3 On The Column

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The Queen of all Maestros, Montegos and Metros and Queen of Cowley herself, Tanya Field, joins the Three On The Column Classic Car Podcast in this episode to discuss a lifelong love affair with the cars of Cowley.

We discuss how the affection for these cars has changed over the decades,  from watching the salesman's despair at being given a lowly Clubman Diesel Maestro in the TV series 'The A to B of Modern Motoring' to celebrating Montgomery the Montego on Radio Oxford.

But this episode is more than Maestros and Montegos.  Tanya also supports the Mini Y Register, the O2 Register, the MG Front Wheel Drive Register, the Cabrio 4 Register and, of course, the Maestro and Montego Owners Club.

Listen now and celebrate these cars with us.

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For Part 3, we move to the Ex Police Panda Chapter to meet Emily, who is registrar for the chapter.  

Emily's own Ex Met Police Morris Minor Panda has been in her family for a long time and when she was given the opportunity to drive it, she knew she had to become its next custodian. Emily has done extensive research on these vehicles and tells us their story.

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In Part 2 we hear more from Andrew, the club chair, and learn of the many club  chapters so that whatever Minor appeals to you, within the MMOC umbrella, there's a like minded group of speciality Minor owners. 

What are people's favourite Minor Mods?  'A' series engines from the later 1275 cc Marinas fit in Minors quite nicely, reflecting the period modifications that were not uncommon in the day and these are still relevant now.  Or for something really special, how about a supercharger for your Minor that started its life in a BMW era Mini. That has to be fantastic to drive.

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Welcome to the first part of our special podcast recorded live at the 50th Anniversary of the Morris Minor Owners Club at Eastwood Hall.

With over 600 Morris Minors in attendance, our Morris Minor journey starts here. First, we meet Simon, the club treasurer, and learn what makes the Morris Minor a national treasure, why you need one in your life and, of course, find out about the benefits of joining the Morris Minor Owners Club.

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There are few classics which can boast of being over 9 metres long and 2.5 metres wide, and one of only twenty-eight ever produced.

This week, 3 On The Column Classic Car Podcast is excited to meet Justin, the proud owner of not just one, but two of these amazing classics.

Launched in 1977 at the Dusseldorf show, the Hymer 900 Liner was the masterpiece of Erwyn Hymer, owner and founder of the motorhome company that takes his name.  

Erwyn was determined to prove that his company could build the world's finest motorhome.  He also believed that by doing so, an entirely new market could be created for a very select clientele.  They would want to have the finest European motorhome that money could buy, with excellent German build quality and the space and comfort of an American RV.

Justin takes us through the history of these amazing vehicles, shares the story of his road to ownership, and reflects on the responsibility of being a good custodian of such rare vehicles.

Listen now to hear the full story.

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It's 33 degrees on the other side of my air conditioned screen and I'm nice and cool, yet Andrew and I are dreaming of the open road and maybe a summer convertible to enjoy the best of this sunny weather. Time to call in our expert friend, Mike Renault from episode 15, who re-joins us today and gets us focused on the best of the 1960's convertible road scene and, in the case of Nash, a little air con too.

Listen in and see where the road takes us!  

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On a recent podcast,  Andrew and I got to meet the team from Crossley Motorsport, when we were able to hear first hand about the joy, passion, skills and sheer hard graft that have been lavished on their Jowett Jupiter race car. Their successes have included an impressive 14th place, out of a field of 82, at the Classic Le Mans 24 hrs and qualifying to race at this year's Goodwood meeting.  We also heard on that podcast about the inspiration and support from a gentleman called Chris Spencer of the Jowett Car Club. 

On this podcast, we are really excited to meet Chris and hear all about the Jowett Car Club's contribution to Crossley Motorsport's success story with their Jowett.

There is probably no greater expert on Jowett Cars than Chris Spencer.  It is fair to say that Chris has spent a lifetime driving, owning and restoring these cars, as well as promoting the Jowett Car Cub.  He happily jumped at the chance to help the Crossley team run a Jowett Jupiter.  With an average age of just 22, and the buzz that this team is able to create, Chris can see that they will be ensuring the relevance of the Jowett Jupiter for decades to come.  

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It's time for Andrew and I to book our summer holidays, but the cost of a long haul flight to Cape Town is looking a bit steep these days so we need to find an alternative.  Let's ask Seth Scott and Ollie Jenks, as they've driven there in Sheila, a Reliant Robin van. How hard can it be? Well, in this podcast, we'll be finding out.

