Octane 261 March 2025 by Hothouse Media

SENSATIONAL MASERATI 3500 GT | HOW ALPINA TRANSFORMED BMW’S M3 261 MARCH 2025 / £6.50 / AUS $15.00

BEST BUYS 2025 50

FOR

EPIC MINI ADVENTURE BATTLING A 1974 MINI 6000 METRES UP THE WORLD’S HIGHEST VOLCANO

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MUST-BUY BARGAINS!

Whatever your budget, you’ll be shocked by the great classics you can afford again

LAMBORGHINI

COUNTACH! THE LP400S THAT UPSTAGED THE F1 CARS AT THE MONACO GP

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Catalogue Now Online The Grand Palais Historique, Paris 6 February 2025

Consignments Invited Miami Gardens, Florida | 3 May 2025

1950 FERRARI 166 MM BARCHETTA TOURING Chassis no. 0034 M €4,000,000 - 6,000,000 * No Reserve

Bonhams|Cars is thrilled to announce the return of its Miami Auction in partnership with South Florida Motorsports, race promoters of the 2025 FORMULA 1 CRYPTO.COM MIAMI GRAND PRIX. Taking place Saturday evening after Qualifying, the auction will once again unfold on the iconic F1 circuit, with cars driven on the track and across the auction block.

Forthcoming auctions

ENQUIRIES +32 (0) 476 87 94 71 eucars@bonhamscars.com

+1 (415) 391 4000 uscars@bonhamscars.com

GOODWOOD MEMBERS MEETING | 13 April 2025 +44 (0) 20 7468 5801 | ukcars@bonhamscars.com

bonhamscars.com/grandpalais

bonhamscars.com/miami

THE BONMONT SALE | 29 June 2025 +32 (0) 476 87 94 71 | eucars@bonhamscars.com

* For details of the charges payable in addition to the final hammer price, please visit bonhams.com/buyersguide

Issue 261 March 2025

PAGE

Contents 90

‘IT BECOMES IMPOSSIBLE TO RESIST THE ENGINE’S FAMILIAR DELIGHTS’ ALPINA B6 3.5 S

114

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you know classics

we know insurance With class-leading cover, exceptional service levels and a host of other specialist benefits, find out how our know-how can help you.

020 7933 2200

locktonperformance.com

Lockton Performance is a division of Lockton Private Clients, both trading styles of Lockton Companies LLP. Lockton Companies LLP is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

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05/06/2024 17:11

Contents Issue 261

50 Features

100

BEST BUYS FOR 2025 50 There’s rarely been a better time to buy a classic car. Octane reveals the greatest bargains, from hot hatches to supercars

LAMBORGHINI COUNTACH 66 Not only did this car belong to the saviour of the marque, it also starred at the Monaco GP

MASERATI 3500 GT 74 Behind the scenes in Milan as this beautiful 1950s coupé returns to Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera for a perfect restoration

FRENCH LIMOUSINES 86 The weird and wonderful wheels of the French Presidential office

ALPINA’S M3 90 Take an E30, treat it to a big straight-six

ALL ALPINA’S 3-SERIES 98 Every different take on Munich’s classic compact sports saloon

A MINI ADVENTURE 100 Across the Atacama Desert and up the world’s highest volcano – in a 1974 Mini

THE OCTANE INTERVIEW 108 Steve Saxty: author and motor industry veteran

CORVETTE RACER 114 American collector Ernie Nagamatsu’s tribute to Dave MacDonald’s ⅞-scale racer

86 9

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Contents Issue 261

Regulars

EVENTS & NEWS 20 The latest pics from classic car events this winter; Ford Escort Mk1 restomods are all the rage; dates for your spring diary – and beyond

COLUMNS 39 Jay Leno, Derek Bell, Stephen Bayley and Robert Coucher speak their motoring minds

LETTERS 47 US road trip in a Porsche, bought unseen

OCTANE CARS 124 Evan Klein’s Alfa Spider restoration is finished

OVERDRIVE 130 Alpina’s latest; new Kia EV3; Nismo 370Z

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN 134 Swiss supercar legend Peter Monteverdi

130

134

GEARBOX 136 Watchmaker Maximilian Büsser’s fave things

ICON 138 A very special Voigtländer Bessa camera

CHRONO 140 McQueen’s ‘bargain’ $1.2m Heuer Monaco

BOOKS 142 Fabulous new Alpine title is our top choice

GEAR 144

136

Just in time for next Christmas…

THE MARKET 152 Insider knowledge, auction news, stats, cars for sale, plus Austin 7 buying guide

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 178

138

Broadcaster and traveller Charley Boorman

142

144 10

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14th Edition

21 - 24 August 2025

The battle of the prancing horses, but not only... For the first time ever, the host brand will be Porsche. We will feature 40 Italian brands, 40 Porsche and 40 Ferrari, all produced before 1985, along with selected lightning strikes at the organizer’s discretion.

The battle of the prancing horses, but not only... For further information and registration: www.passione-engadina.ch

For further information and registration: www.passione-engadina.ch

Issue 261 March 2025

WELCOME

FEATURING

FROM THE EDITOR

JULIAN BALME ‘1950s and ’60s Californian road racing introduced me to a stellar cast of characters. Dave MacDonald was famed for his legendary driving for Shelby American, Max Balchowsky for his audacious junkyard specials. Hollywood script-writers couldn’t make this stuff up.’

Dave MacDonald Corvette: pages 114-120.

Why it’s always time to buy THE CLASSIC CAR market is a win-win as far as I can see. Even though I am one of the many for whom making any kind of profit from a classic car is a (very) occasional but welcome by-product rather than a pre-requisite – and only then if I conveniently ignore most maintenance and running costs – I do understand those financial forces that drive the top end of the market just as much as passion does. Lower down the James Elliott, Editor in chief foodchain, and that probably applies to anything under £200,000 nowadays, the main benefit of a bull market is to lubricate the man maths and help persuade significant others that a purchase is a solid business decision rather than mere self-indulgent whimsy. Do they ever really believe us? I suspect not. The ease of putting together that argument has changed a bit in the past year. Of course, we all expected the inevitable ebbing away of the unexpected and unnatural Covid boom, but now there is no denying that the market for most classics (there are always and will always be exceptions) is back to pre-Covid levels. The good news both for investors and those that just need to cover their costs to maintain domestic harmony is that the more exaggerated claims of how far values have fallen are rather fanciful. As ever, the financial model of the classic car market remains the same: values rise exponentially for years (sometimes but not always triggered by events in the global economy), then they fall back a bit from their high (but nowhere near as far as they had risen), then they plateau for a while, and then they set off again. Apart from a couple of major market collapses over a generation ago, for which there’s probably a less scary word such as ‘resets’ now, it’s generally run like clockwork. So if the financial side really matters to you and you currently own a classic that owes you money, don’t worry, just keep enjoying it and the chances are that in time it will reward you. But if you don’t, well, the current docile state of the market means that this is an increasingly rare window of opportunity, the best time in more than five years for you to snag a classic… and we have a few suggestions.

JOHN-JOE VOLLANS ‘Classic models pulled back into the orbit of their original manufacturers are often special, but upon hearing that Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera was restoring a Maserati 3500 GT without compromise, I couldn’t book a flight to Milan fast enough. The results were well worth the journey.’

Find out more on pages 74-82.

NATHAN CHADWICK ‘I’d always admired BMW's E30 M3 for its looks, competition success and chassis balance, but felt disappointed by its engine. Alpina's introduction of the gloriously soulful straight-six could have corrupted everything – but the resultant B6 3.5 S is just superb.’

Full story: pages 90-96.

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RM 17-02 Skeletonised manual winding tourbillon calibre 70-hour power reserve (± 10%) Baseplate and bridges in grade 5 titanium Power-reserve and function indicators Case in grade 5 titanium Torque-limiting crown

A Racing Machine On The Wrist

Issue 261 March 2025

NEXT MONTH

EDITORIAL Editor-in-chief James Elliott james@octane-magazine.com

ISSUE 262, ON SALE 26 FEBRUARY

Associate editor Glen Waddington glen@octane-magazine.com Art editor Robert Hefferon roberth@octane-magazine.com Markets editor Matthew Hayward matthew@octane-magazine.com Founding editor Robert Coucher Contributing editor Mark Dixon

MATT HOWELL

DENNIS NOTEN

JONATHAN JACOB

Italian correspondent Massimo Delbò Design assistance Ruth Haddock Contributor Chris Bietzk

Inquiries to info@octane-magazine.com

ADVERTISING Group advertising director Sanjay Seetanah sanjay@octane-magazine.com Account director Samantha Snow sam@octane-magazine.com

Hot hatch extravaganza Didn’t we have it better in the old days? This group of affordable superstars suggests we did

Plus Aston Martin ‘Razor Blade’ At the wheel of this unique 1920s record-breaker Gumpert Apollo Behind the scenes in the prototype supercar AC 427 Competition Robert Coucher braves the ultimate Cobra Fractional ownership explained How part-sharing a car gets you a slice of the action (Contents may be subject to change)

Dealer account manager Marcus Ross marcus@octane-magazine.com Lifestyle advertising Sophie Kochan sophie.kochan2010@gmail.com Advertising inquiries Tel: +44 (0)1628 510080 Email: ads@octane-magazine.com

SUBSCRIPTIONS, BACK ISSUES, HELPLINES Subscribe online at octane-magazine.com/subscribe Tel: +44 (0)20 3966 6695 Email: customerservice@octane-magazine.com Back issues can be purchased at octane-magazine.com Single issue price: £6.50 (UK). Full annual subscription (12 issues): UK £72, Europe/RoW £72 plus postage (correct at time of publication) Octane ISSN 1740-0023 is published monthly by Hothouse Publishing Ltd. USPS 024-187

This issue on sale 29 January. April 2025 issue on sale 26 February

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Start Here Start Here StartHere Here Start Here Start Start Here

Tuxedo on wheels AAATuxedo Tuxedoon onwheels wheels celebrating Pure Italianità! celebrating celebratingPure PureItalianità! Italianità! information regarding construction, features, design, performance, dimensions, weight, fuel consumption, and running costs is best our knowledge time going print (December, 2024). AllAll All information information regarding regarding construction, construction, features, features, design, design, performance, performance, dimensions, dimensions, weight, weight, fuel fuel consumption, consumption, and and running running costs costs is correct is correct correct to to to thethe the best best of of of our our knowledge knowledge at at at thethe the time time of of of going going to to to print print (December, (December, 2024). 2024). All information regarding construction, features, design, performance, dimensions, weight, fuel consumption, and running costs is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of going to print (December, 2024). All information regarding construction, features, design, performance, dimensions, weight, fuel consumption, and running costs is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of going to print (December, 2024). All Allinformation All information information regarding regarding regarding construction, construction, construction, features, features, features, design, design, design, performance, performance, performance, dimensions, dimensions, dimensions, weight, weight, weight, fuel fuel fuel consumption, consumption, consumption, and and and running running running costs costs costs isiscorrect correct isdiffer correct to tothe to the the best best best of ofour of our our knowledge knowledge knowledge atatthe at the the time time time ofofgoing of going going totoprint to print print (December, (December, (December, 2024). 2024). 2024). Touring Superleggera reserves right alter specifications, equipment, and delivery scopes without prior notice. Colours may from those illustrated. Errors and omissions excepted. Touring Touring Superleggera Superleggera reserves reserves thethe the right right to to to alter alter specifications, specifications, equipment, equipment, and and delivery delivery scopes scopes without without prior prior notice. notice. Colours Colours may may differ differ from from those those illustrated. illustrated. Errors Errors and and omissions omissions excepted. excepted. Touring Superleggera reserves the right to alter specifications, equipment, and delivery scopes without prior notice. Colours may differ from those illustrated. Errors and omissions excepted. Touring Superleggera reserves the right to alter specifications, equipment, and delivery scopes without prior notice. Colours may differ from those illustrated. Errors and omissions excepted. Touring Touring Touring Superleggera Superleggera Superleggera reserves reserves reserves the thethe right right right totoalter to alter alter specifications, specifications, specifications, equipment, equipment, equipment, and and and delivery delivery delivery scopes scopes scopes without without without prior prior prior notice. notice. notice. Colours Colours Colours may may may differ differ differ from from from those those those illustrated. illustrated. illustrated. Errors Errors Errors and and and omissions omissions omissions excepted. excepted. excepted.

www.touringsuperleggera.eu www.touringsuperleggera.eu www.touringsuperleggera.eu www.touringsuperleggera.eu www.touringsuperleggera.eu www.touringsuperleggera.eu info@touringsuperleggera.eu info@touringsuperleggera.eu info@touringsuperleggera.eu info@touringsuperleggera.eu info@touringsuperleggera.eu info@touringsuperleggera.eu

Issue 261 March 2025

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© Hothouse Media. All rights reserved. Neither the whole of this publication nor any part of it may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of the publishers. Octane is a registered trademark. Octane is published by Hothouse Media. Registered address: Castle Cottage, 25 High Street, Titchmarsh, Northants NN14 3DF, UK. VAT number 309390010. 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 octane-magazine.com/privacy-policy The publisher makes every effort to ensure the magazine’s contents are correct. All material published in Octane is copyright and unauthorised reproduction is forbidden. 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. Octane has taken all reasonable efforts to trace the copyright owners of all works and images and to obtain permission for the works and images reproduced in this magazine. In the event that any untraceable copyright owners come forward after publication, Octane will endeavour to rectify the position accordingly. Printed in the UK by Acorn Web Offset Ltd. Distributed by Marketforce, marketforce.co.uk.

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B:228 mm T:222 mm S:196 mm

AUCTIONS & PRIVATE BROKERAGE

GOODINGCO.COM

+1.310.899.1960

1965 ALFA ROMEO GIULIA TZ From The Ken Roath Collection Outstanding Example with Well-Documented Italian Racing History Retains Original, Matching-Numbers Engine Coachwork by Zagato Chassis 750081

1963 FERRARI 400 SUPERAMERICA SERIES II COUPE AERODINAMICO Displayed at the 1963 New York International Auto Show Multiple Platinum Award-Winning Restoration by Marque Specialists Motion Products Inc. Coachwork by Pininfarina Chassis 4251 SA

1953 BENTLEY R-TYPE CONTINENTAL FASTBACK Left-Hand Drive and Center Shift Two Owners from New Current Family Ownership Since 1956 Chassis BC17LB

1969 FERRARI 365 GTC From The Ken Roath Collection Exceptional Restoration in Attractive Original Colors Ferrari Classiche Certified Coachwork by Pininfarina Chassis 12071

B:291 mm

T:285 mm

S:256 mm

1955 FERRARI 250 EUROPA GT From The Ken Roath Collection Restored and Certified by Ferrari Classiche Multiple Award-Winning Restoration and Veteran of the 1000 Miglia The 1956 Brussels Motor Show Car Coachwork by Pinin Farina Chassis 0419 GT

THURSDAY MARCH 6 FRIDAY MARCH 7 LIVE AUCTIONS

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GCO_Octane_Mar_RHP_03.indd JOB #

None

DATE

Bleed 228 mm w x 291 mm h Trim 222 mm w x 285 mm h 196 mm w x 256 mm h Live

FINAL

1-7-2025 12:13 PM Revisions

Notes Int'l ISSUE: RHP/MARCH 2025, On Sale Due: Jan 3 150 Line Screen PDFX1A 7MB limit Ship: elaine@hothousemedia.co.uk

Production Artist Production Manager Proofer 1 Proofer 2 Project Manager

GCO_Octane_Mar_RHP_03.indd

KIDSTON S.A. 7 AVENUE PICTET DE ROCHEMONT, 1207 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND TEL+41 22 740 1939 WWW.KIDSTON.COM

550

2001FERRARI O N E I TA L I A N O W N E R A N D L E S S THAN 4,400 KM FROM NEW

BARCHETTA

The Month in Pictures

Ignition E V EN T S + NE WS + OPINION

Dakar Classic 3-17 January Admittedly, most eyes were on the ‘modern’ raid, but a far hardier set of crews were taking on a similar sandy challenge in a fascinating range of vehicles on the fringe of the main event. The 94 teams tackling the 7246km course – wholly within Saudi Arabia and of which 4033km were against the clock – on this fifth running of the Dakar Classic included Patrice Auzet and François-Xavier Bourgois piloting a Renault 30 TX that ran in the 1981 Paris-Dakar event with Georges Houel and which had been restored from a wreck. This image shows the Polish equipe of rally organiser Tomasz Staniszewski and Stanislaw Postawka around Bisha on the first stage in their barely recognisable Porsche 924. We’ll bring you the full story of this spectacular event in the next issue of Octane. ASO / M Mattos / Fotop

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MATTHEW PITTS

Ignition The Month in Pictures

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Bicester Scramble 5 January There was a superb turn-out for the first Scramble of 2025 at the former RAF base in Oxfordshire. Right up until the gates opened, there were doubts whether the anticipated crowds would materialise due to heavy overnight snow, then freezing fog and rain on the day, yet they arrived in their droves. Star cars ranged from a Panda 4x4 Sisley to a Porsche Carrera GT. Charlie B

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Ignition The Month in Pictures

CLOCKWISE, FROM TOP

Cavallino Classic Middle East

5-8 December A 1961 Ferrari 400 Superamerica (chassis 2841) took Best of Show at this huge celebration of 30 years of the prancing horse’s presence in the Middle East. This was the fourth running of the concours centred around the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit, UAE. Canossa Events

Rixy Stages 29 December

Darrell Taylor finished second overall with Dylan Thomas in his Ford Fiesta (pictured), while daughter Ellie Taylor (in a Fiesta with Cat Lund) ended her first season on Stage 1. Jeff Bloxham

Horsepower exhibition 27 November

A superb exhibition opened at the Rahmi M Koç Museum in Istanbul, Turkey. It covers everything from horse-drawn trams to locally built Anadols and runs until 10 June. Bruno Cianci

VSCC Winter Driving Tests 30 November

Mud-spattered Matt Moore in his Frazer Nash Super Sports at Bicester Heritage. Peter McFadyen

New Year’s Day 1 January

Excellent and varied turn-out at The Old Bull in Inkberrow, Worcestershire. Peter McFadyen 24

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traditional values modern thinking Sea and Air Freight

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Ignition The Month in Pictures

FROM TOP

1000 Miglia Experience UAE 1-5 December

Americans Jeff Gault and Rafaele Conti snatched third place overall and first place in the class for 1000 Miglia-eligible cars (1927-57). Overall winners were Swiss Roland Hotz and Italian Giordano Mozzi in a Techart 911 GTstreet R. 1000 Miglia

Nitro Revival 8-9 November

At the seventh major annual meet celebrating the golden era of drag racing at the Irwindale Speedway drag strip in Southern California, star cars included Don Garlits’ Swamp Rat 3, the Chizler, Freight Train, the Hell Fire funny car and Rat Trap. Howard Koby

Brooklands New Year’s Day meet 4 January

Weather warnings caused the UK’s biggest annual New Year’s Day meet to be postponed for a few days, but moving to the Saturday didn’t seem to harm attendance at the famous Surrey speedbowl in Weybridge. Michael Stokes

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MASERATI 250F CM10

1965 FERRARI 275 GTB ALLOY

1972/73 WILLIAMS FX3-1 POLITOYS/ISO MARLBORO

14 Queens Gate Place Mews London SW7 5BQ T: +44 (0)20 7584 3503 W: www.fiskens.com E: cars@fiskens.com

Ignition Events

Dates for your diary concept cars and another for single-seater racecars of the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s.

theicestmoritz.ch

21-23 February Race Retro Competition cars fill the exhibition halls at Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire, where the static displays will as ever be complemented by thrilling demonstration runs on the Live Rally Stages outside.

www.raceretro.com

21-23 February Classic Madrid Spain’s biggest classic car show returns to the Crystal Pavilion at the Casa de Campo park in the western part of Madrid.

VSCC John Harris Trial, 1 March | Image: VSCC

29 January – 5 February Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique Crews set out from cities across Europe and convene in the French department of Drôme before motoring towards Monaco on spectacular and often snow-covered roads.

acm.mc

31 January – 2 February Grand National Roadster Show At the Fairplex in Pomona, California, 500 hot rods compete for the title of America’s Most Beautiful Roadster and the famous, nine-foot-tall trophy that goes with it.

rodshows.com

31 January – 2 February Bremen Classic Motor Show All eras and most marques are represented at the Bremen show, which is attended by more than 700 exhibitors.

salonclassicmadrid.com

21-23 February noteworthy engines, another for cars with extraordinary dashboards, and so on.

motorcarcavalcade.com

2 February Classic Motor Hub Bibury Coffee & Classics February’s Coffee & Classics event will see classic military vehicles of all types descend on the Classic Motor Hub in Bibury.

classicmotorhub.com

5-9 February

begins with a trip to the forests and muddy fields of Exmoor.

vscc.co.uk

16 February – 7 March Pearl of India It’s impossible to see all of India in just a few weeks, but the entrants on this rally will experience more of the country than most tourists as they drive a 6000km loop that begins and ends in Mumbai.

hero-era.com

Rétromobile

17 February – 3 March

This time round the Paris show will pay special tribute to the wonderful Citroën DS, which turns 70 in 2025.

Sri Lanka Classic

retromobile.com

15 February Concours in the Hills

Twenty-five crews will spend 15 days motoring in Sri Lanka, a 1750km route taking them clockwise around the country from Waikkal to Colombo via national parks that are home to elephants and leopards.

destination-rally.com

2 February

Held to raise money for a local children’s hospital, this event in Fountain Hills, Arizona, features an interesting class for cars powered by alternative fuels.

Motorcar Cavalcade

concoursinthehills.org

The spectacular ‘ICE’ St Moritz is held on Lake St Moritz, which by February is frozen to a depth of around 60cm. Classes at the 2025 event will include one for

classicmotorshow.de

At the Miami Turnberry resort in Florida, cars contest classes themed by design features – so there’s one class for cars with

15 February VSCC Exmoor Fringe Trial The VSCC’s 2025 slate of trials

21-22 February International Concours of Elegance St Moritz

Salão Motorclássico Held in the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, at an exhibition centre that began life as a naval ropemaking factory, and headlined this year by displays celebrating the Fiat 600 and the Citroën DS.

motorclassico.com

22 February The Pomeroy Trophy Entries spanning a century of car design compete against one another in this handicap event, which begins with a series of driving tests and concludes with a 40-minute blast around the Grand Prix Circuit at Silverstone.

vscc.co.uk

22-26 February Rallye Neige et Glace Based in the French village of Malbuisson, this one very much does what it says on the tin, serving up wintry entertainment for crews in two classes – Regularity and Discovery.

zoulouracingheritage.com

27 February – 2 March Retro Classics Stuttgart Some 90,000 petrolheads flock to Stuttgart each year for this show,

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which welcomes everything from iconic racing cars to scooters.

7-9 March

retro-classics.de

Based at Hellidon Lakes Hotel in Northamptonshire and the ideal introduction to regularities, driving tests and Tulip books. Training sessions are held on the first two days, and the event concludes with a 65-mile rally.

28 February – 2 March Sydney Harbour Concours d’Elegance Australia’s finest classics gather at Cockatoo Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site close to the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

sydneyharbourconcours.com.au

1 March VSCC John Harris Trial On the edge of the Peak District, members of the VSCC compete for the Dick Batho and Patrick Marsh trophies.

vscc.co.uk

1-2 March

A Novice Trial

hero-era.com

12-16 March Coppa delle Alpi This regularity rally heads north from Brescia into the mountains of Italy, Switzerland and Austria. Crews in eligible cars will be competing not only for bragging rights, but also for a guaranteed entry in the 2026 Mille Miglia.

1000miglia.it

ModaMiami

13-15 March

Hosted by the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, Florida, and featuring a display of 100 rare supercars in addition to the main concours field.

WinteRace

modamiami.com

winterace.it

6-9 March

13-16 March

The Amelia

Un Homme, Une Femme

Visitors to the concours on Amelia Island will find 275 cars divided into 35 classes. We’re particularly looking forward to seeing what turns up in the two Streamliner classes.

A relaxed tour for couples in classic and modern GTs, beginning in Florence.

ameliaconcours.com

Rallye de Paris

A field of 70 pre-2000 cars; an expertly plotted, 460km route through the Dolomites and part of Austria; and heaps of snow.

happyfewracing.com

15-16 March

The Southern Hemisphere’s biggest historic racing meet, held on Phillip Island, a couple of hours south of Melbourne.

Sports cars built between 1950 and the present day are given a workout on a rally that visits the Bugatti Circuit and Montlhéry Autodrome before the finish in Paris, where an awards lunch is held aboard a boat on the Seine.

vhrr.com.au

rallystory.com

7-9 March Phillip Island Classic

BOOK NOW! Some of these events may seem a long way off, but you need to secure your place and travel plans now to take part Le Mans Classic 3-6 July The mammoth must-do event for Brits and others in which it is essential to convoy to the Circuit de la Sarthe in classic cars with pals and preferable to camp, though seeking comfort (and especially a shower) elsewhere is understandable. There are near-endless options, from club trips to many professionally organised packages. lemansclassic.com/en/

Midnight Sun Rally 11-12 July Dating back to 1950, this is Sweden’s biggest historic rally and one of Europe’s finest. For 2025, routes for both day-long stages will run around Katrineholm in Sörmland, based from Katrineholm and Ericsbergs Slott. midnattssolsrallyt.com

Traversée de Paris 20 July The recently held January edition, organised by the Vincennes en Anciennes Club and hosting some 700 teams in a wide range of vehicles over 30 years old, may be better known but, for visitors from elsewhere in Europe, especially first-timers, the summer outing makes a lot of sense. The route is about 30km straight through the historic heart of the French capital. vincennesenanciennes.com

Yorkshire Elegance 22-24 July Now taking place at Grantley Hall, this wonderful event will feature a 50-car concours plus displays celebrating 140 Years of the Motor Car, 70 Years since Stirling Moss won the Mille Miglia, the DB era of Aston Martin (1947-72), and 50 Years of the 911 Turbo. yorkshireelegance.com Rallye Neige et Glace, 22-26 February | Image: Zoulou Racing Heritage

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Ignition News

Behold the £300k Ford Escort Mk1 A new breed of manufacturer-endorsed continuation cars is kicking off with an old Dagenham favourite

A NEW WORD has been added to a classic car lexicon that’s still coming to terms with sanction, continuation and restomod: the ‘continumod’. Its originators describe it thus: ‘Continumod™ (noun): A blueprint-accurate, periodsympathetic vehicle built new – no donor car, just an authentic continuation with approved chassis numbers from the original manufacturer. Combining the timeless spirit of classic cars with modern engineering, design, and advanced manufacturing, a

Continumod™ redefines heritage with cutting-edge innovation.’ As to whether this ungainly term deserves to catch on remains to be seen, but there’s no doubt that the car for which it has been coined looks nothing less than sensational. What makes this latest Escort particularly special is that it comes from Boreham Motorworks, an ‘official license partner’ of the Ford Motor Company that ‘designs, manufactures and distributes iconic Ford road, race and rally cars’ and pledges to achieve what

it has trademarked as ‘Peak Analogue’ driving experience. The UK company aims to produce 150 Mk1 Escort RSs from the ground up – with Ford’s blessing and continuation chassis numbers – 50 years after the first RS line died out. If they hit the promised spec – 800kg, 300PS, a road-tuned 2100cc motorsportderived engine that revs to 10,000rpm and a manual ’box – they will be quite something. Looks aside, the new RS will be brimming with modern tech, state-of-the-art materials and bespoke engineering.

Using laser scanning and original blueprints, the Mk1 Escort monocoque has been fully re-engineered in CAD, meaning hyper-accurate dimensions, but all built to the quality of a modern OEM product. The steel body will be reinforced with additional bracing, wider inner ’arches, and vertical rear dampers. Three-point inertia-reel seatbelts will be standard, with an optional four-point safety harness and visual carbon rear compartment race helmet stowage. A full roll-cage with removable door bars is included.

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BEST OF THE BEST FINALISTS REVEALED The contenders for the Peninsula Classics Best of the Best Award 2024 have been revealed. Ardent concours watchers will already have a pretty good idea of the contenders, which are automatically the Best of Shows from a selection of the world’s most prestigious concours d’elegance. Last year’s winner was crowned at the freshly opened flagship Peninsula Hotel in London; for this year’s tenth anniversary, the ceremony will return to its traditional slot at the Peninsula Paris on 3 February, which is on the eve of the Rétromobile event. ‘We are delighted to highlight this line-up of truly exceptional motorcars, which exemplify an astonishing level of beauty and performance,’ said The Hon Sir Michael Kadoorie, chairman of The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, Limited, and co-founder of The Peninsula Classics Best of the Best Award. ‘It is also a great pleasure to have become recognised, over the past ten years, as one of the premier classic car showcases in the world.’

There will be two engine and transmission options: a fuelinjected Twin Cam enlarged to 1845cc and offering 185PS, driving through a four-speed ‘Ford bullet’ synchromesh straight-cut gearbox, or an all-new motorsport-derived 2.1-litre cast and billet lightweight four-pot that revs to 10,000rpm. Offering 300PS, the fuel-injected and ECU-managed engine will have dual-overhead cams, chain cam drive, forged steel conrods and billet crank. It will drive through a five-speed dog-leg gearbox and there will be a fly-by-wire electronic throttle. Weight distribution will be 55:45 and suspension will be by MacPherson struts at the front and an all-new lightweight, aluminium and titanium floating rear axle with ATB limited-slip diff and coil-over dampers. To preserve the analogue driving experience, the tech doesn’t extend to power steering, traction control, ABS or brake servo – the vented discs and four-pot calipers at the front and discs and two-piston calipers at the back are all you need. The custom four-spoke wheels (15x7in at the front, 15x8in rear) echo the original Escort’s. Design director Wayne Burgess said: ‘From the very beginning, our goal was to honour the simplicity and purity of the original design, while ensuring it met the expectations of a modern performance car. Every detail, from the minimalism of the exterior to the thoughtful functionality inside, is about

distilling the essence of what made the Mk1 so special. It’s about creating a car that not only looks back at its heritage but also drives forward into a new era of peak analogue performance.’ Iain Muir, CEO of Boreham Motorworks, added: ‘Recreating the Ford Escort Mk1 RS for a new generation is not just about building a car; it’s about honouring a legacy that has inspired driving enthusiasts for over half a century. At Boreham Motorworks, we’ve committed ourselves to not only staying true to the essence of the original, but also to bringing it into the modern age with cutting-edge engineering, precision design, and unparalleled craftsmanship.’ Production is set to start later this year and the new cars will come with a two-year or 20,000-mile warranty to ease the pain of the ‘from £295,000’ price. Ths limited-run project surely marks the zenith of the Ford Escort fever that has gripped the classic car world for a decade or more. These once cheap and cheerful classics took off thanks to dominance in historic rallying and a subsequent run on twodoor bodyshells that saw values multiply. The phenomenon has spread to all fast Fords, many models pushing values to a point that defies market logic, considering their production numbers and availability. Have continuation cars just jumped the shark with the £300,000 Escort Mk1 or have they simply entered a whole new era? We shall soon find out.

The shortlist for The Peninsula Classics Best of the Best Award 2024 are: 1928 Bugatti Type 35C Grand Prix

Coachwork by Bugatti. Best of Show, 2024 Chantilly Arts et Elegance Richard Mille.

1932 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Spider

Coachwork by Figoni. Best of Show, 2024 Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este.

1934 Bugatti Type 59 Sports

Coachwork by Bugatti. Best in Show, 2024 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

1937 Rolls-Royce Phantom III Convertible

Coachwork by JS Inskip. Best of Show, 2024 Concours of Elegance at Hampton Court Palace.

1937 Bugatti Type 57S Roadster

Coachwork by Corsica. Best in Show, 2024 Cartier Style et Luxe, Goodwood.

1937/1946 Delahaye 145 Cabriolet

Coachwork by Franay. Best in Show, 2024 The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering.

1947 Delahaye 135 MS Narval Cabriolet

Coachwork by Figoni et Falaschi. Best of Show, 2024 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance.

1957 Ferrari 335 S

Coachwork by Scaglietti. Best of Show, 2024 Salon Privé Blenheim Palace Concours.

1964 Ferrari 250 LM

Coachwork by Scaglietti on a design by Pininfarina. Best in Show, 2024 Palm Beach Cavallino Classic.

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Ignition News

Concours team’s top choice THE CONCOURS YEAR, the book that showcases all the great cars that have appeared at the key events, has picked its concours car of 2024. The winner is the 1957 Ferrari 335S owned by Brian and Kim Ross from the USA, which took Best of Show at Salon Privé at Blenheim Palace. Having started life as a Scaglietti 290MM Spyder (chassis 0626), this car competed in the Mille Miglia and at the Nürburgring before being converted to a 315S, running at Sebring with Peter Collins and Maurice Trintignant in March 1957 before coming second overall in the Mille Miglia with Taffy von Trips. It was then converted to a 335 Sport and set fastest lap at Le Mans in 1957 (Mike Hawthorn and Luigi Musso) before ending the year by winning the 1958 Cuban GP with Stirling Moss. After that it moved into private hands and joined the Bardinon collection in 1969, until its sale in 2016. Since then it has appeared at many concours, including Pebble Beach, Villa d’Este and Salon Privé. Others Concours Year winners were Pebble Beach’s Wedge-Shaped Concept Cars & Prototypes category (Concours Class of the Year), Stephen and Kimmy Brauer (Entrants of the Year), The Oberoi Concours d’Elegance (Concours Event of the Year), Nigel Matthews (Unsung Hero of the Year), Lugano Excellence (Concours Initiative of the Year) and the 1932 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Figoni (Concours Achievement of the Year).

Elms to the helm Dominic Elms has been appointed as the new director of JLR Classic. Previously a director in JLR’s Global Retail and Operations departments for a decade, he said: ‘As someone who has had a lifetime filled with joyous memories of classic Jaguars and Land Rovers, taking on this role at Jaguar Land Rover Classic is a thrill and an honour.’

German comeback After its highly successful 2024 debut, with Hans Jörg Hübner’s 1939 Lancia Astura Pininfarina Cabriolet winning Best of Show, Concours of Elegance Germany returns to the shores of Lake Tegernsee on 25-26 July. A. Lange & Söhne will again be the presenting partner for 2025, alongside RM Sotheby’s, which will host an exclusive auction.

Pioneer honoured The National Motor Museum’s Beaulieu One Hundred club has named Zander Miller from Dorset as its 2024 Young Pioneer. The 21-year-old has organised several large car meets across the south and established a South Coast Super Car Club that now has nearly 300 members.

Aston now more roofless Aston Martin has unveiled the Roadster sibling to its Vantage Coupé, the most potent frontengine, rear-wheel-drive convertible. With 656bhp and 590lb ft from its 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbo engine, top speed is 202mph and 0-60mph comes up in 3.5 seconds. Festive charity funds Festive Four-Wheelers, the final event of the 2024 calendar for the Bicester Scramblers, raised £1600 for two local charities, Alexandra House of Joy and StarterMotor. Jack Phillips, membership and content manager at Bicester Motion, said: ‘The Scramblers team set an ambitious target in raising £1000 for charity with Festive Four-Wheelers, in a short period of time, and we have been blown away by the generosity of the members.’ Stony rescheduled The popular Vintage Stony Festival, which had to be cancelled for the first time in 15 years due to the bad weather on New Year’s Day, has been rescheduled. It will now take place on Sunday 2 March.

Datum erratum An incorrect price was included with our review of The Classic Car Auction Yearbook 2023-2024 (Books 259). It should have read €100 rather than €45. YouTuber to be Moda host ModaMiami’s 100 Club, a mouthwatering selection of supercars and hypercars on show at the spectacular Florida event on Sunday 2 March, will be hosted by online automotive expert Ed Bolian, who will guide attendees through the 100 display cars as they join the showfield. He will also be showing a Bugatti Veyron from his own collection. See modamiami.com for full details of the two-day festival. P2P in print A new 414-page 2024 Peking to Paris Motor Challenge book promises in-depth coverage of the marathon event in words and stunning pictures. Limited to 300 copies, it has been put together by seasoned competitor and author Patrick Debusseré and features 57 different stories told by the intrepid crews. It costs €159 from reinhard@debussere.be.

Silverstone F3 bonanza A world-record grid of 500cc F3 cars is being lined up for the Silverstone Festival (22-24 August). It will form part of the event’s celebrations for 75 years of F1, which was born at Silverstone in 1950 with the 500cc bikeengined cars as the only support race. The grid included a young Stirling Moss and Peter Collins.

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New homme in the hotseat Following the retirement of Sylviane and Patrick Peter (see Octane 260), Marc Ouayoun has taken over as boss of Peter Auto to guide the company into a new era. He previously held roles at Mercedes-Benz, Smart, Porsche France, where he became MD in 2011, then President of Porsche Canada before taking over the management of Audi France. Electric Shadow British classic conversion company Evice has started testing its first prototype, known as XP1 and based on a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow. The vehicle is equipped with 800V electrical architecture, delivering 400bhp. Powered by a 77kWh battery, the prototype is claimed to have a range in excess of 200 miles.

032_IGNITION NEWS Summary.indd 33

Campbell gathering Dozens of people met at Coniston on 4 January to celebrate the life of Donald Campbell, who was killed on the lake in his hydroplane Bluebird K7 on 4 January 1967. The commemoration started with laying a wreath at the Campbell memorial in the centre of the village, which also commemorates the life of his engineer, Leo Villa. The event was run by the K7 Club, which was inaugurated at the Sun Hotel in Coniston on 7 November 1957 after Donald celebrated his 239mph record.

Dave Brodie RIP Everyone at Octane was saddened to hear of the recent death of master-tuner and turbo fiend Dave Brodie. In tribute to this great engineer we have made available the full interview that appeared in Octane 258. You can find it here: octane-magazine. com/articles/features/davebrodie-the-octane-interview. Also see Derek Bell’s column, page 41.

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Quail classes revealed The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering has announced its key classes for the 2025 concours at The Quail Golf Club on 15 August. The four feature classes will be 30th Anniversary of the Ferrari F50, 60th Anniversary of the Shelby Mustang GT350, 60th Anniversary of the Iso Grifo and Liveries of F1.

additional tyre-bearing surface from these specially designed product lines of cushions to avoid, seriously, the tyre flat spot phenomenon.

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New venue for H&H Auction house H&H has announced Kelham Hall in Newark, Nottinghamshire, as a new flagship venue for a sale on 10 September. According to H&H, the venue has never before been opened to the public for a live auction.

Ice to see you, to see you ice Following its cancellation last year due to adverse weather conditions, the unique classic car experience that is The ICE St Moritz (theicestmoritz.ch) is gearing up for 21-22 February. The International Concours of Elegance on a frozen Swiss lake will host some of the most iconic classic cars across five categories: Barchettas on the Lake, Open Wheels, Concept Cars & One Offs, Icons on Wheels, and Racing Legends.

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additional tyre-bearing surface from these specially designed product lines of cushions to avoid, seriously, the tyre flat spot phenomenon.

ALTairEGO cushions sets offer a tyre-bearing surface + 400% greater than when the car is parked on the ground, thus avoiding the tyre flat spot. 3 product lines, including 22 models in respect to your car’s specific kerb weight category, between 500 kg / 1100 lbs and up to 4000 kg / 8800 lbs.

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Brands here eventually represented are property of their respective owners.

17/01/2025 11:13

Ignition News

Rome gears up for new concours Exclusively Italian cars of the highest quality and desirability will be battling for the silverware in the Eternal City this spring OCTANE IS DELIGHTED to be an official media partner of the glittering new Italian event that is set to add a new dimension to the world’s leading concours. The magazine has joined forces with the Anantara Concorso Roma, which will make its glamorous debut in the Eternal City during 24-27 April. Conceived by top-tier collector and chairman of Anantara Hotels & Resorts’ parent company Minor International, Bill Heinecke, the concours is sponsored by UBS and will take over the heart of Rome. The Italian capital in spring will offer a uniquely bewitching backdrop for some of the finest Italian automotive masterpieces, with fewer crowds than in summer but still the lure of alfresco dining. The inaugural event promises a unique fusion of classic cars set

against the city’s unparalleled cultural heritage. Most owners are expected to stay at the sensational Anantara Palazzo Naiadi Rome hotel and a range of activities have been planned for them from there, including a tour through the ancient city. The concours itself will take place amid the sumptuous frescoes and fragrant gardens of Rome’s neoclassical marvel, Casina Valadier, and enthusiasts are Clockwise, from left Official poster is by UK artist Tim Layzell; the spectacular Anantara Palazzo in Rome; Le Mans-winning 1963 Ferrari 275 P and 1957 500 TRC are already signed up for the concours.

welcome to join the party without a car, celebrating the best of Italian hospitality, cuisine, craftsmanship and motoring. The 50 competing wonders from across the globe will tell the whole story of Italian road and racing cars – and, uniquely, the Anantara Concorso Roma will feature only Italian marques. Naturally, all the greats will be represented, including Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Pagani – and Bugatti, founder Ettore having been born an Italian, even if his cars later wore French blue. To give an idea of the standard of car expected, already signed up are the sensational two-times Le Mans-winning 1963 Ferrari 275 P and the 2023 Pebble Beach Concours Ferrari Competition Class-winning 1957 Ferrari 500 TRC Scaglietti Barchetta. The cars will be grouped by class and judged by a team of judges assembled by Dott Adolfo Orsi Jr and including Lorenzo Ramaciotti, Massimo Delbò, François Melcion, Stefano Pasini, Laura Kukuk, Donald Osborne and Joanne Marshall.

Concours director Jeremy Jackson-Sytner said: ‘No other leading concours in the world can claim to offer such a dramatic backdrop, along with so many enviable reasons to attend on its doorstep. It’s an irresistible automotive gathering, where the cars will be just one part of what will be an awe-inspiring weekend. We’re confident that nobody will leave Rome without the joy of having had a truly memorable experience.’ Organisers are keen to hear from owners of one-off prototypes, rarely, if ever, seen sports racers, significant race cars, icons of La Dolce Vita style, and other rare and beautiful collector cars. A wide range of hospitality packages is available, plus multi-day VIP passes, gala dinner tickets and weekend passes starting from €200. Other confirmed partners of Anantara Concorso Roma include CARS, Whispering Angel, Lockton, Lamborghini Polo Storico and Schedoni, and all the info you need to enter or attend can be found at anantaraconcorsoroma.com.

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10/12/2024 12:31

Ignition Opinion

The Collector

Jay Leno Why cars and watches go so well together

ike many car enthusiasts, I’ve developed a fascination with watches, especially those tied to the release of a new car. The very first car I bought that had a watch coincide with its purchase was my McLaren F1. I did not purchase the car new; it was about six years old at the time and it was being sold on consignment by McLaren. The original owner turned out to be a very nice British gentleman. ‘Any chance I could get the watch that came with it?’ I asked him. ‘No problem,’ he replied, and kindly mailed it to me. I was so excited about the car I forgot about the watch and put it in a drawer. Turns out this TAG Heuer 6000 is one of only 64; it’s made of titanium, an automatic chronograph with a leather braided strap and a silver dial that says ‘F1’ and ‘V12’ in letters that match the script on the steering wheel. The chassis number is also given, in my case 15. The watch follows the ethos of Gordon Murray: as light as possible with nothing on it that didn’t need to be there. I often have to laugh when I see modern hypercars with matching watches so large they look like bathroom scales attached to the wrist. Next was the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, with a watch so elaborate that the box it came in was the size of a small suitcase. It featured a perpendicular chronograph, with pushers next to the dial and five semicircular sub-dials. The watch used the TAG Heuer Calibre 36, which is a version of the El Primero. It was so confusing to look at, I thought I’d hit a tree by the time I figured out what the time was. Besides, I was more excited about the car. The SLR watch was as confusing as the F1 was simple. When I drove in the Mille Miglia with Ian Callum in a Jaguar, I was given a Chopard Mille Miglia Jacky Ickx Edition chronograph by Jacky himself. How cool was that! Chopard’s love of classic cars inspired this line of watches, and they have been the official timekeeper of the race since 1988. One of my favourites is the Vacheron Constantin Historiques American 192, originally released in the roaring ’20s and affectionately known as ‘the drivers’ watch’ because the dial is slanted at 45°, so you can read it with your hands on a big steering wheel. I wear mine whenever I drive a French car. Although my 2005 Ford GT did not come with a watch, the latest iteration did. The 2005 Ford GT

cost me $129,000. The latest version was half a million; I think Ford felt guilty and threw in a very nice watch, made by Autodromo. It has a ceramic and steel case and is powered by a La Joux-Perret flyback chronograph movement. The crown is a miniaturised version of the scroll selectors on the Ford’s steering wheel and the pushers are modelled after the paddle-shifters. When I drive my vintage Japanese cars, such as the 1970 Mazda Cosmo or the 1964 Honda S600, I wear my Seiko Sportura SLQ007 – a watch I’ve had for over 25 years. I decided to send this back to Japan for servicing and went online to get some information, only to find out it was known as ‘the Jay Leno watch’. I had worn it on TV so often that’s what people started calling it. Seiko should reintroduce it. My friend Phillip Sarofim is one of the world’s best-known collectors, the man who rescued the legendary Aston Martin Bulldog. It was designed to go 237mph but managed ‘only’ 191. The plan was to build 15 to 25 cars, but the project ran out of money. The Bulldog was then sold to a Saudi prince for £130,000. On its first drive, the engine blew up. There it sat until rescued by Phillip. Driven by Darren Turner, a three-time class winner at Le Mans, it achieved 205.4mph at Machrihanish airfield. To commemorate the event, Phillip commissioned Bamford to produce a lovely watch, carried on a very British brown leather strap with white piping. I was thrilled to receive it, especially considering I had nothing at all to do with the project! I’m thrilled that more and more watch brands are aligning themselves with automobile manufacturers. Names such as Rolex and Chopard have had automotive relationships for years, and now A. Lange & Söhne of Glashütte, Germany, has entered the fray. Theirs is a level of precision and technology that rivals the best F1 teams. I’m talking about mechanical watches here. Quartz watches are cheaper to produce and more accurate, of course, but there’s something missing; it’s kinda like the difference between electric cars and our classics. I’ll wear a quartz watch to go to work or to be robbed, but when I drive my ICE vehicles I’ll wear a mechanical watch. I might be slower and have the wrong time but at least I’ll be having fun.

