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FORGOTTEN HEROES THIS WEEK p2-8 OUT & ABOUT p14-15 LIVING WITH CLASSICS p22-23 BUYING & SELLING p26-40 CLASSIFIEDS p42-61
FUZZ’S UNDER THE
RADAR FAVOURITES
Fuzz Townshend is keen on
looking after the elderly and
would like you to consider
the joys of 1930s to mid-
1950s car ownership
HILLMAN HUSKY
1953-1956
WHAT TO PAY £4000-£12,000 FOR
A VERY LUCKY USABLE FIND IN NEED
OF TYRES AND A SERVICE, TO A SHOW
PONY DODGING THE ‘SLAMMING’ CREW
Hillman’s early Husky is now a rare sight on
British roads. It’s almost van-like dimensions
reveal that it is just that – a van-derived
(almost) estate car. Largely unloved and
ignored for decades, they are beginning to
appeal to a new generation of owners who
can see the retromodding potential of these
rather cute little cars. However they rot
faster than they drive so look for an honest
example. Anything restored in the 1970s can
be expected to be covered in nasty cellulose
paint and full of chicken wire, filler and period
rolled newspaper. If you can find one, expect
to have to take on some restoration work.
FUZZ’S TOP TIP Broaden your search
and consider a 1950s Hillman Minx, for
which you’ll struggle to pay more than £5k.
CITROËN 2CV 1948-1959 & BEYOND
WHAT TO PAY £5000-£25,000 FOR DELIGHTFUL USABLE BUT ROPEY EARLY
EXAMPLES TO GLEAMING, RESTORED CARS
ROVER P4 1949-64
WHAT TO PAY £5000-£12,000 FOR
SAGGING BUT SERVICEABLE TO ‘HOW THE
MIGHTY HAVE FALLEN’ SHOW PONY
It seems such a travesty that the Rover P4 has been
kicked out of the classic car world’s bed. After
all it’s a sexy beast, in a wearing-flannel pyjamaswith-the-lights-off
kind of way. This potted history
of well-respected 1950s middle England may
have fallen from collective memory but it packs a
specification punch, most having six-cylinder power
and easy dual carriageway cruising capabilities.
Rarely fitted with seatbelts, it might be this one
drawback that has caused this relatively high-speed
car to fall so far from favour into the has-been skip.
That and its complex construction and propensity
to rust. But with good examples struggling to crest
double figures, it would be rude not to have one.
FUZZ’S TOP TIP Make sure that you get a
good look underneath before you buy. Neatlooking
cars can hide horrors.
T
here is still a forgotten underclass
of fabulous cars, even now. Cars
driven by heroes and heroines of
conflicts international, with back
seats populated by supposedly well-behaved
and beautifully turned-out children who
minded their Ps and Qs, and never used Bs,
or Fs for that matter. Cars that came in
muted, often two-tone hues, nothing too
brash (what would the neighbours think?),
with sumptuous leather or perhaps Rexine
upholstery stuffed with horsehair or
Dunlopillo. Cars that blended the aromas of
oil, wood, petrol and natural fibres with the
mellifluous tunes of singing gears and
slow-revving engines chuffing their spent
fumes through peashooter exhaust pipes.
They are the largely aerodynamically- and
velocity-challenged cars of the 1930s to
mid 1950s, now sadly losing their owners to
old age, but offering nothing less than time
travel to those adventurous enough to fully
embrace some of the motoring past’s most
beautiful moments.
AUSTIN 10 CHAMPIONED P20
Should you feel the need to transport trays of eggs,
a pig and your family across a dry, ploughed field
then the Deux Cheveaux has been designed to meet
your needs. It will also provide parsimonious passage
through towns and cities. Thin doors almost flap to
a close and a thoughtful someone always seems to
have set up some deckchairs inside. Early corrugated
panelled cars offer the greatest delight, with ‘look
again’ French supermodel appeal and a slightly
wheezy 425cc twin cylinder engine struggling with
the load, like a flyweight boxer carrying a donkey up
a steep hill. Drive one, bring one home and be ‘that’
family that everyone wants to be in.
FUZZ’S TOP TIP Try before you buy. Hire a 2CV
for a weekend and get to know what to expect
from a ‘Tin Snail’.
MG TD 1949-53
WHAT TO PAY £15,000-£25,000 FOR AN
IMPROVABLE RUNNER TO A SHINY, ALL
WORK DONE EXAMPLE
Here is a snapshot of the later versions of MG’s
two-seater ‘T’ range, which found a perhaps
surprising following in the USA in post-war years,
with earlier types having turned the heads of many
American service people during WW2. Again,
today’s prospective purchasers can benefit from
time and money invested by 1980s-1990s owners,
alas now in their 80s and 90s and standing down
from driving and caring for these machines. If you
buy direct from these owners, do please sit down
with them and take time to record their notes
on and memories of the car, as you will acquire a
bonus bounty of around 50 years of history.
FUZZ’S TOP TIP You might like to try before
you buy if you’re over 5ft 9in because these cars
weren’t intended for today’s well-fed giants.
