Performance Direct Insurance

Looking after the UK website for Nissan in my old job was always an interesting experience, from the chap on a remote Scottish Island desperately seeking a forklift truck engine part for his home-made boat motor (he was currently cut off from the mainland) to the charming young women, normally based in London, who asked about the curious little classic car they had seen. Apparently, they used to say, it’s a Nissan..More...

A friend of mine once owned two classic Citroen DS cars. Both black, one of which had previously been owned by a member of Depeche Mode, which was to prove to be not the only thing linking these cars musically.

The other old vehicle had a unique selling point for the folks of Chelmsford where we reside, and it wasn't the sheer Americana size of the car on narrow suburban roads that turned heads, it was more specifically it's temperamental knack of sticking in reverse, most notably ending up over one Christmas period at a ludicrous angle outside a local pub on a one way street.More...

I was having one of those days where you trawl the net for something to inspire you. I thought, I know, I’ll look up odd classic cars. Almost immediately I found a French vintage automobile, the Panhard, mentioned in a classic car blog with a comment that it “..looks like it’s sucking on a lemon..” – and yes, it really does. It also has a vague hint of the retro-inspired Nissan Figaro about it.

I’d never heard of it, I confess, but the company was founded way back in 1891 when it was called Panhard et Levassor, and they currently manufacture military vehicles.

The Panhard company was under the ownership of Citroen for around 40 years prior to 2005 and they ceased production of civilian motor vehicles in 1968.

But let’s not mock too much here, as with various other French car manufacturers, the company was a very forward thinking organisation.  More...

A friend of mine, Chip, recently acquired a 1967 Porsche 912 for around 9 grand. The vehicle was originally a Californian (left-hand drive) model, & if the rumours were to be believed, the colour of the after effects of something bad eaten the night before. This classic now sits comfortably along side the Camper Van he is also currently restoring. He must be getting very familiar with organising his classic car insurance these days. I couldn't wait to see it, I'm a big fan of Porsche and familiar with the classic 911 and the beautiful vintage 356 (my dream car), but not so much the 912..

The other night I got to be a passenger in this automobile and have a look over it. More...

Japfest.  What can be said about Japfest?  Well, the first thing that has to be noted is that no matter what the weather report says, when Japfest comes to town it brings the sunshine along with it.  The 14th of May 2011 was no exception with the descending crowds of Jap mad car fans bringing along the summertime with them.  For an outdoor car show there is no better feature to have in place than some sparkly warm sunshine glinting off glossy show-ready automotive paintwork.   Attendance figures matched last year's record breaker with over 15,000 Japanese car enthusiasts attending the show at Castle Combe Circuit in Wiltshire. More...