- 13 hours ago
Bangers and Cash - Season 13 - Episode 03: Lotus Carlton Turbo/TR7 Special Edition
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:04On sale this week.
00:07Triumph TR7, here we go.
00:09As far as we're aware, it's one of a limited edition run.
00:12I like them, they're different.
00:13Would I have one over an MGB?
00:16Do you know what? I probably would, because they're different, aren't they?
00:19But then I wouldn't fight you for it.
00:22Fairground dodging car, there we are.
00:24Interesting bit of kit.
00:25If I'd have taken that in, it would have been, what have you taken a heap of rubbish in like
00:30that for?
00:31Now, who is going to buy that?
00:33Well, who's going to buy one of them?
00:35You're not exactly going to dodge anything, you're going to dodge them with one of them, are you, really?
00:402004 Lotus Elise, the 111R Touring.
00:43Now, this is a nice car, this.
00:44I don't know if there's a correct procedure.
00:47What am I, a 25 and even I'm struggling to get in and out of it?
00:50The Lotus Colton, an absolute star of a car there.
00:53One of my favourite all-time cars.
00:55We couldn't understand why I didn't tell an astronaut, he doesn't think.
01:00I'd have kept that.
01:04The Matthewsons, a dynasty of classic car auctioneers.
01:0955.
01:10The joys of an auction.
01:12Most people will go to a sale with something in mind, but come away with something different.
01:16The fun is the chase.
01:17We'll have a look and we'll advise you from there.
01:19You just don't know what's on the end of the phone, what you're going to find when you open them
01:23doors.
01:23This is a family's love affair with motors that have lived a life.
01:28Testing, testing.
01:29Most people will buy a car because they can relate to it.
01:33Maybe a car that Dad had.
01:34You're selling dreams.
01:35Right, here we go.
01:44I was trying to think, what was in the charts when I was 21?
01:48You're saying like Agadou or something.
01:50My dad said to me, you can either have an 18th or 21st or a deposit for a house.
01:54What did you go for?
01:55I got a watch for my 21st.
01:58A jewellery, a leather handbag.
02:01Gold Kate Spade watch.
02:03I got a gold sovereign necklace.
02:05So not a hedge trimmer.
02:07Oh, who got a hedge trimmer?
02:11Because the current hedge trimmer, the cord that goes to the hedge trimmer is almost like
02:16a Tom and Jerry cartoon.
02:18She cut through the cord of the previous hedge trimmer.
02:21Yeah, we've got snip, snip, yes.
02:25We can only actually cut the hedge if it's very close to the plug because the cord's only
02:30about that long now.
02:31So basically, you've bought this so she can see her 22nd.
02:34Yeah, yeah, yeah.
02:36Love that.
02:37Just what I always wanted.
02:39I thought the safest thing is going to be a battery one, isn't it?
02:42Safety first, I guess.
02:43Is it what you always wanted?
02:45Yeah, of course it is.
02:46I mean, it comes in handy, doesn't it?
02:48My other half threatened this morning to buy me an iron for my birthday.
02:53And where's he living now?
02:54In the garden.
02:56Does he want a hedge trimmer?
02:57He might need one.
03:07Over the last couple of years, I think we have done three or four events at the circuit
03:13at Anglesey, and we like it very much.
03:16As far as racetracks and all the rest of it, Charlie does well at Anglesey.
03:20We are going round the corner to pick up two cars.
03:25One is a Lotus Carlton.
03:26They're like N's teeth and well regarded.
03:30They were Vauxhall's version to the Sierra Cosworth, weren't they?
03:32There's very few of them.
03:34Very few come on the market, and even fewer come to here.
03:38So me and Charlie are going tomorrow.
03:40Looking forward to a day in a nice warm cab, to be honest, because it's freezing.
03:52I try to think what John's thinking at this moment.
03:55And my sister's coming to that.
03:57They're probably turning in their graves.
03:59Yeah, oh, yes.
04:01That's why the weather's like it is, probably.
04:03In Anglesey, Philip Owen and his wife, Keris, are saying farewell to two family heirlooms.
04:09Both cars belong to Philip's brother-in-law, John Brown, who was married to Philip's sister, Pat.
04:17It was a petrolhead.
04:18Yes.
04:19Formula One was his thing, really.
04:21Their annual holiday was four days in Silverstone for the F1 Grand Prix.
04:28And they will have to be, we don't know what to do with them, so we'll have to get rid
04:34of them.
04:35Sell them.
04:35Sell them, yes.
04:37We've got the Lotus Carlton, first registered in 1992, which John bought in 2000.
04:47It's only done about just over 19,000 miles.
04:50And then the Lotus Elise, which is an 04 plate, which John purchased from you.
04:57Do they have any interest to you?
04:59No, not to me personally.
05:00I wouldn't drive them.
05:02So we couldn't understand.
05:03Why didn't I would ask the Martin or something?
05:06I'd have kept that.
05:09Yes.
05:11Your Lotus Carlton might be worth close to Martin.
05:14Probably, yes.
05:16We looked on the internet and they're selling between 50,000 and 100,000.
05:23Back in the 80s, ambitious Steve from Accounts Live was, well, a bit tedious.
05:28He dreamt of playing polo, having a big moustache and a Ferrari 308 GTB.
05:33However, instead of a red prancing horse, Steve's company car was a blue My Little Pony.
05:39A Vauxhall Carlton.
05:40Sensible and spacious.
05:43But then Lotus had an idea.
05:45They used sensible and spacious and filled it full of dials, perforated leather and a 3.6 litre engine with
05:5224 valves.
05:55It made no sense, but it was faster than a Ferrari.
05:59At its top end of 180 miles an hour, it was quicker than anything the boys in blue had, making
06:04the Lotus Carlton an instant hit amongst criminal gangs, ram raiders and car thieves.
