1969 sunbeam rapier £11,950

If it hadn’t been for a keen online rival bidder, you would now be reading about how I’d just bought a Renault Avantime and how I was embarking on an ill-judged foray into weird French car ownership.

Before I could see it, I heard it. The venue was Boughton House, a summer weekend car meet in the beautiful, manicured grounds of this Northamptonshire stately home, built originally in the 17th Centu

Power/engine size: 118bhp/1.8 litre Engine/gearbox: V6/four-speed manual 0-60/top speed: 11.5 seconds/115mph Price new: £3,173 price now: from £750,000-£1m I'VE had a model of the Lancia Aurelia for m

The classics you love, drive and restore

It all started with Jean Rédélé razzing around in his Renault 4CV. The youngest Renault dealer in France following WW2, Rédélé cut his teeth – metaphorically, but perhaps also those of the transmissio

1971 Holden Monaro GTS Alastair Watson AUSTRALIA WAS NEVER a major car exporter and, when it did venture into overseas markets, it was usually to other right-hand-drive countries such as New Zealand a