Magneto Magazine Issue 22 by Hothouse Media

SUMMER 2024 £12.95 PRINTED IN THE UK

F E R R A R I ’ S F I V E 1950 S F I N N E D O N E- O F F S

A S T O N ’ S VA L K Y R I E LET LOOSE IN LONDON

STROTHER MACMINN’S CRAZY LE MANS COUPE

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21 S TA R T E R Dare to Dream Collection up for sale, ‘Florida Car Week’, MAUTO plan, Supercar Blondie’s new auction platform, and more

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MARCELLO GANDINI

S U P E R FA S T FINNED FERRARIS

IN SEARCH OF CHARLES ROLLS

I N S I D E S E G A L’ S B AT C AV E

A tribute to one of the greatest car designers the world has ever seen. Creator of icons and a master of the wedge era

A week in Reno with the Lee Collection’s five fabulously finned mid-1950s Italian coachbuilt Ferraris

Andrew Frankel examines the full yet cruelly short life of a remarkably brave and restless pioneer

Renowned architect and car collector Jonathan Segal’s striking new home for his alluring collection

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ASTON MARTIN VA L K Y R I E

FIA ARCHIVES DEEP DIVE

MACMINN LE MANS COUPE

TOP 50 WILD M U S TA N G S

Loud at any speed: Stephen Archer wakes central London in the most extreme road car ever conceived

On the eve of the revered FIA’s 120th anniversary, Magneto dips into its expansive, recently sorted archives

How a late-1950s American race car dream was wrought to life from the pages of a magazine – twice

The most successful, influential or just plain memorable concepts, specials and one-offs from the Ford stable

187 ACQUIRE Buying a Lotus Esprit, collecting sneakers, concept car sketches, and Emma Capener drawings, books, products and more

212 T H E L AW Y E R: R E S T O R AT I O N R U L E S

214 T H E C U R AT O R : CHANCE ADVENTURES

216 THE RACER: DRIVER AIDS

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THE INTERVIEW: J I M FA R L E Y

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Editor’s welcome

I think we went a little mad making this issue of Magneto. Or maybe it would be better to say that we ‘got a bit carried away’. Every idea we had just seemed to snowball. It started with the tribute to Marcello Gandini, which initially was going to rely on archive images, yet has ended up featuring more than 40 specially commissioned illustrations of the designer’s most interesting creations. And then there was the visit to the Lee Collection in Reno, Nevada to photograph Anne Brockinton Lee’s Ferrari Super Fast. Before we knew it, we’d added another four one-off Ferraris to the feature and doubled its pagination. How about our long-awaited drive of the Aston Martin Valkyrie on public roads? “I know, let’s drive it through central London as an antidote to all the track tests we’ve already read,” we said. Great idea... and if you live near Buckingham Palace, apologies if we woke you in the early hours. A fascinating profile of the short life of Charles Rolls somehow resulted in photographing bats in the cellar of his childhood home. A shoot of the amazing MacMinn Le Mans Coupe ended up involving an elevator and a beautifully dressed model. And we were worried for a while that our deputy editor was going to stay in the FIA archives forever. I hope you enjoy the results. And if you want another example of us getting carried away, come and visit our even bigger and better 2024 Concours on Savile Row on May 22-23.

David Lillywhite Editorial director

Magneto

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Contributors

Illustrations Guy Allen

MASSIMO DELBÒ Massimo’s trademark wide smile has greeted us at events in every corner of the globe – and he seems to know everyone. Over the years he’d interviewed and chatted with Marcello Gandini on many occasions, so who better to write our in-depth, eye-opening profile of the great designer?

GUY ALLEN We first met illustrator Guy Allen more than 20 years ago, when he was starting out with his Felix Petrol character. Since then he’s become automotive hot property, so we were delighted that he was able to illustrate not only these mugshots but also our feature on significant Gandini creations.

BLAIR BUNTING When the cars are out of this world, sometimes you need a new photographic take on them. Blair is best known as the photographer who travelled to the edge of space in the U-2 spy plane – but for us he travelled to the Lee Collection in Reno to photograph Ferrari’s Super Fast and four of its stablemates.

WAY N E B AT T Y Magneto deputy editor Wayne has excelled himself in this issue, not just in calming the usual editorial madness, but in documenting more than 40 Gandini designs, becoming the first journalist to be allowed into the FIA archives and writing about the remarkable MacMinn Le Mans Coupe.

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Early Highlight Select offerings from the Bill & Linda Feldhorn Collection

MONTEREY JET CENTER AUCTION 15 - 16 AUGUST 2024

Who to contact

Editorial director

Managing director

David Lillywhite

Geoff Love

Deputy editor

Creative director

Managing editor

Advertising sales

Wayne Batty

Peter Allen

Sarah Bradley

Sue Farrow, Rob Schulp

Staff writer

Designer

Accounts

Elliott Hughes

Debbie Nolan

Jonathan Ellis

Marketing manager

Marketing and events

Lifestyle advertising

Advertising production

Colin Gallimore

Jasmine Love

Sophie Kochan

Elaine Briggs

Contributors in this issue Guy Allen, Stephen Archer, Mark Bramley, Blair Bunting, Jonathon Burford, Nathan Chadwick, Robert Dean, Massimo Delbò, Richard Faulks, Andrew Frankel, Drew Gibson, Martyn Goddard, Rob Gould, Rick Guest, Sam Hancock, Richard Heseltine, Matt Howell, Patrick Kelley, Evan Klein, John Mayhead, Clive Robertson, Ricardo Santos, Darin Schnabel, Tim Scott, Peter Stevens, Joe Twyman, Charlotte Vowden, Anton Watts, Greg White, Rupert Whyte Single issues and subscriptions Please visit www.magnetomagazine.com or call +44 (0)208 068 6829

Geoff Love, David Lillywhite, George Pilkington Unit 16, Enterprise Centre, Michael Way, Warth Park Way, Raunds, Northants NN9 6GR, UK Printing Buxton Press, Palace Road, Buxton, Derbyshire SK17 6AE, UK. Printed on Amadeus Silk and Galerie Fine Silk supplied by Denmaur as a Carbon Balanced product. Made from Chain of Custody certified and traceable pulp sources

Who to contact Subscriptions colin@hothousemedia.co.uk Events jasmine@hothousemedia.co.uk Business geoff@hothousemedia.co.uk Accounts accounts@hothousemedia.co.uk Editorial david@hothousemedia.co.uk Advertising sue@flyingspace.co.uk or rob@flyingspace.co.uk Lifestyle advertising sophie.kochan2010@gmail.com Advertising production elaine@hothousemedia.co.uk Specialist newsstand distribution Pineapple Media, Select Publisher Services

The making of Magneto THE FINNED FERRARIS

G A N D I N I I L L U S T R AT I O N S

How to do justice to the finned Ferraris of the famed Lee Collection? With photographer Blair Bunting, we decided to ‘paint with light’ – essentially Blair leaping around in the dark with LED lights, the camera on a long exposure. Huge thanks to Anne Brockinton Lee, James O’Brien and the collection team for their help (and pizzas).

To show all of Marcello Gandini’s significant designs could have been done using a hotchpotch of often poor-quality archive images, but instead we commissioned Guy Allen to recreate each one. As for the front cover and main feature illustrations, they came from a casual team chat about Gandini’s ‘origami’, or ‘folded-paper’, period of design – and we were off!

© Hothouse Media. Magneto and associated logos are registered trademarks of Hothouse Media. All rights reserved. All material in this magazine, whether in whole or in part, may not be reproduced, transmitted or distributed in any form without the written permission of Hothouse Media. Hothouse Media uses a layered privacy notice giving you brief details about how we would like to use your personal information. For full details, please visit www.magnetomagazine.com/privacy ISSN Number 2631-9489. Magneto is published quarterly by Hothouse Publishing Ltd. Registered office: Castle Cottage, 25 High Street, Titchmarsh, Northants NN14 3DF, UK Great care has been taken throughout the magazine to be accurate, but the publisher cannot accept any responsibility for any errors or omissions that might occur. The editors and publishers of this magazine give no warranties, guarantees or assurances, and make no representations regarding any goods or services advertised in this edition.

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Words David Lillywhite

Photography SBX Cars

LEFT Alex Hirschi is the face of the Supercar Blondie brand, which has now branched out into online auctions.

What Supercar Blondie did next The world’s most popular automotive entertainer, with more than two billion viewers, has launched an all-new online auction platform – and it’s serious

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ON THE SURFACE, SUPERCAR Blondie is Alex Hirschi, an Australian YouTuber who’s built up a remarkable following with her videos of mostly exotic cars, with a smattering of superyachts, extreme vehicles, multimillion-dollar houses and anything else that catches her eye. But such is the power of Supercar Blondie, the brand that Alex has created, the company now employs more than 65 full-time staff – 15 of whom are specifically tasked with tracking down interesting cars for the videos – with offices in London, LA and Dubai. Supercar Blondie has 115 million followers, which equates to two billion views a month across its own website, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat – and it’s still growing. Now, whether or not you are interested in the videos, the latest Supercar Blondie venture should grab your attention: an online

auction platform devoted purely to top-end vehicles around the world. It launched, as SBX Cars, in April with the first Tesla Cybertruck to go to market, offered at no reserve. A strong line-up of lots followed a week later, which included a Mercedes-AMG One, the Hyperion XP-1 prototype, a one-of-three LaFerrari prototype, Tyde’s inaugural hydrofoiling electric glass yacht designed by BMW, a one-of-nine Lamborghini Veneno Roadster, and one of just three Lamborghini Veneno Coupés produced. As we went to press, those auctions were still running, but the online bids were visible and looking healthy. So it is mostly hypercars? No. Some of the classics on the site so far include a Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing, Lamborghini Miura, BMW 507, Aston Martin DB5 and Isdera 036i Spyder – but the big news is the forthcoming sale in

Germany of a collection of JPS racing cars from the Lotus Formula 1 team of the 1970s and ’80s, along with transporters, several of Colin Chapman’s personal cars and even his own aeroplane. Now that’s quite a statement of intent. SBX Cars is run by Alex and husband Nik, working with auction director Lance Butler. Its strength lies in being able to publicise the cars through the Supercar Blondie channel, giving each one millions of views – and although they recognise that Supercar Blondie’s demographic isn’t core to the buyers of the most desirable cars, they’re confident that they are already reaching many potential purchasers via the channel. Most of all, Alex, Nik and Lance want to ensure that buyers and sellers are treated to the very best customer service. “Because we’re doing only about ten to 15 auctions per week,” Alex told us, “we’re going to be able to have that customer-service element that the in-house auctions provide, which is kind of missing when people list their cars on other digital sites. “When you submit your vehicle, someone from our auction-specialist team will guide you through the process, talk to you about the reserve price, make sure it’s all good. If you have a specific collection, or a really special one-off car, we might even decide to run an event around that.” You can view the latest SBX Cars lots on www.sbxcars.com.

Starter

Words Nathan Chadwick

Carrera best

CHARLIEB PHOTOGRAPHY

Inside track on Tuthill’s latest creation – the 993 RSK one-off, which may lead to even greater things

THIS PAGE Best of all worlds? The 993 RSK is supremely usable, while offering something no other Porsche does. What’s on the horizon next?

“INCREASINGLY, IT’S NICE TO jump in something comfortable, with good NVH, and drive to the south of France,” says Richard Tuthill, whose eponymous firm set the air-cooled 911 part of the internet alight in early April with scant details about its new RSK, the car you see before you. That is the thinking behind the 993 RSK, a one-off built for Philip Kadoorie. “The 993 generation has always been an exceptional car, far better than a 964, and for this type of project a much better base,” Richard says. And what a base – it originally started life as a genuine Hong Kongspecification 993 RS Touring. “The RS is incredibly special, possibly the best factory Porsche ever. The only observation one might make is that it’s a bit underpowered…” We’re getting ahead of ourselves. Tuthill Porsche built 15 SCRS backdate 993-based models, which enabled the company to develop processes and parts. Separately, the firm also has an engine-development programme, which used a 4.0-litre

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naturally aspirated four-valve motor. Then it decided to combine the two into a 993 RS package that might just be the best 911 ever. Kadoorie, a long-time enthusiast for Tuthill Porsche cars, including the 11,000rpm 911K, agreed. “Philip is often mad enough to say, ‘well, if you think that’s good, let’s have a go at doing something’,” Richard says. The heart of the upgrade is the 4.0-litre flat-six, producing 370bhp400bhp and revving to 9000rpm – some way short of that 11,000rpm. “When we designed the 911K, we ensured the top-end heads could carry all the good stuff, so we can make any 993 or 964 engine fourvalve,” Richard explains. “For the RSK, it’s got the 911K top end, but we change everything – the cranks, rods, pistons, barrels...” In an era of huge horsepower, he believes numbers are unimportant. “Often you have too much power and not enough torque, or too much torque. In the end, the engine doesn’t give you anything – power does not equate to the quality of experience,”

he muses. “If you over-power a car, you can’t even use the horsepower – the drive either becomes bloody frustrating or you’re scared of it. I would rather have 5bhp less, and be able to use all of it.” To further illustrate this, Tuthill Porsche fitted a short-ratio sixspeed ’box. “I don’t know if I’d want to do 180mph anywhere, or where I could – but I do want to have brilliant gear ratios for A- and B-road driving,” Richard says. Other refinements include carbon brakes, for both stopping power and reducing unsprung weight, and MCS road-biased dampers. “We’re going in an entirely opposite direction to anyone else – if you have an overdamped, over-tyred car, you

have a bloody stiff thing that doesn’t rotate,” Richard explains. Some purists have questioned the need to convert an already-rare 993 RS, but Richard believes it was critical. “You get so much with it,” he says, pointing to the lightweighting gains. “It’s that typical Porsche thing of marginal gains everywhere.” While the 993 RSK is a one-off, he is taking the long-term view. “We’d love to do some more, as the Carrera RS lends itself to the conversion,” he says. “But there’s no reason why all of these parts we’ve developed can’t be used across all models.” Tuthill Porsche’s further work has been exhaustive, with a bare-shell repaint in Ferrari’s Verde Francesca, and a green retrim. A Porsche Pig detail was hand-painted by Neil Melliard, and the dials and other details subtly upgraded to take account of the engine’s new abilities. Even if it ends up being a one-off, Richard is fine with that. “I’ve had a lot of fun: it’s a great car,” he says. He might also build one for himself… www.tuthillporsche.com

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Starter

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Going out with a bang The joys of living large in the last days of fossil-fuelled excess, at the wheel of the Land Rover Defender 130 V8

FROM THAT FIRST MAURICE Wilks sketch to the great design statement of extravagant capability that is the Defender 130 V8, the Land Rover idea has morphed from function-only tool to improbably premium exploration device. The alchemy has taken decades – but to most, the final result is an unequivocal success. This, despite a parabolic rise in the price tag. It is the intoxicating blend of technical proficiency, desirable design and the Brit marque’s extraordinary upmarket migration that somehow makes you feel paying £117,000 for a Defender is justified. Yet it is more than merely a feeling. The iconic 4x4 backs up its ego-caressing brand perception with sheer goanywhere competency. The Defender 130 V8’s aura of imperviousness stems from its commanding ability to cruise through badly flooded roads past stranded hatchbacks, the actively dynamic air suspension’s controlled ride, and 500 coked-up shire horses, ready to hurl this 2.7-tonne chariot down the road at the slightest hint of a full right-ankle flex. Granted, there is a whole substation of electric vehicles out there

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FROM TOP Eight seats, eight cylinders and eight gears; the latest Defender is unstoppable – and you can share the experience with more of your mates.

that can at least match the supercharged 5.0-litre V8’s backthudding urgency. But can they cross a 900mm-deep ford and conquer a dizzyingly precipitous and deeply rutted hillside mud-fest, all while entertaining up to eight travellers in equally steep levels of rugged luxury and trick tech? Probably not. Breadth of capability has always been Land Rover’s calling card, and especially so with the new Defender. Leaving the fabulous Farmyard at The Newt near Wincanton, Somerset, and pushing on towards a midday respite at the 15th-century Combe Sydenham manor house in Exmoor National Park, affords a chance to get acquainted with the fundamentals. These include minimal body roll at sensible speeds, fluent steering, more driver-assistance systems than you need (accompanied by the mandated bings and bongs of responsible motoring in 2024), a full-house suite of cameras offering Superman levels of X-ray vision, a smarter-than-you eight-speed automatic gearbox and that aforementioned motive grunt and cushioned ride. Driving on unusually wet – even for England – roads, massively wide all-season rubber imparts high levels of adhesion confidence. On several occasions, though, hitting all that standing water, even at slow speeds, causes blinding torrents

of water to burst up onto the windscreen. It’s disconcerting, but is a small price to pay for the 22-inch Continental tyres’ extraordinary, traction-aiding ability to shift water. It’s an accepted fact that most owners aren’t likely to seek genuine off-road thrills, but should they ever need to ‘go beyond’, the Defender’s box of traction tricks – including lowrange, electronic active diff, Terrain Response 2, Hill Descent Control and 290mm of ground clearance in off-road mode – is highly effective and remarkably easy to operate. You’d have to demonstrate moronic levels of stupidity to outwit its allterrain prowess. The blown eightpot endorphin-maker may not be ‘of the moment’, but it adds a satisfying growl to the overall performance that simply isn’t available with plugin-to-play devices. So your fellow passengers will hear it’s a V8, but with 450lb ft of torque on offer from 2500rpm, they’ll hardly feel the barnfind classic you’re towing back there. Adding a V8 to the 130 line-up is a shrewd move. Sure, its wheelbase is no longer than that of the 110, but it offers more comfort to more passengers, and has huge presence. At this level, size matters. When you’re able to live large in the world of luxury utility, you may as well drive large, too – especially now that there is no power deficit.

CLASSIC CAR SHOW BRUSSELS EXPO

1 1 0 Y E A R S M A S E R AT I

Starter

The events of 2024 Rev up your engines for a full season of events on the road, on the track and on the showfield VINTAGE REVIVAL MONTLHÉRY

TOP MARQUES MONACO

May 11-12 Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the famed French banked track. www.vintage-revival.fr

June 5-9 The best supercars, classic cars and motorbikes. June 8 includes L’Astarossa all-Ferrari auction. www.topmarquesmonaco.com

LUGANO ELEGANCE May 17-19 International concours in picturesque Swiss city. https://luganoelegance.com

CAVALLINO CLASSIC MODENA May 17-19 Outstanding event pays homage to the hometown of Enzo Ferrari. www.cavallino.com

CONCOURS ON SAVILE ROW

MILLE MIGLIA June 11-15 Legendary regularity through Italy, Brescia-Rome-Brescia. www.1000miglia.it

LE MANS 24 HOURS June 12-16 The greatest motor sport race on earth? We think so. Book early! www.24h-lemans.com

CONCOURS D’ELÉGANCE SUISSE

May 22-23 Stunning cars meet top tailoring in this famous London street, organised by the Magneto team. www.concoursonsavilerow.com

June 14-16 Exclusive and laid-back elegance on the banks of Lake Geneva. www.concoursdelegancesuisse.com

CONCORSO D’ELEGANZA VILLA D’ESTE

PHILADELPHIA CONCOURS

May 24-26 Premier concours, on the banks of beautiful Lake Como, Italy. www.concorsodeleganzavilladeste.com

June 22-23 Concours at the world-renowned Simeone Automotive Museum. www.philadelphiaconcours.com

RALLYE DES PRINCESSES May 25-30 All-female rally through France, staged by Richard Mille. www.richardmille.com

GREENWICH CONCOURS May 31-June 2 Renowned US East Coast event offers something for everyone. www.greenwichconcours.com

LONDON CONCOURS June 4-6 Fantastic cars and hospitality in the heart of the City of London. www.londonconcours.co.uk

THREE CASTLES TRIAL June 4-7 Wonderfully relaxed and popular rally around North Wales, UK. www.three-castles.co.uk

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HEVENINGHAM CONCOURS June 29-30 Historic cars and ’planes at Heveningham House, with rally and Country Fair, too (below). www.heveninghamconcours.com

THE AURORA July 5-7 Luxury concours in Sweden, with up to 300 classics and hypercars. www.theaurora.se

ABOVE Elegant château location in Paris gives Chantilly Arts & Elegance a stylish edge.

GOODWOOD FESTIVAL OF SPEED July 11-14 Historics, supercars, Formula 1, WRC, bikes and so much more. www.goodwood.com

CONCOURS OF ELEGANCE GERMANY July 22-27 New event from Hampton Court team, in Tegernsee, Munich. www.concoursofelegance germany.com

MONTEREY CAR WEEK August 9-18 Street displays, racing at Laguna Seca, The Quail, Lemons, Pebble Beach Concours and much more. www.seemonterey.com/events

PASSIONE ENGANDINA August 23-25 St Moritz-based concours and rally through the Swiss Alps. www.passione-engadina.ch

CHANTILLY ARTS & ELEGANCE RICHARD MILLE September 12-15 Concours, rallies and fashion at the Château de Chantilly, Paris. www.chantillyartsetelegance.com

YORKSHIRE ELEGANCE September 16-18 Concours, driving tour and fun at Grantley Hall in the heart of UK. www.thefastlaneclub.com

RALLYE PÈRE-FILS September 20-22 Classic car rally through southern France for father-and-son teams. www.happyfewracing.com

AUSTRIA TO ATHENS CHALLENGE September 23-October 3 Two week Rally The Globe classic rally through Europe. www.rallytheglobe.com

SAHARA CHALLENGE September 23-October 5 HERO-ERA rally through Morocco. www.hero-era.com

SALON PRIVÉ

INTERNATIONAL ST MORITZ AUTOMOBILE WEEK

August 28-31 Concours, supercars and more at stunning Blenheim Palace, UK. www.salonpriveconcours.com

September 25-29 Bernina Gran Turismo hillclimb, supercar rally, sprint and more. www.i-s-a-w.com

CONCOURS OF ELEGANCE

CONCORSO D’ELEGANZA VARIGNANA 1705

August 30-September 1 Concours, rally and displays at Hampton Court Palace, London. www.concoursofelegance.co.uk

GOODWOOD REVIVAL September 6-8 Celebration of Historic racing and period style on Goodwood circuit. www.goodwood.com

September 27-29 30 of the best cars at Palazzo di Varignana, in Italy’s Motor Valley. www.palazzodivarignana.com

AMERICAN SPEED FESTIVAL October 3-6 At M1 Concourse, Michigan. www.m1concourse.com

Words Massimo Delbò

Illustrations Ricardo Santos, Guy Allen

Marcello Gandini, one of the all-time greats of car design, passed away in March 2024, aged 85. Will anyone produce such an influential and prolific portfolio ever again?

WHEN FRANK HORNBY CREATED Meccano for his sons to play with in 1899, he could never have imagined that, 70-odd years later, his invention would go on to influence automobile styling around the world. But this is exactly what did happen, as the direct result of a five-year-old Italian boy receiving a box of Meccano in 1943. The gift not only impacted heavily on this youngster’s life, but it would eventually transform the world of car design. Marcello Gandini was born in Turin to a music-loving family. His father, an orchestra director, always believed his son would follow in his path – but he was wrong. As soon as Marcello finished his high-school education, the very young and naturally talented lad moved steadily toward his passion: the automobile.

Marcello Gandini

Yet Marcello would always say that he was born not as a stylist, but as an aspiring metalworker. He started out designing furniture on a freelance basis, but he was deeply attracted by cars – and he could not resist a new challenge in the area he believed to be the real future of industrial design. By the early 1960s, Turin was the best place in the world for a wannabe automobile designer. Everything in the city revolved around cars, because it was one of the very few places in the world where it was possible to create everything to do with a brand-new vehicle: the project, the scale model, the prototype, the industrialisation and the manufacturing. This was not only due to Fiat’s presence, but mostly because Turin – which, in the 1920s, had won the war against Milan to became Italy’s ‘city of the automobile’ – was home to a great many coachbuilders. It was in those ateliers (a Renaissance historian would call them botteghe) that knowledge about car design was safely guarded, challenged and improved every day, and where designers created the new frontiers of style. Among these coachbuilders, Carrozzeria Bertone was one of the most famous. Established in 1912, come the post-war years it was being managed by the founder Giovanni Bertone’s son, Nuccio. It was Nuccio who, in 1959, hired 21-year-old Giorgetto Giugiaro, who’d go on to create for the coachbuilder the Fiat 850 Spider, Chevrolet Corvair Testudo concept and 105 Series Alfa Romeo Giulia GT, among other cars. And it was Nuccio who met with 25-year-old

Gandini when, in 1963, Marcello applied to join the design team of his celebrated carrozzeria. Bertone immediately liked Gandini and his work, but Giorgetto Giugiaro would not allow him to hire what he probably considered to be a peer and a rival, and so Gandini joined Carrozzeria Marazzi instead. However, when, in 1965, the paths of Giugiaro and Bertone diverged, Marcello was the first name on Nuccio’s list – and the 14 years that followed could well be worth a Hollywood script. Of his arrival at Bertone, Gandini, who sadly passed away in March 2024, recalled: “My idea was to remain there for six months, if I was lucky. My personal target was to learn as much as possible during that period of time. I ended up working at Bertone for 14 years – a very long time in a single firm for a designer – but this approach gave me a lot of strength and the courage to do things that otherwise I would never have done. Nuccio gave me absolute freedom from the very beginning; a brave decision, considering that the company offering the project bore his name.” Nuccio’s trust was well placed, however – as the Turin Motor Show on November 3-14, 1965 was to prove. On the Lamborghini stand, a stunning rolling chassis with a mid-mounted transverse V12 made its debut. It was like a beautiful woman walking naked at a Milan fashion show, looking for a stylist to dress her... Gandini said: “Everybody in the car world, with an excuse or not, showed up. Engineer Paolo Stanzani, back then number two in the young Lamborghini company’s technical

Geneva Motor Show, March 10, 1966 Lamborghini Miura

‘It was like a beautiful woman walking naked at a Milan fashion show, looking for a stylist to dress her...’ Magneto

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GANDINI DESIGN LINES PART ONE

1967 Lamborghini Marzal Gandini’s not-so-subtle hint that a seismic shift in car design was incoming. Honeycomb details, silver seats and full glass gullwing doors were unlike anything seen before.

1967 Bertone Pirana 1966 Lamborghini Miura A young Gandini wasn’t out to rock the boat with his first design, and he was no doubt influenced by the style Bertone was known for at the time. Still, he massaged the expected ’60s aesthetic into a distinctive, curvy, beautifully proportioned masterpiece.

Sprinkled with hints of Marzal magic, few would have guessed the Pirana was an E-type at heart. Front-midmounted engine was the chief driver of less happy proportions.

1968 Lamborghini Espada Undeterred, Gandini continued to develop the Pirana theme, which was far more compatible with the Espada’s front-engined, 2+2 packaging. Edgy enough, but he was about to get radical with a ruler.

1967 Alfa Romeo Montreal Expo Universal Exposition success demanded a production future for Gandini’s elegant and streamlined coupé. While it spoke the prevailing style language (note elements of the 1964 Bertone Canguro), the young designer was about to go off-script.

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1968 Alfa Romeo Carabo Template-setting scissor-doored supercar was the startling fruit of a creative genius let fully off the leash. More than any other car, it marked the start of the folded-paper era.

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1969 Iso Lele 1969 Autobianchi A112 Runabout V-shaped front end, hull-like lower panels, outboard search lights, sundeck rear and speedster windscreen all sang speedboat – a true barchetta in all but name.

Gandini gave Rivolta’s ‘Espada-fighter’ a bit of Espada DNA by way of a long, fastback roofline and chunky volumes. Pop-up eyelids and unique sidewindow graphic were fresh elements.

1970 Lamborghini Jarama Jarama 2+2 was a strong development of Lele’s themes. Incorporated bold wheelarch flares and better integrated eyelids, and featured clever tricks and flicks to reduce visual mass.

1972 Fiat X1/9 Bertone’s Runabout proposal for a small, mid-engined Fiat sports car paid off. V-shaped nose, central bonnet groove, roll-hoop rear pillars and overall side profile all informed by the earlier concept.

1970 BMW Garmisch Bertone’s Geneva Motor Show surprise was meant to provoke. Angular grille ‘kidneys’, square headlights and a honeycomb mesh rear window panel saw to that.

1969 Autobianchi A112

1972 BMW E12

A production run lasting 17 years, with minimal design changes, and sales totalling 1.25 million are testament to an ability to create cars of enduring quality regardless of size or prestige.

