Classic!

This weekend just gone I visited the Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show at The NEC in Birmingham.

What did I think?

Well, since you ask, I'll tell you.

The free show guide was most excellent - even came in its own carrier bag!

I got close to Mike Brewer and Tiff Needell which was nice.

And to Will & Gus from Flipping Bangers and to a couple of my favourite YouTubers.

And to Frank Stephenson - apparently pronounced Steffanson - not to be confused with Steph Fromidriveaclassic - one of the aforementioned YouTubers.  I didn't realise until he started talking that I actually knew who he was - in as much as he has a regular column in Top Gear Magazine critiquing modern car designs.  He revealed some secrets about his design work on the Mini One - check out how the exhaust pipe is the same as a Budweiser can.

There were loads of Triumph Dolomites there:

BUT THEY WERE ALL SPRINTS!

Some of us owned 1500HL Dolomites.  They did have a few Triumph 1300s and a 1500 too though.

They also had some famous cars like The Sweeney Granada:

The Saint's Volvo:

And Richard Hammond's Oliver:

They had an F40:

And also whatever this is:

The food was crap - and overpriced - but that's the fault of the NEC - should have used the various vans there.

Loved the day - would recommend it to any petrol-head - and even non-petrol-heads - the two I went with enjoyed it too.

It was classic.

Naked Ant Anstead

That post title should get me a few clicks from potential female readers.

And my digital recording device seems to think his current Discovery channel series involves nudity:

A bit of quick Internet research shows that the working title for Ant Anstead, Born Mechanic was Ant Anstead, The Naked Mechanic.

As it is, there has been no nudity so far and I watched episode 5 this morning.

The premise of the show is that he is doing up classic cars to fund the restoration of a very old farmhouse for his parents.  He has the help of an old friend called Darren who seems to be giving his time free of charge.  Ant also "calls in favours" from many "friends" for both car jobs and house jobs.

I wonder if these people may appear briefly on Discovery's payroll?

Not that it really matters - it's what we thespians call "artistic license."

Like in episode 1 when Ant tells us he is scared of heights then in episode 2 he appears very comfortable on the roof of the farmhouse.

Episode 1 was particularly enjoyable though because they were doing a Triumph Dolomite Sprint - it's ALWAYS a Sprint, they never do a 1500HL like I used to have but never mind, the Sprint is a fabulous car.

Darren reminds me of someone.

It may be that I have seen so many car shows over the years that he has turned up on one if them.  Although I did also think that he looked a bit like an older version of former Stig, Ben Collins:

Then I spotted Darren's surname at the end of the show - Collins!

Maybe a cousin or something or maybe a complete coincidence.

But back to the show - I think the format is forcing Ant to sell his cars at auction with no reserve which seems somewhat unfair.  He lost a fortune on a Jaguar XJS and made just £200 (not including auction fees which were probably more than £200) on a mint (and therefore extremely rare) one-owner Alfasud.  And when I say "mint", I don't mean it had a hole in it - check out the auction listing.

A similar fate befell an original condition (and also extremely rare) MGC with just 5000 genuine miles on the odometer on the programme I watched just before Born Mechanic - that programme being Bangers And Cash, Restoring Classics.  The team spent over £30,000 on getting the car ready for auction and it sold for just £22,500.  Like the Alfa, it seemed almost criminal to let it go for that price but at least that show is about a car auction site so there is justifiable jeopardy there.

So, does this show mean that Ant has followed Mike Brewer back to the UK?

Nope, but his girlfriend is currently filming the next Bridget Jones film over here so that worked out quite well.

They obviously got their diaries aligned.

The Long and Short of It.

I saw this in an Autocar Story today:

It looks like a cobbled-together in a shed, kit version of a Lamborghini LM002:

But it is actually a hell of a lot more than that.

It is an electric vehicle with a range-extender engine "built for expeditions as extreme and diverse as crossing the Antarctic or penetrating uncharted Amazon rainforests."

It's about the size of a Transit but very light weight with a high ground-clearance - it is called The Fering Pioneer.

This is the story.