06:09The Daily Mail and police chiefs campaigned for a ban, and the car's advertising was condemned in Parliament.
06:18But despite the controversy the Vauxhall Lotus Carlton lived on, Steve might never have his Ferrari, but this was almost
06:26better.
06:31Once he'd bought a car, a few days later, he'd turn up at hours when he'd come for a spin.
06:37Unfortunately, Philip couldn't fit in the yellow one.
06:41So I had to go.
06:43I didn't want to go.
06:45Had a spin round, and then I couldn't get out of it.
06:50Philip couldn't get in, you couldn't get out.
06:54They're not practical cars, even though I'm sure the grandchildren would love to go in them.
07:09Sending Dave into raptures, a guilty pleasure from British Leyland.
07:14I love a Maxi.
07:15So I just said to Mick, where's the keys for that Maxi?
07:18I'm going to have to have a look.
07:20Well, it was good enough for John Lennon, before he crashed it into a ditch in the Scottish Highlands, of
07:25course.
07:26I'm more excited about this than I am any RS Cosworth or whatever it might be, yeah.
07:31Why?
07:32I don't know.
07:33I'm a weirdo, aren't I?
07:34I love a Maxi.
07:35Never owned one.
07:36Did your dad have them or what?
07:37No, not really.
07:37He used to hate them.
07:38Everyone hated them.
07:39Nobody liked them.
07:40My dad used to sell them, I think, back in the day.
07:42But, I mean, we're talking in the 70s when I was still, you know, in single digits.
07:46And when I started to take, obviously, a real interest in work, it was in the 80s.
07:49But by the early 80s, there was none of these left.
07:52They'd all rotted away.
07:53They'd had been made a few weeks earlier.
07:55But it's so clean and straight inside.
07:58Plant pot colour interior and earring aid beige outside.
08:01You ticked it, haven't you?
08:02Yeah, she likes gardening.
08:03So the terracotta plant pot interior suits her.
08:05He's as deaf as a post.
08:06So the earring aid beige goes with that.
08:08It's win-win, isn't it?
08:09It's done a mere 74,000 miles.
08:11It's amazing it's still with us.
08:12You can't even see where the ignition is.
08:14And yet everybody else has the ignition here, you know, or here.
08:17Somewhere obvious where you can just go like that and you can see going in.
08:20Oh, no, no, not Maxie.
08:21Let's hide it down here somewhere out of the way.
08:23And once you'd pass the find the ignition initiation, there was the bonnet baptism.
08:29There would no doubt we'd have hidden the bonnet pool somewhere.
08:32That's why it's probably in a boot like they did with the MG.
08:34Who in their right mind puts a bonnet pool in the boot?
08:39No, no.
08:40It'd have been a lot easier if we just put a button there, wouldn't it?
08:42Save a lot of time.
08:44Ah, there she is.
08:46Yeah, let's hide it behind the fog light switch.
08:48It's a good idea, isn't it?
08:49Ah, yeah, look at that.
08:50Ah, she's lovely.
08:50Still got the cover on.
08:51It's unusual.
08:53Normally, that would have been thrown away in anger.
08:54There'd be quite a lot of them in hedgebacks up and down the old A1, I would think,
08:58because as it broke down at the side of the road, you rip that off.
09:01And the first thing you do, don't you, because the missus is shouting at you
09:03and saying, you should have bought a Cortina.
09:05Why did you buy a Maxie?
09:07So, in anger, you pull that off, don't you?
09:09And that goes whoosh, doesn't it, into the cornfield.
09:12And then you find out why she won't go.
09:14Yeah.
09:15Amazing, it's still here.
09:16But we love them, don't we?
09:17And I genuinely do like them, too.
09:19And this is a two.
09:20This is the updated version.
09:22Yeah, this is the pinnacle of Maxies.
09:25I would think that car's probably three or four thousand quid.
09:28And to get you into the classic car movement for three-ish thousand quid,
09:32do you know what?
09:32I'd rather put three-thousand quid into that
09:34than I would nine-thousand quid into the Cortina.
09:52In Pickering, it's a big coit kind of morning.
09:55And the early ancestors of the pre-heat function are defrosting the old-fashioned way.
10:03And while the two Jacks are sprucing up the truck for its journey south,
10:07its driver has more pressing matters.
10:10I'm trying hard to get through this Christmas cake, I'll tell you now.
10:14I'm a little disappointed because it's been in there now, from what I can see, for about a fortnight.
10:18It don't really seem to be going down that much.
10:20So it's down to me to make the effort to be sure that it does.
10:23Whilst you're enjoying yourself, the lads are out there cleaning your van.
10:27Good, very slippery.
10:28Exactly what they're here for.
10:30They only hit a pounder to me, I'm going to show you.
10:32Tell me, they're not fully aware of that.
10:33That's a struggle.
10:35I keep telling them, but they don't listen.
10:36I'm off to Bingley to meet a lovely guy who's got a TR7,
10:41which is in British Leyland sort of racing livery,
10:44like Union Jack, Red, White and Blue and all that sort of stuff.
10:46I'm really looking forward to it.
10:48Very knowledgeable, very clever guy.
10:50Used to be involved with Skoda Rallying.
10:53Because no one's full.
10:54I'm quite optimistic about it.
10:56I love this cake.
10:57I won't eat any more of this.
10:59Just this last bit.
11:00We'll have a bit of a natter, that's what it did.
11:02We'll just chew the fat, and then hopefully,
11:04there'll still be a big lump of that cake left later.
11:08When I come back.
11:19Paul and Charlie's father-son road trip
11:21has brought them to Anglesey
11:23to pick up an almost mythical British supercar,
11:27alongside its sporty protégé.
11:30Hi.
11:30How are you?
11:31Hi, Philip.
11:32Hi, I'm Paris.
