gleaming finished article has since returned to Brooklands, but not quite VSCC competition events – yet.  
  
**‘I agreed to buy the car without even seeing it’**  
**Year:** **1967** **Make:** **Ford** **Model:** **Mustang 390GT**

**RESTORED BY:** **CONCOURS SPORTSCAR RESTORATION**  
**RESTORATION HIGHLIGHTS**  
Were it not for a quick-thinking worker at a Canberra tip and household waste site in 1970, this Ford Mustang definitely wouldn’t have stood a chance. So far as previous owner-racer Chris Brauer was concerned, it was a crash writeoff good only for stripping its usable parts and junking the rest.  
But this was one of the most famous racing Mustangs of all, Bob Jane’s 1967 Bathurst winner. The rescue allowed for a second life as a dirt-track Speedway racer only for it to deteriorate again. But collector David Bowden was determined to track the car down and restore it – even if the remains of the bodyshell split in two when he picked it up from the farm where it had sat rotting since 1978.  
After the decision was made to get it race-ready again, Bowden and Gavin King of Concours Sportscar Restoration tracked down magazines, newspaper articles and period photos to get as many details correct as possible. The salvageable remains of the rotten bodywork and chassis rails were grafted into a replacement Mustang monocoque, while John Garuti of Cobra Automotive built a big-block V8 to the correct specification – on the opposite side of the Pacific. Now it pounds round racetracks again – Bob Jane would be pleased.  
  
**‘The biggest issue has been working out where to stop’**  
**Year:** **1987** **Make:** **Ford** **Model:** **Sierra RS500 Cosworth**

**RESTORED BY:** **PAUL LINFOOT RACING**  
**RESTORATION HIGHLIGHTS**  
How do you preserve such rare, incredible originality? This was the daunting question facing Paul Linfoot when rally champion David Annat presented him with his Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth to restore. Annat had bought the car new in 1987 and used it as his daily driver for a few years. But in the Nineties, rallying intervened and for want of a new exhaust, it had been pushed into the back of his mechanic’s garage. There it had remained for 27 years until Annat had a change of heart – he wanted it restored in time to celebrate his 80th birthday.  
Linfoot had to tread a very fine line between restoration and preservation, given that the car had never been crashed, repaired, welded, modified or rebuilt. Having ensured the engine ran, Linfoot and his colleague Steve Norris retained as much as they could of the car. The bodyshell underside was painstakingly stripped before being wire-brushed and steam-cleaned on a rotisserie. The preservation quest meant every original bolt was sandblasted and zinc plated so they could be reused.  
Cleverly, rather than a stripdown and respray, Linfoot’s team was able to retain the original paint. Steve Wood carefully removed the bodyshell’s dents, while detailers Adam Peel and Tim Walker used deionising wash to decontaminate the paintwork, before meticulous polishing followed by a ceramic coating. Sure enough, the car was restored in time to be presented to David Annat – and the public – at the _Practical Classics_ Classic Car & Restoration Show at the NEC.  
  
**‘It’s so good to be able to share the history’**  
**Year:** **1978** **Make:** **Ford** **Model:** **Granada MkII estate**

**RESTORED BY:** **AKR**  
**RESTORATION HIGHLIGHTS**  
Not even the most fervent of Ford Granada enthusiasts would be sufficiently moved to take a 1978 MkII estate that had been sat, rotting and unused, for 16 years. But the project that owner Mick Lower presented model specialist Julian Peapell with was no ordinary Granada. Adorned with motorsport livery, a custom roofrack and harbouring an unusual fivespeed, fuel-injected V6 specification, it spent its early life supporting Ford’s all-conquering Escort MkII rally cars, hauling spare parts and following all the action between the service parks.  
Having rescued a parts-donor estate from a banger racer, Peapell set about swapping over the better examples of more generic Granada parts, including the doors, bonnet and tailgate. New rear wings, however, needed making from scratch in three-piece sections.  
A difficult combination of sheer size, period rally livery and in-period partial resprays complicated the painting of the Granada. Dave Boggiani had to use a spectrophotometer to get the exact colours right for the stripes, which were directly painted on rather than stickers, and had to be evenly sprayed to avoid sitting proud of the Diamond White coat.  
Perhaps the toughest job was the car’s defining feature – the rally-support equipment on the roofrack. Peapell needed to completely refabricate it, addressing original design flaws which had damaged the original roof and doors.  
  
**‘We’re not buying another dismantled car again!’**  
**Year:** **1962** **Make:** **Jaguar** **Model:** **E-type Series 1 3.8 coupé**

**RESTORED BY:** **CLAYTON CLASSICS**  
**RESTORATION HIGHLIGHTS**  
Early Series 1 3.8 Jaguar E-types represent the purest of the line. So when the opportunity came up for Clayton Classics to buy one that had been stripped down and interred in a lockup garage since the Seventies, proprietor Dean Allsop leapt at the chance. It had been offered as a parts donor, but Allsop banked on the ‘boxes upon boxes of bits’ that accompanied the stripped-down bodyshell containing the rest of the car. Unfortunately, they didn’t. Trim was notably absent, as were the engine’s ancillaries; lights and wheels were beyond saving, and the car’s floor was completely rotten.  
As Nick Reeves discovered, fitting replacement body panels after cutting out the rusty ones wasn’t straightforward either. Hammer-work was needed to get them to fit, and once restored the panel-fitting process was painstaking.  
Phil Beveridge rebuilt the worn-out, incomplete engine, and the E-type was reworked with a five-speed Tremec gearbox and air conditioning.  
The car was taken round shows as a demonstrator, and sold to its owner mid-restoration complicated matters, as Allsop had held off choosing colour or trim options until the buyer picked them. At one point, the bonnet was painted three different shades – blue, green and gold – so a decision could be made.  
  
