Editorial standards

Writing well about classic cars means caring about the small details: which engine came in which model year, what a particular gearbox costs to rebuild, whether a quoted production number includes the export cars or doesn't. This page is a friendly overview of how we put the site together. Where our information comes from, how we keep things up to date, and what to do if you spot something that needs another look.

How we source

Our material comes from published primary sources wherever we can: workshop manuals and parts catalogues, period road tests, marque-club registers and Heritage Certificates, manufacturer archives, DVLA and HMRC guidance, auction-house results, and the deep back catalogue of the British classic-car press. Where a claim rests on a particular source, we point at it. Where the honest answer is "it depends" or "nobody really knows for sure," we say that too.

One of the lovely things about this hobby is that production figures, model-year boundaries and engine specifications often vary a little between published sources, and tracking down the reasons why is part of what makes the cars so rewarding to learn about. Our approach is to name where a figure has come from and let you weigh it, rather than flatten genuine differences into one fake-authoritative number.

There are also wonderfully knowledgeable people in this hobby (marque-club registrars, concours judges, period racing engineers, specialist restorers) whose first-hand expertise goes well beyond anything a written source can capture. Where their knowledge is the right answer to a question, we credit them rather than paraphrase, and we try to point you to them directly.

Updates and review

Every page on the site shows a "Last reviewed" date next to the byline, and that date means what it says: it's the last time someone actually re-read the page rather than just touched the timestamp.

We update pages whenever we learn something new, hear from a reader who knows more about a particular model or specialist than we do, or come across a change worth reflecting (a new exemption rule, an insurer's policy update, a workshop that's recently opened or moved). We don't follow a fixed review cycle, because the topics on the site naturally move at different paces. A marque history mostly settles down once it's right, while parts pricing or insurance guidance can shift in a week.

Mistakes and corrections

Writing about a subject this broad means we'll occasionally get something wrong, and that's fine, so long as we put it right when we know. Production figures, model-year boundaries, engine specifications and price ranges are some of the trickiest details in this hobby, and any site covering a lot of ground will collect a few small errors along the way.

When a correction reaches us (from a reader, an owner-club member, a workshop we've quoted, or our own re-reading), we update the page and note what changed. Material factual corrections get a short note at the foot of the page; smaller wording fixes are made quietly. Either way, the "Last reviewed" date will reflect the pass.

If you've spotted something that doesn't look right, the contact page is the easiest way to let us know. We're always grateful for the heads-up; every correction makes the site a little better for the next person who arrives looking for the same answer.

How recommendations work

A few principles that shape what gets mentioned on the site:

• Recommendations are written by us, not paid for. We don't take money to mention a workshop, specialist, parts supplier or insurer, and businesses can't pay their way into our directories. If a place is listed here, it's because we thought it was worth knowing about.
• If we ever publish a piece that's been sponsored or paid for in some way, it will say so plainly at the top, so there's never any confusion about what you're reading.
• The site is a guide rather than a marketplace. Where we mention a specific car, it's there to illustrate a point about a model or a market, not to broker a sale; if you're hunting for a car to buy, the established classifieds will serve you better than we will.