Fancy owning a classic Rolls-Royce or Bentley for the price of a brand-new Dacia budget family runaround? It is certainly possible if you have nerves of steel and are prepared to take a punt.
Scan the adverts on sites such as autotrader.co.uk and you’ll see such treasures really do exist for less than £20,000. I spotted a 1997 6.8-litre Bentley Brooklands for £15,990 and a 1995 model for £15,290, against a new Dacia Jogger at £17,145 and a base Dacia Duster from £15,795.
Some classics are even on sale at less than £10,000, with one 1977 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow on at £5,995 and another for £6,750.
Former Top Gear presenter James May bought a 15 mpg Bentley T2 for £14,000 or ‘a Bentley for Mondeo money’, quipping that his service mechanic ‘buys his overalls from Gucci’.
Of course, it will be a case of ‘buyer beware’ and you won’t have the joy and security of owning a brand new car — or warranty. Apart from the fuel bills and costs involved in keeping them roadworthy or restoring them, can you source the necessary spare parts?
Big value: Classics such as this Bentley Brooklands from 1997 can be cheaper than a new Dacia, inset
A specialist firm called Flying Spares (flyingspares.com) exists to help you do that.
Set up from a portable building in 1995 by Ben and Lucy Handford, it claims to be the world’s largest independent supplier of new, recycled and reconditioned Rolls-Royce and Bentley parts, employing more than 50 people at a 30,000 sq ft facility operating 24/7 and distributing globally.
Based in Market Bosworth, Leics, its motto is ‘Recycle to Preserve’.
Flying Spares director Neil Arman said: ‘I recall Ben told me years ago — by dismantling one wrecked Rolls-Royce or Bentley, we keep another six on the road.’
Mr Arman explained: ‘Rolls-Royce and Bentley enthusiasts are perfectionists. They want genuine, same-model nuts and bolts, never mind grilles and mascots. As such, every heritage part is valuable. The rarer the better, so we invest in the best people and equipment to fill our shelves with them.’
New book charts history of Vauxhall
Many families have had one. Ours was a Viva. Indeed we had two — and one became my hand-me-down first-ever car.
Now Vauxhall fan Trevor Alder has chronicled the British marque’s vehicles from 1945 to 1995 in a new pictorial history.
Publisher Veloce said: ‘This really is the ‘go-to’ publication if you need to compare your Vivas, Victors, Ventoras or Viceroys. It’s a trip down memory lane.’
Memory lane: The book includes line drawings, black- and-white plus colour period photographs, together with interior detail
The book includes line drawings, black- and-white plus colour period photographs, together with interior detail.
It covers all models and derivatives, limited editions, such as the 1982 Astra EXP (left), plus a section on motor sport achievements, with a comprehensive index. Also chronicled are TV and film appearances, advertising slogans, specifications and build figures.
Vauxhall Cars — 1945 to 1995 (£19.99, veloce.co.uk).
Call to ban electric e-scooters
‘Dangerous’: A French revolt against electric e-scooters has led to calls for the UK government to ban them
A French revolt against ‘dangerous’ electric e-scooters has led to calls for the UK government —currently overseeing a controversial trial — to ban them on safety grounds.
A poll in Paris saw 90 per cent of votes in favour of a ban. The referendum was called in response to a rising number of injuries and deaths in the French capital.
In Britain, privately owned scooters are allowed only on private land — although this is being widely flouted.
Martin Usher, partner in personal injury at Lime Solicitors, said of the Paris vote: ‘This should be a wake-up call to our government which is burying its head in the sand.’
Neil Greig, director of policy and research at IAM RoadSmart, said 68 per cent of respondents to its own poll viewed the growing number of e-scooters as ‘a threat to their road safety’.
This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk
