Peter James Insurance Blog
The Ducati Apollo V4 Prototype story – Too much too soon?
Back in the early ‘60s, Ducati was one of dozens of Italian motorcycle manufacturers, struggling to overcome the situation in their crucial home market. From 1955, the tiny Fiat 500 car had sold spectacularly well and brought an end to the post-war boom in Italian motorcycle sales brought about...
One of our young customers takes his classic across Europe with car club cover
Young classic car enthusiast Harry Sharrock first set eyes on his 2008 Jaguar XJ Sovereign back when he was a university student in Hull. Since then, he worked and saved to buy it just over a year ago. To celebrate, Harry embarked upon an epic tour of Europe with...
Who remembers the name Vanden Plas? Part 1
Vanden Plas’ famous ‘Kingsbury Works’ was opened in 1923. To celebrate what would have been the factory’s centenary we examine this often misunderstood name, which profoundly affected British automotive history and pioneered an aspect of the modern car industry. Vanden Plas, that most English coachbuilders, had their roots...
The BSA MC-1 250. It could have been a contender!
The UK produced a constant stream of champions and challengers during the first fifty years of the World Championships but no British bikes at all for them to ride! You have to go right back to 1952 and Geoff Duke on the 350 and 500cc Manx Nortons to find...
Goodwood Revival Reflections 2023
The Goodwood Revival’s 25th Anniversary was a combination of time travel and motorsport excellence, presided over by the venue’s very own ‘Timelord’, motor racing enthusiast Charles March, the current Duke of Richmond and Gordon. We popped along to experience the weekend, so here are the highlights and memories from...
The attraction of traction – how the Brits championed 4×4 in sports cars
From just before World War two until the mid-1990s, a small group of engineers, Harry Ferguson Research Limited, pioneered the 4×4 technology that is still used in many cars today. This small team had a profound effect on both road and competition cars. A BRIXMIS Senator can be seen...
Origins of the VW Golf: How an equine experience named an automotive icon!
A manufacturer may well spend hundreds of millions of dollars developing a new range of cars but if they choose the wrong name, it could destroy that new car on launch day. Considering how important it is, there have been some brilliantly terrible car names such as the ‘Isuzu...
Nortons at the beach – the Daytona years
The overhead-camshaft single-cylinder racers known as Manx Nortons were never officially called that name by the factory but, as every enthusiast of the marque is aware, they earned it for their continually successful performances in the Isle of Man TT from the 1930s onwards. On the other side of...
The AJS Porcupine – The first world champion
Ask any classic motorcycle enthusiast which marque first brought a 500cc World Championship trophy back to Britain and it is odds-on that most would answer with Norton. That would be a logical and unsurprising result given the many wins scored by that company’s relatively simple but hugely effective single-cylinder...
The XK engine – 75 years of smooth power!
Jaguar’s Legendary XK engine is 75 years old and is the bedrock on which the company was built. It continues to bewitch car enthusiasts the world over with its glorious blend of power, sound and beauty. History will record the 20th century as the era of the great...
