Silverstone Auctions will be displaying a very special 1968 Jensen Interceptor, first owned by comedy icon Eric Morecambe.

Silverstone Auctions will be displaying a very special 1968 Jensen Interceptor, first owned by comedy icon Eric Morecambe, at the London Classic Car Show on the 18th- 21st February at Excel, London.

Silverstone Auctions purchased the car in September 2014 and approached Jensen specialists Cropredy Bridge to undertake a full, no expense spared restoration at their base in Oxfordshire which was completed in July 2015. The car will be for sale at the show on a POA basis.

The car has a fascinating history. It left the Jensen factory on Kelvin Way in West Bromwich on the 23rd September 1968, and was delivered to its first owner, Mr Eric Morecambe, shortly afterwards. Residing at Morecambe’s house in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, the car was driven personally by Eric as well as used by Morecambe’s chauffeur, Mike Fountain, to ferry him and wife Joan around. According to Fountain, this Interceptor was Eric’s favourite car.

Eric spoke about this car on an episode of Parkinson in 1972, describing the time when he was driving through Batley in Leeds late one evening. He was appearing with Ernie Wise at the local variety club when he became unwell and decided to drive home. He felt increasingly ill, and eventually was forced to ask a passer-by to drive him to hospital in the Interceptor. He had actually just suffered a mild heart attack. Apparently the passer-by was so excited to be driving an Interceptor that it took him several minutes to realise who he was helping!

Speaking about the car, managing director of Silverstone Auctions, Nick Whale, said: ”This is a wonderful car with an equally wonderful history and has been a personal delight to see it restored to its former glory. It’s now time for the Jensen to find a new owner who will cherish it as much as Eric did.”

Visitors wil also have the chance to view two cars that will be auctioned in Silverstone Auctions’ Race Retro Classic Car sale, including a incredibly low mileage 1990 Mercedes-Benz 190 E 2.5-16 Evolution II and a one-owner, 1,500 mile 2010 Porsche 997 GT3 RS GEN II.

Members of the Silverstone Auctions’ team will be answering questions on the classic car market in Speakers’ Corner and holding talks and discussions throughout the weekend on buying and selling at auction with a focus on one of Silverstone Auctions’ specialties - modern classics.

Silverstone Auctions’ stand at the show can be found in the main hall alongside the Grand Avenue.

Time Warp 1968 Mini Van with 300 miles to go under the hammer at the Silverstone Auction.

Virtually unused for 47 years, a ‘time warp’ 1968 Austin Mini Van is set to be auctioned at Silverstone Auctions’ Practical Classics Restoration Show Sale on March 28^th, at the NEC, Birmingham.

The car, estimated at between £23,000 and £25,000, was first registered on the 14^th March 1968. It was bought new for a mere £400 by a Miss G. Crumcott from Northern Ireland so she could learn to drive. Miss Crumcott never managed to pass her driving test however, so the car was kept unused in her garage for nearly 30 years.

The car was then bought in July 1997 by a local BMC Mini dealer, Mr T. Turkington, who placed it in the Mini centre’s showroom until 2006 before selling it onto another collector in Northamptonshire. It has now been brought back onto the market, and, with so few owners, it is no surprise the car has covered a miniscule and very desirable 302 miles.

The charming classic is in remarkable unrestored original condition, right down to the seat protectors and rubber floor mats. Still retaining its original crossply Dunlop tyres and spare wheel, all of which are unused, the motorcar has been so carefully stored it has also preserved its initial exhaust and sealed Lucas battery. The car is also supplied with its original toolbox, which remains unopened; a delightful added extra. All in all, the van is in perfect running order.

Nick Whale, managing director of Silverstone Auctions, said: “We are thrilled to be offering this virtually unused and untouched Austin Mini Van at our sale on March 28^th. This rare find is in ‘as new’ condition and is surely an alluring, promising prospect for Mini or other collectors in the market.”

Built on the longer Traveller chassis but without side windows, the Mini Van proved popular in 1960s Britain as a cheaper alternative to the car. It was classed as a commercial vehicle and as such carried no sales tax.

The Austin Mini Van joins nearly 70 other cars on offer in the sale, including a beautifully presented 2001 BMW Z8, a restored 1980 Aston Martin V8 and a 1969 Porsche 912 Restoration Project.

Nick added: “Our sale at the Practical Classics Restoration Show is the perfect place to find your next project or road ready classic car and this very special Mini is sure to attract much interest when it goes under the hammer.”

Stretched E-Type even has a trailer for added convenience.

• The E-Type that Jaguar Cars should have built
• Unique trailer built to complement the car

The world’s first stretched E-Type has been unveiled and will go on show in London later this week at a major automotive awards ceremony.

Built in 1968, the left hand drive Jaguar E-Type series 1 4.2 roadster has been stretched by four and a half inches during a major restoration carried out by Classic Motor Cars Limited of Bridgnorth (CMC).

Nick Goldthorp, Managing Director of CMC, said: “The car is phenomenal to drive. This is the E-Type that Jaguar Cars should have built. The extra space makes all the difference and actually alters the whole attitude of the car.”

During the rebuild the owner, a client in the United States who intends to travel widely in country, requested a trailer to be built. CMC built this from two E-Type rear ends joined together.

The trailer is ingeniously connected to the car via a removable tow hitch, which locks into position through the revering light aperture. The reversing light hides the hitch mechanism when the trailer is not in use. This is another first for CMC and the world of Jaguar.

The E-Type has been named “the Kaizen” by Paul Branstad, the owner, and takes its name from one of Toyota’s founding principles, Kaizen, which means “understand the imperative to make continuous improvements and then get to work.”

Paul Branstad said that he had named the E-Type in this way because he thought that the original Jaguar designer, Malcolm Sayer, would have approved of what he wanted to do to the car while preserving its essence.

He added: “The stretched E-Type I have conceived sits between the Series I and the subsequent vehicles produced after the merger and formation of British Leyland, when the design of the cars underwent several transformations as a consequence of cuts in production costs and the need for more space that resulted in the Series II 2+2 and Series III V12.”

Nick Goldthorpadded: “This is something that we have never done before. Our client wanted the interior leg room of a Series 3 V12 E-Type but the aesthetics of a Series 1 car.”

“We have added four and a half inches to the floor pan, which will give the leg room of the V12 plus an additional one inch if required. The V12 was actually nine inches longer than a Series I but a lot of the additional room was behind the seats as storage and was not required on our project.”

Nicksaid: “By adding four and a half inches to the length of the car we were able to retain the overall look of the Series 1 and also turn this E-Type into a unique car.”

Along with these radical developments, the roof line has been raised by 1.25 inches above the drivers head and the boot floor lowered and reshaped to build in a 20 gallon fuel tank and to allow a wider spare wheel as the car was fitted with 16” diameter wire wheels shod with lower profile radial tyres.

The car has also been built with a host of CMC’s upgrades that range from air conditioning to power steering, upgraded brakes, five-speed gearbox, suspension and handling upgrades, amongst others.

Paul Branstad said: “As an idea, the Kaizen E-Type was a conceit of the imagination but the car itself has now become a reality by taking advantage of modern material and component technologies provided by CMC."

“With nine inches more wheelbase, the 2+2 was too long to be beautiful, but the four and a half inches added to the Kaizen E-type could make the car even more beautiful than the original Series I edition.”

He added: “Perhaps this car would have represented the very last chance for Malcolm Sayer to apply his ideas for the E-Type.”