Jamiroquai front man and self-confessed petrolhead Jay Kay is bringing his Porsche 914-6 to this year’s Race Retro for a reunion with one of its original drivers, rally legend Bjorn Waldegard. Bjorn will be seeing if the car stands the test of time on the high octane Live Rally Stage on Saturday 25th and Sunday 25th February, before Jay Kay himself gets behind the wheel.

Bjorn drove the 914-6 in the Monte Carlo Rally, an event in which the Porsche was expected to excel. Three works-prepared cars were entered, driven by Bjorn, Ake Andersson and Gerard Larrousse, all highly skilled drivers who knew the Monte course like the backs of their hands. But the weather was to deal the Porsche team a cruel blow.

Silverstone Auctions has teamed up with the organisers of the Footman James Classic Motor Show to hold a prestige car auction at this year’s event at Birmingham’s NEC on Saturday 17th November. It’s the first auction of its type in the show’s history and promises to be one of the highlights for classic car lovers when it takes place as part of the three-day extravaganza from 16th to 18th November.

The season ending Footman James Classic Motor Show and the neighbouring Classic Motorbike Show has become a ‘must-attend’ event for anyone harbouring a passion for cars and bikes, attracting around 50,000 owners and enthusiasts. There’s over 1,400 amazing vehicles on display, from modest family saloons and through to head-turning supercars. There’s also hundreds of trade stands, shows and automotive services to enjoy as well as the Wheeler Dealer live stage and restoration theatre.

Westminsters, Princesses and an unexpected Rolls-Royce engine: we check out the largest BMC saloons.

Words: Ian Seabrook

The original Austin Westminster A90 of 1954 wasn’t a bad car, but it wasn’t exactly super-desirable. However, on a visit to the Austin works at Longbridge, Birmingham in 1955, it is widely reported that HRH The Duke of Edinburgh remarked that the existing designs were “not really up to the foreign competition.” This caused some hasty thinking at the British Motor Corporation (BMC) of which Austin was very much the strongest partner. Pininfarina was invited to Austin and found himself with a large contract to redesign all of the saloon cars.

The first fruit of this new relationship was the delightful A40 Farina which replaced the popular A35 followed by the A55 Cambridge mid-sized saloon. The focus of this guide, the A99 Westminster, arrived in 1959.

It was born from a very simple recipe but the Big Healey is up there with the best British sports cars.

Words: John-Joe Vollans
Pics: Martyn Barnwell

There’s no denying that as far as classic cars go, there are very few more desirable than the ‘Big Healey’. Developed from the 100 and 100-6, the 3000 gained more power, refinement and, from 1964, better suspension. This all adds up to a car that can provide an amazing amount of enjoyment and surprising performance, especially when you consider the car went off sale 44 years ago.

For this road test we got in contact with Sherwood Restorations who often buy and sell Healeys. When we arrived, Sherwood’s Alex Halfpenny showed us around the car and it was clear that it had wanted for nothing   
all its life.