Overview of makers and cars that I like (doesn’t mean to say there aren’t others).
Remember, throughout my web pages I’m talking starter classics, NOT exotica. There is an infinite number of classic models on the market today, with an infinite range of values. I tend to collect at the lower end of the top 100, mainly because I don’t have “oodles” of money, but also because I like the challenge and the therapeutic nature of the restoration work. So, I’m talking about affordable classics for the likes of you and me - people having a limited budget, but who have the time, inclination and basic facilities to have a go. The links below will take you to some of my observations on individual makes:
BMW
Mercedes Benz
Jaguar
LandRover
RangeRover
Citroen
Saab
What’s my favourite make?
Any pre-war Riley, which was another car ahead of its day, renowned for
eating MGs. Riley, the car with hemispherical combustion chambers, automatic
lubrication all round (even the prop shaft UJs), manual advance and retard,
automatic gear boxes (well almost) and pneumatic seat cushions, (you could
blow up the “bladders”, or let ‘em out). The Riley didn’t
need a water pump (the system thermo siphoned), had twin camshafts, no
drive belts to break, no chains to wear (the racing wags used to notch
the cam gears round to get more power), twin SUs and cruise control (sort
of) for motorway driving (that’s what it said in all of my handbooks).
You could move the steering wheel hand throttle to maintain any speed
you wanted, and with the Wilson pre-selector gearbox it was easy to be
an “advanced” driver.
I remember driving a 1936 Merlin at 70mph down the M50 in the early ‘60s,
wondering what the vibration was. It turned out to be the crank shaft
whipping. Nobody told me they didn’t have a centre main bearing
!! Stockport to Gloucester in under 4hrs, and no M6. Those were the days,
and those were he cars