11:33A couple of lotuses then, have we?
11:35Yep.
11:35Mmm.
11:36With soft tyres.
11:37Have they both been stood ten years?
11:39Yep.
11:39Right, well, ten years,
11:40we shan't be trying to start them.
11:42They're on trickle feed.
11:44All right, OK.
11:44Yeah, well, obviously, this one will be out first,
11:46and then the big one, yeah.
11:48Right, Charlie.
11:49I'd never be surprised if it started.
11:53Steady away.
11:54Woo-hoo!
11:54First time?
11:55First one.
11:56Let's hope this one does the same.
11:58That surprised you, didn't it?
12:00It did.
12:01It did.
12:04Yeah, go on.
12:05The first job in hand,
12:06loading the 2004 LEs.
12:08Every time you block a street, innit?
12:10Every time.
12:12Right, Charlie.
12:15Just right a smidgen.
12:18Now left a bit.
12:21A bit?
12:21All right, Charlie.
12:22A bit?
12:23Yeah.
12:24I'm not the biggest lad in the world.
12:27Sorry to keep you.
12:29It's so slow, innit?
12:29Whenever you block a road,
12:31someone wants to be in a row,
12:32don't they, you know?
12:34And then the next one out is a Lotus Colton.
12:36Can't find Lotus Coltons, can you?
12:37You don't see them, you can't find them.
12:39So, very special car.
12:40We're hoping it's going to start
12:41much the same as this one did.
12:43And it's raining.
12:44Of course it is.
12:45It's Wales.
12:46What do you expect?
12:48Sorry about the weather.
12:49Well, you're used to it, aren't you?
12:51Oh, Charlie will have them.
12:52I've got my gloves on them.
12:56And obviously cherished it.
12:58Oh, yes.
12:59This was the baby.
13:01Don't want to put too much in them.
13:03They may well be perished
13:04where they've been sat.
13:07Yeah, aye.
13:08You've had something in it, look.
13:10Had a little Mickey, haven't we?
13:11Yeah.
13:12Looks like it.
13:13She's getting ready to run, look.
13:17I hope it's on now.
13:19Because I'll be running with you.
13:21Well, fortunately, it doesn't look
13:22as though anything's been nibbled, does it?
13:24Give it a try, mate.
13:26Look.
13:29Found a cassette.
13:30And all it says is play loud.
13:35Right, pack's on.
13:37Smells of stale fuel.
13:38Oh, OK.
13:39But it's not seized.
13:40It turns over.
13:41Just changed the fuel.
13:42There you go.
13:43Yeah, that's what it wants.
13:50She's actually quite free.
13:51Yeah, remarkably free.
13:52Keep going, you're right.
13:58That'll do.
14:01Oh, if you had one of these,
14:02you'd made it, hadn't you?
14:03These would have come out
14:04in competition, I suppose,
14:06with the Sierra, wouldn't they?
14:08You see them all sorts, don't you?
14:09Somewhere between 60 and 100, don't you?
14:11Depending on what they are.
14:12I wouldn't be surprised
14:13to see it do 75, 80 grand.
14:14I'd much rather one of them
14:16than a Ford every day.
14:21Ball park.
14:22What did Dad say?
14:23What did you say?
14:24I haven't yet,
14:25because I haven't been watching them.
14:26Just put them on your phone
14:27and see what the last ones have done.
14:28Well, they've all done 20+,
14:31so I'm going to say 20k+.
14:32Yeah, I thought it would do sort of,
14:35yeah, mid to late teens.
14:38I think the Elise on the top
14:40is a real genuine example.
14:42I think the fact that it started up
14:44first to know the key in there
14:45after 10 years kind of says it all, really.
14:47The presence of it is bonny,
14:49and that's what people like.
14:50This was more of a family,
14:52older man's car,
14:53but with the Lotus twist on it,
14:56which obviously made it so much rarer
14:58and everybody wanted one.
15:00But with it being Vauxhall,
15:01I don't think it took off as much as the Ford,
15:03which is probably why
15:04there isn't so many of them now.
15:06And six-speed Vaux,
15:07they're just brilliant.
15:09I think it will cause a lot of interest.
15:10It'll be quite exciting to see
15:11what it does, really, won't it?
15:24My father had a cinema,
15:26but when I came out of the RAF,
15:28my father wouldn't let me project films again.
15:31He said the cinema was going downhill
15:33because it was 1965
15:35and everyone had bought themselves
15:37blinking televisions, hadn't they?
15:39So he said go and get a proper job
15:41when you ended up in the motor trade.
15:42I did.
15:43In Bingley, retired garage boss Paul Wooding
15:47remembers a lifetime spent with cars.
15:50So in Bradford, you set up a Skoda dealership?
15:54Yeah, I was the first one.
15:55The first one?
15:56Yeah, I brought Skoda into Bradford.
15:58That was 1971.
16:00And you were selling Skoda and other vehicles?
16:03And classic cars, yes.
16:05Classic cars.
16:06I love classic cars,
16:07but I wasn't selling the brands that obviously,
16:11the fetching nowadays.
16:12They were very cheap.
16:14E-types, 350, 400 pounds.
16:17You'd cry at night.
16:19How did you come to get hold of a Lombard edition TR7?
16:25It was my wife.
16:26She just loved it.
16:27And so that was keeping my wife happy.
16:31I bought that TR7 in 1993,
16:35did quite a bit of work on it,
16:37put it onto electric fans and various things,
16:40and I put it on the road in 1995.
16:43It's been on the road over 30 years with us.
16:46With Derek winging his way towards Bingley...
16:50Um, sat in there, said I'd be there at our possible.
16:52Yeah.
16:53I'm sorry we're running a little bit late, but...
16:55Oh, it's all right.
16:56Gives me a bit of time.