‘Modern hypercars come with matching watches so large they look like bathroom scales’

Jay was talking with Jeremy Hart. 39

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1988 Rouse Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth Group ‘A’ GUIDE PRICE £240,000 - £280,000

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14/01/2025 11:35:51

Ignition Opinion

The Legend

Derek Bell Even heroes have their heroes

his column is being lovingly crafted only a few days into 2025. My last trip before Christmas was to an end-ofseason Porsche ‘do’ in Frankfurt. I remember these events when they used to celebrate all the various Porsche Cup champions from around the world. The works drivers would be in attendance by way of decoration because we didn’t have much to do. I hadn’t been to one of these shindigs for aeons and things have changed quite a bit in the interim. It was all very plush, and I was in town along with Roger Penske and Norbert Singer for a little Q&A session. We were there to discuss the Porsche 917. I had doubts beforehand that anyone would be interested in hearing us chat about Ye Olden Times, but it went down well. I reminded Roger that my involvement with the 917 stretched back that bit further than his to when I raced against his Sunoco Ferrari 512M back in 1971. The first time I came up against it was in that year’s Daytona 24 Hours. It was beautifully presented, as Roger’s cars have always been, but looked decidedly used thereafter, not least because Pedro Rodríguez insisted on driving into it. I loved Pedro. It was hard not to, but he was a bit of a wildman. He realised that the 917 was more robust in certain places so he was always careful to biff the Ferrari where it wasn’t going to hurt; by which, of course, I mean hurt his car. I remember thinking that there were only so many times that you could get away with that and that one day he was going to get hurt in a racing car. He was dead before the year was out. Anyway, I am not sure if Roger really appreciated me reminding him that rubbing is racing, but I enjoyed sharing this anecdote all the same. Roger always was a smart cookie, and he turned a small team into an empire. I also took some wry amusement watching his private plane cut in front of my Air Suisse flight as we waited on the runway to take off the following day. Anyway, as fun as it often is recounting the bigger races, I sometimes need to be given a nudge when it comes to the smaller ones. This was rammed home recently when someone contacted me regarding the Alfa Romeo Tipo 33s I used to drive for Willi Kauhsen, who took over running the company’s works cars from Autodelta way back when.

I had a lot of fun driving for Willi even if I didn’t always know who I would be sharing a car with, or at least not until I arrived at the track. I exaggerate, but only just. Most of the time I was paired with Henri Pescarolo, who was a safe pair of hands. He was a good driver and someone who knew how to bring a car home in one piece, which wasn’t always the case with some ‘names’ I could mention. Anyway, a historian asked for my thoughts on my one-off outing in an Alfa in 1977. I honestly thought my involvement had finished in 1975, but no, I raced a Tipo 33 in a round of the Interserie two years later. I mention this only because the memories came flooding back, or at least trickled. The car was wonderful, and I won, but the circuit was… Well, it was at Avus, which was basically a couple of straights in search of some corners. It’s just strange that I had completely forgotten about it. My powers of recall were also triggered a day or so ago when someone mentioned Tony Lanfranchi. He used to be a big name on the national scene in the UK for decades, and was one of life’s characters. I raced against him in Formula 3 and beat him at Brands Hatch in awful conditions in December 1966. He was the Brands-meister, so that was a real feather in my cap. There are times when you’re on your way up the ladder that you have moments like that. You realise that you have what it takes. I loved F3. I won seven times in 1967, my first year of racing internationally, but that was also the season when I began fully to appreciate the dangers. I can recall clearly the Danish F3 GP that was basically a series of heats at the Djursland circuit in Denmark. Poor old Doug Revson, the younger brother of Peter, crashed into what, in essence, was a concrete sewage silo and died, as did the circuit owner who was in the vicinity. I would also like to say a fond farewell to Dave Brodie, who was recently the subject of The Octane Interview and who died in December. He was one of the greatest saloon car racers of his day and also the funniest. I expect him to be on full opposite lock as he power-slides through the Pearly Gates. I hope you will forgive the slightly mordant tone of this column. I am not on a downer, it’s rather that I am processing old memories while looking forward to making new, happy ones this year. 2025 promises to be a lot of fun.

‘I loved Pedro Rodríguez. It was hard not to, but he was a bit of a wildman’

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15/01/2025 20:50

THE CONCORSO D’ELEGANZA VILL A D’ESTE AUCTION 2025

1948 Ferrari 166 Spyder Corsa by Ansaloni Estimate: €5,500,000 - €7,500,000 Quite possibly one of the most original early Ferraris in existence, this 166 Spyder Corsa by Carrozzeria Ansaloni boasts an impressive racing history, including appearances at the Mille Miglia and Targa Florio. Owned by the same family from 1965 to 2015, it retains its original chassis, Tipo 166 V12 engine, and five-speed racing gearbox. With Ferrari Classiche certification and numerous prestigious awards, it stands as a benchmark example from the dawn of Ferrari’s illustrious legacy.

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Ignition Opinion

The Aesthete

Stephen Bayley Car design has gone the same way as popular music

his year is the 60th anniversary of The Beatles’ Rubber Soul, an album that marked their evolution from genius popsters to something more serious, even if I think being genius popsters is a very serious occupation. Stand-out track on an album where everything was stand-out was (Baby, You Can) Drive My Car, a sardonic account of gender prejudice in the matter of car use. And it’s powerfully suggestive of the hold that cars still had over the imagination in 1965. Today, a similar track would be Baby, You Can Use My ’Phone. Which, for me, has less resonance. Elegiacally, at about the time of Rubber Soul, Paul had a DB6, John a Rolls-Royce Phantom, Ringo a Facel-Vega II, and in 1967 George bought a Dino 246. It’s very clear to me that great cars and great music go together. Does anybody doubt that the 1950s and 1960s were the great age(s) of car design? They were certainly the great ages of rock ’n’ roll and cinema. These three art forms were the defining expressions of The Modern. And what they had in common was that each was a collective activity – team work – rather than an autonomous act of creativity by an inspired individual (although the most inspiring collectives – James Bond movies, The Beatles, Ferrari – contained many inspired individuals, to be sure). In those days there was a mass market with desires on shared vectors. Even if you could not afford to buy a Ferrari, you could join the millions who admired the cars. When The Beatles wrote a hit, the world sang along. Now The Modern is slipping into history as ephemeral moments of amateur streaming replace enduring creative endeavour. Globalisation has flattened the peaks of individuality. National identity has been put through the blender. If there are ambitions and direction in design today, I could not tell you what they are. And it’s my job to know. I spent years telling people that the trope ‘all cars look the same’ was lazy nonsense, citing the co-existence of a Maserati Quattroporte and Fiat Panda to make my point. But now? Even as an Olympian car-spotter, I cannot tell the difference between what’s out there. Nor do I really care. An example of what has been lost: just think about the sweet nicknames the great cars of the 1950s and 1960s acquired. We had a Beetle. A Topolino. We had a Frogeye. Even an Escargot. Today, no-one

is going to speak in such fond terms of a Chinese EV. It would be like smooching a tumble-dryer. Great design has always been inspired by calamity or optimism. America’s imperium was at its fabulous hot-jets, razzle-dazzle, be-bop peak in 1955, just as the ’57 Chevrolet Bel Air was taking shape in Harley Earl’s GM Tech Center. There has never been a single car that so completely expressed the collective desires of an entire civilisation. Or in France in the mid-1950s, a shattered economy and a demoralised population were being repaired by visionary politics that, among other things, gave us the Renault 4. While Sartre fretted about the meaninglessness of existence, BoulogneBillancourt’s designers built a car that was a perfect balance between function and delight. Or in England, the shaming political and military calamity of Suez in 1956 had chaps in tweeds and smoking pipes leaning against parallel-action drawing-boards in Coventry, congratulating themselves on their new Triumph TR3, a distillation of robust Englishness so profound that Nigel Farage looks like the Chairman of the Socialist Workers’ Party MeToo Compliance Committee in comparison. My feeling is: they had to do it. But it was Italy and Germany in the 1950s and 1960s that national characteristics in design were best understood… and best practised. In Italy, a politically mandated need to get the people moving made the Vespa scooter and Nuova Cinquecento possible. A national appetite for bella figura that went beck to the Etruscans gave us the Lancia Aurelia B20. Design promoted Italy as a new world power. And in Germany, forces collided to make a unique design culture. A traditional reverence for Forschung, or ‘research’, fed into the educational programme of Ulm’s Hochschule für Gestaltung (successor to the Bauhaus), where it was taught that design was a systematic process. I mean: define the objectives and there is a path to an inevitably perfect result. Nonsense? Of course, but it was persuasive nonsense and led directly to the Neue Klasse BMW of 1961, as systematic an exercise in design as you could hope for. And an Ulm lecturer called Otl Aicher drew the instrument graphics. My successor here 100 years from today will not be remarking on the design of the Great Wall Coolbear’s dashboard. Drive my Coolbear? No thanks.

‘If there are ambitions in design today, I could not tell you what they are’

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16/01/2025 18:42

Ignition Opinion

The Driver

Robert Coucher There’s never been a better time to treat yourself

‘I

t’s the economy, stupid!’ as one of Bill Clinton’s advisers put it before his presidential win in 1993. Some readers become exercised when we include economics, ergo politics, in these pages, but we do so only when it has a direct impact on our classic car world. With the new government elected to power in July, the Chancellor continued to talk the British economy down – even though there were signs of it picking up a bit after 14 years of mismanagement under the previous lot – until her budget speech in October. Since when, put simply, there has been less spare cash to splash on classic cars. Or restaurants. Or on the High Street. Or on holiday. Nope, it’s energy bills and taxes. So the spring has gone from the step of the classic car market. But, in fact, the OTT price craziness peaked ten years ago, back in 2015 when speculators began to offload, and since those heady days prices for mainstream classic cars have ‘corrected’ by around 20%. Nevertheless, the auctions at the Monterey Week last August took £350million, about the same as the year before, and RM Sotheby’s had its best year ever in ’24, with sales of $887million, even though more cars are now selling under estimate. Top cars still achieve top money in the US and Middle East, it’s just that there’s a shift underway with collectors becoming more interested in modern supercars. They appeal to the emerging audience. The good news, then, is that it’s a buyers’ market out there, with plenty of well-restored classics available at reasonable prices, both to enjoy and as a good hedge against inflation. In addition to this, the ‘cult’ of the classic car continues to seep into our popular culture and in various cities, including anti-car Paris, London and San Fran: social media is constantly full of clips of surprisingly young people enjoying classics such as a Renault 16 TX parked casually at the Les Puces flea market in Paris or a cool Rover P5B outside Osborne’s seafood restaurant in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex. What we have learnt over the decades is that classic cars, or any cars, deteriorate when left in storage, and the ultimate absurdity is that highly usable modern super- and hypercars lose huge value if they rack up any mileage at all! While the epicentre of the classic car world is shifting with the times, a good third of classic car

enthusiasts (including me) remain Baby Boomers, probably not particularly interested in ensconcing a ‘retail red’ Ferrari F50 in their handbuilt oak motor house in the Home Counties – or my London lock-up. Rather go for a Daytona, for which prices have, again, ‘readjusted’. An Aston DB6? Discounts apply. Bentley R-Type Continental? Half-price. This month’s cover feature addresses the question ‘what to buy’. I am no good at answering this as I remain an amateur enthusiast, not a dealer. But I’ve picked up a few pointers along the way. First, buy a car that’s been done. Restoration costs are high and, in this buyer’s market, you can get either the car or the resto for free. Saloon cars are better-resolved than open sports cars and just as cool at half the price. One car I really want is a 105-series Alfa GTV but that annoyingly good Drew Pritchard ramped up the prices with his TV series Salvage Hunters: Classic Cars, as has Alfaholics with its massively improved versions. A Giulia saloon is a better everyday classic. I started my motoring in a Lancia Aurelia B20 GT. Lovely, but overly complicated, underpowered and overpriced. We had another set of Lancias at home, a Fulvia 1600cc Lusso HF and a more modest 1.3S. The latter was a much nicer road car, with its fluid gearshift and more sophisticated demeanour (the HF had the obstreperous, crunchy five-speed dog-leg ’box). Sure, the HF was faster but it felt cruder. More modest classic cars work better in the confines of the modern world. Having covered many miles across Europe in a McLaren F1, I must admit that a Honda NSX, Gordon Murray’s original inspiration, would have been a better option. My Porsche 356C of many decades morphed into a 912 after I smashed up its bodywork, but I over-tuned the poor thing by increasing its 75bhp to 125.7bhp. It became horrible to live with. Really should have left the engine stock. The 18-year love affair with my patinated old Jaguar XK140 SE FHC continues. Having driven everything from a Bugatti Veyron to a vintage Alfa Monza, I’ve yet to be moved to replace the fully sorted XK. It’s a calm, 210bhp, cool rod that’s comfortable all day at the ton on motorways as well as adept at nipping through narrow B-roads. But if my energy bills weren’t so extortionate, I’d look out for an early Lister XJ-S, the demure one without all the bodykit nonsense. If you have one, let me know.

‘Restoration costs are high and, in this market, you can get either the car or the resto for free’

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15/01/2025 20:50

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09/01/2025 10:54:06

Ignition Letters

Boxster blast I ABSOLUTELY LOVED the feature in Octane 260 about driving a Porsche 930 across the USA from Minnesota to Monterey, California. Two years ago I flew from Seattle to Denver with my girlfriend to pick up a Porsche Boxster I’d purchased on Bring a Trailer. After discussions with the owner and a review of its maintenance records, we decided to risk the drive north through Wyoming (‘The Cowboy State’) and Montana (‘Big Sky Country’) without having a pre-purchase inspection done first. This was a ‘you only live once’ and potentially hare-brained decision as there isn’t a Porsche dealer or service centre in either State. In fact, it is about 1100 miles from Denver to Spokane, Washington, the closest city that has anything resembling a foreign car specialist. Off we went. The first day of driving saw us leaving Cheyenne in Wyoming at about 8am after a trucker’s breakfast and a quick fill-up with 92 octane. Almost immediately, a big Ford F-150

Letter of the month

pick-up with a Halliburton logo passed us as we headed north on Highway 25. We followed him for well over 150 miles at close to – or over – 100mph. Ah, the wide-open West! The drive was like that all day as we passed Custer’s Battlefield, Cody, lots of Harley bikers, and got fleeting glimpses of antelope and mule deer. Montana was more of the same. Its 80mph speed limit meant traffic was mostly doing 90-95mph on I-90 west, and the scenery was nothing short of spectacular. The drive was so nice and traffic-free that we covered the 960 miles to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, in a bit over ten hours. The next day we entered Washington State and enjoyed a relatively slow drive the rest of the way to perennially traffic-clogged Seattle. Two things that I remember most about the drive, apart from the wonderful scenery and the high speeds, are that we saw no Highway Patrol in Montana or Wyoming – and not a single Tesla! Greg James, Mercer Island, Washington, USA

Arabian adventure Having read Robert Coucher’s feature about doing the 1000 Miglia Experience UAE in Octane 251, I thought I’d drop you a line to say that we have just finished the most recent event, driving our Jaguar X120 Drophead Coupé. We had a terrific time, made some great friends, and somehow managed to finish in eighth place! Don’t actually know how we did that, but I suspect it’s probably down to the fact that a significant number of people hadn’t the foggiest idea of how the timing system worked – we’ve done the ‘real’ Mille Miglia in Italy and only managed about 288th. We had a grand plan to drive up through Saudi Arabia to Qatar and Bahrain, before returning to Dubai. However, we were scuppered at the first hurdle when the Saudi border officials declared that right-hand-drive cars were not allowed in their country! Phillip Haslam, Derbyshire

He got some satisfaction I was struck by the photo accompanying James Elliott’s editorial piece in Octane 259, showing Mick Jagger with a Ferrari 288 GTO. I lived in London from 1989 to 1999 and worked in Richmond. During this period I saw many wonderful cars, ranging from a Porsche 959 for sale in an Alfa Romeo dealership in Sheen, to Sir Rod Stewart driving his purple Diablo down the King’s Road.

LETTER OF THE MONTH wins a Ruark R1 Bluetooth Radio, worth £239 The R1 is perfectly proportioned, beautifully made and deceptively powerful. It’s the perfect bedroom, kitchen or workshop radio. Ruark is a family-owned British company, passionate about sound and design. Its aim is to make premium music systems that look and sound fabulous, products that will enhance your home and life, including radios, compact active speakers and all-in-one music systems – all with Ruark’s long high-fidelity heritage at their core. Visit ruarkaudio.com for more information.

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15/01/2025 21:49

EVAN KLEIN

Ignition Letters

courage to have it restored. Since it was featured, it has toured the Alps several times and made many other visits to the Continent. It was even shipped to New Zealand in 2019 for a tour there, visiting the Art Deco festival in Napier. I was actually at the same event in Napier in 2019, but missed the car when it failed to appear due to a flat battery. I had previously encountered it at Le Mans Classic in 2010 and when I saw it recently advertised for sale I could not resist. With a pre-select gearbox, a top speed of 90mph, comfortable ride and powerful brakes, it is an ideal touring car and I hope to emulate at least some of its previous adventures myself in the coming years. Martin Brazill, Suffolk

Andrew Thomas, South Wales

Bar talk As someone who was around when Jaguar D-types arrived and were raced back in the ’50s, I was mesmerised by the attention to detail involved in restoring your feature car in Octane 260 [above]. Unfortunately, in the specification summary the car’s rear suspension has been given as ‘leaf springs’ rather than the correct ‘trailing links and transverse torsion bar’. I am sorry to be so pedantic, but this just jumped out at me. Albert Dance, Essex

Thinking man’s TR7? I cannot offer an informed critique of the TR7, having never owned one, and clearly Jeff Poole (Letters, Octane 260) liked his a lot. However, one aspect of his letter made me wonder why he bought a TR7 in the first place. Mr Poole tells us it was purchased in 1981 after a spell of Capri ownership – exactly the point in time when the Capri

became a true performance car, in the shape of the 2.8Injection [below]. I owned two and can confirm that the universal press acclaim was fully justified. The Capri and the TR7 were similarly priced, so why would you buy a weirdly styled, underpowered, badly built, less-than-reliable and cramped two-seater (in custard yellow) when you could have had one of the best performance coupé bargains of the decade for roughly the same outlay? Yes, the Capri was a Mk1 Cortina underneath, but that is why it was cheap. It looked great and still does. The Cologne V6 wasn’t the last word in refinement but it provided a decent amount of poke in a chassis with exceptional balance, resulting in a car that was more than the sum of its parts. The later LSD-equipped examples were even better. One thing is for sure: the TR7 was not a great car, but the Capri 2.8 Injection was. Bill Gysin, Cambridge

Passing the buck In your feature about the Ferrari 365 GTB/4 NART Spider back in Octane 253 there was mention of the panels being formed on a body buck at Michelotti. Last year I visited the Swiss Concours, where there was a display of cars by Michelotti, plus the original buck mentioned in your article [below]. Dave Hill, Sydney, Australia

Four not five It was wonderful to see an Aston Martin DB4 Vantage in Octane 259 [below]. Contrary to myth, this was actually the model used by James Bond in Goldfinger, rather than a DB5. ‘BMT 16A’ was the prototype DB5, which was based on a DB4 Series V Vantage. Is this the ultimate Bond trivia pub quiz question? Mark Grenside, Malta

Much toured Talbot Last year I was able to buy a Talbot AV105 Ulster Coupé and took it out for a last run in November before the salt hit the roads. The photo [above right] was taken on Ipswich waterfront. When I was researching Talbots, I found that my car was featured in Octane 15 back in 2004 and, as I have every copy on my shelves, I quickly looked it up. The car still drives as well as you said in the magazine and remains in excellent condition. It is really a testament to the previous owner who had the

GF WILLIAMS

One day, waiting on my office steps in Richmond, I saw a bright red 288 GTO crawling through the one-way system. I started raving at my colleagues about the specifications and rarity, only for one of them to reply ‘…especially with Mick Jagger driving’.

Send your letters to letters@octane-magazine.com Please include your name, address and a daytime telephone number. Letters may be edited for clarity. Views expressed are not necessarily those of Octane.

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15/01/2025 21:49

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15/01/2025 10:11

Buy now! 2025’s best-value classics

HOT BUYS FOR 2025 There hasn’t been a better time to snap up a classic car for nearly a decade. Here are the top bargains, from sub-£20k to £1m-plus

PAUL HARMER

Words Andrew Noakes

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15/01/2025 17:47

fter nearly two decades of growth, the classic car market has been cooling over the last couple of years. That might be bad news for investors who divested their portfolios of colour diamonds a while ago and sank their money into collectable cars, but it’s very good news for anyone with an eye for a bargain buy. Data from insurance specialist Hagerty shows that every area of the market has seen a decline in values over the last five years and, in some categories, the drop over the last 12 months has been marked. Almost half of the models in the UK Hagerty Price Guide have fallen in value in the last year and most of the rest are static, with less than 8% of models on the rise. Most sectors peaked 12-18 months ago. Some marques have suffered noticeably more than others, with Aston Martin, Jensen, Bugatti and Chevrolet the worst hit. ‘The market is built on passion and demand,’ says dealer James Banks. ‘Outside of our small collector car world it is quite unusual to find someone passionate about Jensen or Chevrolet, for instance. They’re just not brands in the limelight, which makes them undesirable to the more casual buyer. Aston Martin and Bugatti probably suffer from a different problem, having reached a sort of bubble “mania” valuation, but that is now pulling back to find its level.’ Uncertainty is the biggest factor in the recent decline in values across the market, continues Banks: ‘A lot of macroeconomic effects are in play, keeping a lid on values and demand in the £100,000-to-£1million market. International conflict, the threat of higher taxes and high interest rates are all playing their part. New cars in that price range are struggling, too; it’s not a phenomenon limited to the classic car world. Central London luxury car showrooms tell me they would receive a hundred enquiries a week and now it’s low double figures.’ Hagerty’s data also shows that values have dropped more for cars of the 1950s and 1960s than from any other decades (down 9% and 11%, respectively). ‘Cars of the 1950s have had their day,’ says consultant Paul Jolly. ‘Fewer folk can remember them now. Plus they were technically very basic, heavy, unsafe and dull. Cars of the 1960s are starting to fall away for exactly the same reason.’ The difference is stark: ‘Now a Lotus Cortina is way behind a Sierra Cosworth. The boys who had the Cosworth posters on their bedroom walls in the 1980s can afford to buy the cars today. Cars of the 1970s will eventually go the same way, but not yet.’

Banks says the drops seen by these cars are inevitable: ‘This is the generational cycle at play. Pre-war cars began tumbling as buyers for those cars exited the market, and now as age catches up with the Baby Boomer generation that grew up yearning for ’50s and ’60s cars, we’ve got a whole new market of buyers that lust after their childhood icons from the ’70s and ’80s. The market operates like any other – supply and demand. So values can only recover or increase if the demand is there, and now it would appear that demand is shifting into the slightly more modern era. There are countless exceptions, marked out by their rarity, desirability and timelessness, but there’s no doubt that the market is changing its opinion of where the value is.’ What all this means is that there are plenty of bargains out there, if you know which cars to look at. We’ve taken five market sectors – hot hatches, sports cars, luxury saloons, GTs and supercars – and highlighted the biggest bargains in price categories from under £20,000 to over £200,000. There’s a car for you in the pages that follow, whatever your interest or budget.

Graph plots proportional change in values over five years Classic

Best of British

Gold

Hot Hatch

FOTU

RADwood

130 125 120 115 110 105 100 95 90 2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

Our experts JAMES BANKS Former McLaren engineer and founder of collectable car broker LaSource. www.lasource.co.uk PAUL MICHAELS The man behind Hexagon of Highgate, the successful London dealer. www.hexagonclassics.com EMANUELE COLLO Incurable enthusiast and chief executive of top-end dealer Kidston SA. www.kidston.com MICHAEL KLIEBENSTEIN Travels the world to find the ultimate in historic cars. www.michael-kliebenstein.de PAUL JOLLY Specialist in vehicle search, inspection, assessment and valuation. www.jollycars.co.uk DONALD OSBORNE Classic car historian, consultant, appraiser and writer. www.automotivevaluationservices.com BRIAN PAGE Thirty years of experience in assessing and valuing classic cars. www.classicassessments.com

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16/01/2025 19:18

Buy now! 2025’s best-value classics

TOP CHOICE Under £20,000 R E N AU LT C L I O S P O R T 1 8 2 OCTANE RATINGS (out of 5) Investment potential 3, club/specialist support 3, ease of ownership 4

£20,000-50,000

£50,000-200,000 RENAULT 5 TURBO

Wild rally special with mid-mounted turbo four. Fast, nervy and brimming with appeal. Appreciating, but surely nowhere near their peak yet. Prices from £65,000 Investment potential 4 Club/specialist support 4 Ease of ownership 3

ANDREW GREEN

£200,000-500,0000 PEUGEOT 205 T16

Peugeot’s Group B rally car, with mid-mounted 1.8-litre turbo four. Only 200 road cars were made, adding exclusivity to the homologation-special cachet. Prices from £235,000 Investment potential 4 Club/specialist support 3 Ease of ownership 3

Over £500,000 LANCIA DELTA S4 +

Rare Stradale road car and competition cars with interesting provenance both have appeal. An ex-Henri Toivonen example sold for £1.6million in 2022. Prices from £1m Investment potential 4 Club/specialist support 3 Ease of ownership 3

RENAULT

BEST BUYS HOT HATCHES

VW GOLF MK2 RALLYE

Wide arches, Syncro four-wheel drive, G-lader supercharger and rectangular headlamps. Double the price of a GTI when new, a holy grail for Golf fans now. Prices from £20,000 Investment potential 4 Club/specialist support 3 Ease of ownership 3

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16/01/2025 19:28

AFTER BRACKETING the hot hatch segment with the barely breathed-on 5 Gordini/Alpine and then the wild mid-engined 5 Turbo, Renault hit the sweet spot with a succession of hot Clios. The original 16-valve 16S/16V of 1991 was followed by three Clio Williams generations, making a link to the then-Renault powered Williams F1 team. Renault’s F1 involvement ended in 1997, so the hot version of the new-for-1998 Clio II was given Renault Sport badges. The original Renault Sport Clio is known as the 172 (its power output in PS) in the UK, and is the purest and therefore arguably the best of the lot. But the version that our experts highlighted as the best value right now is its 2004 replacement, the 182, which is more widely available. Both are powered by a 2.0-litre twin-cam four with variable intake valve timing. The 182 sports a 4-2-1 manifold and freer-flowing twin-exit exhaust system to boost its power output and smooth out power delivery. All that urge is deployed through a wonderfully willing chassis, making the 182 the perfect car for a B-road blast. It’s keen to turn in and offers mid-corner throttle adjustability, its wider track and longer wheelbase giving it more stability and a better ride than the 172. The optional Cup chassis sharpens it up even more, and there was also a Trophy special edition with trick remote-reservoir Sachs dampers, but these cars are rare (only 500 made) so you’ll pay a hefty premium for them.

‘Reliability is quite astonishing, with many high-milers – some over 150,000 miles – in the market,’ says Michael Kliebenstein. ‘Colour combination is always an issue; yellow would be my favourite.’ The suspension needs to be in good shape to deliver the handling precision these cars are renowned for – new springs, dampers and bushes can work wonders. ‘Clonky front suspension is a problem but fairly easy to rectify,’ adds Kliebenstein. ‘Belts, variator and sensors become an issue after 70,000 miles.’ The engines are sturdy but need an £800 cam-belt change every six years or 72,000 miles. Listen for a rattle from the top end of the engine at idle, which is probably a failing cam timing variator. If the five-speed manual gearbox crunches into second and third gears it’s suffered from hard use, but don’t be too concerned about the gear lever waggling as you come on and off the power – they all do it, and a stiffer gearbox stabiliser bush can be fitted. Look out for accident damage and poor repairs. Otherwise corrosion is not (yet) a major issue. ‘These are great “Bang for the Buck” and proper lightweight performers,’ says consultant Paul Jolly. ‘They drive well and achieve sensible mpg across the range. They are not necessarily the first hot hatch that comes to mind until you delve more into the options available.’ Prices range from around £2000 to £5000 for the best examples, which is a steal for such an accomplished hot hatch.

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Buy now! 2025’s best-value classics

Under £20,000

TOP CHOICE £20,000-50,000 SUNBEAM TIGER OCTANE RATINGS Investment potential 3, club/specialist support 3, ease of ownership 3

£50,000-200,000 ALFA GIULIETTA SPIDER

Delectable looks and a sublime driving experience. ‘A car that makes a trip to the grocer’s feel like a lap of the Targa Florio,’ says Osborne. Prices from £30,000 Investment potential 3 Club/specialist support 5 Ease of ownership 4

£200,000-500,000

PAUL HARMER

PORSCHE 356 CARRERA

‘Go for the later 2.0-litre with disc brakes,’ says Page. ‘Well-built and great to drive, if a bit tricky on wet corners. Wellsupported by specialists; great club, too.’ Prices from £450,000 Investment potential 3 Club/specialist support 4 Ease of ownership 3

Over £500,000

ALAMY

CORVETTE C2 427 L88 CONV

Spectacular style, broad-shouldered performance and wide appeal, but values are soft: Hagerty data says it was a £2million car a year ago, £1.5m now Prices from £1m Investment potential 3 Club/specialist support 4 Ease of ownership 3

MECUM

BEST BUYS SPORTS CARS

HONDA

HONDA S2000

Screaming VTEC engine and sharp style for about £17k. Values have been on the rise over the last year so bag a good one now before they’re all out of reach. Prices from £10,000 Investment potential 2 Club/specialist support 3 Ease of ownership 3

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CARROLL SHELBY’S insertion of a Ford V8 into the AC Ace to produce the Cobra went so well that the Rootes Group asked him to do a similar job on the Sunbeam Alpine. The result was the Tiger, introduced in 1964, which mated a 260ci V8 to mildly modified MkIV Alpine bodywork. The Alpine’s leaf-sprung live rear axle was retained with a Panhard rod added, stiffer coil springs up front to bear the weight of the iron-block engine, and the steering box replaced by a rack-and-pinion system. Shelby had hoped to get the contract to build the cars, but instead Rootes engaged Jensen (which had just lost the Volvo P1800 contract). Jensen built 6550 cars between 1964 and 1966, the vast majority of them heading to the USA. Later cars adopted the body changes of the Series V Alpine (and are sometimes known as the MkIA); then in 1967 a MkII Tiger appeared with a 289ci engine. Only 536 were made before Rootes’ new owners, Chrysler, killed the Tiger to avoid having to sell a car powered by a competitor’s engine. ‘A much-overlooked British sports car with bags of character and period charm,’ says Michael Kliebenstein. ‘I love the cool V8 burble. Subjectively it’s in about the same league as say Triumph TR6, Big Healey and Daimler Dart SP250. An original Tiger offers carefree Cobra-style V8 motoring for less money.’ Broadly, the earlier cars are better made and more carefully detailed, with features such as rounded corners on the bonnet and doors, and

lead-loaded body seams. But the extra power of the MkIIs makes them noticeably brisker – though many Tigers of all marks have engine modifications, so when buying it’s important to establish the spec you’re dealing with. If originality is important, pay attention to Tiger specifics such as the gauges, steering wheel and radiator shroud, because they are expensive to replace. ‘Early cars are a better buy,’ adds Kliebenstein. ‘Consider only a good honest, sound and original car. As a rule buy the best you can afford! All Tigers were accident-prone, due to its powerful V8 engine and difficult handling from the leaf-sprung rear axle. Many were used in club racing in the US; therefore look out for accidents around the front-end area, and for bent frames in general.’ Rust attacks the front bulkhead, rear spring hangers, sills, floor, chassis rails and the cruciform chassis bracing. The doors, bonnet and front valance are also susceptible to corrosion but are easier to repair or replace. The Panhard rod mounting point can fail, and they are often reinforced during restoration. The engines and Ford-supplied gearboxes are strong and rarely cause trouble. Hagerty data shows that good Series I Tigers were changing hands for around £70,000 a year ago, but now values for similar cars are nearer £50,000. If the thought of V8 power in a compact sporting car with eyecatching ’60s style appeals, now is the time to snap one up.

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Buy now! 2025’s best-value classics BARRY HAYDEN

Under £20,000 MERCEDES W220 S600

Technical tour de force with a rangetopping 5.8-litre, twin turbo, 36-valve V12. Rock bottom prices (£5000 or less) but potentially huge bills. Prices from £4000 Investment potential 2 Club/specialist support 3 Ease of ownership 2

£20,000-50,000 CADILLAC FLEETWOOD

TOP CHOICE £50,000-200,000 BM W E39 M5 OCTANE RATINGS Investment potential 3, club/specialist support 4, ease of ownership 4

£200,000-500,000 ROLLS-ROYCE PHANTOM

BMW-led reimagining of what a RollsRoyce for the 21st Century should be is the last word in road presence, comfort and serene refinement. Prices from £80,000 Investment potential 3 Club/specialist support 4 Ease of ownership 3

Over £500,000 BENTLEY 6½ LITRE

Overshadowed by the sporting Speed Six, but the 6½ Litre is a wonderfully refined and capable 1920s period piece. Prices from £500,000 Investment potential 4 Club/specialist support 4 Ease of ownership 3

RM SOTHEBY’S

BEST BUYS SALOONS

Epitome of the US ‘land yacht’ era, and built when Fleetwood still had cachet as a coachbuilder rather than just another GM model line. In its own way, sublime. Prices from £20,000 Investment potential 2 Club/specialist support 3 Ease of ownership 3

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THE E39 M5 arrived in 1998 as a blend of tradition and innovation. Like the E34 and E28 M5s before it, the E39 was an autobahn express, traffic light drag champion, B-road blaster and luxury limo all in one. But it achieved all those things in a very different way from its predecessors. It was the first M-car powered by a V8 – all-alloy, four-cam, 4.9 litres – and the first BMW with variable intake and exhaust cam timing. The result was a supercar-baiting 394bhp (sounding even better as 400PS). Drive was via a six-speed manual gearbox to the rear, with a limitedslip differential, all held in check by a sophisticated multi-link set up. Agile in the twisties, supple over broken blacktop, and stable at speed, the M5 was supremely capable whatever the circumstances. Only the steering let the side down: BMW had to trade the six-cylinder E39’s crisp rack-and-pinion for a steering box to make space for the V8 engine. ‘As with all 5-Series, these are such capable saloons that take the performance upgrades so well,’ says consultant Paul Jolly. Michael Kliebenstein is enthusiastic, too: ‘The M5 is seriously quick and an eyeopener to many who are lucky enough to experience a good example on a long, intensive run. A true Porsche killer, made to defend the fast lane on German motorways from everything coming up in the rear-view mirror – Porsche 928, 911, Mercedes S600, and pretty much every super-sports car of the period.’

The S62 V8 can suffer from timing chain tensioner wear, and it’s wise to change all four chains at 100,000 miles. Rough idle and a rattling or growling noise can indicate failing VANOS (the variable timing system), which should be rebuilt to avoid bigger problems later. ‘Its all about the condition of the engine and transmission,’ says Kliebenstein. ‘Try to find a car with a recently replaced or overhauled engine. Walk away from rattling or smoking engines. Vibrating transmissions under load are another tell-tale sign of hard abuse.’ Sills, wheelarches, jacking points, door bottoms and the fuel filler flap are favourite corrosion spots. ‘Rusty bodywork is not always a problem if mechanical areas are sound,’ Kliebenstein adds. Good examples fetch as little as £20,000, but the best start at £40,000. There’s little point paying a premium for the 2001-on facelift models, which added ‘angel eye’ headlamps and LED rear lights, and made the optional Alcantara headlining standard. Concentrate on good structural and cosmetic condition, and evidence of mechanical upkeep. ‘Today, low-mileage early cars are almost extinct,’ says Kliebenstein. ‘So-called restored cars are not always prepared up to standard, technically speaking. A good service record is mandatory. Drive the car you consider for at least 30 minutes and make your choice carefully. If you still like it by then, buy it!’

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Buy now! 2025’s best-value classics

Under £20,000

£20,000-50,000

MALCOLM GRIFFITHS

FIAT DINO COUPÉ

Handsome Bertone styling with a Ferrari V6 up front, and it was the Mafia’s motor in The Italian Job. ‘Film star cars will always nudge ahead,’ says Jolly. Prices from £22,000 Investment potential 3 Club/specialist support 3 Ease of ownership 3

£50,000-200,000 MASERATI SEBRING

One of the most handsome two-plus-two coupés of the 1960s, with 3.5-litre, 3.7-litre and ultimately 4.0-litre straightsix power. Prices from £100,000 Investment potential 3 Club/specialist support 4 Ease of ownership 3

TOP CHOICE £200,000-500,000 ASTON M ARTIN DB6

OCTANE RATINGS Investment potential 3, club/specialist support 5, ease of ownership 4

Over £500,000

PAUL HARMER

BENTLEY CONTINENTAL

The rare 1950s fastback: wonderful streamlined looks, refined performance to match, plus hand-made quality in every inch. Ian Fleming was a big fan. Prices from £800,000 Investment potential 3 Club/specialist support 4 Ease of ownership 3

CHARLIE MAGEE

BEST BUYS GRAN TURISMOS

ALEX TAPLEY

PORSCHE 928 S4

Sublime Porsche GT. Great value, even allowing for inevitably high costs of ownership. ‘Criminally underappreciated,’ says Osborne. Prices from £12,000 Investment potential 3 Club/specialist support 3 Ease of ownership 2

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THE DB6 gives you more than a hint of James Bond glamour without being as obvious as a DB5 – and without the earlier car’s 007-influenced price tag. The DB6 was launched in 1965, while the DB5 was still in the public eye in Thunderball, and offered better accommodation and greater sophistication than its predecessor. A higher roofline and longer wheelbase meant there was more space inside, while outside the tail was reshaped in the aerodynamic style of the early ’60s Project race cars to improve high-speed stability. Under the skin there was Selectaride adjustable damping and a Powr-Lok limited-slip diff, and extra-cost options included power steering and air conditioning. A Borg-Warner three-speed automatic was a no-cost alternative to the standard ZF five-speed manual, but didn’t suit the car well and, then as now, is best avoided. As standard the 4.0-litre straightsix wore three SU carburettors and developed a claimed 282bhp, but there was a Vantage engine option with triple Webers and a theoretical 324bhp. The Mk2 of 1969 used DBS seats and wider DBS wire wheels, with flared wheelarches to accommodate them. AE Brico fuel injection was a rare option, and many will have been retrofitted with carbs, but with care the system can be made to work and it’s an interesting period feature. Engines and gearboxes are generally trouble-free, but look for oil leaks and factor in high rebuild costs for tired units. ‘The DB6 is a demanding car, prone to overheating, cylinder head gasket blowouts often being the result,’ says Michael Kliebenstein.

Like the DB4 and DB5 before it, the DB6 is based on a steel platform chassis that is susceptible to rust. The bodywork is aluminium alloy over a tubular steel frame, which can also rust, and electrolytic corrosion between the two metals is common. Again, restoration costs are high, so body and chassis condition are paramount when buying. ‘The Superleggera structure under the bodywork is sensitive to corrosion, but can’t easily be seen from the outside,’ adds Kliebenstein. ‘Only experts such as the ex-Aston test driver Keith Riddington at Classicmobilia can judge a car without dismantling. I would be very wary about buying an Aston DB6 on impulse. An expert opinion is a must with these cars.’ Consultant Paul Jolly reckons the DB6 is now out of the shadow of the DB5: ‘They’re recognised for actually being a better car. Still the same fabulous engine note – quite unmistakable.’ Hagerty data shows that classic Astons of all sorts have been shedding value over the last year, and the DB6 is no exception. A Mk1 saloon that would have nudged £200,000 a year ago is now likely to be yours for under £150,000. ‘Ideally it’s got to be a Mk1 with manual transmission in a beautiful colour combination with original leather,’ says Kliebenstein. ‘They are still expensive. A smart solution is to buy an automatic car that is in perfect low-mileage condition for around £100k and convert it yourself to a manual. The kit costs about £7000. An injection car can be retrofitted with three SUs or Webers – satisfaction guaranteed.’

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Buy now! 2025’s best-value classics

Under £20,000 ASTON DB7 V12 VANTAGE

Eye-catching V12 DB7s surely can’t get cheaper. ‘These look like incredible value right now,’ says James Banks. ‘Some examples auctioned for under £15,000.’ Prices from £15,000 Investment potential 4 Club/specialist support 4 Ease of ownership 3

£20,000-50,000

ANDY MORGAN

£50,000-200,000

BARRY HAYDEN

FERRARI 512 BBi

‘Always in the shadow of the iconic Testarossa, with styling that’s a little more awkward,’ says Banks. But great value for a mid-engined flat-12 Ferrari. Prices from £160,000 Investment potential 4 Club/specialist support 4 Ease of ownership 4

£200,000-500,000 BIZZARRINI 5300 GT

Unusual, dramatic and fast. ‘Rare, amazing to drive with its powerful Corvette engine set in a front/mid-engine layout, and beautiful,’ says Osborne. Prices from £500,000 Investment potential 3 Club/specialist support 3 Ease of ownership 3

TIM ANDREW

TOP CHOICE Over £500,000 FERR AR I 250 TOUR DE FR ANCE OCTANE RATINGS Investment potential 4 club/specialist support 3, ease of ownership 4

PAUL HARMER

BEST BUYS DREAM CARS

PORSCHE 911 TURBO (996)

‘An extraordinary car to drive,’ says Banks. ‘Still hugely capable and engaging. Check rust and big-ticket items: gearbox, engine and suspension.’ Prices from £24,000 Investment potential 5 Club/specialist support 4 Ease of ownership 4

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FERRARI BUILT a bewildering array of sports, racing and touring cars based around the lightweight Gioacchino Colombo-designed Type 125 V12 engine. The 250GT Berlinetta was a long-wheelbase coupé built between 1956 and 1959, which acquired its sobriquet by winning the 3600-mile Tour de France Automobile sports car race in three consecutive years from 1956. Only 77 Tour de France cars were built. Most had Pininfarina-styled bodywork built by Scaglietti, and Ferrari aficionados split them into groups based on the number of ventilation louvres there are let into the C-pillar: none, 14, three or one. Originally the headlights were exposed, but on later cars they were faired-in under clear covers (although some were later converted to the earlier exposed-lamp arrangement). There were also five cars with lightweight Zagato bodies. ‘The market’s turning away from ’50s Ferraris,’ says Donald Osborne. ‘That offers an incredible opportunity with a 250 Tour de France. These are cars you can hammer on during a rally and they still give a ride that doesn’t kill the kidneys. And, they’re lovely!’ Michael Kliebenstein concurs: ‘Strongly recommended if the right car comes along. The big plus point of the TdF is its practicability: it’s suited for almost any event, be it Tour de France, Imola, Le Mans or Silverstone. It’s fast, too. Compared to a 250 GT SWB it’s heavier, not so nimble to drive; in the SWB you have a much more forgiving and agile racer altogether, but it’s double the money. In the TdF you need to know what you are doing on the limit. Buying a TdF presents you with an entry

ticket into the top Ferrari world. It’s the competitive ambience of highlevel collectors and gentlemen with maybe real Ferrari race history under their belt. A very closed community.’ Condition will have an impact on value, but the most important aspect is to establish the car’s history and provenance, and to confirm that it is what it purports to be. Inspection by a marque expert is imperative. ‘The typical owner of a 250 GT Tour de France will always be reluctant to talk to you about price,’ says Kliebenstein. ‘Low-balling is not an option – you pay what they ask. Most are based in Switzerland and in the US. Finding a good car is extremely difficult. Not surprisingly for a car that was originally destined for racing, only a very few have retained their original engine and original bodywork, which makes receiving a clean red book certificate somewhat expensive.’ Emanuele Collo points out the pros and cons of pre-’57 cars: ‘They are Mille Miglia eligible and are worth more – though I quite like the look of the later cars. Covered headlights and discreet colours make for a very distinguished car to me.’ Buying any Ferrari 250 is going to be an expensive exercise, and the Tour de France is no exception. But it does currently offer one of the better-value routes into a rarefied world. According to the UK Hagerty Price Guide, the 250 Tour de France has lost around 22% of its value over the past year, falling from £5.9million a year ago to £4.6million today. If you fancy race-winning pedigree, the cachet of the Colombo V12 and Pininfarina style, there’s rarely been a better time to buy.

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Buy now! More top-value classics

Bubbling under Didn’t quite make it into our best buys, but came achingly close

MAX SERRA

FERRARI 308/328

Maserati mayhem

Leftfield legends

Volatile values mean plenty of bargain and investment opportunities

Unusual choices can often make big bargains

MASERATI 4200GT

Replaced the twin-turbo 3200GT, adopting the 4244cc normally aspirated V8 developed by Ferrari. Yes, there’s lots to go wrong, but they’re lovely to drive and to look at, plus a starting price of just £10,000 is tempting.

MASERATI MISTRAL

Glorious Frua-styled ’60s coupé with twin-cam straight-six that can trace its lineage directly back to the Maserati 250F Grand Prix car. Values have dropped by a quarter over the past year: now is the time to snap up a good one, for under £170,000.

MASERATI BORA

Spectacular Giugiaro supercar with mid-mounted V8 power and allindependent suspension brought Maserati into the 1970s. A fraction of the price of contemporary Ferraris and Lamborghinis.

MASERATI QUATTROPORTE

Several generations of four-door luxury, with V6 and V8 engines. All of them fly under the radar, but what better way to share Italian style with family or friends? Plenty of value, as long as you’re choosy about condition.

LAGONDA RAPIDE

Stylish four-door saloon spun off from Aston Martin’s DB4 platform, which introduced the 4.0-litre six that went into the DB5. Unloved at the time, so only just over 50 built and a rare curio today.

GORDON-KEEBLE GK1

Italian-styled British GT with steel tube spaceframe, glassfibre body and Chevy V8 power. Only 100 made, so, even though nearly all survive or are accounted for, an interesting alternative to Interceptors, Astons and Bristols.

