Reader’s garage
We featured Chris Bidgood’s part restored Austin Healey 110-4 four-years ago and although this self-confessed petrol head still owns the big Healey, several more interesting vehicles have joined his collection since we last saw him
We look at a collection of classics that includes a couple of unusual surprises.
The formidable range of classics featured in this reader’s collection spans more than half a century of automotive progress. These eight vehicles originated from Great Britain, Germany, Italy and Japan, four nations offering some of the greatest motoring pedigree on the planet. With a combined weight of nearly ten tonnes and a total power output of more than 1500 brake horsepower, this truly eclectic group of vehicles offers almost unlimited petrol head pleasure.
The man responsible for combining classic British sportsters with Italian supercar flair, German autobahn stormers and even a classic tractor is Chris Bidgood, a retired bank manager living in an idyllic corner of rural England. He’s obviously got a particularly serious case of the classic car bug that afflicts us all and it started early in life. ‘I’ve had a Riley Elf, an MG Midget, two Triumph GT6s, and a Singer Vogue estate from my father’ says Chris.
The line-up of cars to which this avid collector has been ‘previous keeper’ is as extensive as it is enthralling, also includes a VW Golf GTi, an MGC and a Jaguar MkII. Today, his collection is constantly changing, with cars being sold and others acquired, often through the thrill of a classic auction. Chris is clearly out to taste as many dishes as possible from the plentiful buffet table of automotive development.
The very oldest vehicle here is the 1953 Ferguson TED-20 tractor, bought four years ago with a friend ‘for a bit of fun and pottering down to the local pub on’, as Chris puts it. As we unearth the slumbering tractor from its open-air hibernation behind the garage, Chris presses the starter button and after a couple of turns, the old motor putt- putt- putts into life, settling into a rhythmic tickover. This neat little tractor has a dual fuel engine with a compression ratio of only 4.5:1 designed to be started first on petrol and once warm it can burn Tractor Vaporising Oil, a cheap mixture of petrol and fuel oil. It may not be a car but who could fail to be charmed by the little grey Fergie?
Moving on chronologically, we come next to the Austin Healey 100- 4, also from 1953. It’s an early BN1 example and regular readers blessed with good memories may recall seeing this car in Classics Monthly nearly four years ago, when we showed Chris’ project as a ‘work in progress’. Bought from an auction at Brooklands in 2014 the car was a typical basket case, delivered by trailer with much in boxes, inevitably suffering from serious rot in the steel bodywork. Fortunately the chassis and central alloy body shrouds were sound, giving
Chris a good basis for his project. The welding, paint spraying and trimming was farmed out to trade experts, while Chris has completed other aspects of the restoration, including a full engine rebuild.
He’s made great progress in the four years since we last visited and the Healey is very nearly complete, needing only a few finishing touches to the interior. It’s a car with an interesting history, as Chris explained: “it belonged to Derek Rickman, who was well known with his brother Don for building Metisse competition motorcycle frames. Derek raced this very
Healey in the ‘ Fifties, and I’m in touch with him about the restoration. I hope he will be able to drive it once completed”.
The 100- 4 is gorgeous, the period- correct single body colour showing its graceful, flowing curves to best effect. Mechanically it’s a basic but effective formula with a big torquey four-pot motor driving through a three-speed ‘box and live axle to deliver genuine 100mph performance. Chris aims to have the car finished and on the road this summer.
Stepping forward a decade to the ‘Sixties, we find a Lambretta scooter and a tartan red MGC. The Lambretta Li125 Special is a throwback to Chris’ teenage years when a Li150 bored out to 175cc was his first ever motorised transport. Pointing to the scooter, Chris said: “the Special designation merely means it has some extra chrome on the side panels. It does run but I really need to put some time into smartening it up, or even restoring it. I would like to ride it occasionally but I’m concerned by the prospect of getting knocked over”.
