There are barn finds and then there are barn finds. In 2016, one of the three original launch Land Rovers was found in a garden near the Solihull factory where it was built. The company trotted it out to pay homage to its history, promising to restore the brute back to spec. After much work and careful planning, the OG Brit is ready to turn a wheel on U.K. soil once again.The truck built an impressive resum after helping to launch what would go on to be one of the countrys most well-known brands. After passing through several owners, it apparently found itself in Wales being used as a static power source, before its engine seized in the late 80s.Restoration work began last year, undertaken by a team of experts at Land Rover Classic at its Classic Works facility in Coventry.Interesting discoveries during the work included an original King George V sixpence coin from 1943, a piece which had been deliberately left under the galvanized capping of the rear tub as a hidden memento. After loitering in a field for decades, one can bet there was a generous helping of agriculture in there as well.This approach required the team to strip the vehicle down to its bare chassis and begin a painstaking process of testing and checking which components could be reused and rebuilt following decades of decay and rust. Some parts, such as the rear axle, were X-rayed and depth-tested in an effort to determine their fitness.For parts that needed to be replaced or had been removed over the vehicles life, the team used the archive of original drawings kept by Land Rover Classic, plus access to other surviving pre-production Land Rovers. These tech illustrations helped to restore the original routing and mounting of the exhaust, the brass wheel hubs, the gearbox, and transfer box. The original badge was also AWOL, so the team digitized a photograph of another Land Rover at the 1948 Amsterdam Motor Show and used that to replicate and place a new one.We this amount of fastidious attention to detail, we think its safe to add this Land Rover to a list of barn find greats even if it was, technically, found in a
Origin: One of the first-ever Land Rovers just hit the mud for the first time in decades
first-ever
Aston Martin teams up with an icon to build its first-ever motorcycle
The Aston Martin and Brough Superior AMB 001Aston Martin When Aston Martin recently announced it was building a motorcycle in conjunction with Brough Superior, most car enthusiasts were probably wondering why the storied automaker was stooping to build a motorcycle.In fact, if anyone is slumming in this new relationship, it is Brough, once the pinnacle of two-wheeled exclusivity and favourite of the most famous motorcyclist of all time.Brough Superior was the brainchild of George Brough, who between 1919 and 1940 crafted some 3,000 some of the most exquisite and exclusive motorcycles the world had ever seen. Most were custom-built, and though the engines were outsourced usually from J.A. Prestwich but later also Matchless almost everything else was hand-hewn in house.Indeed, legend has it that, after H. D. Teague of The Motor Cycle labelled Brough the Rolls-Royce of motorcycles, the famed automaker sent over a representative to tell George to cease and desist advertising as such.Luckily, Brough and his crew were in the process of final assembly for an impending motor show and the Rolls representative was so impressed the techs were supposedly wearing white gloves whilst assembling bikes that he reported back that Broughs motorcycles really did deserve the appellation.What has made the Brough name an enduring legend, however, is the devotion of its most famous client, T.E. Lawrence. You know him better as Lawrence of Arabia, and his love of motorcycles A skittish motor-bike with a touch of blood in it is better than all the riding animals on earth and Broughs in general he owned eight, and gave them all names knew no bounds.He famously died on an SS100 he was trying to avoid two young boys who had wandered into the road and his passing so traumatized his attending physician, Hugh Cairns, that he went on to create the research that paved the way for mandatory helmet use. More recently, Brough was resurrected by long-timer enthusiast Mark Upham in conjunction with Thierry Henriette of Boxer Design, who craft the double-overhead-cam 990-cc 88-degree V-twin on which the AMB 001 is based.In Aston Martin guise, said big-twin is turbocharged for an output of 180 horsepower stock modern Broughs are good for about 120 hp and is mated to a chassis constructed of aluminum, titanium and carbon fibre.According to Aston Martins chief creative officer, Marek Reichman, in addition to applying the skills we have developed for cars such as the groundbreaking Aston Martin Valkyrie, we have also been able to bring our special expertise in the traditional craft techniques to this project.The result is a motorcycle with a double-wishbone front suspension still something of a rarity in the biking world and a completely carbon-fibre body which helps keep the AMB 001s overall weight down to 180 kilograms.Only 100 examples of the 001 will be made available to the public, at a price of 108,000 Euros about $157,200 Canadian and delivery will begin at the end of
Origin: Aston Martin teams up with an icon to build its first-ever motorcycle
Newfoundland man who sold the first-ever Ford Mustang will finally see it again
The first preproduction Mustang, with serial number 1. FORD MOTOR COMPANYFord A retired car salesman in Newfoundland who accidentally sold the first Ford Mustang ever built will be reunited with it this coming weekend.As reported by CTV News, Harry Phillips will be a special guest at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan after his granddaughter started a Send Harry to Henry social media campaign.Prior to the Mustang actually going on sale, Ford sent pre-production models to its dealers, intended strictly for display.In order for all showrooms to have one for the official sales launch on April 17, 1964, the earliest cars built went to the dealerships that were farthest away. George G.R. Parsons Ford in St. Johns, where Phillips worked, got the very first one, a white convertible with serial number 5F08F100001.Captain Stanley Tucker, an airline pilot, saw it and immediately wanted it. He paid $4,300 for it, Phillips said, sealing the deal three days before the launch but agreeing to let the dealership display the car for a while.The whole thing was a mistake. The car, a pre-production model, wasnt meant for sale and was supposed to be returned to the automaker. When it didnt come back, Ford went looking for it.It took two years of negotiation before Tucker agreed to relinquish it, accepting in trade a fully-loaded 1966 Mustang that was the millionth one built. The car went on display at the Henry Ford Museum in 1984. Tucker died in 2008.Canada also got the second one built, a hardtop (pictured above) that went to a dealer in Yukon. That car sold at auction in January 2019 for US$192,500. Only one other pre-production model is known to exist. The first production Mustang intended for sale went to Gail Wise, a schoolteacher in Chicago, who still owns it.Phillips has never visited the Henry Ford Museum, and it will be the first time hes seen the car since he sold it 55 years ago. Museum officials have planned a VIP day for him, including a tour of the Rouge factory where the car was
Origin: Newfoundland man who sold the first-ever Ford Mustang will finally see it again
Elton John’s first-ever Ferrari coming up for auction
When you make it big, you buy a Ferrari.Its an unstated rule understood, and followed, by almost everybody who has gotten famous or who would like to get famous.Elton John understood it; he bought one immediately after his album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road became a best-selling hit in 1973. He was 26 at the time.Sir Elton sold the car just two years after he bought it (perhaps to buy the Jaguar XK140 featured in the fold of A Single Man) and went on to buy many more Ferraris in his lifetime, but this was his first.For the past 44 years, though, the car has been in the careful stewardship of Ferrari Owners Club members, meaning its probably been well taken care of, amassing only 82,000 miles since new.The car itself is a 1972-model-year 365 GTB/4 Daytona coupe, with a bright red paint job and five-spoke wheels with knock-off hubs. The car is also a rare right-hand-drive model that was destined for the U.K. market (obviously), one of only 158 cars in this specification. A real Daytona is already worth quite a bit of money, but the added provenance of rock-star ownership should add a few extra dollars, even if its been a while since Eltons actually touched the car.The car will be auctioned by Silverstone Auctions, which estimates that the Daytona could bring around 530,000 Euro ($800,000) when it crosses the
Origin: Elton John’s first-ever Ferrari coming up for auction
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