Octane 250 by Hothouse Media

MCLAREN, BUGATTI & KOENIGSEGG’S RACE TO MAKE A 250MPH ROAD CAR

FERRARI’S ULTIMATE 2 0 This priceless 250GT Zagato may be a concours winner, but it’s still driven just as it was intended to be

ICON IS SUE WE HONOUR EVERYTHING ‘TWO-FIFTY’

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250 MPH ROAD CARS 250 BHP HEROES 250 CC ICONS

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250 MPH PIONEERS MASERATI 250F OUR FAVOURITE 250s

ALFA ROMEO 8C 2300 JAGUAR SS100 BRISTOL WORKS RACER ALFA JUNIOR ZAGATO MATRA DJET RICHARD HAMMOND ●

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Issue 250 / April 2024

CONTENTS

‘1957 BEGAN SPECTACULARLY AS MASERATI 250Fs TOOK THE FIRST FOUR PLACES IN THE ARGENTINE GRAND PRIX, WITH FANGIO AT THE TOP’ MASERATI 250F, PAGE 74

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Issue 250 / April 2024

CONTENTS 108

CELEBRATION! FERRARI 250GT ZAGATO Page 56 In California with a rare concours-winner

THE PACE RACE Page 66 From 200 to 250mph and more on the road

THE 250MPH PIONEERS Page 70 On land, on sea, in the air and on two wheels

MASERATI 250F Page 74 Racer of choice for all the great drivers

THE 250CC HERO Page 84 Honda RC166, ten-time World Champion

THE FINEST 250S Page 86 Iconic objects of desire explored

250BHP FOR THE PEOPLE Page 88 Mitsubishi Evo VI meets Impreza Type RA STi 122

130

PLUS ALFA ROMEO 8C 2300 Page 96 Back in the Le Mans winner from issue 1

MATRA-BONNET DJET Page 108 Driving the pioneering 1960s French Lotus rival

THE OCTANE INTERVIEW Page 116 Sole surviving Bristol works racer Micky Pople

JAGUAR SS100S Page 122 Two cars in the same hands for decades

ALFA JUNIOR ZAGATO IN JAPAN Page 130 Exclusive tour in the shadow of Mount Fuji 7

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Issue 250 / April 2024

CONTENTS 140

REGULARS EVENTS & NEWS Page 16 The month in pictures; bumper Diary with key dates for 2024; shock Mullin collection sale

GEARBOX Page 42 TV presenter and restorer Richard Hammond

COLUMNS Page 45 16

Wry writings from Jay Leno, Derek Bell, Stephen Bayley and Robert Coucher

152

LETTERS Page 53 An invitation to the Mille Miglia in a works Aston

OCTANE CARS Page 140 RICHARD ADATTO

Mark’s Model T makes it into the movies

156

OVERDRIVE Page 148 Electric Rolls, Porsche 914 with new heart

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN Page 152

Pioneering racer Lucy O’Reilly Schell

ICON Page 154 Belgium’s Atomium, from Expo 58

164

CHRONO Page 156 Valjoux 7750, deservedly a prolific movement

GEAR, BOOKS, MODELS Page 160 To want is to need – so much to choose from

THE MARKET Page 169 Sold and selling; buying Merc 250SL Pagoda

AUTOBIOGRAPHY Page 202 162

Nathalie McGloin, sole female tetraplegic racer

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Issue 250 / April 2024

FEATURING

HARRY HURST

GORDON MENZIE

‘Perhaps no other Formula 1 car better epitomises that era than the Maserati 250F, and it was driven by all the greats. More than anything, I think the shape – especially of the 1957 cars – is absolutely perfect and the definition of “form follows function”.’

Harry is Director of Programs for the Simeone Museum. Read his 250F story on pages 74-82.

EDITOR’S WELCOME

250 not out WELCOME TO THIS special 250th issue of Octane. To mark such an auspicious occasion we have a superb selection of 250-themed articles, ranging from a unicorn Ferrari to a brace of more recent, more affordable powerbrokers, via what is to my mind the greatest and most beautiful front-engined F1 car of all. Sandwiched between them are articles on the race to build the first 250mph road car, the first people and craft to hit the magic number on land, sea and air (and two wheels – above), plus a 250cc hero and a host of other achingly desirable 250-related icons. We hope it is as much fun to read as it was to put together. Rest assured that there is also all the usual great Octane content, including a spectacular revisiting of the 1932 Le Mans-winning Alfa Romeo 8C 20 years on, and a pair of Jaguar SS100s, the owners of which have cherished them for decades longer than Octane has even been in existence. All of that cements my theory that very little in life is as reassuring of quality as longevity. It’s very sad that in the modern world such durability seems to be frequently (and wrongly) equated with stasis or stagnation when, to me, it represents the very opposite: loyalty, excellence, authority, credibility, experience, expertise, consistency (when did that become a negative?), plus a load of other adjectives that we aspire to on Octane. You can see it in the staff

allegiance. I’m the newboy, having joined for issue 174; Matthew Hayward has been with us since issue 65, Robert Hefferon since 85, Glen Waddington from 87, while Mark Dixon came on board for issue 2. Plus, of course, Robert Coucher, Sanjay Seetanah, Sam Snow, and new/old MD Geoff Love and editorial director David Lillywhite were at the birth. I’m not here to blow our own trumpet for endurance and continuity, however, but to applaud you. Two things always astonish me whenever I meet or correspond with Octane readers: the first is how many have been with the magazine for aeons, often going back to the very start; the second is how fervent their passion and enthusiasm for it remain even after 20 years and 250 issues. So thank you all and, whether you joined us for issue 1 or 249, we hope you enjoy this and the next 250 issues just as much.

CHRIS MANN ‘The SS100 Jaguar looked like it was doing 100mph standing still and was the first high-performance sports car accessible to a wider demographic than the super-rich. Taking the wheel of two remarkable SS100s owned for decades by Michael Turner and John Guyatt was an honour.’

Find out more on pages 122-128.

GERARD BROWN ‘I’d never heard of a Matra-Bonnet Djet but this bright yellow slice of Gallic delight was a perfect model to work with on a sunny day. It had a great stance and sounded fantastic. A perfect piece of automotive history with an intriguing back story, I loved it.’

James Elliott, editor in chief

Gerard’s superb photography accompanies Glen Waddington’s story on pages 108-114. COVER PHOTOGRAPHY LEE BRIMBLE

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OCTANE RM 72-01 RG 5H:Mise en page 1

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RM 72-01 In-house skeletonised automatic winding calibre 50-hour power reserve (± 10%) Baseplate and bridges in grade 5 titanium Patented flyback chronograph Function indicator and date display Rotor in platinum Case in 5N red gold

NEXT MONTH

EDITORIAL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

James Elliott

james@octane-magazine.com

A LE MANS CAR ON THE ROAD!

DEPUTY EDITOR

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Mark Dixon

Glen Waddington

ART EDITOR

MARKETS EDITOR

Robert Hefferon

Matthew Hayward

mark@octane-magazine.com

Schuppan 962CR in the wild – plus other roadgoing race greats

roberth@octane-magazine.com

glen@octane-magazine.com

matthew@octane-magazine.com

FOUNDING EDITOR

Robert Coucher ITALIAN CORRESPONDENT Massimo Delbò DESIGN ASSISTANCE Ruth Haddock CONTRIBUTOR Chris Bietzk

Issue 251 on sale 27 March

USEFUL CONTACTS Editorial inquiries info@octane-magazine.com

ASTON PARROTT

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ADVERTISING GROUP ADVERTISING DIRECTOR

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<< New pics and credits please

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Advertising inquiries Tel: + 44 (0)1628 510080 Fax: + 44 (0)1628 510090 Email: ads@octane-magazine.com

PLUS Hot rodding around Beverly Hills Glas 3000GT, Frua-bodied forerunner of BMW’s most elegant coupés How Bentley redefined itself: the prescient MkVI sports saloon Full story of the 1907 FIAT 130hp

SUBSCRIPTIONS, BACK ISSUES, HELPLINES UK tel: 0330 333 9491 Overseas tel: +44 (0)330 333 9491 Subscribe online at octane.co.uk/subscribe Manage your subscription at yoursubscription.co.uk or email customercare@subscribe.octane-magazine.com Single issue price: £5.99 (UK). Full annual subscription (12 issues): UK £65.98, Europe (inc Eire) £69, RoW £88. Octane ISSN 1740-0023 is published monthly by Hothouse Publishing Ltd. USPS 024-187

This issue on sale 28 February. May 2024 issue on sale 27 March

(Contents may be subject to change)

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

AUCTIONS & PRIVATE BROKERAGE

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1938 BUGATTI TYPE 57C ATALANTE Rare Alloy-Bodied Example with Original Supercharged Engine Chassis 57767

1960 FERRARI 250 GT SERIES II CABRIOLET Delivered New to Prince Dado Ruspoli Coachwork by Pinin Farina Chassis 1879 GT

1932 TALBOT AV105 TOURER Fox and Nicholl Team Car Winner of the 1932 Coupe des Alpes First in Class at the 2023 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance® Coachwork by Vanden Plas Chassis 31084

1960 ALFA ROMEO GIULIETTA SZ Delivered New to Guido Bruno Cattaneo Coachwork by Zagato Chassis AR10126.00153

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1903 MERCEDES SIMPLEX 60 HP ‘ROI DES BELGES’ Delivered New to Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe An Exceptionally Original and Important Example of the Legendary “Sixty” with Period Competition History Offered Direct from over 120 Years of Single Family Ownership Coachwork by J. Rothschild et Fils

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Notes Int'l RHP/Mar, On Sale 1/24 2024 Due: Jan 5-9 Hard 150 Line Screen PDFX1A 7MB limit kerry_lambird@autovia.co.uk and Sanjay: sanjay@octane-magazine.com

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ISSUE 246 DECEMBER 2023

ISSUE 244 OCTOBER 2023

MAGAZINE OPERATIONS COORDINATOR

Fuelling the passion

Elaine Briggs

Fuelling the passion

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FERRARI 512BB COUNT TROSSI MERCEDES SSK LOTUS ELEVEN BMW 1M COUPÉ MASERATI KYALAMI FAREWELL VOLVO ESTATE

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LE MANS ASTONS MASERATI 450S JENSEN C-V8 BRUBAKER BOX PANTHER SOLO RENAULT WIND LAGONDAS ACROSS THE USA

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OCTANE WORLDWIDE SYNDICATION AND LICENSING

To take advantage of this month’s special offer and get three issues of Octane for £5, either visit octane.co.uk/subscribe or call +44 (0)330 333 9491 and quote code DFEB24

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FRANCE Yan-Alexandre Damasiewicz Octane is available for international licensing and syndication

© 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.

Buying your issue of Octane – new and old to enjoy the new issue. Alternatively you can source the digital edition via either Zinio or Readly.

PRINT ISSUE Octane is available at the usual branches of UK shops, such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and independents, as well as WH Smith High Street and Travel. You can order the latest magazine or a back issue, delivered direct to your door, by visiting magsdirect.co.uk and searching for ‘Octane’.

SUBSCRIBE You can find superb offers on print (order before 15 March 2024 to start with issue 251), print and digital, or digital only, at octane.co.uk/subscribe

DIGITAL ISSUES Download the Octane Magazine app on Android or Apple and you will be able

Problems with your subscription? Please email customercare@subscribe. octane-magazine.com

FRONT Eds Etc 250 GW JE MD.indd 14

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 www.magnetomagazine.com/privacy 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.

If you like Octane, you’ll love… CONCOURS ON SAVILE ROW Two days of the greatest cars and the finest tailoring in the heart of London’s Mayfair. The event is free to visit and takes place from 10am to 8pm on Wednesday 22 and Thursday 23 May. See concoursonsavilerow.com.

14/02/2024 17:21

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IGNITION / Month in Pictures

IGNITION E V E N T S + N E W S + O PI N I O N

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Rétromobile, 31 January – 4 February UK visitors returning from Paris were heralding this year’s outing for the French event as the best for years, possibly decades. The numbers for the 48th Rétromobile certainly back up that claim, 130,000 visitors dropping in on the 75,000m2 show during its extended run at Porte de Versailles. Special displays included celebrations of the centenaries of both the Montlhéry speedbowl in the Paris suburbs and British marque MG, with the famous EX181 record-breaker at its heart. As always, the range of priceless stock on dealer stands from Fiskens, Kidston, Girardo & Co, Joe Macari, Lukas Hüni, Gallery Aaldering et al was worth the entry on its own. Images: Rétromobile 2024

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IGNITION / Month in Pictures

CAVALLINO CLASSIC, 26-28 JANUARY

CANOSSA EVENTS

For its 33rd year, the Ferrari-plus spectacular returned to Florida’s Palm Beach and was a roaring success. Centrepiece was the 150-car Ferrari-only concours, this year’s winners being Chris and Ann Cox’s 1964 250LM (competition) and Dennis and Susan Garrity’s Ghia-bodied ’52 212 Inter (GT). Best Classiche-certified car was Brian Ross’s ’66 275GTB.

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traditional values modern thinking

Racing In Europe This Year? You may now need an ATA Carnet to temporarily import your car into the EU. SINCE BREXIT Non-UK registered Race Cars will require an ATA Carnet UK registered vehicles and Race Cars being transported by a commercial operator (including a Race Team) will require an ATA Carnet CARS have formed a partnership with the Bristol Chamber of Commerce and are able to issue ATA Carnets at a heavily discounted price. Please contact Sukie Duhaney (sukie@carseurope.net) for further information.

JAPAN +81(0) 45 306 7043

info@carsjp.net www.carsjp.net

MIDDLE EAST W. COAST USA

E. COAST USA

NETHERLANDS

UNITED KINGDOM

+971(0) 4882 1334

+1 (305) 990 1341

+31 (0) 252 682 526

+44 (0) 1284 850 950

info@carsmiddleeast.com www.carsmiddleeast.com

+1 (310) 695 6403

info@carsusa.com www.carsusa.com

info@carseurope.net www.carseurope.net

IGNITION / Month in Pictures

CLEE HILL TRIAL, 21 JANUARY VSCC class-winners David Golightly and Carla Smith in their Morton & Brett Ford T.

INTERCLASSICS MAASTRICHT, 11-14 JANUARY Dutch show celebrated 120 years of Ford performance.

VSCC NEW YEAR’S DRIVING TESTS, 28 JANUARY James Mabley tackles the famous Brooklands test hill in his 1934 Austin 7 Ulster special.

CLOCKWISE, FROM TOP LEFT: PETER MCFADYEN; CHRIS TARLING / YELLOWDOG; MICHAEL STOKES; MARIO LAGUNA

AUTOSPORT INTERNATIONAL, 11-14 JANUARY The event at Birmingham’s NEC may have been rebranded A24, but there was still wild and noisy driving in the superb 5000-seater live action arena.

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1969 LOLA T70 MKIIIB

■ Delivered new to famed privateer racer David Piper in iconic green livery ■ Competition history with Piper, Richard Attwood, Jean-Pierre Beltoise, Hans Hermann and more ■ Featured in Steve McQueen’s iconic film Le Mans ■ Multiple appearances at Le Mans Classic and similar events ■ One of the best and most original MkIIIB coupes

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

IGNITION / Events Diary

Goodwood Members’ Meeting, 13-14 April. Image: Jayson Fong

17 March Brooklands Sunbeam 100 Pre-1940 motorcycles gather at Brooklands to mark the centenary of the Sunbeam Motorcycle Club. brooklandsmuseum.com 18-23 March Petersen 800 Rally A new five-day rally for post-1989 sports cars, organised by the folks from the Petersen Museum and run on the best roads in central and northern California. petersen.org 22-24 March Generations Rally Designed to introduce youngsters to the joys of endurance rallying, this event – based in Cheshire but running through Shropshire and North Wales – is open to multigeneration crews in pre-1986 cars. rallytheglobe.com

COMING UP…

Established springtime favourites and some new events, too, including a very inclusive meet at the British Motor Museum 29 February – 3 March The Amelia This year’s concours on Amelia Island will boast 35 classes featuring everything from vintage Bugatti GP racers to Japanese performance cars of the 1990s. ameliaconcours.com 29 February – 3 March ModaMiami Hosted by the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, Florida, this new event promises a concours field of over 150 cars, plus a separate display of rare supercars and an RM Sotheby’s auction. modamiami.com 1-3 March Sydney Harbour Concours d’Elegance Australia’s finest classics and supercars gather at Cockatoo Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site close to the Sydney Harbour Bridge. sydneyharbourconcours.com.au

3 March Coffee & Classics Cars and motorcycles head to Bibury for the Classic Motor Hub’s season-opener. classicmotorhub.com 7-9 March WinteRace A field of 70 pre-2000 cars; an expertly plotted, 420km route through the Dolomites and part of Austria; and lots of snow. winterace.it 8-10 March Phillip Island Classic The Southern Hemisphere’s biggest historic racing meet, held on Phillip Island, a couple of hours south of Melbourne. vhrr.com 8-10 March A Novice Trial Based at Bicester Heritage, this is a fun introduction to regularities, tests and tulip books, featuring

a 150-mile route and training sessions covering all the basics. heroevents.eu 9 March Rustival ‘If it’s got wheels, it’s welcome’ at the British Motor Museum’s new event, which will be headlined by a curated display of 350 star cars. britishmotormuseum.co.uk 13 March – 7 April Seoul to Tokyo Following a four-day visit to South Korea’s capital, crews will drive east and then south to Busan, where they’ll catch a ferry that will take them to Nagasaki to begin their journey through Japan. bespokerallies.com 16-17 March Herefordshire Trial The arrival of spring is again heralded by the VSCC’s two-day trial in Herefordshire. vscc.co.uk

22-24 March NEC Restoration Show Barn-finds, pristine restorations and groaning trade stands fill Birmingham’s NEC, and in the workshop area you can pick up tips on how to tackle that project car languishing in your garage. necrestorationshow.com 23 March Zoute Family Rally There are both Regularity and Touring classes on this one-day rally for family crews, held in Knokke-Heist, Belgium, and finishing with a slap-up meal. zoutegrandprix.be 30 March Brooklands Easter Gathering Pre-31 July 1994 cars are invited to park at the Museum for this year’s Easter Classic Gathering, which will feature live music, a barbecue, and a traders’ village. brooklandsmuseum.com 31 March Motorsport March Assembly Bicester Heritage holds its first themed car gathering of 2024. Entry is free for paying members of Bicester’s ‘Scramblers’ club, and tickets for everybody else cost just a tenner. bicesterheritage.co.uk

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HIGHLAND TOUR2024

Terre di Canossa, 18-21 April Image: Canossa Events

3-7 April Techno-Classica Essen The daddy of indoor classic car shows will again test the stamina of visitors, who will find some 1250 exhibitors packed into the Messe Essen in Germany. siha.de 5-7 April Mugello Classic Group C brutes will be among the cars in action at Peter Auto’s first racing meet of the year, at Mugello Circuit in Italy. peterauto.fr 6-10 April Copperstate 1000 Pre-1974 cars eat up 1000 miles of the dreamiest tarmac that Arizona has to offer. mensartscouncil.com 11-14 April Highland Tour After coming together on the shores of Loch Lomond, the 15 crews on this tour will make for Scotland’s West Coast before driving back inland and into the spectacular Highlands. v-events.co.uk 12-14 April The Flying Scotsman This year’s Flying Scotsman starts in Cheshire, and crews in pre-1948 cars will drive through the Derbyshire Dales, the Yorkshire Dales and the Lake District before tackling the Scottish portion of the route. hero-era.com 13-14 April Goodwood Members’ Meeting Highlights will include the new

Ken Miles Cup, a 45-minute race for Ford Mustangs, organised to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the model. goodwood.com 18-20 April Salon Privé London The gardens of the Royal Hospital Chelsea host a ‘Concours de Vente’ featuring 75 first-rate classic cars, all available to buy. salonprivelondon.com 18-21 April Terre di Canossa Crews enjoy some of Italy’s most attractive locations: they’ll motor along the Tyrrhenian coast, across the Apennines and Apuan Alps, and through Tuscany. terredicanossa.canossa.com 19-21 April La Jolla Concours d’Elegance A special class charting the evolution of the Corvette will be among the attractions at La Jolla Cove, just outside San Diego. lajollaconcours.com 20-21 April VSCC Spring Start The members of the VSCC kick off their racing season at Silverstone, carrying on a tradition that dates back to 1949. vscc.co.uk 21 April Perthshire Classic Car Tour Perth to stunning Glencoe and back. There’s no entry fee, but the event is being run in aid of charities including the Multiple Sclerosis Society, so a donation of £75 per car is requested. perthrotary.co.uk

HIGHLAND TOUR 2024

T H U R S D AY – S U N D AY | 1 1 – 1 4 A P R I L

Join us for a 3-night springtime adventure to the Scottish Highlands, and enjoy spectacular driving, superb food and first-class hospitality. Entry is open to 15 cars, classic and modern. Please contact Chris for a brochure. Call +44 (0) 1635 867705 or email chris@v-management.com v-events.co.uk

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IGNITION / Events Diary

10-12 May Grand Prix de Monaco Historique Among the milestones being celebrated in Monaco this time is Hesketh Racing’s F1 debut, which came back in 1974. acm.mc 17-19 May Cavallino Classic Modena A celebration of all things Ferrari in Enzo’s hometown, headlined by a concours and a parade through the centre of Modena. cavallino.com

Hockenheim Historic, 3-5 May Image: Hockenheim-Ring GmbH

FORWARD PLANNING

There’s a heck of a lot going on in 2024. To help you organise your diary for the rest of the year, we’ve compiled a list of some of the bigger events that are coming up 21-25 April California Mille Just as the original Mille Miglia inspired today’s regularity race, the regularity race inspired this US event. The route for 2024 runs from La Jolla to Westlake Village. californiamille.com 21-27 April Tour Auto One of the great driving events, starting in Paris and finishing this time in Biarritz, and featuring four track races in-between, at venues including the Bugatti Circuit. peterauto.fr 25-27 April Manx Classic On the Isle of Man, roads are closed to allow competition on three hillclimb courses, each of them over a mile long. manxmotorracing.com 28 April Audrain Veteran Car Tour Pre-1908 cars from across the USA

meet at the Audrain Automobile Museum for a 50-mile drive around Rhode Island. audrainmotorsport.com 28 April – 26 May Trans-Africa Rally Following a horseshoe-shaped, 4750-mile route through South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Eswatini. destination-rally.com 2-5 May Simola Hillclimb Furious hillclimbing action in Knysna in South Africa. speedfestival.co.za 3-5 May The Greenbrier Concours d’Elegance Three days of events at the Greenbrier resort in West Virginia, ending with a concours that this year features an interesting special class for light trucks. greenbrierconcours.com

3-5 May Hockenheim Historic Among the machines racing at the Hockenheimring this year will be a group of classic DTM cars. hockenheim-historic.de 4 May Rattletrap Pre-1940 hot rods and pre-1960 motorcycles blast along the sand at Crowdy Bay Beach, four hours up the coast from Sydney. drag-ens.com.au 4-5 May Donington Historic Festival A busy schedule for 2024 includes the three-hour Royal Automobile Club Pall Mall Trophy for GTs, Touring Cars and sports-racers. doningtonhistoric.com 4-5 May Keels & Wheels Beautiful old cars and boats share the stage at Lakewood Yacht Club just outside Houston, Texas. keels-wheels.com