TRIDENT CLIPPER

Originally planned as a TVR project, but when that company failed a very different Trident became an independent enterprise from TVR dealer Bill Last. Small-block V8 power and Triumph TR6 chassis, so not the last word in sophistication, but rare and fast.

TRIUMPH ITALIA

TRIUMPH 1800/2000 ROADSTER

Our experts are divided on these charming if torpid ’50s roadsters. Starring role in Bergerac TV show was a long time ago now so these are increasingly obscure, and that helps to keep prices low.

GINETTA G4

Niche 1960s sports car with tube frame and glassfibre body panels. Variety of power units from Ford pre-Crossflow onwards, but the one to have is the Lotus Twin Cam. Raw in the extreme.

FORD GT

Inspired by the GT40 but longer, wider and – crucially for many drivers – four inches taller. ‘We expect these to continue to rise in value, especially the special edition cars, which are already trading at seven-figure levels,’ says James Banks.

ALFA ROMEO GTV/SPIDER

Fiat-era front-wheel-drive Alfa Type 916 GTV coupé and Spider offer fabulous 1990s wedge styling and engines ranging from 1.8-litre Twin Spark four to 3.2-litre 24-valve V6.

Jaw-droppingly pretty coupé designed by Michelotti and built by Vignale in Turin with Triumph TR3 chassis and engine. Rust is an issue and Italia-specific parts are made from unobtainium, but these are woefully undervalued.

ALFA 147 GTA

Sonorous 3.2-litre, 24-valve V6 engine is full of character and delivers a top speed of over 150mph. Not nearly as unruly as 250bhp and front-wheel drive might suggest. Prices starting around £8500 at the moment.

CHARLIE MAGEE

MASERATI MC12

Longer, wider Maser version of the 2002 Ferrari Enzo built for GT racing. Gained more than 50% in value over the last year according to Hagerty: MC12s now change hands for around £2.5million.

Archetypal Pininfarina mid-engined Ferrari and a major player in Magnum, P.I. Intensely glamorous, rewarding to steer, and the ownership experience is as sensible as a classic Ferrari gets.

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Buy now! More top-value classics

Non-buyer’s remorse

DEAN SMITH

The bargains our experts wish they’d bought (or did buy) in 2024

New money

Competition cars

Modern classics that are appreciating

Best buys in racing machinery

MERCEDES-BENZ SLR McLAREN

‘McMerc’ had Mercedes styling and V8 engine and a McLaren carbon structure. Not quite a GT and not quite a raw supercar, but fascinating all the same. Values might be edging upwards.

FERRARI 250 GTO

FERRARI 250 LM

Mid-engined V12 was supposed to replace the GTO but the FIA wouldn’t homologate it as a GT car. Unbelievably, this is another Ferrari on the slide – Hagerty says values have dropped 19% in the last year.

SUBARU IMPREZA P1

Another blue-chip classic from Maranello, but values are soft at the moment – down 17% in 12 months according to Hagerty, which means a fall of £2million to around £10million. Bargain.

ASTON MARTIN DBS V12

Rare 1950s sports racing car with fabulous Frank Costin aerodynamic shape and no frills whatsoever. Prices start at around £100k but even at that level a real Eleven is a bargain.

Virtually a GT race car for the road, with prodigious power and sublime handling. Hagerty data says values are up by a third in the last year so if you want one there’s no time to lose. Prodrive special built specifically for the UK. Stiff two-door shell with Peter Stevensdesigned bodykit and 276bhp turbo flat-four engine. Prices have been rising over the last 12 months and the best should rise more. Fast and refined GT, associated with James Bond – who rolled his seven times in Casino Royale. Bucking the general Aston Martin trend, prices are up 10% in the last year according to Hagerty’s data.

VOLVO 850 T5

PORSCHE 911 CARRERA S CABRIOLET (2008) ‘I just bought it,’ says Michael Kliebenstein. ‘Only 50,000km, fully loaded, manual gearbox, for €60,000. Incredible value for money. The fastest thing in Germany without having to eat airline food.’

FERRARI 250 GT SWB

LOTUS ELEVEN

MONTEVERDI 375L HIGH SPEED Another bargain spotted by Brian Page: ‘I fancied a very smart-looking one seen at a dealer in London back in the summer of 2024. Unfortunately it was out of my price league at the time.’

ASTON MARTIN DB4 GT ZAGATO

Astons in general have fared poorly, value-wise, over the last year and even the delectable Zagato is no exception. Hagerty says values are 8% down in the last year to around £6.9million.

DAVID ROSCOE-RUTTER

Chunky styling belied prodigious turbo power, and extra pizzazz with a competitive British Touring Car campaign. Prices are on the rise. Go for the estate for maximum Volvo-ness, and look out for limited T5-R.

WOLSELEY 6/110 ‘It was on eBay, very smart, in dark blue, but a long way down in the West Country. It sold for under £10k,’ says Brian Page. ‘I should have made the journey!’

GTOs are some of the most valuable classics on the planet, but values are not what they were – down 12% in the past year according to Hagerty data. Now is the time to raid the piggy bank for circa £50million.

PORSCHE 911 997.1 GT3

MERCEDES-BENZ 300 SEL 6.3 ‘I wish I had bought it!’ Kidston SA’s Emanuele Collo had his eye on Steve McQueen’s former daily driver, which had been treated to €125k of work ten years ago. It sold at the RM Sotheby’s Monterey sale for $148,400.

McLAREN 675 LT ‘A stand-out buy by a country mile,’ says James Banks. ‘I genuinely think it is objectively the best McLaren ever built. The final iteration of the 12C platform, Chris Goodwin dynamics (later cars are less accessible to mortals), Dan Parry-Williams’ engineering, Frank Stephenson styling and Ron Dennis attention to detail. Peak McLaren!’

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At last! A period crossply tyre for cars like this: STELLA BIANCA

Available in sizes 500/525X16 550X16 600X16

www.longstone.com +44(0)1302711123

Countach! Monaco pace car

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This Lamborghini Countach LP400S played the ‘safety car’ role at the Monaco Grand Prix in 1981 and 1982 – but that’s not all that makes it special Words Massimo Delbò Photography Paul Harmer

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Countach! Monaco pace car

‘COUNTACH!’ This exclamation, originating from the trufflehunter dialect of Italy’s Piedmont region, is among the most renowned in the country’s language. Not because of the truffles, of course, but because of its links with a car manufactured 300km away. Ferruccio Lamborghini founded his car company in 1963, when Italy was enjoying an economic boom, unemployment was low and prospects looked, well, prosperous. Into that vision Lamborghini launched the 350GT, the Miura and the Espada, but in March 1971, mere days before the Geneva motor show, Italy was suddenly beset by industrial action. As a result, Ferruccio and coachbuilder Nuccio Bertone changed tack, moving the assembly team of their new show-car to a secret place. Bertone designer Marcello Gandini had penned the prototype of a car codenamed LP500, ‘LP’ for Longitudinale Posteriore, a description of its engine position, mounted longitudinally aft of the cabin. While they were working during the hours of darkness in a barn close to Bertone’s factory in a Turin suburb, a farmer, suspicious of the noises coming from

inside, threw open the door expecting to find burglars. Instead he saw technicians working around a yellow car that looked more like a spaceship. ‘Countach!’ he cried, using a colloquialism that might translate to something with four letters. And thus the car was named. Most of the men in the barn were from Emilia and had no idea what it meant, but Gandini was a local and knew the word well. A quick check with test driver and New Zealander Bob Wallace confirmed that it sounded good to anglicised ears and Gandini convinced Bertone to add the name to the show-car. Destiny would always play a role in the story of both the Countach and Lamborghini as a whole. The company had to be rescued several times before it achieved some stability in 1998, when visionary Volkswagen boss Ferdinand Piëch gave it a new life. The lowest moment had come in early 1980, after almost two years during which the court of Bologna had gradually determined that nothing could be done to save it. Come that February, preparations began to shut down Lamborghini. Except that destiny was at work again.

During the summer of 1980, the young JeanClaude Mimran was cruising the north-west coast of Italy on his yacht, a passion he shared with his brother Patrick. Theirs was one of the world’s wealthiest families, leaders in the field of sugar cane production. While talking about their shared passion for yachts, Jean-Claude let it be known that he wanted a Lamborghini. And so the brothers drove to the closest dealer, Achilli Motors in Milan, only to find that they couldn’t order a Countach because the company was in receivership. Realising that Lamborghini HQ was just a couple of hours’ drive away, the Mimrans headed to Sant’Agata Bolognese. That same evening, they called Achilli Motors again. The brothers had bought Lamborghini: not a single car but the whole company. And from the following day they actively began resurrecting the firm, eventually writing a cheque for 3.8bn Italian lire on 23 May 1981, a sum just shy of €2m. The ‘new’ company was named Nuova Automobili Lamborghini. Shortly before that date, the two Mimran brothers had each received a Countach. On 13

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May, Patrick took delivery of chassis 1121312 (in Rame Colorado with Senape trim), and on 15 May Jean-Claude found himself the keeper of chassis 1121314 (Bianco on Bleu, or white with blue leather. Yes, it’s the car you see here. The brothers owned many Lamborghinis in their time as owners of the company, but, given the perilous state of Sant’Agata finances when they took over, it’s safe to assume that owning the company was not enough to score a freebie. What made these two cars special is that they were the first and second of the LP400S model, which would come to be recognised as the third series. And that’s a story in itself. When the Countach had finally gone on sale in spring 1974, its shape was slightly different from that of the Geneva show car of 1971. The LP400 was shown with a 4.0-litre engine rather than the 5.0-litre envisioned, and went on to be nicknamed Periscopio on account of its roof-mounted rear-view mirror. It remained linear and clean, without superfluous elements except for the air intakes for the engine, mounted on the top of each rear wing. Early customers included Walter Wolf, a friend of the company and passionate about

racing. He was happy with his car yet felt that it would benefit from more development and performance. He hired Ingegnere Giampaolo Dallara as a consultant, just after he had left his position as technical director of Lamborghini to open his own company, focusing on racing. Dallara’s is a name that needs no introduction, and he performed his magic on Wolf ’s LP400. ‘The limit was the tyres,’ he says. ‘They were still the 205/70 VR 14 on all four corners. Pirelli, with the introduction of lowprofile P7 tyres in 1976, wrote a new page on this area, allowing far more interesting development in suspension settings.’ Indeed, Wolf ’s car received the new tyres in two different sizes, 205/50 VR 15 on the front and 345/35 VR 15 on the rear, allowing for revised, stiffer suspension and bigger brake discs. Reshaping the wings to accommodate the wider tyres was too costly, so wheelarch extensions were fitted. A front spoiler was added for better aerodynamics, while a rear wing, adjustable with an electric motor, appeared at the rear. Wolf ’s car then gained an improved engine, with a 5.0-litre capacity, though that remained a one-off.

1981 Lamborghini Countach LP 400 S Engine 3929cc V12, six Weber 45 DCOE carburettors Power 353bhp @ 7500rpm Torque 268lb ft @ 5500rpm Transmission Five-speed manual, rear-wheel drive Steering Rack and pinion Suspension Front and rear: double wishbones, coil springs, telescopic dampers, anti-roll bar Brakes Vented discs Weight 1200kg Top speed 178mph 0-60mph 5.9sec

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MOTORSPORT IMAGES

Countach! Monaco pace car

Top, above, and opposite Monaco, 1981, and the Mimran LP400S became the Grand Prix safety car for the first time; 4.0-litre V12; blue leather interior is original, as are the white paintwork and 1982-vintage livery.

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The Wolf Countach became an immediate hit and Lamborghini was flooded with requests. The LP400S was born as a result, endowed with the newly muscular shape that made the Countach so charismatic and famous for the following 15 years of production. While the LP400S was a single model, of which 235 were manufactured between March 1978 and February 1982, latterly collectors split them into three distinct series. The Mk1, 50 made, was the ‘Low Body’ because of its low roof and low front spoiler, easy to recognise thanks to its ‘telephone dial’ wheels and small instrument gauges. The Mk2, 103 made from October 1979, came with smoother wheels, larger gauges and a reduced front spoiler. The Mk3, 82 built, had a higher roof, hence a taller cockpit, and came with raised suspension.

When delivered to its prestigious first owner, 1121314 was registered in Switzerland and immediately put to work. It seemed the Mimran brothers’ reward for saving Lamborghini was to be the two coolest guys in Monaco with the very latest cars. Jean-Claude was a genuine diehard fan and was known to use his Lamborghinis frequently – when he sold this car it was succeeded by a 5000S – and there are pictures of him in Monaco with this car in its road trim, but how it ended up leading the F1 cars around the famous Monaco circuit remains a mystery. Most likely, given the era and the tightknit Monégasque elite community of which the Mimrans were part, these well-known and well-connected brothers about town were simply asked by the ACM if they had anything

suitable and leapt at the chance for some free publicity for their ailing recent acquisition. So it was that, wearing a new livery and dramatic roof-mounted lights but no further modifications, this car lapped the circuit before every session of two Monaco GP weekends. During the Monaco Grand Prix of May 1981, this 400S, wearing Intervention stickers on the rear flanks and with those coloured lights flashing, was reserved for the F1 doctor in a race that Gilles Villeneuve won by a healthy 40sec margin from Aussie Alan Jones in the Williams (long-time leader Nelson Piquet had crashed his Brabham and Jones suffered fuel maladies). The most dramatic aspect of the race was a fire in the Loews hotel kitchen that delayed the start, so the Lamborghini’s duties were largely ceremonial.

‘THE LP400S WAS BORN, ENDOWED WITH THE NEWLY MUSCULAR SHAPE THAT MADE THE COUNTACH SO CHARISMATIC’ 71

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Countach! Monaco pace car

‘THE OTHER GUYS LINE UP BEHIND MY COUNTACH, SO IN PICTURES I LOOK LIKE THE FASTEST’ – DOUG COHEN The F1 paddock was still reeling from the loss of Villeneuve at Zolder when Monaco rolled around again in 1982. Complete with a hefty wing, this Countach was co-opted by the race director – and thus stickered Organisation and Directeur de Course – for an event in which Villeneuve’s team-mate Didier Pironi, running the only Ferrari out of respect for the Canadian, was denied a win when his car conked out in the tunnel on the final lap. In a comedy of errors, the next two cars – Andrea de Cesaris’s Alfa and Derek Daly’s Williams – also somehow failed to make the chequer, handing victory to Riccardo Patrese, who himself had to roll his Brabham down a hill to jump-start it after spinning on oil and stalling. After its second Monaco outing, the Countach was sold to René Leimer, who had co-owned Lamborghini from 1974 to ’78 after buying it from Ferruccio with Georges-Henri Rossetti. Then, in September 1983, it appeared in Belgian magazine Calandres, the publisher of which had bought it from Leimer. No. 1121314 was then stored, reappearing in the USA – still wearing its original paint – only when current custodian, Doug Cohen from Rhode Island, bought the car in 2019

from Curated of Miami, which had rediscovered it. Since then it has starred at The Amelia Island Concours and at Pebble Beach. ‘It has about 7000km on the clock,’ says Doug. ‘It is in remarkable preserved condition. The paint is original, and so are the materials in the interior. I love to underline the special features requested by its original owner, such as internal door panels covered in nonstandard leather and extra space for a bag on the left side of the cockpit, all still there and almost unique.’ It’s only ‘almost’ because they were shared with the other Mimran 400S. ‘It is Lamborghini Polo Storico certified, which was important because it could confirm the non-standard configuration. It took time to find the flashing lights, but eBay came to our rescue. We had to remanufacture the metal mounting bar based on period pictures.’ Doug confides that there is an added bonus with this car: ‘When you drive a Countach, you can’t pretend to pass unnoticed. It doesn’t matter where you go, or how slowly you try to drive, you’re centre-stage. Driving a Countach with big flashing lights on the roof makes the impact still more visible! To me, the most notable benefit comes while driving on the

racetrack, as I did at Laguna Seca during the 2021 Countach Celebration Rally. I become a safety car on duty, and all the other guys lined up behind my Countach, so in the pictures I always look like the fastest guy, as I’m leading the pack. Very funny indeed.’ In Lamborghini’s history, several important moments have been linked with Monaco, such as the Miura’s debut on Casino Square during the 1966 Grand Prix weekend, or when the Marzal show-car was ‘kidnapped’ by Prince Rainier and Princess Grace for the opening lap of the 1967 GP, or when Car magazine’s Mel Nichols documented his journey back from the 1973 Monaco Grand Prix with the Countach… while still a prototype, and driven by Bob Wallace. The Countach ‘Safety Car’ and its sibling are both part of this mythological status: special even in such exalted company. And it is heartwarming to see how this superbly preserved car is still used and enjoyed as it should be by its very careful current keeper. Maybe one day the opening scene of the The Cannonball Run could be remade, featuring the white, flashing Countach chasing the black one. If that happens, I want to be there.

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PRE V

th WORLD SHOW FOR VINTAGE, CLASSIC & PRESTIGE AUTOMOBILES, FUTURE CLASSICS, MOTOR SPORT, CLASSIC TUNING, MOTORCYCLES, SPARE PARTS, RESTORATION, YOUNG CLASSICS AND WORLD CLUB MEETING

Artist: Alfredo de la Maria

W IE

9 -10-11-12-13 APRIL 2025 35

Tickets online only: www.technoclassica-tickets.de HERE ON SALE NOW!

Maserati 3500 GT Carrozzeria restoration

BELLA MACCHINA Not for this Maserati 3500 GT by Touring Superleggera any ordinary restoration. Instead, it went back to the coachbuilder itself Words John-Joe Vollans Photography Lorenzo Colombo & Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera S.r.l

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Maserati 3500 GT Carrozzeria restoration

‘B

ellissima!’ is all I can muster, as my brain wades through its rudimentary grasp of Italian to describe the bianca beauty being manoeuvred before me. I’m standing under a row of trees by the side of a picturesque castello approach, just outside the Milanese suburb of Arese. It’s an unseasonably fine winter’s day, with low sunlight glinting off highly polished chrome, accentuating the graceful lines of this Maserati, unmistakably underscoring it as a creation from the golden age of grand touring. Andrea Dragoni heads the classic department at Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera (CTS); he parks and hands me the keys to its latest creation. The build-up to this moment has been long, but it’s almost time for me to get behind the wheel. Before that, though, I need to explain what’s brought me to northern Italy in the first place. Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera – the company formed in 2006 to continue the work of the historic Italian styling house – is likely best known for its dazzling reboot of the Disco Volante in 2012, or perhaps its Superleggera Veloce12, last year’s sensational reimagined tribute to the Ferrari 550 Maranello. What you might not be as aware of is the firm’s appetite for restoring Touring’s greatest hits. Whether for customers or for itself (as in this case), CTS selects choice models with bodywork by Touring and grants them a return to their

former grandeur. This 3500 GT – which CTS came across by chance – boasts its own fascinating history and represents a milestone in both Maserati’s and Touring’s evolution, making its restoration irresistible. The Maserati 3500 GT was largely responsible for kickstarting the halcyon days of grand touring. Mid-century motoring reflected renewal, with leading world economies either recovering post-war or still booming from the industrial effort needed to defeat fascism. The latter was particularly true in the United States, where newly rich industrialists looked to Europe for their luxuries. To appeal to this new class of discerning owner, Maserati shifted focus from racing cars and ultra-low-volume road cars to a new luxury 2+2. The 3500 GT, launched in 1957, marked the Modena maker’s first mass-production model, with its elegant body – the work of Carrozzeria Touring – soon seen as a must-have for the world’s rich and famous. During the late 1950s the established opulence of the ocean liner was challenged by its nouveau riche nemesis, the jet airliner; Elvis Presley took his first steps towards super-stardom, and the Soviet Union launched the world’s first artificial satellite. All of that played out before a Hollywood backdrop that immortalised stars such as Rock Hudson, Dean Martin, Tony Curtis, Elizabeth Taylor and Anthony Quinn – names thrust to the very pinnacle of pop culture, and guess what they all drove… that’s right, Maserati 3500s.

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‘The 3500 GT represents a milestone in both Maserati’s and Touring’s evolution’ This one, according to its Maserati Classiche documentation, was sent from Modena to Allinger Motors in Palo Alto, California, in 1959. Its first owner was one of those aforementioned industrialists, Horace Elgin Dodge III – grandson of the co-founder of the Dodge dynasty. The Dodge family kept the car for nearly 30 years until it was sold, whereupon it spent time in the UK and Germany before finding its way to a dealership in Switzerland, which is where Touring re-enters its tale. ‘By chance, we came across this white Maserati,’ explains Andrea Dragoni. ‘We bought it at the end of 2022, with the idea that we should make it the business card for Touring Superleggera’s restoration services.’ Despite the innate quality of the work Touring turns out, the vision for this car was to raise the bar further still. ‘It was to be restored without any compromise.’ Touring’s expertise in bodywork clearly meant this facet of its resurrection was covered, but a suitable top-tier mechanical partner was required. ‘We contacted Candini Classiche, a well-known historical Maserati specialist, based in Modena,’ says Dragoni. The firm’s founder, Giuseppe

Candini, together with his son Marcello, are recognised as leading authorities on the 3500 and classic Maseratis generally. ‘Candini completely refurbished, overhauled and repaired all of the car’s mechanical components.’ While that work was being carried out, the body was delivered back to Touring where the first step was to carry out a forensic investigation into its past. ‘One of the most important phases of any restoration at CTS is the historical research,’ explains Dragoni. ‘This has several levels. First is its pure history – who were the owners, what’s happened during its life and where has the car been. Next, we find out when this car was initially sold, as they kept improving. Was it fitted with carburettors, if so which – there are two types? Did it come with front disc brakes or drums? Was it fitted with a four- or five-speed transmission, and so on?’ Calling upon its experience in-house, plus the archives of both Maserati Classiche – which has certified this 3500 – and Candini, the car’s original configuration was revealed, and fortunately it hadn’t strayed far. ‘It was generally complete and original, although there were a few things missing, like some knobs and the wrong 77

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Maserati 3500 GT Carrozzeria restoration

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steering wheel,’ says Dragoni. That list was mercifully short and the correct parts were soon sourced, so the project could progress to the next stage. Dismantled, inside and out, with all its parts carefully removed and catalogued, the Maserati’s bare ’shell was then aqua-blasted. The inspection of the metalwork didn’t reveal anything too dramatic, as Dragoni points out. ‘It was clear it hadn’t suffered any significant accident damage, there were just a couple of past repairs. Also, some typical spots of corrosion – as you’d expect – in the sills, the bottoms of the doors and the boot well. The floors had also been repaired in the past, but not properly; they hadn’t used the correct reinforcement pattern.’ There was one area of missing metal that required the talents of one of Touring’s master fabricators. Santi d’Angelo takes up the tale. ‘The rebuild of the front and rear ’screen frames and trim was carried out from scratch, as these were missing. There wasn’t a template to work from so, instead, we built everything. Hand-shaping, hammering, bending; all the tools and knowledge… I’ve worked here for 19 years and have been a metalworker for 33 years.’ That level of proficiency is far from unique at Touring, with several workers in key positions having decades of hands-on experience. D’Angelo and his colleagues ebulliently express their passion for the work. ‘I’ve recently finished a BMW 507 and a couple of Ferrari 250s, but this one’s even more special. For me, these cars are like my children.’ D’Angelo’s considerable skills were also called upon to cure this Maserati’s ‘lazy eye’. The front end had suffered a minor bump in the past, with one of its headlights sitting slightly

‘At Touring, several workers in key positions have decades of hands-on experience’

Opposite and below The Maserati was dismantled and stripped to a bare ’shell before Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera’s skilled artisans gradually made it like new again.

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Maserati 3500 GT Carrozzeria restoration

lower as a result. ‘We repositioned a few sub-structure tubes that had come loose and rewelded them, taking measurements from an undamaged example,’ he explains. The result is seamless and, if I hadn’t been told, I’d never have detected that remedial work had been carried out. Meticulous care and attention to detail at the bodywork stage naturally translates into a better overall finish, but despite this, painting can still either make or break a restoration. This stage was trusted to another of Touring’s masters, Massimo De Vita, who tells me that he started painting cars when he was just 14 years old; he currently boasts 36 years’ experience and counting. ‘We start by brushing the metal to remove any contamination or oxidisation,’ he explains. ‘An epoxy primer is then applied as a base, which we sand smooth before applying a thin layer of filler. This allows us to improve any lines in the body that might have been blunted during metalwork.’ With a car as complicatedly curvaceous and visually arresting as the 3500 GT, some areas of the finish required extra precision. ‘The lines along the tops of the headlamps extend all the way to the rear fins. These needed refinishing,’ says De Vita. With the body still in primer, the artisans at Touring performed the first of several trial applications to ensure all panels and trim would fit perfectly. ‘It’s at this stage you add in the quality,’ explains De Vita. ‘You also finalise all the chrome parts, as these are still only coppered and can be sanded at this stage.’

After all this effort, which takes approximately five weeks, it’s only then time to apply the car’s colour coat. ‘We spray direct lacquer topcoat, there is no clearcoat. This cures shiny and is correct for the period.’ Many restorations might end here, but not Touring’s. The whole car is then polished once, before final reassembly, then polished again afterwards. ‘All the sanding and polishing is carried out by hand,’ confides De Vita. ‘The time taken on this car was in applying the right care to its lines. Some other restorations show lines that aren’t crisp; we paid special attention to make sure ours were sharp and correct, and that the chrome trim fitted properly – with no gaps underneath.’ It’s clear to see, from the exceptional results, that De Vita and his colleagues went the extra mile. The real test of any car’s resurrection, however, is not just how good it looks, but how well it drives. Back together – just in time for our visit – we’re back on our rural route to see if Touring’s efforts translate into a transfixing drive. I climb into the driver’s seat and, at 6ft 2in tall, find that it’s a tight fit. Not uncomfortably so, but clearly this Maserati was made with mid-century physiques in mind. Exceptional vision out is afforded by the car’s thin pillars, wrap-around screens front and rear, and vast swathes of side glass, giving a practically unsullied view of my surroundings. The pedal layout is a little offset but, again, nothing too awkward; likewise the steering wheel that sits low and brushes against my thighs. As a relatively early 3500, this

Clockwise, from above Original-style steering wheel was reinstated in graceful interior; CTS’s Andrea Dragoni shows Octane around; straight-six was expertly rebuilt; elegance in motion.

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1959 Maserati 3500 GT Engine 3485cc DOHC straight-six, triple twin-choke Weber DCOE 42 carburettors Power 220bhp @ 5500rpm Torque 254lb ft @ 3500rpm Transmission Four-speed manual, rear-wheel drive Steering Recirculating ball Suspension Front: double wishbones, coil springs, hydraulic dampers, anti-roll bar. Rear: live axle, semi-elliptic leaf springs, hydraulic dampers Brakes Drums Weight 1300kg Top speed 134mph 0-60mph 7.7sec

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Maserati 3500 GT Carrozzeria restoration

one is fitted with ZF’s four-speed transmission, its pattern clearly denoted on top of its elegant and ergonomic selector. There’s a positive feel to the throw and the engine is suitably keen to proceed. Building pace gradually, I gingerly test the brakes, which work well with a slightly long pedal. Stopping distances adjusted in my mind, I let the engine revs climb a little higher. Gradually a consistently ascending burble from the exhaust translates to a muted but unmistakably sporting roar. The 3500’s straight-six was developed from a racing engine and its DNA proves impossible to erase, not that you’d want to. This is the first shakedown of a freshly assembled classic, however, so it’s hardly the time to exploit the upper reaches of the tachometer. Even at relatively modest speeds, it’s clear that the engine develops more than enough torque and power to make progress swift. The ride, which is suitably impressive at low speed, proves even more so as the thin needle climbs up the handsome Jaeger speedometer’s face. This is very clearly still a GT, its cosseting and comfortable ride coming to the fore. That’s not to say that handling proves disappointing – at least not with 1950s expectations in mind. Decent body control gives

way to a little pitching in only the tightest of bends, otherwise the car’s composure communicates an impressive air of competency. Driving this masterpiece of a Maserati proves what I suspected about Touring: that its care and dedication to details aren’t mere hyperbole. If, like me, you feel the heart and soul are missing from much of modern motoring, you’ll likely find a trip to Touring transformative. It’s not only that the old craft of coachbuilding is being kept alive, but that the old methods – respecting an individual’s experience and talent with their hands rather than with a mouse and keyboard – are palpable, as is the genuine love for the work. Luigi Crippa, Touring’s head of workshop, sums it up succinctly. ‘I was the first person here to get my hands on this car. I’m most proud of the time the whole team took to make sure everything was correct, right down to the individual bolts and washers. We at Touring all share a passion for these projects; we live and breathe them.’ Trusting true craftsmen to treasure your classic as much as you do is what restoration should be about. What better in the case of this Maserati than to go back to where it all began?

‘There’s a positive feel to the gearshift and the engine is keen to proceed’

This image The finished result is beautiful – and factory correct. It will be displayed at Rétromobile in Paris (5-9 February) alongside a barn-find example.

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CARROZZERIA TOURING SUPERLEGGERA

Carrozzeria Touring Looking back

Touring mapbook Nearly a century has passed since Touring was founded – and two decades since it was revived THE STYLISTS at Touring were among the most influential in the world. Credited with the creation of the Barchetta – ‘little boat’ – body style that spawned countless copycats, as well as raising the bar for lightweight motoring with its patented Superleggera construction, Touring’s influence on the automotive landscape has been profound. The company was established by lawyers Felice Bianchi Anderloni and Gaetano Ponzoni in 1926, building on the foundations of Carrozzeria Falco, which had been founded by Vittorio Ascari – brother of Alfa Romeo racer Antonio Ascari, and uncle to Formula 1 world champion Alberto Ascari – who stayed on until 1928. Anderloni took on Touring’s design and engineering responsibilities while Ponzoni looked after administration. Early success focused on crafting bodywork for local firms, utilising the Weymann method, stretching canvas over a wooden frame. Together with Touring’s first designer Giuseppe Seregni, Anderloni created the 1931 ‘Flying Star’ concept that thoroughly shook-up automotive design. Even at this relatively early stage, Touring’s work was renowned for quality, with customers thought to include the Italian king Victor Emmanuel III and his wife Queen Elena. An obsessive search for lightweight construction led Anderloni to pioneer and patent Superleggera (‘super light’) construction in 1937 – building a thin tubular steel frame under an aluminium body – typified in this period by the Alfa Romeo 6C and 8C. By 1945, Felice Anderloni’s son Carlo Felice Bianchi ‘Cici’ Anderloni had joined the business, almost immediately making his mark by designing the first Barchetta – and one

of Ferrari’s first road cars – in the form of the 166 MM (Mille Miglia) in 1948. Anderloni Sr died suddenly that same year, leaving Cici to take over his father’s role under Ponzoni’s guidance. Touring continued to grow its customer base with influential designs for more mass-market machines such as the Maserati 3500, Lancia Flaminia Coupé and Alfa Romeo 1900 Sprint, all of which gained it admirers and imitators. Yet by the mid-1960s coachbuilding was in sharp decline and even a licensing deal with Aston Martin – to use Superleggera construction on its DBs – wasn’t enough to save Touring from closure in 1966. Carlo Felice moved to Alfa Romeo, where he stayed until his retirement, and also worked to keep his father’s – and his own – legacy alive by creating the Touring Superleggera Register and contributing to the revival of the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este. In 2006, marking the 80th anniversary of the original firm’s founding, Touring was resurrected, becoming Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera. It quickly reignited the imagination of automotive design fans worldwide with stunning creations such as 2008’s Maserati Quattroporte-based Bellagio Fastback Touring and the 2010 Touring Bentley Continental Flying Star. Touring’s take on the Alfa Romeo Disco Volante was unveiled at the 2012 Geneva motor show, with its ‘Flying Saucer’ body built upon Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione underpinnings. The following year it went on to win the Design Award for Concept Cars and Prototypes at Villa d’Este, and in 2024 Touring unveiled the Superleggera Veloce12, revitalising global lust for the 12-cylinder Italian grand tourers of old, but built with modern expertise.

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1928 H. M. B ENTLEY’S FINEST

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French leaders have always taken their cars seriously, as have the ‘big three’ who vied for their endorsement Words George Charles Photography Citroën / Alamy

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QUI N’AVANCE

French flair The presidential cars

A FRENCH PRESIDENT’S choice of car symbolises much about his presidency, and never more than during his inaugural parade down the Champs-Elysées. Historian Bertrand Rothé reckons the distinct identities of France’s three big marques may have faded in recent years but they have always been associated with different ideas and movements: Renault, the left; Citroën, innovation; and Peugeot, tradition. From Charles de Gaulle’s DS onwards, there was also a strong link between Gaullist Presidents and Citroëns. Armand Fallières (President, 1906-13) was the first French President to use a car, in 1906. He drove in a Charron 30CV and Panhard 18HP. However, it was his successor, Raymond Poincaré (President, 1913-20), who first used a regular official car, including RochetSchneider, Panhard and Berliet. After Poincaré, French Presidents employed a variety of very elegant cars, with Renault definitely having the upper hand. And then in 1959 came de Gaulle. Having used a specially converted open-top Simca Vedette for his inauguration and then Franay and Chapron Citroën 15/6 Limos, he ordered the DSs that became symbolic of the Trente Glorieuses era (1945-75). The link between de Gaulle and the DS would be cemented by the Attentat du Petit-Clamart (‘Petit-Clamart Attack) in which a DS 19 saved his life. On 22 August 1962, de Gaulle’s convoy of two Citroën DS 19s followed by two escort motorcyclists was on its way from the Elysée Palace to Villacoublay Air Base, about eight miles south-west of Paris. The President’s wife, Yvonne de Gaulle, sat beside him in the rear, while his aide and son-in-law General Alain de Boissieu was in the passenger seat next to de Gaulle’s chauffeur, Francis Marroux. As the convoy approached the Petit-Clamart roundabout in the south-western suburbs of Paris, five paramilitaries from Organisation Armée Secrète (‘Secret Army Organisation’) were hiding behind a yellow Renault Estafette van and fired on de Gaulle’s car. General de Boissieu shouted to his parentsin-law to duck. Next, further gunmen in a blue Citroën ID 19 (the less luxurious version of the DS) pulled out behind de Gaulle’s car and

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1913

opened fire, before peeling off into a side-road. According to the historian Alain Decaux, the ID 19 was supposed to block the road in front of the convoy, but one of the gunmen had run out to see if the convoy was approaching. In the time he took to run back to the car and take his seat, de Gaulle’s car had passed. Miraculously, no one in the convoy was hurt. Hundreds of bullets had been fired at the car, including one that by some accounts passed just inches from de Gaulle’s nose. Two tyres – at front and rear – were also punctured but the DS’s hydropneumatic suspension allowed Marroux, the chauffeur, to keep control of the car and continue at speed to the airport. De Gaulle’s bodyguard Henri Djouder, riding in the second official DS, reflected that ‘our speed protected us a lot’. On arrival at the airport, Yvonne de Gaulle’s first concern was for the chickens in the boot of the car that the de Gaulles were taking to their home in Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises: ‘I hope the chickens did not get anything.’ Her husband replied: ‘You are brave, Yvonne.’ Unsurprisingly, de Gaulle remained loyal to the DS for the rest of his presidency, even refusing the offer of a coachbuilt armoured Renault Rambler Ambassador in place of an un-armoured DS. In 1968 Henri Chapron was commissioned to build a stretched DS, which de Gaulle insisted must be longer than the limo used by soon-to-visit US President elect Richard Nixon. Cue a 6.4m DS that was mothballed after Nixon’s visit. President of the French Senate Alain Poher became President of the Republic by default not once but twice, after Charles de Gaulle’s resignation in April 1969 and again after Georges Pompidou’s death in office five years later. He chose a Citroën DS 21 Chapron Lorraine as his car, with a lower, more angular rear end and the ‘alien eyes’ that became standard when the DS was facelifted. The aforementioned Pompidou (1969-74), who drove a Porsche 356 as his personal car and was behind a massive road-building programme including the Paris périphérique, was the greatest car enthusiast to inhabit the Elysée Palace. He was a Citroëniste, using a Chapron DS for his inauguration and in 1970

From top President Poincaré started it all with his official Berliet; Albert Lebrun in his Renault Reinastella; the 1950 Talbot-Lago T26L used by both Presidents Vincent Auriol and René Coty (pictured).

1932

1954

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French flair The presidential cars

1959

ALAMY

1962

1972

‘France’s three big marques were associated with different ideas: Renault, the left; Citroën, innovation; Peugeot, tradition’ From top De Gaulle in the Chapron-bodied Traction Avant 15 Six ordered by René Coty in 1956; a DS was credited with saving De Gaulle’s life and he stayed loyal as a result; Pompidou’s Chapron SM was debuted on Queen Elizabeth II’s visit.

ordering two open-top Opéra versions of the new SM, also by Chapron who extended them to 5.71m, added doors for the rear-seat passengers, remodelled the rear bodywork and added a chrome-plated bar over the front seats for dignitaries to hold as they paraded before crowds. The two cars (which ferried the visiting Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip in 1972) are now in the Elysée Palace garage and the Conservatoire Citroën. For his inauguration, ‘the French Kennedy’, 48-year old Valéry Giscard d’Estaing (197481), walked the Champs-Elysées and entered the Elysée Palace on foot. In keeping with this more informal image, he drove himself to a meeting with Alain Poher as President-elect in 1974 in his ministerial DS 23ie. But he was a Peugeot man at heart, often driving himself in moss-green 604 saloons by Heuliez, the first non-black Presidential cars. Most of his numberplates started 691, following a bad accident from which he emerged unscathed in a car with that registration. He also owned a Peugeot 505 and 305, along with a Renault 6. The Citroën CX Prestige – with a specially raised roof – also made its début as a presidential car during his presidency, in 1976. When Giscard d’Estaing was defeated by François Mitterrand in 1981 he left the Elysée as he had entered it, on foot. Though he still had a taste for the SMs when on ceremonial duties, as the first Socialist President of the Fifth Republic, François Mitterrand (1981-95) symbolically changed the main presidential car to the nationalised figurehead of the left: Renault. Heuliez extended (by 22.7cm) and armourplated an R25 (Mitterrand’s government was dubbed ‘the R25 gang’), but an R30 and Safrane served too. However, his loyalty to

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1984 Renault did not last for the whole of his presidency (the longest in French history). He used a Citroën CX during his later years and left the Elysée Palace in a Citroën XM, as his Gaullist successor, Jacques Chirac, looked on. During a political career spanning five decades, Chirac rode in most of the iconic post-war Citroën saloons. As a minister in the 1960s and 1970s he’d used a Citroën DS. Then, as Mayor of Paris, he became immensely attached to his Citroën CX Prestige. Chirac had also used a CX as his personal car (in which he had a serious accident in 1978). He famously rode in his mayoral CX on the night of his victory in the 1995 Presidential Election, amid the chaos of the scooters and motorcycles relaying the TV pictures via satellite. During the parade down the Champs-Elysées for his inauguration as President, he used one of the Citroën SM Opéra cars that Pompidou had ordered for the Elysée, thus symbolising the return of Gaullism to power in France. He did, however, have a soft spot for Mitterrand’s Renault Safrane V6 Baccara Limousine, stretched by 25cm and armourplated by Labbé, though an XM and C6 were his official cars. Peugeot also figured among Chirac’s presidential cars, with its 607 saloon. Successor Nicolas Sarkozy (2007-12) used the ex-Geneva show Heuliez Peugeot 607 Paladine landaulet concept-car for his inauguration, complete with folding roof, Hermès leather interior, TV screen – and Champagne compartment. The signs were there! More usually, a C6 served as his presidential car alongside a Renault Vel Satis V6 for other engagements. He continued to use a C6 as his personal car after leaving office. Sarkozy’s successor François Hollande loved the DS – he described it as ‘the most comfortable vehicle that one could possibly imagine… Entering a DS was like entering a dream’ – yet his Citroën DS5 hybrid was probably the most understated French presidential car since François Mitterrand’s Renault 30. That said, he also used a C6 and the armoured Renault Espace V that were then inherited by Emmanuel Macron in 2017. As France’s youngest leader since Napoleon, Macron also symbolically selected the newest model from France’s youngest car marque – a pre-production DS7 Crossback – to represent change and modernity. While the Présidentiel SUV is perfect for state occasions, for more routine trips Macron has used the Renault Espace V, Renault Vel Satis V6, Peugeot 5008 II and (since July 2024) a Renault Rafale. Macron has occasionally used a Citroën C6 as President, despite its having ceased production 12 years ago – a car that surely remains the most elegant in the French presidential fleet.

From top Giscard d’Estaing, shown in London post-Presidency (1974-81), had a Citroën CX, but was a Peugeot man; Sarkozy and Hollande used a Citroën C6; Macron’s DS7 Présidentiel was enlisted for King Charles’ visit.

2012

2023

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Alpina B6 S Straight-six E30 M3

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P E R F E C T I O N P L U S

Ever longed for a big straight-six to power the otherwise sublime BMW E30 M3? Alpina did, and Octane drives the rare result Words Nathan Chadwick Photography Jayson Fong

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Alpina B6 S Straight-six E30 M3

n Chinese philosophy, Yin and Yang is an interconnected, selfperpetuating cycle – complementary yet opposing forces that form a dynamic system in which the whole is greater than the parts. You can apply the same philosophy to the E30 3-Series. Those who praise the M3 mention its poise and screaming S14 four-cylinder engine; detractors point out that, unless you’re giving it the full Steve Soper everywhere, it can be a little underwhelming. Conversely, there are those who view the creamy M20 straight-six from the 325i as an engaging, torque-glorious unit that better fits the template of what we define as small sporting BMW saloons to this day. On the other hand, its antiquated rear suspension and slow steering led to many being worn by trees like Christmas decorations. What if you could combine the best of both worlds? Enter Alpina, with the B6 3.5 S. It’s easy, of course, to see why the E30 M3 is so lionised, standing as it does as testament to perhaps the true glory years of international motorsport. Many eulogise the 1960s, though the racing was often anything but close. Come the 1980s, with budgets seemingly infinite, manufacturers would spend millions chasing the finest margins. While Group B is seen as the ultimate expression of this, perhaps Group A demanded more of its competitors. Group B required only 200 roadgoing cars to be built – for Group A, you needed to sell 5000. Looking at the lengths BMW went to with the first M3, it seems such an enormously tall order. Just look at it: the wide ’arches, front splitter and rear wing are the most obvious concessions, but examine closely the rear three-quarter where the C-pillar and ’screen were given a whole new rake angle and the bootlid was raised by 40mm, all specially made from glassfibre in the name of better airflow. Even the windscreen was glued in, rather than framed with rubber piping. The M3 shares front MacPherson struts and rear semi-trailing arms with other E30s, but its super-quick and bespoke 19:1 steering rack introduces a level of connectedness a 325i driver could only dream of. M Division increased front wheel caster by three times, the semi-trailing arms were set at 15º and the antiroll bars rearranged. Springs and dampers were stiffened, the ride height dropped, and twintube hydraulic dampers employed at the front. The result was a racing car that delivered championship after championship – however, the S14 four-cylinder engine was some 100bhp down on the racers in road trim. Drive one today and, as with other Group A homologation specials, you might come away disappointed – not much happens south of 5000rpm. For all

1989 Alpina B6 3.5 S Katalysator Engine 3430cc OHC straight-six, Bosch Motronic II fuel injection Power 254bhp @ 5900rpm Torque 237lb ft @ 4000rpm Transmission Five-speed manual, rear-wheel drive Steering Power-assisted rack-and-pinion Suspension Front: MacPherson struts, progressive-rate coil springs, Bilstein gas dampers, anti-roll bar. Rear: semi-trailing arms, progressive minibloc springs, Bilstein gas dampers Brakes Discs, vented at front Weight 1320kg Top speed 156mph 0-60mph 6.6sec

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Clockwise, from above Nothing bigger than a 2.5 in here, usually; oil temp and pressure gauge unit fits in vent slot; modified bodywork clearly gave Chris Bangle ideas; ‘ just’ an M3 from a distance.

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Alpina B6 S Straight-six E30 M3

Clockwise, from above Steering wheel, seats and gearknob are Alpina fittings; paint, wheels and striping define the exterior; big engine, more torque, still-sublime handling.

the hype, the M3 is a car that comes alive only when you thrash it – and if you don’t, it’s a very expensive and noisy four-cylinder BMW. There was another methodology, however, 70km to the west down the A96 in the small town of Buchloe, where the B6 was created by BMW tuning firm Alpina. Two years before the M3’s 1986 launch, Alpina had taken the 3.5-litre M30B34 straightsix used in the 635 CSi, 535i and 735i of the time and treated it to a full handbuilt revision: an Alpina-designed camshaft, upgraded valves, modified cylinder head porting, shorter Mahle pistons with longer connecting rods, and a reprogrammed Bosch Motronic ECU. The compression ratio grew to 10:1, and power and torque swelled to 261bhp and 237lb ft. Even though the addition of a catalytic converter took the B6 3.5 S down to 254bhp, that’s quite a leap over the M3’s 200bhp, not to mention the 325i’s 170bhp… Looking back at the car raises a chuckle from Andreas Bovensiepen, who today heads up Alpina alongside his brother Florian. At the time he was fresh to the firm from his studies, and was competing in the DTM championships in a luminous-green Michelin-sponsored M3. ‘A lot of customers were talking to us about the M3 – it was a great car, the best-handling BMW ever,’ he says. ‘The chassis was great, but it wasn’t being exploited by the engine’s power.’ Combining the M3 chassis with the B6 drivetrain would form the B6 3.5 S, which was first revealed to journalists in 1988 ahead of a full launch a year later. The concept of Alpina getting to grips with an M Division car would be unthinkable now – in just a year’s time the brand will be fully absorbed into the BMW mothership as the Bovensiepen family regroups around Alpina Classic. ‘At the time, BMW Motorsport was really focused on racing, and while it was important to sell road cars, motorsport success was at the forefront,’ Andreas says. BMW simply had to sell 5000 M3s to homologate the racers, which was a tall order given that fourcylinder BMWs were largely the preserve of the lower-management classes. M Division was happy to sell whatever it could to whoever it could, so Alpina simply bought M3s off the line and shipped them back to its Buchloe HQ for a full conversion by hand. Once there, Alpina fitted the stiffer front springs from an air-conditioning spec M3 and switched the rear axle ratio to 2.79:1 from 3.25:1 and… well, that’s it, other than the engine and some minor aesthetic changes. While the E30 M3 is lauded as a paragon of dynamic virtue, adding two cylinders and 40kg into the snout could change things – couldn’t it? That plays on my mind as I nose this one out onto the East Sussex roads surrounding its restorer, Munich Legends.

