I know this place well as I used to pass it on the way to Rhyl when my grandad had a couple of caravans there (oo, the glamour of my childhood). I spotted an old car in one of the sheds as we sped past, and made a note to stop on the way back - which is exactly what I did.

And this is what I found…

It would have been a pretty nice car once. I think its a Sunbeam Talbot dating from around 1954-55. I love the feeling of discovering an old car - especially one that’s so far gone and so far away I can’t feel sorry for it and bring it home with me!

I’ve made a few bold New Years Resolutions which I would like to share with you as I sit here writing this, drinking gin and watching the Darts. Who says blokes can’t multi task?

Okay, so here we go - some resolutions in no particular order:

Finish some of my damn cars this year - especially the 2000 estate and the Austin Cambridge (stop sniggering at the back there - the awful Austin could be finished this year, possibly)

Don’t get anymore damned cars, in fact get rid of some: the Lancia and Suzuki I’m looking at you both, and the Peugeot 106. Yes it’s economical but really - does it suit me? An LPG conversion on the Saab is the way to go.

Especially as it costs me more to isure the little Pug third party as it it does the Saab fully comp with all the trimmings - ’tis weird but true. When I think about how much I spend on car insurance each year it’s really scary - if you think way beyond the naughty side of a grand you’d be about there.  

Buy that Panther Rio and own a pre-war car (Austin Seven?) by the end of the year.

Yes I know I’ve contradicted myself, but such is life.

Get married.

Move house.

The last two are already in motion and that’s how I’ve spent my Christmas break - sorting out the flat and organising weddingy things. It’s amazing how much junk you can collect over five years and we’ve had everything out, and chucked a lot of it away. I believe we’re now into bin bag double figures and there is still more to come.

This has meant that I have found several items previously thought lost - including the front of the Saab’s radio. Oh the joy to have something to listen to on my 3 hour daily commute apart from the crashing of the worn ball joint and the grinding whine of the failing power steering pump.

Now I can drown out both of these noises with a combination of BBC Coventry and Warwickshire for local chat, Brummie and Leicesterion (or whatever they’re called) bashing and of course, most importantly local traffic news. To Catthorpe or not to Catthorpe - that is the daily morning question. Then I switch to radio four for news and chat before switching to radio two for the Wogan show - Janet and john stories, that’s all I need to say. 

The way home is Chris Evans drivetime all the way. The joy of having a radio in the car again - now I can’t hear the Saab’s mechanical woes anymore I don’t have to fix them for a bit. Genius.

Speaking of the Saab, it’s been doing sterling work shifting tonnes of books and other crap from my flat to its temporary storage facility at my long suffering mum and dad’s. So now they not only have to put up with two of my cars, loads of spares and other rubbish, they also have hundreds of books and magazines cluttering up their spare room.

The reason for mving is simple - our flat is great, but the area is not. Now that the local kids have grown from quite sweet yet naughty children into trainee teenage criminals, we’ve grown fed up of the constant hassle, noise, breaking glass and damage to our cars.  

Plus the kids in question seem to discovered a little thing called fire, and we’ve had the fire brigade around yesterday to put out some of their handy work. They set small fires then load them with aerosol cans producing some quite alarming explosions. They also light aerosols and spray fire at the cars parked in our car park, which is nice of them…

The last time one of our neighbours remonstrated with them, five minutes later the back window of her Ford Focus mysteriously shattered by itself. Hmm. Time to leave dodge methinks, I can’t be doing with this hassle.

Our cars have been targeted too - Helen’s Volvo in particular. It’s had its bonnet dented and scratched down to the metal by a projectile fired at it (they were targeting the windscreen but missed). It has many and various dents caused by stones, bottles and footballs, and ditto with scratches too. It also sports a fine collection of footprints over the bonnet and roof where the kids have been climbing on it.

I went out this morning to find footprints all over the spoiler and boot of my Saab too. Admittedly, it’s a tough old bird but call me old fashioned if you like, but I still believe that cars are for driving not for makeshift climbing frames…

Not a climbing frame kids.