First, choose your car.  Top of the tree has to be a 3-wheeler because then you can break a world record - for the furthest distance travelled in a 3-wheeled car.

Next, you will need a few modifications, and possibly a new engine enroute. Fortunately, Seth and Ollie were members of the Reliant Owners Club, who were able to source and send an emergency 'engine in a suitcase' to them.

Then, when you need to get through a border checkpoint, the love and humour that everyone has for these cars will see you through.  Try the same with a new Defender!

From roadside repairs, and the ingenuity of the local mechanics, to traffic light vendors looking under the car, trying to locate where the front wheels are, Seth and Ollie tell us how it was.

Their chosen charity is https://www.schoolinabag.org/ which helps provide the very basics for school, such as pens and paper, that the poorest children in the remotest places need.  Enroute, Seth and Ollie were able to see first hand just how much of a support this charity can be to these children in the far flung places of Africa.

And now to preparations for trip number 2.  It's time for Ollie to start to learn something about football since, from the 11th June, the friends will be touring all of the 2026 World Cup football stadiums, driving across Canada, the US, Mexico and then back to Canada again.

10,000 miles in 39 days, and their chariot of choice for this trip is an ex-London FX4 Taxi currently off the road in Canada that hasn't run for years and won't start! Is that an issue?  Of course not.  They will sort it!  After all, they're seasoned explorers now.

instagram/@hold.mygear 

https://www.holdmygear.org/ 

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Following on from the excitement of the recent podcast with Crossley Motorsports, Brian and Andrew feel the need to get back on track (as if we ever were): in this episode we welcome Christianne Ireland, the founder of Ireland Motorsports, and also daughter of Innes Ireland, a Formula One racing driver in the 1950s and 60s.  

Innes started his motorsports career in 1952, very much at grass roots level, working his way up to the heights of Formula One by 1959. He also had a career in long distance sportscar racing, driving cars such as the 250 GTO Ferrari, as well as competing in the Daytona 500.

Christianne shares with us what's happening at Ireland Motorsports, a not for profit Community Interest Company, which is both helping to preserve the heritage and achievements of Innes Ireland to inspire the next generation of drivers, and providing real-life opportunities and encouragement for young people aged 16 to 24 to get involved in the many different areas of the motorsport world.

She also brings us her wonderful personal memories of growing up in her father's motor racing world, with Stirling Moss, Graham Hill and Jimmy Clark counted as his close friends.  

How about being taken to school in OVX355D, the third factory Ford GT40?  And then there was the Lime Green GTO.  Mum was on the insurance to drive the car and  so it served its purpose as a family car for getting to the shops for the bibs and bobs of daily life, with room for the dogs in the footwell.

Motorsport is undoubtedly in Christianne's DNA.  However, Innes was quite old fashioned and was not going to have his daughter being a racing driver.  So, instead, she went out and bought herself a motor bike!

Innes Ireland was as capable under the bonnet as he was as a driver.  In later years, after driving her dad's Aston Martin DB5 Mk 2, Christianne took the car to the garage complaining of a lumpy performance in traffic. The garage's response? "Madam, you need to drive it like your dad did!" Innes had, of course, set up the carburettors to match his driving style.

Thank you, Christianne!  This has been a very special and personal insight into why motorsport and its heritage matter and, above all, it is, of course, about its very special people.

https://irelandmotorsports.org.uk/

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Those of you who follow classic car social media will have recently seen a blue Invacar, heading north on the M40 to Gaydon for Rustival 2026. In this podcast episode, we are pleased to welcome, Dez, the owner of this car, as our guest.

Dez expertly takes us through the history of invalid carriages from their inception in the 1890's, through the peak of the Invacar in the 60's, 70's and 80's, to their all but total removal from daily use and subsequent rise as a collectible classic vehicle.

The Invacar is probably the most misunderstood classic vehicle in the history of cars: easily dismissed by people who never owned or drove one, though all of us, who are old enough, remember them well.

Dez is a big fan and a knowledgeable historian of them. He expertly debunks the myths surrounding them and explains why they were so brilliantly fit for their purpose, and why, when they were withdrawn from service, they were missed by many of their drivers. 

Dez keeps his Invacar Model 70 as a daily driver and with good reason: he is a wheelchair user, living in Central London. We think that qualifies Dez as an expert to make the case for the Invacar as a classic vehicle, which should be remembered as a vehicle that was brilliantly fit for purpose.

And yes, they are allowed on the motorway and yes, they can do a steady 60 mph quite happily. Mind you, Dez wasn't flat out that day!

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