16:57Paul's friend Chris is lending a helping hand
17:00with the TR7 removal.
17:03Chris, when was the last time Paul used this car in anger,
17:06do you think?
17:07The last time I remember being at a show with Paul
17:09was 2019,
17:11Burley and Warkdale Cricket Club.
17:13It's not the easiest car to get in and out of,
17:15as you've seen from me,
17:16and it's impossible for Paul, sadly, now to do it.
17:20So, time for the car to go,
17:22find a new home,
17:22and hopefully somebody else will enjoy it.
17:30It's browsing day,
17:31and the maxi is sparking a journey down memory lane.
17:35We had had some really good times driving maxis,
17:39but also we've had times where you're going down the road
17:42and all you can see is this grey smoke coming out the back.
17:47But it's got us out of one or two fixers.
17:50We had a tent blow down in Wales,
17:54and we'd got two German Shepherds with us,
17:56and it was pitch black,
17:57so we all got in the maxi.
17:59The seats folded down into a double bed,
18:01and we slept there the night,
18:03and we were all fine,
18:04and we could hear people banging away on tent pegs
18:07because the tents were blowing down here, there, and everywhere,
18:10and we were all toasty in the maxi.
18:13A good solid car as well.
18:16We'd be in a flat floor pan,
18:18you didn't get that much rust on them.
18:19I love driving it.
18:21So if we don't get the cars we've come to look at...
18:24You might even end up with a maxi.
18:33The wheels are spinning,
18:35the dogs are begging,
18:36and that means it's auction day.
19:01A good show car at a bargain price.
19:04Exactly £1,250 depreciation in just 45 years.
19:10Cue the advert that predicted the maxi's inflation-beating powers.
19:33Lovely old car.
19:34Picked them up yesterday, and they got filthy.
19:36Like when we did, give them a wash off.
19:38And then I'll do a photo and video and things in a minute,
19:41and then that's that one done,
19:42and that one, and that one, and that one.
19:46Behind every hammer down are hours of hard graft,
19:50from polishing and preening
19:51to photographing and filming the hundreds of cars.
19:56Very often, you buy whatever it is you're going to look at
19:59from ten foot away, don't you?
20:01As you walk up to it,
20:02you already know in your head really
20:04whether it's one for you or not,
20:05whether you really want it or not,
20:07but the very fact that you've taken the time to go and see said item
20:10tells me that you're interested in it,
20:12so you're halfway there, aren't you?
20:13And if you present it correctly,
20:15there's no reason why it shouldn't then tick all the boxes, really.
20:21And inside, the king of speed has spotted the Elise.
20:25They're a nice, sporty little car, aren't they?
20:28Money was no object.
20:29It'd be nice to have one in the collection
20:31just to say you've got one,
20:32and it's a real fun, sporty driving car,
20:34what you might use once in a blue moon.
20:36If you were to go on a track and drive it properly,
20:38I bet they're fantastic.
20:40Would I want to use one every single day or even on a weekend?
20:43You'd get sick of getting in and out of the thing, wouldn't you?
20:45And they're not the comfiest driving car.
20:48You wouldn't want to nip to the shop in it, really, would you?
20:51If you wanted one, you know, this is the one, really.
20:53They are strong money, aren't they?
20:55Yeah, two-seater sports car, Lotus.
20:57So, ka-ching, ka-ching, ka-ching, innit?
21:00It's going to be north of £20,000.
21:02We never struggle to sell them.
21:03There's always someone for them.
21:05Try and get in it.
21:06You've just got to dislocate your legs
21:08and fold yourself up in here, aren't you?
21:11I don't know if there's a correct procedure.
21:14Then you end up scratching all the, what am I, a 25?
21:17Even I'm struggling to get in and out of it.
21:20Oh, there you go.
21:22Yeah, I'd love to get in one and go around the track.
21:24I bet that would be mega, wouldn't it?
21:30Anyway, we'll see where it goes and see what it makes.
21:32No, no, he might let me take it out around the circuit with him.
21:36I've got to try and get out the bloody thing now.
21:38There you go.
21:41Just like that.
21:42Easy.
21:43Imagine being an older fella.
21:44Oh, you can't get you.
21:45You get sick of it.
21:46So, yeah.
21:47We'll see.
21:48See what it does.
21:54Meanwhile, Jack's older fella
21:56is eyeing up the luxurious Vauxhall Lotus Carlton Turbo.
22:01I was that close to buying one about 10, 15 years ago.
22:04They were quite cheap 10 or 15 years ago
22:07in comparison to where they are now.
22:09So, 20-ish grand got you one,
22:12but now it's worth four times more.
22:14So, yeah, what a machine, though.
22:17First one I've been lucky enough to get involved with full stop.
22:20So, no, really pleased to have it on board.
22:22And you can't help but just look at it, can you?
22:24Well, it's just one of them cars, isn't it?
22:26I mean, jeez.
22:27Yeah.
22:27It shouldn't have happened, should it?
22:29You know, let's face it,
22:30it shouldn't really have been built.
22:32There was no real logic behind building it.
22:36Thankfully, they did.
22:37So, the interior, then, is top-end.
22:41Yeah, it's sort of...
22:42Yeah.
22:43It is and it isn't.
22:44It's a little bit more on steroids in there,
22:46but it's not quite the diplomat spec, is it?
22:49You know, 19,000 miles or something, isn't it?
22:51It's a lot of stone ships on the front for 19,000 miles, though.
22:55Some of these will come off.
22:56To be fair, this one's a polish around the front.
22:57I must stress, this is straight out of 10 years' worth of storage.
23:02Didn't run.
23:03We've got it now running.
23:04We're not doing any more than that with it
23:05because, let's face it,
23:07it wants recommissioning properly,
23:08not just a jump pack and a bit of fuel.
23:11It wants doing sympathetically and properly.