While BMW’s Paul Bracq led the team, the design of the seminal 5-Series was carried out in conjunction with Gandini, whose influence cannot be understated. Magneto

Turin Motor Show, October 28, 1970

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Lancia Stratos Zero

‘The only designer I’ve ever met capable of both considering technical issues and solving them, too’

Marcello Gandini

department, under the leadership of Giampaolo Dallara, was there, and Ferruccio Lamborghini, too. He met all the big styling names, but only on the very last day – and it was not by chance that Nuccio Bertone showed up. They both knew that they needed each other for this revolutionary project, and a deal was quickly reached.” The Miura was among the first projects Gandini created for Bertone. Only 45 days later, just after Christmas, the draft of what would be the final car was shown in a snowy Sant’Agata Bolognese to Lamborghini management. Ferruccio said: “I like it! With this we create a legend.” “What Lamborghini did not know was that when he saw the first sketches, we already had the model done,” Gandini later recalled. “It was a risk, but it was the only way we had to respect the timing. I still remember that at 10:00pm on December 24, we were still at the Bertone shop, working on the model. And that, when I looked at the clock and realised how late it was, I stopped working, saying it was okay as it was. “I was too young and too shy to ask Lamborghini for a wider track, but I never liked how the first-series Miura has the wheels inside the body. I had only one tyre size available, and that is what I had to play with. Luckily it seemed nobody noticed these flaws, which I happily corrected on the SV.” Ferruccio Lamborghini was right. When the Miura was launched at the Geneva Motor Show on March 10-20, 1966, not only was it an immediate hit, but it put his marque on the map worldwide – and it did the same

for Marcello Gandini’s name, too. Said Gandini: “These were different times, pre-1980s when almost all the manufacturers created internal design centres made up of hundreds of stylists. This process very much reduced the work for external consultants such as Bertone and myself. Whereas the Miura took a little less than 100 days to go from zero to a public-facing show car, the new system increased the time needed to reach a final result. It did not add, at least to my eyes, anything in term of innovation or beauty. “The main limit was that all these people – and among them there were very talented ones – had been trained in the same way, and all ended up producing very similar concepts. It was as though the automotive world had decided to make up for personality with large numbers. I’ve always believed that fewer people usually do better, and not only in car design. Look at Colin Chapman: how many ‘1000-person teams’ do you need to replace his work?” The Miura project revealed another side of Gandini’s skill – the capacity to listen to and understand the words of the technicians. “He was the only designer I’ve ever met capable of both considering technical issues and solving them, too,” said Giampaolo Dallara, who worked with Gandini on the Miura, Countach and several show cars – including the Marzal, from which the Espada would evolve. It was a concept on which Gandini liaised with Paolo Stanzani, and the pair ended up becoming life-long friends. “To work with Gandini was always a pleasure, as he knew what a car needed to

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1970 Lancia Stratos Zero Nothing short of an actual UFO could have got Lancia’s attention more effectively than this 33-inch-tall wedge with chocolate-block seating and a windscreen for a door.

1970 Lamborghini Urraco Entry-level, mid-engined 2+2 was cheaper to build and more practical to use, yet was still exotic enough thanks to its sharp, elegant, distinctively louvred fastback style.

1974 Lamborghini Bravo 1971 Lancia Stratos HF It worked! Bertone got to develop a new Lancia rally car. The result: a futuristic Ferrari-powered wedge with a visor windscreen, dual clamshells and a nose lower than its wheelarches.

Strikingly styled Urraco-based V8 two-seater featured flush glazing, iconic five-hole wheels, eggcrate vent details and those trademark slanted rear wheelarches.

1987 Lamborghini P140 prototype 1978 Lancia Sibilo Using a lengthened Stratos, Gandini fashioned a stunning monolithic wedge of brown-painted polycarbonate and steel, with orange pin-stripes, gold wheels and circular side windows.

Jalpa-replacing entry-level proposal was the first Lamborghini to sport a V10. Angular bodywork, a natural evolution of Countach and Bravo, featured ‘Gandini arches’ all round.

1973 NSU Trapeze 2000 Stola S81 Stratos No fan of ‘retro design’, Gandini’s reimagined Stratos was bound to innovate rather than imitate. Sadly, it lacked an engine and failed to match the impact of its earlier namesake. XX

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From its wraparound windscreen leading into a stretched side-window graphic, pointy nose and prominent wheelarches, it’s clear Gandini’s Trapeze was a skilful exploration of Stratos themes.

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1971 Lamborghini Countach LP500 Gandini made the Miura, but the Countach made him. Its low nose, extremely raked screen, scissor doors and high tail permanently rewrote Lamborghini’s design language. Its impact sent shockwaves through every other design studio.

1972 Maserati Khamsin Crisply pressed, elegantly proportioned Khamsin featured a fastback roofline, asymmetrical bonnet vents and a Kamm tail incorporating a Citroën GS Camargue-esque full-width glass rear panel and ‘floating’ tail-lights.

1985 Lamborghini P132 P132 was why Diablo wore a ‘disegno Marcello Gandini’ badge. The great man’s initial Countach replacement concept was so advanced before the Chrysler takeover, that Tom Gale’s significant final smoothing of it is often treated as a mere footnote.

1988 Cizeta Moroder V16T The Diablo force is strong with this one. Differentiators include four pop-up lamps, asymmetrical bonnet vents, side strakes à la Testarossa, doors that open conventionally and a bubbleshaped rear window.

1996 Lamborghini P147 Acosta Proposed successor to the Diablo stymied by cost-reducing retention of the roof, the door profile and the windscreen. Stepped nose not Gandini’s finest work. Sadly, it would be the final Lamborghini design he would ever pen.

GANDINI DESIGN LINES PART TWO Magneto

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OPPOSITE Gandini with the sober but elegant Maserati Quattroporte IV, which took design cues from the Shamal.

RICHARD FAULKS

‘It took a long time for the Countach to be accepted – but it ended up ageing very well and surviving an amazing 17 years’

work,” Stanzani later declared. “He was always open to discussion, even when the possible solution would impact the purity and perfection of his style. If we take the Countach as an example, we can see this perfectly. The ‘idea car’ shown at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1971 was wonderful, but during the road tests it underwent, there were some issues that needed to be addressed. “One of the main ones was the quantity of air the engine needed to work and to cool down. We ended up adding two boxes on the top of the car, because it was the only technical solution that worked. While other designers would have been against it simply because of the aesthetic impact, Gandini not only understood the problem but he ended up actively helping to solve it.” Continuing with the Countach, its first evolution, the LP 400 S, appeared in 1978. When asked about the latest features the car sported, Gandini reflected: “Beautiful or not, the wider wheelarches were the only way to adopt the new, lower-profile tyres and thus keep up to date with such technological developments as the latest rubber and better brakes. I personally never liked the rear wing very much, because it has no real reason to be there. The Anniversary edition had to fulfil several duties, and it did. But from a stylistic point of view, it is less pure or beautiful than the early cars.” Although he rarely said so, it was evident that he felt a sense of pride in the Countach, because its volumes, the longitudinal line from the bonnet along the car’s full length, and the windscreen shape are still in use today, more than 50 years later. They came to define Lamborghini’s stylistic DNA. And then there are the scissor doors, which were created, at Ferruccio’s wish, just to be different. If the Countach’s success simply adds to the mythology of Gandini’s work, and is considered one of the most important symbols of the 1970s ‘wedge’ era that he created, here is something that’s important to remember: “I always wanted to do something different, remaining realistic and always keeping in mind the customer’s needs,” he said. “The Miura needed to have a certain muscularity, but it had to have a soft side, too, because we all needed the car to be immediately appreciated by the people. “Lamborghini needed this, because it was a young company – and I needed it, too, as I was also very young. This is why the Miura’s soft shape, inspired by 1950s Mille Miglia racing cars, was in a way already internalised in the eyes of the people. The Countach needed to be different, and both Lamborghini and I could afford to take more risks. “Hence its ‘edge’ styling, which was not liked by everybody, at least at the beginning. We always have to remember that it took a long

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1974 Audi 50/Volkswagen Polo The influence of Giorgetto Giugiaro’s Golf is clear. What isn’t as clear is how much influence Gandini’s proposal had on Audi’s exterior design team led by Hartmut Warkuss.

1977 Jaguar Ascot 1973 Dino 308 GT4

Rejected Rainbow themes – fullwidth grille, angular arches and H-profile hood – recycled to create this Jaguar XJS-based four-seater coupé. Coventry wasn’t convinced.

As a mid-engined V8-powered 2+2 with slim, wedge styling, Enzo’s Urraco-fighter broke the Ferrari mould. Mediocre sales put the brakes on Maranello’s Bertone experiment.

1977 Reliant/Anadol FW11

1976 Ferrari 308 GT4 Rainbow

FW11 was proof that Gandini’s avant-garde ruler-driven style translated quite well from supercar to family hatch. Its basic, linear tenets had an enduring quality, too.

By the mid-’70s, Gandini had adopted an even more severe, straight-edged aesthetic. Stacks of parallel lines appeared; even his signature rear wheelarch got the linear treatment.

1976 Alfa Romeo Navajo The second of Gandini’s Alfa 33 Stradale-based concepts is notable for its sci-fi style, Bravo-like glass work, brutalist rear wing and headlights that popped out, not up.

1980 Fiat X1/10 concept Proposed X1/9 successor a well conceived progression of Rainbow and Tundra ideas that never made it beyond a full-scale mock-up. File under ‘Missed Opportunity’.

GANDINI DESIGN LINES PART THREE XX

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1979 Volvo Tundra Gandini abandoned supercars in the chase for more sensible volume brands, but his flat-topped wheelarches, horizontally stacked lines and beloved ruler remained.

1982 Citroën BX BX was a measured refinement of late-’70s style ideas. Mixed FW11’s central themes with aspects of the more clinical Tundra. Around 2.3 million units sold over 12 years.

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1980 Innocenti Mini 90/120 1989 Maserati Shamal

A Gandini favourite, but the task of improving such a compact motoring icon with severe cost restraints also made it one of his most difficult.

Despite a B-pillar roll bar, signature slanted rear arches and wipercovering spoiler, the Shamal couldn’t hide its Biturbo roots.

1992 Maserati Ghibli A new Ghibli should have meant ‘all new’ – but money was tight, so it used a carry-over Biturbo bodyshell. Gandini wasn’t kept busy for long.

1990 Bugatti DMD80 (Prototype EB110) Squint and smooth – there’s an EB110 in there. But Artioli saw “another Lamborghini”, so brought his cousin Giampaolo Benedini in to redesign it.

1990 De Tomaso Pantera 90 Si The F40 led the charge, so Gandini’s chunky reskin of the Pantera sported a tall rear wing, as well as a Shamalesque windscreen deflector.

1991 Iso Grifo 90 Handsome ‘Grifo for the ’90s’ was presented as a yellow resin styling buck with subtle nods to the original, deeply scalloped sills and the now obligatory windscreen spoiler.

1991 Maserati Chubasco After the Bugatti debacle, the Chubasco was personal. Note the rear arches and sill recesses. Low-slung and aggressive, it was well received, but sadly mothballed.

1984 Renault 5 Supercinq

1993 Nissan AP-X

In-house design proposals were rejected, so Gandini was called in. Masterfully, and despite presenting a comfortingly familiar profile, every panel was completely new.

A study in advanced aerodynamics, which mixed pebble-smooth edges, tapered wings, flush-bonded glazing and wraparound rear lamps. The folded-paper era was over. Magneto

MARK BRAMLEY

time for the Countach to be accepted – but it ended up ageing very well and surviving an amazing 17-year production lifespan. The model is important to me, because it was generated from a blank piece of paper and, besides general technical measurements, I was left completely free.” He continued: “But it wasn’t the first of the edge-shaped cars: that was the 1968 Alfa Romeo Carabo. It was first shown at the Paris Motor Show in October that year, and it remained the most difficult show car I ever built. It took about 10,000 working hours, with the gold-tinted glass continually cracking, but it was a stunning piece. It was the first car with scissor doors, too. Yet the Carabo remained a one-off, and even if it was well remembered in the car world, it was lost in general history. Meanwhile, the Countach entered production and impacted a much wider audience. It really moved forward the new edge styling.” From that point on, the professional life of the master of the folded-paper design era was a never-ending crescendo. In 1969, the Autobianchi A112 Bertone Runabout Turin show car would lead to the creation of the successful Fiat X1/9. And in 1970, the amazing Lancia Stratos Zero – which remains among the most well known show models ever – would lead to the Lancia Stratos that would rewrite rallying history. Meanwhile, the BMW 2002 Ti Garmisch would

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ABOVE From young carrozzeria styling team member to exalted design consultant, Gandini did it all.

deeply influence not only the first 5-Series, launched in 1972 as the E12, but also the BMW line-up’s overall styling for the next 20 years. Also in ’72, the Maserati Khamsin debuted, while the GS-based one-off Citroën Camargue was first shown at the Geneva Motor Show. It would heavily influence the BX, which went on to sell more than 2.3 million units between 1982 and 1994. An incredible array of successes, with some very different cars among them. Gandini once said: “There are some basic rules to follow, based on the essential role planned for the car. If a sports car can be aggressive and more arrogant, the same can’t be said for a sedan or a city car, which should conversely express kindness and manners. Beginning from these focal points, you then need to know what is the car’s target of use.” He continued: “If a designer can sacrifice practicality, such as access or baggage space, in a sports car, the same can’t be done in a compact car that has the daily duty of comfortably moving people and objects. Then, a designer must consider the manufacturing process, too. Building a one-off model with almost all hand-made parts is very different from doing so in an almost completely automated process in huge numbers, with a process that has to be as lean as possible.” Besides his amazingly successful supercar designs, two unassuming vehicles found their way to Gandini’s heart. “The Innocenti Mini

90/120 was one of the most difficult cars I ever did,” he once declared. “To begin with, because it was a very compact car, based on a Mini rolling chassis, it had many limits in terms of budget. It is relatively easy to create a supercar where the cost limits are almost secondary, but with smaller and more aggressively priced cars, every small detail has an impact. “Then I had to improve a design that was considered one of the most iconic ever. And, as the cherry on the cake, when I began the project, the customer – the Innocenti family – was in the middle of the process of selling its company to British Leyland. The whole project was halted for several years, then restarted, but without precise direction. We ended up finalising it after 17 prototypes – a personal record – but I still believe the first proposal was the best one, because it provided a stronger sense of modernity. The 90/120 was the first compact hatchback to use its height to compensate for its small size – something widely seen in the following years.” At the opposite end of the spectrum was the 1985 truck project for Renault, a company Gandini knew well, having drawn the 1984 Supercinq, the second series of the 5. He said: “Renault was looking for ideas for its truck division, and I designed a completely new concept of a truck with a higher cockpit, as in the Boeing 747, with superb packaging thanks

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to the flat floor. The cockpit was bigger than usual, but the full truck was respectful of the homologation rules, at 15.50 metres long overall. “Indeed, the original European rule clearly stated that 2.5 metres of the total allowed length were supposed to be reserved for the cockpit. The reality was very different, as all the manufacturers always used this as load space, and so their trailers were longer than was legal. Renault commissioned some research, and we discovered that the vast majority of the trailers on the European market were, formally, outlawed. “But when a law is so widely disregarded, it means it’s no longer a law… During that time Renault bought US truck manufacturer Mack, and it wanted to use the bigger and taller engines, so the futuristic project had to cope with this new reality, too. The final result was the 1990 Magnum, still a very successful and advanced truck, and the first with a flat-floored cabin, but not so disrupting as first thought.” In the meantime came a big revolution in Gandini’s life when, in 1979, after 14 years, he decided to leave Carrozzeria Bertone, which had been so special in his life, to became an independent designer. More than ever, he had the freedom to create and be daring. The initial projects he focused on were very different, but always car related – and he ended up generating some patents, too. He was amazed about how, almost 70 years after the creation of the automotive production line, the basic concept of manufacturing a car in series had changed very little. He said: “It looked as though automobile manufacturers liked, and still like, to keep alive the ‘ship in the bottle’ process, unique in the world of manufacturing. Car production is the only place where you create the box and then fill it up, instead of vice versa. The most common misconception is that a robot can fix it. A robot that installs a part in an easy-toreach place costs little money, while one capable of doing the same work, but in a confined, tight space, could cost millions. So, I focused on how to change the car to make its process of manufacturing easier, including the concept of having fewer parts to install. “This latter part has a huge impact on manufacturing costs,” he continued. “Not only because of its effects on the time required to assemble a car, but because of the space it could save. Indeed, every single ‘manufacturing island’ on a factory line has a cost. It needs at least 100 square metres, it needs to be bought, built, clean, maintained and so on. Ten islands fewer means at least 1000 square 78

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metres less of factory to organise or build.” Another area of interest was trim –something Gandini found disappointing in contemporary models: “Interiors offer a poorer quality of life than in the past. They look and feel like bunkers, surrounded by dark glass, cramped and with limited visibility. Without rear-view cameras, reversing would be impossible, and occupants are surrounded by a gigantic central tunnel. Driver and passenger must stay in the same position, surrounded by thousands of cheap electronic gadgets to look at or to play with. “In the 1960s and ’70s, when we were imagining the car of the future, beside seeing it flying around without wheels, we imagined it as a glass bubble, with a 360º visibility and the comfort of a flying carpet. I’d love to get a contemporary driver to try a Marzal, with its allaround glass, to see which solution they prefer.” With Gandini’s passing, we have lost a wonderful gentleman and a slice of automotive history. One of the last times I met up with him, we were commenting on his magnificent lemon trees, lined up in big pots in his garden. I asked him which car designed by somebody else would he have loved to grace his portfolio. “An unusual question that’s fun to answer,” he said. “I don’t think it would be a car; I’d pick the process, and the freedom generating it. When Flaminio Bertoni was creating the Citroën DS, he had a sort of dictatorial power over the entire company he was working for. He was left completely free to do whatever he liked, to the point of almost bankrupting the firm. He created a four-door saloon as if designed by a

BELOW Gandini’s tools helped him forge a career as one of the most prolific automotive designers ever.

child dreaming of a futuristic car: beautiful, with a huge, long bonnet, a very long wheelbase of more than three metres, a plastic roof and a hydraulic system to keep everything running. “And then, as a car designer, I was always stunned that he went for four frameless windows, when even several decades later we were struggling to make only two, even smaller windows watertight. Being left so free, I sometimes thought, would have been a lot of fun, because I always thought a blank paper is a world of opportunity – the pure spirit of freedom. But it is a very rare opportunity. “Looking at my working life, there are a few memories that I really cherish. The first is the Stratos Zero, because we had to reinvent the mechanicals – moving the engine to the rear, modifying the trans, creating the pedals from scratch... Or when we made the Miura, and I convinced Dallara to relocate the radiator. It improved the styling and the cooling. “I’m also very proud that all my show cars were capable of entering the event under their own power, even if often they were finished with just minutes to spare. After all, I never took off my mechanic’s hat that I first wore when playing with my Meccano.” This is why, when Turin’s Museo dell’ Automobile organised an exposition of Gandini’s work in 2019, it added a surprise that delighted him: a large Stratos Zero model built from Meccano. Because when you dream of being a metal mechanic, that’s what you will always be – even if you go on to become one of the greatest automotive designers ever.

MARK BRAMLEY

Marcello Gandini

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1956 Ferrari 410 Super Fast

This legendary one-off take on the 410 Superamerica is a star of the Lee Collection in Reno. Now it’s back on the scene, following a Best of Showwinning restoration...

RIGHT 410 Superamerica-derived Super Fast boasted arguably the greatest rear fins ever seen on a Ferrari.

Ferrari Super Fast

THIS SPREAD Lampredi V12 was claimed to propel Super Fast to 160mphplus. Note the unique (for a road-spec 410) twin-spark-plug ignition system.

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SUPER FAST. HAS THERE EVER BEEN A better name for a car? Or a more worthy recipient of such a name? For this, the original Super Fast, was derived from Ferrari’s top-ofthe-range 410 Superamerica and armed with a higher-power engine, unique interior and arguably the greatest rear fins ever seen on a Ferrari. Although, as you’ll see later on, it has competition for that particular accolade… With a claimed top speed of more than 160mph, and a 0-60mph time of around five seconds, Super Fast truly lived up to its name. Few Ferraris of this period were quite so, well, super. The model later spawned a run of further one-offs, named 4.9 Super Fast, Superfast II, Superfast III and Superfast IV, along with the 500 Superfast series of cars from 1964 onwards. However, this car – chassis no. 0483 SA, with its name resolutely in two parts – is the first and most special. And although you may see it referred to as Superfast I, it was never officially named that. Best to get that straight right now. Super Fast was built in 1956, by which time Enzo’s initial foray into manufacturing road cars had matured and expanded into a strong business catering for the distinctly different tastes of the European and US markets. In the former territory, Ferrari’s road machines became the 250 Europas fitted with Aurelio Lampredi’s 3.0-litre V12s. In the US, the 340/342 and 375 Americas were endowed with a more powerful, higher-capacity variant of the same unit. It didn’t take long for Ferrari to see that the most affluent Americans of the day could afford something even more rarefied, though. Along came the 410 Superamerica. Larger, more luxuriously appointed and opulent in their styling, the Superamericas were fitted with an even higher-capacity (4.9-litre) derivative of the Lampredi V12. And, of course, they were priced accordingly. During this same period, Pinin Farina was gaining favour at Maranello, having bodied its first Ferrari – a 212 Inter – in 1952. Within a year it had built 15 of these models, and it established a strong relationship with the factory that continued for decades. By the mid-1950s, Pinin Farina was competing with rival coachbuilders to create the most striking prototypes and one-offs. The 410 Superamericas, then, were manna from automotive heaven for these artisan companies. A mere 35 were built, and four of those were equipped with special bodies. Of that quartet, chassis 0483 SA – Super Fast – went to Pinin Farina, while Ghia built the wild 0473 SA and Boano bodied chassis 0477 SA and 0485 SA. Now, not wanting to spoil the surprise if you haven’t already flicked further on through these pages, but we’ve included these three after Super Fast for reasons that will become apparent… But first, back to the Superamericas in

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LEFT Several of Super Fast’s styling cues continued as Maranello road car features throughout the 1960s.

general, because these were important cars, propelling Ferrari into an all-new customer base and the rarefied luxury GT genre. All 35 were based on an evolution of the existing tubular-steel chassis, but with coil-spring front suspension rather than the transverse-leaf setup of earlier models. Semi-elliptic leaf springs remained at the rear, telescopic dampers sat all round and the brakes were hydraulically operated drums on each corner. As with its 250 GT stablemates of the time, the Superamerica’s chassis tubes kicked up over the live rear axle, rather than passing under it as in the 375 America. The track front and rear was wider than the 375 America’s, too. The wheelbase for what we now know as the Series I and II Superamericas was 2800mm as standard, but the Series IIIs were all 2600mm. The engine – the Type 126 – was the highestcapacity iteration of the single-overheadcamshaft 60º V12 designed by Lampredi, who had been brought in to create a new series of motors to run alongside the existing, smaller V12s created by Gioacchino Colombo. The Lampredi V12s powered many of Ferrari’s race cars of the 1950s, including the team’s Formula 1 and Mille Miglia contenders, ranging in capacity from the 3322cc to the 410’s 4962cc. The last change to this V12 was to move the spark plugs to the outside of the vee; all previous Ferrari V12s had their plugs on the inside of the vee. It was these Type 126/58s that powered the Series III Superamericas. As for the styling, the very first 410

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‘Reassuringly, the Super Fast was found to be an “honest” car’

Superamerica set the tone in 1955. Built by Pinin Farina, this initial example of the ‘standard’ model was displayed at the February 1956 Brussels Motor Show. It featured a five-window glass arrangement, while all that followed were three-window (and yes, that term excludes the windscreen). But they were otherwise all the same in style, except for minor details, often owner-specified. The most obvious differences between them were around the headlights, though, some of which were open while others were recessed with Perspex covers. The four special-bodied cars were something else entirely, with some of the most striking and unusual designs ever to grace a Ferrari chassis. When Super Fast made its first public appearance, at the October 1956 Paris Salon, it featured a shorter, 2600mm wheelbase, a cantilevered roof without front screen pillars (although pillars were later added), flamboyant fins, triangular back lights, two-tone paintwork split by chrome trim from nose to tail, and a wider, narrower grille than previous models, allowing a low, more aerodynamic nose. If the brief was ‘give a Ferrari GT the 1950s American look’, then boy did Pinin Farina nail it. Although this was a departure for Ferrari, it wasn’t new to Pinin Farina: at the April

1956 Turin Motor Show, the coachbuilder had unveiled the Alfa Romeo Superflow I concept, which boasted similar but slightly less practical styling. It then quickly reworked the car as Superflow II, to sit alongside Super Fast at the Paris event six months later. For Ferrari, though, rear fins were only used on a few models, having joined the party at the tail end of the trend anyway. But look at Super Fast’s glasshouse, the recessed metalwork into the bonnet scoop, that newly reshaped front grille. These cues continued as Maranello road car features throughout the 1960s. Yet what really made Super Fast extra special was its engine. The ultimate version of the Lampredi V12 was that of the 410 S enduranceracing sports car, with twin spark plugs per cylinder and four instead of two ignition coils. Ferrari had used the twin-plug set-up before – prompted by engineer Vittorio Jano when he joined from Lancia – for its endurance racers, but never on a Lampredi engine. It’s this 410 S-specification, twin-spark-plug Type 126/C engine, serial no. 0483 SA to match the chassis, that’s fitted to Super Fast. Some have suggested since that Super Fast’s motor was originally a development unit for the 410 S competition cars, but the factory build sheet Engine Assembly Page states: “Transformed into a 126/C. Complete cylinder heads 375 used with dual-ignition BORGO pistons with dual ignition gr.434 R=8, 6 cylinders TRIONE/ special manifold 126/C with carburettors 46/ DCF/3. Vertical ignition coils with 12 shields type ST 195 DTE/A/B.” This seems to imply that the engine was specifically modified to 410 S specification for Super Fast. Whatever the truth, the result was the most powerful Ferrari road car to date, with a claimed 340bhp at 6000rpm. In 1957, Road & Track stated that the 0-60mph time “should come up in under 5.0 seconds” and “0-100mph in 11 to 12 seconds”. In a further review during the same year, Road & Track estimated Super Fast to be capable of 161mph using a 3:11 ratio in fourth gear at 6000rpm. Years later, then-owner Don Dethlefsen published a booklet about Super Fast, in which he claimed to have timed the Ferrari at just under 180mph. Whatever the figures, there’s no doubt it was one of the fastest touring cars of its time. By the time Dethlefsen was apparently trying Super Fast flat-out, it had already been through several owners, starting with William Doheny of Los Angeles, who bought it through US

Ferrari Super Fast

importer Chinetti Motors. Doheny was the grandson of EL Doheny, one of the founders of the Southern California oil industry. William became a director of oil and petroleum giant Unocal Corp, best known for its famous ‘76’ in an orange circle logo, and was a great supporter and sponsor of the Southern California sports car racing scene that took off during the 1950s. Super Fast was not the only special Ferrari Doheny owned, and it wasn’t long before he sold it on, to none other than Hollywood actor Jackie Cooper, perhaps best known now for his role playing journalist Perry White in the 1978– 1987 Superman films. Cooper later sold Super Fast to the now-legendary exotic car dealer John Delamater of Indianapolis, who later claimed that the Ferrari was one of the few models he ever regretted selling. “Everything about it was scaled up – even the size of the prancing horse,” he’s been quoted as saying. But sell it he did, for next Super Fast went to another great name in Ferrari ownership, Dick Merritt, the co-author in 1968 of the marque ‘bible’ Ferrari: The Sports and Gran Turismo Cars. Merritt is thought to have owned more than 50 Ferraris in his lifetime, and he was one of the founders of the Ferrari Club of America. During his time with Super Fast, he lent it to The Henry Ford Museum in 1966, before seemingly offering it for sale the following year. By 1977, Super Fast was in the hands of David Rose of La Jolla, California, who sold it a year later to Don Dethlefsen of Highland Park, Illinois. He created a number of booklets on the Ferraris he owned, including one on Super Fast, as mentioned earlier. It’s decorated with his own hand-drawn illustrations, although some of his published facts can’t necessarily be relied upon. The next person to take possession of Super Fast was another serial Ferrari buyer, Peter Fino of Chicago, who subsequently sold it after three years to the renowned UK collector Peter Agg. During an eccentrically varied career, Agg at one point acquired the Elva company, which resulted in him building around 200 McLaren M1 race cars. In turn, this inspired a brief foray into Formula 1 under the Trojan name – a company that he’d bought and used to build Heinkel bubble cars under licence. From Peter Agg, Super Fast returned to the US in 1984, this time passing to renowned racer and collector Peter G Sachs, who went on to buy the great motor-racing photographer Louis Klemantaski’s entire archive. Sachs sold the car seven years later to yet another renowned Ferrari collector and serial Pebble Beach entrant

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ABOVE Super Fast made its first public appearance at the Paris Salon in October 1956.

Greg Garrison, who is thought to have owned at least six 400 and 410 Superamericas, as well as Super Fast’s successor, known as 4.9 Super Fast. It was from Garrison that Robert M Lee bought Super Fast, in September 2004, as the final piece in the 410 Superamerica specialbodied puzzle: of the quartet, Lee had bought both the Boano cabriolet and coupé in 1985, followed by the Ghia car in 1991. For the first time ever, the fantastic finned four of one-off 410 Superamericas were together. They joined the other finned Ferrari in the collection, the 1956 250 GT Boano cabrio no. 0461 GT that Lee had bought new – his first Ferrari, bought directly from Enzo. They’re not the only finned Ferraris – think of the Ingrid Bergman 375 MM for example – but they’re among the most special. Lee knew that Super Fast wasn’t perfect when he bought it, and so he took it to the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in 2005 as an exhibit only, not to be judged. In 2007, it made an appearance at the Pininfarina Gala at San Diego’s Pininfarina-designed Keating Hotel. In 2014 Super Fast was out again, this time at the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance, where it took an award for the Ferrari Production 1950 to 1964 class. At the same event, the Lee Collection’s 1937 Horch 853 won Best of Show Concours d’Elegance. Only two years later, in January 2016, Robert M Lee passed away aged 88. His remarkable legacy lives on, though: his 200 car-plus collection that he had built up since the 1950s is thriving, thanks to his widow Anne Brockinton Lee, who looks after it with an energy and enthusiasm that ensure that its cars are regularly shown around the world. What’s more, she

continues to both add to the collection and restore any cars not up to her exacting standards. In that same year, 2016, Super Fast appeared at the Concours d’Elégance Pininfarina da Alassio, where it won Best of Show. But Anne knew it needed a refresh, so it was shipped to Bacchelli & Villa in Modena, Italy for a full rotisserie restoration, with a mechanical rebuild carried out in nearby Bologna. Reassuringly, it was found to be an “honest” car, says Lee Collection manager James O’Brien, with virtually no rust and Pinin Farina serial numbers on all coachwork items. It was retrimmed, while the paint was matched to the original colours. It was exciting, then, to see Super Fast at Pebble Beach in August 2021 for its initial reappearance on the concours scene, but misfortune struck when the car misfired badly on the tour. It took much investigation by James and the Leydon Restorations team of Lahaska, Pennsylvania to find that tiny glass beads had been left in the fuel tank from blast cleaning, clogging fuel lines and carburettors. Over the following year, James and the rest of the Lee Collection team led further improvements to the restoration quality. The work paid off, with a platinum award (97 points or more) and the Best of Show Gran Turismo – the ultimate accolade for a road car in the Ferrari world – at the January 2023 Cavallino Classic in Palm Beach, Florida. Later that year it won the Great Ferraris class and took Best of Show at The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering. Super Fast, one of the all-time greats of coachbuilt Ferraris, was well and truly back. Thanks to Anne Brockinton Lee, James O’Brien and all at the Lee Collection.