**‘Years take their toll on Mokes more than other Minis’**  
**Year:** **1965** **Make:** **Mini** **Model:** **Moke**

**RESTORED BY:** **CRAFTED CLASSICS & TUNING**  
**RESTORATION HIGHLIGHTS**  
This Mini Moke had been a cherished member of the Hickman family since 1978. Despite some remedial work in 2004, it had seriously deteriorated, and then in 2020 the cylinder head gasket blew. But what began as a few fix-up jobs for Chris Hamilton’s team at Crafted Classics & Tuning became a complete restoration.  
The engine was the main concern. Unusually for a Mini Moke, thanks to a previous owner, it packed a 998cc Cooper engine. A worn cylinder block and crankshaft meant the replacement head gasket soon became a full engine rebuild. In the meantime, the shotblasted body tub revealed a patchwork of old repairs, most of which were holding, but the body needed hammering, shrinking and heat-treating to get it all straight again.  
Stephen Blower carefully built up a new set of subframes away from the car, waiting until they were reunited with the monocoque before fitting and finetuning the suspension; and finishing touches included a new windscreen to replace the cracked original. At the end of the process, what had started out as just a replacement head gasket had turned into a diligent quest for perfection with a pricetag of tens of thousands of pounds.  
  
**‘You can’t just go and buy spares for these cars’**  
**Year:** **1994** **Make:** **Nissan** **Model:** **Skyline GT-R**

**RESTORED BY:** **ANDY MIDDLEHURST**  
**RESTORATION HIGHLIGHTS**  
Andy Middlehurst has built this Nissan Skyline GT-R twice. First time around, it was from a kit of parts sourced via Nismo and Janspeed in order to create the car which delivered success in production-saloon racing for three consecutive years. The second time, it was rescuing the Japanese car from a second life of brutal modifications and motorsport abuse.  
Middlehurst re-acquired the car via a part-exchange at his dealership on a new GT-R, and his old racer became a parttime project alongside his main business selling, repairing and race-preparing Nissans. He knew the car intimately from his days racing it, but restoration meant rectifying drastic weight-saving measures and hunting down the original, but worn-out, engine and rebuilding it.  
But the GT-R landscape had changed drastically. Whereas once parts were available off-the-shelf, Middlehurst found himself scouring Japan for rare Nismo bits, as well as rebuilding the incredibly complex gearbox with its complicated G-sensor-controlled and electronically-switchable four-wheel drive system, and recreating the unique Gordon Birtwistledesigned suspension from memory.  
The result is a sought-after showstopper chosen to represent the R32 GT-R model at the NEC when its 35th anniversary was celebrated at Autosport 2024.  
  
**‘The car had arrived in more than 30 crates’**  
**Year:** **1981** **Make:** **Ford** **Model:** **Escort XR3**

**RESTORED BY:** **TOLMAN ENGINEERING**  
**RESTORATION HIGHLIGHTS**  
Tolman Engineering is best-known for its radical Peugeot 205 GTi restomod, with digital dashboard, 16v engine and 140mph potential. But the aim of this 1980 Ford Escort XR3 restoration was very different – one of complete originality.  
A restoration project given up on after the owner had the bodyshell acid-dipped only to find it peppered with rust holes, it presented Tolman with a potential clean-sheet. The car had already been stripped, but was in a very bad way. The structure had been weakened both by rust and a rear-end impact, corrosion had been made worse by the acid-dip, and bodywork specialist Victor Ronan had to cut huge chunks out of the structure to refabricate and reweld once on the jig.  
Elsewhere, even after rebuilding, the original CVH engine turned out to still be fitted with one of a faulty batch of pistons which needed re-machining down to stop them ticking against the cylinder head, and an original-style carburettor took days to track down in Germany.  
The internal steel channels of the sunroof needed transplanting from a physically identical donor MkIV Escort after the XR3’s originals deteriorated beyond repair, and rebuilding the dashboard included having to repaint the faded instrument needles. The seats were even retrimmed with NOS fabric. Tolman’s next Escort is an XR3i restomod, but this XR3 proves they can commit to total originality when they want to as well.  
  
**‘In 1958 it had been put in a barn which then collapsed on it’**  
**Year:** **1931** **Make:** **Austin** **Model:** **Seven Swallow Sports**

**RESTORED BY:** **IAN LE RICHE AND CLAYTON CLASSICS**  
**RESTORATION HIGHLIGHTS**  
For any Jaguar specialist, the opportunity to restore the vehicle which marks the very origins of founder William Lyons’ car-building ambitions is irresistible. So when Dean Allsop of Clayton Classics came across a barn-find Austin Seven Swallow Sports at auction, he had to place the winning bid.  
However, what arrived at his workshop was really in such a dire state, it had the very restorers who would resurrect it wondering what their boss had done. The car had sat in the remains of a collapsed barn since 1958, and by the time the team’s investigative stripdown was complete, the quantity of rust flakes swept up weighed almost as much as what was left of the car itself.  
Allsop called in master coachbuilder Ian Le Riche, custodian of Swallow Sports body-bucks, to save what was possible of the bodywork and recreate what wasn’t. In the end, only the bonnet could be saved; the incredibly complex ‘bumblebee’ tail needed recreating in the old manner, with English wheels, hand-shaped aluminium as well as an air seasoned ash frame.  
In the meantime, Allsop’s team set to work on the rusty chassis, seized engine and dangerous mystery-source brakes, all in time for the car to get to Coventry MotoFest under its own power, even if it was a hair-raising drive.  
  
