I want to start this newsletter with some sound advice for anyone who is thinking of buying an XK – or any other classic for that matter. I get really frustrated when someone finds a car they are interested in and asks for my advice on buying it and they don’t really want my advice; they just want to justify their stupid decision. There must be some form of psychological condition that makes men – and it seems to affect only men – go into some form of denial when they find an overpriced heap of scrap that they want to pay some crazy price for. In fact I will go further than that and make this bold statement, “All customers are in self-denial of the true costs of restoration.” Read on and I will try to persuade any such sufferer how to overcome this common syndrome.

Yes, classic cars are a good investment at the moment and it does not seem likely to change in the near future. However there is a very simple mathematical formula that every car buyer must remember; Purchase price of car + Cost of restoration = Actual cost of car. And the other law of auto investment; a car is only worth what someone will pay for it. Let me explain: I recently had a call from someone who had seen an XK150 DHC for nearly £30,000 and wanted to tell me about it under the pretence that he wanted my advice. I knew all about this car – as did every other XK enthusiast in the world via the Internet. Oh yes, another symptom of the denial syndrome is that sufferers are convinced they are the only person in the world that knows about the car they are hell-bent on buying. The restoration costs for this car, doing it with the best deals going, was about £70,000 as this customer was not able to undertake the restoration himself. In other words; Cost of car £30,000 + Restoration £70,000 = True cost of car £100,000. I could find him a nice car for £20,000 less than this; cut out all the heartache and give him something he could drive away tomorrow. Not only that something with an investment value.

Restoration jobs are fine providing you know exactly what you are doing but I see so many XKs that have been bought blind without the buyer even talking to a specialist, when it is too late. I guess it is because they don’t want to hear what they know they are going to hear... MORE

We are seeing more and more fuel related problems, which are caused by ethanol being used as an additive in petrol (gasoline). Ethanol it seems is being added to petrol by fuel companies in increasing amounts as the price of crude oil goes up and up.

There are two main problems; ethanol is corrosive and can damage metal and plastic materials and it can also cause blockages. As a result we are increasingly seeing fuel line leaks and SU floats springing leaks as well as this, sand-like grains are settling in the system, restricting fuel flow in the carburettors. These problems are worse where cars are standing for long periods of time and this powder settles out of the fuel.

I am not aware of any way of finding out if there are any fuels that have lower levels of ethanol so I can’t recommend one rather than another. What I can recommend is the use of a fuel additive. One such product is Millers Oils VSPe Power Plus. As well as increasing the octane value and protecting the valves, it also combats the adverse effects of ethanol in fuel. My other piece of advice is to drain any fuel left in the car before you store your car – but be very careful how you drain and store the fuel.

We are ram jam packed at the moment. The XK120 aluminium bodied Broadsport roadster I told you about last time has been sold to a new owner in the UK. We have cars in from France, Germany, Italy, Greece, two from the Netherlands and of course the UK. There are some particularly interesting projects in hand; one for a Frenchman, which is a purpose-built XK120 Roadster he will be entering in the Paris – Peking Rally. Another is an historic alloy XK120 for restoration, which is a recent barn find in the USA, and the third car of special interest is an XK120 roadster we are building for the Classic Le Mans to full FIA specification.

 

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