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A potentially worrying trend
Car meetings – evening pub meets, Sunday morning coffee shop gatherings, cruises – they’re all part of the classic car …
Fuel and Food Pembrokeshire
Our fourth car meeting/show in a week but this time it was the Trooper that was fired up to head …
Back to White Waltham
We left the RAC Concours and after a quick pit stop headed down to White Waltham for the BADCCC’s excellent …
RAC Concours
The second RAC Concours – and no difficult second album syndrome to contend with. For those who attended the first …
Mitsubishis Galore
The Colt Car Club’s Gaydon gathering was a sight to behold for anyone interested in the three-diamonds marque. Rarities of …
A stand-out XK
Now the Jaguar XK is appearing in classic sales there’s no doubt a groundswell of purists who will turn their …
Angel delight
Time for another car meeting and time to dig out the Nippa for a trip up the A465. Destination, The …
Trentham’s again
More images from the Trentham show, and this time it’s the guv’nor’s picks of the event. More than a week …
A trip to White Waltham
It might be 180 miles or so from Special HQ but a trip up the M4 for Berkshire and District …
Trentham’s terrific turn-out
Third time lucky for The Special, and mighty relief for the organisers: this years’ Trentham Classic & Retro Show wasn’t …
Hot Wheels Legends Tour arrives in the UK
The Hot Wheels Legends Tour, which immortalises one lucky car in 1:64 die-cast form, lands in the UK later this …
Tolman nails it again with XR3i restomod
Hot on the heels of its short run of Peugeot 205GTis and its wonderfully low-key Honda Integra Type-R Tolman’s back …
Astle Park Country Fair
It’s funny how the most interesting cars – or the greatest variety come to that – turn up in unexpected …
Return of Django – sorry, Cuore
After a year off the road the Cuore is – ta da! – back. It’s been a long haul and …
Out West again
Exactly a fortnight after our run to Pembroke it was out with the Kia and a westward-bound trip to Saggeston …
Local event nails it
Last year 94 cars turned up for Kidwelly Motor Club’s car show: this year, more than 200. Clearly local shows …
They’re out there…
…but you’ve just to keep looking, or, as Shaw Taylor used to say on ‘Police 5’, “keep ‘em peeled.” Thanks …
Heading way out West
It’s a great idea and surely one that should be adopted way more: a mid-week afternoon classic car meet. Classics …
Back to Bicester
BIG apologies for the lateness in getting this posted but we couldn’t let the second Scramble pass without a decent …
A welcome ’80s throwback pair
Was it the decade that taste forgot, or was it one that, at least when it came to cars, there …
Caravelle spotted
Out comes the sun, out come the drop tops, although in the case of this Caravelle the top had yet …
Tolman unveils stunning Integra Type R restomod
The Integra Type-R was a street hero when it was launched and now thanks to Tolman Motorsport it’s a hero …
Showtime!
The Special’s first indoor show of the year: welcome to the Practical Classics Classic Car and Restoration Show, where the …
Prices up, MPG up
Just in time – I’m writing this a couple of hours after filling up the The Special’s most frugal fleet …
A kickin’ event
Yes it was, courtesy in no small part with its title: The RAC’s first 2026 tyre-kicking event was one of …
Throwback time
Mrs Special was recently telling the guv’nor about a piece she’d read that ‘uncovered’ just how mis-understanding Generation Zed is …
Enjoying the image
The Special’s editor, fresh from a motoring book podcast with The Old Car Lady, has been on a book-buying spree …
We’ve seen the signs
No enthusiast’s domestic garage should be without some signage and for those fancying some outstanding examples, Cheffins’ 21 March sale …
An XR3i not to be missed
What’s the biggest influence on the UK’s classic car market? And, in fact, any classic car market? The biggest driver …
Vantastic!