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I needn’t have worried – it’s all very civilised. True, the M3-derived, Getrag-built five-speed dogleg gearbox is decidedly notchy and requires slow, deliberate shifts, but the big six’s broader spread of torque makes the B6 S a much more amenable place to be. There’s enough grunt to pull away in the higher gears. I’m not here for that, however, and it soon becomes impossible to resist the engine’s familiar delights: instant throttle response, linear power delivery and a shimmering, heartstirring whine as the rev needle sprints to the 6750rpm peak. But it’s not the peak power, all 254bhp of it, that really defines this car. No, it’s the torque. And that’s something the M3 lacked. M Division’s E30 doled out its comparatively meagre 173lb ft at 4750rpm, whereas the B6 S thumps out 236lb ft at 4000rpm; on paper that may not sound huge but the effects are seismic. In-gear acceleration is chunky – 60-80mph in fourth occupies just 5.7sec, as does 70-90 – and the sprint from rest to 60mph takes just 6.6sec;

‘IT’S NOT PEAK POWER THAT DEFINES THIS CAR, IT’S THE TORQUE. AND THAT’S SOMETHING THE M3 LACKED’

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some magazine road-testers even managed six seconds dead, the same as a Ferrari Testarossa. All out, you’ll be doing 156mph. So far, so Alpina – the brand is built on autobahn annihilation, so torquey straightline oomph shouldn’t come as a surprise. What sends my eyebrow into orbit is that, if anything, the B6 S handles better than a standard E30 M3. A big part of this is down to the 225/45 tyres, wider and lower-profile than the 205/55s of the standard M3 and shared with the M3 Sport Evolution. Turn-in is sharper and, though there’s a whiff of understeer, there’s enough torque to wake up the rear axle, tucking the nose into the corner via the 25% limitedslip differential. Push it further and there’s the potential for the mid-corner exuberance you’d associate with more modern M-cars. The confidence to do all this comes from the sublime steering, and the feedback through the wheel. While it may not telegraph the realities of life at treadblock level to Lotus standards, it goes far beyond customary Alpina and even M degrees of feel. This all means there’s the mental space to fully liberate that fabulous straight-six whenever and wherever possible. The gearing is valley-wide – you can clobber 70mph in second, 93mph in third – which allows you to focus on steering inputs. In a standard M3, I’d be grappling with the same awkward Getrag just to keep the S14 on the boil. 95

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Alpina B6 S Straight-six E30 M3

Speaking to Andreas later, it all chimes with the aims of the project. ‘Unlike other fast cars at the time, you could drive it quickly and not get out with sweating hands – it wasn’t demanding,’ he muses. ‘We looked to have a smooth transition for when the rear axle starts to travel and goes into oversteer. Being smooth is better than being 2km faster, and then losing the rear abruptly. The ideal would be to be able to go from Hamburg to Munich at 6am at 250km/h or more and get out after five hours fully relaxed. You could leave the B6 S in fifth at 150km/h and you didn’t need to shift down – the engine was so torquey in something weighing 1280kg, you could just accelerate.’ Despite the pumped-up bodywork and Alpina warpaint, the B6 S would have surprised much more extreme machinery at the time. After all, 911s and Ferraris were still somewhat hairy in extremis; the B6 S not only matches them on pace but feels like it could outdo them on poise, too. Andreas vividly remembers one such autobahn experience in a B6 S. ‘I spotted this 911 coming up behind me, just as I was slowing down behind someone moving out of the way. He put his indicator on, and I thought “Come on guy”,’ Andreas chuckles. ‘We came to some fast corners and I pulled away, because he was

having to work harder at the steering wheel than I was. He didn’t expect a car like this to have a top speed of more than 250km/h. It was a real underdog – it might have had a sporty exterior, but nobody saw it on the autobahn, and it was easier to go faster because of the longer wheelbase and suspension layout.’ AS I HEAD BACK towards Munich Legends, with the six-cylinder fizz rippling through the chassis and yours truly, the feelings are bittersweet. It’s easily the best E30 I’ve driven, and up there with the E28 M5 as the most engaging pre-Millennium BMW. It delivers where the M3 falls flat, yet handles with a sharpness even M-cars into the early 2000s would struggle to get close to. Only the CS and CSL-spec E46 M3, and perhaps the Z4M, with their famed ‘purple tag’ steering racks, offer such a satisfying mix of six-cylinder surge and fingertip-fizzing feedback. It’s that good. The sad bit is that only 62 were built, and the cost of entry is getting close to a quarter of a million pounds. It’s also the last of a certain type of Alpina – after the Z1-based RLE and the E34 B10 Biturbo, the firm embraced its luxury niche more fully from the 1990s onwards. Though it started by offering performance tuning parts in the 1960s and

1970s, and delivered BMW’s first Touring Car success before M Division even existed, it had little choice as BMW Motorsport’s marketing potential grew. ‘Besides the E30, it was never the intention to make a better M3 or M5 – it was always to be the most luxurious BMW,’ Andreas says. ‘That was our niche.’ Perfectly understandable, of course, yet I can’t help but wish for one last moment of madness before Alpina is absorbed into the Munich mothership: an outrageous modern B6 3.5 S on an M2 base is a mouthwatering if unfeasible idea. Instead, we can only judge the B6 3.5 S by its legacy – introducing a fullfat straight-six to an E30 M3 chassis, and proving the concept. At the time, BMW kept a close eye on the project, and had even dabbled with a similar idea itself. Just a few years later, BMW M released the E36 M3, the first six-cylinder M3, a set-up that, except for the V8-powered E90 generation, BMW has stuck with, although turbos followed. What was that about Yin and Yang working together for greater harmony? Just look to Alpina and BMW M – and the B6 3.5 S. THANKS TO Munich Legends, munichlegends.co.uk, where this car is for sale.

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Alpina’s finest Other 3-Series highlights

A L P I N A ’ S

A4/3 E21 (1976 - 1977)

M A G I C

When BMW launched the first 3-Series, Alpina offered a range of tuning packages based on the M10 2002tii four-cylinder engines carried over into the E21. They ranged from 120bhp in the A1/3 to 160bhp in the A4/3, courtesy of an Alpina-designed fuel-injection system, air filter housing and exhaust manifold. An A4S/3 version was built for racing, with forged competition pistons and lightened, polished con-rods. Intensely mechanical, it feels so much more sporting than the 323i. Vibrant cloth Recaro seats only add to its allure.

N U M B E R

The B6 3.5 S is far from the only brilliant Alpina take on BMW’s mainstay saloon Words Nathan Chadwick Photography Alpina

EVER SINCE THE beginning in 1962, small BMWs have formed a core part of Alpina’s focus. The first part was a dual carburettor for the 1500 and, when the firm moved into building complete cars in the 1970s, the 3-Series played a crucial role in its development. The Sachsenring circuit hosted the launch of the latest B3 and B4 GT models (see Overdrive, page 130), the end-of-line special editions that will kiss goodbye to Alpina as we know it, before the brand is absorbed into BMW. It’s also the perfect opportunity to try out Alpina’s best takes on each generation of 3-Series.

B3S E46 (2002-2006) Based on the 330i, the B3S is powered by the USA-spec E36 M3 engine, modified with an Alpina-spec cylinder head, crankshaft and Mahle pistons to produce 305bhp and 267lb ft at 4800rpm, compared to 338bhp/269lb ft in the M3. Unlike the M3, however, you could get the B3S in saloon, convertible, estate and coupé form, plus a SwitchTronic automatic option. It’s somewhat down on the M3 for outright power, yet the steering is notably more sporting, with far more feel through the rim, and its engine growls more than you might expect from within its deeply luxurious interior.

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B8 4.6 E36 (1995-1998) Burkard Bovensiepen and BMW’s head of development Wolfgang Reitzle had a bet that Alpina wouldn’t be able to get a V8 into an E36 chassis. Don’t doubt Buchloe – it took 42 body modifications for the E34 540i-sourced engine to be installed, plus the fitment of an Alpina-specific block, sump, oil pump and pistons. It produces 333bhp and delivers the same torque at 1000rpm as the E46 M3 does at its maximum. It peaks at 347lb ft, which makes for a very lively rear axle. It’s very easy to be a hooligan thanks to such enormous low-down thump, yet ease back and ride the wave of torque and it’s utterly smooth. Available in Cabrio, saloon, coupé and Touring form, 221 were built.

B3 GT3 E92 (2011)

B4 S Edition 99 F32 (2018)

Alpina’s present to itself for winning the 2011 German GT series eschewed the outright minimalism of the M3 GTS for a track car without such a hardcore edge. The 335i formed the base but, with a revised ECU and bespoke engine intake, the power is up to 402bhp and torque to 398lb ft, fed through an automatic gearbox rather than a dual-clutch. Not that you really mind while holding it on the rear axle on a wave of torque – this is Alpina’s own car, and regularly drifted at press events. An Akrapovic exhaust and adjustable suspension make this the sportiest Alpina since the B6 3.5 S.

To say goodbye to the F32 B4, Alpina built 99 special editions in coupé or cabriolet form. Based on the 435i, it features a twin-turbo 3.0-litre six-pot that delivers a 445bhp punch. However, it’s the torque that matters, a 502lb ft wallop from just 3000rpm. It’s slightly lighter and faster than the standard B4 S at 1615kg but, despite the racy orange warpaint, this is definitely an autobahn missile rather than the track-friendly B3 GT3. It’s still great fun – and exceptionally comfortable – while just one prod of the throttle and its 190mph top speed seems entirely possible. Far sooner than you thought…

W H AT N E X T F O R THE BOVENSIEPENS OF BUCHLOE? Alpina’s absorption into BMW comes at just the right time: EV powertrains don’t offer the long-distance, big-efficiency package that the brand is known for. Instead it will be focusing on maintaining spare parts for its recent cars, up to ten years old, and developing Alpina Classic. The process has already begun, with upgraded parts in development for its early single-turbo cars from the late 1970s onwards. ‘We had a specific injection system from Pierburg for these engines, which is very complex,’ Andreas Bovensiepen explains. ‘When you have a collector car that might sit for months, it often causes problems.’ Alpina’s solution is to make a new system that retains the original look; it’s likely to be available by the time you read this. The availability of further parts will depend on demand, but you can expect engine parts, reproduction cloth for interior trim, road wheels and spoilers to be key aspects of the initial activity. Andreas says they are open to reproducing certain parts on request. ‘We would do a survey to see how many cars are left – if there’s a business case, of course we’ll do it,’ he adds. Alpina Classic will also be more open to restoration, something it has carried out before, but only for special clients. ‘We will do this work in the future, but it will not be a core part of the business – we will specialise in engines, transmissions, rear axles and suspension parts.’ Continuation cars are a big feature of today’s collector car world, though Andreas doesn’t foresee a run of new B7 Turbo E24s or E30 B6 3.5 Ss. ‘There are several hundred parts that are different, and today too many of those are missing and too costly to reproduce – there may be some wealthy people who would spend €500,000, but this is very limited,’ he says. But what of resto-mods? It’s something Alpina has researched before, visiting Singer in the USA. ‘It could be interesting to make a resto-mod,’ says Andreas. ‘Of course, with so much going on with electromobility, and a slower transformation from ICE, it gives us new ideas.’ You heard it here first.

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Epic drive High altitude in a Mini

TAKING THE HIGH ROAD It’s a Mini adventure: driving to the top of the world’s tallest volcano after crossing the driest place on Earth Words Ben Coombs Photography Aglaia Wieland, Fraser Pestana and Ben Coombs

ROAD TRIPS ARE measured in miles. One hundred miles is a good day out; 1000, a pleasant week’s touring. Ten thousand? That’s the stuff of continent-crossing epics: real bucket list stuff. So, what hope for a road trip of less than 6000 metres? Well, that all depends on the context. For years, my classic car passion had been swept up in the pursuit of distance. I’ve crossed Africa in a trusty Porsche 944, journeyed from Europe to Singapore in an all-American Corvette and, most recently, in 2018, travelled the length of the Americas in a TVR Chimaera (see Octane 182). But on my return from Patagonia at the end of that 27,000-mile trip, I felt as though I’d taken this style of travel as far as I could, if you’ll excuse the pun. What I needed was a different yardstick against which to measure my automotive adventures, and the

answer was simple. Instead of seeing how far I could drive a classic car, why not see how high I could drive one? Following some research, I set myself the target of marking the 60th anniversary of the Mini by getting my 1974 example to 6000 metres above sea level, on the slopes of the world’s highest volcano – Ojos del Salado, in Chile’s Atacama Desert. Because, when sitting at home on a winter’s evening with a dram of whisky to hand, such trains of thought seem perfectly logical. And so the ‘Mini 6000’ Expedition was born. The cold light of day is a crueller judge, however, and with it came the realisation that my Mini wasn’t exactly an ideal choice. Not only is it not a 4x4, it hadn’t run in almost a decade either, having spent most of my ownership gradually decomposing in a barn.

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Clockwise, from opposite At 4530m above sea level, the Mini parked outside Refugio Murray, a former frontier police post that now serves as a climbers’ hut; Mini was accompanied by a 1991 Range Rover; the road to Laguna Verde.

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Epic drive High altitude in a Mini

I’d have my work cut out preparing it for a trip to South America in time for that anniversary, in 2019. Other projects came along – and then there was the small matter of a pandemic. All this meant that it was the winter of 2023 before the Mini was ready to begin its long journey to South America. In the intervening months, it had been the focus of much attention. Not only had I completed a full restoration, there was other work, too, to prepare it for the volcano. The engine was supercharged, better to cope with the rarefied air. The suspension was raised, a (hopefully unnecessary) roll-cage installed, and underside protection added. A bespoke roof-rack was fitted for lugging loads in the desert, a winch attached to the front subframe, and the altimeter from a Tornado GR4 jet bolted to the dashboard. Because everything’s better with an altimeter, right? It begins, and our journey to the mountain will follow a circuitous route. First, accompanied by a friend’s 1991 Range Rover, the Mini is delivered to Felixstowe, where

both cars are loaded into a container and shipped to Montevideo, in Uruguay, to arrive in late November. Once import procedures are complete, it’s then the small matter of a 1500-mile drive across Uruguay, Argentina and Chile, before the landscape is finally bleached of all its moisture, and the Atacama Desert beckons. That drive takes five days: a 50-year-old Mini, with 50-year-old seats and a very short final drive in the gearbox, isn’t the quickest or most comfortable way to cross a continent. On leaving Uruguay, for hundreds of miles we roll across Argentina’s central plains, South America’s big sky version of the US dust bowl, before the road beneath us begins to contour over gradually increasing undulations, and the Andes rise dramatically ahead. The Paso de los Libertadores takes us across this loftiest of barriers, the road climbing to more than 3000m above sea level as we roll along in the shadow of Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the Americas. At a shade under 7000m, climbers spend weeks toiling and

acclimatising in their attempts to reach its summit. But the highest point of the mountain we’re heading for is barely 50m lower – Ojos del Salado is the second-highest mountain in the Americas. It isn’t so much a road trip we’re embarking on as a mountaineering expedition. In cars. With Uruguay and Argentina now behind us, the stacked hairpins descend steeply into Chile as we drop from the border post and set course across the third country of the trip. Regaining lower elevations near Santiago, our destination is still about 600 miles away, and so our last two days on tarmac are spent cruising north, as the landscape gradually dries out to become the long-awaited Atacama Desert: the driest place on Earth. We’ll be spending weeks living in this parched wilderness as we work our way up the mountain, and so in the last town of note – a dusty mining settlement named Copiapo – we spend several days shopping for supplies before setting off into the desert, our cars overloaded with fuel, water, oil and Pot Noodles.

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Naturally, given its size advantage, the Range Rover carries most of the weight. As we leave the city behind and climb into the sands, the tarmac becomes mottled then broken before giving way to a rough gravel track, and that old Rover V8 is working hard. This brings its notquite-perfect cooling system into sharp focus, and so multiple stops are required to prevent it from boiling over as we head for our first camp spot, in a dusty valley located at a heady 3000m above sea level. Altitude is a law unto itself. Take liberties and it can prove fatal. Altitude sickness and cerebral and pulmonary oedemas are just a few of its favourite ways to ruin your day.

Fortunately, in the climbing world, there are some pretty well-documented rules regarding gaining altitude. Climbing high during the day helps with acclimatisation, but be sure to come down to a lower altitude to sleep each night. And speaking of sleeping, once you’re over 3000m up, you shouldn’t increase your sleeping altitude by an average of more than 300m per day. These are the laws by which we live during our time on the mountain, and they make for slow progress as we gradually inch our way higher. But even if you do everything right, altitude can still catch up with you. It’s an unpredictable, uncontrollable foe, and the best you can do is to weigh the odds in your favour.

‘THE ROAD BEGINS TO CONTOUR OVER INCREASING UNDULATIONS, AND THE ANDES RISE UP AHEAD’

Opposite, above, and below Beyond base camp, crawling through sand and ash, 5300m above sea level; the Mini covered 4000 miles just getting to and from the mountain; stunning Atacama scenery.

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Epic drive High altitude in a Mini

Clockwise, from bottom right Penitente ice formations, high on the mountain; on the shores of Laguna Verde; the road ran out eventually – and the roof-rack gave up; 4340m up.

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It’s not only the human body that is affected by the thin air, of course. Even at only 3000m, the cars are noticing it, too. At this elevation, we’ve already lost about a quarter of the air we’re used to at sea level. This means 25% less cooling air flowing through the radiators, and 25% less air being drawn into the engines. In the best traditions of the famous piston-engine fighter planes of yesteryear, I’d supercharged the Mini in preparation for this, and we’re carrying a selection of different fuelling jets with which to adjust the carburettor’s mixture as the altitude increases. In spite of all this, however, cold starts increasingly become a matter of trial and error as we ascend. The Range Rover generally has no such issues though. Being fuel-injected, its big V8 automatically compensates for the thinner air, and a gradual drop-off in power as we climb is the only real symptom for most of its trip. Over those early days we drift on up, camping beneath those amazing Atacama skies by night, enduring the baking sun and windblown sand of this harshest of environments during daylight. The cars demand constant attention during our waking hours. Both roofracks collapse, fatigued by corrugated tracks while carrying hundreds of litres of fuel. The Range Rover’s cooling system is gone over with a fine-tooth comb and, when it loses its fuel pump on the crest of a 4000m pass, we have to remove its boot floor to fix the wiring. This isn’t its only electrical issue. An alternator failure means we have to bodge-on the Mini’s spare to keep it running; a rather stressful prospect when you’re way out in the desert. Meanwhile, at our first camp we convert

the Mini to electronic ignition to improve its reliability. The Atacama Desert is proving to be a tough adversary. It has its rewards, though. The bone-dry landscapes have an emptiness and clarity that are impossible to find back home. The views can be spectacular: shimmering salt lakes dotted with flamingos; soaring sand-peaks drawn sharp against gin-clear skies. And then there are the nights, when the absence of light pollution takes us back to an age before electricity, and the Milky Way is painted across the sky. It isn’t only our cars that hark back to the past: our whole experience does. A week into the expedition, we’re camped on the shores of Laguna Verde, 4450m above sea level. The turquoise waters shimmer and salt coats the shores of this high-altitude saline wonder. But our needs are more pressing. Out in the desert, the fuel requirements of our vehicles are huge, and the team members are rapidly going through supplies, too. At altitude, each person needs five litres of water per day to stay hydrated, and food supplies are also being consumed rapidly. We need to resupply on a weekly basis, and it falls to the Range Rover to perform the 300-mile, eight-hour round trip, every seven days. As custodian of the Mini, it’s my duty to keep on top of the maintenance of our tiny ship of the desert in the meantime. There are less scenic places in which to work on a car than Laguna Verde, though the winds that build up from late morning each day mean it can be a little like working in a sandblaster at times. From Laguna Verde we make our way on up, passing the height of the Matterhorn and

gaining our first decent views of Ojos del Salado: 6893m tall. The world’s highest volcano. Still 12 miles distant, it looms high above the horizon, its complicated slopes a melee of sand, ash, rock and snow. The world of the road trip is well behind us now; this is the domain of the mountaineer. Beneath our tyres, the surface becomes increasingly challenging. We’re following the 4x4 track that runs to the climbers’ base camp, and it’s a track of two halves. For one part, it’s rough, rutted gravel, and the Mini acquits itself well, its raised suspension keeping its armoured underside clear of the worst of the rocks. However, on encountering the plains of soft sand and ash that sometimes block our path, the tiny wheels and lack of four-wheel drive mean our tiny steed is quickly out of its comfort zone. Sometimes we clamber out and push it through; on other occasions the Range Rover offers a tow. The Mini’s driveability is suffering, too. Despite the air:fuel ratio gauge we’d fitted to monitor the mixture as the altitude increased, pulling away uphill is becoming increasingly difficult. Even using the biggest jets we have, the carburettor is failing to draw enough fuel when the clutch is dropped, making hill starts quite a challenge. This means that, once the Mini is moving, maintaining momentum is key. So, when conditions allow, we get rolling and then we fly along the rutted tracks, bouncing over rocks and crossing our fingers that the little car’s underside will survive. The altitude increases. 4600, 4700, 4800 metres. We make camp at an altitude higher than Mont Blanc’s snowcapped summit, in a 105

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Epic drive High altitude in a Mini

dusty moonscape of gusting winds, eddying dust and incomparable memories. But the lack of oxygen is ever apparent, and one of our fourperson team can go no further – a return to the thick air of Copiapo, 150 miles distant, is the only option. Early the following morning, the Range Rover sets off, returning after dark laden with supplies for another week on the mountain. And with its bonnet strapped to the roof, to try to prevent it overheating. Christmas Day sees us at the climbers’ base camp, 5200m up. Santa hats and a cake mark the occasion as we fettle the cars, and plan the final leg of our ascent. Above base camp, the sand grows deeper, the slopes steeper, the track rougher. The Mini struggles, a design penned for the suburbs of the ’60s all at sea on the ageless slopes. Time and again it gets stuck, and time and again we bring its winch into action to make progress. Some steep sandy slopes are beyond it, but the Range Rover is peerless, dragging it up through the sand, its chunky tyres and four-wheel drive paying dividends. For two nights we make camp at 5800m. Here the availability of oxygen is only just over half that at sea level, and the overnight temperature falls to 20 below zero. We’ve left the world we knew behind; it’s just us, the mountain, our two faltering steeds and the occasional passing group of climbers. Who, naturally, are somewhat confused by the presence of a 1974 Mini in their midst. Up here, nothing is easy. Even starting the Mini from cold is an exercise in patience, a tenminute process of mixture adjustments and crossed fingers. The Range Rover has climbed into air thinner than its ECU mapping can cope with, and is now also most unenthusiastic about starting. At times, both of our cars are broken down. And to top it all, the Range Rover’s coolant

‘WE’LL SPEND WEEKS IN THIS WILDERNESS AS WE WORK OUR WAY UP THE MOUNTAIN’

congeals, cracking a freeze plug and resulting in a leak from the engine block. Here, near the summit of the world’s highest volcano, the best we can do is fashion a rubber bung to roughly seal it, and hope for the best. We carry on up the mountain. The boulders become bigger, the terrain rougher. We are now higher than any road in the world and, far from its comfort zone, the Mini can proceed only by using its winch. So on we go, throwing slings around boulders and dragging it higher. We are within 100m of our 6000m goal. But then, at 5920m, the engine cuts out and won’t restart. The float in the carburettor appears to be sticking, due to the steep slope angle. Whatever we do, we can’t get the engine to run. And without the engine running, the winch won’t work for long. We’ve reached our high point. Almost 6000 metres up the world’s highest volcano. And all that’s left for us to do is begin our journey back down. We roll, push and drag the Mini back to level ground, and the following morning, on the first day of 2024, we are finally able to coax it back to life. It might not have made it to the 6000m objective but, as the calendars rolled into the new year, our little Mini was the highest car on the planet. And with that, there is only one thing left to do: head back down to civilisation. But that, as they say, is a whole other story.

Clockwise, from top left Mini goes rock-crawling; home for weeks at altitude – sand, ash and boulders; using sand ladders to unstick the Mini.

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THE O C TA N E INTERVIEW

Steve Saxty Forty years into a high-flying business career, Steve Saxty took some time out to write a motoring book – and he’s never looked back Words Mark Dixon

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‘CRASHES? I’VE HAD a few,’ laughs Steve Saxty. ‘When I was a youngster and working at Ford, I barrel-rolled my Sierra GLS 4x4 into a field. Being so young, I simply went down the pub to join my friends afterwards. The car was re-shelled but the dealer ordered the wrong bodyshell, so it ended up as an XR4x4 lookalike with a GLS interior. Whoever bought that car later got a real mutant!’ It’s hard to imagine the urbane, late-middleaged Saxty as a 20-something tearaway, but he’s always loved fast cars. And if anyone is an expert on the minutiae of classic Fords, it’s him: after a long career in the motor industry, he’s reinvented himself as the author of a string of beautifully produced books about Ford and, latterly, BMW design. His most recent publication, the three-volume BMW Behind The Scenes, took a ‘class win’ in the 2024 RAC Motoring Book of the Year awards. Saxty knows exactly what inspired him. ‘There was a book released in 1976, Let’s Call It Fiesta by Edouard Seidler, which told the inside story of how a car was born,’ he explains. ‘So many car books gloss over the process of how a car is conceived, which to me is the most interesting part of its journey: if a car goes wrong at the very beginning, then it goes wrong for the rest of its life. That book influenced a lot of people like me to seek a career in the industry.’ Also significant was growing up near Ford’s design and engineering centre at Dunton, Essex, in the early 1970s. While out with his mother one day, the young Saxty spotted a convoy of three close-formation Fiat 127s heading north along the A12 trunk road. ‘My mum said, “That’s the new small Ford,” he recalls. ‘Of course, I was dismissive at first, but she was absolutely right: they were early test mules for the Fiesta. Ford had literally grafted Fiesta front ends onto the Fiat shells. I thought “That’s amazing – I can see the future!”’ In due course Saxty joined Ford as a trainee design engineer, which gave him legitimate reasons to pop next door to the design studios. ‘That was always the cool and sexy bit to me,’ he explains. ‘I wanted to hang out in that world. The next best thing to satisfy my creative side was marketing, but that meant starting in sales and working my way up. The upside of sales was earning decent money and being allowed a company car. I had a company Scorpio at the age of 24, even if it was only the unsellable 2.0-litre carburetted automatic!’ Having a bit of disposable income meant that Saxty was also able to run a couple of secondhand Tickford Capris, however. ‘They

Above Saxty has learned that the secret to publishing success is offering high-quality books at a premium price, with bonus content such as posters.

were very expensive when new, but depreciated massively, and I always preferred the way they handled to the factory 2.8i. I was also offered the chance to buy Henry Ford II’s special-order Capri but turned it down for the same reason.’ Despite his loyalty to the Blue Oval, it was proving tough to make any career headway in the huge corporation and so, when Saxty saw a job in area sales for Mazda being advertised at almost twice his salary, he jumped ship. ‘It was a fascinating time because they were moving from the fridge-like 626 to juicy fruit such as the MX-3 and RX-7 and the Xedos brand. The latter had a huge impact on the design community; Ford even looked into turning the small Xedos 6 into a Jaguar because the surfacing was so beautiful.’ His improved financial situation at Mazda meant that he could then embark on a fling with a succession of TVRs. ‘As a Capri man,

inevitably I started with the TVR S, which had the same engine, then upgraded to the 2.9 and the V8S, and finally a 4.0-litre Griffith. I did lots and lots of miles and I didn’t have a single problem with any of them.’ After a couple of years Saxty switched tracks again, this time to Porsche as UK sales manager in 1993. ‘The reality was that Porsche was on its knees. It was just brutally bad. A 968 Club Sport turned a profit of just £26 before any options were added. We used to pray that the customer would at least specify the rear seats, which would boost the profit to over £100!’ A major career shift into the world of automotive management consultancy then occurred when legendary industry figure Karl Ludwigsen recruited Saxty into his boutique firm as his main strategist at the age of just 30. ‘We had this new Korean client called Daewoo, so I got involved with helping establish that

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The Octane Interview Steve Saxty

NICK ZEA-SMITH

‘Design at Ford was always the cool and sexy bit to me. I wanted to hang out in that world’

Anti-clockwise, from top right Growing up in Essex meant that Saxty has always had a strong allegiance to Ford; 4.0-litre Griffith was one of a series of TVRs that were his daily drivers; BMW’s and Ford’s archives have been hugely helpful.

behind the scenes. I pulled in some of my old mates from Mazda and then ended up setting up my own consultancy with one of them, which we called Automotive Answers.’ Saxty realised that he had a natural feel for brand strategy: ‘It’s creative, it’s to do with understanding people as well as product. And, to be frank, there was real money to be earned in it. I got hired by one of the major players, FutureBrand, to head up its European automotive practice. This was big-league stuff: I went from working in my spare bedroom or down the pub with my mate to being at the front of a global outfit of 800 people.’ Life was good for an Essex lad still in his 30s. ‘I had a house on Richmond Hill and a yellow Lotus Elise, I had celebrity neighbours. But then FutureBrand asked me to go and head up its global auto practice from its New York HQ. After just a few weeks in the USA, on 10 September 2001 I was in California – I went there a lot, since it’s where many of the car companies are based – and took some pics of my rented Porsche Boxster. I then flew back to New York and next morning I still had the disposable camera with me when I saw smoke rising from the Twin Towers and grabbed some final shots before they collapsed. Seeing people in the streets covered in dust and blood – it had a massive impact and really bonded me with the city for ever.’ Saxty has lived in New York ever since, apart from a brief hiatus working for Jaguar at its Gaydon HQ, where he was in charge of global

advertising (‘probably best described as interesting rather than enjoyable’). Back in NY, and seeking to broaden his horizons, he worked on non-automotive accounts before deciding to take some time out. ‘My wife said, “Why don’t you write a book?” By chance, I was at a U2 concert where Bono made one of his famous pronouncements: “Write the book you’ve always wanted to read.” For me, in car terms, that would be what it was like at Ford of Europe in the halcyon days of the 1970s and ’80s. That, I thought, would be a really cool book. ‘I sent a synopsis for what would become The Cars You Always Promised Yourself out to several publishers and, to my surprise, they were all willing to produce it. So I wrote to Mel Nichols, the journalist from Car whom I’d known for years, to ask if he could recommend someone as an editor. I was hugely flattered when he said he’d be willing to take on the job himself. ‘With a very talented designer called Adrian Morris also on board, I chose a well-respected publisher of motoring books to help get this first project into the hands of the buying public. Subsequent books I’ve taken entirely in-house, but I learned a lot from the experience – not least that special editions are the books that people actually want to buy. ‘Having produced a £30 book called RS Icons, I’ve found that it makes no sense serving that cheaper end of the market because the audience isn’t there. Better instead to sell into the £60-240 bracket and provide a quality

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The Octane Interview Steve Saxty

‘I invest a huge amount up front – the printing alone ran deep into six-figures for the BMW books’

Left and below With BMW Motorsport co-founder and Capri RS race team leader Jochen Neerpasch (a clue to Saxty’s next project); some of his BMW and Ford books.

product that people really want to own. That also means, however, that you can’t just offer a signature and a slipcase and call it a collector’s edition. You have to offer significant extra content, stunning packaging, something special. I use a unique soft-touch cover that costs maybe 50p more per book – it’s a new paper technology – but people comment how much they like it. Quality is in the details. ‘And that brings me to bespoke cover artwork, which I think is so important. I sell a lot of books over Christmas and about half the buyers are women, presumably choosing them as presents, most likely using a mobile phone, so the covers have to really pop. It’s heartbreaking how many publishers foist generic library shots on their authors’ work. I have no illusions that a lot of my buyers may never read the book, but they just like owning a beautiful object, in the same way that the typical owner of a BMW M3 will never drive their car anywhere near its limits but is simply very content to own it.’ The question has to be asked: can you make a living from writing motoring books? Saxty admits that, because he manages the whole publishing process, he can make large projects like his BMW three-book set work very well – but there’s a caveat. ‘‘If you are simply the author, on a book with a retail price of £40 you’ll get maybe 5-6% royalty, if it’s sold at big discount to the trade. So that’s £2 per book. Sell 2000 copies, which is actually not bad going for the typical motoring title, and you’ve earned £4000. You’d be better off working in Starbucks, frankly. The flipside is that, while I make a decent return from my books, I also invest a huge amount up front – the printing alone ran deep into sixfigures for the BMW books, and then you need to add in marketing, PR and postage.’ What’s certain is that Saxty has absolutely no regrets in giving up his lucrative career in New York to become a full-time writer and publisher. ‘I have the most exciting job now that I’ve ever had. I hang out with famous car designers as friends, and how can you put a price on that? I just have the most marvellous time.’ VISIT stevesaxty.com to see all of Steve’s books and to get 10% discount with the code OCTANE10.

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Corvette re-creation Dave MacDonald Special

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It was the sideways scourge of American raceways until it was no more. And then one enthusiast built a perfect copy of Dave MacDonald’s 7/8-scale Corvette 00 Special. Julian Balme tells all Photography John Taylor / The Henry Ford

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THE HENRY FORD

Corvette re-creation Dave MacDonald Special

or many of us it started with a photograph. It could have been Stirling Moss, nonchalantly leaning back on board a works DB3S in a beautiful four-wheel drift through Madgwick, or Jimmy Clark poetically dangling the inside front wheel of his Lotus Cortina through Bottom Bend. Chances are that if you grew up in California in the early 1960s you would have been mesmerised by pictures of a handsome, young Corvette driver with buzzcut hair, by the name of Dave MacDonald. For the sport’s photographers he was a gift, not least because he appeared incapable of negotiating a corner without throwing the back end of the car out and turning the front wheels in the opposite direction of his (rather rapid) travel. As a result, more pictures exist of Dave on ‘full oppo’ than not. To compound his schoolboy hero status, MacDonald looked like he had just stepped out of a Hollywood film. It’s easy to imagine him arresting Montgomery Clift or saluting Burt Lancaster in From Here to Eternity, and in many respects it’s unusual that, of the three driver tragedies that beset Shelby American, the movie industry chose to pick up on the Ken Miles story with Ford Versus Ferrari rather than the handsome California kid with the matinee idol looks. Nobody was more captivated by Dave MacDonald than retired dentist Ernie Nagamatsu, and his love of late-1950s and early-1960s US road racing would inevitably lead him and his wife Elaine to celebrate their

hero by building a toolroom copy of the car indelibly associated with him. ‘Dave’s dirttrack driving technique thrilled everyone,’ Ernie recalls. ‘It didn’t seem to matter what the car – double-zero ’Vette, King Cobra or Ford Galaxie, he was always sideways.’ Unlike a lot of drivers of the era, Dave MacDonald was married with a young family when he took up circuit racing. The mechanic from El Monte had always been around cars and competed in drag racing from the age of 19, claiming more than 100 trophies in just three years in his Gypsy Red 1955 Corvette, allegedly the first manual V8 to be sold in California, and bought from the dealership – Arcadia Chevrolet – that he worked at. He was dominant within his class, but driving in a straight line wasn’t to be his thing and, come the end of the decade, he was encouraged by local ’Vette dealer Don Steves to take on road courses with a contract and a sponsorship deal. Having prepped and painted a tired old 1957 Corvette, Dave, true to the script, debuted his new ride at Willow Springs in February 1960 and, having qualified fourth on the Saturday, went on to win Sunday’s feature race. Overnight, Chevy fans had a new name to root for. Dave and his white 00 ’Vette simply cleaned up, taking 14 wins in Production Sports Car races during 1961 alone (he DNF’d in four and came second in two). During three seasons, the new ‘King of Corvettes’ had competed in a quartet of cars owned by Steves, the last being the very first of the Z06, 1963-model Sting Ray, a car that would pitch

him against his future employer’s team, but before that there was a fifth ’Vette: a seveneighths scale special. Having stamped his authority on the production classes, MacDonald came up with the idea of building a special to take on the bigbore, modified divisions, thereby pitting him against the very best of the West Coast’s cars and drivers. At the suggestion of Carroll Shelby, Dave ended up at the workshop of Max Balchowsky, the legendary special builder who had risen to prominence within Californian sports car circles with his Ferrari-eating series of Old Yellers. Together they would create Old Yeller V – the Corvette 00 Special’s other name – the aim being to debut it at the prestigious LA Times Grand Prix on 15 October 1961. True to Balchowsky practice, the chromemoly frame was customised from scratch, with every other component gathered from the most unlikely of sources. Morris Minor torsion-bar suspension, Studebaker rear axle (later replaced with a Chevy II unit), drum brakes fore and aft – Pontiac front, Buick rear. The pearl, though, within this smorgasbord of junkyard parts was the engine. Between Dave and his co-sponsor Jim Simpson, they managed to convince Chevrolet’s own Corvette engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov to let them have an all-new 327ci fuel-injected Chevrolet V8. As that engine was synonymous with the ’Vette, Dave was adamant that his special should wear the body of the Chevy but recognised that the stock item would be too heavy. The solution was to fabricate a one-off

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THE HENRY FORD

JOHN TAYLOR

Clockwise, from top left MacDonald with Max Balchowsky, 1961; Pacific Coast Championship Race, Riverside, California, 1962; in car ahead of the fateful 1964 Indianapolis 500; testing at Indianapolis, 1963, in the Thompson 82; Ernie Nagamatsu’s toolroom re-creation of 00.

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JOHN TAYLOR

Corvette re-creation Dave MacDonald Special

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lightweight body, and so, with the help of friends Nat Reeder and Jim Burrel of Corvette Auto Body, they used a stock ’61 ’shell as a template for a mould from which they could create a wafer-thin, 1/16in-thick glassfibre shell. They then cut and shut it, taking 5in out of the width, 17in from the length and reducing the height by 4in. With a 92in wheelbase and weighing in at 1750lb (794kg), this custom, one-off racer weighed 1000lb less than the stock 1961 ’Vette it was modelled on. The ‘Fuelie’ engine breathed through a set of Jardine headers, but Dave experimented by adding a set of reversed motorcycle cones to the exhaust ends, which gave the car such a potent power boost that they were left on permanently. There were other neat touches, such as the three tail-lights per side – stock ’61 models had two – and a hood scoop from a ’57 Thunderbird. Initially finished in white, and despite Max’s protests, the car in its ultimate configuration was painted Dave’s favourite colour of bright orange, pin-striped, and shod with American Racing five-spoke mag wheels. It was finished with a week to spare. Initial shakedown tests at Riverside Raceway did not go well and, although listed in the programme, the entry was withdrawn. It was fast, but the set-up needed to be tightened and more development was required. The 00 ’Vette’s maiden outing would be at Laguna Seca a week later, where the pair would be sidelined with broken front suspension after only two laps, the result of an off-course excursion after

falling victim to the oil left by Augie Pabst and Bob Bondurant when they collided in Turn 1. Within a month the special was out again at Cotati, where they took their first win, despite Dave’s reservations about the car’s handling. He told one magazine: ‘The car didn’t handle at all, I couldn’t even get it around a corner by oversteering it.’ Remarkably, the team of Dave, Jim and Max had gone from chalk marks on the floor to race winner in 21/2 months. During the last race of 1961, at Del Mar, the car shed a wheel and was retired. The 1962 season began at Riverside but not on the road course. Instead Dave and Jim took the car to the SCTA’s annual speed event and entered the Top Eliminator division, where they made the final and were clocked at 139.36mph over the half-mile. The Corvette Special’s next race was a month away, so it was delivered to the Indy and sprint car specialist Frank Kurtis in Glendale to get his take on the handling issues. He claimed to have ‘changed the set-up so it would at least go around a corner’. Dave concurred: ‘Frank ultimately set it up to run like a production Corvette, which was OK, because I was used to that.’ Next time out, at Riverside in early February, he demonstrated just how much it had been improved by taking a flag-to-flag victory in the Saturday preliminary race. Following a torrential downpour, the event was washed out and rescheduled for the following month, whereupon Dave returned and duly swept all before him in the modified races.

Before the season had really got going, though, Hawaiian dealer and racer Pat Mathis made an offer for the car that couldn’t be ignored and, with Dave heavily involved with GM in the development of its all-new 1963 Sting Ray, it was easier to let it go. He would race it twice more at the end of the year, when Mathis flew the car back to the mainland for Dave to drive at Reno (Nevada) and Kent (Washington). Sadly it didn’t finish either but the images of MacDonald on huge armfuls of opposite lock aboard Old Yeller V during 1961 and ’62 were permanently etched into the memory banks of all who witnessed it. For 1963 it was all change. Dave had been sweet-talked into joining Shelby American and was hustling Ford-powered cars rather than Chevrolets, though still cornering at ridiculous degrees of slippage. He would oversteer his way to numerous victories, in the process giving SAI its first win with the 260ci-powered Cobra (Riverside), its first with the 289ci (Dodger Stadium), its first with the Daytona Coupe (Sebring) and another first with the King Cobra (Riverside). By the end of the year MacDonald and Chevy were a thing of the past – even his burnt orange crash helmet proudly wore a Cobra snake graphic. Apart from Cobras, MacDonald was driving for Bill Stroppe’s super-slick Mercury NASCAR Team and agreed to drive for Mickey Thompson at the 1964 Indy 500 in the notso-special Sears All-State Special. Despite colleagues’ misgivings about the single-seater,

THE HENRY FORD

Opposite, and below, from left Nagamatsu in (and with) his car at Laguna Seca, scene of the original’s debut; MacDonald (on right) working on Shelby King Cobra CM/1/63, August 1963; driving it in the Los Angeles Times Grand Prix, Riverside, October 1963.

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The Henry Ford: Dave MacDonald Working on Shelby King Cobra

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The Henry Ford: Dave MacDonald Driving Shelby King Cobra CM/1/63 in Los Angeles Times Grand Prix, Riverside, California, October 196316/01/2025 18:44

Corvette re-creation Dave MacDonald Special

Dave dutifully lined up on the fifth row of the grid on Memorial Day for the start of the 48th 500-mile marathon at the Brickyard. As the pack completed its second lap, Dave went left to pass Walt Hansgen and Jim Hurtubise. At exactly the same time Hansgen also went left, causing MacDonald to go wider. He got sideways and the front end of the car began to lift. In a split-second that would prove fatal, MacDonald cannoned into the inside wall. With full tanks, the car immediately burst into flames before hitting the outside wall and coming to rest two-thirds of the way down the start/finish straight. Veteran Eddie Sachs also died in the crash, which saw the famous race red-flagged for the first time in its history. Dave MacDonald was 27 years old. …And Old Yeller V? It was last seen in 1969 abandoned at the airport in Honolulu. Of all the enthusiasts of this golden period of West Coast racing, Ernie Nagamatsu was undoubtedly the best-qualified to recreate the car. In many ways it was pre-ordained. ‘I was a good friend of Max and Ina Balchowsky and they entrusted me with their entire Hollywood Motors archive prior to my purchase of the iconic Old Yeller II Buick Special. Records, lap charts, invoices, trophies, dash plaques, race car parts – everything associated with the Old Yeller racers. The huge

inventory included an incredible collection of large-format black-and-white photographs taken by Lester Neihamkin, a professional Hollywood photographer and “team member”.’ These photos would be an invaluable asset in the build of the car. ‘For many years, I also had the Max Balchowsky welded chrome-moly chassis for Old Yeller X – a project that was never completed,’ Ernie recalls. ‘The cheque for the project also included the unique Balchowskydesigned front suspension, which included the drilled front upper A-arms from a Jaguar XK120 and shortened lower A-arms from a Pontiac. The archives included a collection of Morris Minor torsion bars for the Old Yellers and a large collection of additional parts.’ Discovered among them were the Pontiac drum brakes with unique drilled backing plates. ‘Of the nine Balchowsky-built Old Yeller cars, there was only one that had Pontiac front drums [all other race-cars had Buick aluminium finned drum brakes]. That was the 00 Corvette Special.’ There were traces of damage to these that related to the wheel-loss at Del Mar. Guided by those photographs of Max working with Dave on the Corvette Special, the new car was fabricated from scratch over a period of two years. A huge effort went into utilising period parts, all dated as close to the

JOHN TAYLOR

‘THE NEW CAR WAS FABRICATED FROM SCRATCH OVER A PERIOD OF TWO YEARS’

build date of 00 as possible, such as a correct 1961 327ci Corvette Fuelie motor that, once rebuilt, still managed to produce 350 horsepower. A specially modified Chevy II rear end was assembled by the infamous Cook’s Machine Works, the two machinists there recounting to Ernie that, when they were very young, they worked with Max on building all of the custom differentials for his race cars. Ernie even managed to involve a number of other characters from the car’s past during the build, including fellow Corvette racer Joe Freitas and Dave’s chief mechanic at SAI, Wally Peat. On completion last summer, they were gathered, along with MacDonald’s two children, Rich and Vicki, at Kent in the Pacific Northwest, scene of the original car’s last race, for an emotional launch party at the venue’s historic race meeting. Just seeing MacDonald Jr behind the wheel of 00 was validation of the project for Ernie. As he sums up: ‘Dave MacDonald was a master of the slip angle and fans loved watching him slide around. He was the chosen one, on a mercurial rise, winning with ease at all levels of the sport, a crew-cut family man, hot rodder and racer of American sports cars – the ultimate American hero.’ Thanks to Ernie Nagamatsu, we now have the car as well as the photos.

