It’s a generation thing IMO. While we may have been passionate about cars, younger people aren’t. My daughter was brought up being driven in nice cars to nice places. Now for herself she wants something reliable and functional (though with a bit of Dad’s genes induced fun included). I think younger people see cars as appliances and to be honest they are marketed as such. VW, Audi (same company) = Bosch, Neff (same company).
You were right to flog them all. With all due respect only a retired Berlin taxi driver would consider a W123 diesel a classic. Maybe a pity about the TR4A 
but you can pick them up pretty cheaply in the UK. I’d suggest a TR6 is a better option.
I used to love reading his Letter From Europe in Motor Sport. My dad got Car magazine and Motor Sport every month. The former Setright’s input and the latter for Jenkinson’s.
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I had had a TR6 years before. I just prefer the original Michelotti styling (pre Karmann) and the agricultural wet sleeve engine. Less refined, I know. Yes, the rest weren’t really classics, just what I had to dispose of fairly close to my departure.
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This car had a 425cc engine but I put it on a later chassis with a (massive ) 602cc engine and disc brakes. Something that is now frowned upon. It still had the wipers driven off the speedo and the suicide doors though!
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Their old articles and books are still a delight to read today. I’ve quite a few of Jenks and LJK’s books, which are becoming rarer and quite pricy now. And a two volume set of Car road tests. The first UK motoring magazine to call a lemon a lemon. George Bishop was also a fun read, more a gourmand than a motoring journalist 
Last year I discovered a magazine in Australia called Wheels that had the same brio as Car had in its early days. A great read. But of course Car was started by “disrespectful” Aussies anyway.
A veritable sports saloon
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Mercedes Benz will have VW engines soon apparently.
Not quite sure how their marketing guys will justify the brand cost premium once that gets out.
Ludicrous. How the mighty have fallen. That’s not to say that VW doesn’t have some nice engines. The twin turbo 240BHP jobby in our last Tiguan went very well. Even the 180BHP in the Tigger before that was good. It got me up to a real GPS verified 198kph on a German autobahn. Just couldn’t make the 200kph, though of course the speedo was showing 210 or more. My mates GTI Cup (I think it’s called) goes like a bat out of hell too.
Maybe the MB accountants (who probably all cycle to work) have decided that as the future is electric, no more ICE development. If so that’s in direct contrast to the BMW strategy of a range offering both drivetrains in the Neue Klasse. I think BMW is right.
I did a configuration of the new MB electric CLA last night for a giggle. My spec came out at €84k. That’s more (though not a lot more) than I paid for the much more competent i4 and it’s an entry level electric MB. What’s the C class, E class etc. going to cost? I think MB may be stuffed, like VW is. So maybe power plant sharing is appropriate after all 
We used to have a 1954 2CV which was bought for 500 Francs in Compiegne. It had a 375cc engine which my mother managed to wreck driving home from work. My dad managed to find a written off Belgian 2CV and took the 425cc engine out of that. It had wipers that ran off the speedo cable and a dipstick attached to the filler cap. It was one of the first cars I ever drove, on grass. A task made easier by its centrifugal clutch that made pulling away easy. You took your foot off the clutch and at tickover the car stood still. Then it was just a case of accelerating away.
No need to invoke my old boss in this conversation….
Looks like tickover is off the radar now….
I also used to enjoy Setright’s articles in Bike magazine.
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This was a 1956 model but the engine and gearbox had been dismantled by the previous owner and were very worn, it had a wooden dipstick that measured the fuel level and a canvas roll up boot lid. They are great to look at but very slow and on steep hills, passengers have to get out and walk whilst the car ascends in first gear!
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Now that’s what you call a “cart grise” 
2CVs are fun.
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Deudeuche
Isn’t that the sound your car makes when you run over a hedgehog?
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Or the exclamation of mild dissatisfaction that a French driver makes after their car has been rear-ended by a delivery van. 
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Keep guessing & no googling 
It could only be a guess, because I’ve no idea.
Think of it as word play.
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