23:12Obviously, there's a right and a wrong way.
23:14But at least we've proven that it does actually run
23:17and everything works
23:18and those pistons are going up and down in there.
23:21You probably could think that could be 19,000 miles.
23:24It's dirty and dusty.
23:25It has still got that yellow tinge to the aluminium and so forth.
23:30They are such an iconic car.
23:32They are a bedroom wall poster type car, aren't they?
23:35And the movement has changed tremendously
23:38in the last year and a bit.
23:40Ironically, this car would have made a lot more money
23:42two, three years ago.
23:42So they have dropped in value.
23:45So, yeah, the family, I think,
23:46are hoping for around the 80k mark.
23:50Personally, now the car's here
23:52and I can see what we're dealing with.
23:54I think it's a £60,000, £65,000 car.
23:57I think we've got our work cut out, I'll be honest.
23:59But I'm still very pleased it's here.
24:01It's a lovely thing.
24:02See how we go.
24:12Derek's arrived in Bingley to pick up Paul Wooding's TR7.
24:17But with a shared CV in Skoda sales,
24:20the little Triumph might have its nose pushed out.
24:23I feel as though I know you because you are part of Skoda and everything.
24:27Yeah, it was really good.
24:28We've done very well.
24:29I still have people when I go to cafes now
24:32patting me on the shoulder.
24:33Best car I've ever bought in Skoda.
24:35Yeah, yeah, yeah.
24:36Looks like Derek's discovered a kindred spirit.
24:39Oh, met his match.
24:41It's nice to think you're preserving something now.
24:43Yeah, very much so.
24:44I think, and I know it's a TR7.
24:46But my wife of the colour, I love the colour.
24:50Yeah, yeah.
24:50And we love the car.
24:51It's been everywhere.
24:53And how long have you had it?
24:5532 years.
24:56I bought it in 93 and I put it on the road in 95.
25:01Running wide, she's okay?
25:02Oh, she's super.
25:03Brand new petrol tank on it.
25:04Right, yeah.
25:05But what have we got our aim for, Paul?
25:07Near four as you can go.
25:08We won't make four.
25:09As long as you're happy, the three-ish sort of...
25:11Do the best you can.
25:12Yeah, yeah.
25:12Because that's where it's going to be, I can assure you.
25:14Give someone a chance to spend some money on it.
25:16I just hope it goes to someone who drives it.
25:20With 52,000 on the clock,
25:22Paul says the TR7 was one of a run of just 30 specials
25:25made to commemorate the Lombard rally.
25:29I don't normally like to cars jazz up like this,
25:31and probably you don't,
25:32but they do suit it, don't they, really?
25:34Well, I can assure you, Derek,
25:36that if there's a World Cup on and England are playing,
25:39you drive round the roads,
25:41the pubs are all out there and be waving you
25:43and cheering you as you go past.
25:44Yeah, I'm sure they would be, yeah.
25:46Like the little model.
25:48Yeah.
25:48So, Derek, this would have been done then
25:50for dealers to promote the brand, wouldn't it?
25:52Yeah, I'm sure.
25:53No doubt an awful lot of the dealers
25:54made them up themselves, obviously.
25:56There could be 31 or could be 41,
25:58but it's nice to think this is one of the original batch.
26:02There's a premium age for getting in and out of a TR7,
26:05and this isn't it.
26:07So, you got in, and you're not getting out to check.
26:11Not until I park it up on that wagon, I'm not.
26:13I ain't getting out again,
26:16and then back in again,
26:18and then back out again.
26:19So, I've got to do that.
26:21Right, Derek, right, right.
26:24We're there, mate.
26:26Also leaving the garage is a blast from the past
26:29that looks like it's from the Cold War.
26:32Derek, what's this that's going on now?
26:34This is a Krypton tuner.
26:36Not to be confused with a superhero's home planet,
26:39a Krypton tuner was the first electronic engine tuning system.
26:45Before ECUs were invented,
26:47back in the day,
26:48if you wanted your motor to move faster,
26:50Budding Nigel Mantles would book their car
26:52into a session with this high-tech.
26:55wizardry.
26:56It'll go on, load it.
26:58What do we need that for with the TR7?
27:00Keep the bloody thing running.
27:04No, no-one knows how to work them now anyway.
27:06I'll be perfectly honest, you know.
27:08There weren't that many blokes out there,
27:10me included,
27:11that knew how to work the rotten things in the first place.
27:14They were all right for, like,
27:15maybe doing the dwell angle or something like that,
27:16you know, but other than that,
27:18hardly use them at all.
27:19So, the chances of that selling, Derek?
27:21Zero.
27:23But they do look good while they're working,
27:25you know, I must admit.
27:26Will it be working when you get back?
27:28I wouldn't put money on it being there when I get back.
27:31It will be.
27:32It's pretty tight in there, that bit of wood.
27:34I can't see that.
27:35I can't see that going anywhere.
27:37She'll be right.
27:39Well, I'm going to love and leave you.
27:41Thanks for your kindness,
27:42and I'll see you again.
27:57It's auction day again,
27:59and the 4x4s are turning heads.
28:02The Range Rover, 1977.
28:05In 2024, it had some recommissioning,
28:07maintenance work at the cost of over 2,000.
28:10Third and last time, it's being sold.
28:138,750 sold.
28:16The Toyota Hilux truck,
28:18driven to the sale,
28:19as clean a Hilux as you're going to find,
28:21at 12,000 pounds.
28:27CJ7, you cannot buy CJ7s
28:30in the structure of this one.
28:32For the third and last time,
28:3412,100.
28:40Willie's Jeep,
28:41manufactured in the US around about 1951.
28:44Third and last time,
28:45we'll try for you.
28:478,750.
28:49The offer isn't accepted,
28:50and the Jeep sells later,
28:52at the timed auction,
28:53for 10,800 pounds.