**Cast your vote for the chance to win irresistible prizes**  
of Machine Mart premium workshop kit from a prize pot of more than £2500  
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**CLARKE PRO396 222-PIECE TOOL SET WITH SEVEN-DRAWER TOOL CABINET**  
With a pull handle and swivelling castor wheels it’s easy to move around your garage or workshop and its seven drawers keep more than 200 tools laid out in moulded inserts so you can easily find that spanner when you need it. It comes with three sizes of socket set, three wrench sets including Torx, offset ring spanners, screwdrivers, pliers, hex keys, cutters, tinsnips, pincers and punches.

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With a useful working space of 1.2m x 0.6m and a 38mm-thick composite worktop, this steel-structure bench is ideal for tackling everything from delicate carburettor rebuilds to hefty cylinder head work. Underneath, there’s a lockable cupboard to stop the family walking off with your most precious tools as well as five storage drawers on roller-bearing runners to supplement the storage shelf.

  
**CLARKE CP185 SANDER POLISHER**  
Thanks to its six-stage adjustable speed and D-handle, it can be used with the 180mm synthetic lambswool bonnet and backing pad for polishing and compounding tired paintwork like a professional. For more serious jobs, the backing pad’s loop and Velcro mounting allows the polishing bonnet to be easily changed for a range of abrasive pads, and a power lock-on feature will spare you of finger fatigue.

  
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**CLARKE JETSTAR 1950PSI PRESSURE WASHER (230V)**  
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This compact fault code reader is an essential weapon in solving problems on classics built from 1996. Its connector allows you to interrogate the engine’s ECU, retrieving fault codes to help diagnose problems. It can also clear codes after repairs are complete, or check for genuine recurring ones. Live data and VIN-retrieval functions also feature.  
  
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**To cast your vote, visit** **:a[www.classiccarsmagazine.co.uk/restoration2025]{href='https://www.classiccarsmagazine.co.uk/restoration2025' }**. **Terms and conditions apply**

Inside the May issue we pit our last 12 Epic Restorations against each other – you can vote for the best story with a chance to win quality tools. We drive an ex-competition **TVR Tuscan V8** that has been rebuilt for the road and explore the diverse classic car collection of Tim Smith that includes an **Arkley SS**, an **Austin-Healey 3000**, **Jaguar XK120** and **E-type**, a **Mini Cooper 1071S**, and a **Sunbeam Rapier**.

In this month’s List feature, a rally car fan and _Classic Cars_ reader fulfils a dream drive in an **Audi Quattro 20V**, we find out how an **Austin Seven Swallow Sports** rebuild snowballed into an epic battle with corrosion and missing or damaged parts, and how a **Triumph Spitfire MkIV** still gives its owner joy after multi-decade ownership.

All that, plus our ever-entertaining columnists Quentin Willson and Alex Riley, market news and event highlights, the highs and lows of running our own classics, four cars for sale tested and more, make your latest issue unmissable.

**The May 2025 issue of _Classic Cars_ is out now at all good newsagents, or why not try a Print+ Subscription?** :a[**Get 6 issues for just £19.99**]{href='https://www.greatmagazines.co.uk/classic-cars-magazine?utm_source=classiccarsmagazine.co.uk&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=christmas_all&amp;utm_content=clc_promo_new_issue_bws' }.

#### **Historic motorsport show returns after years of setbacks with an F1 spectacular**

**H**aving weathered covid, last-minute cancellations and, last year, the devastating flooding of its Stoneleigh Park site, Race Retro made a dramatic comeback for 2025. Celebrating 75 years of Formula One, Grand Prix cars took centre stage, but long-hidden competition cars of every discipline emerged for the show.

This was Shadow’s very last F1 car – and its sole attempt at ground effect – seen for the first time in public since the 1980 Monaco Grand Prix, after which Shadow founder Don Nichols put it straight into his personal car collection. ‘It was raced by Stefan Johansson in Argentina and Brazil, then David Kennedy at Kyalami, Long Beach, Zolder and Monaco,’ said owner Liaz Jakhara of Zul Racing. ‘It wasn’t a successful year, and a lack of money led to Nichols selling the team to Teddy Yip.’ Yip rebranded the team Theodore mid-season. Neither Johansson nor Kennedy managed to qualify in the DN11.

Jakhara bought the car in 2019, following Nichols’ death, but its restoration has been protracted. ‘Its Cosworth DFV had been removed by Ford, first to power the Supervan, then a C100 Group C prototype.’ Jakhara had to track the engine down, rebuild it and reunite it with the car, as well as locating Shadow’s original moulds and jigs to set the car up correctly.

It’s the first time this Richard Petty NASCAR Pontiac has been shown in the UK. US-based Chapman Root bought it from Petty in 2005 and used it in historic racing series. In storage since 2008, the car is in the UK having been restored and prepared for more international racing series by Derek Drinkwater. It’s still running its original engine.

It only made the podium once – at the dramatic Busch 500 night race at Bristol Motor speedway in 1988 – achieving third place but effectively marking the end of Petty’s winning ways. Set up for European racetracks, the car may make some unexpected appearances during this year.

Restored to original specification, this F3 Ralt began the career of an endurance-racing legend. ‘It was Didier Theys’s car,’ said racer-owner Gary Ward, who drove in F3 in 198688. Theys drove the car in the 1983 European Championship, scoring second-place finishes at Zolder and la Chatre and third at Silverstone. He went on to a spectacular endurance-racing career, winning the 1987 Spa 24 Hours, the 1998 Sebring 12 Hours, the Daytona 24 Hours twice – 1998 and 2002 – and three consecutive podium finishes at Le Mans from 1997-1999.

