Lotus Carlton
‘All those horses want to get out’
Ferrari F355
It’s time to buy. Here’s how
bmw 507 vs 3200CS V8 road trip across Italy
£3k-45k style choices of the year
exclusi v e design legend
tom tjaarda
citroën sm
rates each car
jaguar xjc
buick riviera aston dbs p lu s MGB roadster pranged three times, restored twice and given away stirling moss ‘I nearly collapsed in tears’
airflow de soto resto ‘The chassis was in one hell off a mess – it fell to pieces like a jigsaw’
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july 2015 • grand designs 2015 • bmw 507 vs 3200cs • lotus carlton • de soto airflow • mgb roadster • stirling moss • ferrari f355 buying • www.classiccarsmagazine.co.uk
grand designs
‘Here are five designs lauded at launch and celebrated as groundbreaking ever after’ p50
Designs: Tom Tjaarda rates our style choices of the year 50 Grand Le Mans: the essence of 1965’s race in photographs 86 Unseen
List: we let loose a lucky 8 The reader in a Lotus Carlton
S P EC I A L I ST H E L P Insurance 202 | Services 208 | Clubs 217 BUY I N G O R S E LL I N G? Go to classiccarsforsale.co.uk 6
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THE MONTH IN CARS 16 Techno Classica Essen Four-page report from top European showcase 21 Donington Historic Festival Mighty Audi A4 quattros roar into a reunion 22 Manx Classic Aircraft-engined Citroën AC4/Moth celebrates a successful maiden outing 25 Events planner Our recommendations, from the Wilton Classic to Watkins Glen 117 Your letters The joys of Ferrari 456 ownership and the Sprite MkII built without an engine 120 Next Month A glimpse of what to look forward to in August’s Classic Cars
the insiders 45 Quentin Willson says originality and period accuracy are key to creating high values 47 Tom Tjaarda predicts that India could become the creative hub that designs tomorrow’s classics 49 Simon Kidston reports that classic cars focused minds when F1’s A-listers got together
owning COVER Life Cycle Meet the MGB roadster that has been pranged three times, restored twice, 64 given away and has now been transformed into a sharp little roadburner COVER Epic Restoration A broken chassis and rotten bodywork were just some of the 78 hurdles that had to be overcome in rehabilitating this 1935 De Soto Airflow 98 The Collector Klaas van Dijk's amazing hoard of 150-plus cars features large numbers of AMCs, Chevrolets, Lancias and Ramblers, plus more than a few Alfa Romeos, Lamborghinis and others 123 Our Cars Phil tools up to fit new wheelbearing races to his Jaguar E-type S1, Nigel struggles with his Reliant Scimitar SE5 resto, and Adam treats his Peugeot 205 GTi 1.9 to a new motor
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COVER The List Reader Tim Dubois wants comfort and lots of power – so we grant him his dream drive in a Lotus Carlton, the ultimate bad-boy saloon 50 COVER Grand Designs Design legend Tom Tjaarda rates our style choices of the year, including Aston Martin DBS, Citroën SM, Jaguar XJC, Buick Riviera and Mercedes CE 70 COVER BMW 507 vs BMW 3200CS Join us on a heady V8 road trip across Italy to discover whether BMW built the ultimate driving machines of the late Fifties/early Sixties 86 Unseen Le Mans 1965 Get an exclusive taste of Sixties GT racing from the archives of an unknown photographer who caught the essence of 24 hours of thrills at La Sarthe 92 Mercedes Legends To mark Mercedes-Benz’s dominance of motor sport 60 years ago we try a 300 SLR and a 300 SL on the roads where they made their mark 104 The Rallying Years Sir Stirling Moss returns to his Rootes roots, revisiting his early-Fifties high jinks driving Sunbeam Talbot and Alpine rally cars The Rallying Years: Sir Stirling 104 returns to his Rootes
BUYing 28 Smart Buys Quentin Willson says the AC Greyhound is a rarity worth seeking out, highlights big interest in the Austin A30/35 and tips the Mercedes SL55 AMG as a classic on the cusp 32 Market Watch Russ Smith reports on which Astons grabbed most attention at the Works sale 37 Temptations Nine cars to keep you sweet but make your bank manager sweat 40 Barn Finds Nigel Boothman discovers a Ford Sierra RS Cosworth that’s emerged after eight years in a shed plus a Jaguar E-type V12 that’s spent most of its life in storage 110 COVER Buying Guide Nine vital steps to finding a fantastic Ferrari F355 119 Books and Models New releases on the Toyota MR2, Sir Stirling Moss and ex-Ferrari works driver Sam Posey, plus the latest scale models reviewed by Sam Dawson 131 Dealer adverts 130 Ads on Test Talbot AX65 (p130), Ferrari F355 Spider (p133), Jaguar E-type 3.8 S1 roadster (p134), BMW Z1 (p137) 201 Advertise your classic for free 218 Classic Punts Patience pays off in reader Mike Spindle’s search for an AC Cobra