It also has a bit of a Jeep Gladiator look about it...

...which I wouldn't have spotted if I hadn't read this Fox News story which talks about the best and worst cars for tall and short people.  Although Consumer Reports should get the credit for it.

You would think that convertibles would be best for tall drivers since there is infinite headroom.

Think again:

Shame about the number plate but I'm sure the Fox News viewers would appreciate it.

Apparently the second-best car for short drivers is the BMW 7-Series and the first-best car for tall drivers is the BMW 7-Series.

I think it just means it has very adjustable seats.

Home Brew

 Wheeler Dealers is coming home!

But wait, that's not Ant Anstead.

No, that's Marc Priestley aka "Elvis" - the British based mechanic who worked with Mike on Wheeler Dealers - Dream Car.

Which I never watched.

The full announcement is here on YouTube:

Elvis is taking over from Ant and the three of them appear in that video talking about what will be the series-after-next.

I look forward to it being British again and I have every confidence that Elvis will make a fine third incarnation of the WD Mechanic - a Jon Pertwee to Ant's Patrick Troughton if you will.

One other thing I took from the video was a throw-away comment from Ant about his wives.

So I looked them up on Wikipedia.

His first wife, according to Wiki, is famous for being Ant Anstead's ex-wife.

His second wife, however, who is also Ant Anstead's ex-wife, seems to be a TV Presenter.

One person who gets virtually zero mention, however, is Edd - still the original and best and I bet a lot of the show's fans' first choice to resume the role.  It was stated that Ant will be calling in from time to time so I think we really need a "Three Mechanics" episode at some point - if Doctor Who can do it, then there's no reason why Wheeler Dealers can't.

Sounds Like Brewer's Telling Porkies

Well he is a used car salesman. 

I am a big fan of Wheeler Dealers - both the Edd era and the Ant era.

So I follow them on Facebook.

So I was somewhat perplexed to see this posting today:

Now Mike Brewer is obviously a car guy.

I am also a car guy.  I must be, I spend time writing a car blog that only 7 people read. And, speaking as a car guy, I am pretty confident in saying that things car guys find the opposite of interesting include:

• SUVs that farmers wouldn't be interested in
• Chinese Budget motors
• Bog-Standard Electric Cars

So I am incredibly sceptical when Mike Brewer says,

"MG has launched two new models, expanding the range to include an all-new EV and a plug-in hybrid variant of the HS SUV. Having seen the MG Motor UK ZS EV at the NEC last year, I can't wait to have a test drive in this. What do you think?"

I think MG must be paying you an awful lot of money to post that - it makes you less credible than Dominic Cummings.

The comments mostly though pick up on the fact that these cars look like a VW parked next to a Mazda.  All cross-overs look the same anyway but here I have got onto Paint and produced a VW parked next to a Mazda:

They've got a point.

Edd's Gone!!!

And I don't mean Edd The Duck.    

No, I mean the only other "Ed" who spells his name with two D's - Edd China:

I was going to do a posting today about Sunday's Top Gear - I had a couple of ideas and was definitely going to mention my favourite quote of the show:

"The Suspects are Joey from Friends and a bald guy in a bad suit."

or maybe I was going to complain about them dissing the Dolomite Sprint...

...which led into Rory Reid driving the most famous car on TV (if you watch car shows) - a Mark I Golf GTi carrying Reg. number A651FEJ:

Here's Jeremy with it:

 

and here it is on Car SOS:

This may well be it again but I'm not going to find the episode in the second series of Wheeler Dealers - Trading Up to find out:

It's not appeared on For The Love of Cars yet though.

And here we arrive at the big news story of today:

Discovery today announced established automotive expert Ant Anstead is the new co-host and master mechanic on the global hit series WHEELER DEALERS. After 13 seasons, longtime co-host and lead mechanic Edd China has decided to leave the series to pursue other projects. WHEELER DEALERS will continue for a season 14 later this year with current co-host Mike Brewer who will now be joined by Anstead. Ant Anstead is the former host of the Channel 4 series “For The Love Of Cars”

Wow!

Or I could have gone with...

