Classic Cars UK – June 2023
English | 166 pages | pdf | 193.38 MB
Welcome at Classic Cars UK magazine June 2023 issue
A 1952 Chevrolet Styline Deluxe at the Practical Classics Classic Car and Restoration Show last month froze me to the spot.
As you’d expect with the show theme, there were plenty of part-started or part-completed projects among the perfectly finished shiny metal, but the Barn Finds display held a special magic – and this car cast a particularly strong spell.
Given the crumbling state of the seats, you might have expected it to cast an equally strong smell too, but instead it intoxicated with that delicious blend of stale petrol and musty carpets that immediately sends your brain rushing off on a journey back through time. Well, it does mine anyway.
That trip took me through endless possibilities as I tried to imagine what twists of history led to this current state, clearly long-unused and neglected, but nonetheless saved from a worse fate.
Depending on your viewpoint, it’s either a shocking dereliction of care or the perfect starting point for a back-to-as-new restoration. To me it’s neither – heeled over on its flat tyres, rust scouring every visible surface, remaining paint oxidised to dullness and once twinkling chrome pitted and lifeless, it’s a heroic monument to a battle slowly lost to chemistry and biology. It has the defiant dignity of a survivor that has refused to succumb, no matter what life has thrown at it.
Then my wistful reverie was deflated by the seed of a thought that started in the back of my mind and grew to fill my head. This could be the fate of my Jaguar, if I carry on putting off the jobs that are consigning it to the dusty tomb at the top of my driveway.
So I stopped myself from getting too distracted by the dealer cars and Classic Car Auctions sale – well, I allowed myself a quick look – because another classic would dilute my time and resources, and I’m determined not to let Quentin’s Smart Buys turn my head either. I’ll leave these pleasures to you.
Enjoy the magazine issue.
Phil Bell, Group Editor
Download from: