This week, and I believe we are up to number 6, let’s interview someone who should know about the classic car market. Because if you look at what’s going on especially in the auction ring, prices are as soft as a Triumph Dollies nearside inner sill. As luck would have it Ant Anstead has a new telly show out and he was available to answer questions. I am sure you know who he, always very affable and seems to like the same sorts of cars as us and the latest high concept approach to mucking about with classics is intrigueing.
Just so you know here is the contractual obligation bit, Ant Anstead: The Naked Mechanic, Thursdays from 24 October, 9pm on Quest and stream on Discovery+
Master mechanic Ant Anstead returns to his car restoration roots in Ant Anstead: The Naked Mechanic (8 one hour programmes) and this time, it’s personal. Turning a ramshackle old barn into his workshop, Ant will need all his skills to bring vehicles including a Lotus Elan, Land Rover Series 3 and VW Campervan back to life. But the cars aren’t the only restorations he’s taking on. His barn workshop is part of a dilapidated 500-year-old farmhouse that he’s just bought for his parents to retire in. To help fund the house renovation, any profit Ant makes from the cars will go towards his mum and dad’s dream home. But he can’t do it all alone. He’s roped in family and friends to help tackle this double whammy restoration. What could possibly go wrong?
JR: Quite a lot and although I like the sound of all this, what’s keeping me awake at night is that the classic car market is not in the best of health.
Ant Anstead: It is worse than that, I bought the house realising that it was a renovation, but I didn’t think that it was going to be a substantial one. So I had a somewhat rose tinted view, thinking that we could get it fixed up in a few weeks, not realising that it might just be a catastrophic 500 year old falling down farm. I was committed to it and then decided, why don’t I do what I do best? That’s basically fix up some cars. There is a barn on the farm, so I decided to make use of that. From the date on which I bought the first car to now the market has slumped. We do eight episodes and eight cars and not all of them make a profit. A couple of them we certainly do lose money on. That’s how bad it was.
JR: Why is called the Naked Mechanic? That might concern some viewers before the watershed.
Ant Anstead: I can reassure you that clothes will be worn. The term naked refers to the behind the scenes, lift the curtain approach to doing things. That’s the really cool thing about this show there is no production team, I turn up every day and do what I do. I just say ‘if you want to join me and press record, that’s fine.’ For that reason nothing is staged, there is no drama, or jeopardy. Also the choice of cars is very cool. We bought an MG Midget for £1000 and it is hard to make any profit on that, but we managed to. What this programme made me realise is, this isn’t designed to be a business model. I need to make a profit, but mainly it was great to come back to the UK, get back to a dusty dirty old barn, plus all my family are here. I mean, I haven’t spoken to my brothers in twenty years.
JR: There is a Triumph Dolomite Sprint in the programme, isn’t that a model with some well known issues and a bit of a worry?
Ant Anstead: A Triumph is not something which necessarily starts on the button, also it will rust. But one of take homes from the show is that if you buy the right project, things can go well. There is a statistic which amazed me, it’s that 80 per cent of current projects will never get finished by their current owner. There are a lot of reasons why that might happen, which is why there are a lot of Triumphs in the hands of people who will never fix them. Yet the infrastructure surrounding Triumphs are great. Excellent club, parts supply and everything you need is available, also I found them quite straightforward to work on. This Dolomite needed quite a bit of welding which is not a surprise, but a great engine fitted with Webers and quite fast.
JR: What is it that you would like viewers to learn from the programme?
Ant Anstead: I get a lot of people stopping me when I am out and about who will say, because of one of your programmes it inspired me to get a mini, or MG. That’s why we have gone for really accessible and humble, but well supported cars. We are not spending loads of cash and we are doing things that are achievable by most enthusiasts. I have also tried to approach this from the best way to make some money. There is also no fancy equipment, just standard hand tools, which I am using whilst laying on my back in a dusty barn. I am in a very privileged position where I have a white floored state of the art workshop in California. This has been the polar opposite and I absolutely loved it. Effectively I have been back in my seventeen year old skin rolling ,around on a dirty floor welding an MG.
JR: Keeping it real then?
Ant Anstead: This is my 26th TV show, hands down this is the most personal, these are not actors these are my parents. This is very real.
JR: What is your view on Electric Cars?
