Classic Car Buyer Magazine Issue 193: British bargains Back Issue

L ooking back on my
earliest years of
motoring I can now
say with hindsight that I
have been extremely lucky.
Not in terms of my first
car; no, unfortunately I’m
not one of those classic
car fans that comes from a
family of dyed-in-the-wool
enthusiasts, and while I’m
sure my parents meant
well in picking out for me
an almost brand-new at
the time Vauxhall Corsa as
my first motor, I would’ve
much preferred something
like the Triumph Toledo I’m
pottering about in today.
No, when I say I’m lucky,
I mean that my extremely
generous parents footed
the bill for my first three
years’ worth of insurance
premiums.
Insuring a car was an
expensive business for
a young driver ten years
ago – never mind today –
and one which, as you’ll
discover on page five of
this week’s issue, is one
that is keeping more and
more younger drivers from
driving at all.
The plight of the
younger driver is one
that I should identify with
but don’t – as I said, I’ve
been been very lucky –
but it’s encouraging to
learn nonetheless that
the classic car movement
can be a force for good
in terms of getting
youngsters motoring.
Of course, it’s not
just younger classic car
owners that have to keep
an eye on the pennies;
all enthusiasts are being
affected by the rising
value of classic cars in
general. You’ll see in this
week’s extensive five-page
coverage of what’s going
on in the auctions world
that sales in America
last month resulted in no
less than 50 records for
prices of cars sold broken,
not least with a Ferrari
275GTB/42 fetching an
eye-watering £17.6m
and becoming the most
valuable road car ever
sold under the hammer in
the process. That’s why in
this week’s news pages
you’ll also find details
of some of the most
affordable British classics
you can buy today, from a
’Sixties Morris Minor 1000
to a ’Seventies Austin
Maxi and an ’Eighties
Ford Cortina.