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Finned Ferraris

1956 Ferrari 410 Superamerica S1 Ghia coupé

Of the four 410 Superamericas with special bodies, this Ghia coupé is by far the most outrageous – and the story of its creation is fascinating

LEFT Inspired by the Gilda concept, the Ghia one-off has the most extreme bodywork of any of the four 410 Superamericas. Those fins would outdo a Cadillac!

MILWAUKEE RESIDENT ROBERT WILKE, owner of the Leader Card envelope, card and packaging company, was best known for his sponsorship of Indy 500 cars – but, during the early 1950s, he also acquired a taste for Ferraris. And he went all-out to create his idea of the ultimate model. Having started with a pair of Vignale-bodied 212 Inters, he moved on to a 375 America, just as Ferrari’s marketing department had hoped every wealthy American would do. He then completed the costly journey upmarket by commissioning two one-offs from Carrozzeria Ghia in Turin: first, in 1954, a 375 Mille Miglia, followed in 1956 by the car pictured here – chassis 0473 SA, wildest by far of the four special-bodied 410 Superamericas. Wilke was heavily involved in the design processes of both his commissions from Ghia, travelling to Turin to see them. At the time, designer Giovanni Savonuzzi was Ghia’s technical director. He was already known for his Supersonic series of cars, the best-known of which were based on Fiat 8Vs and Jaguar XK120s – but he was working on something far more radical, a concept car to be revealed at the April 1955 Turin Motor Show. The concept became known as Gilda, after the 1946 film noir of the same name, starring Rita Hayworth. It was commissioned by Chrysler’s Virgil Exner, to demonstrate how aircraft design cues could be used on future car models. When it was presented in Turin, it caused a sensation – and it went on to influence Chrysler’s 1957 Forward Look styling theme. Only a month before Gilda’s unveiling, Bob Wilke commissioned his 410 Superamerica. The similarities between that and Gilda are clear to see: the gaping front grille, the long, low front, the part-covered wheels, the exaggerated

Finned Ferraris

horizontal split of the bodywork, and the huge rear fins. It’s no surprise that you’ll often see it referred to as ‘the Gilda 410 Superamerica’. The interior isn’t quite as wild – how could it be? – but it’s markedly different from a typical Superamerica. The seats and door panels are in black and white leather, and the wood-rimmed, chromed steering wheel is deeply dished. The dashboard features no fewer than ten gauges, with rev counter and speedometer in front of the driver, and the rest in the centre of the facia. On the passenger side are two rings that mimic the size and position of the rev counter and speedo, with a chrome strake through the pair that acts as a grab handle. Beneath the central gauges is a chrome panel of six equally shiny switches to operate the lights, wipers and other ancillaries. It’s a work of art. Under the skin, it’s thought that the 410 V12 had been bored out to give 6.1 litres. When it was finished, this Ghia styling extravaganza was shown at the 1956 Turin Motor Show, before being shipped to Ferrari importer Luigi Chinetti in New York. Bob Wilke collected it from the Chinetti Motors showroom, and is said to have driven it home; a journey of more than 800 miles. He kept the Ghia until his death in 1970, and in 1976 it was bought by a family friend, Gary Wutke, who sold it in 1984 to John W Mecom Jr. He then sold to Thomas W Barrett, who moved it onto the Blackhawk Collection, which displayed it at the 1989 Pebble Beach Concours. And its next owner? That was none other than Robert M Lee, who bought it in 1991 and displayed it at Pebble Beach in 2010 and at The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering in 2011. It’s remained a star of the Lee Collection ever since.

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Finned Ferraris

1956 Ferrari 250 GT Boano cabriolet

Although an interloper here, being a 250 GT and not a 410 Superamerica, this car started Robert M Lee’s fascination with finned Ferraris

ABOVE While being a 250 GT rather than a 410 Superamerica, this Boano is crucial to the story of the finned Ferraris – and to the Lee Collection, too.

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WHEN ROBERT M LEE STARTED TO FIND business success, he began to reward himself with a few very special cars. By 1956 he was in a position to buy this Ferrari, chassis 0461 GT, direct from Enzo himself. Now you may have spotted that it’s not one of the four special-bodied 410 Superamericas: in fact, it’s a 250 GT. But it’s a one-off, and it exhibits similar styling to the other two 410 Superamericas that follow, particularly the cabriolet. And, crucially, it was Lee’s firstbought of the five finned Ferraris here. All three were created by Boano, the least well known of the coachbuilders entrusted with the 410 Superamericas. There’s good reason for the relative obscurity, because Carrozzeria Boano operated for only three years. It was formed in 1954 by designer Mario Felice Boano, who by that point had already served with both Stabilimenti Farina and Pinin Farina, before buying Carrozzeria Ghia following the death of Giacinto Ghia. However, after falling out with chief engineer and designer Luigi Segre, Boano moved on to form his own company with his son, while

ownership of Ghia passed to Segre. Mario Felice Boano had already established relations with Ferrari before forming his own company, and he was soon able to take over the production of some of the early 250 GTs from Pinin Farina as demand for the model soared. Robert M Lee’s 250 GT here was a one-off, though, and the first Ferrari to be bodied by Boano. It appeared on Boano’s show stands throughout 1956; first in Geneva, then Turin and finally New York – which is where Lee first saw it and wanted it “so much I could taste it”. However, he was told by Luigi Chinetti that the car had to go back to Italy, so Lee telexed Enzo Ferrari, whom he had met in Modena the year before, offering his “total savings” without actually knowing how much the car cost. Not long after, he received a call from Chinetti, agreeing to the sale. The 250 GT cabriolet’s styling is positively conservative compared with that of Super Fast and the Ghia, but still those rear fins identify it as something very special. In the Lee Collection, this Boano is revered as the car that helped Robert M Lee start on his car-collecting journey.

THIS IS WHERE WE PLAY SPOT THE difference, because – in terms of styling – chassis 0485 SA is virtually the twin of the 250 GT seen on the previous pages. Under the skin, though, this light blue Boano cabriolet is pure 410 Superamerica. That means it’s powered by the 4.9-litre Lampredi V12 rather than the 250 GT’s smaller, more widely used 3.0-litre Colombo V12. It was commissioned, together with the Boano coupé that follows, by Giorgio Sisini Sorso, the Count of Sant’Andrea in Milan. Once completed, it was exhibited on the Carrozzeria Boano stand at the 1956 Turin Motor Show, alongside the 250 GT Boano. It later passed to well known Ferrari collector and dealer Roberto Crepaldi, who sold the car on behalf of the Sisini family to Bill Jacobs of Chicago. Finally it had made its way to the market for which it was intended – the US – and there it has remained ever since. Not long after, it was bought by Robert M Lee, reuniting it with the identical-looking 250 GT that he’d owned from new – and the Boano coupé that follows completed the set.

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1956 Ferrari 410 Superamerica S1 Boano cabriolet

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1956 Ferrari 410 Superamerica S1 Boano coupé

HERE WE ARE, THE LAST OF THE FIVE finned Ferraris in this feature. Once again, this 410 Superamerica Boano, chassis 0477 SA, was commissioned by the Italian count Giorgio Sisini Sorso. It made its way to the US before the cabriolet, though, and was eventually bought later on by Robert M Lee, in 1985 – the same year in which he bought the Boano cabriolet on the previous page. Other than the obvious difference of having a roof – and that spectacular split back window – the coupé’s style is the same as that of the other two Boanos here. All examples have been restored, which has shown up a quirky difference between them – that the Superamerica script on the rear licence plate plinth is in a different position on each car, placed according to where it’s shown in original archive images. Needless to say, it was quite something when all three were displayed by the Lee Collection at the 2017 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance to mark Ferrari’s 70th anniversary. To see them together in the Lee Collection, with the outrageous Ghia and, of course, the legendary Super Fast, is truly special. Grateful thanks again to Anne Brockinton Lee, James O’Brien and the Lee Collection team for their time and assistance with this feature.

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SEARCH FOR THE GHOSTOF CHARLES S ROLLS Words

Andrew Frankel

Photography

Greg White

ABOVE Spectre visits the grand childhood haunt of its manufacturer’s founder; an appropriate setting for this most prestigious of automobiles.

THAT CHARLES STEWART ROLLS COULD FIT SO MUCH INTO SO FEW YEARS IS TESTAMENT TO A SPIRIT UNBOUND. ON THE 120TH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS FIRST MEETING WITH HENRY ROYCE, WE VISIT ‘CHARLIE’S’ CHILDHOOD HOME, TO SEE WHETHER IT CAN REVEAL THE SECRETS OF THIS ADVENTUROUS AND ACCOMPLISHED MAN

WE POINT THE NOSE OF THE SPECTRE through the gates and along the undulating drive, until it brings us in silent, effortless, sybaritic comfort to our destination. While other companies at times appear to forget the qualities that made them great to begin with, at Rolls-Royce, under the current management, there is no danger of that. We are at a place called The Hendre, a name derived from the Welsh for a winter home. It is beautiful, no doubt, in the slightly haphazard way you might get if you tried to convert a 17th century hunting lodge into the grandest manor in the county – but so too there is a sense of sadness here that is hard indeed to escape. In part that is because this fine old house, located a few miles north of the pretty market town of Monmouth, Wales, has not actually been a home, lived in and loved, for more than

40 years. Today it earns its keep as a golf club, the 18 holes spread liberally over the beautiful 5500-acre estate. For a long time, much of the building was near derelict, and while things have improved somewhat over recent years, there are still parts we can’t access during our visit, simply because it isn’t safe to do so. It is the sort of place where a million pounds invested would scarcely touch the sides. But we can still go up into the clock tower, descend into the cellars – where a massive walk-in safe remains – and see all manner of secret doors and passages. For a child growing up here, it would have been a place of wonder. But when I come here, I think of John Allan Rolls, 1st Baron Llangattock, sitting in his – today still intact – library and, even more, of his wife, born Georgiana Marcia Maclean. Between 1870-1877, she provided him with four children,

‘ROLLS WAS “ARGUABLY THE MOST FAMOUS SPORTSMAN IN THE LAND”. BUT HE WAS ONLY JUST GETTING GOING’

GETTY IMAGES

PREVIOUS SPREAD Bats in the cellars and spiders in the roof add to the otherworldly atmosphere of the Rolls family home.

OPPOSITE A 1905 Wolseley was one of Charlie’s earliest steeds as a young motorist, aviator and automotive manufacturer. BELOW Grand period decor and architecture at The Hendre, the county manor near Monmouth, Wales.

and it is hard not to think of the youngsters’ shrieks of joy as they careered around these grounds filling the air with laughter. As a parent, I find the thought that she’d outlive all but one of them almost unbearable. It is said the Baron never got over the first of these losses, in 1910. He himself would pass away just two years later, spared the horror of his heir – John Maclean Rolls – being killed on the Somme in 1916, or his younger son Henry Allan Rolls being taken by Spanish Flu in the same year. Only his daughter, Eleanor Georgiana, lived a natural lifespan, marrying Percy Bysshe Shelley’s great nephew in 1898, and dying some 63 year later in 1961, aged 88. But the first to go was the last to be born. He will be rather better known to readers of Magneto. Born Charles Stewart Rolls in 1877 as something of an afterthought – his immediate older sibling Eleanor was born in 1872 – he would die aged just 32 when his Wright Flyer folded up in the air above Southbourne Beach in Dorset, famously becoming the first Briton to lose his life in a powered aircraft, and the first of any nationality to do so in the UK. Today his remains lie alongside those of his parents at the bottom of a gravel track, off a narrow lane in the grounds of the small but beautiful St Cadoc’s Church in the hamlet of Llangattock-Vibon-Avel, a stone’s throw from The Hendre itself. Quiet, secluded and entirely hidden away, it is as if fate had decided that, after a life so short and bursting with adventure as his was, Charles should wait out eternity in perfect, transcendental peace. WHAT DO MOST PEOPLE KNOW OF YOUNG Charlie Rolls – for that is how he was referred to by his friends, family and even the Mayor of Monmouth at the solemn unveiling of his memorial in the town square, a year after the accident? That he was a wealthy aristocrat who teamed up with a gifted engineer of far humbler origins, to create perhaps the most famous car company in the world. And that’s about it – which is why the purpose of the next few thousand words is to show not merely that there was more to Charles, but also that he belonged to the same breed of hero – and I use the word advisedly – as contemporaries such as Robert Falcon Scott, Ernest Shackleton and George Mallory. Certainly he shared their view that advancing the cause of human understanding had a far greater value than any individual life. Another passage in the Mayor’s address recalls a moment when Rolls was asked whether he understood the likely result of the appalling risks he was taking, to which he replied: “All good engineering calls for casualties – so why not?” Perhaps even now a rather different picture of Charles Rolls is appearing. At least, I hope so. Even so, I think there is a perception in some quarters that he was merely the man who put

Charles Rolls

up all the money, while Frederick Henry Royce did all the work and deserves the bulk of the credit. And that’s understandable, for little more than six years elapsed between their first meeting in Manchester’s Midland Hotel on May 4, 1904, and Rolls’ death. By contrast, Royce toiled on – albeit increasingly removed, both literally and figuratively, by ill health from the company they founded, until he died in 1933 just weeks after his 70th birthday. But the point is that the reputation RollsRoyce enjoyed as the maker of ‘the best car in the world’ – which can be argued endures to this day in models such as the Spectre – was earned while Charles was not only alive, but playing as full, active and important a role in the company as that of his gifted business partner. Together they set the template: together they deserve the credit. That said, it is interesting, albeit academic, to speculate how different things might have been for Rolls-Royce had Charles not asked one favour too many of his fragile flying machine that fateful day in the skies near Bournemouth. And, in fact, I think the answer would have been ‘not very’. As we shall see, while the role he played in the creation and establishment of Rolls-Royce was pivotal, by the end of his life those few short years later, his interest in cars had waned almost entirely – and those which bore his name were not excluded from that. Indeed, by the time of his death, he had already resigned his position as technical director, and remained only in a non-executive role. Instead he had been captivated, essentially entirely, by the form of transport that was shortly to claim his life. Rolls was born not at The Hendre, but in a rented house in London’s Berkeley Square, perhaps to be close to the best physicians in the land. Eleanor was 40 at the time, a distinctly senior age at which to be producing offspring in the 19th century. But Charles grew up in Monmouthshire, and he followed the traditional educational path of people of his background: Eton followed by Trinity College, Cambridge. He bought his first car at 18, a 3¾hp Peugeot that he drove from London to Cambridge, becoming almost certainly the first person to do so. At the time the speed limit was 4mph, the journey took nearly 12 hours, and it was achieved only after having words with the chief constables of Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire who, as the young Rolls put it, “kindly said they’d instruct their men to look the other way…” He purchased his first racing car, an 8hp Daimler, in 1897, just months after his 20th birthday, and a mere three years after the generally agreed dawn of motor sport. With nothing suitable happening in the UK, he raced 114

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ABOVE The Hendre – Welsh for a winter home – is now a fine 5500-acre estate and golf club.

mainly in France, winning only his third event by taking the ‘touring’ class at the 1899 Bordeaux-Biarritz race in an 8hp Panhard. Already he was a fast, fearless, capable yet seemingly not reckless racing driver. In 1900 he took part in the 1000 Mile Trial, the first UK event of its kind designed to demonstrate, officially, a car’s reliability and, very unofficially, its potential for speed, too. Some 80 vehicles entered; Rolls in a 12hp Panhard won the speed test over the measured mile at Welbeck Park at 42.5mph, in what was surely Britain’s first timed competitive motor sport event. Only 35 cars finished all 1000 miles, Charles among them. By then, according to David Baines in his fine biography Why Not? The Story of the Honourable Charles Stewart Rolls, Rolls was “arguably the most famous sportsman in the land”. But he was only just getting going. The next few years were a whirl of activity. In 1902 Charles opened the doors of CS Rolls & Co, a car dealership and his first business, and by early 1903 he already had another target in mind: setting a new Land Speed Record for Britain. His weapon for this was a formidable 80hp Mors, in which he found himself back at Nottinghamshire’s Welbeck Park, covering a kilometre in 27 seconds at the then fantastical speed of 82.8mph. He was indeed the fastest man on earth – just not the Land Speed Record holder; the venue was not recognised by the Automobile Club de France, which held jurisdiction in such matters, and the course was claimed to be downhill. On Charles thundered, racing anything, anywhere he could. A 90hp Panhard in the lethal Paris-Madrid race of 1903; an even more fearsome 110hp Mors at speed trials at

Blackpool, Southport and Portmarnock; a Dufaux at the 1905 Brighton Speed Trials; a Wolseley in the final Gordon Bennett Cup race; and so on... But let’s focus on the Tourist Trophy race of 1906, because this was to see Charles racing yet another manufacturer’s car; it was called a Rolls-Royce. After their meeting in May 1904, Rolls and Royce drew up an agreement which would see the latter creating cars that the former would then sell. These were called Rolls-Royces, although a company bearing that specific name would not come into existence until early 1906. Charles’s first-known exploit was to break the record for driving from Monte Carlo to London, which he did in a 20hp model, taking 28 hours to cover the distance – fully three hours quicker than the previous record. It was a pure publicity stunt, such as the Silver Ghost’s well remembered subsequent 15,000mile odyssey from London to Glasgow and back no fewer than 27 times. But as ever, Charles wanted to race – and the Tourist Trophy, held over four laps of a 40mile course on the Isle of Man, was a perfect opportunity to demonstrate not only the reliability of a Rolls-Royce, but also its speed and, given there was a set fuel limit, its efficiency, too. He won with ease, crossing the line after just over four hours, almost half an hour before anyone else. So when we think of all those great TT winners, from Stirling Moss to Tom Walkinshaw, let’s not forget Charles Stewart Rolls was among their number as well. By now, however, it seems driving had become part of the job, a means rather than an end. As Baines perceptively puts it: “The driving of cars had become boring to

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Charles Rolls

Rolls. Cars were now so refined that they ran endlessly without fault or breakdown. Rolls was essentially a pioneer and innovator… it was natural therefore that he would immediately recognise the potential of the newest form of locomotion, that of powered flight.” Charles was already an accomplished aviator, and in balloons alone he would complete more than 170 flights during his alltoo-short life. But towards the end of 1906, that life changed when, on a trip to the US, he met the Wright brothers, almost exactly three years after their first flights at Kill Devil Hills in North Carolina. He was hooked. The problem was, there was essentially no aircraft industry in Britain at the time, so Rolls set about lobbying the Wrights in the hope he might get the job of selling their aeroplanes in Britain. It was a not-dissimilar idea to that with which he had approached Henry Royce. Yet it would be the autumn of 1908 before he took his first flight, and then only as a passenger. He wanted a Wright Flyer for himself, but such was the demand for the aircraft, and so limited was the supply, that in the summer of 1909 he first bought a Wright glider to practice with. He flew it several dozen times before his own Flyer was delivered, on October 1. He took to the air the next day – and promptly crashed. Not put off to even the smallest degree, he was back in the air within a week, honing his skills as jumps became hops became elongated leaps became proper flights. Within a month of flying for the first time, he could take off, fly, turn the aircraft around and land it safely where he started – no mean feat in the Heath Robinson contraption that was the everevolving production version of the Flyer. By the spring, and by now on his fourth Flyer, Charles announced his intention to become only the second person to fly across the English Channel. Then, when Jacques de Lesseps beat him to it in May, he set his sights on a rather more ambitious target. Many of us will remember that it was Louis Blériot who first flew across the Channel, often because the fact was drilled into us at school. But who among us remembers learning that the person who was first to make the infinitely more hazardous return trip, with the weather working both for and against him, was young Charlie Rolls? Taking off on the evening of June 2, 1910, Rolls and his Flyer wobbled into the air above Dover, and did not return for 90 minutes, during which time he’d flown the approximate

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from the rest of the aircraft, causing it to fall directly to the ground. It is likely Charles died immediately upon impact, the accident caused by him overstressing his flimsy airframe.

‘ROLLS CAME AND WENT IN A FLASH, PUTTING LITTLE MORE THAN TEN YEARS BETWEEN FIRST RACE AND LAST FLIGHT’ 50-mile distance to Calais and back at a height of around 1000ft, dropping messages of greeting onto French soil at his turnaround point at Sangatte. Eight months to the day since his first flight and crash, it was an extraordinary achievement. Little did anyone know that, at the moment of perhaps his greatest triumph, he had less than six weeks to live. It happened at the Bournemouth International Aviation Meeting, and at a time when aircraft crashes tended to happen so slowly, and at such low altitudes, you stood a very good chance of surviving them – as had Rolls on his first powered flight as a pilot. On the inaugural day of the meeting, June 11, Cecil Grace had crashed his aeroplane and walked away; on the second day, Edmond Audemars inverted his aircraft on landing, with no significant damage to machine or pilot – followed by Bertram Dixon, who dropped several metres from the sky, with serious consequences only to his wallet. Charles Rolls would not be so fortunate. Attempting to land in a strong wind, the Flyer was seen to descend steeply, causing Rolls to try to pull out of the dive. A crack was heard by the crowd as the tailplane separated

AFTER A DAY TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS AT The Hendre, we return to the Spectre in a reflective mood. The utter silence of its cabin and eerie smoothness of its suspension provide the perfect carriage for me and my thoughts as we wind slowly home, back through Monmouth where Charles’s memorial stands in pride of place in Agincourt Square, in front of that for the town’s even more famous son, Henry V. I think the area provided a happy home for Rolls and his siblings to grow up in, but as a young adult he spent increasingly little time there, thrilled by the spirit and opportunity of London. To Charles, Monmouth must have seemed boring and stuffy by comparison, and while I like to think he’d have come to appreciate the peace and calm it might bring to his otherwise hectic life, I don’t really get that sense. As with Scott, Shackleton and Mallory, Rolls was a restless adventurer, a man who lived life to the limit every day, embracing and discarding new technologies and pastimes the moment something more exciting came along: first cars, then balloons, then aircraft, all one after the other. At the time of his death, his next plan was to have become an aircraft manufacturer in his own right, with the Short brothers already commissioned to design him a ’plane. Who knows whether that would have ever made it into the sky, whether Royce would have come on board (as Rolls desired), or just how different the future of the companies known today as Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and Rolls-Royce PLC (the aerospace company that licences BMW to build cars called Rolls-Royces) would have been. But it is all fruitless speculation. Rolls came and went in a flash, putting little more than ten years between first race and last flight. Ten years in which he became the fastest man on earth, won the Tourist Trophy, created Rolls-Royce, helped make said car company the most highly regarded on the planet, became the first person to complete a return flight across the Channel, and became, tragically, the first Briton to die in a ’plane crash. He was with us for just 32 years, but he packed more living into that short period than most would if given several full lifetimes. And for that, at least, we can be glad. Our sincere thanks to the staff of the Rolls of Monmouth Golf Club for all their help in making this feature possible.

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Architect Jonathan Segal invites us into his new ‘bat cave’ – otherwise known as the Johnny Club Words Nathan Chadwick Photography Evan Klein

WELCOME TO THE

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“I’VE GOT A PARTY FOR THE PETERSEN Automotive Museum tomorrow, one for the California Mille on Saturday night, then the La Jolla Concours... and on Monday it’s the California Mille proper,” muses Jonathan Segal, leading architect and famed advocate of 1950s exotica, including his collection of concours-starring Zagato, Frua and Fantuzibodied Maserati A6Gs. “It seems like when you have an event, you get stuff done.” That ‘stuff’ has been nine months preparing Jonathan’s new ‘bat cave’, an 8000sq ft location to house his car collection. Sited ten minutes from San Diego’s downtown, the development also contains his architectural offices, a historic house and 17 rental units, plus space for apartments. “It’s been a slow evolution from my previous places. They were the leftover spaces in one of my developments – this was the first space bespoke and specific to the cars,” he explains. “It’s always been a dream of mine to create pure spaces, which really reflect the cars in my collection. They tend to be ‘pure’ cars – pure in the sense of 1950s refinement versus over-the-top craziness. “It also reflects the cars in that it’s a singular

THIS SPREAD Jonathan muses on new, 8000sq ft home for his exquisite car collection.

Jonathan Segal’s ‘bat cave’

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space – I now finally have a large, wonderful window to bring daylight in, which I’ve never had. I have got this wonderful outdoor space associated with the cars.” During the course of Jonathan’s lecturing schedule, which sees him travel across the US and Europe, he was taken by the purity and simplicity of how agricultural spaces were created with 24-gauge aluminium bent into a ‘W’ section. It’s reflected in the vehicles, too, he says: “If you look at some car parts, you see underneath a smooth metal exterior there are bends and dimples to make it stronger. If you open the trunk of my 1957 Maserati 200Si, it’s like a Jules Verne gas tank – it’s like jewellery. That’s the feeling you get when you look at this roof: 10ft sections, 2ft wide, all bolted together. It feels like it’s steampunk made, very beautiful yet simple.” Jonathan’s new space reflects the central

THIS SPREAD Maserati A6G 2000 Zagato and 200si, Alfa TZ1, Porsche 911 GT3 RS – and Ferrari 250 GT Lusso restoration.

philosophy of his professional practice, ‘architect as developer’. “The whole idea is to remove all the unnecessary parts – there’s no developer, no contractor, no partner investor, no property manager – it’s all me,” he says. “So if you start to whittle away, take everything and shake it as hard as you can to get down to the basic elements, that’s what the space is – it’s living testimony to doing everything yourself.” That simplicity – at least in terms of a defined concept – is what underpins Jonathan’s philosophy of architecture. “All architecture is, is two things: capturing light and defining space,” he explains. “I’m not a fan of curves from any perspective, but this feels like the Milano Centrale railway station, or some of the great railway stations in England; it feels like a cathedral [in some ways], but definitely more like a railway station. There’s a magic quality about it – and it was just the absolute least

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expensive way to develop a roof.” Not that the roof was difficulty free. “Here in San Diego, we probably have the most temperate climate of anywhere on the planet – no mosquitoes, humidity or bugs – but it’s warm,” he says. “When you’re in the direct radiation of the sun, it can get hot – yet if you’re shaded, it’s nice and cool. The roof became a shading element, but you can’t have one thin piece of 24-gauge metal separating you from the sun.” Jonathan’s solution was to make two roofs, one spanning 48ft, the other spanning 50ft. “We’ve got a 12in cavity in between that I put insulation in, so it’s nice and cool,” he says. “However, the guys who sold me the roofs said they couldn’t sell me two, because it had never been done before. It was very difficult to get these guys to cut loose on the two roofs, but it turned out that it wasn’t a problem whatsoever.” Jonathan is most associated with Maseratis,

Jonathan Segal’s ‘bat cave’

RIGHT Maserati Zagato won its class and made the final four for Best in Show at Pebble Beach. In the image behind is the Frua A6GCS Spider that won Best in Show at the 2023 Concours of Elegance.

although he says this wasn’t something he had mapped out. “There’s no master plan, no genius behind the curtain figuring all this out, marching to the drum – it’s just, okay, there’s an opportunity,” he says. “It’s the same thing with architecture – there’s never been a master plan. It’s just, let’s do great buildings – and they turn out great and change neighbourhoods.” The Maserati odyssey began with a Fantuzi A6G/54 bought at an RM Sotheby’s auction in 2008 “I said, well, that’s a cool car, so I bought it serendipitously,” Jonathan says. “It was reported to be frame off, ready to go, perfect. It wasn’t, so Symbolic Motors restored it for me.” In 2012, he won his class at Pebble Beach: “For a first-timer to win their class – I don’t think that happens often. Then I found the Roger Baillon Collection Frua A6G/54 with Artcurial at Retromobile Paris in 2015, so I gravitated towards it because I knew it by luck… That car made me the ‘Maserati A6G guy’. Then I just started buying more Maseratis – the Zagato A6G/54, the Frua A6GCS, the 200Si...” Maserati holds an appeal for Jonathan for two major reasons. “You get more bespoke car architecture for the dollar with a Maserati – if my Zagato was a Ferrari, it’d be a $20m car,” he says; even though he’s restoring a Ferrari 250 GT Lusso, it’s clear it doesn’t quite strike the passion that a Trident does. Instead, he is far more enthused by ‘hinterland’ models and marques. “I just bought a Siata 208 designed by Balbo – I like off-the-grid cars that aren’t Ferraris, which are bespoke. The ultimate for

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‘It’s always better to drive a slow car fast rather than a fast car slow’ me would be having a collection of one-offs.” However, Jonathan is a controversial figure in Maserati circles, and it comes back to that Baillon A6G; after Segal originally kept the car ‘as discovered’ in a French barn, it’s now being completely restored, much to the consternation of those who felt he should have kept its patina. “The car was like an old badger that needed some love,” he asserts. “When we stripped it, it was falling apart. This is the problem with the internet; people make judgement calls in public without having all the facts. If they came to look at the car, and saw what we did, they’d say ‘oh, I get it’. But no, they need to make controversy.” He fancies another crack at Pebble Beach, and has just acquired a unique Pourtout-bodied Lancia Astura dating from 1938. “It’s insanely beautiful,” he says. “It needs to be restored, and it’s going to Pebble Beach in two years.” A pre-war car is likely to be a rare outlier in his collection, however. “I’m really, truly trying to stay with 1950s and ’60s bespoke Italian cars,

and that may be a dying trend,” he muses. “I may be the only guy who likes these cars anymore. Maybe everybody wants that ’80s, ’90s, current stuff. It’ll be interesting to find out.” He points to two cars from his collection that exemplify why this era holds such appeal. “The Maserati 200Si and Alfa Romeo TZ1. They really shred – and it’s always better to drive a slow car fast rather than a fast car slow,” he says. “If I’ve got something with 1000bhp that can do 250mph, where am I doing that? Nowhere!” To that end, he’s got a small list of models he’d like to add to the collection – a Maserati Khamsin and a 250F, perhaps a Lamborghini Espada. Meanwhile, the final touches to the ‘Johnny Club’, as his collection is affectionately known, will involve getting all his cars, currently scattered around the world, in one place. “It’s weird to have the Frua Spider in Europe; it’s in England, getting worked on for Villa d’Este,” he says. “The other two cars are in Vancouver. It would be fun to see all the Maseratis together.” For Jonathan, however, the true enjoyment comes from showing people cars they haven’t seen before at concours. “I’m not about getting the best 330 GTC, which I did have. It was so boring when it got done; as soon as it was finished, I sold it,” he explains. “When people go ‘what’s that, I’ve never seen one’, that’s great.” But what of his favourite from the collection – surely there’s one jewel that shines strongest: which one is it? The answer will be familiar to anyone with a taste for old Italian cars. “The one that works,” he chuckles.

