Thursday, December 29, 2022

Change From £100k

New contributor and classic cars enthusiast Theodora Ong covets roadsters with wings, curves and chrome at the London Classic Car Show 2020

If you dashed over to this year’s London Classic Car Show (LCCS) at Olympia, you may soon be planning to sell-up your everyday new car, to snap up a new-old motor for weekend cruising instead. Those who do so, succumb to full-on sensory satisfaction. Throw caution to the wind about the hazards of our congested London-town, secure garaging, and knowing when your car attains hallowed historic status. Your newly acquired chrome-y classic soon becomes an all-consuming passion.

 

From the £70 million worth of kaleidoscopic-coloured classic, vintage, prototype and magnificent marques at the LCCS, here’s The Steeple Times’ hotlist of top five pin-ups. They promise retro allure rather than just tarmac-burning brawn, as you glide up alongside your fellow road sharers at the lights. This is just your starters for inspiration.

 

Change From £100k – London Classic Car Show 2020 – New contributor and classic cars enthusiast Theodora Ong covets roadsters with wings, curves and chrome at the London Classic Car Show 2020.

No. 1 – 1959 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster

This Benz oozes a rogue-ish riviera chic. It is a somewhat understated evolution of the futuristic 300 SL gullwing. When launched in 1957 it was one of the most audacious and thrilling sports rides to be seen on the open road. This 1959 model from Hemmels is claimed to be the first ever sold to the UK and has clocked up only 36,000 miles. Expect these examples to be a desirable £1million+ buy.

 

Change From £100k – London Classic Car Show 2020 – New contributor and classic cars enthusiast Theodora Ong covets roadsters with wings, curves and chrome at the London Classic Car Show 2020.

No. 2 – 1933 MG J2

Here is a flawless red pre-World War II MG that assures you are owning a slice of genuine history. Its story is detailed by previous owners, and it is listed in a host of publications and owner’s club articles. Sit inside and you immediately connect with the streamlined design.  It was clearly built to wrap round a gentleman driver (most MG drivers were back then). Dealer Graeme Hunt uses all its cars for sale to keep them running smoothly and offers this MG for £57,500.

 

Change From £100k – London Classic Car Show 2020 – New contributor and classic cars enthusiast Theodora Ong covets roadsters with wings, curves and chrome at the London Classic Car Show 2020.

No. 3 – 1954 Jaguar XK120

This immaculately restored cat belongs to man of style David Gandy.  It’s been subject to 2,700 man-hours of rebuild to deliver a superlative road racer – and its story was a feature of the LCCS. Its 3.4-litre inline six-cylinder XK engine cuts it at 225bhp. Marvel at new interior design finishes commissioned by the owner. The modish patina of warm tobacco leather contrasts with the tough impenetrable black shell.

 

Recently, a Ferrari 250 GTO gained the status of the highest priced vehicle ever sold at auction for £37.5m.  But if we’re setting our Steeple Times budget at a more modest £100K, then we’d choose to drive away the pair of sleek ’60 two-seaters that follow below in the forthcoming Coys auction sale at the LCCS.

 

Change From £100k – London Classic Car Show 2020 – New contributor and classic cars enthusiast Theodora Ong covets roadsters with wings, curves and chrome at the London Classic Car Show 2020.

No. 4 – 1965 Lancia Flaminia 3C GTL, estimate £70K – £90K

Dramatically sleek yet solid, this Lancia has a 2.8-litre V6 engine fed by triple twin-choke Weber carburettors to deliver over 150bhp.  Drool over its distinctive Superleggera body [a build system which helps enable this innovative aluminium body shape]. Being fashioned slightly longer and 7cm taller than the GT model, means a more commanding ride. Only 300 were built. Consider these Lancias a snip alongside similar Astons and Maseratis.

 

Change From £100k – London Classic Car Show 2020 – New contributor and classic cars enthusiast Theodora Ong covets roadsters with wings, curves and chrome at the London Classic Car Show 2020.

No. 5 – 1963 Hillman Superminx Convertible, estimate £10K –£12K

This friendly-faced retro-mobile claims just one owner from 1963 until 2017, as a company car for the HR manager at Harrods – there’s a clue in the Harrodian Car Club badge it bears. Today it’s all style and restraint. Back then, this more pumped out Superminx convertible was ritzy one-upmanship over the standard Minx on the neighbour’s drive.

 

Change From £100k – London Classic Car Show 2020 – New contributor and classic cars enthusiast Theodora Ong covets roadsters with wings, curves and chrome at the London Classic Car Show 2020.

And what would we do with our change from £100K? 

Splash out on luxe accessories. We’re eyeing up some British ’20s silver hip flasks across town at the Pullman Gallery. One is crafted in the shape of a car radiator; another like a mini petrol can. That’s for your destination drinking of course.

 

The London Classic Car Show at Olympia 20th to 23rd February 2020.

 

Missed it?  Then diary these, coming up:

 

Historics Auctioneers sale – 7th March 2020 at Ascot Racecourse.

