RAY MASSEY: Affordable classics for the price of a Dacia

Fancy owning a classic Rolls-Royce or Bentley for the price of a brand new Dacia budget family car? It is certainly possible if you have nerves of steel and are willing to take a chance.

Scan the classifieds on sites like autotrader.co.uk and you’ll see that such treasures really do exist for less than £20,000. I saw a 6.8-litre 1997 Bentley Brooklands for £15,990 and a 1995 model for £15,290, versus a new Dacia Jogger for £17,145 and a base Dacia Duster for £15,795.

Some classics even retail for under £10,000, with a 1977 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow priced at £5,995 and another priced at £6,750.

Former Top Gear presenter James May bought a 15mpg Bentley T2 for £14,000 or ‘a Bentley for Mondeo money’, joking that his service technician ‘buys his overalls from Gucci’.

Of course, it will be a case of ‘buyer beware’ and you won’t have the pleasure and security of owning a brand new car – or warranty. Apart from the fuel bills and costs of keeping them running or repairing them, can you find the spare parts you need?

There is a specialist company called Flying Spares (flyingspares.com) to help you with this.

Founded from a portable building in 1995 by Ben and Lucy Handford, it claims to be the world’s largest independent supplier of new, recycled and remanufactured Rolls-Royce and Bentley parts, employing more than 50 people in a 30,000 m2 facility that in operation 24 hours a day. 7 and distribute worldwide.

Based in Market Bosworth, Leics, the motto is ‘Recycle to Preserve’.

Flying Spares director Neil Arman said: ‘I remember Ben telling me years ago – by dismantling one wrecked Rolls-Royce or Bentley we keep six more on the road.’

Mr. Arman explained, “Rolls-Royce and Bentley enthusiasts are perfectionists. They want real nuts and bolts of the same model, let alone grates and mascots. Every piece of heritage is therefore valuable. The rarer the better, so we invest in the best people and equipment to stock our shelves.”

New book charts the history of Vauxhall

Many families have had one. Ours was a Viva. We did indeed have two – and one became my hand-me-down very first car.

Now Vauxhall fan Trevor Alder has captured the British marque’s vehicles from 1945 to 1995 in a new pictorial history.

Publisher Veloce said: ‘This really is the ‘go-to’ publication if you want to compare your Vivas, Victors, Ventoras or Viceroys. It’s a trip down memory lane.’

Memory Strip: The book contains line drawings, black and white, and color photographs from the period, along with interior details

The book contains line drawings, black and white and color photographs from the period, along with interior details.

It covers all models and derivatives, limited editions, such as the 1982 Astra EXP (left), plus a motorsport performance section, with a comprehensive index. Also recorded are TV and film appearances, advertising slogans, specifications and build figures.

Vauxhall Cars – 1945 to 1995 (£19.99, veloce.co.uk).

Call to ban electric e-scooters

‘Dangerous’: A French uprising against electric e-scooters has led to calls for the UK government to ban them

A French uprising against ‘dangerous’ electric e-scooters has led to calls for the UK government – currently overseeing a controversial trial – to ban them on safety grounds.

A poll in Paris showed 90 percent of the vote for a ban. The referendum was called in response to a rising number of injuries and deaths in the French capital.

In Britain, privately owned scooters are only allowed on private property, although this is widely violated.

Martin Usher, a personal injury partner at Lime Solicitors, said of the Paris vote: “This should be a wake-up call to our government burying its head in the sand.”

Neil Greig, director of policy and research at IAM RoadSmart, said 68 percent of respondents to his own poll viewed the growing number of e-scooters as “a threat to their road safety.”