17-19 May Spa Classic One of the most popular events of the historic racing season, attended by some 20,000 spectators each year. peterauto.fr 18 May – 23 June Peking to Paris Motor Challenge The toughest challenge in endurance rallying sees crews follow in the tyre-tracks of the loons who raced 15,000km from China to France in 1907. hero-era.com 22-23 May Concours on Savile Row London’s Savile Row closes to traffic as stylish cars go on display. concoursonsavilerow.com 24-26 May Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este At Lake Como, classics compete in classes that include ‘Time Capsules’, reserved for ‘cars that the outside world forgot’. concorsodeleganzavilladeste.com 24-26 May Nürburgring Classic Wheel-to-wheel action at the Nürburgring, where spectators can walk the grid before each race. nuerburgringclassic.de 25-31 May Target Bavaria From Rijeka in Croatia, crews will drive through Slovenia and Austria to Munich, enjoying closed-road stages up to 12km long. target-bavaria.com

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IGNITION / Events Diary

26 May Bergamo Historic Gran Prix Action on the Circuita della Mura, a street course that follows the walls of Bergamo in northern Italy. bergamohistoricgranprix.com

14-16 June Concours d’Elegance Suisse The Château de Coppet near Geneva welcomes a field of 100 classics from around the world. concoursdelegancesuisse.com

30 May – 2 June Jersey International Motoring Festival With highlights including the Jersey Concours d’Elegance in St Helier, organised by Le Riche (leriche.com/concours). jimf.je

15-16 June Brooklands Double 12 and Brooklands Relived A 1930s-themed weekend featuring displays, a concours, live music and speed trials. brooklandsmuseum.com

31 May – 2 June Greenwich Concours d’Elegance The traditional concours in Greenwich, Connectict, is again preceded by a ‘concours de sport’ featuring racing cars, homologation specials, supercars and hot rods. greenwichconcours.com 1-2 June MotoFest Coventry Celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, and again featuring the well-received Coventry Concours. coventrymotofest.com 2 June Valletta Concours Classics assemble in Malta’s capital, under the sunniest sky in Europe and against a backdrop of impressive Baroque buildings. vallettaconcours.com 4-6 June London Concours Classes at the Honourable Artillery Company in London will include one exclusively for post-1959 British racing cars. londonconcours.co.uk

21-23 June Padre-Figlia Father-and-daughter crews in Ferraris take part in a laid-back rally based in Mane, Provence. happyfewracing.com 21-23 June Vernasca Silver Flag The renowned hillclimb in the Italian town of Castell’Arquato will honour Maserati this year. vernascasilverflag.it 21-23 June Historic Grand Prix Zandvoort Three days of racing action at Zandvoort on the Dutch coast. historicgrandprix.nl 22-23 June Pendine Sands Hot Rod Races Members of the Vintage Hot Rod Association rumble across the vast beach at Pendine in Wales. vhra.co.uk 22-23 June Thruxton Historic Single-seaters, Touring Cars and more are let loose on the fastest track in the UK. thruxtonracing.co.uk

9 June Cincinnati Concours d’Elegance At Ault Park in Cincinnati, the red carpet will be rolled out for examples of the Ford Mustang as the model marks its 60th birthday. ohioconcours.com

22-30 June The Great Race A travelling circus of a rally, and in 2024 it will bring smiles to dozens of towns between Owensboro in Kentucky and Gardiner in Maine. greatrace.com

11-15 June Mille Miglia Brescia to Rome and back in a hurry, in the company of some of the world’s finest classic cars, and cheered on by delighted spectators. 1000miglia.it

23 June Hillsborough Concours d’Elegance The longest continually running concours in the world, held just outside San Francisco. hillsboroughconcours.org

Noosa Concours d’Elegance, 13 July. Image: LumeaPhoto

27-30 June La Leggenda di Bassano Based in Bassano del Grappa in northern Italy, this rally attracts an exceptional field of classic open-top competition cars. laleggendadibassano.com 29-30 June Heveningham Concours The field of cars at Heveningham Hall in Suffolk is complemented by a display of vintage aircraft. heveninghamconcours.com 5-7 July Dragstalgia Santa Pod Raceway serves up the sights, sounds and smells of drag racing in years gone by. santapod.co.uk 6-7 July The Ellis Journey Pre-1905 vehicles re-enact the first trip made by car in the UK, a drive from Micheldever to Datchet. ellisjourney.co.uk 11-14 July Goodwood Festival of Speed This year’s theme is ‘Revolutions in Power’, so expect to see landmark cars of the past and bleeding-edge modern machinery on the hill. goodwood.com 12-14 July International Oldtimer Meeting Baden-Baden Over 350 classic cars arrive in the German spa town of Baden- Baden. oldtimer-meeting.de 13 July Noosa Concours d’Elegance Winner of the Rising Star award at

the ’23 Historic Motoring Awards, and happily returning to the beach town of Noosa in Queensland, Australia, for another year. noosaconcours.com.au 13-14 July Brno Grand Prix Revival Single-seaters, sports-racers and tin-tops do battle at Brno Circuit in the Czech Republic. brnogp.cz 15-17 July Eifel Rallye Festival Sideways action on stages used in the German rally championship. eifel-rallye-festival.de 16-18 July Yorkshire Elegance This ‘right-good fancy car event’ includes a concours d’elegance at Grantley Hall in Ripon and a drive through the Yorkshire Dales. thefastlaneclub.com 17-20 July Ennstal Classic Regularities and hillclimbs in the Austrian mountains, plus a parade in the little town of Gröbming. ennstal-classic.at 18-21 July Coppa d’Oro delle Dolomiti Cortina d’Ampezzo in the Dolomites hosts a regularity rally open to pre-1972 classics. coppadorodelledolomiti.it 20-21 July Classic Nostalgia Classics dash up the storied hill at Shelsley Walsh, where there will also be a concours d’elegance. classicnostalgia.co.uk

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IGNITION / Events Diary

22-27 July Concours of Elegance Germany A new, 200-car concours held on the shore of Lake Tegernsee in the Bavarian Alps. concoursofelegancegermany.com 24 July Veloce charity track day Held this year at Goodwood, where guests will meet famous faces and enjoy passenger laps in a variety of classic cars. v-events.co.uk 26-28 July Oulton Park Gold Cup Classic Grand Prix cars return to Oulton Park, which hosted nonchampionship F1 races in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s. oultonpark.co.uk

2-4 August Classic Days Düsseldorf Green Park in Düsseldorf is turned into an open-air museum by the arrival of 7000 classics. classic-days.de 3-4 August Beaulieu Supercar Weekend Some of the world’s rarest and most outrageous supercars are gathered together in Beaulieu. beaulieu.co.uk 3-4 August Vintage Prescott The quintessential English vintage car meet sees 250 pre-war machines charge up the 880-yard course that was established by the VSCC all the way back in 1938. vscc.co.uk

27 July Hagerty Festival of the Unexceptional Grimsthorpe Castle welcomes charmingly ordinary cars built between 1969 and 1999. hagerty.co.uk

3-9 August Bonneville Speed Week Speed freaks from around the world bring their hopped-up machines to north-western Utah and floor it on the sun-baked Bonneville Salt Flats. scta-bni.org

28 July Rally of the Giants The All American Auto Club heads to Stonor Park, bringing with it cars rarely seen on this side of the pond. allamericanautoclub.com

9-11 August Oldtimer Grand Prix Cars spanning eight decades of motorsport history fizz around the Nürburgring. oldtimergrandprix.com

2-4 August Copenhagen Historic GP Large crowds watch classic cars race on an unusual street circuit in the Danish capital. chgp.dk

9-18 August Monterey Car Week Car Week serves up auctions galore and more than a dozen car shows, including The Quail (16 August), Concorso Italiano

Caramulo Motorfestival, 6-8 September Image: Caramulo Motorfestival

(17 August) and, of course, the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance (18 August). At nearby Laguna Seca there’s top-drawer Historic racing in the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion. whatsupmonterey.com 15-18 August The British Motor Show Displays of classics, stunt shows, driving experiences, a trade village and more at the Farnborough International Exhibition Centre. thebritishmotorshow.live 23-25 August CarFest Held again at Laverstoke Park Farm in Hampshire, and again treating visitors to lots of live music as well as car displays. carfest.org 23-25 August Passione Engadina Based in St Moritz, Switzerland, but dedicated (usually) to Italian cars, and the featured marque this time is Maserati. passione-engadina.ch 23-25 August Silverstone Festival Qualifying for all 20 grids will take place on the Friday, meaning the weekend will feature almost non-stop racing. silverstone.co.uk 28-31 August Salon Privé Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire hosts one of the UK’s premier concours, following which the entries will be joined by some 1500 club cars. salonpriveconcours.com 30 August – 1 September The Concours of Elegance Seventy of the world’s finest cars gather at Hampton Court Palace to contest the main concours, which will again be supported by the ladies-only Levitt Concours. concoursofelegance.co.uk 30 August – 1 September Classic-Gala Schwetzingen Special displays at this concours in Schwetzingen, Germany, will include a tribute to MG. concours-delegance.de

30 August – 2 September Lime Rock Historic Festival The racing at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut is followed by a concours and the ‘Gathering of the Marques’, which sees cars and bikes arranged around the circuit. limerock.com 6-8 September Caramulo Motorfestival There’s hillclimbing action every day of the festival, plus displays of cars and motorcycles, an automobilia fair and an air show. caramulo-motorfestival.com 6-8 September Goodwood Revival John Surtees will be remembered this year, the organisers bringing together cars and bikes from the series in which he raced during his uniquely distinguished career. goodwood.com 6-8 September Radnor Hunt Concours There’s a special class for British motorcycles at this concours for four- and two-wheeled machines in Malvern, Pennsylvania. radnorconcours.org 9-14 September Colorado Grand Pre-’61 cars set out from Vail for a 1000-mile blast through the stunning Rocky Mountains. co1000.com 12-15 September Chantilly Arts & Elegance Richard Mille This swish show at the Château de Chantilly (about an hour north of Paris) is open to the general public on the Sunday only. chantillyartsetelegance.com 13-15 September Circuit des Remparts Vintage and classic cars slide around Angoulême, the walled hilltop town in western France. circuitdesremparts.com 13-15 September Cobble Beach Concours d’Elegance & Motoring Festival Held at Cobble Beach golf course in Ontario, Canada, and including a class for classic station wagons. cobblebeachconcours.com

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G GREAT REAT E ESCAPES SCAPES FOR FOR D DISCERNING ISCERNING D DRIVERS RIVERS

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IGNITION / Events Diary

14 September The Bridge An exclusive car show at the golf course that sits on the grounds of the old Bridgehampton Race Circuit in New York State. thebridgehamptons.com 14-15 September Beaulieu International Autojumble The enormous sale of motoring bits and bobs returns. beaulieu.co.uk 19-22 September Gran Premio Nuvolari The rally held in memory of Tazio Nuvolari starts and finishes in his hometown, Mantua. gpnuvolari.it 21-22 September Detroit Concours d’Elegance The Detroit Institute of Arts hosts a 150-car concours that is preceded by a family-friendly motoring festival. detroitconcours.com 22-27 September The Derek Bell Tour A jaunt around the northern and north-western parts of the Iberian Peninsula, beginning in Lisbon and ending in Madrid, and led by Octane’s own Derek Bell. v-events.co.uk 24-27 September Amsterdam to Paris Organised to mark the 125th anniversary of the 1898 ParisAmsterdam-Paris road race, and open to cars built before 1951. classicevents.nl 25-29 September International St Moritz Automobile Week This revival of a gathering first held in 1929 features events including the Bernina Gran Turismo, which sees cars hare round over 50 bends as they climb from La Rösa to Ospizio Bernina in the Swiss Alps. i-s-a-w.com 25-29 September Spa 6 Hours The endurance race that gives the meeting its name is scheduled for the Saturday. spasixhours.com

28-29 September Rallyday XL Rally cars and stars take over Castle Combe circuit in Wiltshire. castlecombecircuit.co.uk 30 September – 13 October Austria to Athens Challenge Entrants will experience seven countries on the journey from Ennstal in Austria to the seaside town of Vouliagmeni in Greece. rallytheglobe.com 3-6 October Audrain Newport Concours & Motor Week The concours itself, held at one of Rhode Island’s finest propertes, is complemented by seminars, an auction and a tour. audrainconcours.com 3-6 October Zoute Grand Prix The resort of Knokke-Heist in Belgium is transformed into a carlover’s playground. The schedule includes a show, a tour and a rally. zoutegrandprix.be 4-6 October The Race of Gentlemen Hot rods and motorcycles go flat-out on the beach at Wildwood, New Jersey. theraceofgentlemen.com 4-6 October Velocity Invitational Classic racecars, many of them seldom seen, tackle the track at Sonoma Raceway in California. velocityinvitational.com 6 October Pioneer Run Over 300 pre-1915 motorcyles trundle from Epsom to Brighton. sunbeam-mcc.co.uk 6-11 October Modena Cento Ore The route this year takes crews from Rimini to Modena, via races at Misano and Mugello. modenacentoore.canossa.com 10-13 October Targa Florio Classic Cars in four classes are tested on a regularity rally based in Palermo, the capital of Sicily. targa-florio.it

International St Moritz Automobile Week, 25-29 September. Image: Dino Eisele

11-13 October Barber Vintage Festival At the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum in Alabama. barbermuseum.org 24-27 October Auto e Moto d’Epoca Bologna Cars, bikes, parts and automobilia fill Bologna Exhibition Centre. autoemotodepoca.com 30 October – 3 November Classic 24 Hour at Daytona Great competition cars thunder at the famous Florida circuit. hsrrace.com 1-3 November Las Vegas Concours d’Elegance The Wynn Golf Club in Las Vegas hosts a splendid concours. lasvegasconcours.com 1-3 November Hilton Head Island Concours d’Elegance & Motoring Festival Bentley and Rolls-Royce will be the ‘honored marques’ at the South Carolina concours. hhiconcours.com 1-30 November Grand Prix of South America Just like the 10,000km 1948 epic, it begins at midnight in Buenos Aires and ends in Cartagena. bespokerallies.com 3 November RM Sotheby’s London to Brighton Veteran Car Run Pre-1905 cars motor from Hyde Park to Brighton, commemorating the Emancipation Run of 1896. veterancarrun.com

7-10 November RAC Rally of the Tests Darlington to Cumbria via 22 regularity sections and 30 special tests. There will again be a ‘lite’ version of the event for those who want to take it a little easier. hero-era.com 8-10 November Classic Motor Show Held at the NEC, this is the UK’s biggest indoor classic car show… necclassicmotorshow.com 15-17 November Interclassics Brussels …and this is the biggest in the Benelux region, filling the sprawling Brussels Expo. interclassics.events 22 November Historic Motoring Awards The only international awards event recognising excellence in the classic car world moves to the sensational Peninsula London hotel by Hyde Park Corner. historicmotoringawards.co.uk 22-29 November Silver Fern Rally New Zealand’s South Island hosts a rally featuring over 1000km of special stages that are the equal of any in the world. silverfernrally.co.nz 6-8 December Retro Classics Bavaria Visitors to this popular event in Nuremberg will find themed displays, a large club presence, good grub and a wealth of tempting trade stands. retro-classics-bavaria.de 31

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IGNITION / News

Mullin UK still ‘on’ despite US closure Those close to the £150m scheme claim collector’s passing will not derail it

THE LONG-PLANNED Mullin museum in the UK’s Cotswolds is still likely to go ahead despite the closure of the Mullin Automotive Museum in California and the imminent dispersal of 20 cars from it, key players close to the project have insisted. The £150m plans for a 160-acre automotive park near Chipping Norton have already had a rocky ride and, five years on from its announcement, building work is yet to begin at the old Enstone airfield. After initial plans were thrown out, Sir Norman Foster revised the proposal and it was eventually given the green light in March last year. At its heart would be a 60,000sq ft museum housing 70 cars, plus a speed-limited test track, while 56 homes targeted at wealthy enthusiasts would be built adjacent. Around 30 cars from Mullin’s collection were to form the core of the UK museum on a rotational basis, with further exhibits on loan from other collectors.

Naturally, recent developments in the US following the death of Peter Mullin in September caused concerns that the UK scheme would be shelved. In January it was announced that, after 14 years, the 47,000sq ft Mullin museum in Oxnard would close on 10 February, then shortly afterwards came the news that 20 cars from the collection would go under the hammer at no reserve during Gooding & Co’s Amelia Island sale on 29 February and 1 March, with a further auction to be scheduled at the museum itself in April. Although the sale features a wealth of desirable cars from the collection – including 1925 Bugatti Type 35C Grand Prix and Gangloff-bodied 1931 Type 49, 1936 Voisin Type C28 Clairière Berline, 1946 Delage D6 Grand Prix, plus 1948 Delahayes Type 175 GP and 1948 Type 135 MS Cabrio – at least four key Mullin exhibits have been donated to the Petersen Museum, in which Peter Mullin was

‘THE MULLIN UK TEAM HAS BEEN REASSURED THAT THE MUL

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Clockwise, from above The late Peter Mullin; sale includes Bugatti, Voisin, rare Citroëns; Mullin Automotive Museum in California shut this February; UK project is still on track, claim insiders.

also heavily involved. They are the 1937 TalbotLago T150 CS Teardrop, 1938 Hispano-Suiza H6B Dubonnet Xenia, 1939 Delahaye 165 and 1938 Delahaye 145. With the cars believed to be largely held in trust, meaning Mullin’s family may have little say over their future, prospects for two of the museum’s most famous exhibits – its Bugatti Atlantic and the ‘lakefind’ Bugatti Brescia – are currently uncertain. However, Octane has been assured the same uncertainty should not be applied to the Mullin museum in the UK. Peter Mullin always trumpeted the Oxfordshire facility as his legacy project but, as he became increasingly ill in the months leading up to his death, he agreed terms with his friend Ron Burkle – a major shareholder in the adjacent Soho Farmhouse private members’ club – to take on the project, which would still bear the Mullin name. Octane understands that the deal has yet to be finally ratified, meaning that if Mr Burkle

were to pull out – since only a handful of cars are believed to have been formally allocated to the Mullin Foundation that is linked with the museum, rather than held in trust – then the entire project could founder. But supporters, including Peter Mullin’s widow Merle, were bullish that this would not be allowed to happen. Merle Mullin promised Octane the project still had an exciting future. She confirmed that the Mullin UK team, including Burkle himself, have been reassured that the Mullins’ pledge to loan cars would be honoured and that such a commitment was also a key consideration when selling cars from the Mullin Automotive Museum. It’s rumoured that, even if the project does hit the rocks, a major US institution is prepared to step in to be its saviour. An insider confirmed: ‘This looks like a sad story, but it is not going to end that way. There is a powerful institution in LA that will make this a happy ending!’

THE MULLINS’ PLEDGE TO LOAN CARS WOULD BE HONOURED’

Classic calendar culled UK enthusiasts have been left reeling after a series of high-profile events announced their cancellation for 2024. The reasons vary but legislation and insurance woes loom large, presenting an ominous outlook for other diary dates. Among the biggest to bite the dust is MG Live! at Silverstone, all the more shocking as it comes only a year after the record-breaking and award-winning MG (and Triumph) centenary gathering in 2023. A statement from its organiser said: ‘The MG Car Club Council reluctantly took the decision to cease arranging race meetings because of the increasingly serious financial risks involved.’ The annual festival was not deemed viable without the track action. Of other casualities, the enormous Dorset Steam Fair squarely blamed the inability to get suitable insurance for the event, while the Bromley Pageant of Motoring – the biggest one-day classic car show in the world – cited London’s expanded Ultra Low Emission Zone as the primary culprit for its demise. As reported last month, HERO-ERA’s gruelling Le Jog winter rally will take a break in 2024, but the most historic event to be axed is the Brighton Speed Trials (pictured at top), first held in 1905 before Brighton’s historic Madeira Drive even had that name. Brighton & Hove Motor Club blamed ‘new road layouts, the closing of terraces, and the cost involved in safety and security measures’. It added that it ‘had to make the heartbreaking decision that the 2023 event was the last one. The Club has been running the event at a loss for a number of years and cannot continue to do so.’ Key factors included the loss of the Madeira Terrace as a viewing platform in 2016 and the end of the motorbike trials in 2021. A younger yet also popular event that involves Brighton has fallen by the wayside, too. The London to Brighton Mini Run had taken place since 1986, but has succumbed to a wealth of ‘challenging’ factors including costs, ULEZ, parking at the destination and increased bureaucracy. 35

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IGNITION / News

NEWS FEED McLarens in the City A fleet of 50 McLarens is scheduled to be a special attraction at this year’s London Concours. Supported by event sponsor McLaren London, the one-off display will take place on the show’s opening day, Tuesday 4 June, with the supercars shown alongside concours entrants. Classes for this year’s event, which runs during 6-8 June, include the legendary V12 engines. More at londonconcours.co.uk.

Bluebird K7 finally goes ‘home’ The long-running legal wrangle over the future of Bluebird K7 has been resolved, with Donald Campbell’s record-breaking jet hydroplane set to return to the Ruskin Museum, Coniston. There it will go back on display alongside its original engine in the museum’s dedicated Bluebird wing. Bluebird K7 – in which Campbell died in January 1967 – was recovered from Coniston Water in March 2001 and the Campbell Family Heritage Trust donated it to the Ruskin Museum in 2006, so it could be returned to its former glory and put on permanent display. Gina Campbell, daughter of Donald Campbell CBE, said: ‘We are delighted Bluebird K7 is coming home. It has taken many years of hard work by The Ruskin Museum to achieve our original gift of K7 so that it can be put on display there. We must not forget the many volunteers who gave their time, money and support to rebuild K7 to her former glory. We are very grateful to them all. ‘Bluebird K7 belongs to the nation and she is a very important part of Coniston’s heritage – and Britain’s. It gives the family peace to know that Bluebird is coming home and that future generations will be able to learn about Donald Campbell CBE and his achievements. It seems only fitting, given that 2024 marks 60 years since my father achieved the unique feat of setting land and water speed records in the same year.’

Event updates This year’s Heveningham Concours in Suffolk will take place on 28-30 June and promises the usual star-studded line-up on the ground and in the air; while creative show Sleeping With Art has announced that it will happen

on 5-6 October at Escapade Silverstone. The dates for the 2024 Silverstone festival will be 23-25 August, while Shelsley Walsh’s Nostalgia festival is on 20-21 July. Meanwhile, the theme for the 2024 Goodwood Festival of Speed (11-14 July) will be ‘Horseless to Hybrid – Revolutions in Power’, and the Revival (6-8 September) will honour the late, great John Surtees. Finally, the Royal Automobile Club Summer Veteran Car Run – a shakedown for the London-Brighton Run – will take place on 18 July.