He’s more enthusiastic about his MGC, purchased just over a year ago: “it’s steady, there’s really not much to go wrong and I enjoy driving it, maybe clocking up 500 miles a year”. It’s a very tidy example, the product of a thorough restoration shortly before Chris bought it. Though it’s a US import converted to right- hand drive, in every other respect this is a very original car. The six cylinder, seven main bearing engine is smooth and produces such a wide spread of torque as to make gear changes almost irrelevant.
The MG’s torsion bar front suspension provides a good ride and the servo-assisted front disc brakes are large enough to cope easily with its weight and performance. When it was launched in 1967, the MGC was burdened with poor reviews, but viewed as a grand tourer rather than a sports car; it’s a very capable means of covering long distances in comfort and considerable classic style.
Our time travel skips past the lurid colours of the ‘Seventies and the hot hatches and turbos of the ‘Eighties, jumping straight to the late ‘Nineties with an absolute stunner of a car. Chris fulfilled his dream to own a Ferrari just two years ago when he bought his 355 F1 Spider. This is surely the pinnacle, the pièce de resistance of his collection. No question that when new, the 355 was seen as an exclusive supercar, though naturally Ferrari and their competitors have raised the performance bar still higher in the new Millennium.
Chris’ dream car is finished in the same Rosso Corsa red paint worn by Ferrari Grand Prix cars, with seats of Nero black hide. It’s not a car for anyone of a shy or retiring disposition, it simply shouts speed.
Maranello model terminology can take some decoding; 355 denotes the engine – a V8 of course – is of 3.5 litres capacity with five valves per cylinder to improve top- end breathing. The result is peak power of 375 brake horsepower and a redline of 8500rpm, if you happen to be brave enough. F1 means the car is equipped with an electromechanical semi-automatic gearbox, the six ratios being changed sequentially from ‘flappy paddles’ on the steering wheel. Engage the gears with the tiny alloy tee- handle in the centre of the car then the driver can control the gearbox instantaneously, without removing hands from the wheel. That’s fortunate, as from rest 100mph is possible in just over 10 seconds; exploring such exotic performance will require utmost concentration. To put the Ferrari’s pace in perspective, the MGC still won’t have hit 60mph after 10 seconds and it was considered a powerful car in its day.
Asked about maintaining the 355, Chris says it needs to go to a specialist for servicing and for the sake of his bank balance, he fervently hopes nothing more is ever necessary. He added: “recently the throttle was
sticking slightly, so I stripped the mechanism at the weekend to lubricate and adjust it”. Needless to say, it now behaves perfectly. The car looks ultra-fast just standing still in front of our camera. When Chris starts his Italian thoroughbred, the sound is so much more than a V8 rumble; there’s the rustle of four camshafts operating a total of 40 valves, with an urgent rasping edge to the burbling exhaust.
Those of a nervous disposition may wish to turn the page now, as the 355 isn’t the most powerful motor in Chris’ fleet. That accolade goes to his stallion from Stuttgart, a 2003 Mercedes SL55 AMG, with a jaw- dropping 510 brake horsepower available from the 5.5 litre supercharged V8. Mercedes have built SL sports models since 1954 and this is a fifth generation R230 type, superseded just five years ago by the latest version. Though this Merc may be relatively recent, we feel that such ancestry means it deserves classic status regardless of age.
Although the Mercedes is the most powerful of Chris’ cars, at nearly two tonnes it’s also the heaviest by a considerable margin. Without doubt it is a big, ferociously fast bruiser of a car but it can’t match the ultimate pace of the Ferrari and it’s a tamer, easier drive. Equipped with all creature comforts and variable ride height sports suspension, the Mercedes is far better suited to rapid trans- continental travel, keeping its fortunate occupants in relaxed luxury all the way. Having owned the big Benz for three years, Chris has decided the time has come to move it on, and a new owner will soon be collecting the car.
As we bid Chris farewell, we’re left with the impression of a man who knows his cars but whose next move is hard to predict. Clearly he enjoys sampling almost any and every automotive delight ever created. Though he speaks of slimming down his collection, his ebullient love of old cars and the thrill of the auction means it’s impossible to imagine the day when he makes do with fewer vehicles. Watch this space, Chris is certain to continue scratching his classic itch.