I do believe when an acorn fell on the head of Chicken Lickin she sought out Henny Penny and the two of them marched off to tell the King that the sky was falling down! Well it seems the mighty Oak itself has fallen upon the whole classic car scene and the sky has not only fallen down but devastated the market.
There is virtually no interest in the pre-war market and little interest in the post market scenario. At the recent Iconic Auctions held at the Silverstone Classic weekend someone bagged a bargain:-
https://www.iconicauctioneers.com/1963-daimler-dart-sp250-rec13834-1-silverston-0824?pn=1&el=23608&pp=100 This is an excellent SP that had been very well restored a few years back and would have commanded a price tag around the £55/- to £60/- range even 18 months ago.
Not too sure if it’s a repercussion of the early 1990s when the entire market collapsed as did many Classic Car Dealers, which in time drove them into the – sell on a consignment/brokerage basis – thereby exposing them to neither capital outlay nor risk. The downside to this many classic cars are being offered by the ‘brokerage’ trade at not the ‘current market’ rate or inflated prices if you prefer. The upside is that enthusiasts are more able to enjoy this current phenomenon.
The only exceptions and there is always a rule – are Fords, these are still currently being highly sought after. So it seems as I wrote last month that Boreham Motorworks https://borehammotorworks.com/ had carried out they research exceedingly well – mind you again clever marketing with their Acronym/Initalism – BMW, let’s let the legal beavers sort that one out!
And whilst we have Ford on the brain they have announced no more EV manufacturing – no demand, in other words the US dealer network is full to the gunwales with EVs. And as always the customer base rows the boat! Whilst over in Germany VW is contemplating closing/moving its manufacturing base elsewhere as they cannot compete with the Chinese, whose automotive industry is barely 50 years old!
These EV wallahs keep on harking on how environmentally friendly their EVs are, but have remained under the covers when it was announced that Tesla were to cut down some 500,000 trees – half a million – to establish a lithium battery complex in Germany – the old saying ‘do as I say not as I do’ springs to mind. Bear in mind Musk is re-inventing the ‘wheel’ with Tesla as a born again AI packaged product – more money in technology than car manufacturing. When I was young AI meant artificial insemination, nowadays it has a similar meaning – one still gets stuffed!
Better get back to the job in hand and discuss SPs, hidden deep in the Leicestershire countryside is the Stonehusrtfarm and automobile museum https://stonehurstfarm.co.uk/visit-us/ and within lies an SP250 with the registration 422 LOV. It has been in the Duffin family who farm and run the museum for some 60 years. It’s an ideal place to meet up for an early farmhouse breakfast and later meander through its car collection.
With the proliferation of E10 fuels adoring the forecourts it’s wise to take whatever precaution one can, one such using fuel additives which help neutralise the fuel : https://classicvalvemaster.co.uk/e10 whilst Nick James has sought out https://www.adr-engineering.co.uk/car-parts/667/Classic/Carburettors-Fuel-Systems/SU%20Carburettor%20Float%20Uprated%20HD6-HD8/ to help future proof his SP. Makes excellent sense and the float is puncture proof , and as the saying goes – every little helps.
The SP250 comes in at number 19 on this French listing of 20 cars that are almost awesome; – 20 voitures classiques presque géniales (msn.com) I’ll leave it to you to translate unless you are a French reader.
I would expect by now that some 60% of SPs would have had handbrake failure, many caused by overzealous MoT testers/mechanics not knowing what a fly-off hand brake is, they keep wrenching it until it has broken . Sorry Mister it came off in my hand, then have the nerve to hand you a failure certificate! Have no worries as a knight in shining armour, Christian Demler in Germany, rides to the rescue as he is manufacturing that elusive handbrake – complete with ratchet to a far superior standard. Christian is also making the oil pressure gauges in both 0-60 and 0 –100 lbs range and also speedometer in Kilometres. Christian’s details are in pasSPort
A recent Freedom of Information request has shown that there are about 340,000 classic cars registered by the DVLA this I thought was somewhat on the low side given the size of the restoration businesses and its allied supporting concerns.
As this newsletter goes to press so The Goodwood Revival kicks off also this weekend 6-8 September https://www.goodwood.com/grr/event-coverage/goodwood-revival/2024-goodwood-revival-race-list/ .
John & Pat Marr will be hosting a Daimler stand at this years’ Kop Hill Hill Climb on Saturday 14th September only, use this link to book https://booking.kophillclimb.org.uk/affiliation/23-07-11-52488/daimler-lanchester-owners-club or if it’s your intention to go on Sunday 15th then please use the standard booking link. https://booking.kophillclimb.org.uk
This same weekend of the 14/15th of this month sees the Beaulieu Autojumble https://www.beaulieu.co.uk/events/international-autojumble/
Castle Coombe has its Autumn Classic weekend on the 21- 22 September see:-
https://castlecombecircuit.co.uk/autumn-classic-historical-racing-festival/
We will be at the NEC as usual this year 8-10 Nov we are in Hall 2 stand 760 displaying at least 4 SPs. The discounted ticket code is CCCNOVC323 ticket information link:- www.necclassicmotorshow.com/ticket-information the 2025 SP250 Calendars will be on sale – pre-book with Alan Mason soaring.ace@btinternet.com
Wanted: a rear axle complete (Welsh borders) and also the right hand inner door mechanism (Essex)
And finally…………. Most people have a Bar-b-que on their terrace – not so Robert Logan in Pennsylvania whose restoring his SP from the chassis up or body down, we are with you all the way Bob.
Thought for the day:
Grandchildren don’t make a man feel old; it’s the knowledge he is married to a grandmother