Beware stolen Lynx A German enthusiast has warned people not to buy his father’s Lynx C-type (chassis 679447, engine 8L5472H) if offered it. Andreas Jägle says the car was stolen from his father and that huge steps are currently underway to retrieve it, with rewards being offered for the recovery of the car or for information about its location. To find out more, see lynxctype.com.

C&M marches on Caffeine & Machine is quickly becoming a chain, with the announcement of a third venue. The Hut, close to Petersfield in the South Downs, is due to open in the spring and will join Warwickshire’s The Hill (which opened in 2018) and Bedfordshire’s The Bowl (opened 2023) as an automotive-focused place to eat and drink.

Top award for our man Octane’s art editor Robert Hefferon has won a major international design award. Competition in the 14th annual International Creative Media Awards was stiff, with 423 publications from 24 countries entered, but Octane was voted top dog in the motoring magazine category by a jury of industry and design experts. New Cinturato available UK supplier Longstone Tyres says Pirelli has now made available a new 195/70VR14 Cinturato CN36 and there are more new sizes in the pipeline. The new tyre fits a wealth of 1970s and ’80s classics, from Morgan Plus 8 to Alfa Romeo Montreal, plus a host of BMWs and Mercedes. See longstonetyres.co.uk for more. Merc mops up Kienle Following the collapse of German high-end Mercedes-Benz specialist and restorer Kienle last year, Mercedes-Benz has itself taken over the company’s staff, tools and spare parts, thereby further strengthening its own Heritage division. RIP Judge Joseph Cassini Well-known US car collector and concours entrant Joseph Cassini has died, aged 73. His first classic car was a 1956 T-bird but it was his love of pre-war cars that led to multiple concours entries (at Pebble Beach, Amelia Island and others) and reaped him two Best of Show trophies in Monterey, with a 1938 Horch 853A Erdmann & Rossi Sport Cabriolet in 2004 and a 1934 Packard 1108 Twelve Dietrich Convertible Victoria nine years later.

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Broad Arrow Auctions, a Hagerty company, in partnership with Air|Water, is thrilled to announce an exclusive Porsche-only auction. Air|Water, created by Luftgekühlt founder Patrick Long, will occur on Saturday, April 27th, in Costa Mesa, California.

THE PORSCHE AUCTION

IGNITION / News & Obituary

Royal appointment Salon Privé gears up for its London spectacular SALON PRIVÉ LONDON returns to the spectacular setting of the Royal Hospital Chelsea on 18-20 April. As with the first two outings for this innovative London event, the centrepiece will be the Concours de Vente, which showcases 75 of the rarest classic and performance cars for sale. Visitors can expect to see exceptional cars on offer from the likes of specialists Furlonger, Aston Workshop, Car Iconics, Hilton & Moss, RS Williams, Fiskens and P&A Wood. These beautiful cars always look right at home in the historical gardens on the banks of the Thames. The famous South Lawn is rarely permitted to be used for public events yet some 20,000 people, including Jenson Button and Richard Hammond, took advantage of the opportunity for Salon Privé London last year. And although the Royal Hospital Chelsea was itself founded in the 17th Century, it won’t just host classic cars as Salon Privé London has already become synonymous with debuts from modern super- and hypercar manufacturers. If

Nick Baldwin b.1945

you are hungry to see the covers coming off the many promised unveilings then Thursday is the best day for you to visit, for the ultimate in cutting-edge supercar launches. Friday’s Ladies’ Day blends high fashion with automotive excellence – including Boodles’ jewellery, art exhibitions, lifestyle displays and, of course, stunning hats. The final day, Saturday, shifts gear to a more family-friendly atmosphere, but with another tranche of exclusive unveilings. Manufacturers expected to show their wares at Salon Privé London 2024 include Lamborghini, Aston Martin, Koenigsegg, Rolls-Royce, Porsche, Genesis and Polestar. Special celebrations on the showfield will also include 60 years of the Porsche 911, with a mouthwatering range of the benchmark German model promised at the Royal Hospital. Event director David Bagley said: ‘Salon Privé London is not only the leading classic car show in London, but it kicks off the entire British summer “season”, which encompasses

One of the original doyens of classic motoring journalism passed away on 10 January at the age of 78. For many years Nick Baldwin was omnipresent in the classic car world, editing Old Motor magazine, which morphed into Classic & Sportscar, as well as being a long-serving trustee of the Michael Sedgwick Memorial Trust from the 1980s. He was also an historian and author of many books,

all the great events such as Royal Ascot, Henley Regatta and Wimbledon. ‘Unlike many motoring events, it truly has something for everyone, whether their main point of interest is classics, supercars, hypercars, luxury cars or even brand new offerings from global manufacturers. What makes it unique, however, is the opportunity not only to savour the beauties in the world’s greatest classic car showroom, but to take your pick from them and then to drive home in it!’ As has become a hallmark of this and Salon Privé’s other UK spectacular at Blenheim Palace in the summer, the catering will also be a key attraction for visitors, with Pommery Champagne, cocktail bars and delectable street food offerings. As well as the gourmet hospitality, there will be live entertainment and a luxury retail village to keep visitors busy. Opening hours are 11am to 8pm on 18/19 April and 10am to 5pm on the 20th. Tickets cost from £50 and can be bought at salonprivelondon.com/buy-tickets.

several of them on commercial vehicles and tractors, about which Baldwin was even more encyclopaedically knowledgeable than he was about classic cars. In 2004 he sold his enormous archive to the British Motor Museum (then the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust) at Gaydon. It was so extensive that it took the museum three years to organise and catalogue it!

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THE BEST JUST GOT BIGGER

E X PA N D E D C A PA C I T Y W I T H A N E W F A C I L I T Y I N B E R K S H I R E Since 2016 V Management has provided the UK’s finest secure storage for classics and supercars, and we are now expanding our capacity with a new, state of the art facility adjacent to our existing building in Berkshire, west of London and just off the M4. When you store your car with us you have access to a full range of concierge services, including transport, import/export, detailing, repairs, DVLA administration and more. And it’s not just the management of your cars we can help with. Our award-winning sister company V Events offers a calendar of 5-star tours, track days and events, and V Engineering is the UK’s leading independent McLaren service centre. We also source and sell cars on behalf of our clients, either discreetly within our global client group or on the open market.

If you would like to discuss storage or any of the services we offer, please get in touch. Ben Hadfield 01635 867705 ben@v-management.com v-management.com

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IGNITION / Man & Machine

MAN & MACHINE

Mongolian madness

George Ratcliffe’s first proper drive in his newly purchased Bentley was across Mongolia

OH MY WORD! Central accelerator pedal, crash gearbox – learning to drive a vintage Bentley, my first ‘proper’ old car, was certainly a challenge. I’d had a lesson with an expert after buying the Bentley but it and its two sister cars were due to be shipped out to Mongolia quite soon, so we probably put in only about 100km practising on local roads in the UK. The reason for the trip was that my father, Jim Ratcliffe [founder and CEO of the INEOS Group, which makes the Grenadier 4x4], was coming up to his 70th birthday and we wanted to celebrate it in style. We’d already done a couple of marathon motorbike journeys: for his 60th, about 15 friends and family rode across Africa, doing as much off-road as possible – some 17,000km in 100 days – and about four years ago we rode from the top of Argentina to the bottom of Chile. To do that first trip, I also had to learn to ride a motorcycle. The idea for tackling Mongolia in vintage Bentleys came from RAC chairman Ben Cussons. He suggested that driving a section of the Peking-Paris route in Bentleys would be the perfect adventure. We sourced three 4.5 Litre cars from William Medcalf, whose team rallyprepped them for us; when we got to Mongolia

we’d be on our own. As support vehicles, we had four new Grenadiers – including a prototype of the Quartermaster crew-cab pickup, to carry spare wheels and luggage – plus the world’s oldest production Series I Land Rover, JUE 477, which my dad had bought as a wreck before commissioning its sensitive restoration. Another Series I and a rally-spec Tuthill Porsche 911 completed the line-up. By the time we arrived in Mongolia, it was about six weeks since I’d last driven the Bentley, so I had to learn to drive it all over again. The usual route through Mongolia is in the north, where there are more roads and trails, but we elected to travel through the south, where it’s all sandy desert, nomadic peoples and barely more than the odd path. That meant setting a slow pace, as little as 20km/h average speed, to preserve the Bentleys’ suspension, since the beam axles would oscillate if you went too fast. We were very fortunate to have Ben Cussons along: for us, he wasn’t just the chairman of the RAC, he was also the RAC breakdown service! The vehicle that caused the biggest mechanical problems was, ironically, JUE’s sister car, the other Land Rover, but the Bentleys proved very reliable. They were driven solely by my dad,

Above, from left Suitably attired for crossing the Mongolian Steppes; making friends with the locals.

myself and my brother Sam, to avoid the risk of any gearbox damage, because a broken gearbox would be impossible to repair in the desert. In fact, we had only one problem, when dad hit a grassy knoll and bent the steering track rod through about 30º. I thought that this meant curtains for us, but Ben was totally unfazed and, by wedging it behind one of the Grenadier towbars and bending it with ratchet straps, we managed to get it more-or-less straight. Before the trip, my biggest fear had been not of driving a Bentley across the desert but about having to manage it in heavy traffic when we got to Beijing. After a few weeks of having been behind the wheel every day, however, it had become competely second-nature. The car is now back in London and, if time allowed – as commercial director of INEOS Automotive, I’m travelling a lot at the moment – I’d happily use it every day.

WHY WE LOVE…

Driving in snow The trail of brake lights through Ramsbottom confirmed that ‘access only’ would have to be stretched to its fullest as I turned off and headed via Holcombe Hill in fresh, deep snow. It’d be a brass-monkeys five-mile plod in my wellies if the gamble failed, but such was winter life in the West Pennine Moors, where I grew up. Trusting in the grumbly torque of my dad’s Granada Scorpio, I left the selector in D and crawled up and over. Slowly. But surely. Though nobody followed in my tracks. Next day, after another dumping of the white stuff, I headed out in mum’s Austin Maestro to

practise handbrake turns and low-speed drifting on the nearby industrial estate (don’t tell her). The folly of youth. Nowadays, snowy days where I live in Northamptonshire are rare, and usually result in severe traffic snarl-ups. But still the skills I learned when younger can be put into place: not so much for sideways action or risky moorland escapades, but treading gently, feeling your way, traction control off, as high a gear as possible, smooth inputs. I’ve never felt the need for four-wheel drive or even winter tyres. And don’t you just love the quietness that snow brings to proceedings? Glen Waddington

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PALM BEACH | APRIL 18-20 2022 FORD GT ALAN MANN HERITAGE EDITION // NO RESERVE Powered by a 3.5-liter V8 engine and 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. One of 30 produced in total for 2022. Red exterior with Alan Mann graphics over a black interior. Includes titanium lug nuts and 6-point harness anchors. 10 actual miles.

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IGNITION / Gearbox

GEARBOX

Richard Hammond

Top Gear and The Grand Tour star who now runs DriveTribe and The Smallest Cog classic vehicle restoration workshop

1 I’ve wanted an E-type ever since I first sat in one at a Birmingham car dealership as a child. My car is a 1962 roadster sold new by the Jaguar racer and dealer Peter Lindner and I wouldn’t change a thing. I tell myself that if everything goes wrong, then at least I’ll still have an E-type. 2 I was wearing this Rolex Sea-Dweller when I infamously crashed the Rimac during a hillclimb. We went end-over-end and my hand was trapped under the seatbelt, so I had to ditch the watch. The car was burning for days with thermal runaway (Rimac has now fixed this, note!) so the watch burned, too. Rimac later presented it back to me in a display case. 3 I’ve had this Globetrotter suitcase ever since I was doing the car-launch circuit for Granada TV’s Men and Motors. It’s had the bejayzus kicked out of it, the handles are held on with cable-ties and it’s stained all down one side where oil leaked onto it in a car boot, but it’s a piece of home. 4 When my daughters Izzie and Willow were very small, they solemnly presented me with a fake Cartier ring that had been taped to the front of one of their children’s magazines. I wore it every day until it started to get too thin, then bought a real Cartier and keep the fake one in its box.

5 A folding knife is the one thing you need in the wilderness and I’ve used mine in the Amazon rainforest to free a sloth that had become entangled in a vine. I’d like to say that it then shot off, but of course…

6 Choosing just one motorbike is a real nightmare because they are my favourite things; your body works with them in a way it doesn’t with a car. I’ve been in love with bikes since I was five and now have far too many, but this Ducati 900SS represents all that’s great about them.

7 I’ve been interested in photography since I was a kid, when I turned the linen cupboard into a darkroom, and in the late 1980s was seduced by this Minolta Dynax 7000i because it had autofocus and autowind. But then I hated it and went back to using my old manual Zenit ET!

8 I like to read and Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea is a favourite. It’s perfect with a glass of something on a long-haul flight and I still get emotional at the end. 9 My beloved Church’s Shanghai Co-respondent shoes are quite a strong flavour of shoe. I once got them wet at an event, stuffed them with newspaper to dry out and then lost them for ages… It took a lot of hide food to revive them but I like using quality things and making them last.

10 My youngest brother Nick will kill me for this! When we were young we had no money and would go camping near Buttermere. This February we’re planning to do it again with Andy, our middle brother. I still have the tent.

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CMY

IGNITION / Opinion

JAY LENO The Collector

f you’ve never heard of Abner Doble you’re not alone. Certain names stand out among great engineers of the last century: Marc Birkigt, Ettore Bugatti, Ferdinand Porsche, WO Bentley, to name a few. Born in the last decade of the 1800s to a wealthy, mechanically minded family, Doble grew up in the age of steam and was determined to make a better steampowered car, but by the time he’d finished his masterpiece the world had moved on. In the early days the steam car had an advantage over internal combustion. First of all, it was a known commodity – steam had powered everything from ships to factories. It was also easier to deal with than a gas car. With a steam car you went out to the barn, lit the pilot, waited for the vaporiser to get hot and heat up the boiler and you were ready to go. Really no different than heating the kettle on the stove. Don’t forget, with early gas cars there was no self-starter; you had to set the choke, retard the timing, adjust the carburettor, then violently swing that starter handle, which could kick back and easily break your arm. Also, the noise of the internal combustion engine would frighten the horses and raise the ire of neighbours, not to mention magistrates. Steam car people would argue that the gas cars were dangerous because any one of those internal explosions could go awry at any minute and injure people. Alas, steam was your grandfather’s mode of transportation. The gas car was new and exciting, and progress moved at lightning speed. The invention of the self-starter and interchangeability of precision parts saw to the death of steam. People could just get in the car and go. Being a true believer in steam, Abner had to figure a way around this, which he did. He was the only one to build a steam car that you just get into, turn the key and go. I owned two of the 40 or so cars he built, and one of those, E-20, was originally owned by Howard Hughes, who set a 132.5mph record with it in 1925. I bought it from the Nethercutt Collection, which had restored the car and won numerous prizes with it, including Pebble Beach. It was surely one of the hardest vehicles to restore because Abner never built two alike. In his endless quest for perfection, every car was a prototype. I owned E-18 and E-20 and, even though they are only two cars apart, almost none of the parts are interchangeable.

E-20 was the first Murphy-bodied roadster with a disappearing top. My engine blew itself apart because I had the wrong steam oil. Unlike most steam cars, which run at temperatures of 300-400ºF, all the Dobles run on super-heated steam, which runs at 750-850ºF, and as much as 1000lb of pressure. The oil is injected into the steam line because water is not a lubricant. I had been sold a drum of ordinary steam oil labelled as superheated steam oil and it was much too thin at the temperatures the Doble runs at. The oil failed to lubricate, and the engine blew itself apart. Now what? There are no spare parts for Dobles, you have to make every piece yourself, including pistons, rods and valves. We did this a couple of times before we got it right. Even the throttle was a Herculean task because we had to go to the Czech Republic to find the correct grade of stainless steel to make it. Fortunately for us, Abner had donated all his papers to the University of California, so we spent countless hours poring over them. It took five years to get it right and it’s truly amazing. There’s no transmission because, with steam, you have over 1000lb ft of torque from rest. It has a four-cylinder compound engine with two highpressure pistons and two low-pressure pistons. Steam pushes the piston down then back up, so you have the same number of power impulses as a V16. You have unique problems, such as water hammers and extreme heat, and the steam generator – remember, it’s not a boiler – has these crazy temperatures. I put a probe in the firebox to see exactly how hot it got. I saw it go to 3000ºF and then come back down. Thinking it had cooled off, I pulled the probe out only to see that the temperature went down because it had melted. The Doble’s steam generator is made of 600ft of coil with a diminishing radius and no more than two quarts of water in it at any time. The fire comes down from the top, which prevents scale building up in the coils. With only two quarts of water in it at any time, it turns to steam quickly. In a Stanley you’re heating 10-15 gallons at a time, which can take half an hour. I guess what I love about this is that the car needs me. And like Abner, I’m constantly working on it. In my Doble handbook it was ‘things for your man to do on a daily basis’. Blow down engine, clean scale traps, etc etc. I guess this is what they mean by being your own man.

‘THERE ARE NO SPARE PARTS, YOU MAKE THEM YOURSELF. WE DID THIS A COUPLE OF TIMES BEFORE WE GOT IT RIGHT’

JAY LENO Comedian and talk show legend Jay Leno is one of the most famous entertainers in the USA. He is also a true petrolhead, with a huge collection of cars and bikes (jaylenosgarage.com). Jay was speaking with Jeremy Hart.

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V-

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CO.UK

‘24

RTO

Sunday 22 – Friday 27 September

J O I N U S F O R A 5 - D AY D R I V I N G A D V E N T U R E T H R O U G H S PA I N A N D P O R T U G A L When my wife Misti and I first discussed putting together a DB tour a few years ago, little did we know it would become an annual event. What could be better than setting off on spectacular roads with a group of friends, old and new, enjoying fabulous hotels and great food. For our 2024 event we’re returning to Iberia where some of the greatest driving roads in Europe are to be found, taking in Asturias, the Picos mountains, Castile y León and the incredible Douro Valley before we cross the finish line in Porto. Our tours combine great driving with a relaxed and informal itinerary, meaning there’s plenty of time to enjoy the fabulous hotels along the way. There will be just 20 cars taking part, and you’re welcome to bring whatever you love to drive, whether that’s a classic or a modern supercar. It’s going to be a wonderful week. We hope you can join us.

DEREK BELL MBE

For further details and to receive the brochure please contact Georgie on +44 (0)1635 867705 or email georgie@v-management.com v-events.co.uk

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06/12/2023 12:52

IGNITION / Opinion

DEREK BELL The Legend

acing drivers receive all the glory but winning is a team effort. I was thinking about this recently as I drove to Caribbean Jack’s, a seafood restaurant at Daytona Beach. It was a bit of a hike – probably a 400-mile round trip, not that the distance really entered into it. The point is, I was wondering what to expect as I made for the seventh running of the Road Racing Veteran Crew Club dinner during the run-up to the 24 Hours of Daytona. Thing is, the mechanics are the real heroes in motor racing. Good grease-monkeys are worth their weight in gold. They work long, unsociable hours away from the limelight, but they are racers to the core. They are in it because they love the sport as much as I do. This wonderful organisation is closely linked with the Road Racing Drivers’ Club, which is chaired by Indy 500 winner, Bobby Rahal. I have attended quite a few of its get-togethers in the past, and written about them here. They are delightfully informal, a chance to catch up with old mates and rivals; to claim bragging rights. The older I get, the faster I was and all that. The Crew Club dinner was much the same. It was laid on by Gary Cummings, who wrote to ask me if I would attend. There would be no regaling an audience with tales of derring-do from a stage. I would simply be there dining among a bunch of guys who once wielded spanners, many during my era of sports car racing, as it were. As you all know by rote, I raced in the USA a lot, the IMSA GTP championship being my happy place during much of the 1980s. I knew some of the guys at the ‘do’ from my time in sports-prototypes, and got to know a great many others before the evening was over. What struck me was how eager everyone was to be there. There was one former mechanic who had been ravaged by a ghastly illness that meant he was confined to a wheelchair. He and his wife drove to Florida from their home in Tennessee, such was their determination to attend. That rather put my journey into perspective. I thoroughly enjoyed an evening full of laughter and an endless supply of anecdotes, a number of which were most enlightening! As for the 24 Hours of Daytona itself, I wasn’t really sure what to make of the race other than that it provided plenty of battles spanning five classes. There was also

a record presence in the grandstands for the endurance classic, which can only be good news for the sport. At the end of the race there was a flag-related snafu that raised a few eyebrows, but I am not convinced that it affected the outcome. I was happy for Roger Penske, whose crack squad claimed its first victory in the great race in 55 years. To be fair, there was a decades-long hiatus during which Team Penske wasn’t involved in sports car racing, having got back into it in 2018. Now they’re fielding works Porsche 963s, and the team’s lead car pipped the secondplaced Cadillac by 2.112sec. It was great to see Jenson Button finish third on his maiden outing in a ‘big’ sports car, having done rather well in GT racing in Japan in the past. There were five top-flight GTP cars on the lead lap, including the second Penske Porsche. What I still cannot get my head around is just how close it was at the finish – again. In order to add a sense of perspective, I’ll mention that Mark Donohue and Chuck Parsons won the 1969 running in their Penske Lola by 30 laps over the similar car entered by James Garner. Describing it as a race of attrition would be an understatement, but that wasn’t particularly unusual. I know this because I won and lost races by similar margins back when cars used to break. Being able to coax a car home was once part of a sports car driver’s skillset. Nowadays, cars can seemingly be flogged at eleven-tenths for 24 hours straight without major issue. I am not saying I preferred things as they were, more that I am in awe of how robust racing cars are these days. That, and amazed at how these races have, in effect, become 24 sprint races between stops. I do love the race at Daytona, though, and am really proud to have won it three times. I hope you will forgive me for repeating this yet again, but I maintain that racing around the clock at Daytona was tougher than competing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. There was never any let-up, even for a moment. I must say I am looking forward to the year ahead, and March will mark a personal milestone. It was 60 years ago that I first ventured trackside in anger: that was at Goodwood aboard a Lotus Seven. I won my race and in doing so my worldview tilted on its axis. Maybe, just maybe, I wouldn’t become a farmer after all.

‘60 YEARS AGO I WON MY FIRST RACE AND IN DOING SO MY WORLDVIEW TILTED ON ITS AXIS’

DEREK BELL Derek took up racing in 1964 in a Lotus 7, won two World Sportscar Championships (1985 and 1986), the 24 Hours of Daytona three times (in 1986, ’87 and ’89), and Le Mans five times (in 1975, ’81, ’82, ’86 and ’87).