28:56As the lots continue to rattle through,
28:59next up, the Lotuses.
29:00Or should that be low-tie?
29:052004 Lotus Elise,
29:06the 111R.
29:07Touring, here we are.
29:08Now, this is a nice car, this.
29:10You're not going to get a better car.
29:1118,000, then 18,250,
29:13and 18,500.
29:1418,750.
29:16At 19,000 pounds.
29:18Third and last time,
29:19hammers down at 19.
29:21Provisional at 19.
29:23The offer is accepted,
29:24and the Lotus Elise is off to Stratford-upon-Avon.
29:28The Lotus Coulton,
29:30an absolute star of a car there.
29:32One of my favourite all-time cars.
29:34I've got 65,000 straight away.
29:3665,000, 66.
29:3867, 68, 69.
29:40At 70,000 pounds, I have at 70.
29:4271, here with me at 71.
29:44At 71,000 pounds,
29:46and are we all done at 71?
29:4772.
29:48At 72,000 pounds,
29:50internet bid.
29:50At 72,000.
29:5372, that's very provisional at 72,
29:55but we'll try our best for you.
29:57A little lower than the family wanted,
29:59but higher than Dave's prediction.
30:01So the 72,000 is accepted.
30:08With the auction showroom
30:10at the usual bursting point,
30:12you never know what you might bump into.
30:15How did you end up with this, Dan?
30:18Search me, mate.
30:19I ain't got a clue.
30:19I keep saying to them,
30:21don't just take anything.
30:22I keep saying,
30:23I've said it for years and years and years.
30:25So this has nothing to do with you?
30:26Nothing at all to do with me.
30:28And I turn me back,
30:30look what arrives.
30:31If I'd have taken that in,
30:32it would have been,
30:33what have you taken?
30:35A heap of rubbish in like that.
30:37Now, who is going to buy that?
30:39Well, who's going to buy one of them?
30:41Not exactly going to dodge anything,
30:42you're not dodging with one of them,
30:44are you, really?
30:45It's not old enough, is it,
30:46to be interesting.
30:47It's not sort of usable.
30:50Debatable whether it's complete.
30:52They've dumped it on us
30:53and it's just useless.
30:55Do you know what?
30:56It's 50 quid, that.
30:57If that were mine
30:58and it made 250 quid,
30:59I'd be doing cartwheels.
31:01But the fact of the matter is,
31:02it's rubbish.
31:03And it's just taking up
31:05the space of two motorbikes.
31:07You know, you can see them programmes
31:08on telly where they,
31:09what do they do?
31:10Not upgrade,
31:11they repurpose it.
31:12That's what that wants.
31:13Like an old sideboard
31:14and they change the colour of it,
31:16cut a bit of leg off,
31:17don't they?
31:17Make it a bit shorter
31:18and all that sort of thing
31:19and do something
31:20and put some different handles on
31:21and all of a sudden
31:22it becomes desirable.
31:24So when you bought it
31:25and put it in your garden
31:26and turned it into a plant pot,
31:28that's the best thing ever.
31:29Look at that.
31:30You can put a load of rubble in there
31:31for a start off,
31:32fill it up
31:32and then a bit of topsoil,
31:34put your geraniums
31:36and your bit of white allison
31:37and blue lobelia.
31:38See, you didn't know I was...
31:39No, it's not you.
31:40No, you didn't know, did you?
31:41You didn't know that I was horticultural
31:42and what a lovely little attraction
31:44that would be in the front garden,
31:45wouldn't it?
31:46Just.
31:46So suddenly it's gone from a world...
31:48I like that.
31:48I reckon that's going to make 500 quid.
31:53I've just repurposed it.
31:57Talent's beyond belief,
31:58isn't it, really?
31:59It certainly is.
31:59Yeah, isn't it?
32:00It surprises me all the time.
32:01I'd put the gubbins back in
32:03so the steering wheel's sticking up
32:04and the rest of it
32:04and, you know,
32:05get a proper bit of pipe up there
32:06with one of them hooks on the...
32:09Hanging basket.
32:10Hanging basket,
32:11better still,
32:11absolutely hanging,
32:12but you've got it, John.
32:13Have you done this sort of thing before then?
32:15I'll give you the camera.
32:18I'll tell you what,
32:18there's no end you could do
32:19with that motor.
32:20So you're glad it's here?
32:21I am now, yeah.
32:22If I'm auctioneering that,
32:24I should be sure
32:25that that is how I describe it.
32:26It is a plant pot in the making.
32:28Jump in.
32:29In here.
32:31Good girl, aren't you?
32:32Good girl, that's it.
32:33Good girl.
32:34You like it?
32:35If you like it,
32:36Daddy might buy it for you.
32:53Back in planet Pickering,
32:55the special edition TR7 has landed.
32:58It'll make a go, innit?
32:59It wants a bit of work, though.
33:00It wants a lot of work, to be fair.
33:01If it's right money,
33:02it'll sell, won't it?
33:04And the mysterious
33:05Krypton tuner
33:06seems to be taking root
33:08in its new home.
33:10That looks like something
33:11straight out of
33:11Wallace and Gromit,
33:12doesn't it?
33:12I've got a question
33:13about a piece of equipment
33:14for you.
33:15Oh, God, what equipment?
33:17A Krypton tuner.
33:18A what?
33:20It would be great,
33:21wouldn't it,
33:21as a prop
33:22on a science fiction thing.
33:24Yeah, no,
33:25that's absolutely great,
33:26that.
33:26There's technology in there,
33:27lads.
33:28What's a Krypton tuner?
33:29Something to tune sound.
33:32You took one off
33:33at back of your lorry
33:33with your grandad.
33:34Oh, that's it.
33:35Yeah, yeah, yeah,
33:35I remember it, yeah.
