Classic Car Behind
The Wheel (Part 2)
Steve Havelock, contributor ,Dorset
I was kindly invited by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and
Traders to attend a test day at the massive Millbrook Proving Ground near
Bedford, where most of the major car makers brought along a selection of their
latest offerings to drive on the huge banked speedbowl, the challenging Alpine
road course and the tight and twisty city course. After the frustration of
taking well over three hours to cover the 120 clogged motorway miles from home
to Millbrook in my trusty Corvette C5, I was pleased to get my paws on the new
Corvette C7 Stingray. I wasn’t overly keen on its styling when it was first
introduced but it’s growing on me fast. This bright yellow example came
equipped with a 6.2 litre, 455bhp V8 driving through a seven-speed manual
gearbox. Purists may prefer pressing down a clutch pedal and stirring a stick
shift but modern automatic or automated gearboxes are now so good, why would
anyone want to? Although Corvette makes excellent paddle shift autos, I
understand that only the manuals will be initially imported to the UK. If so, I
think they are missing a trick. I jumped in and immediately felt comfortable
and at home. Everything was new but had a familiar feel to it. With the car in
high demand, there was no time to learn all the controls and functions. Just
drive! The chassis of the C5 was a massive improvement over the C4. The C6 was
an evolution of the C5 but the C7 is another major leap forward. It feels much
more nimble, agile and more responsive than its predecessor. The steering is
fingertip light and the brakes have plenty of bite, but the clutch and gearbox
weren’t the slickest I’ve experienced. The chassis inspired immediate confidence
and I was able to really throw it around the Alpine course. It handled a treat
and stuck to the road like glue. One colleague commented: “It’s almost too
easy.”
I was pleased to get my
paws on the new Corvette C7 Stingray
On the speed bowl I could really stretch its legs. Top gear is
massively high, which must be for motorway cruising, but even at 100mph when I hit
the accelerator virtually nothing happened and I had to change down two gears
to get a move on. My time with the C7 was all too brief. It’s undoubtedly a
good car and at £61,500 it’s big bangs for the buck; but for it to sell in the
UK, Corvette still needs to sort out its dealer network and after-sales. Later,
with heavy rain descending, I tried Jeep’s £50,000 3.0 V6 CRD Grand Cherokee
Summit automatic on Millbrook’s demanding off-road course. It was not only
comfortable and well appointed, but unbelievably capable through the
treacherous mud and slime, both up hill and down dale. You don’t need to be an
expert off-roader. Just dial in ‘mud, rock, snow or sand’ or even just leave it
in ‘Auto’ and the fancy electronics will sort it out. You just have to steer
and be amazed
You don’t need to be an
expert off-roader. Just dial in ‘mud, rock, snow or sand’ or even just leave it
in ‘Auto’ and the fancy electronics will sort it out
Ben Klemenzson, Editor, Manchester
With all the great weather we’ve been having there’s barely been a
day that’s not been suitable for ‘top down’ motoring and I’m not ashamed to say
that I’ve been taking full advantage of it. The proof is in the colour that I
have gone and the number of entries from petrol stations on my bank statements.
Wafting around town in a seven litre plus convertible might seem like the life
of Riley, but it’s more or less guaranteed to get you sub-12mpg fuel economy
figures. Less than 200 miles from a £100 tank of fuel? Yup, that’ll be the one!
As one final and ultimate shakedown of our Falcon project, I thought that
driving it to Sweden and back for the Power Big Meet in Vasteras would be a
sure fire way to reveal any bugs or gremlins. It’s a round trip of almost 2000 miles,
involving driving from Manchester to Harwich, then across Denmark from Esbjerg
to Copenhagen and then across the infamous Oresund bridge (the eponymous bridge
of Nordic Noir TV drama’s ‘The Bridge’) from Copenhagen to Malmö, Sweden and
then North to Vasteras. So, driving a 50-year-old car that’s been off the road
for two decades… what could possibly go wrong?! Amazingly nothing did, although
the carb did seem to start causing some sort of rough running at speeds below
50mph halfway through the journey… but ultimately it got me there and back,
started every single time and was a pleasure to drive. Now it’s just a case of
getting to the bottom of the carb issue, now I’m back in the UK. Summer saw the
Olds sail through its MoT with flying colors and the Jeep has been doing
sterling work, trailing up and down the country lugging the Class Am stand and
merchandise; the 4.7 V8 is pretty thirsty in town, but out in the motorway it
is possible to squeeze 28mpg on a run (according to the computer anyway). I had
toyed with an LPG conversion, but it seems barely worth it for a vehicle which
is worth probably less than the cost of the kit and the conversion.
The Jeep has been doing
sterling work, trailing up and down the country lugging the Class Am stand and
merchandise
Meanwhile, I have been proselytizing the American car cause here
at Classic American’s publishing company Mortons, and have found a willing
victim in the form of one of the directors, Nigel Hole, who has a longstanding
association with Classic American magazine, going back 15 years to when he was
the title’s circulation manager. At that time the magazine (and Nigel and
myself) were part of the Auto Trader Group. Nigel has long yearned after a
Corvette (you may have read his feature on hiring a Corvette for a day to see
if it really was what he wanted in the May 2014/CA277 issue) but has only just
recently felt the time was right and asked me to come along to have a look at a
car with him. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that what I know about Corvettes
could be written on the head of a pin, but went along with him anyway to have a
look at the Corvette that he’d found on eBay.
Corvette for a day to see
if it really was what he wanted in the May 2014/CA277 issue but has only just
recently felt the time was right and asked me to come along to have a look at a
car with him.
It turned out to be quite a nice example and ticked many of the
boxes that both Nigel and I agreed would suggest it was what it purported to
be. The only fly in the ointment was the fact it couldn’t be taken for a test
drive as it had no tax or MoT and there was a pinprick hole in one of the
radiator hoses. Other than that the body and paint were in great nick, as was
the interior and there was a stack of invoices showing the car had been
pampered and looked after, no matter what the cost through out its life. But
what if it there was some terrible problem that would only be obvious during a
test drive? Why would you try and sell a car and not get it taxed, MoT’d and
ready for a test drive? And that is the great dilemma of eBay… The owner worked
in the City and was getting his father to sell the car on his behalf and he was
confident that if we didn’t buy it, the next person would… So what happened?
Find out next time.
