Retro Classics Issue 37 April to June 2020

In the Greens

Much like planting a tree, the best time to buy a Mk1 Escort was ten years ago, as to find a decent two-door project basis nowadays is a fraught exercise. Johnny Gayer from Newcastle West pounced on his almost a decade ago, but it still needed every ounce of his professional panel-beating skills to turn out the beautiful result you see here.

S Marks the Spot

Some cars achieve classic status as soon as they roll off the production line – think of the Lamborghini Miura, the Bentley Blue Train or the Porsche 911. Beyond their performance, engineering and style, they all had something that made them extra special, some secret ingredient, something you couldn’t put your finger on; they just had ‘it’. And, in the classic Ford world, the 3.0S Capri certainly has that ‘it’ factor…

White Diamond

When it comes to automotive output, the Japanese have perhaps been the bravest in terms of attempting to break down the hegemony of the German manufacturers in certain areas. Just as Toyota infiltrated the luxury car market with Lexus, Mitsubishi have attempted to do the same, albeit in the sports car segment of the market. The adventurously styled Starion is a long-forgotten example of this bravery.

High Calibre 

An icon of 1990s performance car culture, the Opel Calibra has steadily disappeared from view since its heyday thanks to the timeworn combination of hard use, rust and high running costs. But, a group of enthusiasts in North Co. Cork are doing their best to keep the legend on the road.

The Daily Grind

You don’t come across many Porsche 924s being used as a regular driver, nor do you come across many twenty-year-olds with a raft of Porsche projects already under their belt. Bring those two elements together and you have Richard Johnston and his well-seasoned 924S rolling resto, examples of the next generation of the classic scene.

Canadian Custom

The Parisienne was the Canadian version on the better-known Pontiac Bonneville, itself based on the legendary Chevrolet Impala. Longer than a LWB Transit, today these big sixties cruisers are a sharp contrast to the plastic Euroboxes that clutter our roads, and this one has been given a mild custom makeover to raise its cool factor to eleven.

Fast Forward

The dawn of the hot-hatch era of the late 1970s marked a seismic shift in the performance car industry, and once the 1980s hit, pretty-much every large manufacturer knew they had to bring their own model to the party. Ford, being Ford, brought out several; the Fiesta XR2 might have been the baby of the range, but it made its mark on many, including a young Geoffrey Mark.