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OOD CI

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IGNITION / Opinion

STEPHEN BAYLEY The Aesthete

ast Sunday was the first sunny Sunday of the year. And, as usual, I was ambling along Chelsea’s King’s Road. What you might call ‘car ecology’ has always fascinated me, the relationship between certain cars and certain environments. Sometimes these relationships seem dissonant. For example, I’d be astonished if, on my next visit to Birkhall, the King’s retreat near Balmoral, I were to find a candy-apple green 1966 Chevy Chevelle SS parked near the stables. A muddy Series II Land Rover? Of course. But more often these relationships seem just right, some of them defining our expectations of the car itself. London has always been a theatre where these relationships have been rehearsed, and the King’s Road has long been a crucible for alloying people and machines in meaningful symbiosis. In the 1960s, ambitious designerentrepreneurs (I am thinking of Terence Conran) would cruise the length in their E-types, possibly stopping at The Chelsea Drugstore to admire the delivery girls in electric blue jump-suits with their rasping Vespas. The parking space outside might already have been taken by one of The Dave Clark Five in a Mini Cooper. So it was last sunny Sunday that I was delighted to (first) hear, (second) see a tangerine-coloured (Arancia Miura) early Lamborghini Countach. The owner felt confident that the early sunshine would mean no rain, plus, importantly, an appreciative audience. Of course, it was stuck behind a snake of buses, each of them waiting for the two sets of temporary lights outside Marks & Spencer to shine in their favour. And then it would be a slow grind to Sloane Square, where roadworks have been officially mandated to exist forever. Yet the Lamborghini did not look absurd, it looked life-enhancing. I think I even saw a sunlit reflection from its periscopio. Long ago, for a national newspaper I wrote one of my early studies on car ecology. This involved looking at estate agents’ full-page ads in Country Life and wondering if there was a correlation between the cars parked outside and the property prices. My methodology was crude, but effective. The presence of a Peugeot or a Vauxhall indicated a lower value than if there were a Mercedes or a Jaguar. ( Jaguar? I said this was ‘long ago’.) I have seen this in my own street. When I arrived, the houses were painted Caribbean colours and pale blue

Cortina Mark IIIs still prowled what passes for Earth in South London. My neighbour was an Irish family living in an 1838 house that did not have electricity or mains water. Now that same house, painted white, is inhabited by a bitcoin dealer who has maids and a black Porsche Cayenne. I caused a riot of fascination when I first arrived with my silver Audi, but now those black Cayennes are commonplace, Macans even more so and we have two Maserati Levantes. But that was then. Recently, there has been a complete revolution in local taste. Someone has arrived with an Alfa Romeo Tipo 105, best-known in its Giulia TI guise (standing for Turismo Internazionale because those really were the days, my friend). This was the boxy tre volume car launched in 1962 at the Monza Autodromo. Better still, my new neighbour’s car has Squadra Volante (‘flying squad’) graphics. My other neighbours do not care about its lovely 1300cc twin-cam engine or its surprisingly low drag coefficient. They are just astonished by what it means because it is the first classic car in our ’hood. Statista, the big Hamburg-based data-gathering agency, estimates that Britain’s classic car sales in 2024 will be worth $1.35bn, almost double the figure from four years ago. For the purposes of this research, Statista analysed 65,000 advertisements and defined a classic car as one ‘manufactured in or prior to 1990’. We can argue that figure and there is surely more precision needed in the definition because a 1990 Astra might be quite interesting, but it is not now nor will ever be a classic. Still, for me, the message is clear. The future of interesting cars is not in the future, but in the past. If any reader is having unwholesome fantasies about a Mercedes EQC, let me know and I can refer you to the relevant psychiatric advisor. I have not seen the Alfa Giulia actually move, but cars in London are mostly stationary and have long since stopped being rational transport options. But this Tipo 105 looks wonderful when parked: a statement of great class and refinement in a tough and challenging world. More people will be buying cars like this to escape the humdrum tedium of today’s new-car offers. Yes, you could say this reduces the automobile to an ornament, a matter of social competition and cultural modelling. But in London, at least, that’s what it’s always been.

‘THE PARKING SPACE OUTSIDE MIGHT ALREADY HAVE BEEN TAKEN BY ONE OF THE DAVE CLARK FIVE IN A MINI COOPER’

STEPHEN BAYLEY The individual for whom the term ‘design guru’ could have been coined, Bayley was the founding director of London’s Design Museum and his best-selling books include Sex, Drink and Fast Cars and Taste: the Secret Meaning of Things.

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IGNITION / Opinion

ROBERT COUCHER The Driver

hat goes around comes around. As regular readers will know, some 20 years ago four optimists launched Octane. Hailing from motoring magazine backgrounds, publisher Geoff Love, managing editor David Lillywhite, advertising sales director Sanjay Seetanah and myself (plain old editor) decided to create a classic and performance car magazine – a publication that reflected the changing times in the classic car world. It had moved along fast from simply being a hobby for hairy blokes who liked getting their fingers dirty – hell, we still do! – to vintage, classic, historic racing and rally cars being much more aspirational, collectable and part of the mainstream social fabric, as reflected by such events as the ever-popular Goodwood Festival of Speed and the swish Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. The car game had changed, and we managed to ‘effectively tap into the zeitgeist of the historic car world: the people, the events, the action, the excitement’, as I optimistically wrote in the first Editor’s Note. Against the odds, Octane survived the usual 80% magazine failure rate and took off. So much so, we made our first mistake and sold it to Dennis Publishing, thinking the arrival of digital media would kill us off, PDQ. Didn’t happen. Octane continued strongly for two decades but recently came up for sale again. The good news is, it’s been bought by Hothouse Media, owned by Love and Lillywhite, so the old team is back in place and Octane is once again being published by enthusiasts for enthusiasts and not simply for the bean-counters’ bottom line. You will already have noticed the improvement in paper quality with this, issue 250, a fitting number to see Octane fired up and running at the redline once again. The classic car world has evolved over the last 20 years too, and we should expect more of the same going forwards. When I arrived in London in the 1990s, living in bedsits from Islington to Fulham, the streets were lined with all sorts of old cars, many of them classics being used as daily drivers: shabby, often painted that awful chocolate brown that was the most popular colour of the 1970s. Younger car enthusiasts enjoyed Porsche 911s and Triumph TR6s on the cheap, along with ubiquitous Golf GTIs and Ford RSs. Cars became real fun again and classic cars started becoming highly

collectable and were properly restored (a few times over) and made ready for concours, racing, touring or just driving down to the pub for a Sunday lunch. Prices boomed through the late 1980s, bust in the 1990s, then boomed again, peaking in 2015 before levelling off. Obviously, unicorns such as the Uhlenhaut Mercedes 300 SLR selling for £143million in 2022 appear at the very top of the market, which is typically dominated by cars from Maranello. During the last decade what actually constitutes a ‘classic car’ shifted as younger cars became all the rage; even near-new limitededition Ferraris and Porsches became highly prized. Lightning fast, exquisitely made and easy to drive: you can take your Pista shopping and leave the 275 in the garage for weekend blasts. At the same time, we’ve seen the rise of the heavily redeveloped and re-engineered classic car. They can’t merely be called ‘restomods’ because they are so much more than that. Porsche 911s by Singer or Tuthill, E-type Jaguars by Eagle, Alfa Romeos by Alfaholics: these are some of the very best sports cars you could ever wish to drive and they fly in the face of ever larger, more complicated and heavier supercars from leading manufacturers. The internal combustion engine has likely reached its zenith during this period, now top-end sports cars are cranking out well in excess of 600bhp horsepower with advanced chassis packages able to handle it all. But not for long. Western governments have determined to stop the manufacture of ICE vehicles; as we all know, it has to be electric after 2035 and the Chinese manufacturers seem to have the whole thing sewn up. Naturally we all want to save the planet but it is becoming apparent that EVs are not quite the solution, no matter how hard the politicians wish they were. Hertz has got shot of a third of its EV rental fleet because they are too expensive, they don’t work and they don’t last. And manufacturers can’t shift EVs as there are only so many people willing to spend on one. So what’s the good news? Time to buy a classic car (or a recent sports car) and enjoy the wonders of the infernal combustion engine. I still enjoy my 67-years-young Jaguar as my daily driver. It operates perfectly well in busy London and is clean and green. I have Octane reader Kirk Rylands’ sticker on the windscreen, which quite rightly reads ‘Save the planet… buy cars that last 50 years.’

‘WHEN I ARRIVED IN LONDON IN THE 1990S, THE STREETS WERE LINED WITH CHOCOLATE BROWN CLASSICS’

ROBERT COUCHER Robert grew up with classic cars, and has owned a Lancia Aurelia B20 GT, an Alfa Romeo Giulietta and a Porsche 356C. He currently uses his properly sorted 1955 Jaguar XK140 as his daily driver, and is a founding editor of Octane.

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IGNITION / Letters

Letter of the month

forget the checkpoint in Bologna where we were all showered with local products and gifts and encouraged by the Mayor to down a glass of Prosecco before venturing back out onto the busy road. I hope they still do that. We may have let the side down a bit in terms of VMF 65’s racing history, finishing about twothirds down the field, but where we did score was in terms of enjoyment. The roads, the towns, the people, the cars – it was all fabulous and I’m keeping the phone on 24/7 in case I ever get called up again. Peter Avery, Waikanae, New Zealand

Phone call of a lifetime IT WAS A PLEASANT surprise to find the story of Aston Martin DB2 ‘VMF 65’ in Octane 245. It took me back more than 20 years to when my friend Jerry [above, on right], who lives in Los Angeles, phoned me in New Zealand and asked if I was interested in doing the 2001 Mille Miglia as his navigator in two weeks’ time. His entered companion had pulled out. I told him that I would love to but I find it difficult reading in cars as it gives me motion sickness. He told me not to worry about that because ‘We don’t have to win the thing – oh, and by the way, I’ve entered an Aston Martin DB2 Le Mans car.’ Now, while I knew Jerry owned an Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato,

LETTER OF THE MONTH WINS A MOUNTNEY STEERING WHEEL UP TO THE VALUE OF £300 The writer of Octane’s Letter of the Month can select from a range of Mountney Classic steering wheels

a DB6 Volante and a DB2 Fixed Head, I knew Jerry didn’t have one of those. ‘There is a catch,’ he admitted. ‘You’ll have to go to Silverstone to pick it up for the owner and drive it to him in Hamburg, Germany. I’ll meet you there and we’ll head on down to Brescia.’ Jerry and the owner had a reciprocal agreement of loaning each other historic cars, depending upon which continent and event they wished to enter. Two weeks later I was introduced to VMF 65, which had just been serviced after being purchased from former Octane contributor Rowan Atkinson. (Yes, it still had a teddy tied to the roll-cage, should he be wondering where he left it.) The extremely generous owner also lent us a

Land Rover Discovery tow car and trailer and off we set to Italy. To help compensate for being a pretty average navigator, I decided to make a video of the whole event. Most of the time we were travelling between a Mercedes Gullwing and a Ferrari Tour de France, and they seemed to know where they were going. However, I must have been a very poor navigator because, halfway through the event, Jerry asked me: ‘Would you like to drive?’ At that point I gave up on the video to concentrate on my new job of being a driver in the Mille Miglia. I will never forget being overtaken at 90mph by the Carabinieri outriders on their BMW motorcycles and being urged to go faster. Nor will I

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Fairer and faster Mark Dixon’s tribute to the late Rosemary Smith [below] in Octane 248 reminded me of an article that one-time Motor Sport editor Bill Boddy wrote about Kay Petre, who raced Bugattis and other notable makes in the 1930s, and how he was once invited to an important lunch for journalists and was asked to bring an appropriate personality. He duly did so, only to be met with remarks that it was a pity he had not brought a racing driver. He was pleased to say that his guest was the most successful woman racing driver they were ever likely to meet. I think your Gone But Not Forgotten columns are important to flag the considerable contribution that both sexes have made to the world of motoring. Rob Perkins, Melbourne, Australia

A sense of jeopardy James Elliott’s editorial in Octane 248 about Lamborghini struck a chord. In the late 1980s I bought a Jarama S. It had been properly maintained by Bob Houghton and everything worked but, to use James’s words, ‘a permanent sense of jeopardy’ – absolutely. 53

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IGNITION / Letters

walnut trim, and was painted in almost the same metallic maroon and black shades as your featured Cadillac. Sadly, I sold it to a car club member while I was in the Navy in the early ’70s. Such was the fate of so many of my early cars, including my first, a 1951 MG TD, and later my 1963 RHD Mini 850 and 1955 Jaguar XK140 DHC. Coulda, shoulda, woulda! Don Messer, Kansas, USA

Riley’s retreat I enjoyed the article by Glen Waddington on the 1934 Riley 9 Kestrel in Octane 249, not least because I have a 1933 Riley 9 Falcon [below]. It has never had a restoration and to date has covered fewer than 50,000 miles but, like the Kestrel, was first registered in Peterborough. I would question whether Riley’s problems were caused by ‘very little in the way of parts commonality’. Steering boxes, and front and rear axles were developed from those used on the first Riley 9, and, until the introduction of the Wilson pre-selector gearbox, just two designs were used for eight years. It is also a red herring to cite a dozen body styles produced by Midland Motor bodies as a cause for Riley’s failure, since the basic cost of a coachbuilt body will be very similar – the only additional cost will be for the different frames. I think you need to look further to explain Riley’s failure. Nigel Plant, Cheshire

Cadillac clone Your story about the 1930 Cadillac V-16 All-Weather Phaeton in Octane 245 has prompted me to write my first ever letter to a car magazine in over 60 years of being what you Brits would call a ‘petrolhead’. In 1966 we lived in Topeka, Kansas (I still do), and my father acquired a 1931 LaSalle series 345A Fleetwood-bodied All-Weather Phaeton [above]. The LaSalle, introduced in 1927, was Cadillac’s lower-priced sibling and was normally outfitted with a less expensive Fisher body. What made this particular LaSalle special was its coachwork: the Fleetwood All-Weather Phaeton was one of the most expensive body styles offered. Various apocryphal tales accompanied the car; some said it had been owned by the silent film star cowboy Tom Mix. Being one of the ‘Madame X’ bodies, it had the distinctive split-vee rearward slanting windshield. It was called the ‘All-Weather Phaeton’ because, while the top could be lowered, it had roll-up glass windows like a modern convertible, and also featured a roll-up glass dividing window between the front and rear compartments. It was upholstered in rich brown leather accented with gorgeous burl

VECTIS AUCTIONS

I was sponsoring the Chapman Warren Classic Roadsports Championship at the time and racing a lightweight DB4. During a Lamborghini ‘parade’ at Silverstone with my son on board, I approached Copse as if in the Aston and learned the hard way that the Jarama was way too heavy. We just about got round. Next track outing was a sprint at Goodwood. Not a sensible thing to do as I glazed the brakes; that weight again. Such was the smoke, a marshal rapidly approached with a fire extinguisher. Retardation was finally restored about 50 miles along the way home. Showing off to a nephew on a local country road I knew well, we finished up in a field of waving corn. It was the paradoxical kind of location that photographers strangely choose to shoot supercars, and the only time in 60-odd years of driving that such an excursion has happened. Notwithstanding its weight, divisive Bertone looks and not particularly ergonomic interior, you could see out of it, it was comfortable and the acceleration of that V12 was like a fully loaded jet taking off on a short runway. Trouble was, at times it made me look like a hooligan, which I definitely wasn’t… Graham Warren, Granada, Spain

Unrealised dreams Do the toy cars that we buy as children influence our car purchases in later life? In the early 1960s I travelled home from school past a shop in Northampton that sold Corgi cars, which appealed to my sense of quality. Matchbox and Dinky didn’t tick my boxes. My Corgi purchases included a metallic red Corvette Sting Ray and a black and metallic grey Bentley Continental with ‘diamond’ headlights [below]. Sadly, I’ve never owned either full-size car – although I had several Rolls-Royce Silver Shadows in my trading days. Nick Smith, Dorset

Lotus water closet? In Octane 249, your feature about the first car built by Colin Chapman refers to possible origins of the Lotus name. One explanation I read many years ago was that Lotus was the name of a bathroom fitting in Colin and Hazel’s house – which might explain why Colin was evasive about its origins. Dr Lanil de Silva, Wiltshire 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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FERRARI

GT ZAGATO

RHAPSODY

One of the rarest and most beautiful Ferraris, this Zagato-bodied 250GT garners awards w

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Photography Evan Kl

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awards wherever it is shown. But its owner is not afraid to use it, as Mark Dixon finds out

otography Evan Klein

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FERRARI

GT ZAGATO

‘IT’S AS CLOSE TO ARTWORK AS YOU CAN IMAGINE – IT’S A CONNOISSEUR’S CAR.’ That’s the claim made by owner David Sydorick, and it’s a bold one. But who would dispute it? This Zagato-bodied Ferrari is one of the most gorgeous coupés to emerge from the 1950s, a fact that’s borne out by the steady string of concours awards it’s accumulated over the last 30 years. Fortunately, that doesn’t mean it never gets driven. On the contrary, Sydorick reckons that regular use has allowed him to evolve and improve the car to the point that it’s literally in as-new condition. ‘The guy who services it for me says that, of all the cars that come into his workshop, it’s the only one that doesn’t drip oil or water!’ he laughs. ‘I’ve driven it on the Mille Miglia, the Colorado Grande, the Copperstate, Brandon Wang’s 250 Tour – where we started from Le Mans and then drove through heavy rain for days and days to Maranello – plus many, many more. We even put it on a barge on the Grand Canal in Venice, to the distress of the gondoliers!’ But this 250 has always led a pretty eventful life. Sold new in early 1956 to an Italian gentleman racer, Vladimiro Galluzzi, who was president of the Milan-based Scuderia Sant’Ambroeus racing team and a good client of Ferrari, it was campaigned by him and a couple of subseqent Italian owners throughout the latter half of the 1950s until it was exported to the USA in the 1960s. Then, as Sydorick succinctly describes, ‘it was passed around various collectors in California for many years’ until he acquired it in the late 1990s. He’s owned it ever since. To badly misquote George Orwell, ‘all Ferrari 250s are special, but some are more special than others’. And none more so than a 250 bodied by Zagato, which is such a rare bird that it’s not even mentioned in Hans Tanner’s seminal book Ferrari. Nearly all 250GTs were bodied by Scaglietti for Pinin Farina, some by Boano and Ellena, and just five by Zagato – of which Sydorick’s, chassis 0515GT, was the first to be undertaken. Because its buyer, Galluzzi, wanted to use it in competition, Zagato’s ultra-light body construction was ideal for the task.

Right, and opposite page David Sydorick at the wheel of his beloved 250GT Zagato; not Italy but California, USA, a location that suits the 250’s lines just as perfectly.

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1956 Ferrari 250GT Zagato Engine 2953cc silumin-block V12, OHC per bank, three Weber 36DCZ carburettors Power 250bhp @ 7000rpm Transmission Four-speed manual, rear-wheel drive Steering Worm and wheel Suspension Front: double wishbones, coil springs, lever-arm dampers, anti-roll bar. Rear: live axle, semi-elliptic leaf springs, anti-tramp bars, lever-arm dampers Brakes Drums Weight 1000kg (est) Top speed 120mph (est)

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FERRARI

GT ZAGATO

Clockwise, from above Triple-carb V12 is a genuinely iconic piece of engine design; double-bubble roof and rear screen pillars are worthy of study; three wipers for fast driving.

Regardless of carrozzeria, the 250GT was an instant success as a competition car. An evolution of the 250 Europa, Ferrari’s first series-production offering for the European market, there was one significant difference: while both the Europa and the GT had 3.0-litre V12 engines, the Europa’s was a revised version of Lampredi’s 4.1-litre design, sleeved down to 2963cc, while the GT’s was by Gioacchino Colombo, coming in at 2953cc. The latter of these V12 designs would prove a lot more long-lived. Introduced in miniature 1496cc form for the Ferrari 125S of 1946, it survived – with continual evolution – right through until the angular Ferrari 412 coupé ceased production in 1989. But why was a 3.0-litre car called a 250? It’s because, rather cleverly, Enzo Ferrari named his cars not after their engine capacity but by the capacity of a single cylinder in cubic centimetres – which is why, say, the 750 Monza engine has similar total capacity to a 250GT’s, because the Monza has four cylinders rather than 12. The 250 designation was used as early as 1952 by Ferrari for a one-off coupé 250S featuring Colombo’s new V12, which won that year’s Mille Miglia and powered the 250GT to numerous victories through the later 1950s and early ’60s. Most famous of these was the Tour de France, won by de Portago and Nelson in 1956, which earned the GT its ‘Tour de France’ nickname, reinforced by Olivier Gendebien winning the same event in 1957, ’58 and ’59.

‘SYDORICK’S 250GT PUT IN RESPECTABLE SHOWINGS IN ROAD-RACES AND HILLCLIMBS’

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Sydorick’s car never achieved quite such giddy heights but it put in respectable showings in road-races and hillclimbs with various Italian drivers – plus a couple of concours in 1956. Then, in October 1960, it passed to the Los Angeles enthusiast Edwin K Niles, who over the next 12 years sold it and bought it back no fewer than five times from a total of eight different owners! During 1983-84 it was restored by Steve Tillack, it won the Hans Tanner trophy at Pebble Beach in 1985, and in 1991 it was acquired by Mexico-based collector Lorenzo Zambrano. And then, towards the end of the 1990s, David Sydorick made his move. ‘I’d loved the car since day one and caught Lorenzo in a moment of weakness, because he certainly didn’t need to sell it,’ Sydorick recalls. ‘For years afterwards, he’d come to me and beg me to sell it back to him! ‘I’d decided some time beforehand that I didn’t just want to collect the usual suspects: the 289 Cobra, the 356 Porsche, 300SL Merc and so on. I loved Zagato’s style and so I decided to collect by coachwork rather than

marque. At one time I had a pre-war Alfa 8C 2300 Zagato, which won Best of Show at Villa d’Este in 2015, but I then broke my own rule and sold it to upgrade to a Touring-bodied 8C 2900B. ‘Even though it didn’t really need it, in the early 2000s I had the 250GT restored again by the master of Ferrari restorations, the late Wayne Obry of Motion Products in Wisconsin. Similarly, I had the engine gone through by Rick Bunkfeldt, also of Wisconsin, who’s known for his expertise with 250 and Alfa 8C engines. Again, it probably didn’t really need it but now it’s solid and it’s strong and it doesn’t leak. ‘I love the typical Zagato features like the flush doorhandles, the little air vents above the rear ’screen, and the engine turning that’s inset into the dash. The main colour is Lancia blue and the reason for the white roof is supposedly because the girlfriend of the guy who ordered it wanted a convertible, but he didn’t, so he had the roof painted white so that it would seem to “disappear”.’

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FERRARI

GT ZAGATO

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‘THE IMPRESSION OF TAUTNESS IS ENHANCED BY BORRANIS SHOD WITH MEATY ENGLEBERT TYRES’

Clockwise, from left Simple but gorgeous interior; Zagato bodied only five 250GTs; styling combines brute power with delicacy; simple bucket seats will accommodate competition harnesses, if required.