RUOTE DA SOGNO Classic & Sports Cars and Motorbikes Showroom

ABOVE Valkyrie’s meticulously honed aerodynamics are all form over function at London’s limits.

Aston Martin Valkyrie

It’s loud, proud and ambitious in the extreme.

Despite the hurdles, Aston Martin’s Valkyrie is a towering achievement –

but how does the world’s purest hypercar cope on the streets of London?

Photography Tim Scott

Words Stephen Archer

“TOO NOISY.” “CRAMPED.” “TWITCHY.” “Uncertain steering.” “Dead brakes.” “Unrefined.” “Nowhere to store anything.” Just a few quotes on this car from other writers. Is the Valkyrie seriously flawed, or is it Aston’s apotheosis? Consider also a public utterance from an Aston Martin director: “It’s impossible to drive.” You might wonder whether you should even bother reading on. Especially because you will see from the pictures that I did not take said hypercar on a race track, or even on a deserted fast road. No, I asked the owner to bring the Valkyrie to the heart of London, so that I could see just how practical and enjoyable it is in a 20mph speed-limit zone and in traffic at, for example, Hyde Park Corner. A weekend dawn drive in Westminster has other benefits, as you can see. Obviously I was aware of the speed limit, and at 5:00am the security services did take an interest in the car, but they were not there to get in my way... even though I spent three hours driving around some of the most sensitive spots of the capital – and the week before, some crazy person had rammed the gates of Buckingham Palace. People say it’s more fun to drive a slow car

fast, than to rein in a fast car. But can the same be said of driving a 200mph-plus car at a tenth of its ability? Why even bother? Look, if you want to read about how fast the damn car goes, you can elsewhere – but most reports are of it in the Middle East, on a Grand Prix track or on glassy roads in the desert. Let’s get real. This is the purest hypercar on the planet, and it’s road legal. It’s all very well being stirred by the g-forces on the Bahrain Circuit, but the buyers surely want to use the car? Indeed, five Valkyrie owners did a tour of the Cotswolds not so long ago. That’s more like it. I am not trying to justify 20mph tests in a hypercar, but seriously – how often will an owner be able to pilot a Valkyrie to its limit? A week later I was driving a DB5, the fastest car of its day but a clear reminder of progress in automotive engineering. The Ferrari F40 and McLaren F1 were both road cars that spawned the question “can there, or even should there, be anything more extreme than this road car?” The Valkyrie answers that question, and yet poses it once more. Surely this is the embodiment of ‘peak petrol’ car? It is an extraordinary testament to engineering ingenuity – and within the most regulated environment ever – but its absolute purity shows just how clever the design was to enable legal compliance. Really, this car shouldn’t exist, and for a while we wondered if it ever would arrive. Announced in 2015, it finally began delivery in 2023. There has been many a bar-room scoff at the gestation period, but it was always going to be five or six years. So what if it’s taken a bit longer. The whole thing stemmed from a lunch between Christian Horner, Adrian Newey and Andy Palmer, none of whom has a connection to AM or the Valkyrie today. The upshot of the meal was an agreement to make the most advanced high-performance road car ever built. This was a Newey project from the start, and

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THIS PAGE ‘Barge boards’, vast air tunnels and high-exit exhausts; every inch informed by Formula 1.

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Aston Martin Valkyrie

THIS PAGE A cocoon of technology and noise-cancelled loudness.

his absolute vision is why the model is so special. If he is designing a car, everyone else involved in the project needs to raise their game – a lot – and be open to meeting seemingly impossible challenges. The initial aim included having a normally aspirated parity of bhp and kg. That goal slipped a bit, but 1139bhp and 1270kg equals 911bhp/tonne. Aston’s outgoing Vantage has ‘only’ 409bhp/ tonne – and that has two turbochargers. In all respects, Newey wanted this to be the most accomplished performance car ever to hit the road. Worldwide highway regulations were an essential consideration, but on the other hand here was a Formula 1 designer with the

handcuffs of Formula 1 rules removed. The result is otherworldly and a tribute to Aston Martin, which has built the Valkyrie in a purpose-made Advanced Operations facility at Gaydon. I saw the build line in 2018, and can easily see why it took a bit longer than planned to make these machines customer ready. The project demanded special contributions from external partners such as Red Bull Advanced Technologies, Ricardo (transmission), Multimatic (carbonfibre), Rimac (hybrid power), Alcon (brakes), Michelin (tyres) and FlexSys. Who? A company in the US, and the only one prepared to take on the challenge of making the wiper arm to be light enough, aero enough and ‘sweep the extremely curved screen’ enough. Denuded of bodywork, the cars are more akin to a Lockheed F-35 for complexity driven by the need for very clever packaging. Newey’s ambition for all forms of performance meant that the start point was the aerodynamics. Form follows function in every aspect of the Valkyrie, and looking at it on your knees is one of the most rewarding experiences – because there is so little car underneath. The dominant material is carbonfibre, best evidenced by the pair of vast, sinister, raw-carbon underside venturi looking for all the world like the intakes of a jet engine. It’s a wonder that the gearbox and motor can be contained in such a svelte

ABOVE Mad? What do you expect if you ask the most successful modern F1 designer to create a road car?

chassis, which looks like it’s half absent. Cosworth certainly met the challenge with the extraordinary 6.5-litre V12. It’s a tight, 65º ‘V’, which means it does not compromise the underside venturi. The exhaust exits at the top rear of the bodywork, just in front of the wing that raises at 20mph. The exhaust output contributes to the wing’s aero, but jet-engine alloy and moon-shot coating are required for it to tolerate the heat. While the entire chassis is a ground-effect device, it’s augmented by a substantial wing of more F1 design. The result? Well, if you ask the most successful F1 designer of the modern era to create a road car, you shouldn’t be surprised if it’s a bit mad. No, not a bit – the Valkyrie is utterly deranged. And wonderful. You might call it a folly, but plenty of follies have brought great joy. It has nearly enough downforce above 150mph to stick it to the roof of a road tunnel. Good to keep that one up your sleeve if late for work; no one said anything about speed limits when upside down. The downforce is reduced on the road by air bleed-off flaps in the venturi. Race tyres can tolerate the downforce; road rubber not so much. Aston Martin’s pursuit of weight saving has been extreme – the marque’s wings badge is laser-etched 40-micron titanium set into the lacquer. The high-level brake light risked being

Aston Martin Valkyrie

an aerodynamic and weight fail. It is tiny and very powerful – yet the lamp would have been even more diminutive had it been possible to make the CE marking logo smaller. A version of David Bowie’s lyrics rang in my ears after sliding into the Valkyrie for the first time: “Commencing countdown, engines on… You’ve really made the grade… It’s time to guide the capsule if you dare... I’ve left for ever more... Planet Earth is blue... There’s nothing left to do.” Getting in is easy enough, and it owes much to an F1 cockpit; your feet, which you cannot see, are above your backside; the pedal box can be moved but the steering wheel isn’t adjustable. Not a problem, given the main displays are on the wheel, not behind it. Once in, the cabin has much of the purpose of an LMP1 car, but is rather more civilised. It even has soothing, softclose doors. Once strapped in, there is an immediate feeling of ‘wearing’ the Valkyrie. It gives a sense of intimacy with the machine that is usually reserved for out-and-out racing cars. My first foray was at night, just to add to the intimidation. All was dark and quiet. No lights, not even on the dashboard. The start sequence is unique; you press the start button three times. The car is dead until the first press wakes up the systems and the displays, three camera-fed ‘mirrors’, a central touchscreen for less essential controls and the more familiar information; the screen in the middle of the wheel holds the essential stuff: indicators, speedometer, rev counter, ride-height adjuster (lifting the car 25mm for speed bumps). The second press sets the engine up to be ready to fire. One last touch, and a starting noise commences before it’s fired that sounds as if you have front-row seat inside the V12 itself. The

ABOVE They work like traditional gullwings but, quite appropriately, give this beast horns. Hornwings?

engine, once started, is not much noisier than the turning-over sound, but that is very, very noisy and quite fantastic; a joyful cacophony. With the 6.5-litre lump strapped to your back, you know this machine is alive. Driver engagement is 100 percent. Bowie is replaced by what seems like 100 men banging anvils in a small elevator. The sound of over 1000 horses, with Valkyries riding them. How noisy? It’s 125dB-plus in the cabin, which is about the same as standing 100ft behind a jet engine on full blast. Without the very clever Apache helicopter noisecancelling headphones, it would be intolerable. But I connected my phone to the car’s Bluetooth, and was able to have a normal conversation with photographer Tim as he directed me. What the sound of c.1150bhp at 11,500rpm is like, I have yet to find out, but even on the way to that extreme level (remember, this is a road car) the sound, performance and feel generate a visceral response like no other street-legal machine. This is a hybrid, of sorts. The engine must be running at all times, but a Rimac electric system takes the car to the first 10mph. With an auto clutch, tootling along at any speed is a doddle. Once going, the immensely powerful Cosworth motor has an urgency you can hear and feel in its every pulse. No need to look at the rev counter, nor listen to the revs; they are transmitted through your body with a primeval energy. After a few hours in the car, confidence naturally grew. Let’s just say that The Mall was woken up, with the Valkyrie pointed directly at the King’s home. The Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres have two compounds: one side is for grip, the other for stability and wet grip. Without downforce one can break traction, but it’s a friendly beast. Gearchanges are seamless and

quick, the brakes can pull you up with 3G. But for all its wildness, it is docile when asked to be. Faults? The steering is well weighted, yet a quicker rack would be better. There’s no storage, but somewhere for the phone and key fob please? Some early buyers took their deposits back after being told that the car would take longer to arrive than planned. Had they known what they are missing, perhaps they’d be among the 150 customers. This is a towering achievement by Aston Martin. It may be, in some people’s eyes, utterly pointless in today’s world, but if we remove from history all of man’s pointless endeavours, we will be impoverished indeed. Therefore, it is not pointless. The Valkyrie was an ambitious project in the extreme, but despite the hurdles and inevitable compromises, the car is an astonishing statement by Adrian Newey. Why build the Valkyrie? “Because we can.” That is more than justification. Is it a hypercar? Having driven a few machines in this rarefied category, I struggle to accept that the name does this car justice. It’s so uncompromised in its execution, perhaps ‘pure’ or ‘absolute’ is a more apt title. Let me end with a quote from the owner, who has had, and still has, some important cars, and uses them all: “Now I have the Valkyrie, there is no other car I want.” It resonated, because I did not want to get out of it, either. Having read some other test reports on the Aston Martin, I can assure you that I had just as much fun as those people whose press lunch was overly stirred by the g-forces on the Bahrain Circuit. Today it is hard for manufacturers to make models that stop passers-by in their tracks. This is emphatically such a car. Thanks to David Long and HWM Aston Martin, www.hwmastonmartin.co.uk.

The ex-Archie Scott-Brown

1956 LISTER MASERATI

offer… o t d u o r p Pendine is

Located at

T +44 (0)1869 357126 W www.pendine.com E cars@pendine.com

Brian Lister, the engineer on a motorsport mission and Archie Scott-Brown, the charismatic driver whose disabilities were hidden behind his raw talent, were probably the greatest pairing in British motorsport during the 1950s. Impressed by Salvadori’s A6GCS, the duo decided that a Maserati engined Lister would be perfect for the 1956 season. The light, nimble chassis was perfect for Archie’s on-the-limit driving style and that year saw a full list of races, including Goodwood, Silverstone, Oulton Park and a win at Brands Hatch. With a known history from new, BHL 1 is one of the most original Listers in existence and the only remaining Works car that Archie competed in. A historically significant British competition car, it is well suited for contemporary motorsport, as demonstrated with a 2nd overall at Monaco in 2018

Born of motor sport, the FIA has been stewarding the

THE LIGHTKEEPER OF ALL THINGS MOTORING

interests of automobile users and enthusiasts for the past 120 years. Such prolonged and fastidious an endeavour is bound to leave a paper trail

ABOVE Chronometer timing strip from an unsuccessful record attempt in 1924. Photography Matt Howell Words Wayne Batty

OPPOSITE Documents outlining the proposal and early construction of the Nürburgring.

WE RACE BECAUSE WE’RE INHERENTLY competitive. But – as Fight Club taught us – all competition requires rules. And it was Ayrton Senna who reminded us that: “Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose.” It’s that desire to win which pushes most protagonists of motor sport to ‘creatively interpret’ those rules, often resulting in automotive innovation. On the odd occasion, the temptation to cheat can overtake even the best of us. And then there are times when the controversy is caused by the rules themselves. 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, anyone? As undesirable a pairing as controversy and motor sport may be, it appears they simply will not be separated. It has always been this way. The 1178km-long Paris-Bordeaux-Paris epic of 1895 is generally regarded as the first official motor race. Émile Levassor, driving a Panhard et Levassor, finished nearly six hours ahead of Louis Rigoulot in a similarly configured two-seat machine, and 11 hours ahead of the ‘chasing’ pack. He was not declared the winner. Instead, that honour went to third-acrossthe-line Paul Koechlin, simply because of a rule that stated the winning car must have four seats. History suggests it was spectator anger

FIA archives

THIS SPREAD The Lotus Type 88 twin-chassis controversy laid bare.

that prompted immediate changes. Right from the outset, then, it was clear that strong oversight would be crucial. It still is. In 1904, a mere nine years after that first race, the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus (AIACR), an association of national motoring clubs headquartered in Paris, stepped up to the plate, determined to level the playing field, promote safety and sort out the squabbles. Known since 1947 as the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, the FIA is many orders of magnitude greater than the adult equivalent of a playground monitor. This is an organisation that has, for the past 12 decades, been largely responsible for shaping the full breadth of our motoring experience, from commuting and touring to racing and crashing. The significance of the FIA’s contribution cannot be overstated: working to make headlights obligatory, standardising street signs everywhere and facilitating cross-border venturing through its Carnet de Passages en Douane (CPDs) are just a trio of its many, many milestone accomplishments. Now – on the eve of the FIA’s 120th anniversary – Magneto is the first motoring publication invited for an exploratory sortie, an almost ‘all access’ opportunity to peruse the

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FIA’s full archives, which were previously accessible only to affiliated club representatives. As Dieter Rencken, motor sport adviser to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, steers me towards the secure facility in Valleiry, France, just across the Swiss border from Geneva, the anticipation grows. A large FIA logo, so visually familiar thanks to Formula 1’s global popularity, confirms my arrival at a now comprehensively repurposed former meat factory. I am greeted by FIA E-Archive curator Lana Ghvinjilia, and automotive historian and author Jean-François Ruchaud, who direct me upstairs and through a largely empty first floor – definite scope for expansion here – towards three rooms equipped with advanced firesnuffing technology. It’s in the middle room where the majority of the one million-plus historical documents are kept. Quite refreshingly, the countless files and boxes are labelled in the casual handwritten scrawl of an automobile history buff who clearly loves cars and their stories more than they do spreadsheets and label makers. Aisle after aisle, I whizz around the room, dropping mental markers at the general categories that demand further exploration. There’s just so much here: working documents and draft minutes from general assemblies,

ABOVE Two of the three known speed ledgers compiled by the AIACR, beginning in 1898.

FIA archives

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FIA archives

senates, commissions, committees and board meetings held variously between 1904 and 2009; old statutes, speeches and press releases; and mails and faxes to and from past presidents and general secretaries. But you would probably have to be forensically minded and imaginatively gifted to find anything juicy in that lot. Of profoundly more interest are the speed records, race tracks and the affaires juridiques et litiges – details of many of the legal disputes that have spiced up every era of motor racing. Several large folders on Senna are legally off limits for now. And I’m politely instructed not to photograph the illustration I find that outlines the Toyota Castrol Team’s otherwise genius turbocharger-restrictor design; you know, the one the team was caught using in its Celica GT-Four during the 1995 Costa Brava Rally in Catalonia, Spain. And no, it’s categorically not the one easily found online, but a far craftier solution instead. Holding a print-out of the letter sent by Toyota Motor Corporation Motorsport Division general manager Shizuya Sakurai highlights again the desire to win, as well as the necessity for strong oversight. In it, he acknowledged TMC’s moral responsibility for the matter, and noted that his organisation had instructed Toyota Motorsport GmbH president Ove Andersson not to appeal the FIA’s sentence, but to accept it seriously instead. In another box, I find the letter written by Ford Special Vehicle Operations director Michael Kranefuss to then FIA president JeanMarie Balestre, dated November 11, 1986. It notes that Ford – despite spending big to develop a winning rally car in the RS200, and although the move hurt the Blue Oval probably more than it did any other brand – believed that the elimination of the Group B category “was

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THIS PAGE Early border carnets among treasures found by historian Jean-François Ruchaud (below).

the right decision in the best interests of the sport and all participating manufacturers”. Not losing any more lives had rightly become more important than ROI and winning combined. Just a few folders away is a complete set of documents detailing the twin-chassis Lotus 88 saga. Although the diagrams of the car ‘undressed’ can quickly be Googled, holding the drawings, technical explanations and Colin Chapman’s impassioned appeals in your hands just hits in a different way. Post lunch, I head straight for the section containing circuits. These are grouped by geographic region, and I’m drawn to a box titled ‘Nürburgring’. Inside are early outline maps, a track-elevation drawing and a diagram of the proposed pitlane and main grandstand. A handful of photographs show the stillgravel track, freshly cut through the forest in the heart of the Eifel mountains and overlooked by the Nürburg castle. Documents outline the construction of a 172-corner, 28.265km automobil-renn und prüfungsstrecke (race and test track) drawn by architect Gustav Eichler. Ground was broken during a ceremony in the summer of 1925. Building the greatest racing circuit of them all cost 14 million Reichsmark, involved as many as 2500 workers and took two years to complete. By comparison, the folder marked ‘Monaco’ is disappointingly thin, but I do unfold an undated map outlining the optimum evacuation routes to the hospital, including a dotted line in the harbour, presumably for a roving rescue

boat should any driver accidentally attempt to emulate Ascari and Hawkins. Having watched just about every televised F1 race since the ’83 season finale at Kyalami, I’m hopefully forgiven for not knowing that there was almost a race in New York City three weeks earlier. Officially scheduled for September 25 on the F1 calendar, details of the inaugural New York Grand Prix proposed an almost permanent circuit around the lake – “much like Montreal” – at Flushing Meadows Park, the site of the 1964 World’s Fair. After discussions, inspections and walking the route, FISA circuit inspector Derek Ongaro filed a preliminary report, dated May 7-8, 1983 saying he was “convinced that the planning was at an advanced stage and that, at this stage, little had been overlooked”. The barrier system lining the circuit was to have been supplied and fitted by IBC Barriers, represented by thenretired 1979 World Champion Jody Scheckter. I’m sure anyone who’s ever had the privilege of lapping Mosport Park in anger – sadly, playing 1999’s Sports Car GT on your Windows 98 PC doesn’t count – would agree that its combination of exaggerated elevation changes, and fast, sweeping and partly forest-lined corners makes it a thrilling place for a motor race. The first F1 Canadian Grand Prix was held there in 1967. It returned in ’69, and became an annual fixture from 1971. But by the time the 1977 race was over, so was Mosport Park, at least for F1. Serious crashes for Ian Ashley and Jochen Mass, compounded by the track’s severely weather-beaten surface,

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FIA archives

plus guardrails not fit for purpose, saw a move to a hastily, but clearly not ill-conceived new circuit in Montreal. In the Mosport Park folder is another of Ongaro’s F1 Circuit Inspection reports. This one, dated July 10, 1984, suggests that then Canadian Automobile Sport Clubs executive director Robert Hanna harboured high hopes of bringing F1 back to the track. The accompanying 63 pages of photocopied images of tyre barriers, kerbside concrete towers and a paper-thin pitlane wall are a sad reminder that danger and death were the blood brothers of pre-1990s motor racing. Motoring’s other best mate is speed – the pursuit of which appears well catalogued here, with dossiers covering most significant Land Speed Record attempts back to 1907, including an alluring collection detailing John Cobb’s 1947 Bonneville efforts in the Railton Mobil Special. Less visual, but no less interesting, is the box labelled ‘Correspondence de/avec Sir Malcolm Campbell 1928/1929’. It’s easy to get lost reading the fascinating and frightfully proper communication of a gentleman pioneer doing all he can to ensure that his “forthcoming attempts on world’s records” in South Africa would be timed by an FIA-recognised authority. Damn right! Nobody should ever trek all the way to a dry salt bed called Verneukpan in the Northern Cape without bringing along an official witness. Verneuk is the word used in the Afrikaans language when someone or something tries to screw you over. Needless to say, Sir Malcolm’s attempts there were unsuccessful. Slightly overwhelmed by the sheer number of Records de Vitesse, I ask Jean-François if he has a favourite. Knowing his penchant for Citroën, I’m guessing it’s 1933 – a story for another time. It is, but he also points to two beautifully aged tomes ‘hidden’ on a bottom shelf beneath the FIA’s original copy of the certificate presented to Andy Green and ‘The Thrust SSC’. These marvels contain handwritten details of every speed record recognised by the AIACR. Photocopied evidence – of the first two pages only – confirms that there were originally three books. Annoyingly, it’s the oldest one that has gone AWOL, but the copies prove that the internet correctly ascribes the first six records over the flying kilometre to electric vehicles – and all those were before the start of the 20th century, too. In a ding-dong battle between Count de Chasseloup-Laubat and Camille Jenatzy, the bar was raised from 63.15km/h to 105.88km/h in a little over four months, with

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ABOVE The first Land Speed Record was doubled in four years; the last has stood for nearly 27.

Jenatzy coming out on top in the car he called La Jamais Contente (Never Satisfied). JeanFrançois tells me the jury’s still out on whether Jenatzy was referring to an insatiable thirst for speed, or to his long-suffering wife. Despite very large files on certain events, such as the Rallye Alger-Le Cap, it’s obvious that there are huge gaps in the archives – notably the first five decades of motor racing – and disappointingly few images from any era. The lack of photographic records is easily explained; media outlets retained their own snappers rather than rely on official handouts. However, the gaps are another story altogether. Between the two World Wars, historical documents belonging to the Automobile Club de France (ACF) and the FIA were stored in a basement beneath the ACF’s headquarters at 6 Place de la Concorde in Paris. Sadly, while attention was understandably elsewhere, it went unnoticed that an indoor swimming pool above the storage area had sprung a leak, damaging sections of the archives of both organisations. Upon discovery years later, everything salvageable was moved

to various storage facilities around Paris. Then, in September 1982, a fire completely destroyed one of these buildings, and everything in it. From midway through 1986, storage of both the remnants and all subsequently archived material was outsourced to a company called Locarchives, who stashed the documents in Normandy. In 2013, Jean-François was commissioned by the FIA, at the behest of Jean Todt, to sort through everything. It took more than a year, working through 20 large boxes at a time, in a rented building in central Paris. A passionate endeavour that should ensure the FIA’s 120 years of remaining motor sport and mobility heritage are preserved intact. While merely scratching the surface of the archives has delivered much of interest but little in the way of revelation, I come away convinced there’s great treasure hidden deep within the reams of the predominantly Frenchlanguage documents stored here. All that’s required to unearth fresh angles on motor sport’s many controversies is a much longer stay and a bountiful translation budget. With thanks to Dieter Rencken, Lana Ghvinjilia, Jean-François Ruchaud and the FIA.

Photography Anton Watts X CATAPULT Words Wayne Batty

Stylist Ashley Montague Hair Andre Gunn Make-up Daniele Piersons Talent Savannah Lehman Post Curve Digital

From John Bond, Strother MacMinn and a handful of fabricators, through to Dennis Kazmerowski’s stunning creation here, this is the story of the MacMinn Le Mans Coupe and the people who built a dream

OF COUNTLESS IDEAS CONCEIVED, precious few are developed in any significant detail. Fewer still are then physically wrought. Similarly, only the tiniest fraction of automotive sketches escape their paper cages to become a tyre-on-Tarmac reality. This is one such story; a well designed and engineered, late-1950s idea for an all-American Le Mans race machine, which inspired fabricators wrenched off the pages of Road & Track magazine and into the real world. That the MacMinn Le Mans Coupe never raced at La Sarthe is neither here nor there. It is this most striking car’s astonishing will to live, in whatever guise possible, that first lent and still – more than 60 years later – continues to lend the tale its true significance.

THE CONCEIVER John R Bond was a motoring journalist schooled in automotive engineering. His standout skill was an ability to simplify complex technology

THIS SPREAD With its slippery styling, black cherry metallic paint, and mix of bespoke and TR3 dash inside, the coupe looks spectacular.

for his reader. In 1949, Bond rescued the fledgling Road & Track magazine, and ran it successfully for the next 23 years. Sometime around 1957, he began to ponder the idea of an American sports car that could be genuinely competitive at Le Mans, the world’s most prestigious endurance race. His was not some no-cost-spared vain imagining, but a car that could be built using mostly offthe-shelf parts by anyone inspired enough to attempt it. With the aid of a team of engineers, a professional designer and 12 aircraft techs, he laid bare, in meticulous detail, the spec, drawings and proposed styling sketches of this US challenger in a series of four published articles. The first of these appeared in Road & Track in November 1957, followed up in the January, February and April 1958 issues. The design called for an aerodynamically optimised, 4.8m-long, two-seater sports coupe,

THIS SPREAD Coupe sports a Corvette V8 as originally intended – but whether the theoretical 200mph top speed is achievable is another matter...

powered by a Corvette V8 mounted behind the front axle on a stiff, yet simple, frame made up of two parallel box-section beams. For suspension, the team envisioned a clever Cord, MG and VW mash-up, with inboard Buick drum brakes. Twin sponson-type side tanks brimmed with fuel, plus a 175lb driver, would put the starting weight at 2100lb. Given the proposed drag coefficient (0.25Cd), small frontal area, an engine boasting at least 275bhp at a conservative 6000rpm and a 2.78:1 rear-axle ratio, a top speed of 200mph was theoretically possible. Despite the limited space afforded to the Road & Track articles, subjects such as aerodynamics, weight distribution, suspension settings, handling dynamics, driver comfort and ventilation were analysed and discussed in depth. But, as ever, Bond kept it real: “Sports car races are often long and always arduous,” he wrote. “No driver can do a good job for long with his feet higher than his derrière.” Once the technical template had been

MacMinn Le Mans Coupe

established, Bond asked good friend Strother MacMinn to style the body. In hindsight, this decision was a master-stroke.