33:36What's that?
33:38A load of rubbish.
33:40Why'd he fetch it in?
33:42Cos it's grandad.
33:43But the thing is,
33:43if that was there,
33:44what else has he brought?
33:47And where is it?
33:48When was the last time
33:50you yourself
33:51utilised
33:52a Krypton tuner?
33:53Never used anything like that.
33:55I used these
33:56and these.
33:57Tune in an engine,
33:58it's all about, yeah,
33:59what are the same physics?
34:01Suck, squeeze,
34:02bang, blow.
34:04Krypton tuner,
34:05crapton tuner,
34:06whatever you want to call them,
34:07we never, ever used them.
34:13Meanwhile,
34:14outside in the yard,
34:15Dave is in two minds
34:17about the TR7.
34:20Marmite car, aren't they?
34:22Complete Marmite car.
34:23I haven't read the book
34:24on TR7s,
34:25I don't intend to read
34:26the book on TR7s,
34:27but there was mention
34:29of one or two limited editions,
34:30but it's all a little bit
34:31cloak and dagger.
34:32And I think
34:33there's some suggestion
34:35that the try-before-you-buy cars
34:37had a bit of bling on them,
34:39you know,
34:39to sort of lean towards
34:41the motorsport side of things,
34:42which is possibly
34:44what we've got here.
34:45I like them,
34:46they're different.
34:47Would I have one over an MGB?
34:49Do you know what?
34:50I probably would
34:51because they're different,
34:52aren't they?
34:52But then I wouldn't,
34:53I wouldn't fight you for it.
34:56No, I wouldn't fight you for it.
34:59If there wasn't this
35:00potential link
35:01with the limited edition,
35:02the value of the car
35:03is probably around £1,500.
35:05Will the link
35:06to the limited
35:07double that
35:08or more?
35:09Not sure.
35:11Not confident.
35:12And if there was
35:1310, 20, 30,
35:14there might only be now
35:155, 10 or 15 left.
35:17So in which case,
35:18there is some interest
35:19in it, isn't there?
35:20But it still wants
35:20a fair bit of restoration
35:21of the car.
35:22In fact,
35:23it wants a lot of restoration.
35:24And as Forrest Gump says,
35:26I mean,
35:26that's all I've got to say
35:27about that.
35:34Triumph TR7,
35:35here we go.
35:36As far as we're aware,
35:37it's one of a limited edition run.
35:38We're already off
35:39the £2,000,
35:40£2,200,
35:41£2,400,
35:42£2,500,
35:43£2,600,
35:44is he all right with that?
35:45£2,600,
35:46£2,600,
35:47£2,600,
35:48£2,600,
35:49£2,600,
35:49£3,000,
35:50he says,
35:50on sale,
35:51£3,200,
35:53£3,200,
35:54£3,200,
35:54£3,400,
35:55he says,
35:56£3,600,
35:57do you want £3,700?
35:59£3,600,
36:00£3,600,
36:01we have to move on,
36:03£3,700,
36:04£3,700,
36:05he says,
36:05for the third and last time,
36:07looking round.
36:08I'm pleased it made
36:08a little bit above
36:10three and a half,
36:10it's just nice,
36:11like, you know.
36:12You've got it,
36:12£3,700,
36:14brilliant.
36:18Fairground Dodgham car,
36:19there we are,
36:20interesting bit of kit,
36:21best thing to do,
36:22really,
36:22is just fill it up
36:23with soil
36:23and plant it,
36:24I think so.
36:25I could see this,
36:27I tell you,
36:27I'm talking myself into it.
36:28Start me on it,
36:29I've got £200,
36:30£200,
36:30£210,
36:31£220,
36:32I've got more on my sheet,
36:33I can't do it,
36:33£220,
36:35third and last time,
36:36£220.
36:38The Dodgham car
36:39sells later,
36:40at the timed auction,
36:41for £230.
36:49So I was 16 years of age
36:50at the time,
36:51worked in a wee carriage,
36:53and I seen one,
36:53and I thought they were
36:54pretty awesome looking,
36:56and I thought,
36:57one of these days
36:58I would love to have
36:58one of them.
36:59For Eric Brewster,
37:01owning the 1976 TR7's
37:03a dream come true,
37:05and it's all down
37:06to a deal with his wife.
37:08We ended up here
37:09because I decided
37:10to retire,
37:12it was just time
37:13to sell up
37:13and look somewhere different.
37:15The wife loved here,
37:17and she was on the conditions
37:18that I can get my dream car.
37:20She was fine with that,
37:21she got what she wanted here,
37:23lovely, peaceful, quiet.
37:24I got the dream car,
37:26and we moved here
37:27to Port-au-Ferry.
37:29When Eric spotted
37:30the car up for auction,
37:31he knew that at long last
37:33he'd met his perfect match.
37:36Love of first sight,
37:37so it was,
37:37when I seen it,
37:38as I say,
37:39I've always loved them,
37:40but we asked our bonus on it
37:41was it was a limited edition one.
37:44I was looking for just
37:44any Triumph TR7,
37:46but it came with
37:47a bit of history with it.
37:49Limited edition,
37:49there was only 30 of them,
37:51I believe, made,
37:52and this particular one
37:53is number two
37:55off the production line.
37:57I got it transported over
37:59and sent to Belfast.
38:01I still hadn't seen the car,
38:02but I sent a mechanic up
38:04to collect it for me
38:05and take it to his garage,
38:07do any essential work
38:09that it needed.
38:10Work done so far
38:11is brakes,
38:13discs,
38:13pads,
38:14mechanical ways,
38:15nothing on the engine,
38:17body ways,
38:18blasted down,
38:20primered,
38:21three coats of paint,
38:22marked palace,
38:23finished.
38:24The whole car
38:25had a full paint job.
