Posts Tagged ‘british’

Cheap Auntie – 1957 Rover P4 90

April 21, 2011

Not only is this the oldest car featured here, I believe, but it is also arguably the most elegant. Featuring a beautiful chrome waterfall grill, all-wood dash, and leather interior, it’s quite a luxurious vehicle that has some of the features people most strongly associate with British luxury sedans. No doubt it also smells like a 50-year-old British car: oil, fuel, leather, and who knows what other chemicals.

This particular car appears to be a top of the line model originally sold in New Zealand, judging by the front plate. The 2.6-liter six-cylinder engine puts out 90hp and pulls the car to a top speed of around 90mph. Even better, 0-60 took an epic 19 seconds. What the heck was that car geared for? Any modern 90-hp car will better that – I’d even wager my 83hp Lancia Beta is quicker. Back to the car, it’s also finished in an elegant silver/black two-tone paint job. You can find it for $2900 in Monterey, CA.

1957 Rover P4 90 front left

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WRX Wannabe – 1974 Ford Capri

January 2, 2011

As long as people have been driving old cars, they’ve been updating them to match contemporary trends. That’s how you get 1950s sports cars in beautiful brown with shag carpet and vinyl seats. And it seems that, love it or hate it, the recent interest in “patina”, even if that means worn around the edges, we’ve started realizing that in the long run, putting shag and brown paint on your car is not worth the effort. So it’s weird when you see WRX blue on a classic car, even if it does kind of work on some of the 1970s designs. Find our car in eastern Oregon for $900.

Ford Capri right rear

That said, given this car already has what it’s got, I’d say go all out and find some 1970s wheels… gold mesh wheels so you’re going with that blue/gold theme, but keeping it period. The Rostyle wheels are actually pretty cool on this car, but once you’ve updated the paint, keeping the other stuff the same is not the greatest option. The good news is, the bolt pattern cross references to old Alfas and probably other Fords, so you’ve got a ready choice of good wheels if you can’t find one from another old Capri.

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Topless British Fun For Four – 1962 Triumph Herald 6

May 9, 2010

Not as scandalous as it sounds… Britain of the early sixties wouldn’t have stood for that! Ever since I was a kid, I dreamed of a 4-seat convertible so my family and I could go out with the top down, so 4-place convertibles have always held a special appeal for me. Besides being an interesting car as it is, the Herald convertible is a 4-seater with a good-size trunk, just right for taking the family away for a weekend in the Gold Country.

The only problem with taking a Triumph Herald out with a load of luggage and people is that there’s only 39 horsepower to get them there. Luckily, someone else thought of this problem before you did, and decided the best way to resolve the problem was to install the engine from the GT6, creating the Vitesse. Then, someone else who couldn’t get their hands on a Vitesse decided a good idea would be to do it themselves. That brings us to this car, for sale in the East Bay Area near San Francisco, CA for $3000.

1962 Triumph Herald 6 left

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