mastodon 4.8.0-nightly.2026-10-06Slow-living cardiologically challenged Fenlander trying to cram less and less into each day. I write about cars but not as much as before. Electric is my thing (EV-ing since 2013). Life-long Labour member of a centrist persuasion. English of Welsh extraction. Interested in Germany (lived there twice). US politics/CNN fan. Like cats but I don’t have one myself. Studied at Oxford and Bayes. Live in the beautiful cathedral city of Ely. Background pic: North Shore beach at Skegness. #davidsdailycar
Today we continue the Corvette story with another C3 model. Yesterday’s C3 was a convertible but this one is a coupé with a fixed top featuring a T-roof and removal panels. Snapped at Cars in the Park in Lichfield a few weeks ago.
Today we are moving on to the next chapter in the Chevrolet Corvette story with the fourth-generation C4 model, seen here recently at Cars in the Park in Lichfield. The C4 was introduced in 1984 and was mostly a clean-sheet design, both internally and externally. Google Image Search reckons that this is a later-year post-1991 C4.
@Sir_Osis_of_Liver@beige.party has advised me that yesterday’s Chevrolet Corvette C4 was a ZR1 model with a Lotus-developed quad-cam V8. Today’s Corvette C5 has a British connection as well - it is the first generation of ‘Vette to be officially imported into the UK, albeit still with left-hand drive. I saw this one at Cars in the Park at Lichfield earlier in the summer.
After yesterday’s C5 model, today we turn our attention to the Chevrolet Corvette C6, produced between 2005 and 2013. This was the first Corvette since the C1 not to feature concealed/pop-up headlamps. Seen at Cars on the Park in Lichfield recently.
Quite an exotic little car today from this year’s Practical Classics resto show, which tends to concentrate on more mainstream stuff. This is a 1967 Fiat 850 Vignale Coupé, and very elegant it is too.
As we have seen in the last few days, Rootes badged its commercials as Commer and GM in the UK used the Bedford brand. Leyland was quite random in terms of van badging but in 2001, MG Rover came up with the MG Express, a van version of the zippy MG ZR hatchback. These are quite rare. I saw this well-kept example at the Practical Classics resto show in March.
Yesterday I mentioned the British system of military registration plates featuring three pairs of characters. Here’s another example, fitted to a Rover P5b that was used by the Royal Air Force in the 1970s. These also served for many years as ministerial cars with the British government. Snapped at a classic car meet in Ely, Cambridgeshire, in 2024.
Today, for #Caturday, we go right back to the very beginning of the post-war Jaguar roadster line with the sleek XK120, launched in 1948. The XK120 was the first Jaguar to use the legendary DOHC straight-six XK engine. This 1951 car lives at The Great British Car Journey, where I saw it last year.
The recently featured Bedford HA van bowed out in 1983 after almost two decades of service, replaced by Bedford-badged van versions of the Vauxhall Chevette and Astra. In 1984, rivals British Leyland launched the Maestro van which was also popular with UK utilities. This Maestro van was seen having the British Gas livery applied at this year’s Practical Classics resto show.
In 1976, Leyland contracted the tuning firm Broadspeed to develop a racing version of the Jaguar XJ coupé featured yesterday for the European Touring Car Championship. I don’t think it was particularly successful, but it generated a huge amount of media coverage. Snapped at the British Motor Museum last year.
The day before yesterday, I posted a photo of the Austin Maestro van from the 1980s. As every BL fan knows, the Maestro hatch and van are sisters under the skin to the slightly bigger Montego saloon and estate. This old Montego, seen at this year’s Practical Classics resto show, used to belong to the Ministry of Defence. The giveaway is the plate format used by the British military, consisting of three pairs of white characters on a black background.
The two-door coupé version of the original Jaguar XJ saloon featured in the last two days was only produced between 1975 and 1977. The picture was complicated by the arrival, also in 1975, of another two-door (if less obviously) XJ-based coupé - the XJ-S - which lasted twenty one years in production until 1996. I saw this TWR-modified 1985 example at the 2023 NEC Classic Motor Show.
Yesterday, I mentioned the long production run of the Jaguar XJ-S, which lasted from 1975 to 1996. There was a proposal to replace the XJ-S earlier in the form of this X41 (coupé)/X42 (roadster) prototype from 1988, but this was cancelled by Jaguar’s then-new owner, Ford. Some of the work on the X41 was carried over to the Aston Martin DB7. Pic taken: British Motor Museum, 2023.
Yesterday, after I’d posted about the one off Daimler Corsica convertible, @BackFromTheDud@mas.to mentioned the two-door coupé version of the original Jaguar XJ, which was also available as a Daimler. I’m not sure whether this one, which I saw at the 2023 NEC Classic Motor Show is a Jaguar or a Daimler.
In 1959, the Jaguar 2.4/3.4-litre saloon featured yesterday was replaced by the revamped Mk2 saloon. The 2.4 and 3.4 XK straight six engines were carried over but joined by a larger 3.8. The glass area was significantly increased. Favoured by bank robbers - at least by reputation. I saw this magnificent 3.8 at the British Motor Museum in 2023.
Yesterday’s car, the Jaguar X150 XK, spawned this harder-edged, sportier version, the XKR-S, which became available when the XK was facelifted in 2011. Tweaks to the engine, suspension, exhaust and brakes were all part of the package. I had the chance to drive this one at a JLR press event at Goodwood back in 2012.
Today, I’m bringing the Jaguar coupé/convertible story a bit more up to date with the 2006 XK model designed by Ian Callum. Whilst it has fairly typical or even traditional curvy Jaguar looks, under the skin, it has an advanced aluminium alloy structure similar to that of the recently featured X350 and X351 XJ saloon models. Snapped at the British Motor Museum last year.