‘After 1983, F3 banned ground effect and the car was obsolete,’ said Ward. ‘It was sold into the Italian hillclimbing scene, where the original Alfa Romeo Novamotor was replaced with a Spiess Toyota unit. This was supposedly rebuilt when I got the car, but it hadn’t been. I was 3.5 seconds into the lead at Silverstone when the cylinder head gasket went. I’ve since restored and rebuilt it with a Judd, and returned the car to its original and period Marlboro livery.’

This unique special was displayed in incredible barn-find condition, seen for the first time since 1959.

Inspired by Ferrari, and commissioned by Lionel Leonard in 1955, the car was built and raced by Chris Bristow in 1956. A mix of lightweight aluminium bodywork, a 100bhp MG XPAG engine and an overall weight of less than 500kg gave it 125mph performance, Bristow taking wins at Crystal Palace and Silverstone in the car.

Considered a future World Champion, Bristow went into Formula One, becoming Stirling Moss’s teammate at Cooper in 1959, only to be killed in an accident at the 1960 Belgian Grand Prix.

The Leonard MG has only recently been rediscovered, by art dealer Ken Bolan, who intends to see it restored, and raced once again, at the Goodwood Revival.

This racing Escort has a mystery past, which owner Steve Barnard is keen to uncover. ‘Steve found it on eBay for sale in a lockup garage late last year,’ said Steve Watton, chairman of the Historic Sports Car Club’s Historic ModSports and Special Saloons series. ‘He’s rebuilt it as-found, with a 2.0-litre Cosworth BDG on mechanical fuel injection, but analysing it, the car appears to have been prepared for ModSports in accordance with the 1979 Blue Book rules, but not modified since that time.

‘Some people have said it’s the Geoff Wood car, but it isn’t – it’s the wrong colour, plus we know where that car is – but whoever built it, a lot of time and money went into this car, so we’d be fascinated to know more about its racing career.’

**\[ CHASING CARS \] Quentin Willson’s hot tips**  
**More evidence that once-heady Porsche 911 prices continue to soften**

  
**I** didn’t think £36,000 was expensive for a 1987 E-plate, triple black Porsche 911 Sport Cabriolet 3.2 sold in January on the Collecting Cars website. Not so long ago this would have been a forty-five grand touch. And everything was right. Lovely all black colour combo, factory Sport package including Bilstein dampers, sport seats and front and rear spoilers, no less than 27 service stamps in two service books, new canvas hood and quite a bit of recent mechanical work. The Porsche market has softened recently – especially for 356s – but the Eighties 3.2s have always had a strong following because of their usability and reliability. And this one looked a very genuine car with a todie-for spec. All that was missing was the beefier G50 gearbox fitted to the last 3.2s, although purists say they feel quicker with the earlier 915 ’box. And it’s not their imagination, the combination of lighter weight and shorter overall gearing contributing to a faster 0-60mph dash.  
‘Third and fourth owners often skimped on crucial jobs when the cars weren’t worth as much’  
The Collecting Cars vendor description gives buyers a slew of useful information, revealing that E411 CVM had a glass-out repaint around five years ago, a new driver’s side sill and ‘kidney bowl’ panel – behind the base of the B-pillar – in 2023, two new Fuchs rear wheels and the fronts refurbished in 2024, a new alternator and new set of tyres plus work on the brakes, clutch and air conditioning. The electric adjustment on the seats had stopped working along with one door speaker. The high level of consistent and dedicated attention over this 911’s thirty-seven years was its strongest suit. That and the fact that it’s a Sport Cabriolet.

The mileage of 139,432 might have put off the uninitiated, but that’s considered low on a Carrera 3.2 which will still feel taut and fresh with many more miles on than that. Not that many older 911s benefited from this sort of unstinting devotion and third and fourth owners often skimped on important jobs, especially during a time when the cars weren’t worth what they are now. To have such a sterling maintenance history and all those regular fluid and oil changes means that the major mechanicals are likely to be long lived and if you sell – as you eventually will – it’s a major plus point. This was a fine 911, well bought.  
  
**When a Bentley costs Stag money, time to take notice**

At £14,350, this is one of the lowest prices I’ve ever seen for a 2007 Bentley GTC, the convertible version of the Conti GT. It was sold on Collecting Cars in January and privately advertised by its owner of 12 years. The 89,000 miles weren’t in its favour, but there were 12 stamped services in the book, it was triple black – dark Conti interiors wear best – and it looked a very nice, together, original thing. The owner advised that it had passed its MoT with advisories for a worn brake disc, perished rack rod end dust cover plus two worn tyres. Putting those right would maybe cost £800 at a specialist with tyres well-bought from a fast fit.  
What’s interesting is that for Triumph Stag or Mercedes R107 money, this W12, 6.0-litre, 194mph convertible is massively more bewitching. It is far more expensive to own but I’ve owned two Contis, and apart from an inaccessible vacuum hose at the back of the engine, nothing serious went wrong. They were joyous to drive, and I got 19mpg. Annual £600+ road tax is another issue.  
But as the coupés fall below £10k and the convertibles are dipping below £15k, they do strike me as a monster opportunity. Bought well with a continuous, well-documented history and used sparingly, these are a new breed of relatively affordable, reliable and super-fast modern classics. Right now, they’re classic outliers – on the fringe of wider enthusiast acceptance – but I reckon with the drastically falling prices that we’re seeing, the appeal will widen significantly. Just make sure you buy a very well-maintained, mint one in the first place.  
**Bargain Benzes to be had, even with a low mileage**