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We bring together five coupés at sundown to argue their case for style supremacy while Tom Tjaarda adjudicates – who will be the winner come the dawn light? Words john siminster, tom tjaarda Photography tim andrew
Left to right: Aston Martin DBS, Citroën SM, Buick Riviera, Jaguar XJ12C, Mercedes-Benz 280 CE
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omplex business, car design. Why does one car set your heart a-flutter and another leave you cold or, worse, bring on a sense of visual nausea? It’s subjective, of course, but there are also design rules relating to proportion, tension, flow and appropriate embellishment. One key job of a car’s design should be to evoke desire. An indulgent coupé needs to do that particularly well; while no one needs a coupé, its creators try hard to make you want one instead of something cheaper and less able to attract the eye. And if eyes are attracted to a car, they
may well alight upon its occupants. Drive a coupé, look good, feel good – the world sees you as a person of taste and sophistication as you cruise the affluent streets of the metropolis, and the glint of streetlights on a coupé’s seductive curves only heightens the theatre. Here are five designs lauded at launch and celebrated as groundbreaking ever after. They span a decade and a half but each still looks fresh. We’ll assess their style outside, inside and on the road, with a professional designer’s critique on each from Tom Tjaarda. He and I won’t always agree. Take your sides as you wish, and join us for the ride.
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1935 De Soto airflow
This fine example of revolutionary pre-war US design was on the brink of being broken for parts before five years of intensive work turned it into a concours-winning example
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D e S o t o a i r f lo w e p i c r e s t o r at i o n
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‘Most people would have decided it was just too much work’ A broken chassis and rotten bodywork from the early days of car aerodynamics were some of the hurdles to overcome, but an Australian team were determined to rehabilitate this US ex-pat Words Stewart Perry Photography Kieran Malloch 79
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MGB Th e li fe story of an
It started life in 1979 as a standard roadster but, after three owners and two restorations, this MGB is a sharp little roadburner Words Mike Renaut Photography Alex Tapley
1979 Bought brand-new for £3655
Putting down a £100 deposit on January 3, 1979 and with a loan from National Westminster bank the following week, David Geraghty bought a new MGB in Pageant Blue with Silver Grey trim from Wadham Stringer (Cliftons) Ltd of London SE12. The total price of £3650.45 included £50 road fund licence and £7.50 for a passenger side mirror. Ziebart rust protection made up another £88. ‘We always wanted a convertible sports car,’ explains David. ‘It had to be a British one; E-types were too expensive and my wife Gita loved this MG’s colour.’
1979 Driven on the beach during an eventful Irish holiday
David and Gita took the car on a long holiday to Ireland. ‘The crossing was awful,’ remembers Gita. ‘It was the same storm that caused the Fastnet yacht disaster.’ One bumper was lightly damaged when the MG
grounded on a rough bit of road, but there were many good times. ‘My first time driving the MG was on an idyllic sandy beach near Lahinch,’ says Gita. ‘I loved it.’
1980 Uh-oh, salt water issues
David used the car for daily commutes to work, averaging 15,000 miles a year. Despite that application of Ziebart, an AA report dated October 24, 1980 concluded the MG had ‘an undue degree of surface corrosion present within the right front wing panel trimming location area and boot panel area.’ The steering geometry and noisy heater motor also required attention. On the plus side, three of the tyres would last for over 40,000 miles – a mileage the car passed just after its first MoT in 1982. In 1984, the MG, now with just under 56,000 miles on the clock, had its front suspension rebushed at a cost of £103.50, plus another £10 for the MoT. Two months later, new front brake pads cost £33.62.
Looking a bit tired at 15 years of age, the car was booked in for bodywork and paint
The MGB today, in rude health and looking purposeful with its Sebring conversion
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Where
legends were made Sixty years ago Mercedes-Benz won the Mille Miglia and Italian Grand Prix en route to a fistful of motor sport titles. Phil Bell heads to Italy for a first-hand experience Photography Mercedes-Benz/Phil Bell/Massimo Delbo
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ut of respect for the machine I try not to step on to the seat as I stretch my leg over the side of the bodywork and aim for the footwell. Sliding down on to its checked fabric I narrowly avoid clouting my knees against the metal dash before turning my attention to my driver, Mercedes DTM ace Christian Vietoris. Has he driven this 1955 300 SLR before? ‘No,’ he smiles. Any of the other cars from the Mercedes-Benz Classic collection? ‘No, it’s my first time.’ I try to feel as relaxed as he looks, but the words 300bhp, Futa Pass and drum brakes bounce around my head like lottery balls. Sixty years ago Mercedes had an all-conquering year, winning the World Sports Car, Formula One and European Hillclimb Championships before withdrawing from motor sport at the end of it. Over the next two days I’m going to get a taste of what it was like – the cars, the people, the venues – and now I’m about to play co-driver on one of the most squiggled sections of the Mille Miglia route. On my map the road between Lake Bilancino and Pianoro looks like a piece of string that’s been wound into knots. I imagine it’s a good match for my intestines. Fuel pumps whirr busily, ignition on and the air by my right elbow is ripped with crisp, spitting thunder from twin side exhausts perfuming the spring morning with a warm whiff of unburned fuel. It settles to hard-edge burble infused with the busy threshing of desmodromic valvegear. The Mercedes technicians push us out of the gravelled courtyard to spare the single-plate clutch – one of the 300 SLR’s only weaknesses. Their predecessors did the same 60 years ago to get the cars up on to the start ramp at Brescia. Finally we’re unleashed on to the road, Christian pouring on the power as we approach a bend walled in by ancient buildings. A dab of brakes, a sweep of the arms and we’re carving through, exhaust snarl pinging off stucco walls and co-driver now relaxed after the initiation. Now I can savour the sensations as I try to imagine how co-driver Denis Jenkinson must have felt, brain running at 100mph
while he cranked though his pace notes written on to a roll of paper fed between two rollers, using hand signals to warn Stirling Moss of the hazards and speed opportunities ahead. The seeds of this innovation were sown when Jenks accompanied American John Fitch in 1954, the two realising that they would need an edge to compensate for the road knowledge of the Italian racers. By the second bend Christian has already tuned in to the old-tech 300 SLR, winding out the straight-eight as it reaches temperature, navigating the exposed gate of the dogleg-pattern five-speed transaxle and wiping off speed with the vast inboard drum brakes. I want to ask him how it feels but my words are swept away on a blast of exhaust and windrush. I’m amazed Jenks had any hearing or voice left after ten hours of this. But what a way to go deaf. Christian’s now in the zone, making the car squirm under pre-hairpin braking, feeding in the power until the rear end goes light and punching the SLR out of bends on great gobs of power. The car feels stable and predictable, riding these narrow country roads with surprising compliance and begging for speed on what counts as straights here in the hills. Tall hedgerows and faded buildings flash by in a blur of green, ochre, browns and reds, punctuated by open drops into the surrounding fields. This is one of the eight survivors from nine 300 SLRs built, chassis 19600002/55, which is now wearing Hans Herrmann’s race number 704. Four cars were entered for the Mille Miglia in 1955, the others for Fangio and Karl Kling. For those win-hungry gents caution only extended as far as keeping the car pointing in the direction of victory. And that meant speeds that I just can’t reconcile with this relentless barrage of blind bends, dips and crests. Moss and Jenks hit speeds of 170mph whenever the roads allowed, and averaged 97.9mph over the event’s 992 miles. Their record was never broken. You don’t say. Held back by mechanical problems and trying to drive the event solo, Fangio came home half an hour later. By then he was in his forties with a cushion of two F1 world championships behind him.
