Classic Cars (UK)

CAR DESIGNER vs MIURA

Lotus-jaguar-gm style ace Julian Thomson gives his verdict

12 deliciously risky buys tipped for you

Welcome

It was a busy week for classic motoring conferences. Tuesday saw me pointing the Boxster at Coventry where JLR Classic hosted the Historic and Classic Vehicle Alliance for its latest Heritage Matters day. Four days later I took the E-type to the...

SHADOW AT 60

Best-looking BMW How to buy the ’90s techno-marvel without getting burnt From caravan hauler to rally weapon – an Avenger Tiger’s hectic life journey Forgotten 1979 Tokyo Show highlights found in vault of archive pictures

BUYS OF 2026

PLUS ‘The one car I should never have bought…’

Welcome

Like music artists, some cars manage the precarious balancing act of being both cool and having popular appeal from the moment they’re launched, and somehow hang onto both while most peers slide through dulled novelty via so-what to ugh-really? life...

Welcome

Ever met an F1 driver at ground level? They’re not as big as they look when perched atop the podium are they? Because, like all components of the car, they need to be as lean and light as possible without breaking during the race. Weight is the enemy...

Welcome

Received wisdom states everything went wrong in the Seventies, and certainly, come the middle of the decade – glam rock, Monty Python and Space Hoppers aside – the UK was looking pretty bleak. By 1975, inflation passed 24 per cent, unemployment topped...

Welcome

It’s 1963 – in a couple of years you’ll need something sensible with four seats to cope with the inevitable kids, but for now you’re in a sweet spot with nicely burgeoning earnings and the chance to trade up from the rust-riddled MGA to one of those...

Welcome

Since my early forays into car ownership, surviving on a mixture of student grant and holiday jobs, rolling the value of any current car into the next has been critical to make the maths work. Maybe more by luck than judgement, most of the...

Welcome

Surely the cheapest, not to mention the quickest, route to owning a pristine classic is to invest time in hunting down an example of your favoured model that some other brave soul has already burned their money, time and angst on? It’s certainly sound,...

Classic Cars COOL BRITANNIA

Our pick of the swaggering 1990s best from • Aston • TVR • Lotus • Rover • Jaguar

V8 MOVERS AND GROUND SHAKERS

REVEALED WHAT THEY’RE REALLY LIKE TO OWN

Welcome

Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Amazon, Google, Facebook, Tim Bernerslee… they top a list of names that spark worship, bitter resentment or mannered respect. Their cause célèbre – they spotted a better way to do something that was ticking along quite happily...

Welcome

If we just wanted to accelerate faster, corner harder, brake more powerfully and enjoy greater comfort, reliability and fuel efficiency, we’d all be driving modern cars, right? But the secret we all share is our appreciation of motoring dimensions...

PLUS

We evaluate an ex-mansell Ferrari dealership Testarossa you can buy Alex Riley tests the weird TR7 Tracer Reader reacts to Alfa 1750GTV drive

CLASSICS TO BUY IN 2025

‘It’s a happy car!’ We put an Aston owner in an MGB GT for the day Consul Capri GT, Jensen 541 and the Neale brothers’ design story - PLUS unseen archive images How to buy a breathtakingly good Peugeot 405 for £3k Four cars for sale tested

Welcome

Luxury. An interior swathed in wood, leather and plush carpets? Or is that clichéd triumvirate just an expedient trick to fool buyers with superficial finish? Certainly, I’ve driven too many such cars but with a driving position lacking adequate...

Welcome

Way back when I joined Classic Cars in January 2000, the fact that you could buy a smart, usable Porsche 911 for £10k was a source of endless fascination for journalists like me. The object of our desire, and a fair few magazine features, was the...

Welcome

You’ve got Rolls-royce ideas on a pushbike income,’ a phrase I haven’t been hit with for a long time. I think the last occasion when it stung my ears was when I dared to entertain notions of one day buying a Seventies Aston V8, at a time when dubious...

Welcome

When I spotted the 8.8-litre Mclaren M8E of Warren Briggs in the Goodwood Members’ Meeting paddock, I had to stop for a chat. I was bemused by his description of how user-friendly this 950bhp beast was. How many of us would try a standard 850bhp Can-am...