THE DESIGNER Born in 1918, Strother MacMinn was around 12 when he was introduced to Franklin Hershey. At the time, Hershey was a designer at the Walter M Murphy Company, a Southern California-based coachbuilder known primarily for its masterful custom-bodied Duesenbergs. Impressed by the young lad’s car drawings, Hershey took MacMinn under his wing – the first step on Strother’s journey to becoming a (criminally undersung) hero of automotive design. A summer class at LA’s ArtCenter School (now ArtCenter College of Design), along with Hershey’s invaluable input, sharpened MacMinn’s early design and drawing skills. In 1936, he joined General Motors’ styling section. Working under the watchful eye of the legendary Harley Earl, and alongside a team that by now included his mentor Hershey, he assisted greatly in the 1938 design of the acclaimed German-market Opel Kapitän. He returned to GM for a short period after World War Two, before starting a five-year stint as a contract designer for Henry Dreyfuss in Pasadena. His portfolio broadened significantly during this period, including contributions to the 1947 Flying Automobile for ConsolidatedVultee (later Convair), an Oldsmobile project for Ed Anderson, a bus concept for Greyhound, and various bits of farm machinery. By 1948, he’d begun teaching Industrial Design part-time at ArtCenter, while simultaneously consulting on various product design projects. He was also instrumental in establishing Toyota’s groundbreaking Calty Design Research studio in SoCal. His passion for automobile design never waned, but it’s fair to say that it was overtaken by an even deeper desire to teach others about the subject. He remained at ArtCenter for 50 years, and his influence as an instructor in the Industrial Design and (later) Transportation Design departments cannot be understated. Two entire generations of students sat under his tutelage, including many now-household names: Disney Monorail designer Bob Gurr; former GM man and outspoken design critic Robert Cumberford; Peter Brock of Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupe fame; Corvette and Mustang icon Larry Shinoda; and, later, J Mays, Chris Bangle and Wayne Cherry, the former styling chiefs of Ford, BMW and GM respectively. According to Bob Gurr: “‘Mac’ stressed the 164

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importance of design integrity, proportion, surface development, simplicity, elegance and details worked out to perfection. He studied all the significant world body designs from the 1920s forward, and understood that these important characteristics were the historical basis for timeless vehicle design. He had an incredible patience to explain the elements in thorough detail with each student.” As a gifted stylist, educator and communicator embedded in the crucible of US automobile design, Mac’s knowledge was in demand. In the 1950s, he wrote for several publications, but it was his friendship with John Bond that brought his car-styling prowess to the fore once more, when he answered the call to create bodywork for the theoretical Le Mans challenger. From the start, MacMinn’s design integrity ensured this would be a well proportioned car, informed primarily by its prescribed purpose. In his 1959 book, Sports Cars of the Future, he noted: “The main idea on body form development was favourable airflow characteristics which would (a) keep it on the ground, (b) give it stability at high speed, and (c) minimise resistance.” An admirer of the late-1930s streamlined Figoni et Falaschi-bodied Talbot-Lagos, Strother happily obliged the aircraft technologists’ call to dispense with most conventional airflowdisturbing features such as louvres, ducts, ports and exposed lights. The final result was so futuristically striking, it demanded attention. In the March 1960 issue of Sports Car Guide, Robert Cumberford wrote: “This is the most exciting sports car design actually constructed in the US in years. Its elegance and high style enhance rather than detract from overall performance. Correct aerodynamically, the body shape puts to shame anything else which has been constructed for the Chevrolet V8, including the best efforts of General Motors. This is not too surprising. MacMinn taught many of the GM designers most of what they know.” Bond ended his own, final article with these words: “Road & Track has neither the time nor the finances to build such a car. Our only purpose in describing it at some length was to show how the problem should be approached and analysed. Also, as Dr Nallinger of Mercedes-Benz once admitted, it was good for our own morale.” You could call that an attempt to justify the design team’s months of effort in case no one took the bait, but the hope was that someone would bite. Fortunately, at least three enthusiasts were inspired to build versions of what was initially referred to as the ‘Road & Track Special’.

ABOVE Coupe first appeared as an R & T cover car in August 1960, painted red.

THE FABRICATORS Sports car enthusiast and electronics technician Marvin Horton had already been working on a competition-ready chassis when the R & T articles emerged. He, along with fellow tech and former speedboat builder Ed Monegan, reckoned MacMinn’s body design would be ideal for the project. By June 1958, the duo had scaled up the published drawings and begun work on a wooden buck for the male plug, which they subsequently filled with plaster. It took them several months to refine the shape. In February 1959, glassfibre expert Alton Johnson, of the Victress Manufacturing Company, offered his assistance in finishing both the plug and the mould, in exchange for the first pulled bodyshell. In June, Johnson was ready to fit the sleek body to a chassis he’d been building in the leadup. He was first to complete a car, which after a bout of high-speed testing and aerodynamic evaluation became Road & Track’s August 1960 red cover star. Sadly, the vehicle was utterly destroyed in an accident – miraculously, both occupants survived. Had the car been as lucky, it’s fair to say that much of today’s MacMinn Le Mans Coupe mystique wouldn’t exist. According to American glassfibre sports car guru Geoffrey Hacker, whose extensive research has uncovered so much of the missing Le Mans Coupe history, Horton and Monegan pulled at least five shells from their mould, and are known to have attempted builds of two MacMinn Coupes. Sadly, neither project was finished. However, both have now been recovered, one by Hacker himself, and the other by Mark Brinker, who plans to complete it in the way MacMinn and Bond intended – as a Le Mans racer. Only two other cars were built in period. The

THE ULTIMATE VINTAGE BENTLEY COLLECTION

MacMinn Le Mans Coupe

first was wide bodied, with conventionally hinged doors, wind-down glass and leopardprint trim, built on an XK120 chassis by Carl Schoonhoven. It’s highly likely this still exists, but it hasn’t been seen in 24 years. The other was built as a drag racer by Walter Jackson. Named Witchcraft, it was photographed competing in at least two events in California in 1968, but it appears to have left no trace since. Only one other mould is known to have been made, resulting in a single bodyshell. The team of Edward Tifft and son Frank started their project in August 1958. Photographs of the completed car, first named Tempest, later Dolphin, reveal many differences – some not so subtle – compared with the Horton/Monegan body. In an article on his Undiscovered Classics website, Hacker reports: “Although they kept the car for many years, Ed sold it to a new owner, and to this day, this version of the Le Mans Coupe has never been found.”

THE REVIVER It was a casual question posed over the telephone by good friend Geoff Hacker that revived a six-decade-old dream. “Kaz, of all the cars you have ever wished to build, what would you really want to own?” “That’s easy,” replied Dennis Kazmerowski. “It’s the Le Mans Coupe that was on the cover of Road & Track in August 1960.” Kaz, as he prefers to be called, was just 12 years old when he shuffled along the checkout line ready to purchase that very issue. Despite knowing he was a nickel short of its 50-cent cover price, he took a chance on a merciful cashier, and it paid off. It was the first magazine he’d ever bought with his own money. According to Kaz: “Geoff is the ultimate automobile archaeologist; he knows where all the bodies are buried.” While the R & T cover car was long gone, Geoff did indeed know the location of the last remaining bodyshell pulled from the Alton Johnson mould. It had been kicking around California for close to 60 years. Calls were made, and intentions discussed, before a deal was struck that ended with the body being delivered to Kaz in New Jersey. It arrived just as described – a shell without doors, windscreen, bonnet or wheel-well cutouts, and all very thin, with no inner structure to help hold its shape. After procuring promises of help from several talented car-building buddies, as well as financial support from good friend, and new 50/50 partner, Chip Fudge, the first job was to secure the body sufficiently so that it could be turned upside down without collapsing. Additional layers of glassfibre were then laid 166

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‘I’m thrilled that Mac’s dream and his legacy live on, as they should’ in, to thicken and strengthen the shell. As for the chassis, Kaz had already been working on one in the hope of finding a body for it somewhere along the line. While the R & T articles called (at least initially) for modified Cord front-end parts, the spirit of the challenge really was to keep it simple. The Alton Johnson car used a Triumph front, which is exactly what Kaz opted for, with independent rear suspension and rack-and-pinion steering from an MGA. “It all worked out very well,” he says. Engine-wise, nothing but a Corvette 283ci V8 would do. Fortunately, one of Kaz’s mates had the motor from a ’57 just sitting in his garage: “We put it on a dyno, and it ran fine. In addition to donating their time, my friends also donated parts. It was all very much in the spirit of how it was done back in the ’50s. “The first car was literally built by a bunch of California backyard builders trying to emulate what was laid out in Road & Track,” Kaz continues. “It was not done with a five-axis machine, or by a clay modeller in a studio. Thank God Alton Johnson came by; I don’t think it’d ever have been finished if it wasn’t for him. Merrill Powell, who owned Victress, told me the kid was incredibly talented. He literally finished the buck and made the moulds himself. Just a handful of bodies were made. Only three are known to exist today – mine is the only finished car. “The provisional plans called for suicide doors, so I cut one side out that way and tried to get in. It didn’t go well. That’s when I understood why Johnson went with gullwing doors. It made more sense anyway to emulate the magazine cover car where possible. That’s the car I fell in love with all those years ago.” In keeping with the original call for a lightweight race machine, Kaz opted for aluminium wherever possible. Using it for the floors, seats, dash, radiator and even the fuel tank kept the all-in weight below 2000lb – add a driver, and it’s not far off Bond’s 2100lb ideal. The build was moving along reasonably well, but without any real urgency. That all changed in the first few days of January 2023, when Hacker suggested the coupe be entered into Pebble

Beach’s American Dream Cars of the 1950s class. Much to Kaz’s astonishment, the entry was accepted. However, with incomplete wiring and no trim, windscreen or paint, the pressure was really on to get it finished in the few months remaining before the mid-August concours. Despite the constraints, Kaz took his time with the interior, with genuinely cohesive and visually pleasing results. The lower instrument and switch panel, housing the fuel and other auxiliary gauges, came out of a TR3, while the centrepiece instrument dashboard is a bespoke unit bought off eBay from a guy who designed it for a ’32 Ford but never fitted it. When asked about the choice of colour, which appears black in low light but is actually black cherry metallic, Kaz credits Chip Fudge’s dislike of red cars for not echoing the 1960s cover star. “We laboured over the whole thing, trying to come up with something stunning. And then I had the car at EyesOn Design when it was still in black primer, and everyone said: ‘Oh, you gotta finish it in the black.’” The cherry fleck is a subtle homage to the earlier car. When it came to paint, Kaz happily accepted an offer from Bob Caruso and Bob Russo, partners in a highly respected Corvette restoration outfit in New Jersey, to apply it. Fortunately for Kaz and his build crew, it all came together in time for Pebble Beach. The car then went on display at the Petersen, as well as starred in Jay Leno’s Garage. Most recently, the Le Mans Coupe was shipped to The Amelia, where it was given a Class Award along with the Chief Judge’s Award. It’s set to return to Michigan for EyesOn Design, before a final showing at the Audrain Newport Concours. Says Kaz: “As I reflect on a build that took 3000 hours and just shy of two years to complete, I’m thankful for the unflinching support of all my friends and my lovely wife. It was hard, but it’s been great. When I was having a difficult time figuring stuff out, it was Geoff who kept pushing me, saying: ‘You gotta keep going, because you’ll never own a car as important as this.’ “He was 100 percent right. It has become increasingly clear that it’s not just about the car, but also about an exceptional educator and his wonderful design. I built this car, and it’s brought some prominence to me, and people have enjoyed it – but it’s also brought Strother’s name back into the spotlight. I’m thrilled that Mac’s dream and his legacy live on, as they should.” Thanks to the Petersen Automotive Museum. Current exhibits include automobiles from GM’s Motorama shows of 1949-61. www.petersen.org.

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on eof sa sF ord ’s le gen dary Musta ng? We’ve corralled 50 of the wildest examples of the pony car breed Words Richard Heseltine

KHM Motor Warszawa THE Mustang has attracted the attention of numerous coachbuilders, but none enraged Ford quite like this Polish offering. KHM Motor Warszawa had form when it came to reinterpreting Eastern European products of old for a hip new audience. This 2018 iteration was something else entirely. Taking a 2016 Mustang as a basis, the ‘hard points’ remained but the body was reclad – the oddest part being the rear end, which housed Mercedes-Benz lights. The car was unveiled at the Economic Forum in Krynica, and its maker proclaimed that Ford had been involved in the scheme from the outset. The Blue Oval’s legal raptors descended shortly thereafter.

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Clive Sutton CS800

Classic Design Concepts

Shinoda

LID

A BRITISH ‘tuner’ Mustang? Introduced in 2017, the Clive Sutton CS800 started as a regular sixth-series model that boasted a ‘mere’ 416bhp. By the time his team was finished, the donor car’s 5.0litre V8 packed a stage-two Whipple blower and a raft of other go-quicker bits, the result being an elephantine 825bhp. To put it into perspective, that was more than a Ferrari 812 Superfast. Traction permitting, it was purportedly good for 0-60mph in less than 4.0sec, onto an eventual 195mph. And the price? Comfortably north of £100k by the time you’d ticked a few options.

GEORGE Huisman dreamed up a fifth-gen Mustang makeover that did away with the car’s metal roof, replacing it with a fixed glass panel. The Classic Design Concepts Glassback comprised two layers of structural safety glass sandwiching UVabsorbent material. This arrangement was developed by Solutia Automotive, which provided glazing to OEMs – the prototype being among a gazillion modded Mustangs exhibited at the 2005 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show. It was the one that garnered the most attention, although plans to make more examples failed to take flight.

LARRY Shinoda’s name is writ large in Mustang lore, not least because he was responsible for the look of the Boss 302. However, exiled from Ford in late 1969, he set up on his own as a freelancer – successfully so. His moniker still had currency in Mustang circles, too: witness the release of the Boss 302 Shinoda package for the fourth-gen strain in 1994. Changes were mostly cosmetic, not least the distinctive graphics, chin spoiler, rear aerofoil and window louvres, blankedoff side scoops and Shinodadesigned Budnik wheels.

KAR Kraft was ostensibly a standalone firm, but it had only one customer – Ford. It was the Blue Oval’s de facto skunkworks. The LID – Low Investment Drivetrain – was constructed using a 1969 Mach 1 SportsRoof fastback as a donor car, with a 429ci V8 and a C6 automatic ’box being turned around and installed over the rear-axle centreline. The basic tenet of the experiment was to address the poor weight distribution of models such as the Boss 429. However, the single test hack didn’t cover itself in glory, and it was reportedly scrapped. Rumours persist that it may have escaped the crusher...

INTRODUCED at the 2023 SEMA show, the FP800S concept dropped a sizable hint at the official go-faster package for the seventh-gen Mustang that will be offered soon; or rather, bits of it will. The car’s Coyote V8 received a Whipple blower and all manner of trick bits from the Ford Performance catalogue, the end product being a boost in horsepower from the standard 480-486bhp (depending on exhaust) to somewhere north of 800bhp. Throw in a lot of carbonfibre ‘aero’ bits (how they aid aerodynamics is a source of conjecture) and a groundskimming ride, and you have a modern-day muscle car.

Tjaarda Design

TOM Tjaarda was one of the all-time styling greats, his resume including the first-gen Ford Fiesta, the De Tomaso Pantera and the Ferrari 330 GT 2+2. This Tjaarda Design 700T was created in 2008 in alliance with HST Automotive. Taking the Shelby GT500 as a starting point, power was increased to 700bhp, while the body received carbonfibre panels with visual tweaks by the great man. The 700T also earned a promotional boost of sorts via its admittedly brief appearance in the Fast & Furious franchise. Tjaarda subsequently lent his name to a restomod 1960s Mustang.

Quarter Horse

Sportiva II

THE pair of Quarter Horse prototypes were sometimes referred to within Ford as ‘Composite Mustangs’. Kar Kraft was given a pair of Boss 429s in 1969, and told to have at it. Ford was eager to slim down the number of performance offerings to something manageable and, given that the licensing agreement with Carroll Shelby was coming to an end, it made sense to devise a ‘one size fits all’ replacement. Et voilà, these bitsas featured Shelby GT500 front ends, blanked-off bonnet scoops, Mercury Cougar dashboards and more besides. Nothing came of the scheme, though.

THE arrival of the Mustang II in September 1973 came as a shock to fans of the original (it wasn’t that far removed from an electric SUV being branded with the once-proud horsey logo half a century later). However, a downsized Mustang made sense amid the gloom of the Oil Shock. Ford was to offer two bodystyles – a two-door notchback and a three-door hatch – but decided to give customers a foretaste of what was to come via this one-of-kind Targaroofed variant. Based upon a pre-production shell, it was exhibited in summer ’73, but has long since vanished.

Lithium PI MOTORSPORTS

FP800S

AN intriguing mix of the old and the new, the Lithium was built for the 2019 SEMA show in association with Webasto. It was a rolling laboratory for the German firm’s line of modular vehicle batteries and charging systems. It was reputedly good for as much as 900bhp and 1000lb ft of torque, too. That said, Ford’s press release was heavy on exclamatory guff but conspicuously light on specifics. The intriguing part, though, was the use of a six-speed manual ’box. The motoring media wondered why this had been employed here, but not on that year’s Shelby GT500 production car.

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Bullitt Concept GIVEN the fervour for all things related to Steve McQueen, it was inevitable that Ford would create a concept car with Bullitt overtones. Based on a Mustang GT, and unveiled at the 2000 Los Angeles Auto Show, it aped the light customisation of the original film car (or rather, cars). Changes were cosmetic rather than structural. Such was the response, Ford decided to put the Bullitt GT into limited production a year later. However, it differed from the concept car in several areas, not least the grille design. The rear bumper and wheels were also dissimilar.

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Tasca 505

ONE of the leading names in performance Fords during the 1960s, Bob Tasca was a hugely successful dealer and entrant in motor sport. His influence stretched to the creation of various Ford quarter-mile weapons, such as the 427 Fairlanes and A/FX Mustangs. He also initiated this bespoke ’Stang, which was garlanded with praise in period, appearing in umpteen magazines. The Tasca 505 was built by Alexander Brothers, with the front end featuring rectangular Cibie headlights while the rear was lengthened to accommodate a full-width light panel. The car’s smallblock V8 was stroked to 325ci and allegedly produced 505bhp.

Burbuja

WHILE the Mustang in all its many flavours is considered a blue-collar performance car, it is viewed differently south of the border. In Mexico, it is perceived as being more aspirational, and Ford tailored its wares accordingly. Cars based on the Fox platform, for example, received something of a mix ’n’ match makeover, borrowing parts from the Mercury Capri, which shared the same platform. These included the expansive rear glasshouse, hence the nickname Burbuja (bubble). The 1980s cars also had more power than their northern cousins, in part due to the deletion of some of the smog equipment.

Iacocca THE awkwardly named Lee Iacocca Silver 45th Anniversary Edition remains the only officially approved coachbuilt Mustang of the modern era. Based on a fifth-gen S197 model, and named after the man who acted as midwife to the Mustang in 1964, it was the work of Gaffoglio Family Metalcrafters. The California outfit reworked the familiar outline with recessed headlights, a canted grille, bespoke badging (designed by Iacocca himself) and a lot more besides. The rear-end treatment, meanwhile, was meant to evoke the croppedtail fastback Mustangs of old. A run of 45 cars was mooted, Iacocca’s own being auctioned in 2020. It made ‘only’ $49,280.

Automobili Intermeccanica

SCROLL back to the early 1980s, and there was no convertible in the Mustang line-up. Into the breach stepped Automobili Intermeccanica, formerly of Turin but latterly based in California. It received Ford’s blessing to produce a rag-top variant of the third-gen pony car, the end product going on sale in 1981 with a list price of $14,000 – more than double that of a regular coupe. Even so, the CABRIO (the use of upper case was Automobili Intermeccanica’s) found custom, but the firm’s 1982 move to Vancouver, Canada saw Ford switch allegiance to Cars & Concepts for convertible conversions.

34 33

FR500 Concept

ANOTHER SEMA show car, this 1999 monster was an in-house Ford makeover rather than an aftermarket offering. It started out as a challenge from director of Ford Racing Technology, Dan Davis. He tasked his engineers with creating “…the ultimate high-performance Mustang”, which employed go-quicker bits created within the Ford Racing Performance Parts department. Powered by a breathed-on 4.6-litre ‘modular’ V8, it produced 415bhp at 6800rpm. The partially carbonfibre-skinned FR500 was capable of 175mph flat-out and 12sec quartermile times. A second car was also made, the nomenclature being revived years down the line for a ‘turn-key’ racer.

IMSA

GT-R Concept

FORD created several show cars with styling inspired by its participation in assorted International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) classes. Devised by Ford’s Special Features Studio, and built in 1979, this racy offering emerged at the following year’s Chicago Auto Show. The third-gen Mustang makeover comprised fat arches that covered the Pirelli P7-clad deep-dish Gotti alloys, a blanked-off grille, massive front and rear spoilers and a ‘shaker’ bonnet scoop with additional louvres. Painted in pearlescent silver with oh-so-period graphics, it hinted at the forthcoming McLaren M81 makeover. Power came courtesy of a turbocharged 2.3-litre four-cylinder engine that produced a giddying 132bhp.

WITH this 2005 show machine, Ford aimed to remind the world of the original Mustang’s on-track prowess. Based on a fifthseries variant, the car emulated the look of the Bud Moore Boss 302 models made famous by the likes of Parnelli Jones in Trans-Am at the dawn of the 1970s. The ground-hugging front and rear splitters provided the correct reference points, as did the side-exiting exhausts. Painted in Valencia Orange, which emulated the original Trans-Am cars’ Grabber Orange, the partially carbonfibre-bodied machine was sold at auction five years later for $110,000.

Shelby GT350 Convertible

GT Enduro

THE original Shelby GT350 was – and remains – a legend in Mustang lore. Variations on the theme served at the vanguard of Ford’s Total Performance programme, but a convertible version was conspicuously missing from the original line-up. One would finally be offered to the public in 1968. However, that isn’t to say cars weren’t made prior to that. In 1966, Carroll Shelby initiated the build of four rag-top GT350s with the regular upgrades expected of the model. Examples were offered to family and friends thereafter. Each was a different colour, but all featured the obligatory Shelby racing stripes.

ONE of the racier concepts from the 1980s, the GT Enduro borrowed cues from the IMSA racer that had a so-so circuit career in 1980-81. The GT Enduro employed a 5.0-litre V8 equipped with all manner of tuning parts. Power was transmitted to the rear wheels via a five-speed Borg-Warner ’box, the suspension being upgraded with Koni dampers, stiffer springs and chunkier anti-roll bars. The wild glassfibre add-ons and BBS wheels lent it a purposeful look, and this 1982 show car spawned two further replicas. Ford displayed them across the country to coincide with the Rousch team’s IMSA appearances.

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RM SOTHEBY’S / MECUM AUCTIONS / FMC ARCHIVES / BRING A TRAILER

Top 50 Mustangs

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OSI

ARRIGO Olivetti (of typewriter fame) and Ghia’s Luigi Segre formed Officine Stampaggi Industriali (OSI) in 1960. Its relationship with Italy’s Ford concessionaire spawned the Anglia 105E-based Torino. This led to the Ford of Colognesponsored 20M TS coupe, which foretold the Capri. Who first conceived the OSI Mustang is lost to history, but this 1965 car was more than a mere rebodying exercise. While retaining the donor’s 271bhp V8, its wheelbase was shortened and it also featured a marginally narrower track. Much of the platform was cut away and replaced with a tubular, semi-spaceframe structure. This offering also boasted independent rear suspension. The big news, however, was the outline. OSI’s brave new world didn’t share even a passing resemblance to the car that bore it, save for the badges. Not only that, but it was bodied in glassfibre.

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Zagato

Ghia RSX

GIVEN that most things Shelby related have been written about ad infinitum, it’s strange that this Latininfused GT350 is lost to obscurity. It seems Shelby American dispatched the donor car to Milan in January 1966, with a stopover by way of Ford Advanced Vehicles in Slough. It’s said Carroll wanted to see what Zagato could come up with ahead of possibly producing the car in 1967. Whatever the truth, the coachbuilder reworked the nose, lengthening the bonnet to slope forward and adding rectangular ‘European lights’. The biggest deviation, however, was the panoramic one-piece rear glazing. Inside, the dash was also reworked and the gauges repositioned. The Zagato model was displayed at the 1966 Turin Motor Show, and then seemingly disappeared into the ether. According to a much-repeated internet story, the car was discovered in a scrapyard in 1974 and now resides in Switzerland. A second, non-Shelby Mustang was later converted, but it retained its standard roof.

THIS retrospectively reviled Ghia offering was nevertheless well received in period. Based on the Fox platform with 5.6in removed from the wheelbase, the Rallye Sport Experimental was on point stylistically for 1979 thanks to its geometric outline. Ford’s Italian studio went for broke here, with doors that appeared to be made entirely of glass. This trick was achieved by bonding black-tinted Plexiglas to the lower panels. Small hinged sections were sunk into the fixed side glazing. Meanwhile, the aerofoil was moulded from laminated glass and integrated into the rear screen and tailgate. It supposedly aided stability at high speed. Given that the car was packing a 2.3-litre four-pot, ‘high speed’ is a relative term. Studio head Filippo Sapino said at the time: “Although the Mustang RSX is a design which is directed principally towards fuel conservation, a most important part of our brief was to retain the Mustang’s traditional personal and sporting appeal, so that it remains a vehicle which is still fun to drive.”

ABOVE Super Stallion was created by the Special Vehicle Team in 1997.

THE 1990s witnessed an abundance of one-off muscle cars from within Ford, but this multi-hued confection wasn’t orientated towards the quarter mile alone. Nor was it a mere ‘pushmobile’, in concept parlance. It was fully functional – and designed to go around corners fast, too. Created by the Special Vehicle Team in 1997, this partially carbonfibre-skinned Mustang aimed to be the perfect allrounder. It also had ‘green’ credentials; power came from a Garrett supercharged, alcohol-fed 5.4-litre V8. Distinct from the neolithic suspension design of other Mustangs, here was a fully independent pushrod rear end. All-round disc brakes were ‘Indy style’, too, according to PR blurb from the time. Packing 590bhp, the model was reputedly good for 0-60mph in 4.2sec, and 175mph outright. In a nod to custom car tradition, the door handles were shaved and the rear bumper was bobbed. What’s more, the graphics were dreamed up by Mustang legend Larry Shinoda.

Shelby Europa GT500

THIS curio was conceived by Belgian dealer Claude Dubois – a Works driver for a variety of marques, and also a concessionaire for the likes of De Tomaso and Shelby American. 1970 saw Ford end its association with Carroll Shelby, much to the chagrin of Dubois, who was good friends with the Texan. Enter the Europa GT500, which was announced at the January 1971 Brussels Motor Show with Shelby on hand (he had licensed out his surname). Cars were based on the Mach 1 SportsRoof, with the choice of a 351ci small-block or a Cobra Jet big-block. Donors were sourced from Detroit dealer Bob Ford, and standard kit stretched to adjustable ‘racing-style’ Koni shocks. Throw in slot-mags, spoilers and go-faster stripes, and it looked the ticket. No two cars were alike, and one featured a 429ci V8, while at least three convertibles were also made.

Mach 2 STRICTLY speaking, this wasn’t a Mustang per se, but it was rooted in the pony car. In 1966, Ford’s Advanced Concepts Department set about creating a feasibility study for a mid-engined, twoseater sports car that would take cues from the Mustang and also the GT40. This was at the height of the Blue Oval’s Total Performance era, let’s not forget. Ford had the Corvette in its sights, and was eager to vanquish ‘America’s Only Sports Car’ in the showroom and on the track. Three prototypes were mapped out: the Mach 2A was a non-runner, while Machs 2B and 3B ran and used reconfigured Mustang platforms. The red car was built to a high standard and evaluated by media outlets. The white, competition-spec car was endurance tested at race speeds. All were engineered by Ford’s long-time partner Kar Kraft. No production variant came to pass, but Ford persisted with other Mach prototypes during the 1970s.

Ferguson Research

LONG before Audi turned rallying on its head with the Quattro, Ferguson Research blazed an all-wheel-drive trail. This culminated in Jensen licensing its patents for the FF. Intriguingly, though, Ford had thought along similar lines, because it shipped two notchbacks to Ferguson in 1965 – one remaining standard to act as a baseline, the other being converted accordingly. The Coventry firm’s clever AWD set-up resulted in a torque split of 37 percent to the front, 62 percent to the rear. This gave superior traction, and was reportedly more stable under hard cornering. Even so, there was clearly no appetite for a production variant. That wasn’t quite the end of the story, though, because Ford’s US and British counterparts continued to work with Ferguson. Another all-wheeldrive prototype appeared in Motor in February 1968.

Fastback Concept WE deliberately steered clear of including race cars and hot rods here. Why? We’d fill several magazines. We have stuck to factory show queens, coachbuilts and ultra-limited series offerings. However, this car limbos under the wire by dint of it being a gen’wine concept, albeit one based on an older model. In true hotrodding tradition, the Ford Racing Performance Parts division took a 1965 Mustang and inserted a modern 5.0litre Cammer V8. Dress-up parts included four twobarrel downdraught Webers for that full classic vibe. This was allied to a Tremac five-speed ’box, while the suspension was also reworked. The body, meanwhile, was only lightly massaged, the bonnet bulge, BBS wheels and bespoke badges being the most obvious additions. The Fastback Concept was a major draw at the 2003 SEMA show, this being tantalisingly close to a car you could build at home. For better or worse, this factory hot rod effectively ushered in the restomod movement as we know it.

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TAMPA BAY AUTOMOBILE MUSEUM / RAUNO HARVIMA AND WOLFGANG KOHRN

Super Stallion

Italdesign

Shelby GT500 Convertible

RESPLENDENT in searing orange, the Mustang Giugiaro burned retinas following its reveal at the 2006 LA Auto Show. The firm’s co-founder Giorgetto Giugiaro had form when it came to reworking pony cars during his stint at Bertone, but this distinctive coupe was by son Fabrizio. Its signature feature was its one-piece, single-pane glass roof, which pre-dated Telsa’s modern-day arrangement. It also employed scissor doors. The car’s outline was clearly rooted in its fifth-gen Mustang donor, but it seemed stubbier thanks to its smaller overhangs. It was also overtly tapered, to the point that it was 1.2in wider at the front than the production Mustang, and 3.1in at the rear. The cabin had aluminium and orange leather trim, while mechanical upgrades included lower springs and stiffer anti-roll bars, plus a twin-screw supercharger. Far from being ‘just’ a show car, it was used by Giugiaro Jr as his personal transport for a spell.

OF all the Shelby Mustangs produced in 1967, only one was a convertible. It shouldn’t still exist, either. That it does is down to a curious chain of events, say some sources. This one-off was created inside Shelby American as a prototype. It featured all of the contemporary visual and performance upgrades expected of a normal GT500, not least the 428ci Cobra Jet V8. The car was then pressed into service by Carroll Shelby, as a replacement for his 1966 GT350 convertible. It was subsequently borrowed by umpteen Ford executives, but vanished in the summer of 1967. It was reportedly stolen while on loan, only to reappear much later on – which would explain why it escaped the fate of many Ford prototypes (a visit to the crusher). However, a separate narrative suggests that it was merely assigned to someone senior in the marketing department for an ad campaign. It was then quietly sold off. Whatever the truth, it remains one of the rarest of Shelby products. And the most valuable.

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Monroe Handler

THE Mustang II’s anaemic performance, regardless of engine, upset the muscle car faithful. However, there was always the aftermarket. The Monroe Handler was variously a promotional weapon and a magazine project vehicle. It also employed third-partymade body panels inspired by contemporary racing cars. It was created to promote Handler shocks, Monroe joining forces with Hot Rod to build a show car. That said, this was no trailer queen; it had backing from the likes of Ford, BF Goodrich, Motorola, Center Line and so on. Jack Roush, for his part, provided a stroked 363ci Windsor small-block that produced around 400bhp. The body, meanwhile, was restyled by Dave Kent. Although the first car was all-steel, the six subsequent Handler ‘clones’ sported an eight-piece glassfibre panel kit made by Creative Car Craft.

Zebra

McLaren M81

SELF-anointed King of Kustomizers, George Barris, was tasked with creating a brace of cars for Marriage on the Rocks. This 1965 romp starred Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin as advertising execs who, in one of the various subplots, are tasked with conjuring up a campaign for a mythical car company. The film featured this wild Mustang and a brutal-looking Thunderbird roadster. The former was given a Targa-style roof – minus a lift-off panel, leaving the occupants up front open to the elements. The prospect of rain clearly didn’t enter into the filmmakers’ minds, because various body parts were covered in a furlike material that mimicked a zebra’s stripes. The colour combo continued inside, this one-of-a-kind Mustang also featuring a TV sited beneath the dash, and a cocktail cabinet. Power, meanwhile, came from a 289ci V8. The car in the film was assigned to Nancy Sinatra (she played the daughter of Frank’s character, shock). However, it appeared only fleetingly, and she was never behind the wheel.

ONE of the more obscure go-faster Mustangs, the M81 nevertheless received plenty of positive ink when launched in 1980. McLaren’s US arm had form working with OEMs, not least fielding factory BMWs in IMSA, and the idea here was to inject a little excitement into the Fox Mustang, showcasing Ford’s own tuning parts while adding McLaren sparkle. In principle, it wasn’t a million miles removed from the ethos behind the Shelby Mustangs of old. A limited run of 249 cars would be offered at $25,000. For that, customers would receive a pony car with blistered arches, a power bulge and spoilers from Creative Car Craft, plus BBS wheels, Recaro seats, Stewart-Warner gauges and so on. The M81 used the regular 2.3-litre fourcylinder turbo, but each unit was stripped, balanced, blueprinted and reassembled by McLaren. There was also a higher (and variable) turbo boost, the driver being able to adjust it from 5psi to 11psi. However, only ten cars were made before the project stalled.

Top 50 Mustangs

Shelby de Mexico 18

ABOVE McLaren M81 injected more excitement into the Fox Mustang, but in the end only ten were built.

CARROLL Shelby was acutely aware of his surname’s cachet, and he pimped it mercilessly. The creation of Shelby-ised Mustangs south of the border was a bit more involved, though. The story began in 1966, when Eduardo Velazquez began offering Shelby goquicker parts in Mexico. This led to the production of Shelby Mustangs, sold via selected Ford dealers. However, given that Mustangs assembled by Ford of Mexico comprised only one bodystyle – a notchback coupe – Shelby de Mexico offerings were limited in scope. Nevertheless, 169 were made in 1967, rising to 203 in 1968, and 306 in 1969. In ’69, Shelby de Mexico began offering a peculiar own-brand bodystyle with the front end of a Mustang GT and glassfibre rear roof pillars that lent it the look of a fastback (sort of). Its tail treatment echoed that of contemporary US Shelby Mustangs. Velazquez offered all manner of modded Mustangs to 1972, in addition to a Shelby Ford Maverick.

Roush Super Mustang

Boss 10.0L Concept

JACK Roush and the Mustang go back to the 1960s, the latterday tuning god and race team owner having left an indelible imprint on the model’s back story. Originally a major force in drag racing, his quarter-mile ’Stangs were legendary. From the 1980s, he set the bar impossibly high in Trans-Am and IMSA. As such, you’d imagine the Worksbacked name would’ve been a natural fit for an official ‘tuner’ Mustang. However, his first offering from 1988 was greeted with little enthusiasm from within the corridors of power. The two-years-in-themaking Super Mustang (aka Performance Leader Mustang) packed a twin-turbo version of the 351ci Windsor V8 that was still in production via Ford’s truck division. It died a death, but Rousch regrouped – and since 1995 his name has been applied to a raft of factorybacked high-end Mustangs, some reaching nearly 800bhp.

THE definition of ‘it ain’t done ’til it’s overdone’, this 1994 creation was a pure quarter-mile weapon. Ford’s retort to Chevrolet’s Camaro ZR1 concept appeared not unlike most fourth-series SN95 Mustangs, save for the stickers and the bonnet bulge. The cabin also looked much like that of any other entrylevel model. However, it used a 9.9-litre V8 rooted in an allaluminium 429ci SVO unit, with a three-speed C6 ’box. It was intended to be a dualpurpose car; one that could be driven to the drags before putting in blistering times. It did that and more, managing mid-tens at 135mph. Not even limited production was planned, but the 10.0L did provide the kernel of an idea. To answer pent-up demand for an off-the-peg Mustang dragster, in 2008 Ford revived the Cobra Jet tag for a NHRAcertified blunt instrument.

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BRIAN STYLES / MECUM AUCTIONS / PETERSEN MUSEUM

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Top 50 Mustangs

RM SOTHEBY’S / MECUM AUCTIONS / HYMAN LTD

Mach I

Saleen SSC

OF countless styling studies produced early on in the Mustang narrative, this 1966 offering was one of the few that saw daylight. It was also one of the sexiest. The squat, two-seater fastback featured umpteen racer reference points, not least the twin Monza-style filler-caps and fixed side glazing with sliding slots. The roof ‘chop’ was pure custom, though. The frontend treatment, particularly the grille, predicted the 1969 Mustang bodystyle, while the rear hatch would be employed on the 1974 Mustang II. Initial renderings suggested it was powered by a 427ci big-block V8 – some sources insisting that it definitely was. However, just to add to the confusion, a second show car bearing the Mach I moniker was built a year later. It purportedly had the same drivetrain, and the body was near identical, too, save for some frontal tweaks that foretold the 1968 bodystyle. As to whether either car was driveable, we have our doubts (we have yet to see pics of them moving).

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STEVE Saleen is inextricably linked with the Mustang. The racing driver formed Saleen Autosport in 1983, tuning three pony cars that same year. Since then, the converter turned manufacturer has put his name to everything from tweaked Teslas to (whisper it!) the Chevrolet Camaro, but his early offerings are now very sought after. The official Saleen Mustang package arrived in 1985 with all manner of aero, suspension and trim upgrades. Then, in April 1989, to mark the Mustang’s 25th year, the Ford-blessed SSC moved Saleen up a gear. It had a reworked 290bhp 5.0-litre V8 engine, suspension tweaks, a bodykit and an Oxford White livery with yellow and grey stripes. Its 149mph top speed came at a price, though: a thumping $36,500, which placed this 1980s muscle car in rarefied company.

Mustang III Shorty

Eleanor

DUBBED the Mustang III, but better known as Shorty, this stubby oddball was based on a pre-production ‘pilot’ convertible made ahead of the Mustang’s big reveal for 1964. It went under the knife after designer Vince Gardner pitched a short-wheelbase fixed-head variant. The donor machine’s chassis was abbreviated by 18in, while the bodywork aft of the bulkhead was largely new. Shorty spent nearly a year touring the US as part of the Ford Custom Car Caravan. It also appeared in the likes of Custom Craft and Motor Trend. Once it was deemed to be no longer of use, an edict came down from on high to scrap it. The story then took a turn for the improbable: Shorty was stolen from the Dearborn Steel Tubing facility where it had been constructed. The insurers paid out, but later instructed private investigators to trace the car. They eventually located it in the loft of Gardner’s workshop; he’d been so distraught at the prospect of it being destroyed, he’d ‘saved’ it.

THE Mustang has been a regular on the silver screen ever since Goldfinger. The pony car also took a central starring role in the original Gone in 60 Seconds, the 1974 film that comprised mostly of an epic car chase. The execrable 2000 reboot would be unremembered save for its hero car – a gussied-up 1967 fastback depicted as a customised GT500 (the bodykit was designed by Steve Stanford). It is included here because the aftermarket began offering replicas, Carroll Shelby among them. He entered into a licensing agreement with a Texas outfit to create Eleanor clones. What happened thereafter gets a bit murky. To cut a long story short by missing out a whole lot of pertinent information, some customers got stiffed. On top of all that, lawsuits flew back and forth between Shelby and Denice Halicki (whose late husband Toby envisaged the original film) over copyright infringement. All this aside, Eleanor remains one of the most influential and popular Mustangs of them all.

Boss 351 Concept

IT seems so improbable when viewed in retrospect. News emerged in 2004 that Ford had built a V10-engined retort to the Viper and Corvette ZO6 based on a fourth-gen Mustang. At first, it was assumed that a 6.8-litre Triton unit had been appropriated from the truck line-up, but no. It wouldn’t fit. So what, precisely, lay under the bonnet was a mystery. It isn’t as though this was an official Ford concept-cumprototype. Instead, it was a top-secret afterhours project built by a group of engineers from the Powertrain Research and Advanced Engine Development department. In its simplest form, they took an existing 4.6-litre V8 and added two more cylinders to produce a 351ci/5.8-litre V10. The upshot was that this unique engine was inserted in a 1999 Mustang Cobra R test hack to create a 426bhp missile; one that could run 11sec quarter miles all day.

9 ABOVE 1993’s Mach III concept foretold styling cues expected on the new-for1994 Mustang.

Mach III

Sonny & Cher

FORD unveiled this concept queen at the Los Angeles Auto Show in January 1993. The car foretold styling cues expected on the new-for-1994 strain although, truth be told, there weren’t many. What’s more, it left a few fans worried about what the future held. The car’s rounded form led some arbiters of beauty to label it a ‘jellybean’ in print, but there were as many fans as detractors. The concept’s key feature was its low-cut screen and swollen flanks; bits that made the cut in the production car comprised the headlight arrangement, the side scoops and the badge sited in the grille. Power came from a supercharged 4.6-litre V8 that allegedly produced 450bhp. According to the factory figures, it was capable of 180mph. Inside, driver and passenger sat in individual binnacles separated by a bodycoloured console. The car’s searing red hue subsequently made way for a murky shade of green that changed to yellow in certain lights. The Mach III later formed part of the infamous Christies’ Ford concept sale in 2002. It sold for $491,500.

IT’S hard to comprehend just how popular Sonny & Cher were in the 1960s. They were everywhere. Such hip and groovy spouses deserved equally flamboyant cars, and the never knowingly under-promoted George Barris was on hand to tailor Mustangs to suit their own particular style. The level of official Ford involvement remains unclear, but we assume the firm would have been delighted to have such high-visibility personalities seen driving its products. As such, the 1966 rag-tops may have been supplied gratis. Both were 289ci V8 autos with broadly similar physical makeovers. The signature look was the rectangular Lucas headlamps – a Barris constant during the 1960s. Sonny Bono’s car was painted Murano Gold, Cher’s Hot Candy Pink, while both Mustangs featured farout fur-lined cabins. Oh, and a driver’s seat that swivelled – not forgetting an eighttrack stereo. Both still exist, too, and they remain as a pair.

Intermeccanica

THIS handsome steed was built in 1965 for the JWT ad agency. Stylist Robert Cumberford penned the car, with PR guru Barney Clark helping finalise the shape. A notchback Mustang was then delivered to Costruzione Automobili Intermeccanica in Turin, where artisans set about interpreting Cumberford’s renderings into something three-dimensional. It was a beautifully executed operation, the flat roof appearing to be one long, uninterrupted piece. In reality, it was two welded panels. The tailgate integrated four of the six rear light lenses, along with the donor’s original screen. The prototype was so well finished, it looked like a production car. It was even a Car & Driver cover star, but a degree of not-inventedhere enmity stopped Ford short of embracing it.

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BARRETT-JACKSON

Milano

Automobile Quarterly

ONE of the great Mustang show cars, the Milano was unveiled at the 1970 Chicago Auto Show. It foretold the following year’s production line-up, albeit in exaggerated fashion. For starters, it was a hatchback. What’s more, it was based on a 1970 SportsRoof coupe rather than created from scratch, the donor car having been extensively reconfigured. Its headlights were hidden behind a grille-cum-air vent arrangement, while the ‘chopped’ look was aided by the 67º windscreen rake, the peak being situated 7.5in lower than the donor’s. Out back, a warning-light system changed colour when the car was accelerating, coasting or braking. Vivid ‘ultraviolet’ paint and cast-aluminium wheels completed the look. Inside, the cabin was partially trimmed in purple leather with blue-violet cloth inserts, not forgetting the deep purple mohair carpets. The car was purportedly scrapped at the end of its show career.

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THE man behind this one-off was Automobile Quarterly founder L Scott Bailey, who conceived a magazine project car following a conversation with Nuccio Bertone and his stylist Giorgetto Giugiaro at the 1964 Paris Motor Show. A red, 289ci V8 fastback was then procured and sent to Italy, where it underwent a substantial makeover. Giugiaro produced an exotic outline with his trademark slim pillars and expansive glasshouse look. The only body parts carried over were the grille mascot (itself modified) and the filler cap. The interior, meanwhile, was trimmed in tobacco vinyl, with factory Rally-Pac gauges in a bespoke console. Metallic turquoise paint and Giugiarodesigned, Campagnolo magnesium-alloy wheels finished it off. The Bertone Mustang was met with much hoopla when unveiled at the 1965 New York Motor Show.

Green Hornet THERE have been umpteen one-off Shelby offerings, and you could argue that this particular car’s outsized reputation is out of kilter for a prototype. After all, most test hacks end up being scrapped. This one, however, has rarely been out of the public eye from the moment it was created in 1968. The basis for the car was a regular Mustang coupe that left the production line in Dearborn, only to then be earmarked for use as a donor vehicle. Project EXP 500 received a fuel-injected 428ci Cobra Jet big-block V8, a C6 three-speed slushbox, four-wheel disc brakes, grille-mounted Marchal foglamps and Thunderbird

rear clusters. Then there was its signature feature, one-off dark green paint in place of the original Lime Gold. Depending on whose version of history you believe, it was Carroll Shelby’s pal (and Cobra owner) Bill Cosby who coined the nickname Green Hornet. It was sold to a Ford employee in 1971. An ostensibly similar sister car known as Little Red also still exists: it was found derelict in a field in Texas in 2018.

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Mustang II

GT Coupe and Convertible Concepts

WHILE very much a show car, the Mustang II was close stylistically to the production model released in 1964. First seen publicly during the October 1963 US Grand Prix meeting at Watkins Glen, the model was similarly based on a Ford Falcon floorpan, and powered by a 289ci V8 engine taken from a Fairlane. The prototype – referred to internally as the Cougar, or by the less memorable X 8902-SB-208 – was built by Dearborn Steel Tubing. The car’s steel body emerged 5in longer and 3in lower than the eventual production Mustang, while glassfibre was used for some of the front and rear panels in addition to the detachable roof. The firm’s vice-president Lee Iacocca said at the time: “Our preliminary studies indicate that a car of this type could be built in this country to sell at a price of under $3000.” The Mustang II survived the scrapman’s torch by dint of Ford’s R&D department requesting it be used as a test mule. The car was donated to the Detroit Historical Society in 1975.

SURPRISED to see these 2003 show cars so high up the list? You shouldn’t be. We have become accustomed to the retro influences, perhaps even inured, but the press and public fell in love with this design 21 years ago. It’s easy to forget that the Mustang had taken a turn for the lame by then. It’s also worth pointing out how close the pony car came to being, shock horror, a reworked Mazda with a front-wheeldrive platform. Seriously, this was considered at board level. Instead, supporters inside the corridors of power held firm and looked to the past to map out the Mustang’s future. Unveiled at that year’s North American International Auto Show in Detroit, the fastback and convertible concepts proved to be the undoubted stars of the event. Both were created at the height of Ford’s retro-futurist period initiated by design chief J Mays, the Mustang outlines and interiors being mapped out within the Living Legends Studio in Dearborn and the California Design Center. Cues were appropriated from first-gen models spanning the 1967 fastback and the several Shelby machines. These included ingredients such as the flank-sited C-scoops, the

three-element rear lights, and the obligatory ‘galloping pony’ badge in the centre of the front grille. Intriguingly, some critics praised the car but lambasted Ford for tempting audiences with models it clearly had no intention of making. Surely, the new-for-2004 offerings would be severely watered down. They weren’t, with many of these concepts’ design cues being transferred intact to the production cars. And at a stroke, Mustangs were hip again. While the production equivalents weren’t necessarily brilliant drivers’ cars – it wasn’t only the looks that were retro – they maintained the Mustang’s relevance and attracted a new audience while they were at it. Not just in the US, either.

THE HENRY FORD

Top 50 Mustangs

Mustang I

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AS we all know by rote, the Ford Mustang proved an instant hit when introduced in 1964, its record-breaking sales success catching everyone off-guard. The thing is, it could have emerged somewhat different to the Ford Falcon-based machine we all know and love. For starters, the first car to wear the Mustang nameplate was mid-engined. What’s more, it was powered by a 1.7-litre four-banger borrowed from a humble Ford Taunus. But while the Mustang I may have been ‘only’ a concept, and one that went from preliminary sketch to fully functioning car in little more than three months, it cast a long shadow. It was Ford’s product planner Don Frey who first campaigned for sportier Fords. He could see that Chevrolet was making hay

thanks to its small-block V8, which had usurped the Ford flathead V8 as the hot rodders’ engine of choice. It also had the Corvette in its armoury. Ford had the Thunderbird but, by 1960, this was a mere boulevardier. Frey voiced his concerns to Henry Ford II, car and truck vice-president Robert McNamara, and the firm’s vice-presidents Gene Bordinat (design) and Herb Misch (engineering). They were receptive to his pleas, and the Blue Oval soon began churning out concept cars on an almost weekly basis. The breakthrough occurred in January 1962, when Bordinat asked competing styling chiefs to come up with concepts for a small sports car. The team of John Najjar, Jim Darden, Ray Smith and Phil Clark, working under senior

designer Bob Maguire, dreamed up the winning proposal. It is at this juncture that the story moved on apace, as studio engineer Ray Smith suggested the addition of flip-up headlights, a retractable licence plate, fixed seats, adjustable pedals and a telescopic steering wheel. All of these features were incorporated into the design, but the completed prototype was just a mock-up and looked set to remain that way. At least it was until the higher-ups decided they wanted to show the car moving under its own steam at the US Grand Prix meeting at Watkins Glen. The date was set for October 7, 1962, the squad having just 100 days to build something fit to be driven on track before the world’s media and the American public. Misch turned to Advanced Vehicles

manager Roy Lunn to spearhead the project. The car’s chassis was essentially a spaceframe affair complete with an integral roll bar, the powertrain and suspension mounts being welded directly to the framework. While the underpinnings were being readied in Detroit, the body was shaped and knitted together by legendary metal wielder Troutman & Barnes in LA (although California Metal Shaping of Culver City also rolled out some of the aluminium panels). The finished article weighed a mere 1544lb. Remarkably, Lunn and his team had the completed car out on track for the season-ending Formula 1 round in upstate New York. What’s more, it was driven to the venue by Grand Prix star Dan Gurney. And thus, the kernel of a legend was born.

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Market Watch: Buying a Lotus Esprit

Watches and art: Stone-dialled Rolex and Emma Capener

Automobilia: Art of the concept car styling sketch

Collecting: Sneakers – as collectable as cars!

Books and products: Latest must-reads and luxury goods

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M A R K E T WAT C H

Words Elliott Hughes Photography Magic Car Pics

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Lotus Esprit Giugiaro Once a flagship for the British brand, this junior supercar has never reached the collectability heights of its Italian contemporaries. That means you can still get a lot of bang for your buck – if you buy wisely

BY THE END OF 1970, LOTUS was at the peak of its powers. The combination of Colin Chapman’s genius design principles, and legendary drivers such as Jim Clark, Graham Hill and Emerson Fittipaldi, made Team Lotus one of the most successful outfits in Formula 1 history, while also becoming the first-ever British manufacturer to win the Indy 500. Yet Chapman wasn’t satisfied with merely beating his rivals on the track – his aim was to outpace them on the forecourts, too. This brings us to the 1971 Geneva Motor Show – an event that is now synonymous with the incredible Lamborghini Countach LP400 prototype designed by the late Marcello Gandini. As people gasped at the angular spaceship on Bertone’s stand, Chapman was deep in conversation with another renowned Italian designer, Giorgetto Giugiaro. Then working at Italdesign, Giugiaro sought to build a Lotusbased concept car to promote his ideas. His ambitions aligned with Chapman’s own desire to reposition his marque as a rival to Ferrari, so, only a few short weeks later, Italdesign received Giugiaro’s blank canvas in the form of a modified Lotus Europa chassis. The supplied platform was wider and longer than standard, and it had been modified to accommodate Lotus’ new Type 907 four-cylinder engine developed to power a new range of production cars. Company designer Oliver Winterbottom had already penned one such model – a sleek, wedgeshaped, two-seater coupé. The Giugiaro creation, however, was in a different league altogether. Giugiaro’s pièce de résistance, now referred to as the Silver Car, was presented at the Turin Motor Show in 1972, alongside the equally dramatic Maserati Boomerang. Chapman was adamant that the Silver Car was nothing more than a styling exercise, yet the public’s fervent reaction provided all the encouragement he needed to announce plans for production. Before manufacturing could commence, the newcomer had

ABOVE Extravagant ruched trim in this Essex edition was the most over the top of Esprit interiors. to have a proper name. Giugiaro originally wanted to christen the car Kiwi, but Chapman insisted that the moniker should follow the Lotus convention of beginning with the letter ‘E’. The pair eventually settled on Esprit, which is French for vivacious or sprightly; perfect for a lightweight, midengined sports car. The Esprit was supposed to hit showroom floors in 1974, but production obstacles, the Oil Crisis and financial problems meant the order book wasn’t open until 1976. Despite the protracted development schedule, the car still wasn’t truly ready, and the earliest examples were beset by quality, reliability and refinement issues. Road testers of the period complained that the Esprit was noisy, was poorly ventilated and overheated in hot weather. To make matters worse, the engine had a lumpy idle, and delivered less performance in the real world than what was written on the spec sheet. Yet, despite these early criticisms, the Esprit went on to become one of the Hethel, Norfolk marque’s most iconic models. It was built for nearly three decades, before production finally petered out in 2004. That’s because the recipe for the car’s success was present from the outset: jawdropping

styling and excellent handling. Combine these attributes with the Esprit’s appearance in the 1977 James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me, and you can see why Chapman and Giugiaro’s dream became the icon it is today. Unsurprisingly, Esprit sales skyrocketed after the 007 movie premiered – but the timely release of an updated version, the S2, in 1978 addressed many of the early car’s foibles. It got new camshaft profiles that provided a useful torque bump, the Fiat X1/9 rear lights were replaced by those from a Rover SD1, and the front spoiler was elegantly incorporated into the bumper. The upgraded interior got wider seats, better ventilation and revised instruments. In 1980, Lotus increased the stroke of its Type 907 powerplant’s crank to create the Esprit S2.2. Output was unchanged, but torque rose from 140lb/ft to 160lb/ft, while the backbone chassis was now improved with the use of galvanised steel. The S2.2 was effectively a stopgap model, however, as a matter of months later came the most significant update to the model so far: the S3 and Turbo Esprit. Forced induction increased the Turbo Esprit’s output from 160bhp to 210bhp, which meant that, finally, the car had the potency to match its handling prowess. A strengthened, galvanised chassis was widened to accommodate

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the future use of a V8 engine, and was complemented by reworked suspension and a more luxuriously appointed cabin. Giugiaro also restyled the sleek bodywork to incorporate the necessary cooling inlets and spoilers required by the new levels of performance. The bump in power, and the refinements made to the chassis, suspension and trim, were well received by the motoring media. The improvements also meant that the British car could go toeto-toe with junior supercar rivals such as the Lamborghini Jalpa and Ferrari 308/328. In 1981, an Esprit starred in another 007 film, For Your Eyes Only, and the Turbo was on its way to the US; it was eventually Type Approved for the North American market in 1983. Lotus seemed to be on the ascendency. Unfortunately, this brief halcyon period came to an abrupt end when Colin Chapman suddenly

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and tragically passed away in 1982. Rocked by the demise of its visionary founder, Lotus’ fortunes plummeted as the 1980s wore on, leaving the model range in a stagnant state with no development and little direction. One consolation was the launch of the HC (High Compression) models in ’86, which increased power to 172bhp and 215bhp, for normally aspirated and turbocharged models respectively. The HC saw out the production of the original Giugiaro-designed Esprits, before the model range was transformed into the reworked X180 by future McLaren F1 stylist Peter Stevens. The Esprit would soldier on broadly in this guise, albeit with further facelifts, before the car’s 28-year production run finally came to a close in 2004.

T H E VA L U E P R O P O S I T I O N Many junior supercars of the 1970s and ’80s are no longer the bargains they once were, with prices for fine

examples of models such as the Ferrari 308, Lamborghini Urraco and Maserati Bora increasing significantly in recent years. Yet despite being styled by Giugiaro and engineered by Chapman, the S1 to S3 Esprits have been overlooked for decades. “The Esprit should probably be worth more than it is,” market expert John Mayhead concurs. “It has all the right names attached to it: Giorgetto Giugiaro, Peter Stevens and, of course, the great Colin Chapman. It has the ‘right’ engine layout and, in later form at least, it was a powerful car.” That said, prices have risen significantly since the pandemic. In mid-2021, the very best S1 models were changing hands for around $66,000 in the US and £36,000 in the UK. Today, Hagerty values the same car at $92,000 and £65,000. Undoubtedly strong figures, but they still fall well short of a concours-standard 1976

Bora ($254,000/£200,000) and 1982 Jalpa ($139,000/£110,000). “The higher prices for the early Giugiaro cars are all triggered by James Bond – everyone wants a white S1,” says expert Brian Angus. He joined Lotus in 1979 to work on the S2.2 and Turbo Esprit powertrains, going on to become S4 project manager. When Esprit production finished, Brian moved to Lotus’ aftersales department, before retiring in 2013. “If I was in the market for one of the earliest cars, I would go for an S2,” he continues. “As time went on, the Esprit got more refined and had better quality, because we had to keep up with what the competition was offering.” Aside from the S1, other desirable models were the Formula 1-inspired JPS and Essex Turbo special editions. As the first Esprit offered with forced induction from the factory, the Essex model was a precursor to the regular Turbo

TIMELINE

1972

Giorgetto Giugiaro’s Silver Car prototype showcased at Turin Motor Show.

1975

Production-spec Lotus Esprit S1 debuts at Paris Motor Show.

1976

Lotus Esprit S1 on sale.

1978

Esprit S2 launched, with new alloy wheels, updated bodywork and improved powertrain and interior.

1980

Esprit S2.2 launched – stopgap incarnation with larger, 2.2-litre engine and galvanised chassis. Soon followed by S3 and Turbo models, with larger, wider galvanised chassis, revised rear suspension, plus interior and styling enhancements.

VA LU E S F R O M H AG E RT Y P R I C E G U I D E Lotus Esprit S1, S2.2, S3 (UK) £35,000 S1 S2.2

£30,000 £25,000

£20,000 £15,000 £10,000 2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

Lotus Esprit S1, S2.2, S3 (US) $90,000 $80,000

S1 S2.2 S3

$70,000 $60,000 $50,000 $40,000 $30,000 2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

1986

Introduction of Lotus Turbo Esprit HC (High Compression). This model receives engine upgrades, increasing power output to 215bhp.

1987

Giugiaro Esprit superseded by Peter Stevens-designed X180. S4 eventually introduced in 1993.

‘As time went on, the Lotus Esprit got more refined and had better quality’

Esprit, and it was also fitted with a dry-sump engine. The JPS car, meanwhile, was mechanically identical to a regular S2. Both are very rare today: Lotus built a mere 147 and 45 JPS and Essex Turbo models respectively. Brian says: “They’re both pretty coveted. The JPS with the Mario Andretti connection is desirable, but people are desperate to buy an Essex Turbo – that’s a car everybody wants to own.” The rarity and desirability of these models means buyers should be very wary when viewing one, though, as he explains. “A lot of people claim to have an Essex, and I did a lot of work to investigate cars that were not genuine factory models. I logged four or five cars that had originally been sold as standard Turbos and then disappeared into the ether for a few years before reappearing as Essex Turbos. It upset a few people when they

discovered the car they’d bought was not a genuine Essex.” He continues: “Lotus has a huge database of chassis numbers that includes special-edition Esprits. When I was working there, we went through the database with a fine-toothed comb to find all of these cars, so we know exactly which examples are real. I recommend contacting Lotus to verify any purchase.” If you’re not looking for a cream-of-the-crop S1 or a special edition, you can acquire much of the early car’s styling and purity, with better reliability, refinement and driveability, by plumping for an S2 or S2.2. As a stopgap, the S2.2 is incredibly rare, with only 88 examples built, but prices are broadly similar to those for S2 models. In the US, the average value of an S2 is currently $31,775, and it’s £25,900 in the UK. Values for the S2.2, meanwhile, are $32,053 and £27,050 respectively.

