THE CLASSICS YOU LOVE DRIVE AND RESTORE
‘It was way too special for banger racing’
1973 Vauxhall Victor FE 2300 SL Colin ‘Lofty’ Lyford, Cambridgeshire
This had been sitting in a yard awaiting a gruesome death on a banger track, but I don’t think the guy really wanted to race it. He knew that it’s an extraordinarily rare model, being an automatic, and it only had one previous owner.
It was delivered to me last year and I spent the summer bringing it all up to scratch, so I know for a fact that it’s really solid. I went through all the suspension and the brakes (the original factory brake pipes are still good!) but the engine still needs a bit of fettling. For its first 25 years, all it really did was a trip every summer towing a caravan, so there’s only 95,000 miles on the clock, all genuine. I found the original dealer’s tax disc holder in the glove box so I know it was originally sold in Stanford-Le-Hope and spent all its life in Essex – Ford territory! It’s got the dealer-fitted tow bar and spring helpers, but inside the only option is the radio; no clock, fag lighter or anything.
I think the original owner took good care of it. It’s had a few bangs and dents, but I love it looking like this, I really do. I can’t decide whether to smarten it up or not!
‘There’s a bit of a saga here’
1992 Toyota MR2 Egil Jones, North Yorkshire
I originally bought my MR2 from a friend at work, who’d parked it up for years after it failed its MOT because of rust. I spent a lot of time rebuilding it and then drove it around for a while, but I kept having problems with the original engine – that’s when I decided to fit a 3.0-litre V6 from a Lexus RX300. It’s a really good fit.
It had a little appearance in PC after that, but then I had an accident with it, so I started rebuilding everything from the front bulkhead forwards. That soon progressed into an entire chassis rebuild – every nut and bolt came apart.
I love everything about this car, but I’d have to say the engine is the best part of it. I drive it every day and it takes me on longer journeys too. It recently had a 3500-mile trip to Norway and back – it just doesn’t miss a beat.
‘It’s the last car I ever want’
2005 Morgan Aero 8 Adrian Griffin, Buckinghamshire
I first got into Morgans around 2001 with an old 1600 4/4 with the Crossflow engine. I had it for about 15 years and it was lovely, but when Morgan launched this, it was my dream car. It took a few years for