Sorry, but it had to be said. After all, these days when do you come across an LDV Pilot as …
New Honda collaboration keeps the tuner movement alive – but in small scale
Mattel’s Brick Shop building sets are paying tribute to two modern classics, courtesy of a collaboration with Honda. In a …
Back at Bicester
Cold was the wind, grey was the sky, but 7000 Scramblers couldn’t give a stuff about the weather as Bicester …
Berlingo is still go – and Merry Christmas
It just works – a phrase once used to advertise a Japanese pick-up, but one entirely suitable for the Berlingo. …
It never rains (but it pours)
Just before Christmas, a time already riddled with over-expenditure, the malcontents among The Special’s fleet decided to create a further …
The hottest Christmas gift for any car lover?
How about the excitement of Formula 1 in your sitting room? Or maybe the dining room? Or, of course, if …
Podcast time pt. 2
Luckily you won’t be hearing too much from The Guv’nor, but for a catch-up on what went on at the …
Podcast time
There are way more old car-related podcasts than there are classic car magazines but you’ve got to wade through an …
That time of year
Both the Citroen and Isuzu went out just a matter of hours after the clocks changed – and how easy …
Revival – but not of the Goodwood kind
With the Escort van revived earlier this year and looking superb a problem arose, as Mrs Special pointed out. And …
Back at Bicester
The last of three 2025 Scrambles finished on an absolute high and its ‘Reboots and Restomods’ theme highlighted an idea …
Pick up a pick-up
There’s just something so bloomin’ right about a pick-up. Great for carrying loads but perfectly ok to use on a …
Why you SHOULD buy this
Why you SHOULD buy this Fancy a proper big 1960s coupe and realise a Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III MPW …
Rain DIDN’T stop play
Who’d be a show organiser? Back again to the Trentham Classic and Retro Show and to once again quote Sister …
The allure of the garage door
The Special’s interest goes beyond cars to things car-related and a chance chat with local photographer Ray led us to …
E21 Group 2 tribute bags Hot wheels Legends Tour UK
A dad ‘n’ lad-built BMW 3-series has won this year’s Hot Wheels Legends Tour UK round, overcoming stiff opposition from …
A Stepney for the Civic
Llanelli is home to The Special and it has strong links to the earliest days of motoring, when any journey, …
‘Escaped’ Land Rover prototype could be yours
A one-off Land Rover prototype that survived the works’ gas axe is coming under Cheffins’ hammer on 16 August. Believed …
Strong interest at Cheffins’ Automobilia sale
Forget the cars, look at the automobilia: recent results from Cheffins auctioneers show that interest in automobilia remains as strong …
A week with The Special’s modern classics
It’s been a week of modern classics action at Special HQ as the new addition arrived, the Isuzu came home …
The Special’s ‘stuff’
Almost all car lovers do not (ordinarily) confine their interest to all things motors: there tends to be a lot …
A truly special trio unveiled by Clayton Classics
Some of you may remember from some time back our visit to Clayton Classics, the Coventry classic specialist whose work …
A cuppa at CCW’s Cars and Coffee
Classic Car Weekly’s monthly Cars and Coffee meeting has got into its 2025 stride with a healthy mix of classics …
Heading up North to Southern Cars
The Special took a trip to the North West for a catch-up with Southern Cars’ Sam G-B. Along with some …
Special K’s selection box
Special K’s been out on the road and while in Bridlington spotted these two tasty morsels attending the annual Race …
We’ve made it to Youtube
At last the guv’nor’s made it into the real world, one where watching rather than reading is perhaps the way …
When did you last see one?
Spotted, not far from Special HQ: an Orion Ghia Si…. And not only was it a range-topping example of the …
Introducing Special K
You’ll have already read about the mileage the Escort 55 covered over Drive-It Day weekend, and after its Bicester Scramble …
RAC Spring Drive-In and shock horror as the Kia’s once again cleaned by someone else and not the guv’nor
For only the second time in our tenure – and again this year – The Special’s Kia enjoyed a well-deserved …
Drive-It Day: Project 55 hits the road
Drive-It Day: yes, Project 55 was certainly driven, putting 394 miles under its refurbished steelies on the day, of all …
We came, we saw – and it was superb
The mighty 55’s first trip out was to the second Scramble of the year and as always the Oxfordshire venue’s …
Project 55 returns
And lo, on Easter Sunday the mighty Escort 55 rose from its pit of corrosion and general mankiness, to appear …
The easy way to a deep shine
The guv’nor at The Special likes keeping his cars clean but as old age draws nearer there’s an increased desire …
A French take on modern classics
There’s no denying the modern classics phenomenon but what is – and isn’t – a modern classic is very much …
One morning, several cars
It started off with sorting out a flat tyre on The Special’s ever-loyal Perodua Nippa runaround: the night before a …
Butler, get that bus out!