Trainer prints give the game away

I also noticed a new dent too, but this was picked up this morning while we were in Sainsburys. It looks as if someone has swung into the parking space next to me and clipped the rear of the Saab on the way in. Very annoying. Mind you, if it hadn’t been for fresh removal of the layer of dirt that perpetually covers this car, I wouldn’t have noticed the damage.  

Another dent to add to the collection...

When will people learn to park properly?

Oh, and one more new years resolution - I promise to blog more regulary this year, although I seem to remember saying something very similar around this time in 2008…

Oh, and we’ve got another new car over Christmas. I won’t say what it is just yet as I haven’t picked it up, but suffice to say it’s not my usual sort of thing at all - it has a current MoT and is in great condition. Cheerio for now!

I started to lose heart a bit to be honest, which is a bad thing especially at the start of a project! However, my dad (in his garage lives this particular car) has been very supportive. He wasn’t much of a fan of my Vitesse and has told me so on many occasions (I love it of course!)  His dislike to my Triumph was for several reasons.

Firstly, to him it is a modern car. He told me that he remembered the Herald being launched in 1959 and he didn’t like it then as he thought its styling to be ‘too modern’ for his tastes.

Secondly, he was less than impressed on the first and only time he drove it - especially as the passenger door kept flying open when he turned corners. (This was fixed with a NOS door catch about three years ago, but I found it to be quite endearing)

But the Austin it appears, is a different proposition altogether - in short, he likes it. This is good, especially as it appears it will be living in his garage for some considerable time yet…

I’ve also managed to get the boot open too. It was completely seized shut, and in the end I had to pry it open. The cause? Well the rubber seal had welded the boot and the rest of the car closed. Decomposing rubber can be a considerable foe. On the plus side, we’ve named the car - which is always a good sign it will be around for a while. We’ve called her Audrey.

A55 Boot - open at last!

Inside the boot I found more spares, including many bulbs and several speedo units. According to a note written on one of them, the original unit had become faulty and been swapped for another one. So the indicated 102,000 odd miles could be more, or less - who knows?

Fab boxed Stanpart bulbs will be finding their way into the Vitesse methinks...

Lots of lovely parts

Mintex fanbelt would be no good after all this time - but it looks great!

BL boxed bulbs would make great eBay fodder, but of course - i'll be keeping them...

Lots of period boxed bulbs

More alarmingly, I also found several old mice nests and bizarrely, a pressure cooker. There was also no inner wing on the nearside, and the offside one appears to be made of canvas - suspicious…

Holy wing, Batman...

Is it meant to be like that?

Pressure cooker in original box has also housed a family of rodents...

So what’s next? Well I’ve already started to make a list of what needs doing, I’ve sourced NOS master ands slave cylinders and managed to blow the electrics. Aren’t old cars fun?

All I have to do now is buy myself a welder…

I’ve not driven it you understand, and I’m sure like most new cars it will be fine to drive - easy to control, so good as to be bordering on the boring. It’s just the way it looks, It’s based on the same platform as the Fiat 500 but without the charisma. I liked the new 500 when it came out, but I’m a little bored with them too now, it has to be said. But at least the retro styling gives it a little something…

I know that Ford have tried to go for a completely new look with the new KA, but they could have kept a little of the original’s styling, which was lets not forget, quite daring at the time.

OK, so the original version didn’t get the envisaged 3 cylinder possibly turbocharged petrol engine that it was meant to and it had to make do with a development of the rattly decades old Kent engine with no diesel option (could you imagine that these days?) But it made a splash when it first appeared in 1996.

Not so the new one in my opinion, it looks just like a Corsa to me and that is dull. Nope, no matter how good it is to drive if I was after a brand new small car it would have to be a new Twingo.