By increasing the power from 160bhp to 210bhp, the Turbo brings a noticeable performance increase to the Esprit. Buyers in the US can expect to pay slightly more for the ownership privilege, with values ranging from $19,600 to $64,086. Turbocharged prices are flatter in the UK, however, at £12,300 to £42,000. “It was the Lotus flagship at a time when the brand fielded a powerful F1 team, but the Esprit has generally not proven to be as collectable as some of its relatively similar Italian contemporaries,” John Mayhead concludes. “The S1 and Essex Turbo are highest on the collectability index in the UK, with the former losing a little of its lustre in the US thanks to smog controls limiting its power output. Those buyers tend to prefer later Turbos. “Prices of all models have grown over the past five years, and although big rises in value are

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unlikely, the very best and most original examples should continue to increase in collectability.”

T H E D E S I R A B I L I T Y FA C T O R Lotus heritage manager William Taylor explains: “The price of S1 cars has gone ballistic – we recently sold one for £75,000 – but S2 models are still reasonably cheap.” William has spent more than 20 years working for Classic Team Lotus, and he authored The Lotus Files, which documents every car the marque produced between 1948 and 2022. “In order of desirability, I would put a really pure, early S1 at the top, followed by an Essex Turbo and a JPS – that would be my order of preference,” he says. Put aside the 007-spec S1 models and the special editions, and the desirability of a particular car comes down to what you value as a buyer. If you want the design purity of the S1 without the asking price, then an S2 or S2.2 makes a huge deal of sense. A more performance-oriented buyer, meanwhile, should hone in on the Turbo. Lotus dealer Bell & Colvill also provided an aftermarket kit for the S2.2, before the modification was offered by the Lotus factory itself, although cars fitted with this option in period are very rare: a mere 25 were built.

T H E D E TA I L S 1975-1981 LOTUS ESPRIT S1-S2 (ROW/US) ENGINE:

NORMALLY ASPIRATED INLINE-FOUR, DOHC, 16V, 1973CC

POWER:

160BHP/140BHP

TOP SPEED: 124MPH 0-60MPH:

1980-1981 LOTUS ESPRIT S2.2 ENGINE:

NORMALLY ASPIRATED INLINE-FOUR, DOHC, 16V, 2174CC

POWER:

160BHP

TOP SPEED: 138MPH 0-60MPH:

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6.7SEC

1980-1987 LOTUS ESPRIT S3/ TURBO ESPRIT ENGINE:

T H E N U T S A N D B O LT S “The first thing anyone should do is buy a service parts book and a workshop manual from Lotus,” Brian advises. “The former details every part number for every model, and the manual tells you how to maintain and service the car properly. If you’re going to spend £40,000 on a car, then you might as well spend another £200 on these books.” Whichever model you choose, the first thing to assess is the glassfibre bodywork. The Esprit was the first Lotus to benefit from Vacuum-Assisted Resin Injection, so the panels are more durable than those on, say, an Elan or Europa. Even so, buyers should still look for stress cracks,

8.1SEC

NORMALLY ASPIRATED INLINE-FOUR, DOHC, 16V, 2174CC TURBOCHARGED INLINE-FOUR, DOHC, 16V, 2174CC

POWER:

160BHP/210BHP

TOP SPEED: 138MPH/150MPH 0-60MPH:

6.7SEC/5.6SEC

1986-1988 LOTUS ESPRIT HC/TURBO HC ENGINE:

NORMALLY ASPIRATED INLINE-FOUR, DOHC, 16V, 2174CC TURBOCHARGED INLINE-FOUR, DOHC, 16V, 2174CC

POWER:

170BHP/215BHP

TOP SPEED: 138MPH/152MPH 0-60MPH:

6.7SEC/5.5SEC

particularly in the areas around the bumpers, door edges and headlights. Rippled or uneven beltline trim can indicate poorly repaired accident damage. The chassis on the S1 and S2 was ungalvanised, so look closely for corrosion on early cars. Common spots for tin worm to emerge are the front suspension pick-up points, the spring turrets, the chassis spaceframe tubes and the front ‘T’ section. Both the early 2.0-litre Type 907 and the 2.2 Type 912 engines are excellent units, and they are reliable if they have been properly maintained. Cambelts should be replaced every two years or 24,000 miles – factor a belt change into price negotiations if it’s due. Both motors are known to use oil, but blue smoke indicates wear and is a cause for concern. High operating temperatures, meanwhile, could point to a head-gasket failure, as does the tell-tale ‘mayonnaise’ present on the dipstick and the underside of the oil-filler cap. All Giugiaro-era Esprits used the same five-speed manual transmission as a Citroën SM. These gearboxes are generally reliable. Oil can occasionally leak from the rear of the casing, although this problem is fairly uncommon. Baulky changes once the gearbox is warm could indicate a worn synchromesh. Another potential transmission issue is caused by the red plastic tube that feeds hydraulic fluid from the clutch reservoir to the slave cylinder. This can expand

when the engine bay gets hot – particularly in the turbocharged variants – which makes selecting gears increasingly difficult. The robust suspension system is composed of trailing arms at the rear, and upper A-arms and lower lateral links up front. The set-up remained unchanged from S1 to S2.2 models, and common issues include rear wheel-bearing failure and wear to the driveshaft universal joints. The S3’s rear suspension was revised, making these issues less common. Interiors are not particularly hard wearing, and they are prone to sagging headlinings and the usual wear and tear to seat bolsters and touchpoints. Retrimming the cabin is generally inexpensive, aside from the dashboard.

THE FINAL DECISION The Giugiaro Esprit is one of the finest-handling cars of its era, with exotic styling to match that of many junior supercar rivals now far less attainable for most buyers. An S2.2 feels like a sweet spot in the range for anyone looking for a clean car with Giugiaro’s design purity still largely intact, while the Turbo makes the most sense for keen drivers. Those wanting the ultimate Esprits of the era should look no further than the iconic JPS and Essex-liveried cars, as well as an early S1 model factory-finished in the same shade of Monaco White as that driven by James Bond. Many thanks to Lotus aficionados William Taylor and Brian Angus.

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The price of exclusivity

M A R K E T A N A LY S I S

Words John Mayhead/Hagerty

What makes a collector car special enough to defy sales trends? The answer isn’t as easily definable as you may think, but standing out from the crowd certainly helps

AT THE FOUR BIG SALES OF 2024 so far – Kissimmee, Paris, Scottsdale and Amelia/Miami – there was one common thread: 2020s cars had one of the worst sell-through rates per decade of manufacture. In fact, across all the live auctions tracked by Hagerty in 2024, 2020s models sold at a rate of just 52 percent, against a 70 percent mean across all cars. Porsche is represented strongly in this modern collectable cohort. Those cars that reach auction tend to be the very top examples – GTs and RSs – and are usually popular, but even they’ve struggled in 2024. I have driven all sorts of Porsches; almost without exception, I have been smitten, from the sheer, brutal grunt of the 930 to the total driving

mastery of the 997 GT3 RS. Yet Porsche typifies a key issue when it comes to today’s performance cars: they lack exclusivity. The brand would undoubtedly debate this point. Its website talks of ‘Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur’, and highlights its cars’ uniqueness, but the numbers speak volumes. In 1973, 1580 examples of its first sports homologation flagship, the

‘Tastes change, but an exceptional car will always defy market ebbs and flows’

2.7 RS, were built. In the 1990s, the 964 RS (plus variants) had risen to around 3000 units, and by 2005’s production end, just under 4200 911 (996) GT3s had been sold. Compare that with more recent models: by 2019, 15,800 911 (991) GT3s had been built, without including the RS. Exclusivity is dead. Why should this matter? I’ve previously talked about the human factors that drive our desire for a particular make and model. Owning something special, different, is attractive – especially when our hobby prizes the story above everything else. Modern cars don’t have time to build such a narrative, and if there are thousands of them, the buying decision can come down to such sterile factors as mileage

SA L E S ST R U G G L E O F 2010-O N WA R D S CA R S

Percentage sell-through rates per decade of manufacture – early 2024 auctions 1900s

1910s

1920s

1930s

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

100%

80%

FIGURES SUPPLIED BY HAGERTY

60%

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40%

20%

KISSIMMEE

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PARIS

SCOTTSDALE (NO B-J)

AMELIA/MIAMI

and service history. These will hardly enthuse a passionate buyer. Porsche, as with many brands, has a problem: if production keeps pace with demand, its cars lose exclusivity. There are two options: either keep numbers extremely low, or try to generate exclusivity by creating a huge range so that virtually no two models are exactly alike. Koenigsegg is a fine example of the former – only 80 Regera, 125 Jesko and 300 Gemera models are built or planned – but Porsche went for the latter option. Today, there are 14 different models of 911 available, nearly all in coupé, targa and cabriolet form. Each has myriad options, even before the Sonderwunsch team gets involved. In, say, 1967, there were only three Porsche models available in total: the 912, the 911 and the thennew 911S. A few years back, when interest rates were low and postCovid optimism was at its highest, the Porsche approach worked very nicely, with long waiting lists for top models such as the Turbo S. Today, social media abounds with stories of dealers quietly offering discounts for the same car. If collectors are shying away from more modern vehicles, then where are they spending? Look at the models of all ages selling very well right now, privately, through dealers or at auction, and they all seem to tick at least one element of the exclusivity box. Special history and provenance are everything. Back in February, Christie’s in New York sold a 1990 Bentley Continental owned and loved by

GOODING & COMPANY

ABOVE History of this one-familyowned 1903 Mercedes-Simplex made it an auctioneer’s dream. Sir Elton John, for $441,000 – around five times the worth of a ‘civilian’ example in the same condition. The increased price was not a one-off: Hagerty tracked another 17 cars belonging to Elton that have been sold, and the mean uplift over a standard model’s value was 115 percent. People want to own, to drive and to be seen in vehicles linked to famous people. Then there are cars that offer access. Entry to top events, from Goodwood and the Mille Miglia to Pebble Beach, are the world’s most sought-after tickets, and sometimes you must buy the right vehicle just to be considered. A model with real historical pedigree can open doors

that only very few are allowed through, and so can demand huge prices – even when from an era that might be seen as unfashionable, as market expert Simon Kidston explained after the recent Gooding & Co auction on Amelia Island. “The result everyone is talking about is the big 1903 MercedesSimplex, sold from the original owner’s family after 121 years,” he said. “It’s as much about the history as it is about the model, and both were an auctioneer’s dream. It went to one of the world’s greatest collections, and proves that the very best of any era transcends fashion.” The car, a 60HP Roi-des-Belges, not only had period racing history – setting fastest times at the Nice Speed Week and Castlewellan Hill Climb in 1903 – but also had more recent use, having completed the

London To Brighton many times. Kidston touched on a compelling theme; it’s not just the history or standing of the model that counts, but how special the particular car is when it comes to passing the gatekeepers of exclusivity. As Salon Privé founder Andrew Bagley said: “The rarity of a car offered for entry to the Salon Privé Concours is obviously important, as are condition and restoration to the original, but we’re also looking for something that sets that car apart. Racing history, interesting ownership or extraordinary levels of originality; all of these will catch the selection committee’s eye.” So exclusivity is everything, but tastes change. Ten years ago, those classics rising quickest in value were the poster cars of the 1950s and ’60s – the earliest E-types,

Aston DB5 Vantages and Bentley R-type Continental Fastbacks. Last year, according to Hagerty, it was the Subaru Impreza, led by its homologated shining star, the 22B. But don’t write off those oldschool classics just yet; as with a Savile Row suit that lasts for years, fashion changes but style doesn’t, as Girardo & Co’s Max Girardo said: “An exceptional car will always defy market ebbs and flows. What constitutes exceptional for a 1960s car differs to what constitutes exceptional for today’s supercars. And there are more attributes that constitute the ‘exceptional’ descriptor than ever, telling of everevolving wider market trends.” Special, as it turns out, will always remain special. See more at www.hagerty.com and www.hagerty.co.uk.

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WAT C H E S

Words Jonathon Burford

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Stone me! Special-order Rolexes with stunning and unique stone dials are among the most desirable and collectable of timepieces

ONE OF THE MORE PLEASING aspects of the latter-day correction in prices for modern steel sports watches has been seeing collectors revisit brands and timepieces that until recently have been somewhat unloved. Two of these have been 1970s watches from Piaget, such as the Polo, and Rolex stone-dialled dress watches and King Midas. With their playful shapes and exotic dial materials, these couldn’t differ more from the Nautilus and Royal Oak’s utilitarian luxury. A watch’s face has always held a disproportionate amount of value. With Rolex’s Presidential watch range, a stone or lacquered-dial example of a Day-Date can increase the value by ten times. The vibrant ‘Stella’ dials of early examples were thus called for manufacturer Stella SA of Geneva. They were enamel lacquered, with the dials spray painted, and then baked after each step to solidify the pigment. This was repeated until the desired hue and quality were achieved. In order of rarity, Stella dials are found in mauve, yellow, coral or pale pink, turquoise, green, blue, orange, red and oxblood, with prices reflected by rarity, case-metal type and condition (cracked lacquer causes heavy depreciation). Rolex has recently paid homage to this era with its vibrantly coloured Oyster Perpetual (OP) range, Celebrationdialled (balloon) OP and puzzledialled Emoji President. While these are, of course, fun and unusual for such an austere brand, the use of natural materials for dials has always been of more interest to me in terms of skill to produce, rarity and beauty. Piaget has also been a pioneer in the use of rare stone dials, but generally cased in more adventurous designs. In the 1970s, it was unusual for a retailer to stock Datejust or DayDate with anything other than a regular dial. Rolex did, however, list over 100 special-order variations. In the 1990s, this expanded to include the Submariner, fitted with a Lapis dial, and the Daytona. There are two main factors to the desirability of stone dials. Each is unique, with every inclusion and fissure visible, while their rarity is

a factor of the complexity and difficulty of producing them. To start, the process of sourcing the right stones can be laborious. Given the limited real estate on each dial, cutters are looking for stones to match the characteristics required by each brand. Next, it must be thinly sliced and shaped, before being drilled and then highly polished. The finished dial is around 0.4-0.10mm thick. These dials are made in virtually hermetically sealed labs, as dust or dirt could scratch a dial, rendering it useless. Some materials are more fragile than others, with meteorite considered to be robust; turquoise and malachite are highly delicate. Even once set into the case, care is required; sudden temperature changes or a dropped watch can lead to shattered dials. For all these reasons, uniquely dialled variants are ever more in demand. Onyx is most common, followed by lapis lazuli. Howlite displays beautiful fissures on its white background, green jasper dials are exceedingly rare and beautiful, especially those with hematite inclusions (often referred to as bloodstone). Tiger eye dials have a warm tan colour, and coral is bright, vivid and playful. While predominantly these were made for Day-Date models (with their day aperture cut at 12 o’clock), the simplicity of a Datejust dial, naked of markers bar its maker’s coronet, hold a special place in my heart. The main thing to look out for is perfection of the dial. Cracks can appear from the hands to the perimeter, chips can occur on the outer edge, and scratches can be made by a careless watchmaker. Ignore examples displaying any of these. Predominantly these are found on yellow gold watches; white gold variants are very rare, significantly more expensive but, in my view, the most desirable. Whilst virtually all watches are made in multiples and in series, these unique dial variations are highly desirable and collectable timepieces. Writer Jonathon Burford is SVP and specialist at Sotheby’s watch department. For its ongoing watches sales, see www.sothebys.com.

MOTORING ART Words Rupert Whyte

UNTIL RECENTLY, EMMA Capener, a lively mother of two from mid-Wales, pursued drawing purely for pleasure. Astonishingly, she refined her skills with no formal training, aside from her art studies during secondary school some 15 years ago. Nevertheless, Emma has developed an extraordinary talent for capturing the essence of motor sport legends through a softened photorealistic style. “Art has always been a source of joy for me but, living in rural tranquillity, pursuing it as a career never crossed my mind – it just didn’t seem possible,” Emma reflects. However, buoyed by the positive feedback her work received on social media, along with her husband’s unwavering support, she made the courageous decision to transition from her career in pharmacy to pursue art full time. This leap marked a significant turning point in her life, reflecting her steadfast commitment to following her passion and wholeheartedly embracing her artistic calling. Previously, I described the term “softened photorealistic style” to denote a technique characterised by sharp focus and detail in a specific focal point of the artwork, gradually transitioning into softer focus towards the edges. Take this Senna piece, for instance: it prominently emphasises the eyes and helmet with sharp focus, gently softening as it extends to the overalls. Emma’s choice of medium, Caran D’Ache Luminance pencils, complements this technique exceptionally well. Renowned for their exceptional quality and lightfastness, Caran D’Ache Luminance pencils boast a remarkably high pigment concentration, enabling a velvety application and finish perfect for creating the high-contrast images Emma

Keeping it real Emma Capener captures the essence of motor sport legends through her softened photorealistic style

favours. Drawing on Rising 4-ply 100 percent cotton mount board allows her to apply the pencils with vigour and precision as needed. Each of Emma’s striking monotone images requires upwards of 100 hours to complete, meticulously crafted with just six shades of grey. While she has predominantly focused on monotone works recently, she did venture into colour with her monumental Lewis 2020 piece, measuring 200cm x 150cm. Interestingly, despite initiating such a project, the first colour drawing she attempted remains unfinished – a journey that ultimately led her to discover Luminance pencils. While Emma refrains from picking a preference among her own artworks (although she confesses to having favourite individual drawings), she holds a deep admiration for Renaissance painters, particularly Caravaggio,

for his masterful use of contrast, light and shade. As a contemporary influence, she looks up to Australian hyperrealist CJ Hendry, and admires her innovative approach to art. “Of course, I’m standing on the shoulders of giants,” Emma acknowledges. “My drawings are all based on amazing photographic images by some of the greatest motor sport photographers: Paul-Henri Cahier, David Phipps and Rainer Schlegelmilch. Sometimes, choosing the reference image to use is the most challenging part of the entire process.” Emma’s work will be part of an exhibition running at the British Motor Museum in Gaydon, Warwickshire, 29 April29 June, 2024, celebrating the talent of British automotive artists and designers. Writer Rupert Whyte runs Historic Car Art, www.historiccarart.net, selling original works and posters.

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AUTOMOBILIA

What a concept!

Words Patrick Kelley

In every era, car designers have looked to the future

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO remember, everything that’s made first needs to be designed. All creation starts with an idea, and that idea is fed by the imagination. Einstein wrote: “Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.” He also said: “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there will ever be to know and understand.” The vintage automobile concept art I’ve collected is certainly full of imagination, as are the artists and stylists who created these works. Even the very first piece I bought,

drawn in 1936, changed the way I looked at things. It’s just a simple line drawing, but it made me think about what this unknown artist was trying to achieve. Remember, the ultimate goal of the large automotive companies was (and is) to sell cars. To give the customer something new and exciting every year has always been tricky. So, these firms employed thousands of individuals from art schools around the country, who had the skills needed to create new and fascinating designs. The golden age of car design is considered to be from post-World War Two to the 1970s. During this period, designers had a wide range as to what they created. With the

FROM TOP The seat of automotive design, at the GM Tech Center. Astonishing creations include gold concept cruiser art from 1977 by Bob Cadaret, orange concept from 1966 by George Camp, and Mercedes SL concept by Joe Sohn.

nation fresh from the war victories, the sky was the limit, and the US was ready to embrace the new creations coming out of Detroit. Yet while incredible designs were pouring forth, they were not always looked upon in a positive manner. The realities of cost, implementation and engineering meant that many of the ideas proposed were either discarded or destroyed. Design chiefs were quick to dismiss sketches for myriad reasons, often driven by their own egos. It’s thought up to 90 percent of the work that was drawn in and around Detroit was

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ultimately destroyed intentionally. Much of the work that did remain was often damaged by weather or other such natural occurrences, and it commonly wound up beyond salvage. The resulting scarcity is one of the motivating factors in collecting this type of art: these pieces are genuine survivors. They should not exist, but they do – and the stories behind the works, and the artists who created them, are utterly compelling. The majority of styling sketches, drawings and paintings in my two books haven’t seen the light of day since they were created, making them a rare pleasure to share. Thanks to Automobilia Resource, at www.automobiliaresource.com. More information can be found in Patrick’s books IMAGINE! and IMAGINE Too!, about car-styling drawings of the imagined future.

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COLLECTING

Words Nathan Chadwick

Why cars and sneakers share some interesting traits when it comes to collecting habits and trends

“IT’S A VERY SIMILAR APPEAL to air-cooled 911s,” says Ryan Symes of the Soho-based London Sneaker Club. “Take the Nike Dunk Low – it’s been in continuous production since 2002, but it’s been tweaked and evolved over time. They are still highly collectable, because in the same way you can’t get a new 964, you can’t get a Dunk Low Paris, for example.” RM Sotheby’s forthcoming Dare To Dream auction has blended sneakers and cars, shining a light on two worlds with similar collecting traits, particularly 911s. “Just like cars, the really collectable shoes are made in small numbers, and while manufacturers hark back and do re-runs, or homages, these are being made for the masses, in the thousands,” Ryan says. “The new runs may attract a small premium, but that’s just supply and demand – the really collectable shoes are anywhere from five to 20 years old, because there is no supply coming to the market.” The most desirable sneakers,

understandably, have the greatest stories attached. The shoe Ryan most covets is the Nike Dunk Low Freddy Krueger; themed around the horror-movie character of the same name, it was all set to be a hit – until the film company sent a cease and desist letter. “The story goes that by this point Nike had sent the shoes to Mexico for release, and told the shops to burn whatever they had,” Ryan explains. “The legend says 30 survived, but I believe there are 200 on the market – they sell for around $20,000, up to $50,000 if they come with the original box.” Nike leads the way when it comes to ultimate collectability. Ryan

RIGHT The controversial Nike Dunk Low Freddy Krueger can sell for up to $50,000 in its original box.

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‘The most desirable sneakers have the greatest stories attached’

again: “Each year, a different brand has a big surge – a few years ago it was New Balance, this year it’s the Adidas Samba. But Nike has staying power, with no peaks or troughs, and this goes back to not changing its designs too radically – like Porsche or Rolex.” The SB Dunk Low is currently the most collectable Nike, Ryan believes. “‘SB’ – skateboarding – makes it a little different to a normal Dunk Low, with extra padding and support,” he says. “The next is a 1985 Nike Jordan One. While it wasn’t scarce at the time, find one in pristine condition with the box and everything that came in it, and you are looking at a $18,000-$25,000 shoe.” Ryan finds that the most collectable sneakers are now those made from 2002-2011. Later special editions, he believes, are less limited than older releases. The immediate resell market inflation seen during Covid is now largely over. “If Nike produces just 15,000, then a sneaker may go for a few

hundred bucks over,” he says. “But it’s not like shoes from the early 2000s anymore – they may have been $60 originally, but I have sold pairs for $100,000. That is not happening for new shoes anymore.” Picking the next sneaker trend is harder to predict. “A few years ago, Nike Air Maxes were very big. Again, it’s a model that hasn’t changed much, so it retains its long-term appeal – and it may come around again,” he muses. The big question, however, is whether people actually wear their collectable sneakers. “If you are collecting and of moderate wealth, I think anyone buying shoes under $10,000 are wearing those. Above that, they are considered an asset, and people aren’t wearing them.” Not that non-wearing is an issue, because that plays into one of the key appeals of sneaker collecting. “Even with a relatively small house, you could have a display wall with 100 shoes,” Ryan laughs. “You can’t do that with a collection of 911s.” www.londonsneakerclub.com

INSURANCE FOR THE INDIVIDUAL Keys in the ignition. Hear it roar. Each car a different melody, a unique mix of throttle, turbo, temerity. Cars that purr like yours need an insurance policy that sings in the same key. And that’s exactly what we do. At Adrian Flux, we provide bespoke classic and high-performance car insurance with optional extras like agreed value cover, build-up cover, and more.

Call our UK team today on 0344 728 0445 adrianflux.co.uk Authorised & regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority

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DIVERSIONS

Compiled by Nathan Chadwick and Sophie Kochan

TRIUMPH HERITAGE REXFORD BLACK LEATHER JACKET This top-grain leather jacket has asymmetric styling and a removable shearling collar. It also features Talon zippers, a D-pocket, zip cuff openings and a red satin quilted lining. It comes in sizes S-XXL, at £550. www.triumphmotorcycles.co.uk

PINEIDER LARGE CIGARS AND TOBACCO BOX This 40x23x29cm box allows your cigars to travel as stylishly as you do. Crafted in Tuscany with Italian leather, it is available in black, brown, blue and green. It costs €3800; the humidifier is available separately. www.pineider.com

JUNGHANS MEISTER CHRONOSCOPE An elegant watch with narrow lugs, elongated chronograph pushers, a filigreed crown and a domed, anti-reflective sapphire crystal that covers a satin-finished dial in subdued grey. The hour and minute hands are diamond cut and inlaid with white luminosity. The Caliber J880.1 chronograph movement has automatic winding and a power reserve of 48 hours. It costs £2240. www.junghans.de/en

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AMALGAM SCHUMACHER COLLECTION (WALL-MOUNTED) This limited-to-five set of five 1:8-scale models celebrates Michael Schumacher’s five consecutive F1 World Championships at Scuderia Ferrari. Each wall-mounted model comes with an image of Michael from each year: £72,500. The individual model collection is £39,725, while the cars mounted on black silk pedestals costs £52,400. www.amalgam collection.com

J40 Continuation

The new, limited edition, Austin J40 Continuation presents an exquisite interpretation of the much-loved classic J40 pedal car, combining modern technology with traditional principles to create a beautifully styled and sumptuously finished piece of automotive art Curvaceous all-aluminium bodywork is shaped by hand, bright chrome trim brings a touch of 1950s style,

and the finest, hand-stitched tan leather trim creates a luxurious interior. Its classic looks form a wonderful juxtaposition with the beautifully engineered, modern pedal system which lies beneath Each J40 Continuation is built to order, and 2024 build-slots are now open for reservation. Please contact us to discuss the creation of your brand new Austin J40.

A joy to pedal. A joy to admire. A joy to own Austinpedalcars.com Showroom situated at Bicester Heritage, England - viewings by appointment

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DIVERSIONS

LORO PIANA SPAGNA ‘THE GIFT OF KINGS’ JACKET Now in The Gift of Kings double wool – 59 per cent cotton and 41 per cent cashmere – this jacket has a lightweight feel. Priced at £8990, it comes in sizes XS-XXXL. uk.loropiana.com

CHRIS TWITCHELL MERCEDES-BENZ UHLENHAUT COUPÉ WIREFRAME Chris blends his engineering background with art to hand-craft various sculptures. Each car is limited to 20, and bespoke commissions are also available. POA. www.ctwitchell.com

RUARK R810 MUSIC SYSTEM As much gloriously stylish furniture as it is a piece of audio kit, Ruark’s flagship offers digital, turntable and CD player connectivity. With a 180w amp, two 27mm dome tweeters, two NS+ bass-mid units and a long-throw subwoofer, it packs a punch, while retaining a smart finish with chrome fittings, plus sustainably sourced wood. Each handcrafted R810 is priced at £3000. www.ruarkaudio.com

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MAURICE LACROIX MASTERPIECE SQUARE WHEEL Designed to evoke a mixture of elegance, urban style and mechanical refinement, the Masterpiece Square Wheel features a 43mm stainless-steel case, which encompasses a ML258 automatic calibre with a 38-hour power reserve. It costs $8250. www.mauricelacroix.com

CKL CKL CKL SERVICES SERVICES SERVICES

RESTORATION RESTORATION RESTORATION

We We have We have built have built a team built a team aofteam professional of professional of professional restorers restorers restorers whose whose whose workwork has work hashas earned earned earned the most the the most prestigious most prestigious prestigious awards awards awards in the in industry. the in the industry. industry. OneOne of One our of our latest of our latest latest restorations restorations restorations is this is this Jaguar is this Jaguar Jaguar MKIV MKIV photographed MKIV photographed photographed during during its during first its first its first shakedown shakedown shakedown at Goodwood. at Goodwood. at Goodwood.