What’s a 1990 R129 Mercedes 500 SL with a warranted 27,000 miles worth? More than £10,950 I reckon. That’s what a very original, one family owner from new with documented history – MB dealer up to 22,000 miles – sold for in December on the Car & Classic website. Finished in a rare, and not to everyone’s taste, Willow Green, it still had the lower-body ‘Sacco Planks’ in a darker green on the bumpers and door bottoms.  
Even more charming originality included a period Nokia dash-mounted car phone and factory Becker Mexico music system plus all books, tools, first aid kit and hardtop stand present. After being in storage for four years, there would be some obvious recommissioning to be done – tyres, fluids, service, hoses – and the owner mentioned some dash lights illuminated. No driving or running issues were reported but the last MoT was in 2020.  
But for the money with a such low ownership, low warranted mileage and stamped up, mainly dealer history, I didn’t think it was dear at all. And it’s rare to find these early 500s with such a low mileage because they were bought to cross continents and swan round high-tab European hotels and golf clubs. We all remember the price rally of low mileage R107s back in 2015 – in time, it’s possible the same could happen to proper, documented, low mileage 129s. This was definitely one of those cars which, with a couple of grand to spend on servicing and spivving it up, could become a mint and perfect, low mileage survivor. This looked like a very wise buy to me.  
  
ASK QUENTIN  
**Sell the Aston or the Rover?**  
I have a smart 2002 Aston Martin DB7 GTA with 55k, miles, in silver with black leather, and a lovely 1970 Rover P5B Coupé with 52k miles in Silver Birch with a Burnt Ash roof, black leather and a full tool kit. It’s a joy to waft around in. I’ve loved driving them now I barely take them out. Are either likely to rise in value or is it time to replace perhaps with a 997-generation 911 Porsche to use more often in daily life?  
**_Oliver Smith_**  
I’d sell the DB7 on and keep the Rover. I think DB7s have had their day and later Astons are looking better value. I’d hang on to the P5B as the supply of really good warranted mileage examples is limited and they’re such as easy car to love. Best 997 is a Gen-2S six-speed manual. They’re not without their foibles though, so always get a proper inspection by a Porsche expert.  
**_Quentin Willson_**  
  
**Your sound advice please**  
I’ve a pre-ABS Ferrari 328GTS with 40k miles. It has a few blemishes – I think it makes the car very honest. The result of one owner for 20 years is a service history that shows all the mechanical problems that these cars can develop have been attended to and I’ve serviced the car every year as well as a cambelt change every other year. The car made me a lot of money in the first two or three years of ownership, probably trebling in value, but I reckon I’ve subsequently spent that back in maintenance. Now that prices seem to have plateaued and I’m averaging less than 300 miles a year – bad for the car – is it time to sell?  
**_Simon Welton_**  
Your GTS sounds lovely and is one of just 543 right-hand-drive, UK-supplied examples. The long ownership and continuous service history makes it desirable. But you’re right, prices have plateaued over the last couple of years with examples with 40,000-50,000 miles making £60k-£70k at auction. Will the 328GTS start appreciating again? Possibly. Testarossas and F40s have done well recently but the 308/328GTB and GTS not so much. If you want to sell, I’d pitch it at £75k expecting to take £70k. But also remember that having invested so much time and money over 20 years, it might be hard to find another one as carefully maintained as yours has been.  
**_Quentin Willson_**

**\[ TVR Tuscan V8 SWB \]**  
Diminutive it may have been, but the Tuscan V8 SWB packed a lot of muscle. The last of the Grantura-era hot TVRs, this car enjoyed a successful in-period competition career, but has now been rebuilt for the road  
**Words** IVAN OSTROFF **Photography** TONY BAKER

**I** open the door and lower myself into the driver’s seat. The thick roll cage is unobtrusive, and the seat itself is comfortable but very low. I feel like a child peeping over the steering wheel, and with the door closed and the high transmission tunnel to my left, I am held snug.  
The Hurst shifter is purposefully cranked back so the gearknob falls near my left hand as it drops off the aluminium-spoked and leather-bound steering wheel. The logo on the boss confirms I am in a Grantura by TVR of England. I secure the TRS full harness and survey the dashboard instruments – amps to the left, water and oil temperature, oil pressure, the all-important 8000rpm rev counter, and the 160mph speedometer. The aluminium panel below the main dash has clearly marked race warning lights and toggle switches. I twist the red main electric feed to the left, flick the ignition on and press the starter button.

A cruiser and a brusier: dual-purpose interior  
The engine churns and the exhaust thunders as the 4.9-litre V8 explodes into life. The noise is the most unbelievable cacophony of sound, as the stadium-deep football clacker-clacking soprano erupts. As you might expect with a big, tuned V8 engine like this the clutch requires a hefty shove from a strong left leg. The accelerator pedal is far down on the right, whereas the brake pedal sits high when not in use, meaning any heel and toeing is out of the question. I expected the gearshift to be rather heavy and baulky but it’s not, and double de-clutching makes the change even smoother. The four-speed manual gearbox is lovely to use for normal road driving, which is now this car’s main purpose. But that hasn’t always been the case.  
Pausing for moment, I have time to reflect on this particular TVR Tuscan V8 SWB. Sitting very low, it has a bold and aggressive appearance. The flared wheelarches only just cover the chunky eight-spoke replica Minilites wrapped in big Michelin tyres. From the front, elegant tiny quarter bumpers frame a simple radiator grille decorated with twin horizontal chrome strips. Above that are three GTO-like intake ducts, and a large bonnet bulge built to cover the choke tubes of the four huge gas-gulping, Weber 48IDA carburettors. On either side of that bulge are cooling louvres that work with the double chrome straked ducts on the wings to get all that hot air out of the engine bay. At the rear, a vast rear screen assures excellent visibility.