Now that’s more like it…

And now for your entertainment is the official launch press release - let it not be said that motor-blog does not give a balanced view of opinion…

ALL-NEW FORD KA MAKES GLOBAL DEBUT AT PARIS MOTOR SHOW

• Replacing the iconic original, the all-new Ford Ka is stylish, modern and great fun to drive
• Expressive styling combines Ford’s latest kinetic design language with the youthful and cheeky spirit of the original Ka
• Suspension, steering and chassis have been meticulously tuned by Ford engineering specialists to deliver the most exciting driving dynamics of any small car
• Efficient to run and environmentally friendly with two economical, low emission engines: 1.2-litre 69 PS Duratec petrol and the first Ka diesel – a
  1.3-litre 75 PS Duratorq TDCi – delivering 67.2mpg
• Both petrol and diesel models available with sub-120g/km CO₂ emissions
• Available in the UK by late 2008/early 2009

Brentwood, Essex, September 8, 2008 - The exciting all-new Ford Ka makes its global debut at the 2008 Paris Motor Show. It replaces the iconic original Ka, which brought new levels of style and enjoyment to the small-car market when it was launched in 1996.

The all-new Ka retains all of the qualities which made the Ka brand so popular – compact size, great looks, lively dynamics and fun personality – but presents them in a fresh all-new package.

With its striking interior and exterior design, outstanding dynamics and unique character, the all-new Ford Ka sets a new standard for affordable small cars. Practical, safe, cheap to run, and friendly to the environment, this bold new model starts a new chapter of the Ka success story.

Production of the all-new Ford Ka commences in the autumn of 2008, and the vehicle will go on sale in the UK in late 2008/early 2009.

Stylish and fashionable
With the introduction of all-new Ka, Ford has extended its kinetic design language to the smallest car range.

The all-new vehicle has a stylish, fashionable appearance which combines Ford’s latest design thinking with some of the youthful and cheeky spirit which made the original Ka so popular.

Designed for a young target audience who enjoy making a bold statement in their choice of car, the all-new Ka has the same compact proportions as its predecessor, but with a chunky and expressive style all of its own.

A number of visual cues from the outgoing car ensure that the new design is recognisably a Ka, yet it has the dynamic qualities which mark it out as a member of the kinetic design family.

Bold, colourful interior
The interior of the all-new Ka has a stylish, dynamic design, just like the exterior. The same kinetic design philosophy used to shape the body is applied inside the vehicle, ensuring that the fresh and modern character of the external design is matched by the interior style.

Bold contrasts and expressive colours have been deliberately chosen to reflect the more adventurous tastes of the typical Ka customer. These are combined with some imaginative design details to give the interior a fashionable and fun personality which is quite unique in the B-car segment.

The all-new Ka is practical too, with generous interior space and comfortable accommodation for four adults and their belongings. The high seating position, carefully placed controls and excellent visibility make the all-new Ka a pleasure to drive for drivers of all ages.

Exciting driving dynamics
The original Ka was renowned for its go-kart like handling, and the all-new Ka has been designed to be just as fun and rewarding to drive, with the most exciting driving dynamics of any small car.

Ford’s own chassis engineering experts have tuned the suspension, steering, and chassis, with the same meticulous attention to detail which has made Ford a leader in vehicle dynamics.

Final testing was conducted using a combination of public roads, proving grounds and race tracks – including the legendary Nürburgring in Germany.

During the engineering process, information was exchanged with the team developing the all-new Fiesta, and certain components, such as the tyres, were jointly developed for both models.

Economical and environmentally friendly
The affordable all-new Ford Ka is designed to be both cheap to run and kind to the environment. It uses two economical, low emission engines: a 1.2-litre 69 PS Duratec petrol engine and, for the first time on Ka, a 1.3-litre 75 PS Duratorq TDCi turbodiesel.

Both petrol and diesel models are available with sub-120g/km CO₂ emissions.

The 1.2-litre petrol model, which is expected to be the largest seller in the all-new range, has cut fuel consumption by 21 per cent compared to the previous 1.3-litre Ka.

The diesel model – available on the Ka for the first time – improves economy still further, achieving a combined fuel consumption of 67.2mpg.

Safe and secure
The all-new Ka may be a small vehicle, but it has been engineered to meet Ford’s strict in-house safety design guidelines.

At the heart of the vehicle is the bodyshell, which has been developed to provide an incredibly strong, stable crash structure to protect passengers in case of an accident.

The bodyshell is combined with an Intelligent Protection System (IPS), which integrates airbags, restraint systems and seating technologies to provide a highly effective occupant safety system.

Ka choice
The all-new Ford Ka is available in four series –Studio, Style, Style + and Zetec – each offering a combination of value and equipment.  Option packs are available to provide customers with maximum choice when specifying their vehicle.

Specify the Bluetooth-enabled Connectivity Kit, and the Ka comes equipped with Bluetooth® mobile phone connectivity, a USB port to play music files through the sound system and steering wheel controls.

Combine this with the superb six-speaker CD sound systems, and the all-new Ka provides all the necessary equipment to keep its passengers connected and entertained.

Unique among vehicles in the small-car segment, the all-new Ka also offers heated windscreen and heated seats, invaluable for safe and comfortable driving in cold winter conditions.

Development and production
The all-new Ford Ka has been developed as part of a common project with Fiat. The vehicle is produced at the modern Fiat manufacturing plant in Tychy, Poland, sharing the production line with the Fiat 500 model.

Ka history
The original Ford Ka was launched at the Paris Motor Show in 1996. It was immediately acclaimed for its exciting “All-new Edge” styling and for bringing new levels of driving enjoyment to the class.

Sales soon took off across Europe, and the Ka gained the popularity which has stayed with it throughout its lifetime, with a total of over 1,460,000 vehicles produced. In the UK alone, the Ka has found 500,000 customers, and has been segment leader since 2000.

Derivatives, such as the exciting StreetKa and SportKa models expanded the Ka family, and helped to broaden and reinforce the model’s appeal.

The Ka has inspired tremendous loyalty amongst its customers, with many owners coming back to the model time and time again. Based on Ford research, Ka customers have the highest customer brand loyalty of any Ford model.

Well you leave them at home don’t you - and hope that it doesn’t rain when you’re out. Not ideal. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one out and about with the roof removed - too much like hard work for today’s drivers. I’ve always applauded Citroën for trying something different, but in this case, it just doesn’t work - especially considering the fact that the roof often leaks too.

Well anyhow, for what it’s worth, here is the new special edition - the Charleston, due to be unveiled at next month’s Paris Motor Show and on sale in the UK by early 2009. Here’s what the press release has to say about it:

The C3 Pluriel Charleston fashions a contemporary reinterpretation of a design theme that once decorated Citroën’s famous 2CV - a stylistic nod to one of the most iconic cars in history, which this year celebrates its 60th birthday.

With a blend of nostalgic and contemporary styling the C3 Pluriel Charleston should strike a chord with both 2CV fans and buyers looking for a vehicle with individual design flair. With its bold two-tone colour scheme of black and Bordeaux red, the sophisticated Charleston special edition will be positioned at the high-end of the Pluriel range with premium touches throughout such as gloss-black fittings, leather upholstery and chrome trim.

Also fitted as standard are stylish 15” aluminium wheels which feature red embellisher centres that add elegance and definition.

Hmm, good luck with that. To be honest though, they probably should have pitched the Pluriel as a fun, silly, 2CV replacement in the first place, rather than trying to pitch it as a premium aspirational lifestyle car. If they had, they might have sold a few more and not have to release gimmicky special editions, which is always the manufacturers’ last gasp to try and shift a few more units of a failing or soon to be replaced model…

I’m sure some smart alec will pipe up now with a ‘I think you’ll find it did rain last year, we had 0.00001mm of precipitation that day…’ (there’s always one) but genuinely, I’ve never known it to rain in all my years of attending this event. It’s usually suncream and Pimms all the way.

So this leaves me with a spare weekend. This is fine, but I can’t help feeling a little disappointed, what with another fairly lousy summer behind us. So I’m sitting here, typing this drinking tea and watching One of our Dinosaurs is missing. I have chocolate and crisps in the flat, and may just crack open that bottle of cider in the fridge. Twenty to five on a Saturday afternoon seems like a reasonable time to get started on the sherbert.

I’m due to attempt a rescue on my 1958 Austin A55 Cambridge tommorrow, but this will be a premliminary attempt - I’m going to free up the brakes so it will roll come towing time. To that end, i’m going to have to buy a trolley jack tommorrow morning, plus copious amounts of Duck oil…

I’m also going to take my spare from the Vitesse to see if it will fit. My plan is thus: to put the wheels and tyres from the Vitesse onto the Austin so it will roll easily (the Austin’s tyres are withered and flat, and I don’t want to go buying new ones if I don’t have to!). Basically, I’m feeling pretty excited about it, and am looking forward to having a Coventry based winter project to play with.