"Opel cleared of diesel emissions cheating by French authorities"

...an Autocar story today which comes just after it was announced that Opel was to become part of the PSA Group which is part-owned by the French authorities.

No - the Edd news is much bigger.  A bit like him.

Old News

I really like Wheeler Dealers.

And on Facebook, I have really liked Wheeler Dealers.

But most of their posts point at a website called musclecarszone.com

And, while I think it does have some interesting articles on there, it is really very rarely that I will click on one.  Mainly because the website itself can only be described (by me at least) as very tacky due to the awful clickbait advertising you get on there:

And if you're using a geriatric laptop like mine, the page takes forever to come up.

I  guess this advertising must have some effect because while I am never tempted to watch the video that billionaires in my locality don't want me to watch or to find out which celebrity I wouldn't expect to be dead is actually dead while a picture of a non-dead celebrity is luring me in - there must be enough people out there who do click on them to justify their presence.

Any road up, the musclecarszone article that Wheeler Dealers on Facebook pointed me at today didn't seem to add up - so I clicked on it.

Apparently, "This Lady Has Been Driving The Same 1957 Chevrolet Car For 53 Years! 116,000 Miles On The Odometer"  - which is the article in the Screenshot above.

However, it doesn't take a Degree in Statistics (sad but true - I have a degree in Statistics) to realise that a 1957-bought car 53 years later only takes us to 2010.

For some reason, musclecarszone.com have taken a YouTube Posting from six-ish years ago, taken the commentary to be the text, and published it as a new story.

It is an interesting story.  I watched and enjoyed an old lady talking about her old car.  It's a Bel Air - not that the article tells you that - presumably because the YouTube Posting doesn't tell you that.

But it ain't new news.

I suppose that at least it also isn't fake news.

But either way, come on Mike, give us some real news (and without the dodgy ads - I don't care that at least 12 celebrities don't wear panties - honest!)

Viral News

Mike Brewer's been getting a bit of stick today.  But only from a couple of people who you would never invite to your party.  It involves this picture which he posted on Facebook with a comment about how Curt should have asked for a replacement jacket.

Many hundreds of his fans reassured Mike and posted suitable comments against those with a sense-of-humor by-pass.  I deliberately spelled it like that because it seemed to be Americans who didn't get the joke.

I say "seemed" because it was actually two English blokes who put the main comments up there.  They claimed children could be upset at the joke.  Well children under 13 shouldn't be on Facebook and children 13 and over would have found it funny.

So there.

I guess it must have had an effect though because today he said, "What a day! trolled because of a guys name badge, abused cause I post too many times! and angered people who didn't get an answer in a clearly posted 10 minute Q&A which went on for 12 minutes with over 50 questions answered...please..if you don't like this page/me or what I do..please unfollow me.."

He does post a lot.  But that's fine by me.

Anyway, the fans reassured him some more.

Don't know if there was enough activity to call it viral though.

So here's some really viral news:

Tata to rename Zica car over virus woes

It is the headline to this BBC story. Tata are having to rename their new car being launched at the Auto Expo in New Delhi because its name sounds like the virus affecting The Americas at the moment.

 Meanwhile, it looks like an MG.

This is perhaps more horrifying news, MG are going to be selling an SUV!  Here's the MG section of carnewschina.com where the story can be found.

It will be called the MG GS Rui Teng or maybe something different if it comes to British shores.  Which I hope it doesn't.  I've got nothing against the car per se.

Except IT'S AN MG SUV!


The name Zica, meanwhile, is meant to be short for "Zippy Car" so how about they rename it "Highly Intense Vehicle"?

Or HIV for short.

Fair deal?

The Discovery Quest Channel has started showing Wheeler Dealers.

This is excellent news for me - Quest is a Freeview Channel and I am a big fan of the show.

They have started to show the episodes right back from the first series in 2003.

For those of you unfamiliar with the programme, used car dealer Mike Brewer buys a classic car in need of a little attention at a knock-down price.  Then, trusted mechanic Edd China gives the car the attention and finally Mike sells the car on for a profit (if you don't count Edd's labour).