V8’s position in bay so far back – near 50/50 weight split aids handling  
Chassis number 200/014 was the very last short-wheelbase Tuscan V8 built and has led a chequered life. It was first registered to Hillary van Gijs in 1967 with the number 3MKT, transferred from her Lotus Elan. At the time she was the girlfriend of then-TVR managing director Martin Lilley.  
During her ownership, the car was stolen in London, recovered, and eventually returned to the factory. The engine and gearbox were removed and fitted into a long-wheelbase Tuscan that had been bought by van Gijs. Sold in 1968, this Tuscan’s focus then switched from road car to motorsport machine. New owner Tony Bancroft bought the engine from Roy Pierpoint’s 1965 BTCC championship-winning Ford Falcon for the Tuscan, now wearing the registration number VWF 917F.

Competition-spec engine has milder camshaft for road use  
Bancroft hillclimbed the car remarkably successfully, winning 42 awards from 1968-1971. Crowned the Shell Leaders Hill Climb champion in that final year, Bancroft held records at Shelsey Walsh and eight other courses. His family didn’t want him to race, so he would compete under the pseudonym of ‘Spotty Smith’, and quite often become inebriated the night before an event, but still manage to come second or first in class!  
In 1972 the Tuscan passed to drag racer Bill Marshall, who campaigned it at Santa Pod. In 1973, the race instructor Don Manley of Brighton bought the TVR, and in 1977 it changed hands again. Formula 5000 racer and restaurateur Phil Prince ran the Tuscan in sprint events. He held the British Automobile Racing Club’s (BARC) sprint record at Oulton Park, Blackpool, the Isle of Man and Elvington, where sadly, the engine blew up.  
‘The mesmerising accelerative exhaust noise is thundering and utterly addictive’

‘Fastest road car in Europe’ as tested by Hot Car in Seventies

Hold on tight! Tuscan has ferocious pace  
In 1982, the Tuscan was taken over by circuit racer Nicholas Crocker, but he didn’t keep the car for long before selling it on to Richard Scantlebury who raced it in the 1983 Modsports series. Scantlebury took pole position at the Silverstone Roadgoing Modified Sports event but suffered a puncture during the race.  
Journalist and historic racer Gordon Bruce became the Tuscan’s seventh owner in March 1984, racing it in the Historic Sports Car Club (HSCC) Classic Sports Car Championship. Achieving several class A wins, Bruce finished the 1984 season a creditable second in class behind a Lotus 30. In 1985, even more victories followed. The car’s current owner Nick Godridge bought the Tuscan with the aim of it being enjoyed as an extremely high-performance road car once more.

Race TRS harnesses try to offer some reassurance…  
‘I like V8s. I also have a Morgan Plus 8 and an AC Cobra. I wanted another toy and scanning through _Motoring News_ one day, I spotted this car. It was advertised by Tony Bancroft, as the ex-Spotty Smith Hillclimb Champion car with a great list of first place racing results. At the time it had a Mathwall-built engine, but when I called the vendor, I had missed it by a week.’  
Nick went looking for something similar and bought a Griffith from Maurice Gates. ‘I zoomed around in that for a couple of years and then bought Gates’s other Griffith, which had a full-race Holman and Moody-built engine. When I sold it, I immediately regretted it. In the meantime, sometime between buying the two Griffiths, I got wind of Gordon Bruce putting up this Tuscan for sale, so that time I grabbed it.’

BorgWarner T10B racing gearbox is strengthened  
‘The car was in a pretty sorry state because it had been stored in a barn for some time after Gordon Bruce had stopped racing, but I knew that it had been reputed to be the fastest road car in Europe when tested by _Hot Car_ magazine in the Seventies. I bought it in February 1989, but at that time the car was without its period correct engine or differential because the V8 was being refreshed by Competition Engine Services Ltd of Aylesbury which had originally built the motor for Bruce.  
‘There was also no gearbox with the car, even though the deal was that one would be included, but it unfortunately never materialised. However, I managed to find a correct BorgWarner T10B unit, which is actually a strengthened racing gearbox. It has a set of GM nickel alloy internal gears, and the change is very good. The ratios also suit the car very well.

Big power for a very small car – V8 has 290bhp  
‘The Salisbury limited slip differential was also missing, but I found one advertised. When I took it to a gearbox specialist to have it checked over, I’d been done. It was not a limited slip at all, but fortunately, it was able to be rebuilt as one.’ A full body-off, cosmetic and mechanical rebuild was also undertaken, with new suspension, fuel and brake lines, and wiring harness.  
Out on the road, the steering is heavy at low speeds, hardly surprising considering the size of the front Michelin 18/60 R15 tyres. Trundling around the countryside, if I maintain a reasonable speed, the steering lightens up, and the Triumph rack feels accurate and taut. With its current gearing and limit of 7000rpm, the car tops out at 140mph, but its acceleration in the lower gears is mind-blowing. The competition-spec small-block engine was rebuilt by Greg Margetts and is slightly detuned with a milder camshaft so that it’s suitable for road use. But even with these restrictions, the eight-cylinder engine is producing 290bhp and 300lb ft of torque, all at the rear wheels.