It’s certainly a colour combination that suits the car perfectly – and ‘perfect’ is a word that you’ll find yourself frequently muttering as you do a walk-around. Zagato’s work is just astonishing: the body seems to be shrink-wrapped around its underpinnings. Look how little metal there is between the top of the rear wheelarch and the upper surface of the rear wing, for example. The car is at once massively purposeful and yet also entrancingly delicate in appearance – and, in some respects, in physical construction, too. The slender bumpers, for example, are attached straight to the body and there are no chassis-mounts to soak up parking nudges. This impression of tautness is enhanced by big Borrani wire wheels shod with meaty Englebert tyres. ‘Those Engleberts are hard as a rock and I normally only use them for display; I put on a set of Michelins for serious road driving,’ explains Sydorick. Which sounds like our cue to head out into the manicured surroundings of Beverly Hills. Surprisingly, those wafer-thin doors close with a solid clunk, which is a harbinger of just how completely sorted this Ferrari really is. Inside, the car wraps around its occupants just as tightly as it does the mechanical elements in front and behind. That double-bubble roof really proves its worth for a taller person, although what appears to be a thin plasticised headlining also helps maximise interior space. Nothing is labelled on the dashboard, and the turquoise-blue coaming that surrounds the instrument binnacle and tops the bright white-painted metal dash, with its glittering engine-turned inlay, gives an appropriately toy-like feel to this tiny jewel of a machine. 63

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FERRARI

GT ZAGATO

Nothing toy-like about that 3.0-litre V12, however, which fires instantly and busily. A couple of minutes while the oil and coolant warm through, and then we ease gently away, the lightness of the steering immediately apparent through that big-rimmed wheel. The delicate aesthetics of Zagato’s coachwork are mirrored by the ease and precision of the controls, and by the cream gearknob etched with black Roman numerals shifting the four-speed gearbox slickly, aided by a gentle-acting clutch and the motor’s ample torque. All those miles that Sydorick has accumulated on the car, all the visits to specialists for tweaking and refining, have evidently paid off. This 68-year-old car literally feels like new. There are no rattles, no squeaks. The white-piped blue seats, door-cards and carpets are absolutely immaculate. While it’s always lovely to discover a car with patination, there’s also something uniquely fascinating about a piece of artwork – Sydorick is not wrong when he describes it as such – that’s presented looking so fresh and vivid. Where cars score over paintings or sculpture, of course, is that you can also drive them. Interestingly, the 250 sounds quite different depending on whether you’re inside or outside. The occupants are treated to a mechanical symphony of intake and exhaust noise overlaid with a whisper of valvetrain and bolstered by the thresh of transmission, a harmony with a central theme that strengthens as the engine revs rise yet never becomes raucous, instead developing into a crisp fanfare. From outside, the composition is more complex. The individual voices separate

out: there’s a trace of exhaust burble, and also a little crackle from what Octane’s founding editor Robert Coucher would call the ‘snaps’, those four pea-shooter pipes that spear from under the car’s tail. The 250 sounds more extrovert to the onlooker than it does to those inside. Of course, for the sake of the neighbours we’re using barely half of the engine’s 7000rpm limit. And that second half of the rev range is where all the action really happens. Back in 2006 I drove a 1958 250GT for Octane 031 on some lightly trafficked Swiss roads, and came away suitably enthused. ‘As the crankshaft speed rises above 3500rpm, the V12’s growl develops into a percussive, drilling wall of sound… the highpitched whine of transmission and valve noise steadily dominates the mechanical dialogue as the revs build, until both parts combine in a thoroughbred scream that has you grinning like a madman.’ Phew. As Sydorick says, this Zagato-bodied Ferrari is very much a connoisseur’s car. In 2022 he sent it on a transatlantic tour that encompassed events in the USA, Italy and the UK. The last of them was Salon Privé at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, where the 250 won Best in Show – and where it caught the eye of a certain well-informed Ferrari fan who was visiting from America. Sydorick explains: ‘While it was at Salon Privé, the Hollywood movie director Michael Mann saw it and insisted we should take it to Italy so it could be in his new Ferrari film. So we packed it up and sent it to Brescia.’ Needless to say, it wasn’t used for the racing scenes in the movie. But, as set-dressing goes, it made one hell of a prop. End

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Care beyond automotive assets.

BICOLLECTION.CH/EN/CCFO

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FROM 200MPH TO

MPH AND BEYOND

TH E PAC E

RACE

How the supercar arms race dashed from 200mph to 250mph – and more… Words John Barker

253.2 MPH

B U G AT TI V E YR O N E B 16.4

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THE FIRST 250MPH production car was the Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4, right? You might even have seen it on an episode of Top Gear, when James May clocked an officially verified 253.2mph. Check Wikipedia, though, and you’ll see that the Dauer 962 Le Mans got there first, recording 251.4mph way back in 1993. Really? Welcome to the contentious and occasionally contradictory world of production car speed records. In truth, it has ever been thus. Back in the 1980s, Ferrari stole Porsche’s thunder by claiming that its F40 was capable of 201mph, just pipping the 198mph 959, but no independent test verified Ferrari’s claim. Jaguar made a bid for the record with the XJ220 but had turned up the wick another 50bhp, so that didn’t count. RUF’s CTR held the record instead, at 213mph, a figure I could readily believe, having seen just over 200mph in a CTR on a German autobahn. And yet, while RUF is recognised as a manufacturer, the car is arguably a modified Porsche. Still, we can all agree that the McLaren F1 put the matter to bed with its phenomenal two-way average of 240.1mph at the VW group’s EhraLessien proving ground. Or can we? When Gordon Murray designed the remarkable F1, he set many targets but none for performance. Of course, he knew that the F1’s light weight combined with the power and torque

256 MPH

of the BMW 6.1-litre V12 would give incredible acceleration, and that the F1’s slippery shape would result in a high top speed. But that top speed was 221mph, which was when the 7500rpm rev limiter cut in. When Andy Wallace recorded 240.1mph in 1998, the rev limiter had been raised to 8300rpm, a tweak denied customer cars. It was good enough for the Guinness Book of Records and I agree because it’s materially the same car, but that Dauer 962? That’s an imposter. Yes, Dauer qualified as a manufacturer, the car was road-legal and 13 were sold, and as such it allowed Porsche to compete at Le Mans again in 1994, and win (well, they had some experience to draw on). However, for me Dauer is like RUF: an excellent modifier. Also, the Wikipedia list that includes the Dauer defines a production car as ‘a car constructed principally for retail sale to consumers, for their personal use, to transport people on public roads’. The only public road the 962 was designed for was the Mulsanne Straight. It’s so much easier to determine the Land Speed Record holder. The first car to pass 250mph was Malcolm Campbell’s Campbell-NapierRailton Blue Bird, way back in 1932. Why did it take over 70 years to build a production car capable of 250mph? Well, for starters the 24-litre,

267.9 MPH

S S C U LT I M A T E A E R O T T

240.1 MPH

MCLAREN F1

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FROM 200MPH TO

MPH AND BEYOND

1450bhp Blue Bird was designed to go in a straight line on a flat surface, while even 250mph road cars have to pass crash tests, be homologated and tackle a broad spectrum of conditions and roads. Oh, and be safe in the hands of anyone with the money to buy them. Ferdinand Piëch certainly did have performance targets. Attaining 250mph would not only put clear air between the Bugatti and the McLaren, it would also achieve a big metric number: 400km/h. Mission accomplished. But that was not an end to it because other supercarmakers had 250mph – and higher – in their sights. Bugatti has seemed compelled to roll out new models to raise the record and hold onto the production car crown. Gordon Murray predicted that the F1’s record would one day be beaten, but not by a naturally aspirated car, while Bugatti seems reluctant to accept its record being beaten by a supercar with a narrower skill set. In turn, smaller supercar-makers claim that it’s harder to prove their claims because they don’t have access to a facility such as Ehra-Lessien, with its 5.7-mile straights joined by high-speed banking. A few have found a way, often with closed roads. Cars that have gone faster than the Veyron 16.4 include the SSC Ultimate Aero TT, which hit a verified 256mph in 2007. It’s a US supercar with a twin-turbo, 6.3-litre V8 producing 1287bhp, and it’s famous for holding the record, but not much else. Bugatti built the Veyron Super Sport, upped the power of the W16 engine to 1183bhp, tweaked the aero and raised the record to 267.9mph in 2010. However, production cars were limited to 258mph and, because

of this, Guinness did not initially recognise the claim, until, perhaps, it was pointed out that the McLaren F1 also had an altered limiter. In 2017 along came the Koenigsegg Agera RS, the Swedish supercar with a twin-turbo V8 that has been gradually gaining muscle for years. Now boasting a gargantuan 1341bhp (1000kW – or a mega-watt!), the 5.0-litre engine powered the Agera down a Nevada highway at an astonishing 277.87mph average. Koenigsegg is the current record holder, having lifted it to a level that even Bugatti has not yet beaten. Well, not officially. In 2019, at Ehra-Lessien, Andy Wallace drove a 1578bhp Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+ at a verified 304.773mph. It’s the only production car that’s gone over 300mph, but it’s not a record because it was a pre-production car with a roll-cage, race seats and a slightly lower ride height. Seems churlish, given that otherwise it’s materially the same as the production car, but there is a more significant reason, and it’s the same reason the SSC Tuatara’s 295mph isn’t recognised either: it was recorded only in one heading. We asked Wallace why he didn’t back a return run in the Chiron and he explained. ‘The high-speed track at Ehra-Lessien is homologated only for record-setting in the clockwise direction, and there’s a nasty dog-leg in the straight coming back. If you tried to go 304.7724mph through that, it wouldn’t end well!’ Turns out the single run on the straight was exciting enough for Wallace, too. The engineers reckoned the car could go a little faster and asked him if he was up for it. He declined. I wonder if they were looking for 310.752mph, which would be exactly 500km/h. End

‘OTHER SUPERCAR-MAKERS HAD 250MPH, AND HIGHER, IN THEIR SIGHTS’

277.87

MPH

KOENIGSEGG AGERA RS

304.77

MPH

B U G AT TI C H I R O N S U P E R S P O RT 3 00+

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BY AIR, LAND AND SEA

MPH PIONEERS

THE SPEED KINGS These are the brave knights of air, land, sea and two wheels who were first to crack the magic 250mph mark Words James Page

THEY SAY THAT records are meant to be broken, and few knew that better than Harold J Brow. On 2 November 1923 the naval aviator set a new airspeed record of 259.16mph at Mitchel Field on Long Island, New York – only for Alford J Williams to set a new mark of 266.59mph two days later. Still, Brow’s record is in the history books as the first officially to surpass 250mph. The previous benchmark of 236.587mph had been set earlier that year by Russell Maughan in a Curtiss R-6. During the early ’20s, the New York-based company enjoyed a great deal of success in events such as the Schneider Trophy, which it won in 1923 and 1925, and the Pulitzer Trophy, a time trial over four laps of a 32-mile closed course. Brow’s 1923 record was set in one of two R2C aircraft that Curtiss built specifically for racing. Powered by a watercooled V12 engine, it was a streamlined single-seater biplane that, to modern eyes, resembles an airborne ‘drop-tank racer’. The upper wing was mounted to the top of the tapered fuselage and cooling was via surface-mounted radiators. The wings were staggered and of an unequal span, and braced with a single strut on either side.

The month before Brow and Williams traded the airspeed record, the two R2C-1s finished first and second in the 1923 Pulitzer Trophy, Williams coming out on top with an average speed of 243.67mph. One of the R2C-1s was then sold to the US Army and destroyed in an accident the following year, but the second aircraft was converted to Schneider Trophy specification, its wheeled landing gear being replaced by pontoons. It then won the seaplane class in the 1924 Pulitzer Trophy at 227.5mph. As for Brow, he’d joined the Navy in April 1917 and was later involved in experimental bombing attacks using old German battleships as targets. By 1922 he had reached the rank of Lieutenant and was listed as a test pilot at a Naval Air Station near Washington, DC. He was thought to have been the first person to make a night landing on a US aircraft carrier, but it wasn’t officially recorded as such because it was an accident – his aircraft had stalled while he was making a practice approach. Brow retired from the Navy as a Commander in 1947, the same year in which Chuck Yeager took the rocket-powered Bell X-1 through the sound barrier. Such is progress…

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1ST TO 250MPH IN THE AIR WH0 HAROLD J BROW WHAT C U RTI S S R2C WHERE MITCHEL FIELD, NY WHEN 2 NOVEMBER 1923 SPEED 259.16MPH

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250MPH ON LAND WHO MALCOLM CAMPBELL WHAT B LU E B I R D WHERE DAYTONA B EACH WHEN 24 FEBRUARY 1932 SPEED 253.97M P H

AL AM Y

BRITISH DRIVERS dominated the Land Speed Record during the inter-war years, and the most famous name of all was Malcolm Campbell. Born into a wealthy family – his father was a diamond merchant – Campbell raced motorcycles and cars with considerable success, but it was as a record-breaker that he became a household name. He first set a Land Speed Record at Pendine in Wales on 25 September 1924, taking his Sunbeam to 146.16mph. The following year, at the same venue, he became the first person to push the record above 150mph. Even though JG Parry-Thomas twice set a new benchmark in 1926 in the aero-engined Babs, Campbell’s great rival during this period was Henry Segrave. As the decade progressed and speeds continued to rise, they abandoned Pendine and a new battleground was established on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. The long, flat beach at Daytona in Florida was ideal for this next chapter in the story, and it was Segrave who struck first. On 29 March 1927 he became the first man to exceed 200mph, and two years later he set his final record at 231.446mph. After Segrave died in an accident on Lake Windermere in 1930, shortly after setting a new benchmark on water,

it was left to Campbell to push the Land Speed Record ever higher. The rate at which he did so was testament to his determination and courage – as well as to the ongoing development of his car, Blue Bird, by famed engineer Reid Railton. By the time Campbell went to Daytona in early 1931, this leviathan was powered by a supercharged 12-cylinder Napier aero-engine that produced 1500hp, plus bodywork that had been honed in a wind-tunnel. Between 1931 and 1935, Campbell set four new records at Daytona – and on 24 February 1932 he broke through the 250mph barrier, despite the fact that the poor condition of the beach meant that he had to wait two weeks before even attempting a test run. Blue Bird had reached 267mph on the downwind southbound run, but its official two-way average was 253.97mph – and Campbell wasn’t content to stop there. He set his final Land Speed Record at Bonneville Salt Flats on 3 September 1935, when he topped 300mph. ‘If anybody would like a real thrill,’ he once told the assembled pressmen from the cockpit of Blue Bird at Daytona, ‘I suggest that they drive this old car at a speed of anywhere between 270 and 280mph, and they’ll get a real kick, I can assure them of that.’ 71

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BY AIR, LAND AND SEA

MPH PIONEERS

2 5 0M P H O N WATE R WHO DONALD CAMPBELL WHAT B L U E B I R D K7 WHERE CONISTON WHEN MAY 1959 SPEED 260.35MPH

AFTER ACHIEVING so much on land, Malcolm Campbell switched his attention to the Water Speed Record, which he raised to 141.74mph on Coniston Water in August 1939, shortly before the outbreak of war. At that time Blue Bird K4 was powered a RollsRoyce piston engine, but after the war Campbell fitted a De Havilland Goblin II jet engine. The conversion was not a success… Campbell died in late 1948 but the name would live on in the record-breaking world thanks to his son Donald, who shared his father’s immense bravery. Although he was acutely aware of living in Malcolm’s long shadow, Donald surpassed his achievements on water and remains the only man to set the official record on both land and water in the same year – a remarkable feat that he achieved in 1964. Having converted Blue Bird K4 back to pistonengined form, he soon realised that the ageing machine had reached the limit of its development and could only watch as the American Slo-Mo-Shun IV raised the record to 160.323mph in 1950, and then 178.497mph in 1952. Campbell hit back with a new boat – Bluebird K7. Designed by Ken and Lew Norris, it was powered by a Metropolitan-Vickers Beryl jet engine that produced

4000lb of thrust, and K7 would raise the Water Speed Record by almost 100mph over the course of nine years. Campbell’s first benchmark was 202.32mph, set in July 1955. Later that year he managed 216.20mph, despite Bluebird having to be repaired after sinking during a test session at Lake Mead in Nevada. In the late 1950s, holiday-camp impresario Billy Butlin offered an annual award to anyone who broke the Water Speed Record, which Campbell duly did again in 1956 (225.63mph), 1957 (239.07mph) and 1958 (248.62mph). For the last of those records, he picked up the trophy and a cheque for £5000 during a Variety Club lunch at the Savoy Hotel in London, where his fellow guests included recently crowned Formula 1 World Champion Mike Hawthorn. In May 1959 Campbell returned to Coniston Water and matched his father’s earlier achievement on land, smashing through 250mph and raising the record to 260.35mph. After pushing it to 276.33mph during his historic year of 1964, he set his sights on 300mph – which proved to be one step too far. Having fitted Bluebird K7 with a more powerful Bristol-Siddeley Orpheus engine, he crashed to his death on Coniston Water on 4 January 1967.

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DON VESCO – the first man to set a Motorcycle Land Speed Record in excess of 250mph – deserves to be better known than he is. A fine racer who began competing as a teenager in the 1950s, and who won the open class at the 1963 US Grand Prix on a 250cc Yamaha, Vesco was involved in record-breaking his entire adult life. His first visit to the Bonneville Salt Flats came at the age of 16, and by the late 1960s he had opened a Yamaha dealership in El Cajon, California, and had his eyes on the motorcycle record, which had been left at 245.667mph by Bob Leppan in 1966. The machine he developed in order to improve that mark and go beyond 250mph was Big Red – a motorcycle, yes, but not as we know it. Powered by two 350cc Yamaha engines, it was 18ft long and featured a narrow, streamlined body. Vesco took it to Bonneville in 1969 but Big Red was so unstable at speed that he didn’t even get into fifth gear, although fourth was still good enough for well over 200mph. Having revised the aerodynamics, he was back at Bonneville in 1970 and running well. On 17 September – not long after crashing when a rear tyre blew at

250MPH ON TWO WHEELS WHO DON VESCO WHAT B I G R E D WHERE BONNEVILLE W H E N 17 S E P T E M B E R 1 9 7 0 SPEED 251.66MPH

almost maximum speed – he set a new record of 251.66mph. It didn’t last long. Later that year, Cal Rayborn raised it to 265.492mph, which stood until Vesco returned in 1975 with his 1480cc Yamaha Silver Bird and blew everyone away with a new record of 302.92mph – despite the fact that, during one run, a gust of wind tipped the bike onto its side at 260mph. He put it even further out of reach in 1978 when he managed 318.598mph, a speed that wouldn’t be bettered until Dave Campos posted a two-way average of 322.150mph in 1990. Vesco was just as good in cars as he was on motorcycles, and in 2001 he set a new record for a wheel-driven vehicle at 458.444mph. He was 62 years old at the time and remained undaunted by the fact that, a few years earlier, he’d been blinded in one eye when he was struck by a piece of debris while spectating at a Sprint Car race. He was sure that his turbinepowered Turbinator could reach 500mph, but sadly he died in 2002 before he had the chance to prove it. Two years later, the softly spoken Californian was deservedly inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. End

O RD

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MASERATI

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Words Harry Hurst Photography John Colley

A mainstay of Formula 1 grids for longer than any rival, the Maserati 250F powered the true greats of racing to championship domination. This is its story

WINNING WAYS

MASERATI

Above and below 250F really is the definitive cigar-shaped 1950s racer; Fangio sat here and won the 1957 Monaco Grand Prix.

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‘T

he 250F was without a doubt the finest-handling front-engine F1 car I think built by anybody. My best race, I suppose, was probably winning Monaco in 1956. The reason was, the car handled so well. It was not as fast as the Ferraris but the balance of the machine was very, very important and they got it pretty right.’ These are the words of Stirling Moss, about a very special Maserati. As the world emerged from war in the late 1940s, attention in Europe returned to motor racing. In 1950, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) introduced the Formula 1 World Championship and, while entries came from several European countries, the fields were dominated initially by entries from three teams of Northern Italy: Maserati (Modena), Ferrari (Maranello), and Alfa Romeo (Milan). Alfa Romeo used its pre-war Tipo 158/9 to dominate in 1950 and 1951 but, realising that the Alfetta would need to be completely redesigned to remain competitive, announced its withdrawal from racing in 1952. Fearing loss of revenue due to the perceived lack of competition against Ferrari, the FIA changed the rules to 2.0-litre Formula 2 cars for the 1952/53 World Drivers’ Championship and announced new normally aspirated 2.5-litre Formula 1 regulations for the 1954 season. For the 1952/53 formula, Maserati had developed a very potent F2 car, the A6GCM, designed by a team led by Giulio Alfieri. Its 2.0-litre straight-six gave Modenese neighbour Ferrari some competition in 1952 and – especially – in 1953, following modifications by Gioacchino Colombo, who had left Ferrari in 1950 (after one of his frequent disagreements with Enzo) and had been working at Alfa Romeo. The chassis design was solid, if uninspired: a tubular frame with independent front suspension using wishbones and coil springs. A four-speed gearbox was attached to the engine, with a driveshaft then going to a solid rear axle suspended on quarter-elliptic leaf springs. For 1954, Alfieri intended to take what had been learned with the 2.0-litre car and upgrade it to the new 2.5-litre limit. The chassis, usually a secondary design consideration to the engine in those days, was very different from the F2 car’s, with de Dion rear suspension replacing the solid axle. The gearbox/axle assembly was also very different. To enlarge the engine, bore and stroke were increased, bore slightly more than stroke to decrease piston speed. Three twin-choke Weber carburettors were fitted for proper breathing and twin spark-plugs were used for each cylinder. At the start of its race life in 1954, the 250F produced less than 100bhp per litre (240bhp). By 1957 it had topped that with 270bhp. Maserati announced that the 250F would be available for customers to purchase and race in 1954 with the exact

same specifications and tuning as the works cars. It was unusual at the time to be able to buy a very competitive car equal to the factory entries. Maserati intended to continue its development throughout the racing season and make upgrades available to customers. It was also anticipated that factory mechanics and engineers would attend races to provide full support to the private teams. Many privateers took advantage of this beneficial arrangement. AG Owen ordered one for his BRM team, since its own new car was not ready for the beginning of the season. And Stirling Moss, who was impressed with its potential, purchased one of the first cars, chassis 2508. He commented: ‘Now the chips were down. I’d only been driving moderate cars up until then. I hadn’t been in a car capable of winning. And now I had one.’ The basic design of the 250F followed the 1952/53 cars closely enough that the new 2.5-litre engine could be fitted easily, and some private entrants such as Bira, Schell and Mieres were given updated versions of the

‘Juan Manuel Fangio proved the 250F’s potential by winning the first race of the season’ earlier cars until their 250Fs could be completed. They were numbered as 250Fs, with the ID plates to be switched when the new car arrived. This propensity for the factory to swap ID plates between cars, depending on the immediate need for entries, would cause no end of confusion to future historians of the marque. The first race of the season was the Argentine Grand Prix, and Juan Manuel Fangio – available to Maserati until the new Mercedes-Benz W196 was ready later in the year – proved the 250F’s potential by winning the race. Two weeks later a 250F finished second in the Buenos Aires GP. Fangio went on to win the next World Championship event, the Belgian GP, his last race for the Maserati team that year as his contract with MercedesBenz began shortly after. Needing a top-level replacement, Maserati turned to Stirling Moss, already campaigning chassis 2508 as a privateer. They agreed that Moss could continue to campaign his own car, but the factory would supply him with the improved works engine, which they would replace at any time if it broke.