 

Coys auction sale – 25th April 2020 at Chiswick House.

 

Duke of London –  Once a month on Sundays, its Classics & Cakes meetings are an ever-dynamic line of surprise classics rolling in.

 

Theodora Ong is an alcohol and bars consultant. At weekends, she’s often dry so she can retro-cruise around West London.

 

Photo credits: London Classic Car Show, Coys, Pullman Gallery.

 

Facebook: @TheSteepleTimes

Instagram: @TheSteepleTimes

Twitter: @SteepleTimes

 

Theodora Ong
Theodora Ong
Theodora Ong is an alcohol and bars consultant. At weekends, she’s often dry so she can retro-cruise around West London.

5 COMMENTS

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

£1 per week Supports The Steeple Times

Help journalism to remain honest & independent. You can make a difference to the world today.

3,091FansLike
2,068FollowersFollow
14,726FollowersFollow
4,962SubscribersSubscribe

Subscribe For DAILY NEWS

Please subscribe, like and share this unique site, it helps us tremendously. The Steeple Times in return will send you an email at noon each and everyday, that we sincerely hope you will enjoy & look forward to seeing in your inbox.

AD
Advertisement

Trending Now

Crypto Crook’s Big Short – Will Sam Bankman-Fried Story Be Turned Into Blockbuster?

Crypto crook Sam Bankman-Fried astonishingly gets to hang out with the author of ‘The Big Short’ in spite of being on £207 million bail and now has not only Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyer onside but also Prince Andrew’s judge to face also.

Five Unlikely Things Famous Footballers Did Next…

David Lennox shares the little-known stories of what five famous footballers did next after retiring their pitch time prowess – amongst them everything from novel writing to forensic detective work.

Most Popular Articles

Justice for James Scurlock

Power of social media proven after senseless killing of James Scurlock in Omaha, Nebraska allegedly by a controversial bar owner named Jake Gardner who has been photographed with Donald Trump.

Moron of the Moment – Prince Harry

With his marriage to the woman formerly known as Meghan Markle, Prince Harry has morphed into an utter bore   Prince Harry used to be a...

Scobie Orf!

‘MeGain’s’ bestie Omid Scobie deservedly gets slammed by ‘Yankee Wally’ Sadie Quinlan for getting her shut down on Twitter; this childish chap should now just ‘belt up, wrap up and shut up.’

A Massive Media Maelstrom – McCann, Mandelson and Maxwell

Matthew Steeples highlights how the ‘Mandelson Media Method’ is very much in play in both the case of the Prince Andrew-Jeffrey Epstein connection and the renewed interest in the Madeleine McCann disappearance.

The Phil & Matt Show

Phillip Schofield filmed smoking shisha with his alleged ex-lover Matt McGreevy (and pictured in bed thereafter); another image shows the pair together in photograph...

Plane Perverted

EXCLUSIVE – Previously unnamed 9-year-old child pictured on the lap of Jeffrey Epstein on his plane in ‘Daily Mail’ suggested to be daughter of billionaire Glenn Dubin.

Moron of the Moment 2021 – Richard Madeley

As the new Diana, Princess of Wales statue is mocked as looking like him, ‘Dorian Gray of Daytime Telly’ Richard Madeley pathetically claims he got PTSD due to worrying about his son’s wedding.

Most Liked...

Ampika Pickston

Ampika Pickston
Oldham born divorcee and former glamour model Ampika Pickston describes herself as “feisty, fun loving and warm hearted”. Now based in Hale Barns, Cheshire...

Picture of the Week: The Wallies of Whalley

Picture of the Week: A field at Whalley Arches, Lancashire before and after flooding
Image of flooded Lancashire field complete with sign advertising it as a development site for 39 homes illustrates the perils of building on flood...

Was Mucky Minx Meghan Markle A ‘Yacht Girl’ For ‘Randy Andy’?

Was Meghan Markle A ‘Yacht Girl’ For ‘Randy Andy’?
As author Kirby Sommers suggests that the then Meghan Markle likely spent time with Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein before she met Prince Harry, we again highlight the mucky, murkiness and mendacious manner of this alleged “yacht girl.”

Unprecedentedly THAT – Scrag-End Omid Scobie’s Christmas Twitter Missive Stinkers

Unprecedentedly THAT – Scrag-End Omid Scobie’s Christmas Twitter Missive Stinkers
In using Twitter to share rabid rants about everything from Ribena to the royals, Omid Scobie simply shows himself as unprecedently awful.

MeGain’s Mouthpiece’s Moronic Meltdown – Soppy Omid Scobie v Joyous Jeremy...

MeGain’s Mouthpiece Has Meltdown Jeremy Clarkson Meghan Markle Omid Scobie
Matthew Steeples salutes Jeremy Clarkson for expressing honest thoughts about the deviant Duchess of Sussex (and especially for causing the soppy snowflake that is ‘MeGain’s mouthpiece Omid Scobie to have a meltdown as a result).