Despite 18/60 front tyres, TVR is a good communicator  
With my foot planted on the throttle, the car feels immensely stable as I am shoved back hard against my seat through all three lower gears. There is the most amazing flow of power and torque from the 302ci V8 – 0-60mph, achievable in first gear, takes just 4.2 seconds. I yank the shifter back into second, keep the throttle floored, and as the rear wheels spin, the car streaks past 100mph in just under 11 seconds. I grab the lever again and shove it across the gate into third. The car still pulls hard, almost screaming for more. This engine loves to rev, and the way the tachometer needle spins up is just astonishing. If the grip were any more forceful, I think the earth would flip into reverse.  
Though this engine is tuned, you don’t need to use buckets of throttle all the time. You can slip it back into top, and unless you drop below 20mph, you can keep it there all day long. It’s perhaps not the best way to drive it, but this is one tolerant engine. I back off and force myself to concentrate on the handling. With a wheel perfectly placed at each corner, the Tuscan V8 SWB has such incredible grip. Some cars feel they always want to slide, but not so here. It’s a challenge to get the rear end to breakaway on all but the trickiest of corners, but once it does go, it can be a considerable embarrassment.

Roll cage and console switches point to competition past  
Though there is a lot of rubber up front, the Triumph Spitfire rack telegraphs detailed messages back to your hands, and the merest input is rewarded by an immediate response. Going through a corner quicker than I intended, I am fearful of backing off at the wrong time and the car driving straight on. But even though the heavy Ford ‘Windsor’ V8 is up front, it’s mounted so well back in the frame, so the Tuscan enjoys an almost 50/50 weight split. This alleviates my fears, and although there is little sensation of leaning in on a front wheel as I accelerate out of corners, the car feels completely planted.  
Even on a slightly damp surface, when you flick the wheel to provoke a tail yaw, a small slide results in no winding on and off, just a mild snap and the car returns to its chosen line. On fast corners or a tight hairpin, the Michelins provide excellent grip. On one fast left hander, the car hits a bump and skitters sideways for a split second, but does not change its direction, gathering itself together without incident. There is no breakaway without warning, but you can sense through the seat of your pants that there could come a point where the TVR will do its own thing and bite hard if you fail to respect the immense power on tap. The rear independent suspension with its twin coil-over dampers works well, but I can imagine the earliest cars with leaf springs and a live axle may be a handful.

Catch it if you can… Clues to TVR’s race career  
Nick warned me that the brakes would require a hearty shove, but once they are warmed up, they work well. On the road, the combination of the AP Racing front discs and Alfin rear drums is responsive. And while the Tuscan is an extremely powerful car, it is also very manageable in slower traffic, and the mesmerising, accelerative noise from the exhaust is utterly addictive.  
Ever since its inception in 1947 – originally named Trevcar Motors by its founder Trevor Wilkinson – series-built TVRs have followed the basic concept of a front engine mated to rear-wheel drive, with a GRP body mounted on a steel tubular chassis. A good power-to-weight ratio has also been key.

Current owner Nick Godridge (left) is a V8 fan  
Wilkinson departed in 1962, and in November 1965 Arthur Lilley and his son Martin took over, renaming the company TVR Engineering. Responsible for the key Grantura/Griffithderived Vixen and Tuscan models, the pair also introduced the Broadspeed turbocharged versions of the 3000M – the UK’s first production turbocharged car – as well as the Taimar and 3000S convertible derivatives. The angular Oliver Winterbottom-styled Tasmin arrived in 1980 and soon became a mainstay but by 1981 the Lilley reign had finished, when chemical engineer and TVR Taimar Turbo owner Peter Wheeler took over.  
The longer I spend with this historic Tuscan, the better it gets, and the more at ease I feel. I realise that, despite its appearance and previous part-competition focus, it really is a friendly car to drive. Its dual personality is beguiling, and whether on racetracks or the road, this TVR feels like a winner.

Diminutive, but Tuscan is a true giant-killer  
**1967 TVR Tuscan V8 SWB**  
**Engine** 4942cc Ford V8  
**Power and torque** 290bhp @6000rpm; 300lb ft @3800rpm  
**Transmission** BorgWarner T10, four-speed manual, rear-wheel drive, limited slip differential  
**Steering** Rack and pinion  
**Suspension** Independent all round: fully adjustable double wishbones, coil springs, telescopic dampers  
**Brakes** Front: AP racing discs. Rear: Alfin finned drums  
**Performance** Top speed: 143-160mph (depending on axle ratio); 0-60mph: 4.2sec  
**Weight** 1030kg (2270lb)  
**Cost new** £1797 (TVR Tuscan V8)/£2364 (TVR Tuscan V8 SE)  
**Current value** £70,000-£90,000  
  