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ELECTROGENIC

ELECTRIFICATION OF CLASSICS There is no shortage of debate around electric vehicles, and the current UK Government consultation seeking views on how to restore the 2030 phase-out date for pure-ICE cars and make the transition to zero-emission vehicles a success has certainly activated the industry. Will future policy impact the growing niche of converting classics to electric motive power? Whatever your view, the electric conversions market is maturing as evidenced by the growing number of professional electrification specialists joining the HCVA. One trend is for specific marques and models lending themselves to being reimagined with electric propulsion according to a vehicle’s value, construction and driving properties. Specialists have invested heavily to develop the optimal drivetrain, suspension, safety and control system upgrades required to deliver the desired driving experience and ownership proposition. This approach enables a sophisticated design, manufacturing and installation process at scale that would be more difficult to achieve on a one-off basis. The HCVA recognises that electrification using high-voltage systems is a technically complex process. In the absence of official standards for the conversion of classic cars, the HCVA, in partnership with specialist members, developed Minimum Professional Standards Guidelines for modification of classic vehicles from internal combustion to electric drivetrains. These Guidelines drive standards and are designed to protect workers, customers and the public. Recognition of the HCVA initiative from Hagerty, in partnership with major insurance underwriter Aviva, means that for the first time a specific electric conversion insurance product is available to HCVA member specialists and their customers. With the support of the HCVA, the developing electrification sector is responding to the needs of a generation of enthusiasts who use and value their vehicles differently. We welcome all businesses and individuals with an interest in protecting the future of our sector to join us at www.hcva.co.uk. Dale Keller, CEO

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Octane Cars The trials and tribulations of the cars we live with

Good to be green 1974 Alfa Romeo Spider Evan Klein SHE’S FINALLY BACK from rehab. It’s been quite the year but at least she’s home. Sometimes it’s hard to stay optimistic and we wonder why we’re doing this. From the bodyshop she went straight to the Alfa shop. She was so dirty, covered in bodyshop mess, you wonder how one shop could get one car so filthy. Now, however, she’s in a safe place. It was a Tuesday when we pulled her onto the lift. A chill in the air, even here in Los Angeles. It was suspension day. I stood back and helped when I could, because I’m good at cleaning things. Springs, shocks, tie-rods, front end bushes, heavy-duty sway bar, steering box seal – and, at the rear end, shocks, springs, new trailing arm bushes, trunnion bar bushes. Benny is a one-man shop: don’t get in his way, he can do this in his sleep. I learned so much from watching. He completed the work on the entire car in one day. I think we had Korean BBQ for lunch. Wednesday was dedicated to fitting new brake pads and a new driveshaft and support; the original was out of balance and causing a rumbling in the rear end. I prayed it wasn’t the diff. And did I mention I’m a good cleaner? I put the trim back on: all the missing parts, valance, wipers, the little things that make you Clockwise, from opposite, top Home and shiny at last; after the bodywork, time for the oily bits; suspension parts replaced; new tyres on refurbished wheels.

crazy. Then suddenly you’re ready to drive the car away. You want to park it in front of the house. You want the neighbours to come out and say things like ‘I see you got a new toy’, ‘Is that an Alfa Romeo?’ and ‘She sure is pretty.’ As things got sorted, I took the new powder-coated Turbina alloy wheels and tyres over to the tyre shop for installation. One by one the new rims went on and the car was looking better and better. As the tyres were fitted, onlookers had to stop and throw in their comments. The owner of the muffler shop proceeded to tell me with his pointy finger the things the bodyshop did wrong – it got to the point where, after a year of frustration, I told him if he had nothing nice to say then he should go back to his muffler shop. Another guy had to tell me about how his friend had one when they were growing up and all the trouble they got into. It was never a beautiful 26-year-old blonde asking me for a ride. I’d do better with a puppy. I drove home alone, listening to the rasp of the glorious Alfa motor, the warm weekend sun in my eyes. And now I let her sit in the driveway as I massage her with rubbing compound, layers of overspray slowly disappearing. A woman walking her dog stops and asks if she can take a picture. A bead of sweat rolls down my forehead, a breath of satisfaction calms me. After dinner I look out the window. She’s still there, and yeah, she looks pretty fine.

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OCTANE’S FLEET These are the cars – and ’bikes – run by Octane’s staff and contributors

ROBERT COUCHER Founding editor • 1955 Jaguar XK140 GLEN WADDINGTON Associate editor • 1989 BMW 320i Convertible • 1999 Porsche Boxster SANJAY SEETANAH Advertising director • 1981 BMW 323i Top Cabrio • 1998 Aston Martin DB7 Volante • 2007 Mercedes-Benz SLK200 MARK DIXON Contributing editor • 1927 Alvis 12/50 • 1927 Ford Model T pick-up • 1942 Fordson Model N tractor • 1955 Land Rover Series I 107in JAMES ELLIOTT Editor-in-chief • 1965 Triumph 2.5 PI • 1968 Jensen Interceptor • 1969 Lotus Elan S4 ROBERT HEFFERON Art editor • 2004 BMW Z4 3.0i DAVID LILLYWHITE Editorial director • 1971 Saab 96 • 1996 Prodrive Subaru Impreza MATTHEW HOWELL Photographer • 1962 VW Beetle 1600 • 1969 VW/Subaru Beetle • 1982 Morgan 4/4 BEN BARRY Contributor • 2007 Mazda RX-8 MASSIMO DELBÒ Contributor • 1967 Mercedes-Benz 230 • 1972 Fiat 500L • 1975 Alfa Romeo GT Junior • 1979/80 Range Rovers • 1982 Mercedes-Benz 500SL • 1985 Mercedes-Benz 240TD SAM CHICK Photographer • 1969 Alfa Romeo Spider ROWAN ATKINSON Contributor • 2004 Rolls-Royce Phantom 125

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Octane Cars Running Reports

ANDREW RALSTON Contributor • 1955 Ford Prefect • 1968 Jaguar 240

A Zed and no noughts

SAM CHICK Photographer • 1969 Alfa Romeo Spider

2004 BMW Z4 3.0i Robert Hefferon

RICHARD HESELTINE Contributor • 1966 Moretti 850 Sportiva • 1971 Honda Z600 PETER BAKER Contributor • 1954 Daimler Conquest • 1955 Daimler Conquest Century • 2005 Maserati 4200GT • 2008 Alfa Romeo Brera Prodrive SE DAVID BURGESS-WISE Contributor • 1924 Sunbeam 14/40 • 1926 Delage DISS MATTHEW HAYWARD Markets editor • 1990 Citroën BX 16v • 1994 Toyota Celica GT-Four • 1996 Saab 9000 Aero • 1997 Citroën Xantia Activa • 1997 Peugeot 306 GTI-6 • 2000 Honda Integra Type R • 2002 Audi A2 JESSE CROSSE Contributor • 1968 Ford Mustang GT 390 • 1986 Ford Sierra RS Cosworth MARTYN GODDARD Photographer • 1963 Triumph TR6SS Trophy • 1965 Austin-Healey 3000 MkIII DELWYN MALLETT Contributor • 1936 Cord 810 Beverly • 1937 Studebaker Dictator • 1946 Tatra T87 • 1950 Ford Club Coupe • 1952 Porsche 356 • 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL • 1957 Porsche Speedster • 1957 Fiat Abarth Sperimentale • 1963 Abarth-Simca • 1963 Tatra T603 • 1973 Porsche 911 2.7 RS • 1992 Alfa Romeo SZ

MY PHONE PINGS. ‘Heff, can you please arrange a photographer? Ben Barry is organising a shoot with all the BMW Z-cars.’ What an opportunity, I think, to meet some other Zeds and to give mine a run down to Sussex. Right, yes, a photographer. Sam Chick duly assigned, we meet at Munich Legends, who have kindly organised two of their customers’ cars, a Z3M and Z4M, and have taken delivery of a Z1 and Z8 from BMW’s heritage fleet. I’d already arranged to leave my car with proprietor Dan Norris and his team so that they could – despite its recent clean MoT – give it a good check over. I was interested to see what might crop up, what should be on my hit list of jobs and whether they thought it was a sound example. It was interesting for me to see the Z-car lineage and development, from the quirkily concept-like Z1 to the beautifully styled Z8, via the Z3 (for which I’ve always had a soft spot) and the ultimate version of the Z4. There was also a little trepidation that after driving four of ‘the ones you really want’ I would be left wishing I had that ‘M’ badge on my car, too. I’m not the man to recall driving impressions, that’s Ben’s job (see Octane 258), but I will say that they were all completely different and that I shouldn’t have

been comparing them to mine. I reckon my Z4 3.0i fits somewhere between the rawness and honesty of the Z3M and the Z4M, where everything feels tighter and stiffer and more padded. With the shoot wrapped up, it was time to collect my car. Stuart of Munich Legends explained the list of notes and said: ‘When the technician records things like a “noisy windscreen-wiper”, you know there’s little to worry about.’ My new checklist of minor jobs will have to wait, however, as – without getting into the nuances of the incident, and about how difficult it can be when you’re the innocent party – my Z4 had taken a bump from another car only a couple of days before the shoot. So it was back down to my

friendly local bodyshop, Irchester Motor Bodies. To our surprise, the insurers agreed their quote for the work, including a new rear bumper, although we shouldn’t really have been surprised given how genuine this father-and-son duo are. Had I gone to an ‘approved repairer’, I’m sure the quote would have written the car off. After what had been a bit of a downer, dropping the car in for repair was a big up-turn – so I booked the wheels in for a refurb, too. And now I wait, or rather, can’t! Clockwise, from below left Scuffed bumper needed sorting; duly booked in locally and sorted on the insurance, along with a wheel refurb; with Sussex experts.

EVAN KLEIN Photographer • 1974 Alfa Romeo Spider • 2001 Audi TT HARRY METCALFE Contributor • 20 cars and 15 motorbikes To follow Harry’s adventures, find Harry’s Garage on YouTube. 126

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DANIEL BEVIS

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Still charming 1965 Triumph 2.5PI James Elliott THE NOVELTY HASN’T worn off yet and I’m still piling the miles onto the rust-free Triumph. I am easing off a little due to the weather and no long insisting on using it for absolutely every journey, but I still find myself actively looking for reasons to snatch it out of the lock-up and give it a run. Its main duty has been to be paraded around and shown off. It’s been up to the Hothouse Media office at Raunds in Northamptonshire, which meant a very early start, but that was back when the milder weather meant I didn’t have ice and condensation to contend with. That said, thanks to James Godfrey-Dunne actually connecting the pipes to the blower, the heater is now working better than it has at any time in my custodianship. It generates a positive hurricane compared to previously, which means you now need only one window open to clear the condensation in little more than 50 miles… The Triumph has also been on two photoshoots, to a whole bunch of meetings, ferried a carful of teenage gymnasts to training, and hooned around locally, bringing smiles and frowns in equal measure. The gearbox is starting to loosen up nicely now and my mind is turning to a bunch of jobs such as a new front numberplate, reaffixing the nose badge, fitting the boot carpets and so on, but I reckon I can safely put that lot off until spring now.

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Octane Cars Running Reports

OTHER NEWS

Seat time

‘Took the XK140 to visit Merlin McCormack, of Duke of London fame, in sunny Brentford and I also popped in to see his father, Lance (‘Romance of Rust’), further along the banks of the Thames. I love a London drive!’

1968 Ford Mustang GT390 Jesse Crosse RESTORING ANY CAR is one of the most creative things anybody can do. It’s not just about nuts, bolts and engine building. The upholstery and trim are the parts you touch and feel, and often best reflect its period. The 1968 Mustang GT390’s interior is such a case. Its vinyl-covered seats with distinctive ‘Comfortweave’ inserts and chrome buttons just scream ‘1960s’. My GT is a factory-original Highland Green car and virtually identical to the Bullitt Mustang with the GT Equipment Group and Power Disc Brakes options. Both cars were built just four weeks apart at San Jose in early 1968, but one big difference between them was the colour of the interior. While the Warner Brothers’ car had the Black Vinyl Bucket Seats, mine had the Red Decor Bucket Seats with matching red interior trim. I guess it was 1960s California but, of course, I’m restoring the interior in black. The only things missing when I got the Mustang were the original front seats but it came with a pair of correct, if rough, donors to restore. The biggest job was welding a couple of cracks on the driver’s seat and rebuilding the runners, which turned out to be fiddly since there are a couple of rollers inside both. The seatbacks fold forwards to allow access to the +2 rear seat and there’s a mechanism inside each to release them, which needed rebuilding. I also bright zinc-plated various parts using my bench-top kit to bring everything up to scratch. The TMI upholstery kit I used comes with moulded foams and I needed hog rings and pliers to attach it to the frame as per factory, as well as a new set of seat springs to support the foams. The chrome buttons are supplied separately and easy enough to insert into the upholstery, but it did take a few attempts on the first seat to get it looking as I wanted.

Robert Coucher

‘Christmas was almost ruined thanks to a dodgy tail-light seal on my Peugeot 306. Thankfully I noticed the puddle of water in the boot before it seeped into the bag of freshly wrapped presents’ Matthew Hayward

‘The Moretti Sportiva beguiles and frustrates in equal measure. I’ve made quite a few long-ish drives in it now but it seems to be running really rich’ Richard Heseltine

In the end I bought some more half-inch foam to get a taut finish on the seats, since the supplied moulded cushions are not enough on their own. The rear seatback was much easier, since the frame is a simple rectangle, but the base with a hump was more complex and again required extra foam to get it right. A unique feature of the 1968 Mustang Fastback is the fold-down rear seat, which consists of two heavy, hinged, fabricated metal panels, carpeted, with chrome trims around the

Top and above The finished result: perfectlooking seats after six months spent restoring original donors.

edges. Once folded down it forms a hatchback-style loading bay together with a third carpeted panel, accessed by a clever trapdoor into the boot space. Front and rear seats took about six months of spare-time work to complete. It’s a job that can’t be rushed but, like everything in restoration, time spent is worth it in the end.

‘The Porsche Carrera RS is now back on its wheels and attention has turned to refitting the glass, upholstery, electrics and all the mechanical gubbins into the pristine ’shell’ Delwyn Mallett

‘My Series I Landy is very original – but the centre dash panel is a later black Series II item. eBay sorted me the correct and nicely patinated Dove Grey panel for 40 quid’ Mark Dixon

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1986 1986 SAUBER SAUBER C8 C8 MERCEDES MERCEDES

1986 SAUBER C8 MERCEDE THE THE MOST MOST SUCCESSFUL SUCCESSFUL C8 C8 THE MOST SUCCESSFUL C8

THE MOST SUCCESSFUL C8

COME COME AND SEE US AT RETROMOBILE COME AND AND SEE SEE US US AT AT RETROMOBILE RETROMOBILE

C C O E C T N CO OLLLLLLE EC CT TI IO IO ON N

COME AND SEE US AT RETROMOBI

Overdrive Other interesting cars we’ve been driving

Go your own way Alpina B3/B4 GT Nathan Chadwick ‘THIS IS WHY I like Alpina, it just does things its own way,’ says a fellow hack at the pre-launch dinner. At his own expense he’d hammered across Germany from Austria to the Sachsenring. He isn’t alone in thinking that, and pretty much the whole Alpina gang are here: Andreas and Florian Bovensiepen have been running the firm since their father Burkard, its founder, died last year, and their daughters play key roles, too. It’s a family business and this Alpina ‘tasting session’ feels like a private party. After 2026, future Alpinas will be developed by BMW itself, with

the Buchloe concern focusing on Alpina Classic. The latest 3-Series-based B3/B4 GT variants are its final throw of the dice and, on the face of it, an extra 33bhp over the existing B3/B4 might not seem like a great deal. Yet under the bonnet lies a twin-turbo 3.0-litre straight-six with 522bhp, punched out at a loftier-than-standard 6250rpm. Torque remains as before at 538lb ft, possibly to save the ZF eight-speed automatic gearbox from detonating itself. At 3.5sec, the 0-62mph time has been sliced by 0.2sec, while there’s an extra 2mph at the top end: 191mph.

It’s certainly got the shove and, with a beautifully trimmed leather interior and bespoke Alpina dials, it feels a cut above the occasionally vodka bar aesthetic of BMW’s M models. At this point I’d like to let you know that the other Alpina pre-requisite, suspension beautifully tuned for road use, is also present and correct. In this case, though, the racetrack might be just the place. Alpina has tweaked the chassis for all three GT models (B3 saloon and estate, and B4 coupé) with stiffer damper mounts, a reinforced bulkhead for more precise steering, recalibrated

spring rates and a thicker anti-roll bar. The B4 coupé goes the extra mile with further beefed-up anti-roll bars and a revised set-up for the steering, limited-slip diff, four-wheel drive system and dampers. There’s even a bespoke tyre, developed with Pirelli. It’s certainly the most focused Alpina of recent times, which is nothing short of miraculous given the 1875-1975kg weight across the three variants. Turn-in is noticeably sharper, and the chassis tweaks really can be felt in the sharper sections of the Sachsenring. It feels utterly composed… well, until I turn

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off all the traction and stability controls. I can only apologise to the Pirelli engineers. Is the B3/B4 GT a direct rival to the M3? No, not really – it’s not got the same manic energy as BMW’s in-house flagship. That will be a disincentive to some but, if you’re weighing up an M3 Touring against a B3 Touring, the M3’s all-action approach will be less pleasing when you’re driving for practical puposes, as befits such a car on occasion. Arguably the B3/B4 GT is more of a rival to the outgoing Audi RS6 and the Mercedes-AMG C63. The former is heading off sale and has a certain image that’s the antithesis of an Alpina, and the Merc may have roughly the same power and torque of two E46 M3s combined, but it also has only four cylinders (albeit with a hybrid motor). This leaves a clear niche for Alpina to keep to itself – imperious torque in deep luxury – only, this time, the B3/B4 has got the cornering chops to keep the M3 on its toes. The B3 GT costs £89,300 for the saloon, or £90,400 for the Touring. The B4 GT four-door coupé costs £91,400.

Main image and below Alpina’s swansong for the 3-Series comes in three bodystyles, seen here in B4 GT Coupé form; all offer 522bhp from a twin-turbo straight-six.

Change for the good Kia EV3 Matthew Hayward IT’S BEEN A WHILE since a mainstream new car piqued my interest. As someone who not only got excited about the latest Aston or Lamborghini as a youngster, but also the next-generation Golf and Fiesta, I find it sad that the rapid-fire stream of generic SUVs has become tiresome. Then comes the Kia EV3. Not only an SUV-a-like but an electric one. Only it’s a sharp-looking thing, and the noises coming from Kia about its intended impact on the market are pretty punchy. I reckon the EV3 has the makings of a Skoda Yeti or Citroën C4 Cactus as a practical, under-the-radar enthusiast choice of the modern era. First impressions are important, and the EV3 feels and looks well-thought-out and stylish. Its interior comprises an interesting choice of fabrics and plastics; the centre armrest is finished with a slab of something reminiscent of a high-end kitchen. The compromise between touchscreen and physical buttons is spot-on too, with the all-important air-con and heated seats accessed via physical buttons. Yup, can’t believe that’s become a thing we might mention these days. Thankfully there’s a lot to like about the way the EV3 drives, too. The steering is nicely weighted, the pedals are perfectly calibrated; even more impressive is the centre pedal feel, which seamlessly blends regenerative braking. It’s plenty quick enough for a family car, but more importantly the ride-and-handling balance seems nicely biased towards comfort. The basic Air model comes with a decent level of kit and a 270-mile range for £32,995. Although Kia reckons the majority of buyers will opt for the high-spec bigger-battery GT Line, the sweet spot for me seems to be the long-range Air (£35,995), which promises a pretty useful 375-mile (WLTP) range. The world – especially people in our corner of it – remains polarised on the topic of EVs, but this car proves the game is changing very quickly. Range is impressive for the price, the driving experience is broadly enjoyable, and I can imagine the EV3 would be a brilliant thing to live with – assuming the whole charging infrastructure thing works for your particular circumstances.

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Overdrive Also tested

Left and bottom Europe is denied the latest Z-car, but our man thinks it would do well here – especially in top Nismo tune.

Generation Z 2024 Nissan Z Nismo Stephen Dobie RETRO STYLING IS all the rage. An inevitable reaction for an industry on the precipice of sweeping change, perhaps, but it’s something we remain cautious fans of. Resketching the past should always be done with a sympathetic hand. I think Nissan’s designers have nailed it. The latest Z, denied to European buyers but sold in the US, Australia and its Japanese homeland, is a truly arresting car up close. The cab-back stance of the original 240Z is smattered with design elements from more modern iterations, including a rear light strip that deftly updates

cues from the unmistakably ’90s 300ZX. Yet it avoids feeling wantonly nostalgic. In base trim, its 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 hooks up to a six-speed manual as standard to truly fulfil the ‘get ’em while you can’ vibe. Its optional nine-speed automatic is the only transmission fitted to this feistier Z Nismo, however. Power rises to 414bhp and 384lb ft, enough to shift its slightly portly 1680kg to 62mph in around 4.5sec – strong figures that feel potent in reality but circumvent the all-too-easily plundered novelty of electrified performance cars. Good.

While the experience might feel more cohesive with a hypothetical stick-shift, there are benefits to the shortly stacked ratios of this auto. Second gear redlines around 50mph, while third has a similar reach to second in a Cayman. If you’re going to really enjoy this engine, to wring out the potential of its relatively large capacity, its paddles are a useful way to do it. Even if they’re a millisecond or two away from truly satisfying the driver operating them. Their ever-so-slightly languid responses match a car that showcases a bit of softness and relaxation in its overall driving

experience, though. Nismo sells 80% of its cars in Japan and the strength of a Nismo upgrade varies wildly between modestly uprated people-carriers and the ballistic, carbonfibre-rich R35 GT-R. The Z sits at the more assertive end of the spectrum, but its engineers have allowed some welcome lean into corners. That means there’s interaction to be had at modest speeds and a rich seam of communication despite its overly light steering. Tighter turns bring its frontengine, rear-drive balance nicely to the fore and this Z proves to be a car that richly rewards the confidence and commitment you’ll build over time. The interior is more of a mixed bag. Its natty configurable digital dials jar a little alongside a row of analogue dials for turbo speed and boost read-outs (plus battery voltage…), while the reversing camera isn’t much cop and a manual handbrake looks plain odd beside a glossy gear-selection lozenge. Ergonomics aren’t its strong suit, then, but character most certainly is. Priced at 9.2m yen in Japan and $65,000 in the US, it converts to a smidge below 50 grand at current exchange rates. You’d expect that to swell if Nissan ever plucks up the courage to officially import some over, but either way we’d welcome another competitor in a dwindling market. Especially one designed so smartly.

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Pendine is proud to offer…

1966 JAGUAR E-TYPE

An original Home Market, matching numbers Coupe. Fully restored with upgraded suspension, brakes, Borrani wire wheels. Finished in Gunmetal over black, it has just had an extensive service by a marque specialist and is ready for long distance touring £99,500

Located at

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

Gone but not forgotten Words by Richard Heseltine

Left Monteverdi explains the finer points of his Hai 450SS to (be-hatted) journalist John Bolster.

Peter Monteverdi Remembering Switzerland’s own Mr Supercar – and F1 entrant HE WASN’T A MAN who went along to get along. He didn’t always play well with others, but Peter Monteverdi usually got results. He was one of many entrepreneurs attracted to the ‘boutique’ sector of the motor industry. The difference here is that the Swiss made money building cars. Like the man himself, Monteverdi cars had many key attributes, style and glamour among them. It didn’t matter a jot that, say, the Monteverdi Sierra convertible was a reconfigured Plymouth Volare. Of greater importance was that it looked expensive. Style really was the substance. You could never accuse Monteverdi of lacking get-up-and-go. An only child, he was born in Binningen, a suburb of Basel on the Franco-Swiss border, on 17 June 1934. His father Rosolino operated a garage business, specialising in lorry repairs, which fired young Peter’s interest. This curiosity led him into a four-year after-school apprenticeship at the Saurer truck factory while in his mid-teens, but commercial vehicles were a means to an end. Monteverdi built his first car, a Fiat 1100-based special, when he was just 17. When Rosolino died in 1956, Monteverdi inherited the family business at 14 Oberwilerstrasse, Basel – but lorries held little interest. He soon diversified, projects including the first-ever Swiss Formula 1 car.

While this Porsche RSK-powered device never started a World Championship Grand Prix, it served to persuade Monteverdi that his talents lay elsewhere: Monteverdi wrote the car off in terrifying style at Hockenheim in 1961. On recovering from his injuries, he hung up his helmet and tended to his Lancia and BMW franchises. Nevertheless, the desire to build cars never went away. Monteverdi had done well enough in business to afford his first Ferrari in 1954, but his 12 years as Switzerland’s marque agent hit the buffers when Enzo Ferrari insisted he buy multiple cars up-front. Suitably riled, he chose to ‘do a Lamborghini’ and create his own brand of exotica. Two years in the making, the resultant Monteverdi 375S was unveiled at the 1967 Frankfurt motor show. It cost five times as much as a Jaguar E-type, but this was a mere warm-up act. The UK concessionaire Paul Michaels recalls: ‘I know people say he had a bad temper but I never saw that. He was always jovial and straightforward to deal with, although I suppose we never got to test the longevity of our relationship. This is only my theory, but I think Peter was a bit of a daydreamer. The motor industry attracts people who want to make their own cars but aren’t interested in all the boring day-to-day

stuff that goes with it. From our side, it was an interesting experiment, but the early 1970s wasn’t the right time to be trying to sell that type of car, especially after the fuel crisis.’ Monteverdi wasn’t alone in suffering the after-effects of the Oil Shock but he astutely took his show elsewhere. If he couldn’t sell decadent gas-guzzlers close to home, he would instead target countries where the cost of petrol was of no consequence. The Middle East swiftly became his prime market, but Monteverdi’s master-stroke was to adapt proprietary fodder rather than creating his own cars from scratch. His Safari off-roader, for example, was a beautified International Harvester Scout, although the marque was effectively dormant by the mid-1980s. Having shunned motor racing since his crash at Hockenheim, Monteverdi unexpectedly became a Formula 1 entrant in 1990 after securing the majority stake in Onyx Grand Prix. This British team had punched above its weight for much of the previous season only to become mired in politics and backstabbing. Into the breach stepped Monteverdi, who led a buyout consortium and immediately set about shaking things up. His blunderbuss approach to manmanagement swiftly led to clashes with existing team members, the renamed Monteverdi Onyx operation folding amid much acrimony before the season was over. Team manager Mike Earle recalled in 2011: ‘At one point he wanted to get rid of us and run the car from his museum in Basel, using the staff to engineer it. The best story came about when the team was testing at Paul Ricard. JJ Lehto went out and complained that the car was understeering excessively. Monteverdi was having none of it. Still in his brogues and tweed jacket, he borrowed a helmet and went out for a drive. He lapped 3½ minutes slower than JJ, only to tell him quite categorically that there was no understeer. His real skill was in laying out a reason for doing something and then doing something diametrically opposed. He was an operator, basically.’ Monteverdi followed through and ushered in a new hypercar in 1992 – just as the global economy tanked. There would be no final hurrah as he died on 4 July 1998. He was 65. If his most recent flirtations with the automotive arena had been less than successful, they were relative blips in a career that was otherwise profitable. He created wealth-making cars, which is an achievement in itself. Monteverdi may have had his failings, but he left behind some bewitching baubles.

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Gearbox

Max Büsser Revolutionary watchmaker, founder of Maximilian Büsser & Friends

1. Scandinavian designer Finn Juhl had the mind-set of a sculptor, taking pride in making the structural elements of the furniture and the seated person look as if they were floating. Many pieces grace my office and my home. 2. In the 1960s Hans Nagel asked architect and artist Werner Stof to design a candle holder. It is considered a work of art. I have been buying a few vintage pieces here and there, and we now can enjoy creating a different ‘light sculpture’ whenever we feel like it! 3. I discovered Elke Vogelsang’s work at the Zurich Museum of Design and fell in love with this picture. I have always been a dog person.

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4. Ingo Maurer was a trailblazer. His Birdie’s Busch is a beautiful and whimsical floor lamp like something from a fairy tale. The main body is made of brass, and the ‘tree trunk’ base splits off into seven branches; the light can be changed to create different and patterns. Every child who enters our house is drawn to it. 5. Every decade I switch from one sneaker style to another. In the 2000s Converse, in the 2010s Onitsuka Tigers, since then Nike React Live.

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6. When I visited Frank Buchwald’s Berlin workshops in 2011, I was shocked to realise that he personally makes every part except the glass. At nearly 70 years old, he is still crafting ‘Machine lights’. The Nixie Machine uses ‘nixie bulbs’, ancestors of our digital displays invented by the Soviet Union during the Cold War, to give an amazing time display that becomes a stunning mechanical sculpture. 7. In the 1950s, Paul Dupré-Lafon created this beautiful rotating silver-plated brass cube with eight-day power reserve mechanical clock, barometer, manual calendar with date cylinder, thermometer and compass. It has been my desk companion for nearly two decades.

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8. The Sequential is a revolution in mechanical watchmaking by Northern Irish genius Stephen McDonnell. He resolved performance issues that plagued all chronographs for a century, and integrated on the same beautiful 586 hand-finished component movement four different chronographic functions, two of which had never been seen in a wristwatch. I’ve worn mine non-stop for two years. 9. Buckminster Fuller showed his revolutionary car at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1933, epitomising his goal to do more with less. This book tells the story of the three prototypes, as well as Sir Norman Foster’s 2010 replica. 10. I have cut virtually all sugar out of my life – except for Orfève chocolate. My friends François-Xavier Mousin and Caroline Buechler quit their jobs to create the most amazing chocolate factory, from bean to bar, in Geneva.

11. As an artisanal watchmaker I have always had a soft spot for artisanal cars, and I was possibly the only TVR Griffith driver in Switzerland for a decade. In 2011 I upgraded to my dream car: the Wiesmann MF4S. I love everything about it.

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NM&Co_Octane_Advert_Jan2025.pdf

16/01/2025

14:51

HAND PICKED FROM OUR CURRENT STOCK OF EXCEPTIONAL CARS

CMY

1953 Aston Martin DB2 £POA

1967 Aston Martin DB6 Volante

£POA

1988 V8 Vantage Volante ‘X-pack’

£350,000

Finished in Aston Martin Racing Green with Burgundy hide interior. Built and delivered in January 1953 and to Johan Bonnier, Swedish Media Industrialist before passing on, shortly

after, to his relative, former Swedish Formula 1 racing driver, Joakim (Jo) Bonnier. Supplied with Swedish title and available for viewing now, at our Hertfordshire showrooms.

Aston Martin DBZ Centenary Collection

£POA

1960 Aston Martin DB4 Series II

£425,000

£189,950

1987 Aston Martin V8 Eﬁ Volante

£175,000

1999 Aston Martin V8 Vantage V550

T: 0208 741 8822 info@nicholasmee.co.uk nicholasmee.co.uk Nicholas Mee & Co Ltd, Essendonbury Farm, Hatﬁeld Park Estate, Hertfordshire, AL9 6AF

Icon Words by Delwyn Mallett

Voigtländer Bessa This camera revolutionised travel photography, by being both highly portable and high in quality

AT 18.30 HOURS on 4 May 1945 at Lüneburg Heath, Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery accepted the unconditional surrender of the German forces in north-western Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark. This preceded by four days the final surrender ceremony in Berlin that officially ended World War Two in Europe. Germany’s defeat had been a forgone conclusion for many months and in early February the Allied leaders convened at the Russian resort of Yalta to divvy up the country into Zones of Occupation to be administered by the United States, Great Britain, the USSR and – grudgingly – France. The Russians set about dismantling the infrastructure of the Eastern zone they commanded and shipping it back to the motherland, while the Americans were primarily concerned with pinching the best scientists. The British concentrated on getting the bombed-out and starving population back on its feet, and Montgomery – or Monty, as he was known – was appointed commander-in-chief of the British Forces of Occupation. He ‘set about winning the peace’, embarking on a tour of the British Zone to assess the viability of what remained of its industry. One of the many factories he visited was that of Voigtländer, where he was presented with a Bessa camera bearing a brass plate inscribed with a facsimile of his signature screwed to the back and another on its leather case. That’s it, pictured above. The Voigtländer factory was situated in Braunschweig, a mere 20 miles or so from the border with the Russian zone, and, as it turned out, this more-or-less arbitrary demarcation line was the saviour of the company’s assets. Zeiss Ikon, then the world’s largest producer of cameras and optics, had the misfortune to be situated in Jena in the Soviet-controlled zone, and an estimated 93% of the company’s machinery and equipment was

shipped to factories in Russia as reparations. Dresden’s Exakta, maker of the first successful 35mm Single Lens Reflex, suffered a similar fate. Johann Christoph Voigtländer founded his eponymous company in Vienna in 1756, making precision mathematical instruments. He died in 1797 and his widow, three sons, daughter and grandchildren continued running the company, eventually relocating to Braunschweig, Lower Saxony. In 1839 Louis Daguerre presented to the French Academy of Science his new high-resolution photographic process, the Daguerreotype. Daguerre’s camera was a relatively simple device, little more than a wooden box with a lens on the front, but Voigtländer was quick off the mark to cater for the new process, producing the world’s first all-metal camera in 1840. The No. 84 Voigtländer Ganzmetallkamera, quite unlike any other camera of the day, was a rather beautiful and high-tech brass-bodied device resembling an airship moored on a brass column. It featured a Petzval portrait lens with an aperture of f/3.6, another innovation from the company, and by far the fastest lens of its day. In 1889 George Eastman invented roll film on a transparent base and, liberated from the dictates of cumbersome glass plates, there was an explosion in lightweight film cameras from manufacturers both large and small, aimed at amateur photographers. Significant among the many types was the so-called ‘vest pocket’ collapsible folding camera introduced by Eastman Kodak in 1897. When pulled from the body, the lens board was locked into position by struts and before long the spring-loaded self-erecting mechanism arrived, allowing the lens to spring into position at the press of a button as if by magic. By the 1920s Voigtländer had grown into one of the world’s most important optical technology companies and a leading camera manufacturer. The self-erecting Bessa range was introduced in 1929, taking eight 6x9cm images on standard 120 film or 16 4.5x6cm images if the supplied mask insert was used. The first model had a ‘look down’ waist-level finder, quickly followed by a version with a folding eye-level finder. In 1935 the top-of-the-range RF model arrived, featuring a coupled rangefinder to aid focusing, along with three new fast f/3.5 lenses – Helomar, Skopar and Heliar – and a Compur-Rapid shutter with speeds up to 1/400sec. Ingeniously, as the camera unfolded, a small shutter release lever extended from the ‘door’. Monty’s camera is, needless to say, the most expensive Heliar version. The Bessa, in a variety of versions and lens shutter combinations, was produced from 1929 to 1956 and became Voigtländer’s biggest seller by far. Perhaps Monty wasn’t a great photography fan – unless, being a notoriously vain self-publicist, the photographs were of him – as the camera appears to have seen little use. This could have been because he also owned a Rolleiflex, a much less fiddly device to use. Monty ended his days in Isington, Hampshire, close to Farnham, Surrey, and it was to a photographic dealer in Farnham that he subsequently took his Bessa. Many years later it was offered back to his family but they were not interested. Eventually the camera was auctioned and ended up in the hands of the late Alan Smith, a serial Porsche and Ferrari owner and a great admirer of Montgomery. In 1982 Voigtländer was declared bankrupt, a victim (along with much of the German camera industry) of the ascendance of Japanese cameras. The name was resurrected by Japanese company Cosina in 1999, but once again camera production ceased in 2015.

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1948 Maserati 4CLT - The ex- Reg Parnell, Richmond Trophy and Goodwood Trophy winning The ex-Reg Parnell, Richmond Trophy and Goodwood Trophy winning Maserati 4CLT/48 1.5 litre supercharged, 260 HP, Grand Prix monoposto Chassis #1596 – Engine #1593. Engine: in-line four-cylinder, 1489cc, two overhead camshafts, four valves per cylinder, two-stage Roots supercharger, 260 hp at 7,000 rpm; transmission: four-speed gearbox. Parnell contested much of the 1949 racing season in this car, and other Goodwood successes were to follow, including the Richmond Trophy race. The Richmond Trophy was again won by Parnell in April 1950. At the end of an active European racing career, the car was sold to New Zealand. End of the 80‘s the 4CLT came back to Europe. After the change of ownership in June 1999, the ex- Parnell Maserati 4CLT has been reworked ready to run. POA

1952 Talbot T26 GS This is the last of a total of six two-seater Talbot racing cars with a Talbot engine and left the factory in 1952. The racing car was built on a Lago Grand Sport chassis shortened by 30 cm with a wheelbase of 2.50 meters. In accordance with the regulations in force at the time, it was bodied as a two-seater sports car. Another special feature is the gear selector directly on the Wilson box and not on the steering wheel. The car only took part in two races in 1952 before it went into the factory storage. It was entered at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (June 14-15, 1952) with starting number 9 and drivers Meyrat/Mairesse, but unfortunately had to retire after 13 hours of racing due to a defective oil pump. He had better luck at the GP of Reims two weeks later (June 29, 1952), where he finished second with Guy Mairesse at the wheel. In 1953, it was sold to Sweden, where it remained until it was resold to England in 1971. It was then sold to the USA in 1983, went to Japan in 1986 and returned to Europe in 1990. In 1991 it was bought by Nicolas Seydoux and became part of the Charboneaux Collection in 1992. In 1993, it was finally purchased by a Swiss collector who had it fully restored. The car remained in the collection for 31 years. Today, the car is in the “with fenders” configuration and no longer has the original two-seater racing bodywork from that era. The vehicle has a Swiss vehicle registration certificate and is eligible to compete in numerous historic events POA

Graber Sportgarage AG 20250114_Octane_FP_GB.indd 1

3125 Toffen / Switzerland

ch.traber@grabersportgarage.ch 14.01.25 19:26

Chrono by Mark McArthur-Christie

A moment of Monaco clarity Big shock as sale is awash with commonsense prices… even for a McQueen Heuer IT WAS A FRIDAY evening in the UK but ten o’clock in the morning in New York and Sotheby’s was busy selling Heuers. Lots of Heuers. Everything from a wonderful LCD Chronosplit to a rare Monaco ‘Dark Lord’ ref. 74033N (silly name – lovely watch). The feverishly awaited headline watch was a Heuer Monaco worn by Steve McQueen on the set of Harry Kleiner’s Le Mans in early 1970. If you’d asked me before the sale about the $500,000 to $1m estimate, I’d have called it miserably – or, more likely, enticingly – low. After all, in 2020, the Monaco that McQueen gave Haig Alltounian, his mechanic, fetched $2,208,000. And we know from Aurel Bacs’ sale of Paul Newman’s Rolex Daytona for near-as-dammit $18m in 2017 that watches with a racing pedigree make proper money. I’d have been wrong, though. After an initial blitz of bids that lasted mere seconds to escalate from $500,000 to $1m, the paddles stayed stubbornly down, the screens blank and phones quiet. Auctioneer Jonny Fowle (a familiar name if you’re a whisky lover) certainly earned his fee as he dragged it inch by painful inch to a final $1.2m. OK, that’s far from pocket change, but it’s not big money for one of the most pictured movie watches of the last century. It wasn’t the only surprise. That Dark Lord had an estimate of between $30,000 and $60,000 and was hammered down at just $30,000 (£23,500) before the buyer’s premium. In 2017, another Dark Lord from the same year sold for just short of £47,000. In May 2023, Sotheby’s Geneva sold a gorgeous 1975 example for £56,700. This is not to say that the market’s crashed. Far from it. Interesting things will still find a home. For example, a gold 1158CHN Carrera went for $72,000 and that Chronosplit – a watch you’d have struggled to give away to the nice ladies in the Cats Protection League charity shop as recently as ten years ago – went for $25,000. However, it may mark a return to sanity and the eschewing of hype. Plague saw watch prices – and demand – go loopy as people were trapped at home with nothing to do except peer at the wallpaper, grind through tedious Zoom quizzes and watch Joe Wicks jump up and down. Hardly surprising when, for many, salaries carried on dropping

into bank accounts as living expenses plummeted, simply because they had nowhere to go to spend them. And remember the Omega Moonswatch launch? That hit the peak of Watch Fever in March 2022, when the police had to be called to control queues of flippers outside dealers waiting to snag a watch they could eBay for huge multiples of the ticket price. If you’re a collector, rather than a flipper who filled their Balenciaga Triple-S with £160,000 Nautiluses (or £1500 Moonswatches) at the peak, you’ll be delighted. The top end of the market will always be an investment class with prices to match (the same Sotheby’s auction saw a factory-sealed Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711, made for and sold by Tiffany & Co, set a new world record at $825,500) but the post-plague rising tide wasn’t just lifting all watches, it was chucking them halfway up the beach and handing them a cocktail. Young collectors were priced out, with even minor-league makers’ prices going nuts. Perhaps this is a sign that we can get back to just enjoying watches now and not regarding them as holy relics. Who knows? At this rate you might be able to walk into a Rolex dealer and actually buy a watch.

ONE TO WATCH

Heuer Chronosplit Reference 102.703 Good enough for the quiet American, good enough for us

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NOT EVERYONE CAN own an ex-Phil Hill, Ferrari-branded Heuer Chronosplit like the one on the left, but even the basic Chronosplit deserves more attention. It was like something from outer space when Heuer launched it in 1975. BL was still eight years away from producing a Maestro that talked to you (‘Have the washer fluid topped up’ – as if one had A Man at one’s disposal for the very task) yet here was a watch with a double quartz movement chrono digital display. If you’re going to try for a piece of early quartz history, the one caveat is ‘check everything works’.

15/01/2025 19:57

Books Reviewed by Mark Dixon

Alpine French Speed & Spirit RUSSELL HAYES, Palawan Press, £400 standard edition, £1000-1500 leather edition

In all the hoo-hah since the revitalisation of the Alpine marque with the new A110 in 2017, it’s been largely forgotten that it was originally a joint project with British sports car maker Caterham. The idea was that each company would offer its own version of the car: Alpine’s was codenamed AS1 and Caterham’s was C120, the latter intended to make inroads into the profitable Asian market and built as a hatchback rather than as a booted coupé like the Alpine. A further British connection was the use of nine Lotus Exige-based test mules for the early Alpine prototypes. As we now know, despite getting quite far along the development track, Caterham’s involvement ceased well before the A110 was launched. It’s a fascinating story, told in detail in this massive, near-500-page tome – but it’s just a tiny fraction of the entire history of Alpine recounted here.

While there have been numerous French-language books published about Alpine, this is the first properly comprehensive work in English. Palawan Press has done its usual immaculate job, with the aid of uber-cool designer (and Octane contributor) Julian Balme. Only 500 of the standard slipcased edition will be printed, plus 50 of the leather-bound version. The first 25 people to buy the latter will pay £1000; late-comers for the remaining 25 will have to stump up £1500. Aside from its exceptional design, this is a conventionally laid-out volume. It starts with a brief introduction to Alpine founder Jean Rédélé before taking you on a chronological tour through the marque’s road and racing models, from the very first hotted-up Renault 4CVs through to the latest A290 electric city car. It’s a remarkably long list and author Russell Hayes valiantly attempts to include every possible Alpine-related model – you will read about the stillborn mid-engined W71 coupé of the early 1990s, which got as far as a running prototype that covered 20,000km of testing before Renault canned it – but you will still be left wanting more. For example, it would be interesting to know whether any of the late-1960s Bulgarian-built A110s, which get a brief mention, survive today. This is far from a stuffy history, however, and includes some great personal anecdotes – such as car designer Peter Stevens recalling how he found the ideal tail-lights for his M100 Lotus Elan: ‘There was a TV show called Howard’s Way and this fellow had a GTA. I was watching this one evening and I thought “Cor, I think those lights might work in the back of the Elan.”’ The rest, as they say, is history. Peppered with a fabulous collection of period images, many of them in colour – no padding with modern-day ‘happy snaps’ here – this book is sure to become a treasured possession for its lucky purchasers, long after the price is forgotten.

142

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15/01/2025 18:03

Autocade Year of Cars 2025

Victory Driven

MG Midgets in Detail

Do you know your Hongqi from your Fangchengbao? How about Luxeed, Nio or Voyah? No? Then you need this brilliant yearbook about the current global car market (they are all Chinese EVs, if you hadn’t guessed). Now in its second year, a spin-off from the autocade website, it’s a proper old-school anthology that takes an eclectic look at all things car-related – which this time includes a feature on Marcello Gandini, one on the evolution of the Ford Capri, and much more. Very professionally produced, good value and totally absorbing.

Cadillac’s V-series (‘V’ for Victory) performance cars debuted in the early 2000s as the company tried to rejuvenate its image by taking on the ‘hot’ sedans offered by BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz. This 392-page hardback champions what the author calls ‘some of the greatest American automobiles ever produced’. Intensely patriotic, it includes an unsettling amount of military flag-waving, but it’s a solid piece of work on an important piece of Cadillac history that largely passed Europe by.

Not to be confused with the MG sports cars of the 1960s and ’70s, the Midgets covered here are the pre- and early-post-war types, from 1929 M-Type to 1953 TF. And covered very handsomely they are, too: this hardback is packed with period and more-recent images, telling you everything you could possibly want to know about MG’s ‘sports car for the people’. Period ads, competition, record-breaking – it’s all here, with in-depth text from an MG expert who bought his first Midget back in 1962.