OK, enough of the ‘On The Buses’ stuff… We’d never been to Swansea Bus Museum before but its recent open …
Cars and record shops (part 3)
As a lad The Guvnor’s summer holidays were often spent in Porthmadog and during those sunny days many hours were …
Way out West
Two weeks after The Special headed to Bicester Scramble it was time to again brave January’s refrigerator-like temperatures for a …
A nail in the tread
Project 55’s been racking up the miles in the past few months and it has the accolade of being The …
The (classic) New Year starts here
While the VSCC and various other clubs held New Year’s Day meetings, for many people their classic year began at …
New Year’s Day trip out, another record shop visited
Blame it on old age but The Special’s guv’nor thought there was a car meeting going on in Aberystwyth on …
Project 55 – back in use, fresh paint to come
After a serious amount being laid out on re-building Project 55’s underside it’s been pressed back into daily use and …
Keeping an eye-out for these excellent little motoring books
The Special loves a large, well-researched motoring book: think Palawan, for example, where content is matched by design and presentation. …
Walter Hayes Trophy
Just like the season-opening Pomeroy Trophy the Walter Hayes Trophy signed off under cold, grey weather. But forget the micro …
Castle Classics
There’s something very appealing about a classic show held in a town centre: for starters, it makes a pleasant change …
Back to Scramble
The last Scramble of the year brought the curtain down on a trio of events that never cease to impress …
Project 55 returns – looks the same, but it’s vastly improved
Project 55’s back, MoT-tested and with an all-new floor. Karmarthen Kenny’s done a great job bringing the ploddy old blue-oval …
RAC and CC in Fourtrak trip double-header
As with last year’s Mentor outing it was a two-events trip for the Fourtrak, kicking off with the Royal Automobile …
No damp squibs in the Potteries as deluge fails to dampen Trentham classic spirits
If you’re familiar with Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s ‘Didn’t It Rain’ you might have an inkling just how wet it was …
First Line, first-class support
The Special’s not a great fan of the term ‘modern classic’, preferring ‘neo-classic’ instead. And at Special HQ there’s a …
It’s time to test
While classics more than 40 years old are MoT-test-exempt is that a good idea? The Special doesn’t like any car …
The latest on The Special’s bookshelves
The Special’s motoring book collection is big enough to have caused a house move but our acquiring instincts mean the …
A Special first
Car shows- The Special’s been to more than most people have had hot dinners. From small to large, local or …
A welcome return visit
The Special stayed just within the Welsh border as once again it paid a visit to the Three Cocks Vintage …
The Special’s cars – and record shops
In an occasional series – but not too occasional we hope – The Special’s getting out on the road in …
For the record
How often does a classic buyers’ guide highlight the importance of a good service history? A raft of bills and …
B is readied, Fourtrak takes an evening stroll
After the best part of a decade slumbering in The Special’s place of storage the ’32 is poised for some …
Side street spotting and introducing Special K
It’s amazing what cars you’ll see down an urban side street and on a chance stroll down the side street …
Epsom calling
As The Special’s guv’nor gets older he becomes more picky about events he goes to: As seen here before Bicester …
Urban survivors
It’s amazing just what you’ll spot when you’re out-and-about doing other jobs and this pavement-parked quartet certainly made our day. …
No excuse for not seeing clearly
With summer upon us now’s the time to get your classic back on the road, and enjoy some warm trips …
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A potentially worrying trend
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