Classic Cars Magazine January 1974

[vixen1700]

Popped into my local antique shop yesterday and found piles of old Motorsport & Classic Car (Thoroughbred and Classic Cars) magazines dating back to the 1970s.

Picked up March 1977 T & CC with the Traction & MGBGT V8 on the cover as it was the first classic car magazine my dad ever bought and it fascinated me as a 10 year old. Seeing the first picture of a Facel Vega (£1250) for sale I found really exciting. I then saw there was a letter from Manny Mottashaw about the Facel Vega Owners' Club. Didn't know at the time he would be taking me to my wedding in an HK500 22 years later.

Also picked up January 1974 Classic Car just to see how things have changed in forty years, the classic car world seemed very different then.

Inside the cover is a lovely colour De Tomaso Pantera advert.

Then come some club news, mostly Riley and the forming of the Sunbeam Tigers Owners's Club.

The first dealer ad is from Chgwell in Essex and has some 70s cars, a two year old Mexico for £799, a three year old Midget for £675 and a 1963 Ferrari 250 GTE for £2350.

Then comes a road test for the Scimitar, an article asking why your next car should be a classic, article and mini-manual on the 1.5 litre Riley.

Another modern road test, this time the Alfa Sud.

Allard dragster and the second built Chitty-Bang-Bang next.

An advert for the Datsun Skyline, wow that was ugly, don't remember seeing those. "If you buy a car that makes you look like a managing director, make sure it leaves you enough money to live like one".

Jowett Jupitor, MG Magnette and Mirage M1 up next.

Our Cars: Aston DB4, MGA, Jensen 541.

London to Brighton run.

Goldseal Sports Cars, New Cross London - Aubergine DB5 £1295, BMW 2002 £1365, '71 Interceptor £5245, '73 MGB £1425.

Rod Leach had a 289 Cobra for £5750 and a LWB 289 TVR Tuscan for £1950.

Then comes the very limited 'Classic Car Prices' (only two Ferrari models), the most expensive 'Concurs car was a Frazer Nash Le Mans Rep at £4000. A Ferrari 275 GTB was priced at £3400 and a DB4 £1600.

The letters page made me laugh when a person asked about what a classic is (nothing really changes ) and mentioned his Consul Convertible and there was a reply from the editor saying they understood his enthusiasm for the era but wouldn't be writing much about Consuls.

Then the classifieds, where do you start? Tigers for £790, CV8 for £1250, '63 E-Type £490, 1948 Delahaye £1600, 1935 Lagonda pillarless sports salon £1700. Put in perspective, the car my dad owned at the time was also in the classifieds, a '72 Citroen GS £975.

Wish I had a time machine and £2k in my pocket.

Sorry for the long post, but it made some fascinating reading from forty years ago and how things were.

[MGZTV8]

Excellent post.

I enjoy reading stuff like this too.

[nicanary]

You should read Motor Sport in the 50s - Bugattis and Bentley Blowers for £500 or less. Old racing cars were just that. Nobody wanted them.

[85Carrera]

Price differential (now and then) between the DB5 and Interceptor is the thing that stands out for me.

[P5Nij]

MGZTV8 said:

Excellent post.

I enjoy reading stuff like this too.

+1 ;O)

A lot of my old car mags are long gone after a very reluctant clear out but I've kept the bound volume of Motorport from 1971 - the ads still raise a smile when I have a thumb through every now and then...















I might be wrong, but I think the average weekly wage in Britain back then was around twenty quid!

[MarshPhantom]

vixen1700 said:

An advert for the Datsun Skyline, wow that was ugly, don't remember seeing those. "If you buy a car that makes you look like a managing director, make sure it leaves you enough money to live like one".

The old Skyline would be worth big money now.

[vixen1700]

MarshPhantom said:

The old Skyline would be worth big money now.

Well this is the one in the ad, so not so sure about that to be honest.

[MarshPhantom]

vixen1700 said:

MarshPhantom said:

The old Skyline would be worth big money now.

Well this is the one in the ad, so not so sure about that to be honest.

Maybe not that one.

[lowdrag]

I have literally over half a ton of magazines here form the 50's to the 80's. I came across the road test of this car in the April 1962:-



the price was £5,469-10s-9d which compared to the stratospheric value today is peanuts. But in consideration, my salary was £330 p.a.

[droopsnoot]

I also have a lot of magazines from the early seventies, as that's when my car was launched and have them for road tests, adverts and so on. The classifieds make you cry - back when a time when an old Bentley might be worth a bit less because it's got competition history and therefore might be seen as having been thrashed.

[Dapster]

vixen1700 said:

Goldseal Sports Cars, New Cross London - Aubergine DB5 £1295, '73 MGB £1425.

What's a decent DB5 worth now? At least a quarter of a million?

[GadgeS3C]

Dapster said:

vixen1700 said:

Goldseal Sports Cars, New Cross London - Aubergine DB5 £1295, '73 MGB £1425.

What's a decent DB5 worth now? At least a quarter of a million?

A friend's uncle had the choice of an AC Ace or an MGB in the 70's. They were about the same price.

He made the right choice.

[MarshPhantom]

Dapster said:

vixen1700 said:

Goldseal Sports Cars, New Cross London - Aubergine DB5 £1295, '73 MGB £1425.

What's a decent DB5 worth now? At least a quarter of a million?

Things haven't changed that much - you could get a decent DB7 for the price of a new MX5.