ANDREW NUSSBAUM, Dalton Watson, £95.70, ISBN 978 1 956309 17 1

MALCOLM GREEN, Herridge & Sons, £45, ISBN 978 1 914929 11 3

autocade.net, £24.99, ISBN 977 3 02115 900 2

Happy Lucky Days

The Ferrari Bloodline Most books about exotic cars are written by authors who are often extremely knowledgeable but have never owned the cars in question. This is the exception: Karim Said owns the examples of Ferrari 288GTO, F40, F50 and Enzo featured here, his personal ‘Big Four’ (actually, he owns two F50s and two Enzos, but who’s counting?). It’s quickly apparent that he’s a total petrolhead who has always thoroughly enjoyed his cars; in his younger days he would make long European road trips in the F40 and, if he couldn’t find a hotel with secure parking, he’d sleep in it overnight. He didn’t own a house at the time and had to keep the F40 in a rented lock-up garage near his digs. These days, older and wiser, Said has devoted his energies to making his Ferraris as original and perfect as possible, and this coffee-table, slipcased hardback (produced in association with DK Engineering, which maintains his cars) is full of fascinating insights into what makes the ultimate example of each, including (for example) practical info on how degraded soft-touch interior plastics can be restored, and the numerous accessories offered with each model – the F50 was the most ‘accessorised’ Ferrari ever. Contributions from journalists Gavin Green and Jason Barlow, and supercar dealer par excellence Tom Hartley Jnr, add professional gravitas to Said’s personal and often amusing anecdotes. With stunning photography and bold design, this is not an inexpensive book, but for any serious Ferrari collector it should be regarded as essential. KARIM SAID, £395, theferraribloodline.com, ISBN 978 1 3999 7591 9

If you were to sum-up racing driver Bob Evans’ career, it would be fair to say ‘right place, wrong time’. This talented wheelman, who was Formula 5000 European champion in 1974 – finishing ahead of ‘names’ such as Peter Gethin, David Hobbs and Brian Redman – had a season in F1 with BRM, and a solitary F1 race with Lotus, but with little success, for reasons beyond his control. His opinions about ‘Big Lou’ Stanley at BRM and Colin Chapman are trenchant and he doesn’t hold back from saying what he really thought of Robin Hamilton, whose Aston Martin Nimrod he raced at Le Mans. But if all that makes him sound like a curmudgeon, far from it: Evans proves an affable and entertaining companion who very much came up through the ranks the hard way. Indeed, his stories of living in ‘Swinging London’ while starting out in Formula Ford, then F3, with no money but boundless confidence are among the most engaging in this handsome large-format softback. Strongly recommended. BOB EVANS, BHP Publishing, £32, 978 1 7385085 0 1 143

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15/01/2025 18:03

Gear Compiled by Chris Bietzk

Porsche x Head 106 Series ski It’s good to be the boss: over the past couple of years, Porsche’s head of design, Michael Mauer, has occasionally been bunking off to ski with brand ambassador Aksel Lund Svindal, the former Olympic downhill and Super-G champion. On one trip the two men started kicking around ideas for a new freeride ski, and with the help of the team at Head the pair have made their concept a reality. The 106 Series makes extensive use of rattan and flax – natural and sustainable materials not tried by Head before – but these are allied to high-tech graphene in a ski that is at once lightweight and stable. £1470. shop.porsche.com

Nodus Duality II It uses the same Miyota 9015 movement as the original Duality diver, but this is not the perfunctory update you might suspect. The Duality II is 1.6mm thinner than its predecessor; the old sandwich dial is gone, replaced by one with polished, applied indices; and the bracelet, with chamfered edges and a proprietary adjustable clasp, is new, too.

$800. noduswatches.com

Racing Lotus Cortinas by Steve Goodwin This super little linocut was our favourite of the artworks displayed at the most recent Ford Vehicle Enthusiasts’ Day at Ford HQ. Artist Steve Goodwin has hand-printed just 11 more like it, so don’t be slow off the line if you’d like one.

£90. inkycrow.art 144

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15/01/2025 21:56

Quad 33 pre-amp and matching 303 power amp The original 33 pre-amp was a landmark bit of hi-fi kit that sold by the truckload, won a Design Council award and went on to be displayed in the New York Museum of Modern Art – and yet the team at Cambridgeshire-based manufacturer Quad has managed to improve upon it. It took them a mere 57 years…

£1199 each. quad-hifi.co.uk

1:18-scale Ferrari F1-89 model by Amalgam A perfect likeness of one of F1’s most interesting cars. The F1-89 was designed by John Barnard, who to the annoyance of some at Ferrari turned out to be an early proponent of remote working and based himself in Blighty. Despite being the brainchild of a Brit, the car was stereotypically Italian: beautiful, fast… and temperamental. Its innovative semi-automatic gearbox was unreliable, but the car took a podium place in all nine of the races it managed to finish in 1989.

£985. amalgamcollection.com

Hermès Ric et Rac hood ornament In the 1930s Ric and Rac became beloved A-listers in France, despite Ric’s penchant for looking up skirts and peeping through keyholes. Heaps of merchandise featuring the cartoon dogs were produced, including this now very rare hood ornament, made for Hermès.

$6000. La Tropical de Luxe via 1stdibs.com 145

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15/01/2025 21:56

Gear

Swatch New Gent ‘From the Archive’ Back in 1986 Swatch created four watches in collaboration with influential pop artist Keith Haring, the most famous of which is the ‘Modèle Avec Personnages’, featuring a dozen of Haring’s signature faceless figures in red and blue. Haring’s original, monochrome concept drawing for the ‘Modèle…’ watch disappeared into the archive at Swatch HQ, but it has now been exhumed and reproduced exactly on this new, 41mm piece, which has a dial that is coloured and textured to resemble sketchpad paper. £96. swatch.com

Scalextric weathered 1995 Subaru Impreza 555 The latest of Scalextric’s fun ‘race-weathered’ cars is a model of the Subaru crewed by Carlos Sainz and co-driver Luis Moya during the 1995 World Rally Championship season. The Impreza 555 very nearly carried Sainz to his third WRC drivers’ title, but the Spaniard was memorably pipped at the post by his hard-charging teammate, Colin McRae.

£56.99. scalextric.com

Gridlock puzzle by Candylab The traditional traffic-jam game (the player places vehicles on the board per the instructions on a card, then moves them forwards or backwards in the correct sequence to clear a path to the exit) has been scaled up to accommodate Candylab’s collectable wooden toys. This starter pack comes with four cars, two buses and a laundry van, which can be used to play 20 different puzzles.

$135. candylabtoys.com 146

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15/01/2025 21:56

A C

H E R I T A G E

1963 AC MA-200 Prototype Unique factory prototype, used daily by AC’s managing director between 1963-68. It has a 289 Ford V8, fully independent AC design. Completely restored and Amelia Island concours d’Elegance class win in 2010. Significant history file, with various magazine features and factory drawings. POA

1964 AC COBRA 289 Fully matching numbers, recent cosmetic restoration by AC Heritage. Extensive hillclimb history by Paul Channon. Continuous history from new. One of the finest examples of the marque. POA

2000 AC Cobra CRS 212SC Two owners from new, 4500 miles from new. 1 of 2 AC Cobras fitted with a Lotus twin turbo V8. It also includes all-weather gear, a spare wheels, a toolkit and a tonneau cover. £89,995

1957 AC ACECA The only Triumph engined AC Aceca from the factory, single ownership since 1971. Restoration featured on the car SOS television show. Engine rebuilt by TRGB. £55,000

1990 AC Cobra MKIV Lightweight It was ordered by Drambuie Liqueur Company in the corporate colours, 16,300 miles from new. Retains full factory specification. One of the finest examples of the AC MKIV Lightweight available. £199,995

AC HERITAGE

For more information about any of these vehicles, please contact our sales team. AC Heritage · International Broker of Historic & Classic Motorcars · Brooklands Motor Circuit, Surrey, UK Telephone +44(0)1932 828545 · Mobile +44(0)7557 878123 · www.acheritage.com

Gear

Beeline Moto II The original Beeline Moto was designed to offer basic sat-nav functionality without spoiling the look of your motorcycle, and did just that – but some riders found it too limited a device to be practical. This updated version is still pleasingly compact (it’s just 53mm across and 20.5mm thick), but it has a much bigger and brighter screen than the first-generation Moto, and it offers more sophisticated mapping, too.

£179 with plastic case; £199 with metal case beeline.co

Vintage ‘Guinness time’ poster We’ve expressed our affection for John Gilroy’s Guinness adverts in these pages before, but we’ll do so again as we approach the 90th birthday of the famous Guinness toucan, first drawn in mid-1935 and the star of this restored, 5ft-tall poster from 1953. £1950. antikbar.co.uk

Rush 4K Blu-ray

A 1:43-scale, resincast model of the ‘Thousand Nails’ – a Miura P400 S that was extensively modified to resemble the one-off Miura Jota after the latter was destroyed in 1971.

Ron Howard’s retelling of the rivalry between James Hunt and Niki Lauda gets a 4K release for the first time. You won’t find much in the way of new detail here; the original 2K source has simply been upsampled, and Rush was shot using characterful rather than clinical vintage lenses, anyway. But between the calibration of the colours (Howard intended them to evoke the look of old film stock) and a new Dolby Atmos audio mix, the movie has never looked or sounded better.

£112.95. grandprixmodels.com

$39.98. shoutfactory.com

Lamborghini Miura ‘Millechiodi’ model by Matrix

148

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16/01/2025 18:21

C HARLES P RINCE

Le Mans

Worldwide Collector Car Sales

1930 Bentley 4.5 Litre Supercharged Le Mans FS 3624

Blow the doors oﬀ any other car on the road with this superb well known blower. Now totally rebuilt to the highest standards this late 4.5 Litre with the correct spec chassis and heavy crank engine has been a familiar sight at many serious competitive events over many years

1924 Bentley 3 Litre Speed Model Rare original 2 seater. Full history

1935 Bentley 3.5/4.25 Litre Continental DHC by Oxborow and Fuller. Full history

We are always eager to buy important collectors cars. All cars can be seen tried and tested at Quin Hay Farm Petersﬁeld Hampshire GU321BZ or in central London. Please see our website for full stock photos videos and details. Valuations always available.

Int T 0044 (0) 79 85 98 80 70 sales@charlesprinceclassiccars.com charlesprinceclassiccars.com

2025-01-13_Octane_March-25_converted.indd 1

13/01/2025 14:51

Special offers At scparts.co.uk, you will find the new brochure with an order function: Click and order - Click and go! www.scparts.co.uk/special-offers24

Duty-Free EU Delivery

40 years of experience SC Parts has been the first port of call in the country for 40 years when it comes to sourcing spare parts for classic British vehicles.

Did you know: SC Parts Group is also registered in the EU. We ship all European orders from our European warehouse. No fuss, no hassle, no extra fees, straight to your door Jaguar

Jaguar

Brand MG

Austin Healey Mini Triumph

Jaguar

Land Rover Range Rover Fiat

Special offers

Jaguar

Modell MG T-type New MGA Roadster and Coupé MGB MGF and MGTF BN1 - BJ8 Sprite and MG Midget Classic TR2 - TR4A TR5, TR250 and TR6 Spitfire MK3, MK4, 1500 Mark II 'E' type series I, II 'E' type V12 series III XK120, 140 and 150 XJ6 / Daimler Sovereign XJ12 / Daimler Double Six X300 X308 XK8/XKR XJS New Series II, IIA and III 90, 110 and Defender Classic (1970-1996) 500 126 600 and Multipla 850

pages 392

Part no. 550907

for electric tachometer 489828 £775.00 for mechanical tachometer 493840 £775.00

Door handles chromed, supplied in pairs lock cylinders and keys included ▸ all E type, series 1/2/3

Oilfiller cap “Quick release” (replacing c1022)

£153.00

see page 25

580

251291

800 64 600

297262 493833 348206

324

324658

740 600

292014 251458

Throttle linkage To operate the famous triple

219262

HD8's. Uses galvanized steel that offers

640

365084

excellent corrosion protection. 16 piece kit for LHD models

128

337278

1.050

540180

400

501832

700

503541

Gaskets

1008

337971

These supports are mounted under the door handle. The resistant material prevents the paint from being damaged when the handles are fitted. This protects the metal from corrosion. The underlays are very accurate

353211 497251 496830 493826 551469 505623

with lug for plug contact ▸ E type S1 and 2

4.2 S 1.5 and 2 with two Zenith Stromberg carburetors 480088 £24.00

▸ Mark II ▸ 420 and Daimler Sovereign 202383 £8.00

1.100

520410

— 3 —

Jaguar

▸ XK150 late ▸ XK150S ▸ Mark II

▸ 420 and Daimler Sovereign ▸ Mk10 3.8 and 4.2

▸ E type S1 and 2 ▸ E type 5.3 V12 S3 ▸ S-Type 3.4 and 3.8

▸ 420G ▸ Daimler Dart SP250 201223 £6.00

Fig. shows part no. 202217 Fig. shows part no. 20210

Adjustable jet conversion kit for one Stromberg CD carburetor. Originally fitted with fixed jets in their integrated float bowl, Stromberg CD have very limited adjustment from above through the dashpot. This design was introduced to prevent tampering with the emissions by way of mixture adjustment. Over the years the mechanical wear of the jet meant that the vehicle could no longer be tuned, resulting in less than perfect performance and fuel economy. This kit is easy to install as the adjustable jet is pressed into the carburettor body with no machining required. Fine tuning for the best performance can then be done via the adjuster on the end (using a screwdriver or a ½" wrench). This kit comes complete with high quality Viton O-ring seals. ▸ E type 4.2 Series 2 ▸ E type 5.3 V12 Series 3

1.200

349105

308 256

533762 541517

High quality aftermarket water pump complete with pulley ▸ E type 5.3 V12 S3 to engine no. 7S7784

▸ E type 4.2 S1 200295 £178.00

C39768 / GWP409 504808 £360.00

kit with a modern solid state switch, brass adapter plate, cork gasket and earth terminal. ▸ E type S1 and S2 512910

300

543436

300

543437

4.2 Series 1 and 1.5 Request now for free or browse online: www.SCParts.co.uk/Catalogues

Water pump

reproduction of the Lucas 14W type - with drive gear. 12 volt, two speed, round body ▸ XJ6 Series I, II and III £71.00 315472

▸ XK140, XK150 and XK150S ▸ Mk7 from engine no. B2917 ▸ Mk8 ▸ Mk9 to engine no. NC7000 ▸ Mark I 3.4 (1957-59) 336196 £137.00

Aluminum water pump

▸ Mark II 2.4, 240, 3.4, 340 and 3.8 ▸ E type 3.8 S 1 ▸ S-Type 3.4 and 3.8 ▸ Mk9 from engine no. NC7001 ▸ Mk10 3.8 to engine no. ZB2960 513157 £178.00

▸ Daimler 250 V8 Saloon 207489 £250.00

▸ E type 3.8 and 4.2 ▸ E type 3.8 and 4.2 ▸ XK150 ▸ Mk I / II / X ▸ DV8 ▸ XK150 ▸ Mk I / II / X 3.8 ▸ Daimler 250 V8

part no. price

with 1.3/4" piston - rear brakes (variant for square pads 8778)

202103

£109.00

full stainless steel version

500137

£178.00

with 2.1/8" piston - front brakes (variant for square pads 8777)

202217

£109.00

full stainless steel version

492493

£178.00

with 1.1/2" piston - rear brakes. (variant for square pads 8816)

202218

£109.00

full stainless steel version

500136

£178.00

RHD

206835

£546.00

LHD RHD LHD

206836 206837 206838

£451.00 £543.00 £543.00

Jaguar

Fig. shows part no. 201965

Brake master cylinder

Brake fluid reservoir

square type, with level sensor assembly ▸ E type 3.8 S1 from 1962 on: OTS from 877557 and 850556,

round type, with level sensor assembly ▸ E type 3.8 S1 to 1962 OTS to 850555 and 877556

FHC from 886283 and 560678 ▸ E type 4.2 Series 1 and 2 ▸ E type 5.3 V12 S3 ▸ Mk10 3.8 and 4.2 plus 420G 200867 £47.00

FHC to 860677 and 886282 ▸ S-type 3.4 and 3.8 209210 £47.00

Brackets

AP Lockheed ▸ E type 4.2 Series 1 and 2, V12 Series 3 ▸ 420 and Daimler Sovereign C26767

201396

£317.00

rear brakes, excellent reliable reproduction (upper cylinder) adjustable push rod C19968 ▸ E type 3.8 Series 1 ▸ Mk10 3.8

201397

£71.00

rear brakes, (lower cylinder) non adjustable push rod C19967 ▸ E type 3.8 Series 1 ▸ Mk10 3.8

201965

£72.00

8 pcs. set for ▸ Mk II ▸ DV8 ▸ S type ▸ 420 ▸ Daimler Sovereign 546740 £25.00

We also supply all individual parts for throttle linkages. Just ask us. — 2 —

Jaguar

3516

8.5 fl oz (250 ml) 17 fl oz (500 ml) 34 fl oz (1,000 ml)

£62.00

14905 12278 12279

— 5 —

Jaguar

— 6 —

Jaguar

Receiver dryer identification: flat connection, CAC1881 213147 £25.00

▸ XJ40 (XJ) 3.2 and 4.0 from VIN...629286 to 667828 481277 £342.00

identification: conical connection, CAC1622 £25.00 213783

£44.00

Jack bag 206863

£66.00

CBC2319 248199 £34.00

3.8 litres 3.8 litres extra thick

— 12 —

Jaguar

OEM timing chain tensioner

519915 200294 201557 519919 318873 209105 326927

£456.00 £223.00 £89.00 £489.00 £228.00 £79.00 £455.00

Most likely the last original AP Lockhead ones

ARP assembly lube ultra torque lubricant

thus the surface is additionally hardened high safety reserves

for assembling uprated screws and bolts, 1/4 oz 313546 £6.00

high grade 8470 chrome moly tensile strength of 190.000 psi

Transducer on gearbox, for electronic speedometer ▸ XJ12 S III with electronic speedometer ▸ XJS 5.3 V12, 3.6 213336 £135.00 ▸ XJ6 S III with electronic speedometer and automatic transmission 210396 £135.00

Off topic: 2 Original Borrani wire wheels (RW3265) Brand new, never used, perfectly balanced, mint condition ▸ Ferrari: 250 GT Boano (1955-58) ▸ 250 GT LWB TdF (1955-59) ▸ 250 GT California LWB (1957-60) ▸ 750 Monza (1954-55) 553311 One pair only, please inquire

4.2 litres engines with long studs and lifting brackets

479779

£299.00

4.2 litres engines, and late 3.4/3.8 with short studs and lifting brackets

479778

£299.00

Fig. shows part no. 503639

88.50 mm 90.5 mm 88.50 mm 93.50 mm + 0.5 mm

thickness 0.33" 0.68" 0.33" 0.61" 0.68"

Part no. 213729 486684 213728 318659 486606

price £123.00 £123.00 £123.00 £169.00 £141.00

0.61"

325398

£150.00

2.4 and 3.4 litres 2.4 and 3.4 litres, for high compression engines MLS 3.8 litres MLS 4.2 litres 4.2 litres, for high compression engines MLS V12 (not HE engines)

3.8 litres engines without lifting brackets

479777

£299.00

Set of cylinderhead nuts and washers

Jaguar

Dimensionally stable seal on sheet metal carrier with foamed-on sealing compound made of synthetic rubber material.

Part no. 504876 349172 553053 548121 549519 503639 503638 550705 550706

price £141.00 £173.00 £173.00 £141.00 £212.00 £109.00 £109.00 £109.00 £109.00

Jaguar

Engine gasket set

▸ Later E type 4.2 S1 plus all E type 4.2 S2 OTS and FHC supplied in set of 3 with fitting plates reproduction in stainless steel 213122 £62.00

without cylinder head gasket, oil filter housing gasket and crankshaft seals ▸ XK120, XK140 and XK150 ▸ Mark I ▸ Mark II ▸ E type 3.8 and 4.2 S 1, 4.2 S2 early ▸ Mk5 ▸ Mk7, Mk8 and Mk9 ▸ Mk10 ▸ 420G ▸ S-Type 3.4 and 3.8 ▸ 420 and Daimler Sovereign 533253 £153.00 ▸ E type 4.2 S2 from October 1968 ▸ XJ6 S I, II and III 533252 £153.00 — 16 —

Jaguar

210137

Control box

lightweight type with 12 volts and 110 amps. Replacement for the Butec unit. Mounting plates on RH side. Weight: 5.7 kg ▸ E type V12 S3 ▸ XJ6 S I USA and Canada models to 9/72 502021 £397.00

C31526 202219

▸ E type 4.2 S1 and 1.5 207106 £71.00

Jaguar

Tail light

Harmonic balancer

▸ E type 4.2 S1 and 1.5: 2+2 models for USA and Canada RH 210348 £255.00 LH 210349 £255.00

Cleanly manufactured, correct “shore grade”, finely balanced, with precise TDC marking. Made in Germany ▸ XK140 and XK150 ▸ E type 3.8 S 1 ▸ Mark I 3.4 ▸ Mark II 3.4, 3.8 and 340 ▸ Mk9 3.8 ▸ Mk10 3.8 ▸ S-Type 3.4 and 3.8 486930 £287.00

— 26 —

317596

Tachometer generator on inlet camshaft ▸ XK150 late ▸ Mark I late ▸ Mk10 and 420G ▸ Mark II ▸ E type 3.8 and 4.2 ▸ S-Type 3.4 and 3.8 ▸ Daimler 250 V8 Saloon C14996 26027 £181.00

200209

for three SU-HD8 type carburetors

210475

£342.00

services all four Zenith Stromberg 175CD carburetors ▸ E type 5.3 V12 S 3 ▸ XJ12 S I and II early

201227

£591.00

£117.00

299737

£272.00

328064

£272.00

▸ E type 3.8 S1, Mark II 3.4 (manual) ▸ Mark II 3.8,240 and 340 ▸ S-Type 3.4 and 3.8 (manual), ▸ Mk10 3.8, XJ6 2.8 SI and II (manual)

206226

£272.00

Expansion tank cooling system

▸ E type 4.2 S1 and S2

299738

£272.00

▸ E type V12 S 3 200443 £147.00

Jaguar

Iwis: uprated endless timing chains

Tappet adjusting shims

Pre-stretched to final working length, uprated double row endless chain Made in Germany

For all Jaguar XK and V12 engines 124-piece set from 0.085" to 0.115" (2.16 mm to 2.92 mm). Until the mid-90s, Jaguar offered shims up to 0.110" (2.79 mm). Later then 5 further thicknesses up to 0.1130" (2.87 mm). C2243/Z5 We have extended the range to a total of 10 oversizes up to 0.1150" (2.92 mm).

£137.00

Jaguar

complete with oil cooler connections. Replacement for the genuine filter head (comes without oilfilter) ▸ E type S1 and 2 ▸ XK150 ▸ Mark I ▸ Mark II ▸ S-Type 3.4 and 3.8 ▸ 420 and Daimler Sovereign ▸ Mk10 and 420G ▸ XJ6 S I and early S II 317908 £360.00

▸ XJ12 all S II, S III early ▸ XJS 5.3 V12 early relief type. 9 rows and 3/4" BSP unions, width 28" 215187 £226.00

Jaguar and Daimler spinners see page 64

▸ E type S3 V12 front 202588 £204.00 rear 212778 £297.00 — 28 —

— 28 —

£109.00

337156

£354.00

493623

£354.00

£56.00

— 18 —

— 19 —

Jaguar

Antenna for E type Unique feature is the chrome bezel and rubber seal specially made for the characteristic E type rear wing shape ▸ E type 4.2 S 2 and 5.3 V12 S 3

213148

Easy to install antennas, can be controlled by capable radio. The motor is separated from the antenna mast itself. Easier to install in smaller spaces, even on front fender.

electrical 496895 £178.00 mechanical 1835 £81.00

Genuine Jaguar oilfilter EBC9658 £25.00

Oil filler cap

— 23 —

— 24 —

Austin HealeyAustin Healey

Designed for Jaguar models from 1985 onwards, but fits all makes and models. (DAC4090) 212604 £105.00

— 25 —

Austin HealeyAustin Healey

— 26 —

— 27 —

Austin Healey

Triumph

New lever shock absorbers Superb reproduction of the armstrong leaver-arm shock absorbers Original no. front GSA111, SC1113 rear, LH 1B7448, SC1115 BN1 to BJ7, BJ8 to 26704 rear, RH 1B7445, SC1114 rear, LH GSA154, SC1117 BJ8 from 26705 rear, RH GSA153, SC1116

BN1 to BJ8

Part no. price 202023 £214.00 202024 202025 £177.00 15733 15732

minimal crowning

Overrider conversion Conversion kit complete with mounting material, works rally car version; replaces the rear bumper on BN1 to BJ8.

£383.00 £451.00

- Highest-quality stainless steel in impressive material thickness brought absolutely perfectly into shape. - True masterpieces. - Installed in many an award-winning concours restorations. - Highly polished to a mirror finish. £315.00 546173

These handmade silicone hoses

Harmonic balancer

won't perish, split or contaminate your cooling system in the way ageing rubber hoses can. Temperature range: -58°F (-50°C) to 338°F (+170°C)

An absolute “must” for every good engine overhaul! Optimised for use in competition vehicles. Effectively prevents the dangerous and wear-increasing torsional vibrations of the crankshaft. This damper was developed by our partner SC Parts Group in cooperation with the University of Southampton in elaborate series of measurements. BN4 to BJ8. BN1 and BN2 need in addition our narrow fan belt conversion kit part no. 321222 19942 £360.00

Set with 4 lines incl. heater hoses 205396 £89.00 Two piece set without heater hoses 205398 £44.00

Chrome, polished to a mirror finish 206428 £237.00

For Jaguar AJ6 engine and 6.0 V12 engine from engine no. 8C10463 120-piece set, supplied in a wooden box with shims from 0.085" to 0.1085" (2.16 mm to 2.76 mm). 522729 £363.00

front ▸ XK120 ▸ Mark V 208050 £274.00 ▸ E type S1 and S2 front 202358 £164.00 rear 202140 £210.00

356488

Engine oil cooler

quick release, polished aluminum. Monza style with 65 mm (2.1/2") diameter 329671 £133.00 — 23 —

precise surface roughness to bind the oil film. The dimensions are lasered in ultra-fine detail.

assortment box 508538 wooden box 490223

crankshaft front. Please note: timing cover modification required

▸ XK6 (3.4 and most 3.8) engines with groove crankshaft rear. This kit replaces in the rear recess of the oil sump both types of original crankshaft seals. During an engine overhaul these changes can be easily done ▸ XK6 4.2 engines with web while grinding the crankshaft in the rear recess of the oil sump

Designed for ▸ XJ6 S I and II ▸ XJ12 S I and II ▸ XJS to VIN...123279 including bezel 500856 for better mounting 214471 £114.00

Each shim is individually wrapped in corrosion protection paper. The shims come in a beautiful plywood box or a practical assortment box, depending on your taste.

Hydraulic chain tensioner uprated, with bracket assembly. Recommended for all hot street and race engines ▸ XK120 ▸ XK140 early ▸ MK7 353216 £205.00

▸ XK120, XK140 to engine no. G1907

Jaguar

▸ XJ12 S III, full-flow type. 9 rows and 1.5/16" x 12 TPI unions, width 28" 248293 £226.00

What looks quite simple at first glance is actually a small high-tech product. In addition to exact dimensioning, other demanding criteria have to be met: correct, sufficiently deep surface hardness with a tough core

▸ all XK type engines upper - with 100 links (C2256_IWIS) 207868 £95.00 lower - with 82 links (C2255_IWIS) 389233 £82.00 ▸ all Jaguar V12 engines upper and lower - with 180 links (C29590_IWIS) 203886 £135.00

£269.00

Electrical antenna

▸ E type 5.3 V12 S 3 late ▸ XJ12 S I, II, III ▸ XJS 5.3 V12 and 6.0 V12 ▸ XK120, XK140, XK150 (manual) ▸ Mk7, Mk8, Mk9

Koni shock absorber

Fig. shows part no. 201227

— 27 —

£292.00

Jaguar

13870

Spin on oil filter conversion

74 °C (165 °F) - Bellows type all “XK” engines 327981 £44.00

— 22 —

for timing cover - improved teflon version

Modern, reliable mechanical or electrical antenna for 6 and 12 cylinder XKEs

Thermostat

— 22 —

XK120, XK140 and XK150 ▸ Mark I ▸ Mark II ▸ E type S1 and 2 ▸ Mk5 ▸ Mk7, Mk8, Mk9 ▸ Mk10 ▸ 420G ▸ S-Type 3.4 and 3.8 ▸ 420 and Daimler Sovereign ▸ XJ6 S I and II plus 4.2 S III to engine no. 8L203237 ▸ Daimler DS420

▸ XK150 and XK150S ▸ Mk7, Mk8 and Mk9 209171 £81.00

Even more upgrade: for E type V12 series 3 with 12 volts, 150 amps and built in regulator. Straight swap “plug and play” upgrade for the original Butec unit. Weight: 7.75 kg 542844 £902.00

— 21 —

or competition harmonic balancer

services one SU-HD8 carburetor ▸ E type S 1 and 2 ▸ XK150S ▸ Mk10 3.8 and 4.2 ▸ 420G ▸ 420 and Daimler Sovereign ▸ XJ6 S I early

210136

337188

— 17 —

High performance starter motor

Jaguar

Rebuild kits for carburetors

£23.00

Coupling piece

Clutch slave cylinder

crankshaft rear. This kit replaces both types of original crankshaft seals. This kit can't be used for cars with automatic gearbox

Thermostat housing

Our modern reduction geared, high torque starter motor

Jaguar

Fig. shows part no. 200209

£81.00

For manual transmission only: ▸ XK120, XK140 and XK150 ▸ Mark I ▸ Mark II ▸ E type S1 and 2 ▸ Mk5 ▸ Mk7, Mk8, Mk9 ▸ Mk10 ▸ 420G ▸ S-Type 3.4 and 3.8 ▸ 420 and Daimler Sovereign ▸ XJ6 S I, II, III ▸ Daimler DS420

Choice of two

Drive dog

Alternator

Oil seal conversion kit

studs,

Automatic enrichment device for SU-HS8 and SU-HIF7 carburetors - new item ▸ XJ6 S I and II with SU-HS8 or HIF7 carburetors 528693 £866.00

£117.00

▸ E type 4.2 S1.5 and 2: 2+2 models supplied in set of 3 with fitting plates 214550 £117.00

— 15 —

XK type engines £126.00 551675

for main bearing caps all XK engines 479780 £244.00

Jaguar

▸ E type 3.8 S1 and early 4.2 S1 supplied in set of 3 with fitting plates reproduction in stainless steel

with solid rear section ▸ 6 cylindres to 1975 553615 £41.00 ▸ 6 cylindres from 1975 505134 £41.00

Fig. shows part no. 533253 — 14 —

V12 engines 506046 £898.00

— 20 —

Jaguar

Heater pipes

Alternator

— 19 —

(without screw) chromed 213830 £29.00

Rocker cover gaskets

bore size thickness 3.335" 0.59" 3.504" max. 0.04" 3.466" max. 0.12" 3.660" 0.59" 3.660" 0.051" RH 93 mm LH 0.59" RH 97 mm LH

Bore size: 101.5 mm + 0.5 mm, thickness: 1.45 mm (original number 069-006-0113) ▸ DB4 ▸ DB5 ▸ DB6 ▸ DBS six cylinder models 487835 £208.00

Set of studs and nuts

— 18 —

Knob

— 10 —

Can be used without silicone sealant or assembly paste. The seals do not settle: retightening to a specific torque is not necessary.

model: SN6332/00, range: 0-160 MP/H, turns: 1312, final ratio: 3.54:1 - new item 523605 £620.00

Composite cylinder head gasket for Aston Martin

— 13 —

Fig. shows part no. 479778

XK150 early Mk7, Mk8 and Mk9 522254 £163.00

All Nüral pistons come complete with Goetze Piston rings — 9 —

Ingeniously designed: Due to the sheet metal core, the dimensional stability and compressive strength are unrivaled. The seal itself is guaranteed by the best possible technical coating. With paper gaskets, the sealing paper has to absorb the pressure and provide the seal, which is obviously no longer suffi-

Speedometer

Set of cylinderhead studs, nuts and washers

XK120 OTS late all XK120 DHC and FHC XK140

Piston and liner, 9:1 standard 213880 £181.00

Fig. shows part no. 213729

86.00 mm + 0.5 mm

Set of con rod bolts and nuts

high-strength steel threads are rolled, not cut

Heater valve and knob assembly

▸ XJ40 (XJ) 6.0 V12 from VIN...673299 to 708757 503899 £351.00

Jaguar E V12

▸ Mark II ▸ S-Type 3.4 and 3.8 ▸ Mk9 ▸ Mk10 3.8

well-known racing teams from Formula 1, Nascar and Indycar series trust the excellent quality.

▸ E type 5.3 V12 S 3 ▸ XJ12 S I, II and III ▸ XJS 5.3 V12 and 6.0 V12 ▸ XJ40 (XJ) 6.0 V12 ▸ X300 (XJ) 6.0 V12 207194 £272.00

for auxiliary shaft - 3 piece set. V12 engine

municated visually by the fascinating iridescent shine between gold and silver. ▸ E type 5.3 V12 series 3 ▸ XJ12 series I, II and III ▸ XJS 5.3 V12 to VIN...188104 ▸ XJS 6.0 V12 from VIN...188105 to 226645

Power transmission between dynamo and servo pump ARP is one of the most renowned manufacturers for competition grade engine hardware.

Bronze bearings C29273/4-kit

Manufactured to original specifications from extremely expensive special bronze, which is otherwise only used in the aerospace industry. The value is also com-

Individual AE / Nüral piston

202387

Blower fan motor Fine UK made reproduction of the original fan motor C34368 even a bit stronger and for sure much more reliable 210026 £89.00

Jaguar

more resistant to compression modified design of the water passages

4.2 litres

▸ E type 5.3 V12 Series 3 ▸ XJ12 Series III from VIN...471852 ▸ XJS 3.6 and 5.3 V12 from VIN...139052 to 188104 490510 £360.00

Call for more details +44 (12 93) 84 72 00

Individual pistons

more temperature resistant

supplied with 'o' ring, circlip and connecting harness 553730 £68.00

late:

▸ E type 4.2 Series 1 and 2 ▸ MK7 replacement

cient in many places today. The gaskets can be used several times and are absolutely tight even on somewhat uneven sealing surfaces without sealing compound.

Extremely adaptable the sandwich construction compensates for any unevenness

2.4 and 3.4 litres

supplied with 'o' ring and circlip 248550 £50.00

£628.00

4.2 9:1 piston, each 202540 £172.00

brake servo AP Lockheed brake servo reproduction overhaul kit AP Lockheed brake servo AP Lockheed brake servo reproduction overhaul kit AP Lockheed brake servo AP Lockheed

Jaguar

larger bores

bore size

at air conditioning compressor ▸ XJ6 Series III from VIN...471857 ▸ XJ12 Series III from VIN...471852 ▸ XJS 3.6 and 5.3 from VIN...136646 to 188104 ▸ XJ40 (XJ) 2.9 and 3.6 from VIN...507394 to 629285

▸ E type 5.3 V12 Series 3 ▸ 420 and Daimler Sovereign

Dimensionally stable seal on sheet metal carrier with foamed-on sealing compound made of synthetic rubber material.

A galvanized steel core with soft material compound is ideal for head gaskets, allowing heat to be drawn evenly across the gasket surface while providing maximum sealing characteristics when exposed to coolants and oils.

better heat dissipation from the most heavily loaded part of the gasket: the combustion chamber web

242304

▸ from XK140 late to XJ6 series 3 206984 £137.00

AP Lockheed brake servos

Jaguar

Silicone non-stick coating

CAC2338 210430 £62.00

+0.040" oversize

£72.00

Drive shaft

— 8 —

Cometic CFM cylinder head gasket

German original equipment manufacturer Elring Klinger reinforced combustion chamber surrounds made of stainless steel

£628.00 £628.00

4-ring pistons, compression ratio: 8:1 standard bore size: 3.267" ▸ XK120, XK140 and XK150 3.4

For hot street engines designed gaskets

Pressure failure switch

early:

Jaguar

206862

The Cometic CFM gasket consists of a tanged and galvanized steel core. An asbestos-free soft material compound containing aramide fibers, inorganic fillers and high grade binder elastomers is applied to both sides of the core.

State-of-the-art gasket technology

▸ XK120 and XK140 early £178.00 257611

242300 540799

9:1, standard size 550714 £565.00

Composite cylinder head gasket

new item without switch CCC4929 ▸ XJS 4.0 from VIN...179737 to 190527

206985

▸ Mark II 3.8 ▸ XK150 ▸ S type 3.8 ▸ Mk10 3.8 standard size +0.020" oversize

Fig. shows part no. 519915

— 7 —

The cylinder head gasket for the classic Jaguar XK engine was originally only available as a simple sheet metal gasket, notorious for its tendency to corrode. Here we offer you an ultra-modern composite gasket that takes into account all the findings of modern engine

Brass bush for oil pump drive shaft

3-ring pistons, 9:1 compression ratio. Standard bore size: 3.425" ▸ E type 3.8

Piston set for 3.4 XK 150S

Tool roll or jack bag, reproduction

Tool roll

Hepolite piston set for 3.8 engine

▸ Mk7 and Mk8 ▸ Mark I 3.4 ▸ Mark II 3.4 and 340 ▸ S-Type 3.4 539494 £628.00

for different Jaguar models, made from Hardura

£16.00 £25.00 £41.00

▸ XK140 ▸ XK150 early ▸ Mk7, Mk8, Mk9 single supply 213179 £74.00

— 4 —

▸ XJ6 Series I USA, Canada and Japan with Zenith Stromberg carburetors from engine no. 7L42595, all other countries with SU carburetors from engine no. 7L58469 ▸ all XJ6 Series II and III (1973-87) ▸ XJ12 Series I and II (1972-97) ▸ XJ12 Series III to VIN...471851 ▸ E type V12 Series 3 (1971-74) ▸ XJS 3.6 and 5.3 V12 to VIN...139051 (1975-87) ▸ XJ40 (XJ) 2.9 and 3.6 except USA models from VIN...500001 to 507393 (1986-87) ▸ Daimler DS420 Limousine from VIN...200477, C32681 505939 £410.00

Jaguar

Piston set +0.020" for 3.4 engine

Fig. shows part no. 519919

DOT5 silicone brake fluid

▸ XK120 dual supply

We strongly recommend replacing the dryer

— 11 —

Jaguar

£451.00 £424.00

Oil pump “XK” engine

Fig. shows part no. 201396

description

Complete unit with filler cap and gasket

Air conditioning compressor

Wiper motor

4.2 Series 2

206832 206833

RHD LHD

Jaguar

Fig. shows part no. 492493

Jaguar

Brake fluid reservoir

£39.00

with gasket and twin spade connector ▸ all E type 201224 £36.00

— 4 —

new updated version made from alloy instead of cast iron. 54% lighter than an original and feature fully Teflon-coated pistons for greater performance and less power drain

201739

▸ all E type, S 1/2/3 531246 £20.00

3.8 from engine no. R2934

Jaguar

Fig. shows part no. 209280

Air conditioning compressor

Water pump

201738

4 pcs. set

— 1 —

Brake cylinder

construction.

for the engine cooling system. Sheet steel version, finished in grey hammer finish paint.

201736 201737

▸ From XK120 to XJ6 series 3 2137 £68.00

We stock most air conditioning parts need to help you keep your car cool

Expansion tank

RH LH

made from stainless steel, polished

retaining brake fluid reservoir stainless steel replacement

Fuel filter element C28080

rear door (without lock) front door (prepared for lock but without lock cylinder)

Driving pinion

Otter switch for fan motor

Jaguar

▸ 420 and Daimler Sovereign £117.00 each

Throttle linkage for E type series 1 and 2

E type 4.2 S1 and 2, RHD 209279 £89.00

with thread for screw contact ▸ E type 3.8 S1 and

▸ Mark II ▸ Daimler 250 V8 Saloon ▸ S-Type 3.4 and 3.8

and do not add much height.

800

1.100

E type V12 S3, manual gear, RHD 209280 £89.00

Temperature sensor

Door handle

▸ XK150S ▸ E type 3.8 to engine no. R2933 503959 £545.00

In the original, metal was simply screwed onto metal. Damage to the paintwork is often the result.

200 150 150 1.000

Jaguar

AFM Uprated rocker cover gaskets, see page 16

front. Complete kit with hinge and stay 215112 £181.00

Jaguar

600

Lockheed

▸ XJ12 Series I and II ▸ XJ6 4.2 Series I and II 489450 £87.00

Number plate backing

Jaguar

www.scparts.co.uk Tel: +44(0) 12 93 84 72 00 enquiries@scparts.co.uk

Manufactured by injection molding: therefore particularly stronger metal structure and high dimensional accuracy. Flawless, highly polished surface. ▸ XK120/140/150 ▸ MK7 ▸ MK8 ▸ E type 3.8 and 4.2 ▸ MkI ▸ MkII ▸ S-Type ▸ Mk9 ▸ Mk10 ▸ XJ6

226277

Jaguar

The market-leading catalogues: meticulously researched, illustrated with an obsession for detail. up to 1,000 pages, free of charge !

Pair of aluminum rocker covers

coming soon

40 years

Fig. shows part no. 25503

Rebuilt kits for SU carburetors

Oil seal conversion kit

includes throttle discs and throttle spindles for single SU-H6 type carburetor 100M

25503

services one SU-HD8 carburetor BJ8

200209

£117.00

for three SU-HD8 carburetors

210475

£342.00

£89.00

crankshaft, rear ▸ BN4 to BJ8 206471 £109.00

Composite cylinder head gasket Here we offer you an ultra-modern composite gasket that takes into account all the findings of modern engine construction. German original equipment manufacturer Elring Klinger reinforced combustion chamber surrounds made of stainless steel better heat dissipation from the most heavily loaded part of the gasket: the combustion chamber web

Conversion to electronic, maintenance-free ignition system

State-of-the-art gasket technology Silicone non-stick coating larger bores

Online: Test the SC Parts

OIL FINDER and find the right oil for your vehicle. All car brands from Alvis to Wolseley, all motorcycle brands from AJS to Vincent. www.SC-Parts.co.uk/oilfinder

Travel bag

Each shim is individually wrapped in oiled paper to protect it from corrosion.

high quality supple black leather bag with Austin Healey logo. Size: 19" x 11" x 11" cm 544969 £199.00 — 30 —

Extremely adaptable the sandwich construction compensates for any unevenness

Connecting rod bearing sets for BN1/BN2

more temperature resistant more resistant to compression

£52.00 each standard +0.020" +0.040"

modified design of the water passages 317999 £135.00 all 6 cylinder Healey 321686 £89.00 100/4 BN1/BN2 — 31 —

— 32 —

205058 205053 205055

New old stock

Alternator convesion kit For BN4 bis BJ8. Includes alternator, pulley and fan. It is converting the car from positive to negative ground 320035 £172.00

— 33 —

WWW.SCPARTS.CO.UK • +44 (0) 12 93 - 84 72 00 • enquiries@scparts.co.uk

Brake fluid reservoir Complete unit with filler cap and gasket ▸ BN4 from 48863 dual supply 3516 £62.00 ▸ BN1, BN2 single supply 213179 £74.00

For all the advantages of the 123 ignition system, see page 70. Austin Healey BN1 and BN1, BN4 to BJ8 and Sprite: choose your 123-Ignition with fixed curves or free programmable via USB or bluetooth.

— 34 —

Austin Healey

Triumph

Alternator

▸ Sprite I to HAN5-50116

nufactured on the original

Highest-quality V2A stainless steel in impressive

tooling

material thickness brought absolutely perfectly into shape.

▸ TR4 and TR4A

reproduction of the Lucas 18ACR type alternator.

▸ TR5 and TR250

12 volt, negative earth, output: 45 ampere

20550

restoration.

Fig. shows part no. 348017

▸ Stag Mk2

Highly polished to a mirror finish. Indistinguishable from “real” chrome.

Composite cylinder head gasket

£127.00

£181.00 (pair)

546198

Clutch master cylinders MGB (with plastic reservoir)

Part no. 12815

price £24.00

AP Lockheed MGB (with metal reservoir)

508531

£169.00

12859

£101.00

AP Lockheed Sprite / Midget: from 11/74 with 1500cc

530877

£115.00

AP Lockheed Sprite / Midget: from 10/66 to 10/74 with 1275cc engine

303225

£62.00

AP Lockheed MGB V8

True masterpieces. Installed in many an award-winning concours

£192.00

▸ TR5, TR250, TR6 ▸ Spitfire Mk4 and 1500 323231

Overriders

Tail light, type L799 Outstanding quality, rema-

Here we offer you an ultra-modern composite gasket that takes into account all the findings of modern

Conversion to electronic, maintenance-free ignition system

Oil seal conversion kit

Brake fluid reservoir

▸ TR2 up to TR4A, crankshaft rear

dual supply,

For all the advantages of the 123 ignition

26343

engine construction. German original equipment manufacturer

Rocker switch

fixed on 'B' post

reinforced combustion chamber surrounds made of stainless steel better heat dissipation from the most heavily loaded part of the gasket:

lights, including chrome bezel

complete unit with filler cap and gasket

system, see page 70.

▸ TR3

▸ TR5, TR250 and TR6

the combustion chamber web

6640

The 123-Ignition has no mechanical output

3516

£62.00

Lock striker

£62.00

▸ Spitfire Mk3 late ▸ Spitfire Mk4 and 1500

If you are converting your Triumph 5/250/6 to the electronic, maintenance-free 123-Ignition, you should opt for one of the

LH door (CZA3311) 1368

£81.00

Wiper motor

RH door (CZA3310) 1950

£81.00

two electric rev counters.

reproduction of the Lucas 14W type - less drive gear.

16 fix-programmed advance curves 485464 £415.00

Characteristique: 12 volt, two speed and round body ▸ TR6 ▸ Spitfire MK4 and 1500

programmable via Bluetooth interface £382.00 512387

▸ GT6 Mk2 and Mk3 £71.00 315472

Angle drive tachometer shaft

▸ all Sprite / Midget

with indicator, dipper lane change and horn. For

on the dynamo

326927

LHD models

Extremely adaptable

(original no. 13H632)

the sandwich construction compensates

the original tooling ▸ MGB to 10/69

for any unevenness

▸ MGC (BHA4176)

▸ YA, YB and YT

more temperature resistant

▸ Sprite / Midget:

more resistant to compression

from 5/61 to 9/69 6548 £117.00

▸ Sprite / Midget 948 cc 8419 £64.00

£160.00

341988

modified design of the water passages

Fig. shows part no. 20210

86.00 mm

have very limited adjustment from above through the dashpot. This design was introduced to prevent tampe-

▸ TR2, TR3, TR3A, TR3B, TR4 and TR4A

Over the years the mechanical wear of the jet meant that the vehicle could no longer be tuned, resulting in less than perfect performance and fuel economy.