38:27The owner
38:28that owned this
38:29before myself,
38:29Paul Whitting,
38:30and his wife,
38:32she didn't like
38:33the interior of the car,
38:34so he took off
38:36the original door panels
38:38and got ones made
38:40in Scottish tartan.
38:41I've replaced
38:43the Scottish tartan ones
38:44with the originals,
38:45but still have
38:46the Scottish tartan ones
38:47in the garage.
38:49These are the Scottish tartan ones
38:51that he got made.
38:53Not that I didn't like them,
38:55I just wanted to put
38:56the originals back on with it
38:58to go with the rest of it.
39:01I like the style of the car,
39:02just the size of them,
39:04how it nose way down
39:06and short back.
39:07They're only very small inside,
39:09only two seats,
39:10more or less
39:11like a little sports car.
39:12Getting down into them,
39:13you're low level,
39:14like you're on the ground.
39:15It actually is
39:16quite comfortable to drive.
39:20Plans for the car are,
39:21I'll take it to all
39:23classic shows
39:24that are on
39:25that I can get to.
39:26It'll be out on the road.
39:28Each weekend,
39:30sunny weather,
39:30drys, wet weather.
39:32It'll not be just
39:32stored to be put away
39:34in a garage,
39:34it'll be out
39:35straight to one leader
39:36or one leg.
39:47In Warwickshire,
39:48sports car enthusiast
39:49Sean Baker
39:50and son Joe
39:51are reminiscing
39:52on how the 2004
39:53Lotus Elise
39:55111R
39:55was transformed
39:57from a good car
39:58into a great one.
40:01I've got a friend of mine
40:02that runs a paint shop
40:03and it's been a couple
40:05of weeks with him
40:05to strip it down
40:07and re-spray.
40:08It wasn't a full
40:09bare metal re-spray
40:10but the front end
40:11and the back end
40:12got quite a lot
40:13of attention
40:13with the fiberglass work
40:15that they did on it,
40:16didn't it?
40:16Yeah.
40:21But life is never
40:22straightforward
40:23in the classic car world
40:24as we well know.
40:26And after driving
40:27his Elise
40:28for a few months
40:28Sean got itchy feet
40:31trading it in
40:32for this red
40:33Lotus Exige.
40:35While the Elise
40:36has a four-cylinder engine
40:38there's more oomph
40:39in the Exige's V6.
40:41I love the yellow one
40:42so much
40:43that I longed
40:44for the extra
40:45horsepower
40:46and the larger engine
40:47and slightly newer.
40:49The yellow one
40:50made me fall in love
40:51with the Lotus.
40:51I love the way
40:52it drove
40:52and how it handled
40:53and there's a local dealer
40:55which I visit
40:56fairly regularly
40:57and...
40:57Fairly regularly?
40:58Fairly regularly.
40:59Right, okay.
41:00I've seen a pattern here.
41:01Yeah, no, absolutely.
41:02And he had a red one
41:03and it was an Exige
41:04with a slightly larger engine
41:05and slightly newer
41:07and in a moment of madness
41:08I planned to swap it
41:09and hence the red one now.
41:11So no regrets
41:12buying the yellow one initially?
41:14No, absolutely not.
41:15I enjoyed doing it.
41:16I loved doing the work
41:17and I enjoyed
41:18playing with the Lotus
41:19whilst I had it.
41:20Just moved on
41:21to the slightly larger
41:22and newer model.
41:25A familiar machine
41:26is taking pride of place
41:27at Sean's local dealership.
41:30I think it's probably
41:31one of the best
41:32Lotus Elise 111Rs
41:34that are out there
41:34on the market.
41:35When it was up
41:36in the auction
41:37there was just
41:37some small little stress tracks
41:39which I just think
41:40were age-related
41:41at the time
41:41that they needed repairing
41:42and when we went
41:43round the car
41:44a little bit more
41:45there were a few of them
41:45hidden away under panels
41:46that we replaced
41:47and fixed all those
41:48stress cracks
41:49as we found them.
41:50We knew that
41:51when we picked the car up
41:52that it had been
41:52off the road
41:53for 10 or 11 years.
41:55So on both sides
41:56we sprayed all the wings
41:57probably pretty much
41:57from the door back
41:58and replaced the stone guards.
42:01This area was repainted
42:02down here was repainted
42:03changed the colour
42:04of the wheels
42:04obviously all round
42:06and on the rear here
42:07there wasn't too much
42:08to do on the actual
42:08back of the car here
42:09but the top section
42:11not the bonnet
42:11but the top section here
42:12was all repainted as well
42:13so all the way
42:14around the car there.
42:16Whilst I might have
42:17been expecting
42:17£500 to £1,000
42:18on paint
42:19I think we probably
42:19spent nearer four.
42:20There was mechanically
42:21nothing really wrong with it
42:22it was just
42:23recommissioning
42:24changing the fuel
42:25changing the oil
42:25and it drove amazingly
42:27once it was all done.
42:29Yeah I'm just wondering
42:29how much space
42:30I've got at home
42:31and whether I can
42:31get it back in.
42:32Surely not.
42:37With a Lotus addiction
42:39clearly coursing
42:40through his veins
42:40for now
42:41it's a car to be enjoyed
42:43until a blue one
42:45comes along.
42:46The driving pleasure
42:48is quite a raw experience
42:49as you're probably
42:50seeing now
42:51there's no frills
42:52in here
42:52the seats are fairly firm
42:54and the ride's fairly firm
42:55but it's a great
42:56driving experience.
42:57I've got the two boys
42:58and they love joining in
43:00and coming with me.
43:01Plan to keep this a while.
43:02Unless you happen to be
43:03driving past the garage again.
43:05Unless I happen to be
43:06passing through the garage again.
43:33Plan to keep this a while.
43:35Plan to keep this a while.
Comments