Griffith heads home for TVR’s 70th anniversary

| 14 Sep 2017

British marque TVR turns 70 this year, and to celebrate we took a stunning Griffith back to the town where it all began: Blackpool. 

The C&SC team joined a host of TVR Car Club members who made the pilgrimage to the northern seaside town before heading south to the site of the new factory in Wales. Read the full story and meet the owners and their cars in the brand-new issue of Classic & Sports Car, which goes on sale in the UK today (14 September). 

Mick Walsh climbs into the cockpit of one of the greatest vintage cars, the beautiful skiff-style 30-98 Wensum. The handsome Vauxhall gained infamy as the ‘Yellow Peril’ while at Eton before acquiring a string of fascinating owners. We delve into the history of this significant model, while also getting behind the wheel for a spirited test drive. 

Formula One legend Phil Hill wasn’t just a world-class racer, he was also a skilled and enthusiastic photographer, as evidenced by a brand-new book celebrating the ace’s personal collection of incredible Kodachrome images taken throughout his career. We gather shots from Pikes Peak, the Monaco Grand Prix and Carrera Panamericana. 

Volvo is another manufacturer celebrating a significant milestone. To mark its 90th anniversary, Ross Alkureishi joins a spectacular gathering at Rockingham Motor Speedway, revelling in the site of more than 120 of the firm’s cars out on track before pitting rally legends Amazon and PV544 against one another in a no-holds-barred twin test. 

Modern classic values have seen a dramatic increase in recent years, but few results are as surprising as the 1985 BMW M635CSi that sold for more than £100,000 at the NEC Classic Motor Show. Malcolm Thorne tracks down its new owner to find out who would pay quite so much for a mid-‘80s BMW– and perhaps more importantly – why. 

The secret of the all-aluminium Dyna Z Panhard was how little it weighed, but that wasn’t all that set one of the cleverest 1950s family saloons apart. Jon Pressnell chats with Dyna Z owner Bernard Burckel and discovers a practical and advanced family saloon capable of 80mph from just 42bhp thanks to its ingenious, slippery shape.