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Enthusiast Essentials: have a good read of the history of microcars

4 November, 2015

Microcars at Large by Adam Quellin, examines a period in motoring history following World War II when raw materials were in short supply and many simply couldn’t afford a full-sized car. With war-ravaged economies suffering, automakers turned their hand to building basic transportation.  The result was a series of what are now known as microcars or, in some instances, ‘bubblecars’. Even manufacturers such as BMW cashed in on the trend, Messerschmitt got in on the act, and British firms such as Reliant and Bond came up with their own quirky designs.

This lavishly illustrated guide covers the weird and wonderful world of microcars, from the basic bubblecars of the ’50s to the sophisticated modern models.

Microcars at Large is available now as a full-colour eBook, as well as a black-and-white e-ink version. For more information, visit veloce.co.uk. 

Almost mythical pony

25 July, 2024

The Shelby came to our shores in 2003. It went from the original New Zealand owner to an owner in Auckland. Malcolm just happened to be in the right place with the right amount of money in 2018 and a deal was done. Since then, plenty of people have tried to buy it off him. The odometer reads 92,300 miles. From the condition of the car that seems to be correct and only the first time around.
Malcolm’s car is an automatic. It has the 1966 dashboard, the back seat, the rear quarter windows and the scoops funnelling air to the rear brakes.
He even has the original bill of sale from October 1965 in California.

Becoming fond of Fords part two – happy times with Escorts

17 July, 2024

In part one of this Ford-flavoured trip down memory lane I recalled a sad and instructive episode when I learned my shortcomings as a car tuner, something that tainted my appreciation of Mk2 Ford Escort vans in particular. Prior to that I had a couple of other Ford entanglements of slightly more redeeming merit. There were two Mk1 Escorts I had got my hands on: a 1972 1300 XL belonging to my father and a later, end-of-line, English-assembled 1974 1100, which my partner and I bought from Panmure Motors Ford in Auckland in 1980. Both those cars were the high water mark of my relationship with the Ford Motor Co. I liked the Mk1 Escorts. They were nice, nippy, small cars, particularly the 1300, which handled really well, and had a very precise gearbox for the time.
Images of Jim Richards in the Carney Racing Williment-built Twin Cam Escort and Paul Fahey in the Alan Mann–built Escort FVA often loomed in my imagination when I was driving these Mk1 Escorts — not that I was under any illusion of comparable driving skills, but they had to be having just as much fun as I was steering the basic versions of these projectiles.