Retro

Retro cars road test

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1934 Aston Martin MkII

Since this incredibly original 1934 Aston Martin MkII was dragged out of a barn, a year-long operation to preserve it is has been completed. Time to revisit.

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1975 Ford Granada Coupe 3.0-litre Automatic XL Mk1

Ford Heritage: The Mk1 Granada Coupe was Ford’s archetypal 1970s luxury tourer. And with a stellar resto and a few special touches, this South African survivor is a fine example of the breed.

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1971 Ford Mustang Mach 1 Sportsroof

Refurbished by Alan Faulkner-Stevens of Dragon Wheels, Buckinghamshire, this magnificent Mustang Mach 1 Sportsroof represents the marque’s halcyon days of the Seventies…

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1960 Plymouth Belvedere

Cars like this Plymouth Belvedere of Richard Mayo’s don’t come up for sale every day. From street car to race car and back, it could almost pass for a standard cruiser… until a peek under its bonnet reveals its monster motor!

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Driving Coventry’s first 1961 Jaguar E-type Series 1

This car was one of the first Jaguar E-types Britain saw, be it in action at Shelsley Walsh, or as Browns Lane’s local demonstrator. Today we drive it.

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1973 Triumph Dolomite Sprint

By the Seventies the sports saloon had really come of age. Ford showed that, because of motor sport success, it could sell ship-loads of Escorts. Other makers wanted a slice of the action – Triumph chief among them, with the Dolomite deemed an ideal base for something fruity. Led by Rover’s Spen King, the Triumph Dolomite Sprint engineers won a Design Council award for the new model’s innovative single-cam, 16-valve cylinder head – and British Leyland advertising literature of the time incorporated one of the best puns of the era, ‘The award has gone to our head’.

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1970 Ford Cortina MkII 1600E

No sports saloon selection would be complete without a Ford – and jumping forward a decade from the MG into the Sixties, we’re spoiled for choice. The original Cortina or Escort in GT guise would have done, though as Ford’s period ad pointed out, ‘New Cortina is more Cortina’. It might have only been 21/2 inches ‘more’, but Ford’s new-for-1966 follow-up boosted its social aspirations as well as its dimensions.

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1958 MG Magnette ZB Varitone

Ask most traditionalists what constitutes a great driving machine and they’ll tell you it has two doors, no roof and a big engine. That’s been the standardised formula for driving nirvana for nearly as long as the car itself. As owner’s priorities change, fun behind the wheel can often evaporate – but it doesn’t have to. A sports saloon not only keeps your pulse racing, but negates the need for a beady eye on the weather forecast or to leave family or friends behind.

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1951/2021 Turner-Ardun V8

Jack Turner was better known for his small sports cars than high-powered bruisers, but a fascinating rebuild has suggested a tantalising origin story.

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1963 Volvo P1800 Racer

There aren’t so many Volvo P1800s in Historic racing, though maybe there should be — as both history and this brilliant build would suggest.

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1971 Citroen SM Espace - Heuliez's head-turningly individual Convertible

Remarkably, the collection that boasts the world’s fastest Citroen also yields what is arguably the most beautiful

Editor's comment
‘When they were new my father had Citroen SM company cars, but Heuliez's SM Espace was in another realm: that of dream cars. I was seven when it premiered and it instantly became my fantasy to drive it. Doing so 50 years later was surreal, yet the Espace did not disappoint at all.'
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1938 Rolls-Royce Wraith

When your profession trains you to the most thorough approach, a matter of mere distance won’t stop the search for the right car.

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1986 Rolls-Royce Camargue

Pininfarina’s styling for the Camargue was as close as Rolls-Royce ever got to radical. After 47 years, can we finally appreciate the car’s unique looks?

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1957 Porsche 356 A T2 Speedster

This 1957 Porsche 356 A T2 Speedster has survived near seven decades without a single dink, dent or any impact damage, resulting in an unrestored body the like we’re unlikely to witness again...

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1970 Innocenti Mini Cooper Mk3

When Chris Hand spotted a 1970 Innocenti Mini Cooper Mk3 for sale in Italy, for €7,500, he decided to take a trailer to Tuscany, buy it and bring it home to restore.

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