Putting this issue together brought with it a strange sense of déjà vu when we came to drive the MGB and Karmann-Ghia featured in our twin test around the Somerset lanes near Thornfalcon Classics’ Taunton base.

My formative motoring memories were formed inside various air-cooled VWs from the ’70s, from school runs to first driving lessons and in the days when I was getting oily around the rear end of assorted Beetles the glamour of the Karmann-Ghia always seemed like a different world.

Under the skin they’re much the same of course and the decision to pair one with an MGB may be controversial but both are metaphors for their own national way of doing things: the MGB represents everything from TR to E-Type while the VW flies the flag for all those air-cooled rear-engined German cars from NSU to Porsche.

As you’ll read, it was difficult to come to a verdict with two cars which on the face of it look quite similar at a glance but which are very different indeed out on the road. But we came off the fence eventually and the verdict was a surprising one, at least for me anyway.
Less exotic but no less unusual a sight on today’s roads is the Ford Classic, subject of this month’s classic road test and photographed rather fittingly during a day celebrating the 100th anniversary of Ford’s Dagenham facility where the car originally left the production line back in 1962.

The Rover P6 sat at the other end of the market from the Classic and its Cortina successor of course, but like Peter Simpson’s experience at the helm of the Classic, the P6 we photographed for this month’s buying checklist felt surprisingly modern and usable, to the point where I would have been quite happy to take it home and use it every day.

That is, if I hadn’t already mentally been making room for a Karmann-Ghia, a low-mileage MGB... and my Alfa Spider...

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , Editor

For all this and much more see the May 2011 issue of Classic Car Mart.