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MASERATI

Above and right 250F is eye candy from any angle – and just as gorgeous under the skin. Glorious straight-six dominates when laid bare.

Improvements were made continually during the season, first to the oil tank placement, then to the engine, which received changes to the cams, valves, and cylinder heads that permitted engine speeds of 8200rpm – almost 800rpm higher than privateer engines, although this also led to the need for more frequent bearing replacement. By the end of the 1954 season, a large portion of the grid for each race was filled with Maserati 250Fs. The inclusion of private teams resulted in some unexpected benefits. Moss and other English teams began exploring fuel injection instead of carburetion to gain added power. An early SU system was investigated but rejected. BRM carried out the most extensive modifications to its car (chassis 2509), adding Dunlop disc brakes, which had recently been introduced on the Jaguars, and alloy disc wheels. The team went even further, redesigning its car’s rear suspension to try to solve the problem of cracked de Dion tubes.

Fangio’s two victories with the 250F contributed to his winning the 1954 World Drivers’ Championship, and in 1955 Moss joined the Maestro on the Mercedes-Benz team. The great French driver, Jean Behra, became Maserati’s number one, supported by Luigi Musso, Sergio Mantovani and Roberto Mieres. With Fangio and Moss driving the German cars, there was not much hope for any of the other teams, and Maserati did not win any major races that year. Even so, the 250F had success at smaller events in the hands of private owners, and it became the mainstay of the Grand Prix fields, with seven or eight entered for each race. That year also brought the catastrophic accident at Le Mans, involving Pierre Levegh’s 300SL, which contributed to Mercedes-Benz pulling out of racing. Fangio again reigned as World Champion. His team-mate Moss returned to Maserati for the 1956 season, joining Behra and also Cesare Perdisa, who had made a name for

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‘By the end of the 1954 season, a large portion of the grid for each race was filled with Maserati 250Fs’

himself in a Maserati 200S. Behra, unwilling to concede that Moss’s ability might be greater than his, refused to agree to relinquish his car if the leader’s car broke. Behra insisted he could drive only with a central accelerator and, knowing Moss preferred it on the right, would not allow his car to be modified. Moss had an initial win for the factory at Monaco and things seemed to be promising for Maserati in 1956. But the team ran into difficulties in its development programme – fuel injection was never perfected for racing – and had little success until the end of the year. There were numerous seconds and thirds; Behra even received the moniker ‘the Eternal Third’ from team manager Nello Ugolini after earning three such finishes consecutively. Again, the 250F provided the bulk of the entries at GPs. At Silverstone there were 11. The 1956 Italian Grand Prix, however, saw two new experimental 250Fs entered with a lower driving seat and

sleeker bodywork. The advantage of better aerodynamics and handling allowed Moss to win the race and set the stage for the very successful 1957 season. Part of the team’s problems in 1956 had been that, with extensive development work going on, no two cars were the same at any race. This made life difficult for the mechanics. For 1957, three new identical T2 Leggera (lightweight) cars were constructed for the factory team: chassis numbers 2527, 2528 (the car you see here) and 2529. With Moss’s departure to join Vanwall, reigning World Champion Juan Manuel Fangio returned to Maserati, with Behra and Harry Schell as team-mates. Maserati decided to cease sales of cars to privateers in 1957 so it could concentrate on winning the World Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ Championships. The season began spectacularly as Maserati 250Fs took the first four places in the Argentine GP, with Fangio 79

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MASERATI

MOTORSPORT IMAGES

‘Maserati won the World Manufacturers’ Championship, proving correct its decision to concentrate on the three factory cars’

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at the top. Returning to Europe, Fangio again came first at Monaco, France, and Germany; along with second places at Pescara and Monza, he earned his fifth World Drivers’ Championship. Maserati won the World Manufacturers’ Championship, proving correct its decision to concentrate on the three factory cars. THE CAR SHOWN on these pages is one of the three 1957 team cars, chassis 2528. We will not attempt here to recount its complete history except to say that it is the very car Fangio drove to victory at Monaco in 1957. As one of the three identical factory cars, it had a spaceframe chassis built of very small-diameter tubes, and a slim, tapering nose. The rear tank section had a headrest incorporated into its design. The three Weber carburettors were fed by a long air intake, which swept up alongside the cowling. Although Fangio drove this car to victory at Monaco, it was primarily driven by Jean Behra during 1957. He took first places at Pau, Modena, and Morocco, and came in second to Fangio in the Argentine GP and the City GP (Buenos Aires). After the 1957 season, 2528 was sold to Francesco Godia. Even though Maserati had stopped selling the 250F, it did not stop development. One intriguing project was a new V12 to replace the six-cylinder engine, which was becoming less competitive against teams such as Vanwall. This engine was designed to run on 100-octane pump gas because new rules for ’58 would allow only this. It was fitted to a 250F chassis for testing but, eventually, two lightweight versions were built before the financial burden of the expensive 1957 racing season brought everything to a halt.

ALAMY

Clockwise, from opposite Fangio (250F number 32, chassis 2528), Peter Collins (Lancia-Ferrari D50) and Stirling Moss (Vanwall) on the front row at Monaco, 1957 – Fangio won; Jean Behra en route to victory at Modena, also 1957; and at Pau the same year.

ALAMY

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MASERATI

While everyone expected the V12 to be the basis for a strong team in 1958, the expense of developing it proved too great. Maserati announced its withdrawal from competition and closed the racing shop. A small department was retained to support the private teams, but this was the end of the factory Maserati team in Formula 1. There came a reprise when the FIA announced the new 3.0-litre engine formula to begin in 1966, and everyone scrambled to find a suitable engine. Cooper went to Maserati asking if the 2.5-litre V12 could be enlarged, and it ended up winning two Grand Prix races at the hands of John Surtees and Pedro Rodriguez! In the meantime, while there were no factory entries, Maserati built another evolution of the 250F in 1958, the T3 Piccolo (also known as the ‘Super-Lightweight’), for Scuderia Temple Buell. These two cars, chassis 2533 and 2534, had lighter chassis frames than the 1957 T2 cars, and were shorter in wheelbase and overall length. The 250F continued to make up a large share of Grand Prix starting grids right up to the end of the 2.5-litre formula in 1960. Along the way, many inexperienced up-and-coming drivers got their earliest taste of F1 in a 250F, including Carroll Shelby, Masten Gregory, Chris Amon and Phil Hill. This just proves that old racing cars never die; they go on to provide inspiration to future generations. End

Above and below 250F as seen by many a rival during the height of its Grand Prix dominance; chassis 2528 was principally driven by Jean Behra and Fangio – but the late former Maserati works driver Sir Stirling Moss was also acquainted with it in later life.

The studio photos are from ‘Maserati 250F – Autobiography of 2528’ from Porter Press Int’l, ISBN 978 1 907085 38 3. 82

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CONCOR S O D’ E L EG AN Z A

September 27-29, 2024

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HONDA RC166

CC HERO

TINY GIANT Only 250cc, but ten straight race victories thanks to six cylinders, six carburettors and six exhaust pipes! This is the rival-slaying Honda RC166 Words Simon de Burton Photography Honda

Motorcycle-loving Octane readers who grew up in the UK during the 1970s and early ’80s might remember those heady days when any 17-year-old could legally jump aboard a 250cc motorcycle and blast off into the sunset with L-plates blowing in the breeze – despite the fact that many 250cc Japanese two-strokes were capable of touching the magic ton. The Government put an end to that in 1983 by restricting learner riders to bikes of no more than 125cc, but some who cut their teeth on those 100mph rice rockets might avow that their Yamaha RD250, Suzuki GT250 or Kawasaki KH250 (and so on) was the best quarter-litre motorcycle ever made. None, however, even came close to the bike that surely was the best 250 of all time – Honda’s truly remarkable RC166, a sixcylinder, four-stroke racer weighing a gossamer-like 112kg and which produced 60bhp at a screaming 18,000rpm and toppedout at more than 150mph. How everyone laughed when Soichiro Honda first turned up at the Isle of Man TT races in 1959 – and how they stopped laughing two years later when the Japanese upstart returned to win both the ultra-lightweight and lightweight classes with bikes ridden by Mike Hailwood (and to take the next four places in each, just for good measure).

But even that was a mere taste of things to come because, after amazing the world with the 250cc four-pot RC162 of 1961, Honda went two better in 1966 with the introduction of the extraordinary, six-cylinder RC166 that dazzled spectators and riders alike with its complexity, performance and unmistakable banshee wail. It is thought that Honda built around 25 examples of the RC166 but, as is often the case with pure racing machines, the numbers are really rather hazy. What’s indisputable, however, is that Mike Hailwood rode RC166s in all ten 250 World Championship races of the 1966 season… and won every one of them. Honda withdrew from the 250cc division the following year, instead entering a 297cc version of the bike – the RC174 – into the 350 class. This time, Hailwood won seven out of eight races to again secure the World Championship and to give Honda another constructors’ title. But it was the RC166 that started it all. And, with its six cylinders, six carburettors, six exhaust pipes and seven-speed gearbox bringing it ten straight victories, it’s difficult to argue against the claim that it was probably the best 250cc motorcycle ever built. No matter how much you might have loved your RD250/ GT250/KH250 or whatever.

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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

3 - 4- 5- 6 -7 APRIL 2024 Tickets online only: www.technoclassica-tickets.de HERE ON SALE NOW!

THE COOLEST

O CTA N E’S FAV O U R ITE

250S No celebration of Octane’s 250th issue would be complete without venturing a little off-piste!

TAKING OFF Concorde

A Cessna can take-off at a speed that a Morris Eight can reach, a 747 lifts at 184mph, but Concorde, history’s most insanely brilliant piece of Anglo-French engineering, needed to do 250mph to get airborne. Never mind the fact that only 100 people at a time could experience the 38,000lb of thrust from the four Rolls-Royce/SNECMA Olympus 593s, or that they could bring only 2.5 tonnes of luggage between them: this was the greatest passenger aircraft of all.

ALAMY

ON TWO WHEELS

Royal Enfield Continental GT

Born into a tumultuous time for the British motorcycle industry, this sprightly 250cc motorbike was a victim of factors beyond its control. The single-cylinder 135kg flyer had barely been in production a year when Royal Enfield ditched all single-cylinder models and its Redditch factory. Only 1700 Continental GTs had been built. Enfield continued in India, of course, and even started exporting ’bikes back to the UK. Among them, in 2013, was a Continental GT (pictured)…

IN YOUR LOUNGE

Linn Sondek LP12-50

Ignore the 1 in front of the 2-50: the reason this celebration deck is here is because it is limited to 250 units. The classic Linn look that the Scottish company used from its (and the modular LP12’s) birth in 1973 may have seemed appropriated from the Ariston RD11, which more or less filched it from Thorens, but this special 50th anniversary edition was designed in collaboration with Apple guru Sir Jony Ive’s collective LoveFrom. The price is a cool $60,000!

ON YOUR WRIST

Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Classique Watch fiends and those who religiously read Octane’s Chrono pages will already know that the reference number for the Classique model is 250.8.86. This is very much your entry-level Reverso, but what joy to have the most understated version of a watch, the entire appeal of which lies in its tasteful understatement. It is not a wristbuster, nor is it a sophisticated movement delivered to Earth by more advanced aliens, but you will want to wind it every day just to remind you that it is there.

ON YOUR LAP

Rickenbacker 250 El Dorado

While most of the world fights over Strat vs Tele and a proliferation of Beatles tribute acts keep Hofner alive, we like the fact that Rickenbacker remains a family-owned business (see Gone but not Forgotten, Octane 245). Of course, the Beatles dabbled here, too, but, long after their demise, the company brought out the 250 El Dorado, a 1984 guitar quite different from the more jangly ‘Ricks’ played in the 1980s by the likes of Johnny Marr and Susannah Hoffs. This just adds to its kudos.

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13/02/2024 19:47

IMPREZA VS EVO

BHP FOR ALL

POWER TO THE PEOPLE Two legends of the rally stage also make for democratically enjoyable road cars: the Subaru Impreza Turbo and Mistubishi Lancer Evo Words Matthew Hayward Photography Jayson Fong

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f you, like me, watched the World Rally Championship during the 1990s, there are few sights more rousing in your rear-view mirror than a stickered-up Mitsubishi Evo Tommi Mäkinen Edition at maximum attack. Especially when it’s framed by the blue wing (and underpinned by the flat-four thrum) of a Subaru Impreza. They’re both undisputable legends, and experiencing either would be enough of an event today. Getting both together on the same stretch – with the hungry soundtrack of turbos spooling – feels like a jump back in time to a generation-defining moment in automotive history. Throughout the late 1980s, 200bhp was the sign of a serious highperformance car. The final roadgoing evolutions of Group A motorsportderived legends such as the Lancia Delta HF Integrale, Ford Sierra RS Cosworth and BMW’s E30 M3 all peaked just above that magic figure. As the 1980s evolved into the 1990s, more mainstream cars were regularly topping 200bhp, and the goalposts for what constituted a genuinely fast car shifted towards the 250bhp mark. While this barrier had been surpassed by more exotic machinery, a new breed of affordable, giant-slaying Japanese rally weapons was on the horizon. Not only were they unspeakably quick, they were easy to drive and genuinely affordable. Subaru’s Impreza officially came to the UK in 1994, and changed the face of performance cars forever. This compact saloon did everything an Integrale could – both on and off a rally stage – while offering Japanese reliability and build quality. More importantly, it did it at a price that the Europeans couldn’t match. Although the Impreza Turbo’s power output started out at 205bhp when it arrived on these shores, the Japanese market had already been enjoying a more potent 240bhp WRX STi model since 1992, and it had a lot more to give. The combination of a long waiting list for UK-market Impreza Turbos – especially as McRae fever swept through the country – plus the desire for some of the hotter Japanese versions led quickly to an influx of grey imports. It was big business at the time, with countless importers selling sufficient numbers of new and nearly new cars direct from Japan to unsettle the official Subaru importer, International Motors. So much so, in fact, that IM sanctioned its own ‘official’ higherperformance editions – including the RB5 and P1 – to combat the issue. I could spend all day explaining the Impreza’s many different incarnations, but what we have here is a (deep breath) WRX STi Type RA Version 6 Limited, which was a model sold exclusively in Japan, and is in effect the final and most evolved version produced by Subaru. The Type RA was developed initially as a lightweight, stripped-out model to be bought and used for motorsport, although by the time the Version 6 was sold, Subaru had cottoned on that it was being bought by many for road use. This one belongs to photographer Jayson Fong, who loves them so much he bought a pair of RAs (one early, one late) in 2021. He had learned to drive in Imprezas when he lived in Australia. Imprezas were genuinely street furniture when I was growing up in the Northern Hemisphere, too, yet spying this gorgeous example arrive at our meeting point in the Sussex hills is a stark reminder of just how few you see on the roads these days. Especially cars as tidy and original as this one. The Version 6, the last of the GC Imprezas, features adjustable DCCD (Driver’s Control Centre Differential), which gives the option of a 70:30 front:rear torque split or a 50:50 locked mode. There are a quick steering rack, close-ratio five-speed gearbox, lightweight 16in alloys, blue seats… The list goes on, but the most important bit of kit that makes the RA unique (and identifiable) is the WRC-style roof scoop. The 276bhp engine and stiffened suspension were all standard STi items, but the RA was also lightened via the deletion of unnecessary sound 89

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IMPREZA VS EVO

BHP FOR ALL

deadening, and there’s no ABS, although these later examples came with air-conditioning. The Impreza’s arch nemesis on the rally stages was always Mitsubishi’s Lancer Evolution, with a certain Finnish driver by the name of Tommi Mäkinen behind the wheel. With no official imports of the earlier Evolutions the Mistubishi was rather more under-the-radar as a road car, at least initially, though it was always considerably closer to the WRC car in feel. The original Lancer Evo I was launched for the Japanese market in 1992, boasting 244bhp from its turbocharged inline four-cylinder ‘4G63’ engine, as well as a permanent four-wheel-drive setup. Upgraded and numbered evolutions arrived each year; as with the Impreza, figuring out the differences can be quite a challenge. The most significant step-change in the Evo’s progression came with the introduction of an all-new Lancer platform in 1996 – ushering in the Evo IV. By then, power (delivered by the same basic power unit, though spun through 180º) had been boosted to 276bhp, but the four-wheeldrive system was considerably more sophisticated. The top-spec GSR models introduced the Evo’s best feature: Active Yaw Control. Not only does that sound cool, it monitors the car’s longitudinal angle, speed and grip levels thanks to various sensors, and diverts the engine’s torque to each rear wheel for optimal slip angle. That makes it incredibly good fun and easy to drive at the limit. Torque vectoring might be commonplace today, but it was genuinely ground-breaking at the time. Perhaps the perfect match for the RA has just pulled up at our meeting point, one of the first officially UK-imported Evos: a 2000 VI Tommi Mäkinen Edition. This was the final and most-developed version of that generation of Lancer, and arguably the most recognisable Evo full-stop. It was also the last car to compete in the WRC under Group A rules. By this point it was still officially developing 276bhp (the figure set by the Japanese manufacturers’ gentlemen’s agreement), although there’s a sneaking suspicion that the figure was really a tad higher. The Impreza is not subtle, but it’s positively understated in comparison to the TME. As if the Evo’s big adjustable wing, deep chin spoiler, wide ’arches and gaping bumper grille feeding a gigantic intercooler weren’t

‘THE IMPREZA’S ARCH NEMESIS ON THE RALLY STAGES WAS ALWAYS MITSUBISHI’S LANCER EVOLUTION’

Clockwise, from right Humble saloons that delivered on big aspirations; Subaru’s turbo flat-four is a characterful powerhouse; WRC-style vent flap is effective; blue trim specific to Impreza Type RA Version 6.

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IMPREZA VS EVO

BHP FOR ALL

Clockwise, from below It’s all about big wings – and exhausts; Evo dash is heavy on black plastic; Mäkinen-branded Recaros are supportive; inline turbo four was bred for rally success.

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quite noticeable enough, the TME was offered in this WRC-emulating colour scheme, too. This example belongs to a former Octane colleague, IT specialist Chris Short, who very much played a part in getting us through many of the earlier of our 250 issues. He’s owned this very presentable example for more than 15 years, and I fondly remember hearing it pull into the Octane and evo office car park. It lives a bit more of a pampered life after some restoration work in recent years, but it was used as his daily driver and part-time family car for much of that time. Chris has looked after this car and, although it’s almost completely standard, it’s had a few minor tweaks over the years, one of which is an aftermarket exhaust, which certainly adds to the rally car vibe. Let’s face it, you’d be disappointed if a bright red, stickered-up Evo – wearing the initials of the driver that used one to win four WRC Championships – didn’t make a little bit of noise… I’m buzzing with excitement to experience both today, and find myself behind the wheel of the Impreza first. People often criticised its interior in-period for being dull, and, while it’s hardly the most inspiring place to sit, the instant that flat-four fires into life I honestly couldn’t care less. Jayson gestures that I should open the roof flap for the photos, which makes us all giggle as it pops up. Out on the road, the RA immediately feels settled. I was expecting the suspension to feel a little on the firm side, but it’s just about perfect for this environment. Although the red-line is apparently close to 8000rpm, there’s really no need to rev out so far. It delivers its power with a big gutpunch of torque from about 2500rpm, and continues to hit hard right through the mid-range up to about 6000. Thanks to the close-ratio gearbox, it’s rather effective at building speed, and the notorious Subaru burble makes the experience all the more entertaining. The roads are cold and damp, but the Impreza just digs in and grips. There’s definitely a little more playfulness to the chassis than the P1 I drove last year (see Octane 240), but the overriding feeling of security 93

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IMPREZA VS EVO

BHP FOR ALL

2000 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI Tommi Mäkinen Edition

2000 Subaru Impreza WRX Type RA STi Version 6 Limited

Engine 1997cc four-cylinder, DOHC, 16-valve, turbocharged, electronic fuel injection Power 276bhp @ 6500rpm Torque 275lb ft @ 2750rpm Transmission Five-speed manual, four-wheel drive, centre viscous-coupling differential, front helical diff, Active Yaw Control differential at rear Steering Rack and pinion, power-assisted Suspension Front: MacPherson struts, coil springs, anti-roll bar. Rear: multi-link, coil springs, telescopic dampers, anti-roll bar Brakes Vented discs, ABS Weight 1365kg Top speed 150mph 0-60mph 4.3sec

Engine 1994cc flat-four, DOHC, 16-valve, turbocharged, electronic fuel injection Power 276bhp @ 6500rpm Torque 249lb ft @ 4000rpm Transmission Five-speed manual, four-wheel drive, adjustable centre differential, front helical diff, rear mechanical LSD Steering Rack and pinion, power-assisted Suspension Front and rear: MacPherson struts, coil springs, anti-roll bar Brakes Vented discs Weight 1260kg Top speed 140mph (est: originally limited to 112mph) 0-60mph 5.2sec

is the same. There’s so much mechanical grip – helped in this case by a set of fresh Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tyres – that it encourages you to push harder through each corner. There’s plenty of feel to the weighty steering, and the incredibly short and tight gearshift makes accelerating through the ratios feel almost seamless. Its drivetrain feels rugged, but at 1260kg the Impreza is impressively lightweight for something with four-wheel drive, four doors and four seats. The longer I drive the Subaru, the more it all comes together. It’s devastatingly effective as a driver’s car and hugely rewarding, too. As I catch another glimpse of the red Evo through the frame of the Subaru’s blue rear wing, I decide it’s time to sample the competition. Chris is equally enthused when we stop, and even jokes that the sight of the RA’s roof scoop in his rear-view mirror is particularly menacing. I swap into the Evo, which offers similarly little in the way of interior beauty. The Recaro seats look smart, though, and offer a slightly better driving position than the Impreza for my long legs. We could all identify the sound of an Impreza from a mile away and, although the Evo sounds more conventional, there’s a crisp, metallic tingle to its engine note that is almost as distinctive. The power delivery is a lot more progressive, too, and although boost takes a while to come in, once you hit 3000rpm it’s a real powerhouse, pulling strongly beyond 7000rpm. It sounds good, and the vocal turbo elicits a broad grin. They’re both very close in age, but the Evo feels a little more modern, and a big part of that is the super-quick steering. It gives the car a far more agile-feeling front end, and combines with the AYC for superb response in corners. There’s a familiarity between the two cars in the way both feel well tied-down, with an extra bit of magic to the Evo’s dynamism. It’s sharper, every bit as engaging, but it never feels nervous. I honestly don’t want to give the keys back.

