Our Blogs
Jon Fenning blog March 10
First and foremost, never ever ship your car to Africa on a roll-on roll-off ferry.
Every single team that shipped their car to Dakar returned to it to find something missing. Our Beetle was effected worst than most. The buggers couldn't work out how to open the bonnet, so they wrapped a rope around our bumper in an attempt to pull it forward and bend the wings out, in the futile hope of popping open the bonnet!
Happily, our car survived although they did nick...
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Words: Jon Fenning
Posted: 9:51am, 5 March 2010
Images: Jon Fenning
Also see: Other posts by Jon Fenning
Andrew Faulkner blog 22/02/10
Despite the worst winter in 100 years it’s time for all true enthusiasts to get down the garage and make like an onion - put on plenty of layers and become slightly spherical.
In my case this includes the restoration of my son’s Bond Equipe GT4S. To recap (it’s been a while), the welding is done, a new rear shelf has been installed, the respray was done last Christmas and the interior has been gutted for renovation.
Whilst son Daniel has been rubbing down the new paintwork to reveal a pleasing shine (and a few runs but we wont dwell on those), I h...
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Words: Andy Faulkner
Posted: 10:10am, 22 February 2010
Images: Andrew Faulkner
Also see: Other posts by Andy Faulkner
Ben Wanklyn Blog 01/02/10
I was in a bit of a pickle. A nasty accident had turned my Ford Fiesta into a mangled banana-shaped mess, leaving me without daily transport.
By a stroke of good fortune though, I had just become the proud owner of a Hillman Super Minx; a sturdy 1960s armchair with Detroit styling and a boot the size of Bournemouth. Great, I’d use that for my daily commute. Problem solved. Or it would have been, if not for two tiny details. Firstly, the be-finned wonder’s clutch was faulty. Secondly, it was parked outside the Practical Classics w...
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Words: Ben Wanklyn
Posted: 10:35am, 1 February 2010
Images: Ben Wanklyn
Also see: Other posts by Ben Wanklyn
Jon Fenning blog December 09
Progress on preparing the bug has been worryingly smooth, almost too easy. The mounting of the bonnet globe was fairly straightforward requiring little precision and lots of guesswork.
It also lights up, so I guess we now have the world's only bonnet mounted lighted up globe motif Beetle, unless anyone knows any different!
Our spark plugs kept blackening up so we simply disconnected the ever faulty automatic choke, assuming sub Saharan Africa will be warm enough for the car to start easily.
We simply disengaged the relay that controlled the but...
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Words: Jon Fenning
Posted: 11:10am, 28 January 2010
Images: Jon Fenning
Also see: Other posts by Jon Fenning
Jonathan Fenning Blog - 7/12/09
Team For Queen and Country prepare to drive to Cameroon in a knackered Volkswagen Beetle.
One evening last March, my housemate Jack Ellis and I were supposed to be studying for our finals, however we found it far more interesting to enter the Adventurists Africa Rally - an impressively foolish event that involves driving budget cars overland to Cameroon. Total distance: 6000ish miles.
Believing in a true sense of heritage we gave our team the neo-colonial title ‘For...
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Words: Jonathan Fenning
Posted: 2:55pm, 7 December 2009
Also see: Other posts by Jonathan Fenning
Sam Skelton Blog 24/11/09
PC's latest blogger explains why the future's brown.
Forgive me if this blog doesn't seem to talk about cars that much - I accept that it doesn't. I have however got a point to make, so if you're not doing much - washing the dog, taking the dishes for a walk, etc. - please do read on.
There is - or seems to be - a stigma attached to the colour brown. Don't ask me why, there just is. Brown is a colour that most of the fashionista wo...
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Words: Sam Skelton
Posted: 9:29am, 24 November 2009
Also see: Other posts by Sam Skelton
Ben Wanklyn Blog 5/11/09
Seat-sniffing prompts Ben to take on PC's soiled Super Minx.
I blame my nose. Well, that and the smell of old vinyl. Certainly without either of them, classic cars just wouldn’t have the same appeal for me. I mean, there’s something magical about that musty plastic odour that lingers in Sixties car interiors. Just one whiff of sun-parched seat covers leaves me plotting various ways to bring another motoring antique into my life. Throw in the allure o...
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Words: Ben Wanklyn
Posted: 10:34am, 10 November 2009
Also see: Other posts by Ben Wanklyn
Claire Kidd blog 29/10/09
I’ve always been into cars as my dad brought me up as the son he never had – and my fiancée is a keen racing driver.
Hi, I'm Claire. You may not recognise the name, but behind the scenes at Practical Classics headquarters I'm shackled to my desk answering phones and catering to the PC team's every whim. Well, to a certain extent.
I must admit I wasn’t much of a classic car enthusiast before joining the PC team, but now I find myself wanting my own resto project. Watch thi...
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Words: Claire Kidd
Posted: 5:10pm, 30 October 2009
Images: Claire Kidd
Also see: Other posts by Claire Kidd
Brett Nicholson blog, 20/10/09
Have you ever wondered why you are so interested in cars? I often do!
I sit and stare at a computer screen all day at work, as a result my mind inevitably wanders towards old cars. I should be thinking about my real work but instead I’m thinking about the work I want to do on the Moke’s suspension.
I daydream about buying a classic Beetle, or perhaps that Reliant Scimitar GTE I saw last week. Or should I dump funds I don’t really have into pr...
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Words: Brett Nicholson
Posted: 9:13am, 20 October 2009
Images: Brett Nicholson
Also see: Other posts by Brett Nicholson
Sam Glover Blog 13/10/09
Ami affair leads to Dyane divorce.
It's not often that upon getting a new purchase home, it turns out to be better than anticipated. As a general rule, solid sills transpire to be affixed with No More Nails, con-rods snap without warning and electrical fires break out like measles.
I was therefore dumbfounded when my latest automotive waif turned out to be substantially better than it initially appeared.
Words: Sam Glover
Posted: 9:29am, 13 October 2009
Also see: Other posts by Sam Glover