**OWNING A TUSCAN V8**  
‘A protracted 10-year body off restoration followed the gearbox and limited slip differential fitment,’ says Nick Godridge. ‘The chassis wasn’t too bad, and I wanted to keep the car as original as possible, so I had it restored rather than replaced by Richard Thorne at RT Racing. Eventually I got a running car back which I then had trimmed before fitting the original front windscreen. I also fitted a new rear screen because the old one had a split.  
‘Early in 2020 I was finally able to drive the car and the sense of satisfaction after such a long time was terrific, even though the Weber 48IDA carbs were not tuned correctly. I took the car to Steve Stanton Motorsport near Hungerford, who finally sorted it. It is tractable and quite easy to drive, feeling similar to a quick Griffith, but more like a factory-built motor car, even though both cars share the same chassis. The steering is good, the suspension is reasonably compliant, the V8 engine is beautifully torquey, and the gear ratios really do suit the car.  
‘It is relatively easy to maintain, but the front suspension needs regular attention with a grease gun to keep the Triumph trunnions lubricated. Once set up properly, a Tuscan V8 needs nothing more than regular oil and filter changes, and a constant eye on the coolant level, particularly as it can overheat in traffic. However, this car does have a big radiator and a good electric fan which helps.’  
**CLIMBING TO THE TOP**  
![](https://c02.purpledshub.com/uploads/sites/23/2025/03/9f712c9d-467d-41d8-99a9-b2deada5428e.jpg)Eyes on the prize: Tuscan successful on both hills and circuits  
During its motorsport career, TVR Tuscan chassis 200/014 has been a multiple class winner in hillclimb and circuit events.  
**Owner: Tony Bancroft**  
1969 15 hillclimb series events, winner of 7 awards.  
1970 21 hillclimb series events, winner of 15 awards.  
1971 23 hillclimb series events, winner of 20 awards including Shell RAC British Leaders Hillclimb Championship. Multiple hillclimb records.  
**Owner: Phil Prince**  
1977 British Automobile Racing Club sprint records at Blackpool, Elvington and Oulton Park.  
**Owner: Gordon Bruce**  
1984 HSCC Sportscar Championship, class A wins at Donington and Snetterton.  
1985 HSCC Sportscar Championship, class A win at Silverstone, class victory at Wiscombe Park hillclimb. Second place in HSCC Sportscar Championship Class A for two consecutive years.

**Vote for the greatest Epic Restoration of 2024/25 to be in with the chance of winning fabulous prizes of tools and workshop equipment from our partner Machine Mart**.

Each month _Classic Cars_ magazine brings you epic stories of neglected, bodged and abused classics transformed into visions of perfection by talented craftsmen. This started in the June 2024 issue and here is a feature highlights from each of the 12 Epic Restoration which underline the extraordinary challenges the specialists faced and the clever solutions they deployed to overcome them.

Voting is now Open! Vote for your favourite restoration project here:   :a[http://www.classiccarsmagazine.co.uk/restoration2025]{href='http://www.classiccarsmagazine.co.uk/restoration2025' target='_blank' rel='noreferrer noopener'}

# **EPIC RESTORATION 1** - **1977 Alfa Romeo Alfasud Giardinetta**. {#h-epic-restoration-1-1977-alfa-romeo-alfasud-giardinetta}

## **Will this rare Alfa survivor get your Epic Restoration of the Year vote?** {#h-will-this-rare-alfa-survivor-get-your-epic-restoration-of-the-year-vote}

In the June 2024 issue, we revealed the extraordinary challenges the talented craftsmen at HC Classics faced and the great lengths they went to so the hidden horrors of this rare survivor could be overcome, returning it to stunning as-new condition.

**Here’s what Richard Carp and the HC Classics team faced**

• Horrific rust that only became obvious as the car was stripped

• Irreplaceable interior parts destroyed by decades of South African sunlight

• Damaged or missing components that defied rescuing by conventional techniques

• No infrastructure of classic parts remanufacture or stock

• A restoration team split between the UK and Poland

‘It was a dingy car in appalling condition. It was just about drivable, but everything had suffered corrosion’ – Richard Carp, HC Classics

The June issue Epic Restoration feature reveals how Richard and his team turned up the resourcefulness dial, blending traditional skills like metal fabrication with modern technology such as CAD software and laser printing. Their determined approach ranged from parts sourcing as far afield as Japan and Argentina to hand-shaping new seat foam to recreate the original profiles.

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Each month we feature a new Epic Restoration story in association with Machine Mart. Vote for the best in our end-of-year competition for a  chance to win our First place prize bundle or our 2nd or 3rd place prize of premium workshop tools and equipment from specialist supplier Machine Mart, like this slick Clarke CTJ1800AB 1.8 tonne aluminium racing jack. \*T&C's will Apply\*

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# **EPIC RESTORATION 2** - **1962 Maserati 3500GTI**

## **Will this precious Maserati get your Epic Restoration of the Year vote?**

In the July 2024 issue, we let the talented craftspeople at Project Heaven explain the horrific bodgery they discovered in this previous Maserati 3500GTI and how it tested both their skills and patience as they battled to right all the wrongs. While overcoming decades of wear, degradation, damage , neglect and what you'd politely call inexpert workmanship are part of most restorations; this one took that challenge to the extreme, then cranked it up a level with incorrect major parts and the complexities of making the sixties fuel injection system work properly -they barely did when new.

**Here's what Peter Bulbick and the Project Heaven team faced**

'We had to paint the car twice. There was a problem with chemical reaction which meant we had to strip it back to bare metal and star all over again' - Will Tomkins, Project Heaven

The July issue Epic Restoration feature reveals how Peter and his team balanced a desire to reinstate so much originality lost through previous crude repairs and restoration work with an ingenious approach to hiding modern innovation to ensure the 3500GTI would be easier to run and better to drive than it was back in the Sixties.

## **WIN PREMIUM TOOLS AND WORKSHOP EQUIPMENT**

Each month we feature a new Epic Restoration story in association with Machine Mart. Vote for the best in our end-of-year competition for a chance to win a fabulous prize bundle of premium workshop tools and equipment from specialist supplier Machine Mart, like this slick Clarke CP185 Sander Polisher.

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# **Epic Restoration 3 - 1968 Alfa Romeo GTA 1300 Junior Corsa**

## **Will this rare Alfa race car get your Epic Restoration of the Year vote?**

In the August 2024 issue, experts across several different specialist restoration companies in Australia reveal how they took on a hard-driven and properly crashed former race car bought sight-unseen and in bits, 9000 miles away in America.

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