‘For those win-hungry gents caution only extended as far as keeping the car pointing in the direction of victory’
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1955 REVISITED MERCEDES ROAD TRIP
Moss and Jenks at the Brescia start line, sharp and ready at 7.22am in 1955
Chassis 2, now painted to look like Hans Herrmann’s 1955 Mille car
Phil’s nerves start to sharpen just about here...
Phil tries to imagine what the 300 SLR felt like at 170mph on the 1955 Mille Miglia
All this would have been a blur to Moss and Jenks
Remarkably compliant on mountain roads
Corner after corner, Moss at maximum attack
Old technology doesn’t faze DTM driver Christian Vietoris
Sir Stirling is reunited with his Mille Miglia 300 SLR 93
Rallying, the Sir Stirling Moss Way His Formula One and sports car achievements are well told, so we ask him to revisit his early-Fifties high jinks as part of the Rootes Group rally team, driving Sunbeam Talbots and Alpines Words Mike taylor Photography richard pardon
S
ay ‘Sir Stirling Moss OBE’ and an instant picture forms of one of the most gifted F1 racing drivers of all time. Or maybe you imagine his face caked in oil and road grime after winning the 1955 Mille Miglia in a Mercedes SLR with Denis Jenkinson at his side. But few will remember – or even be aware of – his period as a Rootes rally driver, during which his outstanding skill at the wheel reaped impressive results and reverence from his peers. Stirling began his competition career driving an F3 Cooper at Prescott Hillclimb on May 30, 1948 and his interest in racing was further fired when he read Prince Chula’s book on the career of Prince Bira of Siam, detailing the lifestyle of a globe-trotting racing driver. ‘He became my alter ego,’ grins Sir Stirling. It was the Bira book that inspired Stirling to conduct his driving career as a professional, including a focus on fitness and diet, with charges for hiring out his time and promotional contracts with motor industry companies also fundamental to the plan – a clearly calculated course to gain maximum benefit from his skills, in terms of bank balance as well as his position on the podium. His first rally was to be the 1952 Monte Carlo. ‘My fee was £50,’ says Sir Stirling of the event in which he drove a Sunbeam Talbot 90 MkII. The Rootes team for which he was to drive had been set up by Norman Garrad, sales manager of Sunbeam-Talbot, who
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had convinced Sir William Rootes, head of the family business, of the benefits to be had from competition. A special department was subsequently established for preparing cars in the old Humber factory, and by 1951 Garrad had recruited Sheila Van Damm, George Hartwell and Stirling Moss into his team. The plan was to enter the Monte Carlo Rally the following January. ‘I invited John Cooper [then editor of The Autocar] and Desmond Scannell [secretary of the BRDC] to accompany me on a recce and we decided to start from Monte Carlo to give us a clear idea of the conditions.’ It was to prove a wise move. The Monte comprised seven starting points, all routes being roughly 2050 miles long and taking three days and nights, with an average control-to-control speed of 50kph (31mph). The route was divided into stages, each of about 200 miles, with control points to ensure that these average speeds were attained. Cars were to be of touring-type design with completely enclosed bodywork. Normal engine power was not to be appreciably increased, with only a few subtle modifications permitted. ‘In those days it was very difficult to arrange for any sponsorship, but I managed to sign up with Shell and Ferodo,’ says Sir Stirling. ‘The latter helped us at the start of the rally by changing the brake linings on the car for VG95 type but, after we’d started, that was it. We were entirely on our own – there were no Rootes mechanics on the route.’ Moss driving a Sunbeam Five days before the event Stirling, Talbot 90 on John and Desmond set off, using the the Alpine Rally, 1952 time to study the route in detail.
t h e r a l ly i n g y e a r s s i r s t i r l i n g m o s s
‘we were considered a professional team although it was all very amateurish in those days’ 105
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‘That’s the view most people see – two square exhaust pipes and those huge rear tyres’ Tim Dubois’ two main classic car needs are comfort and power, lots of it. So we put him in the ultimate bad boy saloon – a Lotus Carlton. Will it impress as much in real life as it does on paper? Words Ross Alkureishi Photography Jonathan Jacob
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