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There’s nothing even remotely exotic among this little lot, but they are the cars that sold in reasonable numbers and become part of in-period street scenes.
Now, however, they’re far from numerous, and we’ll be chronicling their use, their trips and generally looking after them.
Along the way there will be car shows, auctions and some historic motorsport events to add something, well, both faster and more exotic. And older.
Welcome to The Special. We hope you’ll like it.
Van about town (and country)
Mrs Special clearly can’t get enough of small vans, but with the HA Viva being completed and the Escort 55 …
Rust, rust, glorious rust…
…to paraphrase Flanders and Swann. Except the corrosion on The Special’s Escort 55 isn’t anything to laugh about. Those familiar …
Testing times
MoT-test time can be a worry, even if you think you’re on top of your motor’s maintenance. Having said that, …
Heater in name only
The Nippa’s the car that been with us the longest and while it’s not used as much as it used …
Keeping it clean
The downside of Winter driving is the state of the roads and how dirty a regularly-used car becomes. The Special …
Viva Re-VIVA-l part 4
More progress both mechanically and cosmetically for the HA as, after more than 10 years the entire ignition system’s been …
Border crossing for a set of steelies
Funny how a plan comes together and that’s certainly been the case lately with the Viva van’s revival. Our most …
Viva Re-VIVA-l part 3
After years of waiting the Viva’s now firmly back on track as its re–viva–l continues apace. Since its last appearance the …
Viva Re-VIVA-l part 2
Much underbonnet progress with the van as Jon the Tec spent a whole day putting good wiring that had been …
Small yet mighty
There’s only one expression for this pint-sized duo: Small yet mighty. While the classic snobs will sneer at these petite …
Viva Re-VIVA-l
With The Special’s MGB GT project dragging on courtesy of a cracked cylinder head it’s time to turn the spotlight …
October Bicester Scramble
It was an early start for The Special’s Daihatsu Fourtrak but that pre-sunrise alarm clock ring was more than compensated …
Red with black? Green with red?
If manners make the man, do colours make the car? Some cars will always be associated with a particular colour …
Mudflaps? Like ‘em or loathe ‘em they still have a job to do
Mudflaps – the work of the devil to many enthusiasts who think there’s a whiff of the pensioner’s car about …
‘Four Wheel Drift’
Originally published in 1959 ‘Four Wheel Drift’ was aimed at younger readers but it’s a great reminder of motor sport …
More ‘white’ roads, a magazine connection, some book-buying and a pub lunch
A recent ‘taking care of business’ trip to Bordon gave The Special and its X-Type a chance to explore the …