RESTORATION RESTORATION RESTORATION • RACE • RACE • RACE PREPARATION PREPARATION PREPARATION • FABRICATION • FABRICATION • FABRICATION • TRIM • TRIM • TRIM ENGINE ENGINE ENGINE BUILDING BUILDING BUILDING • PARTS • PARTS • PARTS SOURCING SOURCING SOURCING

CKLCKL DEVELOPMENTS CKL DEVELOPMENTS DEVELOPMENTS LTD.LTD. LTD. MARLEY MARLEY MARLEY LANE LANE LANE BATTLE BATTLE BATTLE TN33 TN33 ORE TN33 ORE UK ORE UK TEL: UK TEL: +44 TEL: +44 (0)1424 +44 (0)1424 (0)1424 870600 870600 870600 EMAIL: EMAIL: EMAIL: ckl@ckl.co.uk ckl@ckl.co.uk ckl@ckl.co.uk

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BOOK REVIEWS

Reviews Nathan Chadwick

Bologna’s greatest export that few have ever heard of was a testament to ingenuity, determination, hard work and sacrifice

INGENUITY, HARD WORK AND sacrifice in place of funding – the building blocks of great names and legends, of stories that filter down through the ages. By rights, OSCA should be a major name. Formed by the Maserati brothers, and staffed with loyal former colleagues and younger trainees, this tiny outfit and its similarly diminutive cars enjoyed 20 years of success, punching far above their weight. The sands of time mean OSCA’s achievements have largely been forgotten, but this timely book brings together a collection of Bolognese photographer Walter Breveglieri’s work. While his lens skills were deployed far beyond the automotive world, he was not only a motor sport enthusiast but an OSCA racer himself. Similarly, author Carlo Cavicchi graduated from watching the likes of Ludovico Scarfiotti blasting around the public roads surrounding Modena and Bologna, to investing his life savings to get behind the wheel. The OSCA narrative is truly rich, beginning in 1947 with the Maserati brothers – removed from ties to the brand that bore their name – now able to get on with what they loved most. Success soon followed, with Gigi Villoresi beating a strong field of Ferraris, Maseratis and Cisitalias in the

Naples Grand Prix with ‘just’ a 1100c four-cylinder engine. There soon followed sports car and GT glory days, with the 1954 Sebring 12 Hours a particular highlight. Eight OSCAs filled the top ten, against much more storied names. But growing budgets and engines meant it couldn’t last; the Maserati brothers sold out to MV Agusta in 1963; within four years, the brand was closed as its new owner focused on motorcycles. It’s a true rollercoaster tale, a tribute to the brilliant minds spawned by this region of Italy time and again. Breveglieri’s photographs give real insight into this hive of activity, with fascinating images that have rarely been seen before. There are some remarkable sights: Bindo Maserati and Enzo Ferrari putting their testy relationship aside to sit on the same table at an awards ceremony, Louis Chiron getting ready to blast an OSCA down the Via Emilia, and Fangio simply dropping by the factory. There are also plenty of glorious race photos. But what really makes this 272page, £95 book so special is the testimony from people who were there at the time, such as Mauro Fantuzzi, who joined the firm at 14 and stayed until the factory doors closed for the last time. However, there are also insights from the late Sir Stirling Moss, Maria Teresa de Filippis and others entwined with the OSCA operation. It’s a wonderful book, and is also a welcome reminder that the determined, ingenious automotive minds of this relatively small area of Italy have a greater and richer tale than simply the Big Three. www.evropublishing.com

‘A tribute to the brilliant minds spawned by this region of Italy time and again’

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Inside OSCA: The Bolognese Miracle That Amazed the World

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FROM LEFT Testimony from the likes of Sir Stirling Moss and Mauro Fantuzzi help make this book really special.

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BOOK REVIEWS

Seventies Motor Racing Lensman Franco Lini and Doug Nye’s take on the 1970s combines flair and flares

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FOR MANY YEARS, THE 1970S were regarded as a bit of a bad joke – the cars, fashions, politics and hairstyles. However, has there been a more transformational decade – not just in motor racing, but in the wider culture? Palawan Press’s Seventies Motor Racing is an exquisite, limited-to1000-edition book that spans 432 pages and 480 images, taking in the photography of Franco Lini. Lini was not only an acclaimed photojournalist for Auto Italiana magazine, but he also had a stint at Scuderia Ferrari as team manager at the end of the 1960s. This level of access and insight provides a seriously magnificent experience, augmented by true

insight from Doug Nye, who first met Lini at Zandvoort in 1966. Unlike several other books that have a photographic focus on a particular era, the wider cultural story behind the motor sport is not forgotten. Indeed, Nye introduces the book with the view that motor sport through the 1970s was the great salvation and focus that helped the many social ills of the era fade further into the background, through the thrum of engine noise and screech of rubber. Each year’s key motor sport moments are picked out in a mixture of glorious colour and black-and-white imagery, with detailed captions that provide context not only on each moment’s

place in the championship season, but also on the characters funding the teams, or simply milling about in the paddock. It’s also refreshing to see Nye’s wider knowledge of certain personalities flow through the captions; minor insights and asides end up providing a richer, if not always totally positive, complexion to big names. Lini was the consummate workaholic; as Nye reveals, when other hacks and snappers were eyeing some R&R after a race, the Italian was usually on his way to the next event, wherever it may be. As such, there’s a great variation in formulae, from Formula 1 to sports cars, and Indy to rallying. The production quality is superb,

from the design to the reproduction of the images. While, at £400 for the standard edition, this is not an inexpensive purchase, the sheer calibre of the photos and how the colours come across make the cost worthwhile – this really is a delight to behold, especially as it unfolds its expertly framed narrative. The book also comes with a 48-page essay from cultural critic Michael Bracewell on the decade’s wider social context. A limited-to-50 goatskin leather-bound edition costs £1250 for the first 25 editions, £1750 thereafter. If you have the opportunity, this is a highly recommended addition to any motor sport-themed library. www.palawan.co.uk

INSIDE THE DUESENBERG SSJ: THE SPECIAL SPEEDSTERS

FAST FORDS: 50 YEARS UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH FORD’S FINEST

MASERATI 450S: A BAZOOKA FROM MODENA

RAY EVERNHAM: TROPHIES AND SCARS

With the storm clouds gathering over Duesenberg, the most luxurious of automotive brands had one roll of the dice: two super-special roadsters for two of Hollywood’s leading men. Angelo Von Bogart’s 120-page, $84.95 book tells the story of how Gary Cooper and Clark Gable came to acquire these unique machines, and what happened afterwards. With fascinating archive materials, and extensive tracking of each car’s life from when they first rolled out of the factory right up to the present day, this is a must for Duesenberg fans. www.diecasm.com

Jeremy Walton’s books and magazine features on Ford have consistently offered an authoritative take on the Blue Oval’s European operations, whether it be motor sport or the road cars that have become legends, generation after generation. This wonderful book weaves his personal life in and out of some of Ford’s hottest models, from GT40s to BTCC Sierras to modified road machines, providing a real insight into the people behind the cars. An excellent £60, 408-page read, especially for those who grew up reading Walton’s words. www.evropublishing.com

The 450S was one of many bitter-sweet Maseratis – it was rapid, but unreliable. As Walter Bäumer and Jean-François Blachette explain in this beautifully illustrated and researched book, this was often due to poor care and attention at the factory and from race mechanics. Most notably – and depicted in these pages – when Moss lost chassis 4505’s wheel on the Mille Miglia. With every car’s history illustrated with fine period imagery, this 320-page, $195 tome is an exquisite addition to the collection of any fan of 1950s sports car racing. www.daltonwatson.com

If you know NASCAR, then you know Ray Evernham – but you don’t have to be a follower to appreciate this very personal tale. Former racer, IROC stalwart and NASCAR crew chief turned TV personality, Evernham has done it all, and describes in typically honest fashion the highs and lows of his career, including the horrific crashes and the fall-outs with other team bosses. His endearing surprise at his successes makes for a great read – and if you don’t know NASCAR, you’ll end up learning a lot, too. Well worth the £29/$34.95 price. www.octanepress.com

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BOOK REVIEWS

JaguarSport XJR-15: A Personal History... The inside story of one of the most remarkable supercars of the ’90s – by the man who penned it

IF ANY CAR SUMMED UP TOM Walkinshaw’s grit, opportunism and appetite for ‘playing the game’, then it is the JaguarSport XJR-15. After all, it’s one thing to take an ‘innovative’ approach to reading the competition rulebook (which Walkinshaw took pride in doing on countless occasions), but it is quite another to build a Jaguar-badged supercar under the nose – and with a productionising contract – of another, the XJ220. As the XJR-15’s designer, Peter Stevens, outlines in this absorbing 240-page, £149 book, this is a car that was really spurred into life just days after the XJ220’s public unveiling, with Peter given a week to get initial ideas on paper. In

a little over a year, the XJR-15 went from a ‘what if’ to a fully working prototype. It was a simply stunning achievement – but then, so is the story of how the car’s existence became leaked to the press. And that was something in which Peter played a key role... We also learn that cunning moves weren’t solely Tom’s modus operandi – the outgoing chairman of Jaguar, John Egan, fancied leaving a headache for the XJ220’s development head, Jim Randle. What was originally a TWRbranded car became a JaguarSport one... It is these sort of insider tales that make this book so unputdownable, and that starts at the very beginning. The first

80-odd pages are scene-setting; in a lot of books, this can be offputting at best and filler at worst. Here, it is essential, as Peter’s long, close association with Tom and TWR adds great colour to an already Technicolor drama. Written with great wit, while still retaining incisive insight into the design and production process, this is a riveting read. Emphatically it’s not a worthy-but-dry chassisnumber trawl; it’s a very personal memoir of a groundbreaking car with a Nissan-badged legacy. The tale behind the one-make Intercontinental Challenge, which saw numerous racing luminaries bouncing off each other in support of Formula 1 events, is equally

entertaining. While Peter may have left the project to work on the McLaren F1, the relayed stories of those involved – and those who had to deal with the costly bodywork repairs – will elicit belly laughs. Although not from apparently still-aggrieved ownerdriver Matt Aitken, perhaps... A mere 400 copies of this book will be published, which is rather a shame – it contains many tales and asides that deserve a wider audience. Beautifully illustrated, including with the use of exclusive archive documents and sketches, this volume will probably end up being just as elusive as the car to which it pays tribute. www.porterpress.co.uk

ENZO FERRARI: THE DEFINITIVE BIOGRAPHY OF AN ICON

THREE MEN IN A LAND ROVER: 40,000 MILES, 40 COUNTRIES, ONE UNIQUE ADVENTURE

MCLAREN: THE ROAD CARS 2010-2024

NASH-HEALEY: A GRAND ALLIANCE

This absorbing biography by Luca Dal Monte makes its English debut, two years after its Italian release. Enzo is idolised by many, but this balanced book lays out the realities of a far more complex character, not the deity some believe him to be. Indeed, his vision of religion, and his battles with The Vatican over the deaths of so many of his drivers, provide fascinating insight into both Ferrari and Italian history. It’s a similar case with Enzo’s need to appeal to both sides of the political roller-coaster. At £25, this 520page book is highly recommended. www.octopusbooks.co.uk

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In 1969 Chris Wall, Mike Palmer and ‘Waxy’ Wainwright set off on a 40country adventure across Europe, Asia and Africa for UNICEF. In nine months they were held at gunpoint, arrested on murder charges and accused of spying. While perhaps not quite as much of a page-turner as that suggests (there’s a lot of ‘admin’), you can’t help but be seduced by the rarely seen-before imagery, which paints a vivid image of a world that, while familiar, seems alien nowadays. Good value at £35 and 208 pages. www.porterpress.co.uk

If you’ve never got behind the wheel of a modern McLaren, its cars might come across as a little ‘cold’, and the variances between models slim. However, there’s so much more to a supercar maker that, let’s not forget, is only 14 years old and has brought us not only such highlights as the P1, but also a fervent commitment to hydraulic steering and thus fingertip engagement. Kyle Fortune’s excellent 320-page, £59.99 book offers a useful model-by-model guide to an admirable supercar CV, developed in a remarkably short amount of time. www.schifferbooks.com

This two-volume, 800-page book provides a comprehensive guide to one of the most important meetings of mind in the immediate post-war era. The mixture of British engineering, American muscle and Italian style – the latter courtesy of Pinin Farina – would inspire a host of today much more heralded followers. John Nikas and Hervé Chevalier take us through the ups and downs in the showrooms, in the boardrooms and on the racetracks with great insight, accompanied by 1192 illustrations. Heavyweight value for money at $250. www.daltonwatson.com

The Vintage Watch Specialist We are qualified watchmakers with over 30 years of experience and source vintage watches that only meet the highest of standards. Every watch we sell comes with the reassurance of a 24 month guarantee. Buying, selling or need advice? www.watchesoflancashire.com Telephone 01254 873399

The Lawyer Clive Robertson

www.healys.com +44 (0)7768 997439

Don’t be naive when it comes to car restoration. Here’s how to stay on the road and out of the courts

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party, who will also be responsible for the costs of their own advisers. For example, the losing party in a claim for, say, £30,000 will need to stand that loss, together with his own professional fees and those of the other party, of perhaps a further £40,000. Winner takes all – £70,000. It follows that the value of the claim is a prime proponent in determining if proceedings should commence. Paradoxically, a low-value claim is a more risk-laden enterprise. A Karmann Ghia restoration was the subject of much discussion with our client. Most of the work that had been carried out was required to be redone. The value at issue was £50,000-£60,000. The client had kept meticulous records, and so our evidential position was strong. Of concern, however, was the business’s

‘The small claims court process is designed to assist the claimant at every turn’

financial position. A judgement that could not be satisfied would’ve been a disaster. The client agreed that efforts should be made to persuade the restorer to rectify the defective work, while keeping in reserve the option of issuing proceedings. In the event, a rejuvenated VW was delivered to a delighted and relieved owner. Higher-value claims must still be assessed on a cost/reward basis. Yet the decision to commit to a claim becomes more readily discernible when the value at stake exceeds the projected costs by a sufficient margin. A 1960s Ferrari V12 was contracted to be restored at an agreed figure. Along with notice that the car was complete and ready for collection, came a demand for £90,000, for additional work of which the client had no knowledge. The restorer is threatening to sell the car. A High Court claim is due to be served. Of course, no sentient being willingly embarks on a course of major repair or restoration expecting to become a litigant, but all too often that’s what comes to pass. I’m always dispirited to hear from owners who randomly engage a restorer based on perceived reputation, so becoming victims of their own lack of diligence;

major expense requires due process. Last year, a close chum was invited to take part in a forthcoming four-week classic jaunt in South America. Our hero saw himself charging forth in an early Porsche 911, despite his wife’s wish for a convertible. Wise counsel prevailed. A right-hand-drive Mercedes Pagoda 230 SL from the mid-1960s was acquired. He joined the owners’ club and consulted with specialists, before settling on a business sited on a Bicester trading estate and with whom he had previous dealings. The first task was to have a full inspection to determine what work was required, and at what fee. The cost of the inspection, which took three to four days, was settled at the outset. An hourly rate was agreed, with completion of the restoration being anticipated within two months. Emails ensued, detailing costs of parts required, and concluding in a contract for the work specified at a fixed price. This provided that those parts would be invoiced and paid by return, while labour would be invoiced and paid every two weeks. John spoke with the team every week, while receiving constant images of the work in progress. The Pagoda was delivered in March, as per the contractual terms. Challenging roads over 6000km beckon, including some in late autumn at a height of 6000 metres. Bonne chance. This approach to a project is, in many respects, a counsel of perfection. Most individuals will not have the time, experience or inclination to devote to making their outcome as successful as possible. That said, at a minimum, a contract and a good, ongoing relationship with the restorer will work well towards avoiding unnecessary and expensive litigation. Clive is a solicitor and consultant with London law firm Healys LLP. Contact clive.robertson@healys.com.

ALAMY

THE JUDGE RULED IN FAVOUR of the claimant on all counts. The subject of the dispute was the defective rebuild of an Aston Martin DB4 gearbox. After two failed attempts, the work was successfully undertaken elsewhere. Seeking my advice on how to recover his costs, I suggested to my friend that he might conduct his own action in court – an idea that was met with disbelief. Small claims to a value of £10,000 are heard in the County Courts of England and Wales. The procedure is designed to assist the litigant to submit and manage a claim, online or by post. If settlement proves elusive, the parties will be called to a hearing. The judge will hear representations from both, and make enquiries, before delivering a judgement. The process will usually conclude in a matter of hours. The judge in the Aston case demonstrated that she had a clear grasp of the technical issues in question. The judgement comprised of £5300 in respect of the third rebuild of the gearbox, plus a further £1700 for court expenses. Understandably, most prospective buyers would baulk at appearing in court. Yet the process is designed to assist the claimant at every turn. In the DB4 case, he had kept meticulous records of email and telephone exchanges, plus contemporaneous notes of meetings. Taken together, these provided the narrative of his claim. Court staff and officials will also go the extra mile in assisting claimants throughout the process. Moving from the structured simplicity of the small claims process, claims valued at £10,000-£100,000 are heard in the County Court, while claims over £100,000 are heard in the High Court. However, in stark contrast to the small claims process, claims over £10,000 will attract the costs of professionals, such as solicitors and barristers. These costs will be awarded against the losing

BELOW For the unwary, restorations can have all manner of undesirable outcomes. Do your homework first...

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Workshop/Enquiries: 01285 861288 Keith Bowley: 07811 398562, kbowley@akvr.com

The Curator Robert Dean Serendipity can lead us to all kinds of adventures in life – as Robert found out after a chance meeting

IN ABOUT 1996, NOT LONG after I had started working for Bernie Ecclestone, he decided to put a number of cars into the first of the late Robert Brooks’ auctions, at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart. Mr E had purchased a lovely collection of Mercedes-Benz cars, and he decided to keep only a few of these and sell the rest. The truck came to collect the six or so vehicles, which I was pleased to find out were going to be cleaned and detailed ready for the auction once they had arrived in Germany (more about which later). If I remember correctly, there was an SSKL, an SSK, an SS with a English body by Cadogan, a Rennsport S – which had been restored in the 1960s by none other than Formula 1 World Champion Phil Hill – a 300Sc and a 300D. I think that was all… I had managed to get all the S-type Mercedes running, but not the 300 class because it was all a bit last minute. However, the SSK had a very leaky radiator, which are almost impossible to repair because of their construction of blocks of 4mm tubes separated by 1mm wire for the coolant to flow round. I located another radiator at Reifen-Wagner in Austria. Mr Wagner was a really lovely man, who owned and repaired early Mercedes as a hobby/business. So I drove down to Austria and collected the radiator, and then returned to the Classic Centre in Stuttgart, which I can tell you is a two-day drive. The cars had just been unloaded, but I wasn’t allowed to use the Mercedes workshops, so I removed the faulty radiator and fitted the new/secondhand, non-leaky one in the car park. It must have been a strange sight, seeing me standing on the chassis rails heaving this huge and extremely heavy radiator out of a very expensive car in the corner of a parking lot. Mission accomplished,

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BELOW Robert tackled the Peking to Paris rally with his friend Etienne, in a 1927 630K. What an adventure!

I started helping to move the cars into place for the auction. The next day, I turned up for the sale good and early in my best suit, shirt and silk tie – only to be told that there was no one to clean and detail the cars. So off came the jacket and tie, up rolled the shirt sleeves, and I set to with a lot of cleaning products, borrowed from Brooks (later to become world-renowned Bonhams). I cleaned all our cars, and finished just in time for the first clients of the viewing day to walk through the door… Phew! About two-thirds of the way through the day, while standing in the Classic Centre’s coffee shop, I fell into conversation with a lovely Dutch fellow, Etienne Veen. It turned out he was just starting to build a collection of Kompressor Mercedes,

‘The Peking to Paris rally was an extraordinary, challenging, sad and life-changing experience’

and he was planning for our Rennsport S to be his first car. We hit it off straight away, and spoke often on the phone after he bought the Mercedes from the auction. We became good friends, and about six months after the auction he rang me to say he was coming over to Brooklands in the UK, for a briefing for a rally he was planning to do in his 1927 630K. He asked whether I would organise a hotel, collect him from the airport and join him for the day. I happily organised everything, and spent time with him at the Brooklands briefing and at lunch afterwards. While we were eating, he said to me: “I’m in trouble! I need a codriver to do this Peking to Paris rally, because my son Sven is in the middle of his exams and can’t come.” “Well!” I said. “You need someone who can turn a spanner, someone who can drive this old car (complete with centre throttle) and also someone who you don’t know that well, in case you fall out – because you don’t want to lose a good friend. Although, if all goes well, you could gain one. Do you know anyone such as that whom you can ask?” He replied: “I do actually… Do you

want to do this rally with me?” There are very few times in my life when words have failed me – but, of course, I managed a solid “Yes!”. The Peking to Paris rally took a year of organising by the late Philip Young and his dedicated team, and I visited Etienne in Holland to see his car being prepared. I also taught Sven to drive a vintage motor – that centre throttle, double de-clutching, and an advance and retard lever, as well as everything else. The advantage we had was that he’d just passed his driving test about two weeks earlier, so it was simply a continuation of his learning process. The rally was an extraordinary, challenging, sad and life-changing experience, which I shall probably never get the chance to do again – although Etienne did do many rallies after that one. In 1997, though, we were the first westerners to drive across China and Tibet, and over the Friendship Bridge into Nepal. There are far too many stories from that Peking to Paris to relate in this column, because it involved seven weeks, ten countries and 11,000 miles in a 1927 car, alongside 200-odd other competitors. In Paris, when Etienne was being interviewed for Dutch TV, the reporter asked: “What did you get from doing this rally?” Etienne looked at me and said: “An English sense of humour.” I’ll take that, thank you. Our classic vehicle industry is so amazing that it can turn a casual cup of coffee at an auction into a life-changing adventure and a lifelong friendship; Etienne is even my son’s godfather. How lucky are we, that an industry, a hobby, a lifestyle gives us so much, whatever type of classic or vintage transport we prefer. Live with your machinery and make it your life. Former Ecclestone Collection manager Robert now runs Curated Vehicle Management. See www.c-v-m.co.uk.

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The Racer Sam Hancock Using driver aids – and why one bad experience shouldn’t put you off embracing a good thing

SOME 15 OR SO YEARS AGO, I was invited to share the then-new Aston Martin Vantage GT4 in the Dubai 24 Hours. It wasn’t as exotic as the LMP and GTE cars with which I’d been spoiled at the time, but we had a good driver line-up, Dubai was an exciting place to visit and, refreshingly for that period of my career, I’d be well compensated for my efforts. I was pleased to accept. Everything about that trip was fantastic – except the one element that mattered most: the car. I really didn’t gel with it. Far from the “power, beauty, soul” promised by the digital dashboard display, I found it to be heavy, quiet and lethargic. To me, the early GT4 just felt too much like a road car compared with some of its competitors of which I had prior experience. Worse still, the electronic driver’s aids – such as anti-lock brakes and traction control – were so intrusive and ill-tuned that all efforts to overcome handling deficiencies with small technique adjustments were rendered moot. There was nonetheless a ‘knack’ required to extract a decent lap time – which, despite best efforts, evaded me. I just couldn’t get my head around the ABS in particular, and I decided thereafter to quietly avoid cars and categories that permitted it. So I focused the final years of my ‘modern’ career on ACO-sanctioned series such as WEC, ELMS and Le Mans, whose regulations prohibited ABS (but, oddly, had always allowed traction control). This meant I missed out on the FIA’s ever-booming GT3 and GT4 categories, which embraced such gizmos and in turn attracted swathes of amateur drivers who welcomed their assistance. Unbeknown to me, therefore, the blunt tools I had found so off-putting in the Vantage had, in the following years, improved considerably, with more nuanced programming, greater feel delivered through the pedals

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BELOW The Huracán LP 620-2 Super Trofeo: bring on the driver aids.

and substantially more scope for fine-tuning via new steering-wheelmounted dials. That knack I had failed to master all that time ago seemingly decreased in relevance as the developed systems better reflected drivers’ natural tendencies and tuning requirements. Happily ensconced in Historic racing since, I hadn’t given any of this a moment’s thought – until recently, when I found myself in a 2016 Lamborghini Huracán LP 6202 Super Trofeo, equipped with both ABS and traction control. Wow, what a car! Okay, technically, it’s not a GT3 or GT4 machine, but it is close enough and, thanks to the lack of performance-balancing air restrictors, it is actually more

‘I was shocked at how much I enjoyed exploring the ABS and traction control’s higher limits’

powerful than its GT3 brethren. More relevant, however, is that in addition to the sensational, naturally aspirated, 612bhp 5.2-litre V10 and surprisingly capable handling, I also loved the ABS and traction control. The former allowed for indecently late braking points and a prominent trail of pressure all the way to the apex, while, crucially, not negating the need for a well executed bleed when turning in, or the option to vary that bleed to compensate for shifts in balance on approach to the apex. Meanwhile, on exit, the smooth traction control helped exploit the limit of adhesion without interrupting momentum or destabilising the car while fully loaded. And with the steering-wheel dial’s 12 settings, I could adjust the level of assistance to my preference, altering it between corners if I felt their requirements to be different, or to cope with weather changes throughout the day. The ABS had similar adjustability, and, as I familiarised myself with the car, I dialled it down until I found a sweet spot that just about kept the front wheels from locking under very late and heavy braking, but otherwise left much of the process to my right

(and occasionally left) foot. I was shocked at how much I enjoyed exploring these systems’ higher limits, and tuning the level of their participation to my preference. At no point did I feel disconnected from the car in the way that I had all those years ago in the Aston. Costing a fraction of anything else I could describe with equal verve, a slightly outdated Super Trofeo might just be the best bang-per-buck race car I can think of. After all, what else can you buy with a screaming V10 engine, paddle-shift ’box and pace just a few seconds shy of top-flight GT3 cars, for under £150,000? And now that Masters Historic Racing offers a place to play with such GT4, Cup, Trofeo and Challenge cars via its GT Trophy series – and that some contemporary championships like Italian GT still welcome the machines to their grids – the value proposition is almost bananas. Before the cynics among you ask – no, I don’t have an example for sale. But if you stumble across a good one, please let me know. Sam is a professional racing driver, coach and dealer in significant competition cars. See www.samhancock.com.

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Built originally to the highest standard and well maintained ever since. Powered as were the original cars by a DB4 GT specification engine built by Warren Heath Engineering and producing in excess of 385 BHP. Built with a bespoke roll cage adding chassis rigidity and thus greatly improving road holding with the suspension set up originally by the late and much missed Colin Blower. I have now had nearly two decades of fun racing this exceptional motor car at most of the British and European circuits and in 2011 at Laguna Seca where I carried home the trophies. Other results include wins with Equipe GTS in their Pre 63 GT races and first Aston home at the Le Mans Legends in 2007 as well as numerous class wins. In 2023 it was entrusted to Rex Woodgate Engineering for a full chassis check and general preparation for the season. Only now for sale due to advancing years, potentially a regular winner in the right hands.

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Words Charlotte Vowden

The Interview Jim Farley

Why race? It’s my ‘spa day’. I’m surrounded by car people, and I don’t want to be around any other kind of people. I taught myself to drive in a 1966 Mustang, and this weekend I’m racing a ’65. It is intimidating. Henry Mann’s team worked their arses off, and I want to make them proud. Are you good at it? That’s for other people to judge. Do you have a lucky charm? My son Jameson, like the whiskey. He’s here this weekend. Growing up, what did Ford Motor Company mean to you? It was our nation’s car company. My grandfather was the 389th employee; he joined in 1913. He was a factory worker and a hardcore working guy. He used to take me to the Rouge plant; in the ’70s, it was a rough place. He said: “I want you to go to college and get a good job. I don’t want you to have to do what I did.” My grandfather became my best friend, because he and I loved cars.

‘An all-electric Mustang coupé? I don’t think that’s our future’

But then you had to keep your automotive passion a secret? My dad was a banker, and he wanted me to go into something prestigious. I wasn’t allowed to read car mags – I had to do it in my bed at night with a flashlight, and I had to sneak out to watch NASCAR races. When we moved to Connecticut, the Ferrari distributor for the US was in my hometown, so when I got done delivering my paper I would ride there and talk to the mechanics. I was about 11, and it taught me a lot. What happened when you took a job at Toyota? Members of my family wouldn’t talk to me, because so many people lost their jobs in southeast Michigan. I was ashamed. To come to Ford was always my dream. What did your grandfather say? Unfortunately he passed away about 15 years before I joined, but I often visit his grave and ask for his advice. What does he say? Get your arse back to work. As CEO, what’s your strategy? Upgrade the talent. The most important thing right now is to have the very best, so that we can make it through this EV transition and digital transformation. I am trying to create a higher-performance organisation to compete with the Chinese and digital companies such as Apple and Tesla. The second thing is being flexible – do not make decisions based on politicians. Give customers a choice. How does Ford plan to make people fall in love with EVs? We are being careful about where we enter the EV market. We have emotional products and a high level of intimacy with customers. We don’t want to go into commodity

DREW GIBSON

Historic racer, podcaster, CEO at Ford Motor Company. Still in his race suit, Jim met us in the paddock at Goodwood Members’ Meeting to celebrate Mustang at 60 and Fords of the future

segments. Work vehicles and pick-up trucks are emotional vehicles and we have to use the new technology to surprise people. The Lightning is the best-selling electric pick-up in the US, and it can power your house for seven days; that’s the new emotion. Most of the software is around safety, security, hands-free driving and productivity, but there will come a day when the software might be around driver wellness. Maybe we will have an electronic handbrake for drifting in the Mustang, torque splitting to axles, or programmable performance such as suspension systems you can tune with a phone. It’s going to be a whole new world. A Mustang with an electric powertrain. Yes or no? An all-electric Mustang coupé? I don’t think that’s our future. It’s the world’s best-selling sports coupé. Why? It’s because you can do a burnout, because it sounds great, because it is unapologetically a Mustang. The concept of a Mustang

is really important to the culture of our company, so for Bill Ford and I, it’s a no-go. We will diversify the Mustang line-up. A partially electric, super high-performance Mustang with a great combustion powertrain? Yeah, I’m good with that. Any hints about the return of hero nameplates? Even though I like our past, I don’t like living in the past. I think people will be surprised how we will mix off-road and on-road. One Ford for rest of your life. What’s it going to be? A 427 Cobra; it’s the car I dreamed of when I was a kid. It was a complete mishmash of ideas, it was a project that should have never happened – and we won the World Championship with it. It’s unapologetic. You’re a CEO with a podcast. Why do you want to be so visible? I’m here to serve others, and I want people to fall in love with the company.

Magneto (ISSN No: 2631-9489, USPS number 22830) is published four times a year – in February, May, August and November – by Hothouse Publishing Ltd, UK. Magneto is distributed in the US by RRD/Spatial, 1250 Valley Brook Ave, Lyndhurst NJ 07071. Periodicals postage paid at South Hackensack NJ and other additional entry offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Magneto c/o RRD, 1250 Valley Brook Ave, Lyndhurst NJ 07071.

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