CITROËN TRACTION AVANT 1934-1957
WHAT TO PAY £10,000 TO £18,000 FOR CAREWORN BUT STURDY, TO UNCOMFORTABLY SHINY
Almost too technically advanced for much of its time
in production, what was the epitome of classic cool
in the 1970s is now to be found slipping from beneath
hopelessly optimistic price tags into a land devoid of
‘Disque Bleu’ smoking, Trilby- and gaberdine-wearing
Francophiles. Low slung, with a rolling gate like that of
a dachshund on roller skates, they conquer cobbles
with independently sprung majesty, their human
content suspended almost hammock-like between
the grimy workings of each axle. If you drive your
newly acquired Traction Avant to France, you may
find yourself making friends. Take a Slough-built RHD
version and you will blow minds.
FUZZ’S TOP TIP Top money would buy only
around 300 hours of cheap restoration time, so
bag a belter and avoid the welder.
WOLSELEY 6/80
1948-54
WHAT TO PAY £4000 -£11,000 FOR A
DRIVABLE 1970S RESTORATION TO A
SPLENDIDLY PRESERVED SURVIVOR
The Wolseley 6/80 is often portrayed as a police car
in 1950s films and TV series but please forget these
black-liveried brutes and look for examples in green,
or red because such colours soften the repressed
British splendour of these upmarket machines. They
are often gifted with matching interiors that then
present as optimistic early post-war living rooms on
wheels. The six-pot engines are smooth but gas flow is
appalling so don’t expect to hurry them along. Finding
parts might be interesting so if you see it, buy it.
FUZZ’S TOP TIP Unless you are a panel beating
and welding saviour, buy a brilliant example, use it
and let people see your wonderful machine.
RILEY 9 KESTREL
1933-36
WHAT TO PAY £15,000-£25,000
FOR GOOD USABLE TO EXCELLENT
EXAMPLES
To own a Riley 9 ‘Kestrel’ is to own an Art Deco
masterpiece. Developing surprising power from its
twin cam (yes) hemi (yes again) 1087cc four-cylinder
engine, the lightweight, fastback, four light (side
windows) Kestrel is a treat. With surprisingly efficient
cable brakes and gearboxes ranging from earlier ‘silent
third’ and later ‘all helical’ manuals to the sublime
semi-automatic ‘pre-select’ types, these cars are
fun-sized mechanical magnificence and a tinkerer’s
paradise. Watch out for ill fitting doors, which could
be a sign that all is not well with the structure. All
come with great club support… if you join.
FUZZ’S TOP TIP Try to buy a car with an original
interior for the true splendour of a 1930s Riley.
FORD MODEL A
1927-31
WHAT TO PAY £12,000-£25,000 FOR
ECCENTRICALLY MOTH-EATEN BUT USABLE
TO SHINY, SLIGHTLY SPIVISH EXAMPLES
At the tail end of the vintage era we encounter the
brutish Model A. Available with many body styles,
from pick-up truck to doctor’s coupé and six-light
‘Tudor’ saloon, the A represents an interesting niche in
British motoring history, in that a production line was
set up at Trafford Park, Manchester. RHD examples
are available but less numerous than LHD overseasbuilt
models and often fitted with a two-litre engine,
rather than the grunty 3.3-litre. They’re robust but you
can detect Ford’s parsimony creeping in.
FUZZ’S TOP TIP
Don’t be afraid to sample LHD examples.
Accommodation at the front is so narrow that the
driving position feels quite central.
BENTLEY STANDARD STEEL
SALOON 1946-1952
WHAT TO PAY £20,000-£25,000 FOR DOWN-AT-HEEL BUT WITH EVIDENCE OF
RECENT PRO SERVICING, TO PRESENTABLE, NON-CONCOURS EXAMPLES
If you enjoy throwing caution to the wind and aren’t
fazed by – indeed positively relishes –the challenges
brought to bear by the purchase of a wrong ‘un, then
you might just be about to step into the world of
faded luxury. Imagine yourself the inheritor of such a
vehicle from a dear departed aunt, stick a towbar on
it and attach a classic caravan. Suddenly you and your
family are fully equipped to make some tremendous
memories. The photos will be amazing.
FUZZ’S TOP TIP Look for a car with good
service history, but with compromised, faded or
over buffed paintwork for best value.
MORRIS 8 1934-39
WHAT TO PAY £1500-£6000 FOR ONE
NEEDING A BASIC SERVICE AND NEW TYRES,
TO A SHINY AND MUCH LOVED EXAMPLE
SADLY NOW LOOKING FOR A NEW OWNER
Morris’s response to Austin’s all-conquering ‘Seven’
was the – ahem – ‘Eight.’ Bigger than the A7 (Austin
responded with the ‘Big 7’), the M8 was always seen
as a small family car. With little in the way of sporting
pretensions, mollycoddled survivors tend to have
been owned by enthusiasts re-connecting with their
younger days, as privileged passengers or as student
owners. Thus these cars are crying out for new
caretakers. Simple to live with, they’re neither quick
nor commodious but they should still sport little
‘budgie’ mirrors at the top corners of the windscreen
as telltale devices for the semaphore indicators.
FUZZ’S TOP TIP Values are low, so buy the
best you can. They’re easy to live with, simple, and
would be a hoot in 20mph and ULEZ areas.
18 | CLASSIC CAR WEEKLY Wednesday 28 February 2024 Wednesday 28 February 2024 CLASSIC CAR WEEKLY | 19