1974 MGB GT

My latest acquisition - an Olde English White 1974 MGB GT with 3-door hatchback coupé body and Line-4 1799 cm3 / 109.8 cui, 62.5 kW / 85 PS / 84 hp (DIN) 5-speed manual powertrain.

1798cc 4 cylinder inline - 95 bhp @ 5400 rpm 
Gearbox : 4 speed manual with overdrive
Brakes : Disc front, drum rear 
Front suspension : Coil & Wishbone
Rear suspension v,
Steering : Rack and pinion

The MGB is a two-door sports car manufactured and marketed by the British Motor Corporation (BMC), later British Leyland, as a four-cylinder, soft-top roadster from 1962 until 1980. Variants include the MGB GT three-door 2+2 coupé (1965–74), the six-cylinder roadster and coupé MGC (1967–69), and the eight-cylinder 2+2 coupé, the MGB GT V8 (1973–76).

Replacing the MGA in 1962, production of the MGB and its variants continued until 1980, achieving sales for the MGB, MGC and MGB GT V8 combined of 523,836 cars. The MGB bodyshell was reprised in modified form with a limited run of 2,000 MG RV8 roadsters (1993–95).

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50 Classics to buy before you die!

There are some classics that bring together a set of qualities in a way that can change the way you look at cars, change how you spend your spare time, even change your outlook on life! They offer an experience that stimulates the senses and enriches your appreciation of the great diversity and creativity that has shaped our motoring world.

Below I am listing "50 Classics to Buy Before You Die" - From the beguiling agility of the Peugeot 205 GTI to the sensory overload of the Ferrari 250 GT short wheelbase, you owe it to yourself to try AT LEAST ONE of these very special cars!

1. Alfa Romeo 105-Series
2. AC Cobra MkIV
3. Aston Martin DB4-6
4. Austin Healey 100 and 3000
5. Austin Mini Cooper
6. Austin Seven
7. Bentley 3-Litre
8. BMW M3
9. Bugatti Type 35B
10. Buick Electra 225
11. Caterham Seven
12. Chevrolet 150/210
13. Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray
14. Citroën 2CV
15. Citroën SM
16. Datsun 240Z
17. Ferrari 250 GT SWB
18. Ferrari Dino 246
19. Ferrari 365 GTB/4
20. Ferrari 308
21. Ford Model T
22. Ford Galaxie
 23. Ford Mustang
24. Gordon Keeble GK1
25. Honda S800
26. Honda NSX
27. Jaguar E-Type
 28. Jaguar XJ12 Series I
29. Jensen Interceptor
30. Lamborghini Countach
31. Lancia Aurelia B20 GT
32. Lotus Cortina MkI
 33. Lotus Elise S1
34. Marcos GT
35. Maserati Ghibli
36. Mazda MX-5
37. MG TC
38. MG Midget/A-H Sprite
39. Mercedes 300 SL Gullwing
40. Morgan Plus 8
41. Peugeot 205 GTI
 42. Porsche 911
43. Range
44. Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow
45. Tatra 603
46. Toyota MR2 MkI
 47. Triumph TR3A
48. TVR Griffith and Chimaera
49. VW Golf GTI MkI
50. Willys Jeep

1983-94 AC COBRA MKIV

To see hairy sports car demography from a true perspective, you have to spend time with the granddaddy of them all: the rawest, fastest, most dangerous sports car, a light-weight Brit two-seater stuffed with far too much power for its own good. If only to prove that they're not really that hairy at all - even a leaf-sprung Cobra has the character to look after you, as long as you're not silly with it, though coil-sprung cars are better, and easier, on your back.

 Real MKII's and AC289's (the smaller-engined Brit version of Shelby's seven-litre MKIII) have gone over the £250k mark, but there is a cheaper alternative: sample the raw delights of the Cobra in MkIV form.

The Eighties Autokraft-built MkIV has all the style, all the grunt, in a slightly more comfortable package. Early cars are now more than 20 years old and many have been retro-fitted with Sixties-style dashboards, so you could just as well be in the real thing. Even these cars are £60,000-plus now, with one of the 26 Light-weights built approaching £100,000.

 AUTOKRAFT BOSS Brian Angliss gave the Cobra a new lease on life 15 years after production ended, but attempts to revive the marque with an all-new Ace proved short-lived. Angliss also restored classic air craft, including a Hurricane, at the AC factory.

Photography : Classic Cars Archive 

ENGINE	4736-5000cc V8
POWER	250-300bhp
PERFORMANCE	Top Speed : 140mph 0-60mph: 4.5sec
FUEL CONSUMPTION	20mpg

Never think of your car as a cold machine, but as a hot-blooded horse.
- Juan Manuel Fangio (1958)

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A motoring idea you'll warm to in this winter weather

HERE'S an idea you'll warm to. Why don't we fit cars with proper boilers and thermostats?

T'was a cold and frosty morning when the thought struck me. Faced with needing to take a car rather than the bus into work, I unlocked the garage and started up a stone cold Mazda MX-5 which immediately fogged up the moment I dared to exhale breath while sat inside. I was one of the lucky ones; elsewhere, the good people of Southport were scraping the ice of their windscreens.

Here's the rub. Almost every car I've driven on a cold morning, even shiny brand new ones, still require the efforts of some cheap de-icer before you can set off, and then a good few minutes before the icy chill of winter leaves the interior. Nor can you do the old trick of warming the car up while you sit indoors with a cuppa - not only is it illegal, but you might as well stick a sign on your pride ‘n' joy with “STEAL ME” writ large all over it.

With the exception of a wonderful January weekend in Wales, when I donned gloves and a woolly hat so I could enjoy the crisp mountain air in the MX-5 with the roof down, driving first thing in the morning at this time of year is no fun. Unless of course, you run a recently-made Range Rover. A car which comes with a little gas heater and a time-adjustable thermostat, just like your house does.

In the same way I've always wondered why houses aren't fitted with electric windows, it perplexes me why proper thermostats which you can preset to come on when you want - which have been around for ages - don't come as standard on more cars. If you know you're going to setting off at eight every morning, wouldn't it be great to preset a proper heating system to come on fifteen minutes earlier, so your pride and joy is all toasty once you step inside and the engine isn't having to cough into life at minus four?

Don't get me wrong - there's all sorts of aftermarket preheating systems you can fit to your motor - but I'm just amazed the car industry at large didn't cotton onto the whole winter-is-cold thing years ago.

It's one motoring gadget you wouldn't give a frosty reception.

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