I have heard speculation over the years that all is not what it seems on this show.

I have heard that the people Mike buys the cars off and those he sells them to are production staff from the show.

I have heard that Edd doesn't do any of the work.

This interview from Total Car Magazine implies all is legit.  This is from this year.

This forum post from Wheel Whores implies otherwise.  This is from 2008.

A guy calling himself Pete Nice says he pretended to be the bloke Mike bought a knackered Beetle off -  this would be him:

Indeed, in the episode, this bloke is called Pete.

 

The episode involved converting the Beetle into a Beach Buggy.

 

Whether or not it is the same Pete is open to conjecture but there is something fishy in that episode from Series 2.  The knackered old Beetle had registration number FTD 243J.  That plate appears on the workshop wall behind Edd during that episode: 

However, when the conversion is complete, the finished Beach Buggy sports a completely different registration number - UPW 450H: 

That, to me, implies a completely different, slightly older, base car was used.

 

But never mind.

 

I would have thought, nowadays, if the show wasn't genuine, they would have to declare that bits were fabricated for entertainment purposes.  There are certainly such disclaimers on American Hot-Rod and Classic Car Rescue.

 

However, in 2003 such rules probably didn't exist.

 

Let's just say all is legit today.

 

Deal?

Mutually Beneficial

The BBC should become the UK's biggest mutual company to make it more accountable to licence fee payers - so says former culture secretary Dame Tessa Jowell.  The BBC report it here.

Mutual companies do not have external shareholders but all members of the company are considered owners. Money is reinvested back into the company rather than paid out as dividends.

I would like to be a member of the BBC.

If I was a member of the BBC, I might have had a say in the disposal of the F1 rights which led me to declare that I'd had it with the BBC.

I might also have a say in commissioning a new motoring show for BBC2.

But, I hear you say, BBC2 already has a brilliant motoring show called "Top Gear."

I agree - it does.  In fact Top Gear is my favourite show of any genre on television - it's even better than QI.

But I also want a show that is a bit more about the cars themselves - and accessories and racing and motoring law - and the sort of things you might read about on a car blog named after a small car from British Leyland.  I've been watching a couple of the old Top Gears from the '80s and '90s on Youtube and I want a show like that.  Or like Channel 4's Driven before they made it juvenile.

It would have to be on the BBC for two reasons:

1. Impartiality - they mustn't be afraid of upsetting motoring manufacturers who could sponsor them - allegedly Toyota refused to let Jeremy Clarkson test-drive any more of their cars after he called the Corolla "dull" in a review.
2. Profitability - I don't believe that enough people watch ordinary car programmes to make then viable commercially.  This leads to daft competitions that cost £1.50 to enter and added contrived "entertainment" like they put in the otherwise enjoyable Classic Car Rescue - this can be really cringeworthy to watch but seems to draw in the viewers.

The new show would be called "Second Gear" (or "Fourth Gear" if they showed it on BBC Four) and would need some decent presenters.  Definitely not the ones from "I Want That Car" - my review of which has garnered a very large number of hits for some reason - no comments, just hits.

I liked the old Top Gear presenters, Sue Baker, Chris Goffey and William Woollard so wouldn't object to any of them coming back although dare I say they are probably a bit long in the tooth nowadays?  William Woollard's style with a foot on the bumper of the car he was discussing has led to an Internet craze which had passed me by until I read this from the Metro newspaper (no relation).

But the lineup I'd probably plump for would be former Driven host Mike Brewer as the front man assuming I could prise him away from The Discovery Channel. I've got a leather jacket just like that by the way: 

Maybe Jason Dawe (Used Car Roadshow and series 1 of the revamped Top Gear before they decided James May would be a better fit) for the more serious, practical items:

Tom Ford (ex of Fifth Gear and still of TopGear Magazine) for road tests: 

And Sabine Schmitz for the racy stuff:

A half an hour show every Thursday evening.  Just before "Dave Allen at Large."  Sorted.

 

Oh, and can we have "Gardener's World" followed by "One Man and His Dog" on a Friday again please?