Our Classics Special

Looking after old cars is never straightforward, something that everyone on the team has discovered at some point this year

Although it’s fair to say that 2018 has seen some members of the team being more successful than others in getting out and enjoying their classics – managing editor James Sadlier and staff writer Charlie Calderwood use their fleet favourites daily, whereas the photo shoot for this round-up was the first outing of the year for Nick Larkin’s Austin Cambridge – everyone has had their fair share of challenges when it’s come to keeping them fighting fit.

Our cars are spread across five decades and, as you can see, the mix is eclectic, but they all have one thing in common – requiring their owners to attend to their maintenance needs to keep them happy. It’s just that for some, the amount of care and attention needed is greater than others.

The fleet we’re looking after has changed quite considerably this year, though, not least when news editor, Jon Burgess, and his eclectic mix of Japanese, Swedish and French classics joined the team. He’s been battling various gearbox issues on his Subaru SVX, while also simultaneously attempting to keep an Impreza, Volvo ‘Amazon’ and a Peugeot 605 roadworthy.

Speaking of Peugeots, they would appear to be in vogue in 2018. There was a time when half the

CCW staff owned examples of Mazda’s ubiquitous sports car, and while editor David Simister is still very much flying the MX-5

(well, Eunos) flag – the model is on the verge of celebrating its

30th anniversary next year – it’s cars wearing the lion badge that seem to have wooed us the most – both James and Charlie being the proud owners of a 406 Coupé and 205 GT respectively.

Over the next few pages we offer our favourite stories from the past 12 months to give you an idea of the trials and tribulations that we’ve faced – plus a flavour of what we plan to do with our cars next year.