The Magazine

This Saturday: opening of 'The Vault'!

Little chance you missed our earlier report 'Trash or Treasure' about the two garages that not have been opened in 20+ years. From all requests that came in there was one from a three generation vintage car family. They accompanied their e-mail with the charming motivation above. Both garage owner 'Pete' and your editor felt that these were exact the candidates we were looking for. An agreement was made and this Saturday the opening of the doors will happen in presence of PreWarCar. We understand Discovery TV has heard of the rumour, so anything can happen from now. In the meantime 'Pete' is keeping an eye on the garages to make sure the location is still in 'virgin' condition on Saturday morning. Whatever comes out - two rusted lawn mowers or slightly better - what a thrill! No sleep until then!

Thursday, 23 May 2013

Steady Barker now also steady on DVD

Ronald 'Steady' Barker is one of the UK's leading old car enthusiasts and a highly respected motoring journalist, in a career that has spanned 6 decades he has brought his inimitable brand of sparkling wit and technical insight to some of the most respected automotive journals, beginning in the 1950s at The Autocar and now as a regular contributor to The Automobile. Steady is cut from the same cloth as such luminaries as Jenks, Boddy and Setright, a generation of writers who valued wit, wisdom and a jolly good read over the drier, by-the-numbers style of some of their contemporaries.
His skill as a raconteur and his infectious enthusiasm for the subject matter come through in every word he's written. Now in his 94th year, Steady remains an active part of the old car scene, his passion for the great cars of the vintage era increasing, rather than diminishing with age. The Automobile magazine have seen fit to honour the great man's life with an in-depth interview with him in their latest issue, and also a specially commissioned filmed biography, Holding Steady, a celebration not just of Steady's incredible contribution to the fine art of motoring journalism, but as a true Great British individual in the best tradition. You can see a clip from the film and find out how to purchase a copy on The Automobile's website.

Wednesday, 22 May 2013

A Franklin V-screen mystery (upd.: Wind Splitter Sedan)

Larry from the US recently found this 1922 Franklin model 10A with a sedan body carrying a rare V-screen windshield. Before starting a restoration he would like to know what he has. So far he has found no makers badge and the Franklin website only informed him that his Series 10A is one of 2,630 made in 1922. So far he has not been successfull in identifying this interesting body. Does anybody out there know who made it? UPDATE by editor: we get several e-mails of people advising Larry not to invest in a deep restoration, but to preserve as good as possible what's there. It took the car 91 years to look like this. It's is easy to destroy that in two weeks time. So make it run, make it usable, but don't paint it. This car running but still in its current guise will be the sensation of any show.

Tuesday, 21 May 2013

Here's another gas saver!

It's so thirsty that you won't drive it a lot... This car was built by father and son team Clive & Bruce Woolley in South Africa. It has a Liberty V12 tank engine of 27 liters fitted into a Rolls Royce  20/25 chassis. It took about four years to build. There are several videos on YouTube under "Liberty V12". One can wonder what the sense or nonsense is of building machinery like this. But one can imagine that it is big fun to overcome the challenges involved. We often hear that tuning down the 27 litre monster and getting a  gearbox/final drive to balance with the dinosaur torque is one of the biggest problems.

Monday, 20 May 2013