Things have been moving forward with the 2000 estate (known as the mighty estate). A new rad recore from the ever-helpful and classic friendly J and J radiators Coventry means that it doesn’t leak anymore, and a new Pacet fan and thermostat kit from SVC (Staffordshire Vehicle Components - www.s-v-c.co.uk) means that overheating shouldn’t ever be a problem. I’ve also got some NPG waterless coolant from Rustbuster (www.rust.co.uk) so the new rad shouldn’t get rusted up again.

So things have been going well - except - with my unexpected extra time this weekend, I’ve been looking at the dreaded eBay. There is a rather nice Avon Acclaim with tax and MoT for just £495 buy it now, or best offers. This is very tempting… Also there is a TR7 with long MoT and tax for buy it now £795. Bloody hell. Ok, so it’s a FHC (which I prefer) but it’s still no money when you think about it.

Plus it has had a five speed box conversion, and an uprated rear axle and appears to be as rust free as a good TR7 should be. If that isn’t a TR8 conversion in the making, then I don’t know what is. As I happen to own a 3.5 Range Rover with LPG, alarm bells are ringing…

I’m not saying I’m technically savvy enough to attempt such a conversion myself, but in reality it shouldn’t be that hard, and it has certainly been done many times before and I’d give anything a bash. This is all crazy talk though - I must get the Saab fixed first and recover the Cambridge. I’ll be welding up the 2000 next week too…

The fun continues…

This kinda worked. Rear three quarters - check. Rear shot - check. Then I made my mistake - I went for an interior shot before grabbing a front picture - big mistake. The test driver inside spotted me as I made my move to grab a pic of the interior architecture and promptly drove off.

So there we are - I’ll be doing it differently next time and make sure I get a frontal pic (although it was pretty heavily disguised anyway). So what is it? Well having recently had a Hyundai test car myself, I’d say that it was one of this ever-improving breed - perhaps an i-30. But it also sort of looked like a Mitsubishi.

I’d be interested to know what you think and I am already preparing to stand corrected!

Now I’m not one usually to praise the hellish road that can be the A14, but first thing on a Sunday morning it isn’t all that bad. So with a four speed 1596cc Vitesse at my disposal and a large straight empty path of tarmac ahead of me, I thought I would see what she could do.

Now I’m not recommending that anyone ever breaks the speed limit, but eh, what the hell - no-one was around and it was perfect conditions. Having taken a Triumph Acclaim (manufacturers claimed top speed 92 mph) to over a hundred on the de-restricted autobahns of er, France, I was keen to beat Triumph’s claim of 89 MPH top speed for the Vit 6.

Mission accomplished. I have no idea of how fast I was actually going officer, as Susan’s speedo gives what can be best described as an approximate indication of velocity between two given speeds - i.e. ‘How fast are we going Neil?’ Answer? ‘ Well between 55 and 75 mph according to the speedo.’ You get the picture.

Anyhow, obviously I didn’t maintain such heady speeds for long. This is beacuse of many reasons. Firstly, the rapidly rising temp gauge, secondly, the obvious danger to my personal health and thirdly, speeding tickets and all of that boring legal stuff that the constabulary seem to be so interested in these days.  

So what have I learnt from this experience? Well not much really, except that Triumphs PR men were obviously gentlemen, or blind, or not very good at their jobs. While every other manufacturers at the time my Vitesse was built were giving wildly innaccurate claims about their products (Jaguar, I’m looking at you. 150 mph out of a standard production E-Type? I don’t think so…), those lovely folks at Fletchampstead Highway were being all coy about the performance of their cars.

Oh and one more thing - the 1600cc Triumph straight six sounds great when you get it over 5500 RPM. Grin!

The Boston Classic car show was good too - if you’re around the area for the next one - or if you’re not like me - I can heartily recommend it. Roll on next year…