Although the limited-run Tommi Mäkinen edition is particularly sought-after, all Mitsubishi Evos have become significantly more expensive over the last five years. Whereas they were once seen as some of the most affordable ‘supercar killers’ out there, like so many from the glory years of Japanese performance cars, they are now being bought and cherished by enthusiasts. The unique way in which both these cars deal with wet and bumpy British B-roads is still incredible, which is why I’m glad that these cars’ owners are still using them as intended. The Evo’s day in the spotlight came a little later than the Subaru’s as a road car, simply because it was harder to get hold of, but it was pretty much the fastest point-to-point car you could buy at the time, and it developed a real cult following – more so after official imports began. The Impreza’s mark, however, was far bigger and endures today, long after Subaru stopped rallying. This was confirmed by Jayson, who explained that when he took this car on a trip to Edinburgh recently he was swamped by love from the locals who still have fond memories of the McRae era. There’s no denying that both still feel quick, but there’s so much more to the driving experience than pure speed. There’s a real mechanical purity to the Impreza – it feels old-school, but in the most brilliant way possible. The Evo is not only massively impressive, but engaging in a way that more modern performance cars simply can’t match. While many might have predicted that the Impreza and Evo would become more valuable as time went on, they forged their legacies when they were genuine working-class heroes. The good news is that, if you avoid the most collectable versions (which these two inevitably are), there are still some affordable, fun and unrepeatable experiences to be had for very little money. Swot up on your JDM knowledge, and have one of the best 250bhp heroes money can buy. End

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BLUE RN

L E MA N S R EP N U MB E R 7

3 4 ½ W I T H O R I G I NAL C O AC HW O R K

MA T CH I N G N U MB ER SP E E D S I X

THRE E GENERATIONS OF ONE FAMILY OW N ER SH I P

A W IN N IN G F O R M UL A

ALFA ROMEO 8C 2300 ZAGATO SPIDER

BACK AGAIN FOR MORE This Le Mans-winning Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Zagato Spider appeared in the very first issue of Octane. More than 20 years on, Robert Coucher acquaints himself – and finally gets behind the wheel Photography Amy Shore

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ALFA ROMEO 8C 2300 ZAGATO SPIDER

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he legendary Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 is regarded by drivers, collectors, engineers, historians and enthusiasts as being one of the best sports cars of all time. Created by great Ingegnere Vittorio Jano, the Alfa’s superb chassis was clothed by the leading carrozzerie of the 1930s, including Zagato, Figoni, Touring, Pinin Farina and Castagna. Around 188 were produced, about half that number with the Corto (short) chassis, and the rest in Lungo form. This Corto example, with lean Zagato Spider coachwork in the Alfa Romeo racing house colours, looks sublime. But it’s a whole lot more than just good looks. Vittorio Jano was one of the brains behind Fiat’s racing success before moving to Alfa Romeo in 1923. He was responsible for the Alfa Grand Prix cars from 1924 until 1937, including the straight-eight-powered P2 in 1924 (which won the World Championship in 1925), the Tipo B (also known as the P3), the 8C 35 and the 12C 36. He later went on to design Lancia’s Aurelia, its D23/24 sports racers and the D50 Grand Prix car. And just to keep himself busy while at Alfa Romeo, Jano created a succession of touring and sports cars alongside his racing machines, culminating in the 8C with its supercharged, twin-cam straight-eight, the competition versions of which dominated motorsport. The 8C’s extraordinary list of victories includes winning the Italian Grand Prix in 1931 at Monza (the track gave its name to the 8C racing cars), the 24 Hours of Le Mans consecutively in 1931, ’32, ’33 and ’34, the Mille Miglia in 1932, ’33 and ’34 (and almost again in 1935), as well as the Targa Florio in 1931, ’32 and ’33. Many years ago, I bagged my first drive of a legendary Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 while I was the editor of Classic Cars magazine. Tricky centre-mounted throttle pedal and almost non-existent rod-operated drum brakes aside, I remember the 8C being light and reactive and the supercharged straight-eight as alive and instantaneously responsive. The sound? Operatic verging on the outrageous. We started Octane magazine in 2003 and, as editor, I determined to include an Alfa 8C in issue number one. So I got in touch with leading Alfa historian Simon Moore – he wrote The Legendary 2.3 among other books, so he knows his straight-eights – and asked him to pen a piece on one of these magnificent cars. Simon chose an Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Zagato Spider, chassis number 2111018. Photographed in a studio, this was not a road test but a history piece on the car, because it had a fascinating provenance. Or maybe not – we’ll get to that in a moment. Fast-forward to this issue of Octane, number 250, two decades on from when it all began, and serendipitously I was on the telephone to the leading car dealer and creative Rétromobile impresario Lukas Hüni. The conversation turned to 8Cs. He suggested a feature and, this time, a proper drive – in France! – with the world’s leading Alfa 8C restorer, none other than the legendary Jim Stokes, who is known and respected by the owners of all the surviving Alfa Romeo 8Cs. And the serendipity continued… the 8C Lukas suggested was none other than chassis number 2111018, for round two. Fortunately, the owner – a generous Greek gentleman collector and driver who has long been a friend of Octane – agreed. ‘Robert, I want you to drive the 8C hard! Get it hot and don’t worry about the weather conditions, the car has survived half a dozen Flying Scotsman rallies, where I wore out the rear tyres each time! It’s tough and fast but watch out for the quick turn-in. Try adjusting the tyre pressures along the way 99

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MOTORSPORT IMAGES

ALFA ROMEO 8C 2300 ZAGATO SPIDER

100

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Clockwise, from right Octane meets Alfa specialist Jim Stokes at Portsmouth, early doors; en route to victory with modified coachwork at Le Mans, 1932; the winning team of Raymond Sommer and Luigi Chinetti.

to quell the oversteer. Enjoy it.’ With that I was down to Portsmouth for the 6.30am ferry, faster than Tazio Nuvolari in a hire car. SIMON MOORE wrote the detailed feature on 2111018 in issue one and the twist in the tale was some conjecture as to whether this 8C 2300 Zagato Spider was the actual Sommer/Chinetti 1932 Le Mans winner. Being a marque expert, detective and sleuth, Moore spent a lot of time researching these cars for his books. He concluded then that the Alfa was almost certainly the Le Mans car, but that absolute proof remained elusive. ‘When I first started to look at the cars that Sommer had raced at Le Mans from 1932 to 1935 I thought he’d used the same one each year. But differences in the bonnet and scuttle indicated that he used different cars each year but transferred lightweight parts from one to the next. Since the pre-war records of the Automobile Club de L’Ouest, organiser of the Le Mans 24-Hour race, have been lost, it’s uncertain which car Sommer raced when in the 1930s.’ So is this the car? Having undertaken many hours of research and document-gathering, Moore continued his pursuit of evidence for his follow-up book, The 8C Story Continues (2022), and found more proof to support the Alfa being in all the right places at the correct times. Finally a document was unearthed in the French National Archives, showing the engine and chassis numbers of the car sent to the Bureau des Mines (a requirement for a taxable horsepower classification to be assigned) on 13 October 1931, just two days after the Paris Salon. Moore therefore concludes: ‘It’s virtually certain that this is the 1932 Le Mans winner. The probability has increased to a very high level.’ So it seems that this Zagato Spider was the first delivered to Paris, to be exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1931 before Raymond Sommer bought it for Le Mans in 1932. He noted in his diary: ‘I decided to buy an Alfa Romeo, which appeared to me to be the ideal sports car. It was a two-seater with a blown 2.3 engine, which had been used as the demonstration car at the Paris Salon. At the weighing-in at Le Mans I had a machine that my friend Figoni had helped me to transform. It had streamline wings of which I was inordinately proud. But it was up against the official Alfa Romeo team, composed of the best drivers of the time, well-served by works cars that, having the new Monza engine, were some 15-20mph faster than mine.’ Moore thinks Sommer is exaggerating here because the aluminiumbodied short-chassis cars are a lot lighter than the long-chassis models. Nonetheless, the wealthy amateur racer had a clever strategy. He knew there was great rivalry between the star drivers and, from the start of the great race, all five works Alfas were flat out, nose to tail. They broke the lap record but soon started flying off the circuit and, after six hours, Sommer found himself in the lead. His co-pilot was the more experienced Luigi Chinetti, also a car dealer who actually sold this Alfa to Sommer over supper. Come the race, Chinetti fell ill so Sommer had the Herculean task of completing almost all the driving solo. ‘The last few hours were the worst. I knew I was leading but, instead of heartening me, this worried me more than I can say. It seemed hardly possible that the car could hold together. But at last, the chequered flag’. Incredibly, Sommer had driven 21 of the 24 hours to victory in this non-works, non-Monza Corto Zagato with body mods by Figoni. The next outing for the car was the Spa 24 Hours, where it led initially but later retired. The 8C then became just another old racing car and was eventually sold to Monaco, where it was rebodied with flamboyant concours d’élégance coachwork by Brandone in 1934. It was then owned by collector Serge Pozzoli, who stored it under the banking at

‘I hear that unmistakable sound as it emerges, hood up, out of the rainy gloom, drawing up with a snarl’ Montlhéry circuit. Eventually discovered by Marc Nicolosi, finally, under English ownership, the Alfa was reclothed in original-style Zagato Spider guise by coachbuilder Dino Cognolato. ALTHOUGH STRIKING in style, an Alfa Romeo 8C is a car you hear before you see it. That straight-eight emits a lovely, hard bark, enlivened by the whine of its valvegear and supercharger and the rip of its straightthrough exhaust. At the crack of dawn at the port I am expecting a Jim Stokes Workshops covered transporter, but instead I hear that unmistakable sound as it emerges, hood up, out of the rainy gloom, drawing up with a snarl, very much on its own Comfort Cord Michelin tyres. Jim Stokes looks cosy enough behind the steering wheel. The plan is to take the ferry across to Caen to retrace some of the French roads it might have enjoyed in its day on the way to Le Mans. On the ferry, Jim patiently gives me his views on the magnificent Alfa. Cool and unflappable with bright blue eyes and an impressive RAF-style moustache, he is clearly another ingegnere of great standing. The Jim 101

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Clockwise, from bottom left Boarding the ferry, bound for Caen; Jim Stokes in his natural environment; shattering the peace in French country towns – then more so on the open road.

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1931 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Zagato Spider (specifications for standard car) Engine 2336cc DOHC dry-sump straight-eight, alloy head and block, Memini SI 36 carburettor, Roots supercharger Power 155bhp @ 5200rpm Torque 166lb ft @ 3500rpm Transmission Four-speed manual, rear-wheel drive Steering Worm and sector Suspension Front and rear: beam axles (live rear), semi-elliptic leaf springs, friction dampers Brakes Drums, rod operation Weight 991kg Top speed 110mph

Stokes Workshop Group repairs, restores and remanufactures entire engines, gearboxes, superchargers and running gear for vintage Alfas and he’s recreated no fewer than 68 8C engines for the 188 original cars. A sensible move when you consider the cars are now over 90 years old and are worth millions – a new, fully built engine at £165,000 is a good investment, especially when you factor that an original, bare Alfa 8C block is worth something approaching £200,000 alone. ‘These Alfas are beautifully engineered and very well-made but many are still raced and, after decades, mechanical issues do occur,’ he says. ‘Their biggest weakness is conrods going through the side of the block because the little ends can break. We change them to shell bearings but still use white metal for the mains as they work best, if properly set up. Had an engine in the other day that we last rebuilt about 23 years ago and didn’t have to change the main bearings. The engine is dry-sumped, no need for an additional oil cooler, but we fit an electric radiator cooling fan. The cams have a little more lift, and we increase the compression ratio a bit, depending on what boost we run on our remade superchargers. ‘Otherwise we pay attention to the chassis set-up, machine the brake drums and ensure the shoes fit perfectly; we can upgrade the original diffs as the factory did for the racers, and our constant-mesh dog gearbox is a good idea, especially with more power. It comes down to using better materials with better machine tools and putting into practice what we have learnt over decades. This allows tighter tolerances and more accurate engineering, which adds up to more power and better reliability.’ As for this particular 8C: ‘It is a superb car and we have known it for over a decade. It came to us with a twisted chassis and was just a bit tired. So it was stripped down and gone through, then painted and retrimmed. Sensibly, the original engine and gearbox were removed and put into storage for posterity. We then remanufactured a new engine and gearbox to what you might call our high-performance level,’ says Jim, deadpan. Chassis 2111018 is the most powerful Alfa 8C to have emerged from the Jim Stokes Workshops. With its straight-eight built to almost 3.0 litres in capacity, the new supercharger turned up to the full 10psi, chassis and brakes optimised and a fresh dog ’box fitted, this 1000kg racer now churns out 260bhp and 300lb ft of torque. No wonder the rear tyres last less than 1000 miles! We disembark and I marvel at Jim expertly piloting the fearsome Alfa into northern France. As expected, he controls it at considerable speed on greasy roads with what looks like consummate ease, and his manoeuvring of this highly tuned Le Mans winner around village streets is particularly impressive: both Alfa and Stokes remain remarkably cool under pressure. And now it’s my turn behind the wheel. Must admit, I’m unusually nervous. Don’t mind driving with racers because they generally just want you to just spank it hard, no finesse required. But Jim literally handbuilds these cars, so any missed gear or mechanical ineptitude will be horribly embarrassing. The brown leather seats are upright, padded and comfortable. The four-spoke, thin-rimmed steering wheel is mounted high, and you sit with bent arms. The clutch pedal is firm and short-throw; the chromed button throttle has, thank goodness, been relocated to under your right foot, the upshot being the central brake pedal can cause your toe to snag

This page and opposite Coucher (top, on left) chats 8C lore with Stokes; every aspect of the 8C is beautifully wrought, from the straight-eight that gives it its name to the sparse leather seating and magnificent open-gate gearshift.

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the steering column. Sprouting from the central exposed gate is the long, chromed gearlever, shifting via the usual H-pattern. I was expecting heft and resistance but it’s light across the gate and you use your fingertip to select first gear. Add judicious throttle, clutch up, bite, immediate shove, revs rise a bit and – quick! – pull that lever down carefully for second. A short movement, concentrate, here we go… snick! Surely it can’t be that easy! Things are now moving along and again it’s time to grit your teeth and, with an unsteady wrist, twist into third… clack. Gear-whine rises, so declutch soonish and ease the lever the long throw back into the quiet top ratio. Suddenly it sails along as if propelled by a wind-filled spinnaker, gear noise quells and the whole package picks up and goes light as you’re swept forwards on a surge of torque. The initially sticky steering lightens and the narrow Alfa can be placed with accuracy. Into a corner, the 400mm drum brakes need a firm shove and downshifting requires double-declutching and a blip to speed up the gears, but it goes into third with a clean click as the chassis darts into the turn with alacrity and, ooooh, the 260bhp power shove (same as a Porsche 964 RS of the ’90s!) after the apex has to be deftly applied so as to avoid disappearing into the nearest roadside Calvados orchard. The Roots-style supercharger delivers the grunt instantly and progressively. There is an almighty amount of it but, unlike the sudden switch of a modern engine, it builds creamily all the way to the high 5000rpm limit. The best high-performance motor cars, no matter what age, are imbued with a tautness that ordinary vehicles just don’t possess. This Alfa reacts instantly to any input. The engine lunges with the smallest throttle input; the gearbox is sweet and quick; the chassis is like a wound spring. It flexes as it is supposed to, to allow the cart-sprung axles to

‘It sails as if propelled by a wind-filled spinnaker, as you’re swept forwards on a surge of torque’ follow undulations. Move along ever more swiftly and the car works with you as a precise instrument designed to cover ground quickly. Certainly the drum brakes, being 90-year-old technology, demand you read the road ahead but, with a clear line, every fast corner offers a remarkable sensation of power overcoming mechanical grip in a controlled flow of lateral thrust. You have to remain disciplined not to spin-up the rear wheels with all that torque, especially out of corners, but in a straight line, why not? The rush is intoxicating. Treat it with respect and this reinvigorated old war-horse flatters a respectful driver, but whip it too hard and you’ll be thrown. To say that finally driving this 1932 Le Mans-winning Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Zagato Spider through northern France has been a life-affirming experience… well, it would be an understatement. One worthy of Jim Stokes. THANKS TO Lukas Hüni (lukashuniag.ch), who displayed the car at Rétromobile this year; Jim Stokes for his knowledge (jswl.co.uk); and Simon Moore, for his detailed research on the 8C (‘The Legendary 2.3’).

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LEADING MIDDLE FROM THE

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The René Bonnet Djet was the world’s first mid-engined production road car. Glen Waddington enjoys a momentous French Lotus rival Photography Gerard Brown

YOU PROBABLY WOULDN’T be surprised to learn that Yuri Gagarin, Russian cosmonaut and the first human to journey into outer space, was gifted a car in return for his extraterrestrial endeavours. A shiny black Volga was quite a commodity in the Soviet Union. Yet it wasn’t Gagarin’s only car. Perhaps rather more surprisingly, his adventurous spirit and courageous acts earned him a sporting little French number. One at the cutting edge of technology, being the first mid-engined production road car – an innovation of this world, rather than out of it, but a remarkable machine nonetheless, and presented to a remarkable man. Yet the reason goes beyond a hero’s reward, and beyond the fact that the René Bonnet Djet was such a forward-thinking piece of engineering. You see, although the car initially was the result of private enterprise and the brainchild of a skilled engineer, as is so often the case, production investment bankrupted its originator and forced the business into the hands of another company, the name of which was an acronym for Mécanique Aviation Traction. The suitably Space Age coupé you’re looking at here is a 1966 Matra-Bonnet Djet 5S Luxe, an evolution of the car that began life under Société René Bonnet Automobiles in 1962. Its glassfibre body was provided from the outset by Matra, a specialist in composite construction among other things, such as aerospace technology and missiles. In the hope of furthering its stellar commercial aspirations, Matra gifted a Djet to Gagarin while he was on a visit to France, the itinerary of which included the Renault plant in Flins, outside Paris, where the Djet’s Renault 8 Gordini engine was manufactured. That was in 1965. He promptly took it back with him to Moscow. Beyond a few PR photos around the Soviet capital’s Alley of Heroes and iconic landmarks such as the Moscow State University, little has been seen of it since. To be fair, not so much has been seen of the Djet in general. Over a period of five years, only 1693 were built in total. Yet its impact is beyond doubt. It pipped De Tomaso’s Vallelunga (only 59 built) to be the first mid-engined production road car, and taught the world that a competition-style engineering solution could be translated for everyday purposes. Then came De Tomaso’s Mangusta, the Lamborghini Miura, the Ferrari Dino, Lotus Europa and more, not least Matra’s own M530. And while mid-engined supercars quickly became the norm in the stratosphere of the market, there’s something encouragingly Liberté, égalité, fraternité about a Frenchman bringing the first to market for a more down-to-Earth price of only twice that of a Renault family car and half that of the Jaguar E-type. That Frenchman was René Bonnet, whose story is fascinating in itself. As a child he’d learnt to work with his hands alongside his carpenter father, but, following a back injury while in the French Navy and subsequently contracting tuberculosis, he returned to his hometown, where he made shawls after learning the craft in a sanatorium. Then his sister’s husband died, and he was invited to help her run the family

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Clockwise, from above left Air extraction and venting in the tailgate aperture features distinctive Djet logo; skinny stature suits country roads; diminutive Gordini engine punches well above its weight; front bootlid tilts sideways, tailgate can be propped for ventilation; interior is simple and snug, yet charming.

garage business. Bonnet turned out to be a successful salesman and the garage took over a small carrosserie called La Maison Deutsch. Its late founder’s son, Charles Deutsch, worked with Bonnet and from 1946 the two developed their own Deutsch-Bonnet cars, based on Citroën and Panhard mechanicals. Together they built around 2000 but then parted company in 1961, citing differences in design philosophy. They had been active in endurance racing, notably with lightweight aerodynamic cars that achieved three class victories at Le Mans, four on the Mille Miglia and two at Sebring. But come the crunch, Charles Deutsch wanted to continue his pursuit of front-engined racers with tiny Panhard motors and unusually high top speeds, resulting in a handful of CD sports cars wand a move into engineering consultancy. Bonnet set-up Société René Bonnet Automobiles in Romorantin, about 90 miles south-east of Le Mans, with a goal of producing an agile mid-engined road car based on Renault mechanicals. Thus was born the René Bonnet Djet. The Renault in question was the rear-engined R8 saloon, which donated its engine, steering, front suspension, front brakes (discs, fitted at the rear, too), 15in wheels, pedals and heating. Inside, some switchgear came from the R10, while the transaxle gearbox was sourced from the Renault Estafette, a front-wheel-drive van that made Renault unique at the time for building vehicles with that layout as well the more traditional rear-wheel-drive and rear-engine arrangements. The rear suspension was innovative, featuring unusually short twinned dampers and coil springs, inspired by the then-recently launched Jaguar E-type and designed not to intrude into the luggage compartment, aft of the engine. All suspension geometry was adjustable, so every Djet could be optimised for track use. Bonnet himself issued an ambitious press release: ‘The program of our new firm is vast. It consists of making French colours shine in competition and offering amateurs a range of safe and fast models, at particularly competitive prices, benefitting directly and very quickly from the

experience of racing, but easy to maintain since they are built from very large series elements.’ In other words, competition-bred cars with inexpensive proprietory mechanical parts. Bonnet worked with chief engineer Jacques Hubert to develop the Djet, the latter shaping a polyester resin and glassfibre hull that would be provided by Générale d’Application Plastique (GAP), a subsidiary of Matra that also happened to be based in Romorantin. Its drag factor was purported to be just 0.25, and it employed the deeply curved windscreen of the rare-groove Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Speciale. An early prototype was tested by taking part in the 1962 Nürburgring 1000km and the Le Mans 24 Hours, but the public launch was delayed from July’s Bowling de Paris show to the Paris Auto Salon in the October. The reason? Bonnet’s son Claude cited the high price of embedding a tubular chassis within the plastic bodywork and noted the limitations it enforced on suspension adjustability for competition versions. And so the design was revised around a Lotus-style backbone, with the R8 donating its front crossmember. A certificate of conformity was finally granted on 5 June 1963 and just ten days later a modified Djet took to the track at La Sarthe. Called ‘Aérodjet’, following aerodynamic work in the wind tunnel at Bréguet that brought the drag factor down to 0.22, it finished 11th overall and first in its class, taking the Index of Thermal Efficiency prize for the highest score based on weight, fuel usage and average speed. Production of the world’s first mid-engined road car then began in July. Engines came from Renault, too, small though not so tiny as the Panhard twins of the Deutsch-Bonnet cars. Bonnet tuned the 1108cc four-cylinder, raising power from the standard 48bhp to around 70bhp, via revised cams, a lighter flywheel and a carburettor upgrade. Further developments would come later – but, sadly, Bonnet found himself overstretched with his investment and racing commitments. Between 1962 and 1964, only 198 Djets were built and the company became a subsidiary of Matra. Bonnet himself never returned to the car industry.