Ant Anstead: I love them. I was chatting earlier on today about how long they have been around. I mean in 1890 there were electric taxis operating in London with charging points. A few weeks ago I went to Washington DC and spoke to Congress. Governments are telling people that they must go electric and I think they are wrong, you need a multi-fuel option whether it is hydrogen, electric, gasoline. I also believe that humans are incredibly clever and there is probably a power source, that has not yet been discovered.
JR: Are classics under threat?
Ant Anstead: I don’t believe so, the car sector is one of the most buoyant and loved in the world. No one is going to say that we are done with those classic cars. There will always be humans driving cars. A type 35B Bugatti will still be driven in a thousand years time.
If old Ant reckons our hobby and maybe the cars we drive on a daily basis are safe then lets go on a brief Kerbcrawl to go and find ourselves, for the first and possibly last time, a Triumph. Ant mentioned them a lot and restores two so what’s available for us. Just to make it clear that I have avoided all the Trs. That’s because all the early and middle period ones are over valued at the moment and one day I think tha a TR7s are heavenly crawl would be a hoot. Here are the affordables that are often overlooked.
The first stop is the Classic Cars for Sale website where a ‘74 Dolly caught my eye. I will declare an interest, because I had a couple a long time ago and really enjoyed my time with them. Except when the automatic gearbox exploded, for the second time. A bit dicey in wet and icy conditions and Mrs Bangernomics found herself facing the wrong way at a junction so it had to go. Anyway, if I wanted to relive those happy times I chanced across a ‘74 1850 Automatic, because that’s the last one I had. Presumably a HL, most were. Up at a reasonable £2500 with 66K irrelevant miles. Has a stainless exhaust, electronic ignition, rebuilt carburettors, a welcome new water pump and radiator. It runs on the pretty Sprint alloys, there are some spares with it and like so many. Ill health is the reason for sale.
That’s a three Slogger which is generous, but here is something that 9 out of 10 normie road users would reckon is actually a Dolly Sprint. Let’s hope the gearbox is not about to expire. Price negotiable.
Moving to, or rather, backwards in time to find a ‘68 Herald 13/60 convertible. For £3100 you are getting a decent, usuable old thing which will be fun in the summer and just mildly crumbly around the edges. There some body rust then, but these have a chassis which we are assured in solid enough. Work has been done to make it modern including a new brake system, upgraded seatbelts, alternator, electronic ignition, electric fuel pump, stainless exhaust and upgraded headlights.
This is an easy three Slogs. Sort of an easy way into classic car curatorship. Simple body work things you can do, a bit of paint maybe, replace a panel or two. Superb engine access is a bonus. Most of all usable and overlooked.
Next to the Ebay classified adverts and the Triumph which showed the only way forward in the ‘80s, where we were last week, was to turn Japanese. Interesting the advert makes this very clear, it’s a Triumph Acclaim HLS and in brackets so you won’t be frightened by the possibility of an exploding gearbox, it said resassuringly (rebadged Honda Ballade). Just over 60K miles, which is probably correct (see MOT history) and a most of an MOT that it doesn’t need, but great that the owner bothered. Spent the last year or two not doing much but this is a HLS with a brown interior and a five speed manual gearbox. Has had some MOT advisoried welding, but more than worth all the pennies that total £2595.
Here is a five Slog Triumph on the basis that it actually isn’t one. That’s because every old Honda is a five Slogger. Seems to have been sold as well.
And finally Gumtree delivers a 1974 Spitfire. Here is another usable Triumph which could be yours for £3750. A long term owner which is always good and he seems to have replaced most moving parts in just under a couple of decades. I won’t list them all. There has been a bit of welding and that great big bonnet has needed saving over the years. Shiney but scruffy is the honest description from the seller.
That’s a three Slog Triumph, wonderfully usable and you just don’t see Spitfires, whereas MGs are everywhere.
That’s it for classics for a short while, especially Triumphs, but really many of what we cover these days are Banger Classics, my favourite kind. They are the future.
See you next time.
Finally, a very good cause
I have known Stuart for a long time and what he does is make his Jaguars become even more eye popping in the name of raising money for good causes. Here are just four of his Jaguars in front of Thoresby Hall in Newark. In total Stuart and his helpers havenow passed £341,000 for the children's hospice. If you feel like chipping in and finding out more, here is the link.
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/sherwoodjaguarracing
Please note that all images are copyright of the selling garage, no recommendation is made for any vehicle featured and ideally it is best to go and check for yourself.
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