▸ TR5, TR2590, TR6 early replaces RN2413/00 533602 £593.00

▸ TR6 late replaces RN2414/00 533604 £593.00 — 35 —

This kit is easy to install as the adjustable jet is pressed into the carburettor body with no machining requi-

Reduction gear starter motor

red. Fine tuning for the best performance can then be done via the adjuster on the end (using a screwdriver

power: 1.0 kW

or a ½" wrench). This kit comes complete with high quality Viton O-ring seals.

CD175

▸ TR4/4A ▸ TR250/TR6 ▸ TR7/8

CD150

▸ Spitfire MK3, MK4 and 1500 ▸ TR7 US-models ▸ GT6

▸ TR5, TR250 and TR6

part no. price 489450 £87.00 £87.00

504204

— 36 —

built in Part no. thickness

bore size

Adjustable jet conversion kit

ring with the emissions by way of mixture adjustment.

Tachometer

▸ 2000, 2.5PI and 2500 Saloon (1963-77) 317761 £228.00

Boot rack

TR3 and 4 316558 £228.00

Chrome

386

£291.00

Stainless steel

15921

£260.00

TR2, TR3, TR3A and TR3B (1953-62)

— 37 —

— 38 —

(RHD to May 1977, LHD to November 1967)

Tail light Outstanding quality, remanufactured on

for one Stromberg CD carburetor. Originally fitted with fixed jets in their integrated float bowl, Stromberg CD

includes throttle disc and throttle spindle ▸ TR3 to TR4 to CT21470 25503 £89.00

optional for single line braking system

£19.00

State-of-the-art gasket technology

▸ Stag Mk1 to LD14158

Rebuilt kit for single SU-H6 carburetor

£81.00 (1 piece)

8476

▸ MGB and Midget

Silicone non-stick coating larger bores

Turn Signal switch

for the rev counter.

AP Lockheed brake servo

Chrome, polished to a mirror finish

0.57"

87.50 mm + 0.50 mm

320514

£178.00

Adjustable jet conversion kit

£178.00

77.00 mm + 0.50 mm

0.37"

320513

£178.00

have very limited adjustment from above through the dashpot. This design was introduced to prevent tampering with the emissions by way of mixture adjustment.

77.00 mm + 0.50 mm

0.37"

300857

£178.00

less than perfect performance and fuel economy.

▸ Spitfire MK3 and MK4 early (flat cylinder block) ▸ 1300 and 1300 TC ▸ Herald 13/60

74.00 mm + 0.50 mm

0.35"

298902

£178.00

▸ Spitfire MK4 late, all Spitfire 1500 (recess in cylinder block) 74.00 mm ▸ Toledo ▸ 1500 and 1500 TC ▸ Dolomite 1300 and 1500 + 0.50 mm

0.57"

485952

£178.00

88.9 mm + 0.50 mm

0.47"

348017

£141.00

red. Fine tuning for the best performance can then be done via the adjuster on the end (using a screwdriver or a ½" wrench). This kit comes complete with high quality Viton O-ring seals. ▸ MGB Roadster: USA and Canada models from 12/74 489450 £87.00

AP Lockheed brake master cylinder

Over the years the mechanical wear of the jet meant that the vehicle could no longer be tuned, resulting in This kit is easy to install as the adjustable jet is pressed into the carburettor body with no machining requi-

— 39 —

for single line brake system.

Otter switch

Steering lock

fan motor. Complete unit with gasket and twin spade connector ▸ MGB late ▸ GT 201224 £36.00

▸ MGB and Sprite/Midget with ignition switch and 2 keys - for vehicles with collapsible steering column "BHM7144" 12722 £42.00

— 40 —

Land Rover / Range Land Rover Rover/ Range Rover

Float kit, front and rear, unsinkable

Most likely the last original AP Lockhead

for one Stromberg CD carburetor. Originally fitted with fixed jets in their integrated float bowl, Stromberg CD

10579

▸ TR5 und TR250 ▸ TR6 to 1971 ▸ GT6 Mk2 and Mk3 to 1972 ▸ Vitesse 2-litre Mark 2

▸ TR8

£455.00

Fig. shows part no. 20210

price

▸ TR6 from 1972 ▸ GT6 MK3 from 1972

0.57"

▸ MGB V8 (1976-76)

▸ TD and TF

Land Rover / Range Land Rover Rover/ Range Rover

Mini

Clutch slave cylinder

Variant with tin reservoir ▸ MGB with single line brake system ▸ MGB V8 (1973-76) 491668 £127.00

without push rod ▸ MGA and MGB 12816 £14.00

— 41 —

— 42 —

Mini

Rolls Royce / Bentley

Land Rover

MGB with SU-HIF4 carburettors MGB V8 553742 £59.00

Turn signal switch MGB and Midget indicator, dipper lane change and headlamp flash 4698 £41.00

Fig. shows part no. 348017

Composite cylinder head gasket

TB, TC, TD and TF ▸ YA, YB and YF Sprite / Midget: All 1275 cc engines

310700 318401

£269.00 £223.00

Sprite from HAN8-38829 to HAN8-64734, Midget from GAN3-25788 to GAN3-52389 (Flywheel with 2" bore for crankshaft)

290875

£223.00

better heat dissipation from the most heavily loaded part of the gasket: the combustion chamber web Silicone non-stick coating

Oil seal conversion kit (crankshaft, rear)

larger bores Extremely adaptable the sandwich construction compensates for any unevenness more temperature resistant

combustion chamber surrounds made of stainless steel

modified design of the water passages

variant with chromed grille, stainless steel bumpers and overriders without rubber buffers This kit inludes all brackets and wing inserts to convert rubber bumper MGB to steel bumper. Radiator grille, bumpers, overriders and lamp units are also included to complete this conversion. Please note: front wings need some modification to accept side lamps. If you need further information, do not hesitate to contact us. 542227 £1,686.00

Wiper motor

Part no. 293957 15305

price £172.00 £172.00

MGB 3.5 V8 All cars with Rover 3.5 V8 engines

348017

£141.00

Sprite / Midget with 1275 cc engines Midget 1500

331079 485952

£172.00 £178.00

MGA 1500, 1600, 1622 and De Luxe MGB

Conversion kit to steel bumpers

Fig. shows part no. 310700

The most popular variant of the MGB grille

reproduction of the Lucas 14W type - less drive gear. 12 volt, two speed and round body ▸ MGB Roadster from 11/67 ▸ all MGB GT ▸ MGB V8 ▸ MGC ▸ Sprite / Midget: from 11/67 £71.00 315472

Perfect reproduction with vertical struts. ▸ MGB / MGB V8 chrome bumpers ▸ MGC 14406 £338.00

— 43 —

— 44 —

Rolls Royce / Bentley

— 45 —

Rolls Royce / Bentley Rolls Royce / Bentley

368543

Forward Control 6-cylinder models with engine suffix A (1966-67)

533736

Union Jack car cover

£45.00

the sandwich construction compensates for any unevenness more temperature resistant more resistant to compression

£141.00

modified design of the water passages

combustion chamber surrounds made of stainless steel

Wiper motor

reproduction of the Lucas 18ACR type alternator. 12 volt, negative earth, output: 45 ampere ▸ Land Rover Series III 4 cylinder Petrol and Diesel 323231 £127.00

reproduction of the Lucas 14W type - less drive gear. 12 volt, two speed, round body ▸ Land Rover: Series III ▸ 90, 110 and Defender to VIN...1A622423 ▸ Range Rover: Classic 2 door models to VIN...CA274120 and 4 door models to VIN...CA273922 315472 £71.00

Accessories Accessories

326927

£455.00

Brake master 0,70" bore size cylinder

Cooper S MkI, MkII, MkIII, 1275 GT

470382

£145.00

329249

£50.00

20.6 mm bore from approx 5/92 onSeal kit and fitting to wards (dual line front/ brake master master cylinder rear split with built in cylinder with plastic cirlip servo unit)

Float and gasket set

▸ Rolls Royce ▸ Daimler DV8 and Dart SP250 202699 £30.00

Length of car 15'5" to 17' 13'10" to 15'5" 12'2" to 13'10" 18'8" to 20'4" 17'5"

Rotor

£15.00

213539

Points

(2! per distributor) 213540 £8.00

for example Jaguar Mk10, XJS, XK8 Jaguar E type, F-Type or XK120-150, Rover P5 MGA and MGB, Midget, TR Rolls-Royce Ghost or Bentley Flying Spur Land Rover Serie, Defender, Discovery or Range Rover

Clutch master cylinder

for pressure regulating valve from 1959 to 1989 304601 £45.00

with plastic reservoir, all models (1959-2000) 213406 £72.00

each pair £83.00

women

— 52 —

capacity l/h gal/h 68 18 68 18 68 18 68 18 68 18 136 36 136 36 56 15

SU no.

Part no.

price

size

cork/beige

cork/brown

pressure bar psi 0,186 2,7 0,186 2,7 0,186 2,7 0,260 3,8 0,260 3,8 0,260 3,8 0,260 3,8 0,186 2,7

controls

dual neg. pos. pos. dual dual neg. dual

with points pointless pointless pointless with points with points pointless with points

AZX1307 AZX1307EN AZX1318EP AZX1319EP AZX1331 AZX1405 AZX1405EN AUA157

318298 324585 324587 433994 3877 1517 324590 321573

£217.00 £235.00 £226.00 £226.00 £226.00 £516.00 £534.00 £500.00

dual

0,186

with points

AUF214

338959

£135.00

6,5 7 7,5 8 8 8,5 9 9,5 10

480080 480081 480082 480083 480075 480076 480077 480078 480079

356248 356249 356250 356251 356402 356252 356253 356255 356254

ground

2 3

2,7

women

MotoMoto Lita steering Lita steering wheels wheels Made of heavy-duty, perfectly polished aluminium. Available in all sizes, flat or dished, rim made of high-quality leather or fine wood, only original with engraved Moto-Lita lettering.

Thanks to special adapters, Moto-Lita steering wheels are suitable for almost any vehicle, whether classic or modern! www.SCParts.co.uk/Moto-Lita

men

— 54 —

Accessories Accessories

— 56 —

Accessories Accessories

for Zenith Stromberg 175CD carburetor

£226.00 £226.00

Angle drives

We still got some stock of the “submarines”… 1123 £16.00

for speedometer cables (Exact vehicle description see online)

for SU H1 carburetor diameter: 1.5", e.g. for Austin Healey Sprite MK1 carburetor (313168) 501770 £49.00

for SU HS-carburetor

Accessories

345595 544023

actuation L/H R/H

£126.00 £126.00

part no. 501771 501772

Accessories

price £26.00 £26.00

diameter 2.5". e.g. for Jaguar XK120 and XK140 SE carburetor (220318) 220237 £89.00

479839

— 62 —

Accessories

The wolf in sheep's clothing

That's not a distributor

2 eared LH RH LH RH

Part no. 2599 2598 207933 207932

Accessories

Part no.

£76.00

12 tpi

£98.00

12 tpi fits MG TC, TA, TB etc., MGA, MGB early, Austin Healey, Aston Martin DB2 to DB6

3 eared, plain

price

8 tpi

206153

206152

9746

9743

LH RH LH RH

Part no. 716 715 615 614

2 eared, MG

price

Part no.

£87.00

12 tpi

£87.00

8 tpi

2 eared, plain

12 tpi 8 tpi

Starter switch Jaguar XK 120/140, Mk1, Triumph TR3 OE no. C5461 13863 £68.00

for SU H8 carburetor

carburetor — 61 —

£272.00

Thor Mallet

6199

6198

5956

5955

Octagonal, MG

price

Part no.

£40.00

12 tpi

£40.00

8 tpi

18781

18782

18783

18784

price £38.00 £38.00

Octagonal, plain

price £41.00

12 tpi

£41.00

8 tpi

LH RH LH RH

Part no. 714 713 9373 1223

price £38.00 £38.00

The mallet made of pure copper and water buffalo leather with a hickory handle. Part of the on-board toolkit for many British vehicles in the 50s and 60s. It was traditionally used to open and tighten the spinners.

Continental type

LH RH LH RH LH Daimler RH

plain

Jaguar

— 60 —

£272.00

Huge stock of allmost all speedo cables

Interior light, windscreen wiper, heater fan, fog lamp and overdrive - (single speed type) OE no. 2H8481 6560 £25.00

OE no. AUE895 AUE896

— 58 —

price

Daimler

Imperial tools Metric tools

— 57 —

4 Sprite/Midget 948, MG TD + TF 8419 £64.00

— 59 —

Part no. 327284 327283 329818 329819 329817 329816

Jaguar

1 For headlights and parking lights OE no. 3H3098 / 125245 4689 £35.00

for SU HIF carburetor, gasket set included

LH RH LH RH LH RH

chromed stainless steel painted You can find the complete range here: www.SCParts.co.uk/wire-wheels

Pull/push switch These switches were commonly fitted as original equipment to many British cars of the 1950s and 1960s.

£17.00

Jaguar XJ 6 & 12, MGB, TR6, Spitfire, E type 495668 £17.00

Daimler

Wire wheels and wheel packages

3 Austin Healey BN1, Jaguar XK, MK2, XJ6/12 200626 £109.00

7 wrenches (imperial or metric), combination pliers, plug wrench, voltage tester, contact setting tool, screwdriver.

– – – S S M M L L XL XL XXL

8 tpi fits Morgan, Triumph, MGB late, all Sprite/Midget, AC, Lotus, Morgan, Sunbeam, Bugatti, Ferrari.

milled from a solid block perfect bearings lasts forever

Competition Version Austin Healey BN4 to BJ7, MGB 336340 £160.00

501748

men

S S M M L L XL XL – – – –

Spinners 42 mm

Austin Healey, MGB, Sprite/Midget, Triumph TR3-6, Aston Martin DB4 5257 £45.00

for Zenith Stromberg 150 & 175 CD2/3 carburetor

women

5.5 6 6.5 7 7.5 8 8.5 9 9.5 10 10.5 11

Accessories Accessories

315352

Jaguar

Alternative

carburetor

£53.00

for SU H6 and HD carburetor diameter: 1.7/8", e.g. for Jaguar E type Series 1 carburetor (212408), Jaguar Mk10, XK150S 493576 £16.00

20210

Unsinkable!

Made of brown nubuck leather and equipped with 12 standard tools:

— 57 —

Accessories Accessories

Fig. shows SU H8 XK120 + XK140SE

A nice feature for ships, but no less so for carburetor floats. It's annoying when the sunk float can't close the inlet valve of the float chamber and the fuel pump first floods the float chamber and then the engine compartment with petrol. Our floats for almost all SU and Zenith Stromberg carburetors are made of nitrile rubber. Thousands and thousands of tiny micropores ensure guaranteed buoyancy, always! Excellent and permanently ethanol-resistant and suitable for E10.

— 56 —

size

6,6" 6,8" 7,2" 7,6" 8,2" 8,8" 9,2" 9,6" 10,4" 10,8" 11,2" 11,6"

Spinners for 52 mm

carburetor

Triumph TR4 + TR4A 21425 £29.00

There is no more stylish way to store tools in a classic car. Made entirely from hard-wearing canvas or the finest nubuck leather. The good workmanship guarantees a long service life. Without tools.

quick release with 2.1/2" inside diameter, made from polished aluminum 303374 £29.00

circumference

For Jaguar, Jensen, Alvis and older Aston Martin

plain

Standard tool rolls

Accessories

Fuel filler cap

£90.00

Accessories

If you do not know your glove size by heart: Simply measure the circumference of your hand at the widest point. Right-handers measure on the right, left-handers on the left. The thumb is not included in the measurement. If you don't have a tape measure to hand, simply take a piece of string and measure it with a ruler. The table will tell you your size. For some gloves, the sizes for men and women overlaps. In this case, the finger length is also taken into account.

each pair £90.00

3 eared

209778

480099 480100 480101 480103 480104 480105 480106 480107 480108

How to determine your glove size

Leather palm, crocheted back

Unsinkable floats made of nitrile rubber

493246

cork/brown

480109 480110 480111 480112 480113 480114 480115 480116 480117

with brackets 450 £143.00

— 53 —

Accessories Accessories

Canvas, green Nubuck leather, brown

cork/beige

6,5 7 7,5 8 8 8,5 9 9,5 10

£45.00

Accessories

Available with or without tools

size

535468

489697 489698

— 50 —

Accessories Accessories

Fingerless gloves leather palm, crocheted back

For these classic driving gloves, we simply have to use all the superlatives: a small manufacturer produces these fantastically crafted, classic driving gloves for us from the very best and most expensive glove leather of all. The leather feels very soft, almost velvety to the touch, and the durability is legendary.

men

Union Jack bike cover

10 pcs. 10 amps short 5 pcs. 15 amps 5 pcs. 20 amps short 10 pcs. 20 amps 10 pcs. 30 amps 5 pcs. 35 amps

Imperial tools Metric tools

For all the advantages of the 123 ignition system, see page 70. Mini with A-series and A-plus-series engines: choose your 123-Ignition with fixed curves or free programmable via USB or bluetooth.

part no. price 489281 £228.00 508218 £228.00 518150 £228.00 538535 £328.00 539956 £328.00

for bikes from 6'3" to 7'7". Our motorbike covers offer perfect protection against dust, scratches, dirt and other environmental influences. High quality with double seams and integrated elastic bands for a perfect fit. Comes in a practical carry bag. 543290 £114.00

— 51 —

Deluxe tool rolls

combustion chamber surrounds made of stainless steel

Brooklands aeroscreen

Indoor cover made from a soft fabric like sweat shirt material. Offers perfect protection against dust, scratches, dirt and other environmental influences.

Distributor cap 20D8

for Rolls Royce

Finest brown nubuck leather, 14 pockets in different widths, 3 small pockets, 16-piece high-quality branded tool kit.

more resistant to compression modified design of the water passages

Seal kit

Leather gloves

60-80 l/h (16 - 21 gal/h )conveying capacity Replacing 338959 772 £81.00

Assortment SHORT glas fuses

Accessories

more temperature resistant

Car Cover Union Jack

for SU-HIF4, HIF6 and HIF7 carburetors Rolls Royce Silver Shadow II plus Bentley T2 from 1977 to 1980 (from VIN...30001 to 41686) ▸ Rolls Royce Silver Spirit plus Bentley Mulsanne from 1980 to 1986 (from VIN...1001 to 16930) 501771 £26.00 (actuation LH) 501772 £26.00 (actuation RH)

Rolls Royce Silver Shadow II plus Bentley T2 from 1977 to 1980 (from VIN...30001 to 41686) ▸ Rolls Royce Silver Spirit plus Bentley Mulsanne from 1980 to 1986 (from VIN...1001 to 16930) LH carburetor 250557 £45.00 RH carburetor 317418 £26.00

larger bores Extremely adaptable the sandwich construction compensates for any unevenness

Bore size: 74.00 mm + 0.50 mm, built in thickness: 0.38" ▸ Cooper S with 970 cc and 1071 ccm ▸ all Mini with 1275 cc 331079 £172.00

programmable via USB interface 492165 £516.00

Float

Silicone non-stick coating

— 49 —

Cooper S MKIII, 1275GT

Accessories Accessories

German made high quality fuel pumps with dual polarity. Maintenance-free electric 12 volt interrupter type pump 80 l/h (21 gal/h)conveying capacity Replacing 3877 21629 £108.00

programmable via Bluetooth interface 531666 £620.00

better heat dissipation from the most heavily loaded part of the gasket: the combustion chamber web State-of-the-art gasket technology

for all models AP Lockheed with single line Brake servo braking system

— 48 —

Accessories Accessories

SU fuel pumps

For all the advantages of the 123 ignition system, see page 70. for V8 engine with Lucas 20D8 distributor, negative earth and electric tachometer

price

Conversion to electronic, maintenance-free ignition system

For all the advantages of the 123 ignition system, see page 70. Land Rover Serie, 90, 110 and Defender, Range Rover Classic: choose your 123-Ignition with fixed curves or free programmable via USB or bluetooth.

— 47 —

Conversion to electronic, maintenance-free ignition system

Part no.

Conversion to electronic, maintenance-free ignition system

Alternator

— 46 —

Rolls Royce / Bentley

larger bores Extremely adaptable

Bore size: 88.9 mm + 0.5 mm, built in thickness: 0.47" ▸ Land Rover 109 Series III 3.5 V8 (1979-85) ▸ Land Rover 90, 110 and Defender 3.5 V8 (1983-93) ▸ Land Rover Discovery I 3.5 V8 (1989-94) ▸ Range Rover: Classic 3.5 V8 to VIN...HA610293 (1970-91) 348017 £141.00

For all the advantages of the 123 ignition system, see page 70. MG T-types, MGA, MGB, MGB GT V8, MGC and Midget: choose your 123-Ignition with fixed curves or free programmable via USB or bluetooth.

fixed on 'B' post ▸ MGB from 11/67 ▸ MGC ▸ Sprite / Midget: from 11/67 LH door 1368 £81.00 RH door 1950 £81.00

reproduction of the Lucas 18ACR type alternator. 12 volt, negative earth, output: 45 ampere ▸ MG ▸ Sprite Midget 323231 £127.00

Silicone non-stick coating

▸ Series II, IIA, III: 2.25 litres 4-cyl. petrol ▸ 2.0 litre and 2.25 litre Diesel ▸ 2.6 litre 6-cylinder Petrol

Fig. shows part no. 533736

Conversion to electronic, maintenance-free ignition system

Lock striker Alternator

better heat dissipation from the most heavily loaded part of the gasket: the combustion chamber web State-of-the-art gasket technology

State-of-the-art gasket technology

includes throttle disc and throttle spindle ▸ MGA Twin cam 25503 £89.00

German original equipment manufacturer reinforced combustion chamber surrounds made of stainless steel

reinforced combustion chamber surrounds made of stainless steel

more resistant to compression

Mini

Here we offer you an ultra-modern composite gasket that takes into account all the findings of modern engine construction. German original equipment manufacturer

German original equipment manufacturer reinforced combustion chamber surrounds made of stainless steel

Rebuild kit for single SU-H6 carburetor

Here we offer you an ultra-modern composite gasket that takes into account all the findings of modern engine construction.

Composite cylinder head gasket

Here we offer you an ultra-modern composite gasket that takes into account all the findings of modern engine construction.

Oil seal conversion kit for crankshaft, rear

Part no. 328071 328072 2604 2603 213960 213961

2 eared with Rudge Whitworth Logo

price £81.00

LH RH

£81.00

Part no. 327277 327276

price

weight length Part no. price 3.5 lbs (1,600 g) 12" (31 cm) 287388 £59.00 2.4 lbs (1,070 g) 10.1/2" (27 cm) 878 £40.00 498795 £24.00 0.8 lbs (355 g) 9" (23 cm)

Part no. price 492991 £324.00 492990

LH RH

£269.00

£81.00

— 63 —

— 64 —

Stainless steel Stainless exhaustssteel exhausts

— 65 —

Stainless steel Stainless exhaustssteel exhausts

Simply the best quality

3 eared, open thread

— 66 —

Stainless steel Stainless exhaustssteel exhausts

Stainless steel exhausts

Modular Modular system: system: Big bore Big2"bore stainless 2" stainless steel steel exhaust exhaust systemsystem for Jaguar for Jaguar E type S1 E type andS1 S2and S2

Stainless steel exhausts

Jaguar

The very finest stainless steel exhaust systems for almost all British vehicles, manufactured to our specifications from 304/406 Sheffield stainless steel, welded seams as they should be flawless surfaces

That's not a distributor

Fig. shows part no. 485500

type C40

remarks and examples for car makes that fit Jaguar, Land Rover, MG, Spridget, Triumph Jaguar, Land Rover, MG, Mini, Spridget, Triumph mechanical tacho drive ▸ MG, Spridget

C40L

Jaguar Austin Healey, Jaguar

C42 Fig. shows part no. 481151

mechanical drive for PAS

7 lbs instead of 12.5 lbs 2

C45

Aston Martin, Austin Healey, Jaguar with mechanical tacho drive

Part no. 479752 491267 481152 492202 481151 491268 481466 491266 492203 533795

earth neg pos neg pos neg pos neg pos neg pos

amps 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40

price £296.00 £364.00 £388.00 £451.00 £406.00 £451.00 £406.00 £451.00 £406.00 £451.00

neg

481465

£451.00

pos

490526

£479.00

neg

485500

£662.00

Alternator conversions as replacements for C39, C40, C40L, C42, C45 and C48 Lucas dynamos.

— 67 —

Stainless steel exhausts

Exhaust system E type 6 cyl 2+2 S1 207234 £821.00

The adjustment of the ignition timing is purely electronic and is therefore not subject to wear. Only the distributor finger and cap can still wear out and should be replaced every 20,000 miles. The 123 automatically compensates for acceleration differences between individual cylinders and thus ensures smoother engine running. In

motorsport, this technique is known as “spark balancing”.

Tubular manifold

Adaptor pipes

made of stainless steel.

2"tubular manifold to standard system

Competition version with 2" (51 mm) diameter. Adapter plates also made of stainless steel.

SWB LWB

207223

485927 485926

£123.00 £123.00

Stainless steel exhaust system

Competition version with 2" (51 mm) diame-

Twin tailpipes

207231

£974.00

ter, “Straight Thru” main silencer. For use with tubular manifold A and link pipes B

Quad tailpipes 490933

£612.00

Exhaust system E type 6 cyl 2+2 S2

£524.00

207240

£730.00

2"tubular manifold to big bore system SWB 485928 £123.00 LWB 485929 £123.00

123 Ignition System with 16 fixed ignition curves to choose from.

Dummy regulators These dummy regulators do not regulate because the charge control is now located directly in the alternator housing. However, they provide the connections for the alternator in such a way that the new alternator can be connected directly to the old connections. With these pre-wired housings, installation of the alternator becomes “plug and play”.

— 68 —

Stainless steel exhausts

fit perfectly under the car. a shame, that they disappear under the car

Absolutely perfectly manufactured.

The entire ignition electronics are housed in a distributor housing, so you can replace your old distributor with a 123 without much effort. The appearance remains almost in its original condition.

There are three different 123 ignition systems available. They only differ in the type of ignition curve adjustment:

The wolf in sheep's clothing

Ultramodern high performance alternator in extremly light but stiff aluminum housing Perfect original look maintained Half the weight, twice the power (7 lbs instead of 12.5 lbs) Fully integrated regulator Less mechanical power required High chargin power at idling speeds No decrease in output when becoming hot Easy to fit using original dynamo mountings No alterations rerquired Old regulator can be maintained for original look

elaborately mirror polished

The most important features of the 123 electronic ignition system at a glance: The 123 is a complete electronic map ignition system.

Fig. shows part no. 491267

1 2 3 4

Lucas type terminal Part no. RB340 blade 498704 RB106 screw 498703 RB106 blade 498702 RF95 screw 498705

price £87.00 £87.00 £87.00 £160.00

123 Tune: Freely programmable ignition curves via USB, two curves stored in the unit, can be changed while driving.

Exhaust mounting kit

Stainless steel quad pipe outlet

123 Bluetooth: Ignition curves programmable via

with stainless steel exhaust clamps -

with 2" big bore outlets,

Bluetooth,, 2 curves can be stored in the unit. In addition, extensive engine monitoring functions.

23 piece kit for 2" big bore systems 491397 £87.00

489831

Stainless steel Stainless exhaustssteel exhausts

Exhaust system

£228.00

S-Type 3.4 and 3.8 207251

— 69 —

— 70 —

Stainless steel Stainless exhaustssteel exhausts

Austin Healey

mirror polished. Replaces OE tail pipes, fits to all std 1.3/4" 6 cylinders

£1,003.00

Availlable for most classic cars. From 2 up to 12 cylinder engines. — 71 —

Stainless steel Stainless exhaustssteel exhausts

— 72 —

Stainless steel Stainless exhaustssteel exhausts

Triumph

— 73 —

— 74 —

Stainless steel Stainless exhaustssteel exhausts

Stainless steel exhausts

Triumph

Stainless steel exhausts

2 AH BN1+2 100/4 204891

Exhaust system twin XK120 207438

Tubular manifold

£451.00

TR5 / TR6

TR5, TR250 and TR6 (1968-76) 304871 fitting kit 488035 £32.00

£593.00

£363.00

▸ TR5 ▸ all TR6 P.I. ▸ TR6 carburetor from CC75001 (8/71)

20162

BJ8

Fitting kit

£433.00

50pcs., for 13043 461443 £55.00

Reproduction of the original system in concours quality.

204892

£378.00

204905

Tubular manifold XK120 For use with genuine twin pipe exhaust system 26057 £2,280.00

344052

£593.00

TR2 to TR4

TR250 / TR6

TR2, TR3, TR3A, TR3B and TR4 928 £410.00

▸ TR250 (1967-68) ▸ TR6 Carburetor to CC67893 (8/71)

TR5 / TR6

TR4A

Single down pipe 2782 £306.00

▸ TR5 ▸ TR6 P.I. ▸ TR6 carburetor from CC75001 (8/71)

to approx. CTC70000 (to July 1966) twin box type 1916 £593.00

TD and TF

Tubular manifold

(1950-55) 24011 £296.00

Spitfire Mk3, Mk4 and 1500 17298 £360.00

BN4, BN6, BN7, BT7 and BJ7 big bore 1.3/4" side exit

Fitting kit

Stainless steel exhausts

Stainless steel Stainless exhaustssteel exhausts

— 78 —

Brand

Austin Healey

MGB

Mini

to September 1974 Roadster to GHN5-359169, GT to GHD5-360069 549777 £272.00

Triumph B

Jaguar

£272.00

Stainless steel exhaust systems for MGB Both the manifold and the down pipes can be combined with any of the 4 exhaust systems. A Tubular manifold B 1 2

MGB

with twin SU carburetors (1962-80) big bore, stainless steel single box system

Down pipe Exhaust sports type Exhaust rubber model Exhaust chrome model Exhaust 'bomb' type

17152 2162 336606 4309 4308 215834

£269.00 £90.00 £319.00 £269.00 £269.00 £319.00

Tubular manifold Can be used with exhaust systems 4308, 4309, 215834 or 336606 £269.00 17152

Land Rover Range Rover

with down pipe and 2.3/8" tail pipe 551978 £296.00

Fiat

— 83 —

— 84 —

Fitting kit

for 20162 19710 £69.00

for 2070 13552

Fitting kit 513343

£84.00

£50.00

— 80 —

— 81 —

— 82 —

The market-leading The market-leading catalogues: catalogues: meticulously meticulously researched, researched, illustratedillustrated with an obsession with an obsession for detail.for detail. up to 1,000 uppages, to 1,000 free pages, of charge free !of charge !

from september 1974 with twin SU carburetors or with single Weber carburetor Roadster from GHN5-360301, GT from GHD5-361001 with down pipe and two silencers

for 20162 ▸ TR5 ▸ TR6 P.I. to CP77718 (9/72) ▸ TR6 Carburetor models from CC75001 to CC85737 19709 £68.00 — 79 —

Stainless steel Stainless exhaustssteel exhausts

MGB

for 2782 ▸ TR250 ▸ TR6 Carburetor to CC67893 (8/71) 19708 £59.00

TR4 (1961-65) 20761 £78.00

— 77 —

— 85 —

Modell Brand Modell pages Partpages no. 392 New550907 392 MG T-type New MG T-type MGA Roadster MGA Roadster 580 251291 580 and MGCoupé and Coupé MGB MGB 800 297262 800 MGF and MGTF MGF and 64MGTF493833 64 BN1 - BJ8 BN1 - BJ8 600 348206 600 Austin Sprite and Sprite and Healey 324 324658 324 MG Midget MG Midget Classic Mini Classic740 292014 740 TR2 - TR4A TR2 - TR4A 600 251458 600 TR5, TR250 TR5, TR250 600 219262 600 and TR6 and TR6 Triumph Spitfire MK3,Spitfire MK3, 640 365084 640 MK4, 1500 MK4, 1500

Mark II Mark II 128 337278 128 'E' type 'E' type 1.050 540180 1.050 series I, II series I, II 'E' type V12 'E' type V12 400 501832 400 series III series III XK120, 140 XK120, 140 700 503541 700 and 150 and 150 Jaguar XJ6 / Daimler XJ6 / Daimler 1008 337971 1008 Sovereign Sovereign

XJ12 / Daimler XJ12 / Daimler 800 353211 800 Double Six Double Six X300 X300 200 497251 200 X308 X308 150 496830 150 XK8/XKR XK8/XKR 150 493826 150 1.000 551469 1.000 XJS New XJS New Series II, IIA Series II, IIA 1.100 505623 1.100 and III and III Land Rover 90, 110 and 90, 110 and 1.100 Defender Defender Range Classic Classic 1.200 Rover (1970-1996) (1970-1996) 500 126 Fiatand 600 Multipla 850

500 308 126 256 600 and 300 Multipla 850 300

520410 1.100 349105 1.200

Part no. 550907 251291

www.scparts.co.uk www.scparts.co.uk Tel: +44(0) 12Tel: 93+44(0) 84 72 12 0093 84 72 00 enquiries@scparts.co.uk enquiries@scparts.co.uk

297262 493833 348206 324658 292014 251458 219262 365084 337278 540180

LC04122024

— 76 —

Fitting kit

TR3 from TS11717, TR3A and TR3B (1956-62) 20760 £71.00

£442.00

Fitting kit

501832 503541

Over 300,000 parts. More than 8,000 interactive graphics. Pick, click, receive ! As easy as 1, 2, 3 ! www.SC-Parts.co.uk

337971 353211 497251 496830 493826 551469

Safety Safety beltsbelts

505623 520410 349105

533762 308 541517 256

533762 541517

543436 300

543436

543437 300

543437 www.SCParts.co.uk/Catalogues www.SCParts.co.uk/Catalogues

Request now for Request free ornow browse for free online: or browse online:

Seat belts in 40 Seat diffbelts erentincolours 40 different colours to choose from: to dignifi chooseedfrom: winedignifi red, ed wine red, distinguisheddistinguished royal blue, discreet royal blue, discreet grey, cheeky pink... grey, cheeky pink... Hundreds of possible Hundreds combinations of possible combinations of almost any of design almost with anyany design colour. with any colour. We will gladly We send will you gladly colour send andyou colour and material samples material free of samples charge.free So of charge. So you can matchyou thecan beltmatch colourthe with belt colour with the rest of yourthe interior. rest of your interior.

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SC Parts Group Ltd. SC Parts Group Ltd. webshop: www.scparts.co.uk webshop: www.scparts.co.uk Tel: +44(0) 12 93Tel: 84+44(0) 72 00 12 93 84 72 00 email: enquiries@scparts.co.uk email: enquiries@scparts.co.uk

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SC Parts Group Ltd. webshop: www.scparts.co.uk Tel: +44(0) 12 93 84 72 00 email: enquiries@scparts.co.uk

*553867* 553867

LC10092024

554633

344053 — 75 —

468494

1500, 1600, 1622 and De Luxe 3 pieces 21560 £196.00

sports type 2070 £547.00

140 piece set with stainless steel exhaust clamps 485263 £132.00

£593.00

Stainless steel exhausts

MGA

(1967-70) 13043 £305.00

Fitting kit for BJ8

Exhaust system single XK120 207466

£32.00

Spitfire Mk3

Twin down pipe 20162 £433.00

£451.00

490250

(1962-64) 13042 £304.00

Consists of a total of 6 individual elements as original (i.e. with 4 connection points). 204893 £620.00

BN4, BN6, BN7, BT7 and BJ7 big bore 1.3/4"

Fitting kit

Spitfire Mk1

Consists of a total of 8 individual elements (i.e. with 6 connection points), therefore much easier to assemble and lower shipping costs.

BN4, BN6, BN7, BT7 and BJ7

Special offers Septemb

Edited by Matthew Hayward

The Market B U Y I N G + S E L L I N G + A N A LY S I S

TOP 10 PRICES DECEMBER 2024 £8,760,354 ($11,086,250) 2014 Pagani Zonda LM Roadster RM Sotheby’s, Dubai, UAE, 1 December £3,426,504 ($4,336,250) 2017 Pagani Huayra BC Roadster RM Sotheby’s, Dubai, UAE, 1 December

RM SOTHEBY’S

£2,093,042 ($2,648,750) 2022 Aston Martin Valkyrie RM Sotheby’s, Dubai, UAE, 1 December

Bugatti leads Bonhams’ £2.6m December sale Bonhams’ final 2024 sale signifies the end to a difficult year for UK auctions THE UK AUCTION market has felt like a slightly strange place throughout 2024. Bonhams ended the year with its rather subdued New Bond Street sale in December, achieving £2.6m for a 65% sale rate in intimate surroundings. Leading the auction was a 1925 Bugatti Type 35A/35T, which made £552,000 against a £475,000-675,000 estimate. There was little excitement in the room for the Koenigsegg CCXR (previewed last issue), which went unsold against its £1.4-1.8m estimate. Clearly this wasn’t quite the right place or time of year. A number of other lots didn’t quite hit reserve on the day, though a few post-sale deals went through, such as a 1928 Bugatti Type 44 Grand Touring that needed work. It went for an undisclosed price. A number of Aston Martins featured in the sale, some of which did well against expectations. A well-loved 1994 Aston Martin Vantage V550 Coupé made £138,000, while an unrestored DB6 automatic, in need of full mechanical recommissioning (and attracting extra import fees due to being a non-UK car), made £174,800. Overall, given the current

state of the British market, this was actually not a bad sale for Bonhams. If there’s one thing we noticed in 2024, it’s that the number of auctions – not to mention the number of cars offered by them – continues to increase. Add to that the growing choice of online auction platforms and it’s not difficult to see why results have been all over the place. There was no clearer demonstration of this than on 14 September, when five UK auction houses all held classic car auctions on the same day. With fewer buyers looking to spend, this is only ever going to result in disappointment – for sellers, at least. Buyers are having a great time! Another big shift in 2024 was that many sellers have adjusted their expectations, with lower reserves, or in a lot of cases no reserve. The market always finds its level this way. The best cars continue to sell well, of course, but the middle ground has suffered. With so much choice, this environment has left everything else feeling a little lost. It will be interesting to see how the market evolves in 2025. Matthew Hayward

£1,604,106 ($2,030,000) 2017 Lamborghini Centenario LP770-4 Roadster RM Sotheby’s, Dubai, UAE, 1 December £1,460,182 ($1,825,000) 2023 Rimac Nevera Time Attack Sotheby’s Motorsport, Indiana, USA, 19 December £1,368,759 (€1,650,500) 2024 Aston Martin Valour Collecting Cars, Nice, France, 29 December £1,159,618 ($1,467,500) 2019 McLaren Senna RM Sotheby’s, Dubai, UAE, 1 December £1,103,340 ($1,400,000) 2005 Porsche Carrera GT PCARMARKET, Quebec, Canada, 16 December £937,374 ($1,186,250) 2014 McLaren P1 RM Sotheby’s, Dubai, UAE, 1 December £935,183 ($1,185,277) 1997 Porsche 911 Turbo by Kaege Retro Bring a Trailer, California, USA, 12 December The top ten data is supplied courtesy of HAGERTY

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There’s plenty of life left in the pre-war car market While pre-war cars have been occupying many of the top slots in last year’s UK auction sales, there are plenty of bargains to be had – and much to enjoy MARKET COMMENTATORS LIKE me love nice, neat boxes to file cars away in. ‘Pre-war’ is a great example, as if all cars built worldwide throughout the 1920s and ’30s are inextricably linked, their values rising and falling together like flotsam on the tide. They don’t, obviously. Like any big group there are winners and losers, and in the last few years the difference between the top and the bottom has become significantly more marked. At the pinnacle of the market, some retain the lustre that made them so desirable when new. They combine extraordinary design with elegant engineering, and wear sporting history of the highest level. These cars, including the 6C and 8C Alfa Romeos, WO Bentleys, Bugattis, supercharged Mercedes-Benz and Delahayes, were the cream of the crop 90 years ago and still are: even without extraordinary originality or provenance, they will secure entry to any top car event. It’s no surprise that a 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 Lungo Spider achieved the worldwide third-highest price at public live auction in 2024, and that the top three UK auction results were all pre-war cars: a 1933 Bugatti Type 43A, a 1928 Mercedes-Benz 33/220 S-Type and a 1933 Bugatti Type 57 Atalante. Three of the top concours events were this year won by pre-war cars: Pebble Beach, Villa d’Este and the Concours of Elegance at Hampton Court Palace. At the other end of the scale, there are the once-popular enthusiast cars. Non-racing MG, Austin, Alvis, Riley and similar have struggled: over the past five years, average Hagerty values of MG P-Types in ‘excellent’ condition dropped 12.2% to £35,150 and Austin Seven saloons fell even more, down 31.4% to £11,525. Even sports cars such as the Alvis Speed 20 have dipped, down 3.5% to an average of £82,013. Some may be put off by crash gearboxes, cable brakes or imprecise steering; others may not really know what they are, especially as so few old British brands still have a presence. It’s no wonder that Hagerty saw the average values of a host of old British marques reduce by double-digit figures in 2024, including Jensen, Sunbeam, Lagonda, Allard, Triumph and Gordon-Keeble. There’s also a third category of pre-war cars that is still in demand, as explained by Mathew Priddy from Historics. ‘Pre-war and vintage classics appear to be having a little upturn, but only when special in one way or another,’ he says. ‘It’s perhaps because they are so different from the cars of today that a real hark back to the past is gaining momentum.’

‘Special’ is the right term. I regularly drive a racing car from the 1930s, and it has introduced me to some of the friendliest and most exciting events in the calendar, from VSCC meets to Shelsley Walsh and the Vintage Revival Montlhéry. And this, I think, is the key: pre-war cars that can be used for events, especially on track, bring a host of potential buyers when the time comes to change hands. These aren’t just British buyers, either, as pre-war specialist dealer Tom Hardman told me. ‘We’re seeing a steady influx of high-quality cars, and overseas buyers have been a significant feature of the past few months. It’s felt like 2014 again, with renewed interest from European and US clients.’ As someone who regularly writes about pre-war racing drivers and record-breakers, I understand what makes these cars extraordinary, but for me, driving a vintage car is all about the experience. We often talk about the ‘analogue’ feel of driving a classic, and good pre-war cars have this in spades: driving one is an event that excites almost all of the senses at the same time. Speed becomes something you feel rather than a number on a dial, ‘grip’ something you experience through your fingertips. Hopefully, the recent price corrections could encourage new owners, as the monetary risk of ownership reduces. Take my word for it: it’s worth it.

John Mayhead Hagerty Price Guide editor, market commentator and concours judge

UK TOP L I V E AUC T ION SA LES, 2024 Vehicle

Date

Location

Sale price

1933 Bugatti Type 43A Roadster

30 August

London

£2.981m

1928 Mercedes-Benz 36/220 S-Type Four-Seater Sports Tourer

12 July

Goodwood

£2.871m

1933 Bugatti Type 57 Atalante

30 August

London

£2.363m

1989 Ferrari F40

2 November

London

£1.974m

1965 Ferrari 275 GTB

2 November

London

£1.749m

1954 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing

2 November

London

£1.445m

1967 Ferrari 330 GTS

12 June

Cliveden

£1.243m

1964 Ferrari 250 GT Lusso

2 November

London

£1.147m

1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing

12 July

Goodwood

£1.135m

1963 Ferrari 250 GT Lusso

12 June

Cliveden

£1.13m 153

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RM SOTHEBY’S

The Market Auction Previews

From Le Mans to Le Mans RM Sotheby’s, Paris, France 4-5 February

AS THE RULES in sports prototype racing rapidly changed towards the end of the 1960s, Ferrari needed to develop a competitor to take on Porsche’s 917. In a rush to homologate the 512 in time, 25 cars were built to compete in the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1970. Chassis 1030, to be offered by RM Sotheby’s in Paris, was one of 17 that competed in the 1970 season, run by Belgian Ferrari concessionaire and racing team Ecurie Francorchamps. It debuted at the 8 Hours of Spa in May, piloted by Derek Bell and Hugues de Fierlant, who took it to a very respectable eighth overall. Its next outing was at Le Mans, where de Fierlant and Alistair Walker drove it to an impressive fifth place overall.

Chassis 1030 was then drafted into the filming of the Steve McQueen film Le Mans in the autumn, before heading to South Africa to race at Kyalami. Continuing to race through the 1971 season, it eventually returned to Belgium and was upgraded to M specification. After a couple more races, including an outright victory at Zandvoort, the 512 M was sold to Lord Anthony Bamford in 1972. He then entered the car into the MN GT championship, placing it first in all seven races. In all those races the Ferrari never suffered a serious collision, which makes it one of the most original cars of its type remaining. It’s estimated to sell for €9-12million. rmsothebys.com

S for Special Iconic, Stoneleigh, UK 22 February DESPITE THE FACT that we think of the RS200 – or any Group B homologation car for that matter – as a super-desirable collectible these days, the market was a very different place in the early 1990s. Ford actually struggled to sell all the 200 road cars, and this extremely rare RS200 S was one of 20 built to try to entice buyers, with more power – boosted to 350bhp – and a more luxuriously appointed interior. Highlights include a Stig Blomqvist steering wheel, half-leather Recaro seats and ‘improved’ air conditioning. Three-piece Speedline wheels are also an upgrade from standard, and it is one of only four examples built in red. It’s estimated at £300,000-350,000. iconicauctioneers.com 154

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1976 Fiat 131 Abarth Rally Artcurial, Paris, France 7-8 February, artcurial.com There’s something incredibly cool about the 131 Abarth with its boxy, wide-arch styling. This one started life as one of the 400 homologation road cars, which was converted to full Group 4 spec for historic rallying. Almost every detail has been matched to the factory rally cars – even the 1980 livery. The only deviation is the retention of twin carburettors. It carries an estimate of €100,000-140,000.

1977 Datsun 120A Coupé

1990 Mercedes 560 SEL AMG

1924 Bugatti Brescia

MPC, Cheshire, UK 15 Feb, manorparkclassics.com

Broad Arrow, The Amelia, USA 7-8 Mar, broadarrowauctions.com

Bonhams, Paris, France 6 February, bonhams.com

When was the last time you saw one of these? For our younger readers, the answer is quite possibly ‘never’. This 120A Coupé F-11 is a genuine survivor, one of 14 remaining UK-registered. With 126,500 miles, this must be one of the best examples left. Squint hard enough and you might just spot the Citroën SM-inspired rear glass hatch. Estimated at £8000-9000.

