And it’s for sale in Pennsylvania.

By: Christopher Smith

Image: motor1.com

For real petrol heads, the problem with going electric has often been an unwillingness to give up on style and performance for environmental reasons. But for Richard Morgan, founder of the UK’s first classic car conversion company, Electric Classic Cars, there is no longer a reason to make that choice.

Image: Electric Classic Cars/Mercury PR

It was advertised as Hammond’s old car by the dealer, so imagine the scene when he called.

In his line as an automotive journalist and a celebrity host, Richard Hammond has owned several cars in the past. The least tall of the Grand Tour trio has a huge appetite for classic cars, so it’s understandable if the list of cars he’s owned before includes many old ones.

Image: uk.motor1.com

WHEN Jonathan found this Jaguar E-Type it was in very bad shape. He predicts it hadn’t been used for 30 years; not much was worth restoring but he saved the original engine and tub.

ECD 400 was one of the first E-Types ever produced and has a rich racing pedigree

Image: Coventry Live

The Jaguar V12 engine is not known for its frugality, and lugging around an 1800kg car makes it worse. Absolute best case (50mph on a motorway) might just tip over 20mpg. Around country roads one might expect 16mpg and in town rather less than that.

The 3.6 & 4.0 litre 6 cylinder engines are quite a lot better, especially the manual gearbox cars, and getting over 35mpg on a motorway is not a big feat, and in town 20mpg is normal.

The V12 suffers from inherently poor consumption, and this is mostly due to the friction of 12 cylinders rubbing up and down the bores, and all the extra cam gear, though note that with 4 valves per cylinder, the 6 cylinder engines have the same number of valves as the V12.

In addition, the V12 is a 1960’s design and does not benefit from modern design and manufacturing improvements such as variable valve timing

After a two-year hiatus, dozens of Jaguar enthusiasts from all over Grampian will once again be bringing their big cats to Drum Castle on Deeside on Sunday, July 31 for one of the region’s biggest car shows, between noon and 4pm.

Image: The Scotsman

Prices in classic-car markets are starting to look frothy

Stocks have had a rotten time of late. Collectables, on the other hand, have soldiered on. Sales results from the big three auction houses (Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips) have thus far been robust. The same is true for classic-car auctions. Several cars fetched six-figure sums at Bonhams’s Goodwood Festival of Speed sale at the end of June.

Image: © Mercedes Benz

Jaguar has completed production of its first C-Type Continuation car, ahead of delivery to a very fortunate customer. Painstaking research and development by Jaguar Classic has led to a beautifully faithful recreation of the 1950s racing car. 

Image: City A.M.