Nick Larkin
Do older classics need modifications for winter?
Nick asks if modifications have become a necessity.
Ihad the pleasure of accepting an open invitation to drop into Keyworth Classics for a cup of tea, a chat, a look around and a chance to sample some of the stock, particularly ‘a car we know you will love, Nick.’
And there it was, a 1961 Hillman Minx Series in a lovely Rootes Green, with just 32,000 miles on the clock; a vehicle totally at the top of the joy tree.
All original with a few bits of surface rust in the factory paintwork but an as new interior, who could not love? Rootes cars of this era have so much charm and I have to admit to ignoring more exotic machinery to get at this Hillman.
I had wondered whether the XVJ 622 registration was one of those DVLA age related reissues, but no, it was issued in Herefordshire during 1961. The plates, complete with Hills script, had obviously been on the car since new. The Hillman drove very well on a tour of local villages with lots of lovely gear whine, and thankfully the roads were dry. On a previous visit I had noted to my glee that there was a branch of seminal East Midlands traditional bakery, Birds, in Keyworth, Surely this was an appropriate destination for a trip in a 1961
Hillman Minx. The Rootes equivalent of experiencing a Modena sunset in a Ferrari 250GT. And of course, there was the chance to pick up some blackcurrant and cream tarts. I’d bought thousands of these from the Swadlincote branch of Birds as a young reporter on the Burton Daily Mail, and the recipe is unchanged. Hang on though, something was missing from this Minx, as confirmed by an anguished look under the bonnet. There was no heater. Never had been, only an empty shelf attached to the bulkhead.
Changing times
The temperature had dropped, I was still thawing out from an extremely cold photoshoot earlier in Ashby-de-la-zouch and darkness and damp was descending. It wasn’t the cold, but the fact I I had no cloth and didn’t want to compromise safety with misted up windows that made me decide on a return to base – no tarts for Nick!
Obviously the Hillman had been used heaterless since 1961, but more recently I have driven a couple of classics that have been parked outside and taken ages to get rid of all the interior moisture. On one, the heater hardly produced enough heat to warm up a flea. Surely with today’s technology there must be a manufacturer that could supply effective but non-too power sapping portable heater/demisters for classics? I suppose you could fit a period rear screen demister. And isn’t smearing your glass with half a potato (unchipped) supposed to help?
Maybe it would also be easy to upgrade Lucas’s finest into brighter halogen lighting (how about an adaptor kit, someone?). Maybe it’s just that I have become a bit of a wuss recently, or do we really now need to have tip top heaters, demisters and lights in classics that aren’t just used for summer shows? Modern traffic is definitely denser, faster and more aggressive than it was even in the Eighties.
I was talking to a vintage enthusiast the other day who remarked how much he hated seeing flashers fitted to prewar cars. But how many Millennial drivers would be knowledgeable enough to be looking out for trafficators nowadays?
A classic motorist using traditional hand signals would probably be reported to the thought police as a subversive far right sympathiser.
Radial tyres and of course seatbelts are arguably essential for modern winter driving, while uprated, even dual circuit, brakes are surely worth considering. These are changed times, and we need to protect our Hillmans!
‘These are changed times that we live in – we need to protect our Hillmans!’