Pre-merger AMG models have become some of the most sought after ‘RADwood’ type cars in the last few years. Most were custombuilt to wild specifications, such as this midnight blue 560 SEL AMG 6.0, which is powered by a Hammerspec DOHC 6.0-litre M117 V8. Confirmed as a genuine car by AMG, it’s estimated to sell for $300,000-350,000.

Originally sold into Australia when it was new, this cherished Type 23 has some period competition history, and only seven owners in its lifetime. Restored in the 1970s and maintained ever since, it’s been regularly used in later years. A substantial refresh was carried out in 2015, with an engine rebuild, respray and reskin. It’s expected to fetch €250,000-300,000.

Also Look Out For… In Victorian Britain, children were generally expected to be seen and not heard, but on 27 May 1844 hundreds of people packed into the hall at the Hanover Square Rooms in London to listen to a 12-year-old. Joseph Joachim, from Hungary, had been invited by the Philharmonic Society to play the solo part of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, and the boy gave a performance described in The Morning Post the following day as ‘beyond all praise’. Joachim became one of the world’s most famous violinists, and the owner of some of the world’s finest violins – including a dozen crafted by the revered Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari. The instrument shown here, made by Stradivari in 1714, was acquired by Joachim in 1849, and he used it for the next three decades. He paid £200 – a startling sum at the time, but even adjusted for inflation a pittance compared with the amount that the Stradivarius is expected to fetch when it is offered by Sotheby’s in New York on 7 February. It is valued at $12-18m and, if it makes more than the $15.9m realised by the so-called ‘Lady Blunt’ Stradivarius in 2011, it will become the most expensive musical instrument ever sold at auction.

AUC T ION DI A RY 29 January-1 February Mecum, Las Vegas, USA (motorcycles) 30 January SWVA, Poole, UK 1 February RM Sotheby’s, Stuttgart, Germany 4-5 February RM Sotheby’s, Paris, France 5-7 February Mathewsons, online 6 February Bonhams, Paris, France 7 February Artcurial, Paris, France 8 February Barons, Southampton, UK 12 February H&H, Buxton, UK 14-15 February Manor Park Classics, Runcorn, UK 15 February Broad Arrow Auctions, San Francisco, USA Morris Leslie, Errol, UK 16 February Iconic Auctioneers, London, UK (motorcycles) 19 February Brightwells, online 22 February Iconic Auctioneers, Stoneleigh Park, UK 23 February Dore & Rees, Shepton Mallet, UK (motorcycles) 27-28 February RM Sotheby’s, Miami, USA 1 March Historics, Ascot, UK 1-2 March Classicbid, Stuttgart, Germany 6-7 March Gooding & Company, Amelia Island, USA 7-8 March Broad Arrow Auctions, Amelia Island, USA 8 March Barons, Southampton, UK WB & Sons, Killingworth, UK 9 March Hampson, Tattenhall, UK 12 March Charterhouse, Sparkford, UK (motorcycles) 12-14 March Mathewsons, online 13 March Charterhouse, Sparkford, UK (motorcycles) IN ASSOCIATION WITH

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The Market Data Mining

Maserati MC12

50 MASERATI MC12

Powered by a naturally aspirated 6.0-litre V12 producing 580bhp, it took six FIA Team Championships, two FIA GT Constructors’ Championships and six Drivers’ Championships. Just 50 road-going Strada examples were built for homologation with a modified 5998cc Enzo engine, but with very slightly milder performance. In 2006, 12 MC12 Versione Corse were sold to special clients, generating 755hp and reportedly reaching 124mph in 6.4 seconds. Today, MC12 Strada values sit around a fifth lower than those of its Ferrari sibling, the trident never quite having the lustre of the prancing horse. Hagerty’s Collectability Algorithm places

the MC12 in the 96th percentile – extremely high, but not as high as the 99.55 percentile Enzo. Collectors have identified the MC12 as a top pick, however, and last year values rose more than any other model in real terms and percentage. The ‘excellent’ condition price grew by £900,000, or 53% year-on-year. Plus, the forecast is good: the car is in that early-2000s sweet spot of extreme performance with a more analogue driving experience. In a Hagerty Price Guide that saw just 7% of models rise in value in 2024, the 2000s was the only decade of first manufacture to show positive growth, and the MC12 is one of the era’s stars. John Mayhead

HAGI Value Tracker

£700,000-plus, with stand-out highly-specced examples fresh from top-level restorations by leading marque specialists commanding £800,000-plus. Over the last ten years or so there have been regular but occasional punctuation marks above the £1million mark and up to £1.4million for exceptional left-hand-drive examples sold in the US market. At the other end of the scale are project cars at around £300,000 or less. That’s where we are today, and it’s not a lot different from five years ago. We calculate that over that time frame the DB5 has delivered a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 1.24% (see right). Meanwhile, the HAGI Top Index of 50 asset-class classics has achieved 5.31%. In fact, barring blips and outliers, the DB5 has been trending sideways for a decade. Simply put, in relative terms in relation to its market sector the DB5 has become better value against comparative market measures.

The adjustment is in part a reaction to the DB5’s earlier periods of outperformance in relation to its sector. That much is clear from the price comparison with the Ferrari 330 GT, when new and then in classic afterlife. Other contenders that cost more new but are now pitched at a lower level than the DB5 include the Maserati Sebring and Lamborghini 400 GT. These rivals were all 2+2s while Aston, in contrast, sold the DB5 as a four-seater, though rear-seat

Aston Martin DB5 saloon In 1965, when a new Aston Martin DB5 was priced at £4412, the Ferrari 330 GT, one of the few alternatives in the niche luxury 2+2/close-coupled four-seater sports GT sector, would have set you back £6522. In other words, the Aston, which had already made its James Bond screen debut in Goldfinger, was two-thirds the price of the Ferrari. These days it’s the other way round, with the more plentiful Ferrari 330 GT pitched at around two-thirds the value of a DB5, yet despite this inversion there’s a strong argument that in 2025 the DB5 still represents value and opportunity. Barring artefact cars directly associated with either the Bond franchise or with significant celebrity ownership, higher-grade DB5s are today trading at

205mph

TOP SPEED

3.8 seconds 0-100km/h

+53%

PRICE RISE, LAST 12 MONTHS

THE MC12 has a lot going for it, even compared with the Ferrari Enzo with which it shares much of its DNA: an astonishingly successful racing history, tiny production numbers and a sublime Giugiaro-designed body. Maserati’s return to motorsport for 2004 was a major milestone, the factory having stepped back from racing after Fon de Portago’s 1957 crash that also did for the Mille Miglia. Fast-forward to 1999: Ferrari had just taken full control of Maserati and the decision was made to return to racing. The Trofeo Light, a 4200-based GT, was first, but another car was prepped for its debut in FIA GTs: the MC12 GT1.

STRADALES BUILT. VERSIONE CORSE BUILT: 12+1 PROTOTYPE

The most important Maserati since the 250F was one of the star performers of 2024

621bhp @ 7500rpm

passengers would be the best judges of that. Nevertheless, if you accept it, the 140mph-plus DB5 was also, as the ads claimed, ‘the fastest regular four-seat GT car in the world’. The DB5 resides in a class of one and will, as long as the world knows who James Bond is, chart its own course in the market. As Carly Simon sang on her Bond theme: ‘Nobody does it better’.

5 Y E A R % AV E R A G E A N N U A L I S E D R E T U R N S 14

12.83

12 10 8 6

5.31

4 2 0

1.24 Aston Martin DB5

HAGI Top Index

S&P 500 Index

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PETER BRADFIELD LTD PETER BRADFIELD BRADFIELD LTD LTD PETER

1967 Maserati Mistral Maserati’s Modena factory built over 800 Mistrals but only 23 in right hand drive. This matching number example has the super rare alloy body and its impressive spec includes1964 a 4 Litre, six cylinder, twin3000 plug engine that can trace its heritage back to the legendary 250F. Works Healey Lightweight Delivering of low range torque smooth highbuilt revs its is impressive andCompetition well matchedDepartment to the 5 speed “767 KNX”lots is an important historicand racing car.power It wasathand by performance the Healey Motor Company withZFa 1967 Maserati Mistral gearbox and all-round disc brakes. The current owner commissioned a complete restoration that took over four years and was recorded lightweight chassis and an all-aluminium body. It was the only ‘Works’ entry for the 1964 “Sebring 12 Hour” driven by Paddy Hopkirk Maserati’s Modena factory built over 800 but only 23 the inwith right hand drive. This matching number example has the super rarea in of detailed The car 1966 was stripped to bare chassis and meticulously rebuilt throughout. Thecurrent engine had andhundreds then campaigned byphotographs. Ted Worswick in Mistrals the Targa Florio Alan Minshaw and in 1968 with Richard Bond. The owner 1964 Works Healey 3000 Lightweight alloy bodyitand its impressive specWelch includes a replaced 4 Litre, six twin plug engine that can itswiring heritage back to fitted. the legendary 250F. new crank rods, tripleJeremy 45DCOE Webers itscylinder, asthmatic fuel injection system andtrace a new loom was The body was 1964 Works Healey 3000 Lightweight acquired in 2015 and thoroughly race prepared it. KNX is very fast and handles well. The high performance 3 litre “767 KNX” is an important historic racing car. It was hand built by the Healey Motor Company Competition Department with a Delivering of low range torque smooth power athand high revsitby itsaalloy performance isblack and well matched tointerior. the 5 speed ZFa stripped to lots bare metal and repainted inracing Maserati with the Borrani wheels in and Oxblood leather to the Offered “767 KNX” is an important historicand car.blue was built the Healey Motor Company Competition Department with engine with three 45DCOE Webers and all body. round brakes give very nice Itimpressive has a fuel cell, fire system and and lightweight chassis and an all-aluminium Itdisc was the only ‘Works’ entry foredge. the 1964 “Sebring 12 Hour” driven bysafety Paddycage Hopkirk gearbox andchassis all-round disc brakes. current commissioned a complete restoration that took over four years and was recorded in exceptional condition, itsowner lot more car ‘Works’ than an E Type and lot less money than aown Ferrari. lightweight anyears all-aluminium body. Itacabinet. was the only entry for thea 1964 “Sebring 12 Hour” driven Paddy Hopkirk overand four hasThe filled ain trophy Comes with sets of wheels, spares etc, buy your cabinet. and then campaigned by Ted Worswick the 1966 Targa Florio with Alan Minshaw and in 1968 with Richard Bond.byThe current owner in hundreds of detailed photographs. The car was stripped to the bare chassis and meticulously rebuilt throughout. The engineowner had a and then campaigned by Ted Worswick the 1966 Targa withit.Alan Minshaw and and in 1968 with Richard current acquired it in 2015 and Jeremy Welchinthoroughly race Florio prepared KNX is very fast handles well. TheBond. high The performance 3 litre new crankitand rods, and tripleJeremy 45DCOE Webers replaced its asthmatic fuelKNX injection system and handles a new wiring loom was fitted. The body was acquired in three 2015 Welch thoroughly it. is very fast and The system high performance 3 litre engine with 45DCOE Webers and all roundrace disc prepared brakes give it a very nice edge. It has a fuelwell. cell, fire and safety cage and stripped to bare metal and repainted in Maserati blue with the Borrani alloy wheels in black and Oxblood leather to the interior. Offered engine with threeover 45DCOE Webers brakes give itwith a very edge. Itspares has aetc, fuelbuy cell,your fire own system and safety cage and four years has and filledalla round trophydisc cabinet. Comes setsnice of wheels, cabinet. exceptional its acabinet. lot moreComes car than ansets E Type and a lot less money Ferrari. over in four years has condition, filled a trophy with of wheels, spares etc, buythan youraown cabinet.

1939 Frazer Nash BMW 328

The BMW 328 was the best sportscar built before the war. Its spec dwarfed everything else on the market. None could match the lightweight tubular chassis, alloy six cylinder engine, synchro gearbox, hydraulic brakes, independent front suspension, rack and pinion steering, disc wheels and faired in headlamps. Frazer Nash knew a winner when they saw it and did a deal to be the importers and remarkably BMW built 45 cars for them in right hand drive. JPA 3 is one of these few. It is in offered in superb condition fresh from a 400,000 Euro restoration having barely done 1,000 miles since. The ultimate marque specialist, Thomas1952 Feierabend, stripped it to Targa the bare chassis was blasted, Frazer Nash Floriowhich “KYN 9” set on a jig and properly restored and designed as a sports car with competition potential combined with enough comfort and boot space for touring. trued.YK AllThe theTarga mechanical elements were rebuilt. The engine had bearings, rods, pistons and a new head fitted, a correct Hurth type gearbox, 1360 is aFlorio Shortwas Chassis Speed Model still fitted withnew its original Vanden Plasjust coachwork. It has been uprated with a perky “KYN is unique because was steering, the onlyofFrazer 2.6feels litreover Austin-Healey derived engine andof was the 1952 London the rear axle rebuilt, suspension, etc,with etc. the There are 2000 photographs these operations. 4½ litre9” engine giving itbrakes, ait good turn speedNash andbuilt mechanically good on detailed the road. The talented Mr. Getley at Kings-

1925 Bentley 3-4½ Litre

1925 Bentley 3-4½ Litre 1925 Bentley 3-4½ Litre

Motorshow car. It was sold to Louis Keller in the USA who competed with it in the 1954 Golden Gate Park Race in San Francisco. In 1925 3-4½ Litre Speed Model Racing maintained it.the However, aBentley number of previous owners have taken a to dogged delight inKYN willfully thehappy A 328 bury is a delight toahas drive and a good one is sublime. They are the weapon of choice atPlas the serious of historic rallying and equally 1952 Frazer Nash Targa Florio “KYN 9” 1986 the is car was discovered by famous British actor, John Rhys-Davies and brought back theend UK. Inhas 2008 9 was ignoring fully race YK 1360 Short Chassis Speed Model still fitted with its original coachwork. It been uprated with a perky Chassis 1066 was delivered with the desirable Vanden Plas coachwork andVanden both chassis and body numbers are stamped in the right paintwork and it has accordingly developed a depth of patina you could drown in. Its bears its battle-scars and witness marks The Targa Florio was designed as a sports car with competition potential combined with just enough comfort and boot space for touring. prepared by Blakeney Motorsport and the car has been campaigned by three subsequent competitive owners. The current owner bought track,isbut approach withSpeed caution; if you enter an with eventits and perform poorlyPlas the coachwork. world will know itsbeen not the car that’s at afault. YKon 1360 aengine Short Chassis Model fitted Vanden It has uprated with perky 4½ litre giving aprepare good turn ofstill speed and mechanically feels good the road. The talented Mr. Getley at Kingsplaces. It was uprated toBMS 4½itit litres inthe 2010 with crank and rodsoriginal giving itlitre a good turnon of speed and reliability. That Mr. Getley has been “KYN is unique because was only Frazer Nash built with the 2.6three Austin-Healey derived engine and was the 1952 London the car9” in 2021 and had the car tonew the highest standards. Presented in beautiful condition, “KYNand 9” israced one of the finest postas4½ badges of honour and has appeared with distinction on at least Flying Scotsman Rallies at the Goodwood litre engine giving it a good turn of speed and mechanically feels good on the road. The talented Mr. Getley at Kingslooking after itwith but clearly ato number of1925 previous owners have taken aLitre dogged delight intaken ignoring the paintwork and itfor has accordingly Complete under-trays, tonneau cover, side-screens, carpapers. cover and atheblizzard ofa paperwork. Eligible everything. bury Racing has maintained it.ready However, aBentley number of3-4½ previous owners have dogged delight inincar willfully ignoring Speed Model Motorshow car. Itoffered was sold Louis Keller in the USA who competed with it in 1954 Golden Gate Park Race San Francisco. In the war Nash’s and is in race condition with current HTP Asuit weighty history file accompanies the with magazine Revival. Concours types and ‘try-hards’ need not apply but will any number ofhas bounders, blaggards or cads. bury Racing has maintained it. However, a number of previous owners have taken a dogged delight in willfully ignoring the 1925 Bentley 3-4½ Litre Speed Model developed a depth of patina you could drown in. It bears its battle-scars as badges of honour and appeared on at least three Flying Chassis 1066 was delivered with the desirable Vanden Plas coachwork and both chassis and body numbers are stamped in the right paintwork and has accordingly developed depth of patina you drown in. Its itsInbattle-scars 1986 the car wasitdiscovered by the famous British actor, John Rhys-Davies brought to bears the UK. 2008 KYN 9and was witness fully racemarks articles, photos, bills anda letters documenting allcould itsand owners andback competition history. Also available Chassis 1066 was delivered with the desirable Vanden Plas coachwork and both chassis and body numbers are stamped in the right Scotsman Rallies and raced at Goodwood. Concours types, ‘try-hards; and matching number zealots need not enquire but will suit any places. Itand was to 4½ litres in 2010 with crank rods giving it subsequent a good turnin. of speed andowners. reliability. That Mr.and Getley has been paintwork ituprated has accordingly developed anew depth ofand patina you could drown Its bears its battle-scars witness marks by Blakeney Motorsport and the car has been campaigned by three competitive The current owner bought Also available asprepared badges of honour and has appeared with distinction on atgiving least three Flying Scotsman Rallies and raced at the Goodwood places. It was uprated toBMS 4½ litres in 2010 with new crank and rods itora good turn of and Invicta reliability. That Mr.ofitGetley has postbeen blaggard, bounder cad. looking after it1931 buthad clearly aprepare number ofcar previous owners have taken a dogged delight inspeed ignoring the paintwork and has accordingly car in 2021 and the to the highest standards. Presented in beautiful condition, “KYN 9” is one the finest Bentley Blower 1934 Frazer Nash TT Rep 1934 S Type as the badges of honour and has appeared with distinction on at least three Flying Scotsman Rallies and raced at the Goodwood 1925 Bentley 3-4½ Litre 1934abut Invicta Ssuit Type byignoring Carbodies Revival. Concours and not apply will any number ofhasbounders, blaggards or cads. looking after but clearly atypes number of‘try-hards’ previous owners have taken dogged delight paintwork and it least has accordingly Also available developed aitdepth of patina youready could drown in. Itneed bears its battle-scars as Abadges ofinhonour andthe appearedthe on at three Flying war Nash’s and is offered in race condition with current HTP papers. weighty history file accompanies car with magazine Revival. Concours types and ‘try-hards’ need not apply but will suit any number of bounders, blaggards or cads. 1954 Bentley R Type Continental See website for more details developed depth of you could drown in. It bears its battle-scars as badges of honour and has appeared on at least three Flying ScotsmanaRallies andpatina raced at Goodwood. Concours types, ‘try-hards; and matching number zealots need not enquire but will suit any 1925 Bentley 3/4½ Litre 1933 Invicta S Type 1965 Alfa Romeo TZ1 articles, photos, bills and letters documenting all its owners and competition history. Scotsman Rallies and raced at Goodwood. Concours types, ‘try-hards; and or matching number zealots need not enquire but will suit any blaggard, bounder cad. Also available blaggard, bounder or cad. Also available

See Website for more details

BentleySee 3-4½ Litre 1934 S Type by Carbodies Website forInvicta more details AlsoInvicta available 8 REECE MEWS 19251925 KENSINGTON Bentley 3/4½ Litre 1933 S Typedetails 1965 Alfa Romeo TZ1LONDON SW7 3HE See Website 1954 Bentley Rfor Typemore Continental 1925 Bentley 3/4½ Litre 1933 Invicta S Type 1965 Alfa Romeo TZ1 peter@bradfieldcars.com Tel: 020 7589 8787 www.bradfieldcars.com 8 REECE MEWS KENSINGTON LONDON SW7 3HE 8 REECE MEWS KENSINGTON LONDON SW7 3HE peter@bradfieldcars.com Tel: 020 7589 8787 www.bradfieldcars.com peter@bradfieldcars.com Tel: 020 7589 8787 www.bradfieldcars.com

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10/04/2024 15/12/2023 12:27 14:15

The Market Dealer News

SHOWROOM BRIEFS

2025 Mercedes-Benz AMG One £3,000,000 One of the 275 high-tech Mercedes hypercars, optioned with eye-catching Motorsport Styling Package. As close to a road-going modern F1 car as (lots of) money can buy. top555.co.uk (UK)

1990 BMW M3 Sport Evolution £159,995 from Hexagon Classics, London, UK HIGH-PERFORMANCE road cars that were built to homologate their racing counterparts, especially those from the Group A era, have been some of the best drivers’ cars of all time. It’s difficult to pick just one as the greatest, but the E30 M3 has to be up there as one of the true legends – alongside the Integrale, Sierra Cosworth and Skyline GT-R. This E30, offered by Hexagon Classics, is no ordinary example. After the initial M3 was launched in 1986, BMW released limited-edition Evolution 1 and Evo 2 models in 1987 and 1988 to keep the 2.3-litre car competitive, but this is an example of the Sport Evolution version from 1990. Just 600 were built to comply with regulations,

and the upgrades were very serious. The capacity of the four-cylinder engine was increased to 2.5 litres – pushing power to 235bhp – with various other tweaks to keep it competitive in DTM, such as brake cooling ducts built into the front bumper. The most obvious visual differences, however, are the adjustable multi-position front splitter and rear wing. This example is particularly rare, as it’s one of only 60 cars delivered new to the UK in 1990. Like all E30 M3s, it’s left-hand drive, but the ‘impressive’ history file confirms that it was delivered to Cooper Park Lane BMW in September 1990. The mileage today sits at 78,100 – not too low but not too high. One to enjoy as intended! hexagonclassics.com

The Insider THIS YEAR MARKS our 15th and, like all good teenagers, we are growing – again. Our Foxfield’s farm base in Lancashire is mercifully big enough; our new showroom, offices and hospitality suite will be open in March, so watch out for more on that. With everything from a 1908 Brasier to the latest Porsche 992 Targa 4 GTS, we have something to scratch every automotive itch. With my own roots in pre-war cars, the number of pre-war first-time buyers we had in 2024 was reassuring, and we had our best sales year to date. It seems that analogue is fashionable (but I knew that already). Sales of cars with a strong history have been particularly notable, both pre- and post-war. People love to be part of a good story. Best buy for me? 1950s sports cars: a Frazer Nash Targa Florio MkII can be had for AC Ace Bristol money. That’s a real bargain in my opinion. Keep your eyes open and you can always get something special for good money. Remember that fashions change, but while they are changing you can do what you do best: enjoy the road.

Tom Hardman Founder and MD of the eponymous company focusing on pre-war and 1950s sports cars

1930 Invicta 4.5-Litre ‘Low Chassis’ Type S, €375,000 These wonderful cars get their name, and unusually low stance, from mounting the rear axle above the chassis. This one was converted from a ‘high chassis’ during a full rebuild in 2010. centurylimited.eu (DK)

1954 Kaiser Darrin 161 Convertible, $97,500 America’s second glassfibre car after the 1953 Corvette, and one of only 435 produced. This is an older restoration in a particularly bright shade of (period correct) Pine Tint, with matching interior. gullwingmotorcars.com (US)

1965 Alfa Romeo 2600 Coupé $89,500 AUD Australian delivered, matchingnumbers example of the elegant Bertone-bodied 2600 Coupé. Always maintained to a high standard, and looking great after being repainted in 2015. brooklandscc.com (AUS)

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The Market Buying Guide

THE LOWDOWN

BARRY HAYDEN

WHAT TO PAY

Austin Seven Small, fun, cheap and cheerful, this centenarian’s timeless charm is relentless FOR MANY, THE idea of owning a pre-war car remains a dream because taking the leap into this unknown is too intimidating. Most are expensive, not just to buy, but also to look after. They require frequent specialist attention to maintain – and if that isn’t a world you’re familiar with, it can be rather daunting. That needn’t be the case, however, as Austin Seven enthusiasts around the world attest. Before World War One, Austin had made its name producing large, luxurious cars, but depressed demand post-war had forced the company into administration by 1920. Herbert Austin’s next plan was to create a small, affordable car to mobilise the masses. Despite resistance from the other company directors, Austin teamed up with Stanley Edge – a young draughtsman working alongside Sir Herbert in the billiard room of his house – to create a smaller, simpler car that could take over from the cyclecars and motorcycle-and-sidecar combinations that were prevalent at the time. Austin used his own funds to bankroll the development, taking a gamble that would ultimately pay off thanks to several patents he had on the car – meaning he could then charge Austin for royalties on every one built. Launched at the end of 1922, the baby Austin certainly looked like a scaled-down version of Austin’s previous cars, with an open, four-seater body. Power was provided by a 696cc four-cylinder engine producing 7.2bhp, driving the rear wheels via a three-speed manual gearbox. An impressively low weight of 350kg ensured that performance was more than adequate. By March 1923, the engine had been enlarged to 747cc and 10.5bhp. The first four-seater hardtop version made an

appearance in 1926, with a two-seater version following in 1929. For us, of course, the most interesting variant was launched in 1930: the racing Ulster. Named after the Northern Irish road race in which it found success, this model hinted at the Seven’s potential: not only for Austin’s own sporty Nippy and Grasshopper models that followed, but also for the many home-built specials that would be spawned when the Seven enjoyed a boom on the secondhand market duing post-WW2 austerity. The model underwent a significant restyle in 1934. After that point, each version gained a new gemstone name to differentiate between the versions. Ruby was the four-seat saloon, Opal the two-seater tourer, while the Pearl was the cabriolet. 1937 saw the introduction of the Big Seven, offering four doors for the first time. This little Austin certainly left its mark on the industry, with various versions built around the world under licence in France, Germany, Japan, Australia and even the USA. It was a huge success, with over 290,000 produced in total before UK production stopped in 1939. Few cars have had the ability to bring joy to multiple generations of the same family as the Austin Seven. Here’s a pre-war car that offers accessibility in the form of affordable prices, reasonably simple mechanicals and a brilliant community. In fact, it’s long been a way to get young people indoctrinated into the vintage car scene, especially in the world of trialling. Specialist insurer RH has just announced that it has a new special policy tailored for 17-yearolds to get insurance on an Austin Seven, too. The perfect excuse start shopping… Matthew Hayward

Always a good value prospect, and loved by its community, its prices have remained fairly static throughout the recent peaks and troughs. Standard saloons in serviceable condition start from around £6000, with open-topped cars kicking off closer to £8000. The best examples tend to peak at around £15,000. For something a little sportier, there are plenty of Ulster replicas out there. Expect to pay from £15,000 for a usable rep up to £30,000 for a fully restored car. Although there are still lots of well-loved Sevens in existence, owners tend to keep them for decades at a time. It’s worth engaging with the clubs, even before you buy one, as good cars tend to stay within the community. LOOK OUT FOR Bodywork is the most important aspect when you look at any Seven, so pay extremely close attention. Like most cars of this era, a combination of steel, aluminium and fabric outer panels are all mounted to a wooden frame. Not only will the steel rust, but the wood also likes to rot, so try to check the integrity of both. Bolt-on replacement panels, such as doors and front wings, are readily available. Engines are hardy, but will smoke heavily when in need of a rebuild. Healthy units should be smooth, so be cautious of any rumbling noises from the crankshaft. Later engines are slightly more prone to issues. The original brake set-up has a bad reputation, but the cable-operated drums should be reasonably effective if correctly set up. Some owners have upgraded with hydraulic braking systems, which is no bad thing. Check for play in the kingpins and trunnions, which need regular greasing.

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2024 FERRARI 812 COMPETIZIONE This stunning limited-edition example is an Atelier specification presented in Verde Masoni with Cuoio interior. Ferrari F1 drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jnr’s signatures can be found on the carbon fibre trim under the bonnet that were added at the factory and has only covered 176 miles. The car has a huge specification including racing livery, air brushed shields, high power hi-fi system, passenger display, extensive carbon fibre trim plus and is fully covered with PPF protection.

2024 PORSCHE 911 (992) GT3 RS (VAT Q) Black with black interior. Ordered through Porsche Sonderwunsch (special request) program. The car is equipped with a Weissach pack with carbon ﬁbre roll cage, 20/21-inch Magnesium lightweight alloys, Porsche ceramic brakes, Club Sport package, PDK gearbox, illuminated carbon ﬁbre door sills, front axel lift system, BOSE surround sound system, park assist with reversing camera and light design package. Delivery miles

+44 (0) 1772 613 114

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sales@williamloughran.co.uk

www.williamloughran.co.uk

14/01/2025 12:55

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1951 Ferrari 212 Inter: Vignale / Drogo, Mille Miglia 1952, 1954. Ground up restoration. Race and Rally ready.

1970 Porsche 917:5 liter, flat 12. Total comprehensive rebuild by ex-factory 917 specialist. Driven by Derek Bell, Vic Elford, Jo Siffert; used in the making of Steve McQueen’s movie “Le Mans”.

WE WILL BUY AND CONSIGN ALL FERRARI AND ALL VINTAGE SPORTS RACING & GT CARS PARTIAL TRADES CONSIDERED - FINANCING AVAILABLE

1968 Fiat Dino Spider: Rare. Frame-up resto; bare metal repaint. Driveline & suspension rebuild; new interior top & chrome. With photo docs. Stunning!

1974 Jaguar XKE V12 Roadster: One of a kind, uniquely built. Bare metal repaint, new interior, 5-sp, Webers, SS headers, Alloy radiator, Two tops.

2011 Hennessey Venom mid-engine GT: 3rd one built out of 13; 725hp; as new condition; single owner from new with only 2100 miles.

1996 Porsche 911 Twin Turbo, Arena 1965 Austin-Healey 3000 BJ8, red/tan, 1986 Ferrari Mondial: Just out of 20 year 1965 Porsche 356SC Cabriolet: MatchRed/Tan, 55k miles, clean CarFax, ing #s, 1 of 533. 3-owner, full docs, COA. frame-up resto., 4sp OD, Webers, comp ownership, always serviced / excellent cosmetic/mechanical condition, 67k miles. One repaint. Euro version. wheels, headers, electronic ignition. well-maintained. Excellent paint. service records from new. A beauty. Outstanding original throughout. Performs better than it ever did. All systems in excellent working order.

www.MotorClassiCCorp.CoM 350 ADAMS STREET, BEDFORD HILLS NEW YORK 10507 914-997-9133 • SALES@MOTORCLASSICCORP.COM MtrClassicMar25octaneHalf.indd 1

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• California, USA • Restoration: +1 760-758-6119 • Showroom: +1 760-758-6100 sales@classicshowcase.com

1959 1959 Elva Elva Mark Mark III III

1936 1936 Talbot Talbot Alpine Alpine Team Team Car Car Replica Replica

1934 Bentley Bentley 3½-Litre 3½-Litre Tourer Tourer 1934

1925 Vauxhall Vauxhall 30-98 30-98 OE OE Velox Velox Tourer Tourer 1925

Landline: Landline: +44 +44 (0) (0) 1440 1440 841 841 447 447

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Mobile: Mobile: +44 +44 (0) (0) 7493 7493 897 897 975 975

john@polsonmotorco.com john@polsonmotorco.com

@polsonmotorco @polsonmotorco

Ferrari 612 Scaglietti F1 Rosso Corsa 44,513 Miles

£54,995

Stock Number - 22751

Ferrari 355 Spider Manual Rosso Corsa 36,981 Miles

Stock Number - 22783

Ferrari 550 Maranello Nero Daytona 13,334 Miles

£84,995

£119,995

Stock Number - 22864

Ferrari 430 Spider F1 Nero Daytona 19,138 Miles

£74,995

Stock Number - 22741

Ferrari 599 GTB F1 Grigio Silverstone 25,809 Miles

£84,995

Stock Number - 22912

Ferrari 458 Spider DCT Rosso Corsa 29,941 Miles

£124,995

Stock Number - 22778

www.tfcgb.com True Ferrari Connoisseurs Cavallino Building, ME15 9YG

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CHRISTOPH GROHE S.A. I 10 ROUTE D’ALLAMAN I 1173 FECHY I SWITZERLAND

ASMotorsport Motorsport ltd AS ltd Poplar Farm, Bressingham, Diss, Norfolk, IP22 2AP PANHARD-LEVASSOR - B2, 10CV, 4 cylinder, 1902

AUSTRO-DAIMLER - ADM III Sport, Race car, 1927

ALVIS TC108G Graber Special Cabriolet, 1958

LANCIA Flaminia Sport Zagato 2,5 3C, 1963

ALVIS TD21 Graber Super Coupé, 1963

LANCIA Lambda Berlina by Lancia, 1929

FIAT 1400 Cabriolet Bertone, 1951

PONTIAC GTO Convertible, 1967

FERRARI 328 GTS, 1987

ROLLS-ROYCE Phantom II Coupé de Ville, 1932

JAGUAR XK150 "S" 3,8Lt Coupé, 1960

I will be exhibitor at Retromobile 2025 in Hall 1, Stand nr M-063

HURTU Type 2E, 2 cylinder, Tonneau, 1904 WWW.CHRISTOPHGROHE.COM

@CHRISTOPHGROHE

Tel: 01379688356 Mob: 07909531816 Web: www.asmotorsport.co.uk Email: info@asmotorsport.co.uk

T +41 79 212 43 55

ASM hand build bespoke versions of the R1 roadster, inspired by the Aston Martin race cars that won Le Mans and the world Sportscar championship in 1959. Contact us for details of commission builds and stock.

Poplar Farm, Bressingham, Diss, Norfolk, IP22 2AP

Tel: 01379688356 • Mob: 07909531816 Web: www.asmotorsport.co.uk Email: info@asmotorsport.co.uk

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12/11/2019 12:30

ASM R1 Stirling Moss tribute car enjoying track time at Goodwood. ASM hand build bespoke versions of the R1 roadster, inspired by the Aston Martin race cars that won Le Mans and the world Sportscar championship in 1959. Contact us for details of commission builds and stock.

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15/11/2018 13:

1930 BUGATTI TYPE 46

Coupe Superprofilée Ch. 46208 1975 Lancia Fulvia 1.3S

1976 Porsche 911 2.7

LHD, Ex-Italy, fully restored, beautiful.... ...................................................£24,995

LHD, 60,000 miles, supplied new to Germany, narrow body ..............£42,995

1991 BMW Z1

1974 Lancia Fulvia Monte Carlo

UK supplied, 69,000 miles, original and factory car, 25,000kms, original Italian unmolested......... .......................£36,995 car.............. ................................ £27,495

1959 Austin Healey 3000 Mk1

1996 Marcos Mantara 3.9 V8

BT7, black interior, fully restored some 30,000 miles, full history, A/c, PAs ...... ... years ago, fantastic....................£42,995 ...................................................£25,000

Selection of other cars available: 1930 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Gran Sport Zagato 1933 Bugatti Type 55 Super Sports Ch. BC 146 1938 Bugatti Type 57C Stelvio by Gangloff (Now sold) 1938 Delahaye 135 Competition Special Tribute 1938 Delahaye 135M Figoni & Falaschi 1930 Invicta 4.5 Litre Low Chassis S Type 1953 Maserati A6 GCS Pininfarina (Pur Sang) Phone: +45 5363 8956 | Email: info@centurylimited.eu

W W W. C E N T U R Y L I M I T E D . E U

THE UK’S OLDEST INDEPENDENT FERRARI SPECIALIST | EST. 1968 1972 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona

1972 Ferrari Dino 246 GTS

1974 Ferrari 365 GT4 Berlinetta Boxer

1989 Ferrari Testarossa

2005 Ferrari 575M - Manual

1988 Ferrari 328 GTB

£POA

£147,995

£324,995

£184,995

£POA

£82,995

D ELIVERING U NRIVALLED F ERR ARI S ALES , S ER VICE & R ESTOR ATION FOR OVER 50 YEARS

FOSKERS.COM E M A I L : i n fo @fo s ke r s.co m | S A L E S :+4 +4 4 (0 )1 4 7 4 8 7 4 5 5 5 B R A N D S H AT C H P A R K , K E N T , DA 3 8 P U

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speedsport gallery

An extensive variety of original motor racing paintings, photographs and autographed items for sale.

The image depicts Jim Clark’s Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato leading the eventual winner Stirling Moss. Although the main image is a print, two smaller original acrylic paintings are included in the overall image. This piece also features an early Jim Clark signature and the signature of Michael Parkes inset into the mount.

Goodwood 1961 Tourist Trophy by Nicolas Watts

Print 50 x 63 cm PRICE: £1,450.00

T: 01327 858 167 E: info@speedsport.co.uk www.speedsport-gallery.com

Key Repairs & Personalisation for all Marques Worldwide New Signature Range

Bentley Arnage Key Upgrades & Restoration

Maserati Key ‘Blue Key’ Upgrades

Gift Cards available

Aston Martin Valet Key Button Upgrades

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Derby Plating PlatingServices ServicesLtd LtdEst. Est.1979 1979 Derby Derby Plating Services Ltd Est. 1979

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1974 Williams FW03—Ford DFV SPEEDMASTER SPECIALIST IN HISTORIC AUTOMOBILES 1974 Williams FW03—Ford 1974 Williams FW03—Ford DFVDFV 1974 Williams DFV 1974 Williams FW03—Ford DFV Built by WilliamsFW03—Ford for the 1974 Grand Prix season, Tel: Arturo+44 (0)1937 220 360 or +44 (0)7768 800 773 Built by Williams for the 1974 Grand Prix season, Arturo Built by Williams for the 1974 Grand Prix season, Arturo Built byby Williams forfor the 1974 season, Arturo Mezario finished 4th in this carGrand at thePrix Italian GP which at Built Williams the 1974 Grand Prix Arturo info@speedmastercars.com Mezario finished incar this car at theseason, Italian GP which Mezario finished 4th in4th this at the Italian GP which at at Mezario nished inresult this car at the Italian GP which at the time fiwas the 4th best for the edgling Williams team, Mezario fitime nished 4th inbest this car atfl the Italian GP which at the was the result for fledgling Williams the time was the best result for the flthe edgling Williams team,team, the time was thethe best result for the fledgling Williams team, off ered with spares package, and recently rebuilt including the time was best result for the fl edgling Williams team, off ered with spares package, and recently rebuilt including off ered with spares package, and rebuilt including off ered with spares package, and recently including fresh Richardson DFV engine, the carrecently is offrebuilt ered complete off ered with spares package, and recently rebuilt including fresh Richardson DFV engine, the car is off ered complete fresh Richardson DFV engine, the car is off ered complete 1974 Williams FW03—Ford DFV fresh Richardson DFV engine, the car is off ered complete with fresh crack testDFV and fuel cell the certifi cates. in the fresh Richardson engine, car is offFinished ered complete with fresh crack test and fuel cell certifi cates. Finished with fresh crack test and fuel certifi cates. Finished in thein the with fresh crack test and cellcell certifi cates. Finished in the iconic Marlboro livery is a fuel competitive car for the early Monaco with fresh crack test and fuel certifi cates. Finished in the Built by Williams for the 1974 Prix season, Arturo iconic Marlboro livery is Grand acell competitive carthe for the early Monaco iconic Marlboro livery a car competitive car for early Monaco iconic Marlboro ais competitive car for the early Monaco Historic GP grid livery and a is great for Masters Historic F1. iconic Marlboro livery is aacompetitive for early Mezario finished 4th inand this car at the Italian GP the which at Monaco Historic GP grid great carMasters forcar Masters Historic F1. Historic GP grid and a great car for Historic Historic GPGP grid and a great car for Masters Historic F1.F1. Historic grid and aresult great car for Masters Historic F1. the time was the best for the fledgling Williams team, offered with spares package, and recently rebuilt including fresh Richardson DFV engine, the car is offered complete with fresh crack test and fuel cell certificates. Finished in the iconic Marlboro livery is a competitive car for the early Monaco Historic GP grid and a great car for Masters Historic F1.

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2009 Porsche 997 Carrera 4S Cabriolet in Dove Grey with black hide interior and 6 speed manual transmission. Just 2 lady owners from new with a complete Porsche only, fully stamped service history. The recorded mileage is just 43,600 confirmed by the mot history and the last lady owner has enjoyed this car since 2012. The specification includes Air conditioning, satellite navigation with Bluetooth connectivity, electrically operated mohair soft top, Bose sound system, Cruise control, Heated electric seats, 19” multi-spoke alloy wheels with red brake callipers, white instrument dials and alloy pedals. A rare opportunity to acquire a beautiful, low mileage, convertible 997, reduced in line with current values to £39,950

1988 Porsche 928 S4 finished in Porsche Silver metalic with full black hide interior. This is a well-preserved example with only 77,000 miles and comes with a complete service history. This 928 S4 has been entrusted to “Porsche Chester” since 2019 for regular servicing and improvement including new discs and pads and over £8,000 on the car has been spent during that time. Less than 4,000 miles covered in the last 5 years. Porsche advertising at the time of production claimed 316 BHP and a top speed of 165 MPH. Porsche 928’s in this excellent condition are becoming increasingly difficult to find and we believe that this one will sell quickly and won’t be available for long. Competitively priced for one in this condition at £24,950

2009 Porsche Panamera 4S finished in Yachting Blue Metallic with cream hide interior. Just arrived with us from an mot test carried out on the 16th of January which it passed with no advisories. The condition of this Panamera is a credit to its previous owner and has to be seen to be fully appreciated. It comes with a full-service history including an original book pack and is faultless to drive. Whilst the total mileage is 95,000, it has been impeccably maintained and it looks and drives like a car that has a 5th of that mileage. Not expensive for one in this condition at £15,000

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177

Autobiography

LONG WAY UP / APPLE TV

Interview by Charlotte Vowden

Charley Boorman The two-wheel devotee has filmed a fourth epic ’bike trip with Ewan McGregor, 20 years after their first adventure

I THINK A bit of adventure is always good. My advice to people is just buy a nonrefundable ticket and go. Twenty years ago Ewan [McGregor, the actor] put a map on his kitchen table and said let’s do a trip around the world. My life changed because of that moment. I was 37 years old with a wife, two kids and a mortgage – but I felt like I’d failed. I’m terribly dyslexic, so school didn’t work out for me. I left to make a movie in Paris when I was 16, and the headmaster said: ‘Charley, I think this is your path.’ Acting gave me a voice, a direction and a career, but I had to give it up because dyslexia made it too difficult to learn lines. I became a painter and decorator but didn’t really like the way my life was going. I met Ewan in my late twenties. When we set off on our trip, he’d had great success in Star Wars, while I had about five grand to my name. We were just two friends on BMW GS 1150 adventure bikes with absolutely no idea what to expect. I was excited and terrified. I don’t know how, but we blagged our way through and managed to get a successful TV show and book out of it called Long Way Round. We’ve just finished filming our fourth show, Long Way Home, which will be out later this year. I think lots of people who work in film, television or media are slightly nomadic – my mother always used to say we were gypsies –

so I’ll be forever grateful to Ewan for helping me find a way to express myself. Looking back, my childhood was bonkers. I grew up in the Wicklow Mountains in Ireland, but my father, John Boorman, was a film director so we travelled all over the world, moving to wherever he was making a movie. Dad’s the reason I became an actor; he would say ‘Why pay a child actor when I’ve got four of my own who will do it for free?’ Dad would edit his movies at home in Ireland and, when we were there, we lived quite a feral lifestyle. The house was in the middle of nowhere and my mother, Crystal, used a megaphone to call us in for lunch. I used to ride horses, but you don’t have to muck out or feed motorcycles. My love for them started when I was about five. Jason Connery [son of the actor Sean] and I spent hours getting a little Honda Monkey Bike going, which I then crashed into a bush. When I was six, I commandeered my mother’s London taxi and crashed that into a bush as well. Dad never got angry or showed concern, he just laughed. Riding long distances on a motorcycle is great for your mental wellbeing. My sister, Telsche, died of ovarian cancer 37 years ago. I had a newborn child, I was busy, and life just carried on, but when we did Long Way Round I had time to think about her. On the road for days on end, I’d often have a little cry in my helmet. I talked to Ewan about her, too, and to this day, whenever he sees a rainbow, he says ‘Look, Telsche’s here.’ I always feel her presence when I’m travelling; whenever I crash, or if I’m in trouble, I hear her laughing at me, or with me. I’ve also got a twin sister, Daisy, and another sister, Katrine. I’ve got a bike for every feeling, plus a jacket to match, but I try to keep my collection to around 12. I’ve got a beautiful Ducati DesertX, a couple of Triumphs and a couple of Kawasaki W650s, which was the first bike I chopped up and made into a Café Racer. I own part of a restaurant/café in London called the Bike Shed and it’s a nice place to go on a motorbike like that. People can give you advice, but the thing with adventure is that you have to figure it out for yourself. Ewan I are still making the same mistakes, we still pack stuff we don’t need. When Ewan and I did Long Way Round the sat-nav was useless, especially in Africa and Eastern Europe, but you just use what’s available. I’m pretty sure if you’d offered Google Maps to the first person trying to reach the North Pole he’d have said yes. When I’m finishing a big trip and have been away for a long time, I find it reassuring to talk about where I’d like to go next. Adventure is the itch you can’t scratch.

Octane (ISSN 1740-0023, USPS 024-187) is published monthly by Hothouse Publishing Ltd, UK. Airfreight and mailing in the USA by agent named World Container INC 150-15, 183rd St, Jamaica, NY 11413, USA. Periodicals postage paid at Brooklyn, NY 11256. US Postmaster: send address changes to Octane, WORLD CONTAINER INC 150-15, 183rd St, Jamaica, NY 11413, USA.

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T H E

H A I R P I N

C O M P A N Y

BORN IN STUTTGART

1990 PORSCHE 964 C2 MANUAL C16 UK RHD. A supreme example in superlative condition. 38,000 miles with a great history. Comes with everything. Imagine, it could have been parked outside Werke 1 in Stuttgart once finished, next to this 500E.

1991 MERCEDES 500E An excellent example of this rare model built by Porsche in Stuttgart on behalf of Mercedes Benz in the iconic Rossle Bau building. Finished in a special order colour combination and just 58,000 miles with a complete history.

T E L : 0124 9 76 0 6 8 6 • T H E H A I R P I N C O M PA N Y. C O . U K T H E H A I R P I N C O M PA N Y C O M P T O N B A S S E T T W I LT S H I R E S N11 8 R H

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