Classic emails, letters, tweets, posts & threads
More than just an investment
EMAIL OF THE MONTH
It was great pleasure to meet the Practical Classics team on your recent ‘Britain’s Favourite Classic Charity’ run. I suppose I am a rarity, owning a classic car I bought new 54 years ago. Perhaps even rarer still, having sold it and bought it back! I attended the MGB birthday celebrations – MGB 60 at Gaydon – which ended up being a round trip of 384 miles. It was a reminder as to how these cars can hold their own in modern traffic, and the turnout at the event shows how popular and cherished they still are.
In 1950, my father bought a 1938 Vauxhall 14 DX. The work I did on the DX set me up for a life working on my own cars including the MGB. I designed and made a new dashboard for it.
I have been a PC reader for many years and I particularly like your down to earth approach to classic and potential classics as cars to be enjoyed, not just as investments. I also like and appreciate that you all like to get out on the road when you can and meet us classic car enthusiasts.
TRAINSPOTTING
The Memory Lane picture in your October issue looked awfully familiar to me, so I dug out my old notebooks and sure enough, I must have been standing close to the photographer! My silver Mini City E (A735 WUK) was also in the car park somewhere! My notes showed that I photographed that train at Dawlish Warren at 17:14 (it was due at 16:26) and then I hoofed it to Okehampton (in those days quietly untouched since the end of passenger services over a decade earlier) to catch the train rumbling into the station at 18:16.
Getting in the frame
As a long time reader (almost 40 years) of PC I’ve never felt the need to get in touch, but Danny’s Saga (PC, October) and the mention of his grandfather’s career really fascinated me. So much so, I went on to research his career and how it impacted on my own work as a camera operator. If I’m not using a zoom lens then I’m using primes, often made by Cooke in Leicester who grew out of Taylor Hobson. They do amazing factory tours by the way; you can watch lenses being ground by fabulous, almost Heath Robinson-esque, machines. Well worth a visit for anyone interested in optics and engineering.
Quick posts
We’ve got an Up GTI – it’s like owning a Golf MkI GTI where everything works!
My Abarth 595 is an inexpensive pocket rocket not crammed with tech.
All cars will become classics. My nan and grandad don’t see my WWII Jeep as a classic, while my parents don’t see my Morris Minor as a classic. It's just an age thing!
I think the new Alpine A110 is a surefire classic.
Up GTI for sure, we have had two, cracking fun.
I can’t wait to see how long these modern heavy crossovers last, with teeny, sma