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1966 Matra-Bonnet Djet 5S Luxe Engine Mid-mounted 1108cc OHV four-cylinder, twin Solex C40PHH carburettors Power 94bhp @ 6000rpm Torque 61.5lb ft @ 4000-6000rpm Transmission Four-speed manual, rear-wheel drive Steering Rack and pinion Suspension Front: double wishbones, coil springs, telescopic dampers. Rear: paired parallel upper and lower arms, twin coil-over-dampers Brakes Discs Weight 660kg Top speed 121mph

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‘The Gordini engine revs with a fizz and has no fear of the upper reaches of the rev-counter’

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Left and above Djet was one of the most innovative cars of its era, and its mid-engined layout is easily read in its proportions; it looks even tinier from the rear, though sophisticated suspension endows it with extremely grown-up behaviour.

His son, Claude, remained, and substantially revised the car alongside Philippe Guédon, who would later create such landmark vehicles as the Renault Espace (the pioneering MPV) and Avantime (arguably the first crossover) as well as the Matra Rancho (the first soft-roader) and the mid-engined Matra 530 and Bagheera that followed the Djet. Don’t forget, either, that Matra went on to dominate Le Mans, with outright wins there in 1972, ’73 and ’74, works driver Henri Pescarolo becoming the only Frenchman to achieve three straight victories. Launched at the Paris Salon following the September 1964 takeover, the Matra-Bonnet Djet V and VS featured longer, broader bodywork, improved cooling, cosmetic modifications to bumpers and lamps, and a simplified production process to save costs: the cars were built entirely on site, still at Romorantin but in Matra’s own subsidiary plant, rather than being assembled at Bonnet’s works. Engines this time were Gordinituned versions of the same 1108cc unit, with 70bhp or 94bhp outputs, and from 1966 badging changed to 5 and 5S. It was a hit with the press. ‘Have you ever driven a Formula 3 car on normal roads? This is exactly what it feels like to drive a Djet 5,’ gushed

Robert Hunter in the 21 January 1966 issue of Autosport. ‘It is all there, the roar of the engine, the superb roadholding, the excellent brakes, and the stiff suspension. The only thing you miss is the wind noise. From this you may guess that the Matra-Bonnet Djet is a very special car, and special it is.’ That kind of provenance isn’t lost on this car’s owner, Jeremy Wilson, who believes it to be one of only six in the UK. ‘I had sold an Alfa Romeo 2600 and was casting around for something rare and special,’ he says. ‘I also have a Maserati Khamsin and an Innocenti C, and I like to cover about 2000 miles per year in each. I have already done about 1600 in the Matra, including a trip to France last summer. It was reliable and great fun. The temperature rose to 39ºC on the way home and we drove with the boot open on its short props to allow a flow-through of air.’ Jeremy’s car was registered in France in late 1966, restored in the 1990s and bought by its previous owners in France in 2003. They imported it into the UK in 2005. ‘In the intervening years they used it regularly and it was displayed in the Cartier Style et Luxe at Goodwood in 2005,’ says Jeremy. ‘It seems also to have been raced at Goodwood in 2006 and 2009.

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It’s certainly nippy, and wonderfully balanced – although, with my history of front-engined cars, I am still getting used to how to drive it properly and quickly. The chassis was powder-coated when the car was restored and does not have any rust. The bodywork is glassfibre so, again, no rust, though it has the odd signs of age both inside and outside, which is entirely reasonable given that the car is pushing 60 years old. I am now updating cooling, fuel, braking and clutch hoses as necessary to make sure that it stays reliable.’ Up close and personal, the Djet seems diminutive; even the revised Matra version measures only 59in across, though it’s perhaps longer than it first seems, thanks to its tapering nose, at 166in overall. For comparison, it’s fully 4.5in narrower than a contemporary Porsche 911 yet 2in more stem-to-stern. It certainly feels close-coupled inside, though once you’re in there’s decent legroom, and Jeremy (a little taller than me) fits fine, too. This is the Luxe version, but don’t get carried away: a veneered dash panel within, fake knock-off caps and spinners for the familiar three-stud domed disc wheels outside, and that’s about it. Plenty of gauges though, and even a bullseye air-vent in each corner, though they’re fighting a losing battle on this sunny day without propping the tailgate open. Starting the engine elicits a very familiar-sounding gurgle from behind: think quick R8s, even Alpine. The Gordini four revs with a fizz and has no fear of the upper reaches of the rev-counter. It’s light on torque, of course,

but with only 660kg to shove around, it feels perky enough. You need to get used to the gearshift, which likely suffers a bit as a result of the lengthy fore-to-aft linkage, but it’s accurate enough if you’re assertive and time things well, clacking around the gate with a lightweight feel and only the occasional graunch. So far, nothing unexpected, and the same goes for the way it feels on the road: agile, handy, entertaining, well-bred. The steering feels taut, not too heavy, not over-sharp on turn-in, though that’s more to do with weight distribution than gearing. There’s no nervousness but there is plenty of undiluted feedback. A series of S-bends soon shows the Djet in its best light, as it flows without the need to rein-in momentum, allowing you to make the most of what power it has and feeling extremely neutral throughout. Despite Autosport’s report of stiff suspension, with the benefit of six decades’ hindsight it feels extremely forgiving. Sure, it moves about over the worst vagaries of broken British B-road surfaces, but you rarely have to endure harshness over bumps, which often sound worse than they feel. A worthy Lotus rival? It comes across as very much the French equivalent, offering a similar combination of talents and intelligent engineering solutions – not to mention the fact that it showed the rest of the world how a racing car might feel on the road. Whether it was quite a match for Vostok 1 in the eyes of Gagarin remains unreported. End

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THE O C TA N E INTERVIEW

Micky Pople Octane meets the 95-year-old and talks about his life with the stars as one of Bristol’s ‘Filton Fliers’ Words Simon Charlesworth Photography Luc Lacey

THE FILES, NOW EMPTY, have covered the table. Precious correspondence, photographs, books, trophies and medals from Micky Pople’s racing years now form a large moving collage. ‘So much rubbish,’ chuckles Micky as he sifts through everything. Every now and then, he singles out a photo or a document to recount a tale. Names and anecdotes tumble from his lips. Dinner with Jochen Rindt. Golf with Douglas Bader. Chatting with Archie Scott Brown. Racing around Hyde Park with Jean Simmons and Stewart Granger in their Bristol 402s. Les Leston, Donald Healey, Stirling Moss, Reg Parnell and Fangio. The perils of drifting a Comet tank on cobbles… Born in Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset, Micky began his competition career in December 1949 at the Mendip Vale Hillclimb. He was 21 and driving his birthday present, a new MG TC. ‘It had a hand-operated clutch because I hadn’t got my wooden leg by then.’ It was the loss of his left leg below the knee, in a shotgun accident when serving as an officer in the 5th Royal Tank Regiment, that led him to a new sport. While his father had raced cars on Brean Beach, fellow Burnhamite and HRG owner John Buncombe took Micky on his first motorsport outing. A photograph from his Army days is then handed over. It’s ‘Scotty’, a USAAF airman who taught Micky to fly Douglas C-54 Skymasters. ‘Somewhere I’ve got some pictures of us being buzzed by Russian MiGs… I was on the Berlin Airlift,’ he reveals with the sort of nonchalance only his generation can wield so lightly. ‘I had a little job to do, to try to suss out what the Russians actually had on the frontline. In Fassburg, the Americans wouldn’t deal with the displaced persons; I was seconded to them – with the Fifth Tanks – and we’d

moved from Hamm up to the border with a view to taking a convoy to Berlin. Of course, the politicians chickened out! We could’ve done it easily, the Russians couldn’t have stopped us… I discovered that when I was flying with the Americans and we used to wander a bit off the corridor, that’s when the MiGs would appear.’ Moving back from MiGs to MGs, Mickey took ownership of his TC during the ‘Export or Die’ years. ‘A chap who used to live opposite us, Ken Harcombe, worked for the Bristol Motor Company; he told me, “I know a lady who ordered an MG before the war and it may be due to come through. We’ll just keep quiet!” It was delivered on my birthday,’ he smiles. By 1950 his diary was soon filled with local trials and sprints, and Micky’s first circuit race took place on 31 March at Castle Combe. ‘I was third in the 1½-litre class, behind Mike Hawthorn, who was nearly a lap in front in his old ex-works 1936 TT Riley Sprite. He was very quick.’ The two rivals didn’t exactly hit it off but, even so, the Castle Combe result boosted Micky’s profile because he’d beaten Ted Lund in one of the newer works-supported TDs. ‘I was taken on as a private driver for MG’s works cars. Afterwards I did rallies, sprints, hillclimbs, everything, and I won the MG Car Club’s Hanks Trophy in my TC in 1950. Reginald Hanks [chairman of Morris Motors] presented this trophy to the best driver of the year,’ says Micky. ‘Some 50 years later I went back and presented it to the next winner at Silverstone.’ The following year, Micky became a team driver via his relationship with fellow racer Trevor Lines. ‘He and I were great friends,’ he says. ‘My next race was the British Empire Trophy Race on the Isle of Man in June 1951.

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MICKY POPLE INTERVIEW

I was third in class and that’s when I met the friends I teamed up with and joined the Monkey Stable.’ Founded in the winter of 1950-51 by Jimmy Mayers and Patrick Griffith, the Monkey Stable took its name from the constructor of their Lester-MGs, Harry Lester, and was a cheeky reference to his physique. It’s believed that 12 racers drove for the team over the years. Micky was closest to Trevor Line, Mike Keen, Peter Avern, Alan Brown and Mike Llewellyn. ‘That British Empire Trophy race was the famous occasion when the big cars didn’t like it. Several of them retired with gearbox and all sorts of problems, but were perfectly able to be driven after the race. Roy Salvadori was among them, I remember, but Peter Collins – who was a great buddy of mine – had put a Cadillac engine into his Allard. He’d been left some money by an aunt in America and they couldn’t send the cash, so bought a Caddy engine and sent that over.’ A handicap race, crediting the 1500cc cars with four laps, the British Empire Trophy saw Micky finish seventh, just ahead of Lines, both in their TDs. A detour into the off-track antics of racing drivers is unavoidable, not least Peter Collins racing along the corridors of Liverpool’s Adelphi Hotel aboard a trolley and swapping all the guests’ shoes. They were all thrown out. And Collins’ name naturally comes up a lot. ‘I came home with him after he crashed at the Nürburgring in 1952,’ says Micky. ‘He’d smashed up his car and couldn’t start the race, so Jean Lucas [a fellow racer and later Gordini team manager] said to Peter, “Well, we’ll take my car.” I can’t remember which one it was, it was one of the big Ferraris – a V12, and it was so bloody hot, it wasn’t true. ‘We stopped off at Reims, did a couple of laps around the old Grand Prix circuit and met up with a chap who had been in the Maquis. He took us to the grandstand and showed us where the local headquarters were during the war, it was underneath and very cleverly concealed. Then we went to Paris. Peter had got hold of so many deutschmarks – they weren’t very valuable – that I had my artificial leg stuffed full with them,’ laughs Micky. ‘He was worried we’d get stopped and searched.’ One of the good guys, then? ‘Oh yes. We were always chatting, but of course, he was abroad so much. He was a great chap – a bit like James [Hunt] really.’ He pauses, then quietly adds: ‘Dear Peter.’ Micky’s relationship with Harry Lester was another story. ‘The Kieft-MG came out of a pub lunch when we were talking to Gordon Bedson [an ex-Vickers designer] and it was probably Pat Griffith who said that we were thinking of building a new car. The Lesters weren’t stable enough – they didn’t have independent suspension and you had to go independent. So Bedson got a piece of paper and said that you take four aluminium tubes, brace them and then you could hang what you like on that; you could stick an engine in the front or the back, fit allindependent suspension… I think it was Jim who went to Cyril Kieft and asked him to build it. ‘We put our tuned MG engines into the Kieft. Pat Griffith’s father owned Payen Gaskets and Cooper’s Mechanical Joints, so we had the thinnest head gaskets that man ever made. We took one of the engines back to MG and it was installed on a test-bed. MG’s Engineering 118

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‘OFF-TRACK ANTICS ARE UNAVOIDABLE, NOT LEAST PETER COLLINS RACING ALONG THE CORRIDORS OF LIVERPOOL’S ADELPHI HOTEL ABOARD A TROLLEY’

Clockwise, from top right Micky with photo of his MG TD, seventh in the ’51 British Empire Trophy Race; Nürburgring 1000km driver medal; group shot of the Monkey Stable; trialling – ‘I won the MG Car Club’s Hanks Trophy in my TC in 1950’; Micky’s baptism at the wheel of his TC; Kieft-MG the only MS car to finish the ’53 Nürburgring 1000km.

Development Department head, Alec Hounslow, said: “This isn’t going to take long.” It was opened up to 5000rpm. “Any time now, she’ll go bang.” 6000, 6500, 7000, 7000-and-a-bit – BANG! He said, “How do you manage that?” We never told him! It was so simple, it was the oil pressure pump. They didn’t really work and the pressure built up far too high and that blew the bearings. What we’d done was recalibrate the pump!’ Micky’s smile then breaks into a chortle as he remembers the first Kieft. ‘The petrol tank was secured with bungee cords! We were testing it somewhere, maybe Brands. Of course, the tank came off. So we had to get better fixings. It was an extraordinary car, it held the road better than almost any other. It had a central driving position and a central gearbox, but for the regulations, there was just room to squeeze a passenger alongside.’ Micky’s first visit to the Nürburgring – a circuit that remains a great favourite – was in 1952, when he competed in John Buncombe’s Healey Silverstone and 119

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drove Alf Hitching’s Cooper-MG. ‘Yes, you were on a racing track, but it felt just like a glorified country road really. You had plenty of time,’ says Micky. Alas, the details of that July race have disappeared, but it contributed towards him being elected to the BRDC. However, his next race at the ’Ring, the 1953 Nürburgring 1000km, certainly did not. ‘I remember Mike Keen at the 1000km, I think we started twenty-something in the general classification, then the first time he came around he was 13th. He’d passed all the big boys on the corners and the only time they could get past him was on the straight. So when I got in, I think I was about tenth. Of course, then the bloody wheels broke! It was a pity because we would have done very well – that little car went like a rocket, it was extraordinary.’ As disappointing as the 1000km retirement was, the Monkeys had been noticed thanks to Mike’s magnificent fifth place at the Rheinland-Pfalz Preis in early August. Meanwhile Trevor Line had bought the chandlers in Salcombe, Devon, a business that happened to look after boats belonging to the White family, founders of the Bristol Aeroplane Company. Micky’s introduction to BAC, however, came from Roger White-Smith, who worked at Filton and was the regional boss of the MG Car Club. He introduced Micky to the manager of the Car Division’s Racing Department, Vivian Selby, a man keen to encourage young talent. The team’s negotiations were handled by Jim Mayers, as Micky recalls: ‘I wouldn’t say he was difficult but he was a single-minded chap.’ Jim, Mike Keen, Trevor Line and Micky (as reserve driver) joined Peter Wilson, Tommy Wisdom and Jack Fairman as part of Bristol’s three-car team for 1954 at Le Mans and Reims, and Le Mans again in 1955. The team did well, dominating the Le Mans 2-litre podiums (first, second and third) for two successive years. Micky drove during practice in 1954 – regulations meant his leg precluded him from competing. It’s a race he didn’t like because of the speeds involved, particularly as the midpack 2.0-litre cars were constantly being overtaken, ‘but the boys did very well’, he says. Indeed, at each of Bristol’s subsequent races, the leading Bristol always had a Monkey in its driver partnership. Unfortunately, Bristol’s success came at the expense of the Monkey Stable, which didn’t race again. There were plans for long-distance racing in a new Lester-MG, but the car was behind schedule and suffered poor handling. Then, in 1955, the tragic loss of two drivers – including their leader – meant the end for the Monkey Stable. ‘Mike got killed at Goodwood in a rear-engined T40 Cooper-Bristol. Then Jim was killed when partnering Jack Brabham in a Cooper-Climax T39 at Dundrod in the RAC TT. I’d just got married, my co-driver Mike was dead and I thought too many people were being killed. It was just awful, so I gave up.’ Micky retired from racing in 1955, but he wasn’t quite finished with Spa or the Nürburgring – parts of which he describes as ‘absolutely gorgeous, really fast and not too aggressive’. Since 1955 he has returned there for many a trackday. So often, in fact, that putting a number on all the laps and mileage prior to his ‘ban’ five years ago (when aged 90) is more or less impossible. As for this ‘ban’, Micky, who instigated it? He leans forwards, smiles and whispers: ‘Mrs Pople!’ End

Above and below Reminiscing today; 50 years after winning the MG Car Club’s Hanks’ Trophy, Micky presented it to the next winner at Silverstone.

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Trusted purveyor of rare & historic automobiles for 45 years Avidly and passionately involved in motorsports Buy • Sell • Consign • Trade Trusted purveyor of rare & historic automobiles for 45 years

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SS100 JAGUARS

LONGTERM LEGENDS These two SS100 Jaguars have been in the hands of wellknown and dedicated enthusiasts for five decades and more. Chris Mann divulges their entertaining histories Photography Dean Smith

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aguar built its legend through competition success and the production of elegant highperformance cars that also offered incredible value for money. The business was established as the Swallow Sidecar Company in Blackpool, 1922, by William (later Sir William) Lyons and William Walmsley. Gradually it branched out into the production of stylish bodywork for massproduced chassis such as the Austin Seven, aimed at buyers on a budget who wanted something a little more exotic. Lyons was ambitious, though, keen to become a car manufacturer in his own right. In 1934, and without Walmsley, he launched a new range of cars with the style and performance of contemporary Bentleys but much more affordable. They were marketed as SS Jaguars – the first use of the Jaguar name. After World War Two, Lyons prudently rebranded as Jaguar Cars Ltd, a move made viable by the striking two-seater sports car that put the name on the map: the SS100 Jaguar. And here are two that have been in long-term ownership: DTF 28 (chassis 39075) bought in 1955 by the thenbudding illustrator Michael Turner (see Octane 132), and ABA 855 (chassis 39082), given by an indulgent mother to then-student John Guyatt for his 21st birthday in 1967. Both are the later 3.5-litre versions (it was launched as a

2.5), dating from 1939, genuine 100mph cars of which only 116 were built. Today we know Michael Turner as the revered aviation and motorsport artist. His first car, an Austin Seven special, was followed by a six-cylinder 1271cc MG F-type Magna. By the mid-1950s, having turned 21, he was looking for something faster and spied an advertisement for an SS100 Jaguar after combing through the small ads in Motor Sport. Michael describes the scene when he met the seller at a dusty mews lock-up in Bayswater. ‘The car had cycle wings and small headlights. It had been modified for racing after the war, its later, larger, XK120 carburettors necessitating a hole in the bonnet louvres. The car was being sold on behalf of its owner in Wales and the gearbox needed rebuilding, which the so-called dealer agreed to within the £350 price.’ Not all went according to plan, though. ‘I paid a deposit of £100 and arranged to go back the following week to collect the car. However, when I returned there was no-one in evidence so I knocked on the door of the adjacent flat. A woman appeared in her dressing-gown, fag in mouth, and told me that the fly-by-night salesman had disappeared with the money. I was distraught and contacted the police. They managed to get hold of the car’s owner in Cardiff and he came to Notting Hill police station to meet me. Amazingly, he said he would sell me the car for £250, the

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Clockwise, from this image Michael Turner has owned the blue SS100 since 1955, John Guyatt the cream one since 1967; John enjoyed the car with his late wife, Lesley Macalpine; Michael and his late wife Helen at Kop Hill Climb in their SS.

agreed price less my deposit. The only problem was that the gearbox still needed rebuilding.’ Michael contacted local garage Pinner View Motors, which then repaired the gearbox, tidied up the car and got it back on the road. The SS had previously been raced with some success, and Michael had his own ambitions, but a trip to Silverstone, where he witnessed a massive accident at Becketts Corner, caused a rethink. ‘The SS was my daily driver so I couldn’t afford to risk damaging it. I loved competing, so restricted myself to driving tests, gymkhanas and the like, but I’ve seen photographs of the car racing with its previous owner at Silverstone with its cycle wings. The originals caused the car to lift at high speeds. ‘In 1957 a friend and I took the SS to Aintree to watch the British Grand Prix. Returning home, I had dropped off my friend in Ruislip and a car shot out straight into the side of my SS. I was ejected from the driver’s door into the road, and the rear wheel went over my foot. The other car was being driven by an American serviceman who was most apologetic, but my car was quite badly damaged, with bent dumb-irons and a twisted chassis.’ That would lead to further work later. Meanwhile, there’s a romantic angle to Michael’s life with the SS100. ‘The SS100 is really the story of my marriage. Helen, my wife who I sadly lost in September last year, always loved going

out in it. One day we were driving from Wendover to Aylesbury on our way to Silverstone when I decided to see whether my car would achieve the 100mph claimed. I put my foot down and got up to an indicated 105mph when a line of stationary traffic loomed up ahead – I’d been paying more attention to the speedometer than the road. The SS has rod brakes that are not the car’s best feature, but I managed to pull up with about three car lengths to spare. Amazingly Helen remained calm and took it all for granted. I knew then that I had found the right girl for me.’ The SS continued as daily transport when Michael went freelance in 1957, and beyond until 1960. ‘That’s when Helen and I got married. I bought a brand-new Austin A40 Farina and the SS went into a lock-up. Some years later I was offered £600 for it, which I thought was a good price, but I decided not to sell. On another occasion I had a call from Andrew Whyte, then Jaguar’s PR director, who said that they wanted an SS100 for their collection and would I swap my car for a brand-new E-type? Again, I thought long and hard and, although I’d tried E-types and loved them, I couldn’t bring myself to part with my SS.’ Today Michael has an E-type in his stable, alongside the SS100. ‘The car still had its cycle wings when I took it to the 50th anniversary celebration at Jaguar’s Browns Lane factory in 1986. There were 17 SS100s in a line and my car stood out 125

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SS100 JAGUARS

like a sore thumb, so I decided to revert to the original style. Fortunately there was a chap in Stanmore, Alan Giddins, who ran the SS Register; he had a pair in his loft and agreed to sell them to me. I sent them off with my car to James Pearce of Billingshurst, West Sussex. I’d also acquired a pair of the correct Lucas QK596 headlights at the Beaulieu Autojumble. When the car was stripped down we found that quite a lot of the woodwork needed replacing, and when the body was removed it was revealed that the chassis was bent not only behind the dumb-irons but also at the rear. It all had to be straightened out.’ Before Michael’s tenure, modifications to DTF 28 included a competition exhaust and Andre Telecontrol dampers, as well as a high-compression cylinder head, the XK120 SU carburettors and, of course, those cycle wings. The car took part in 21 races, spanning May 1948 to September 1954, including class wins in handicap races at Croft in 1950 and Goodwood in 1952. In fact, DTF 28 was placed first, second or third on ten occasions. Michael’s reputation as a world-renowned artist has allowed him to enjoy and improve his SS100 over the past 68 years as well as adding to its rich competition history through appearances at Buckinghamshire’s Kop Hill Climb. Today, resplendent in its dark blue coachwork, DTF 28 is immaculate, though it is no show pony and is regularly dusted off to be driven, remaining a much-loved member of the Turner family.

JOHN GUYATT’S first classic was an SS1 tourer. Says the well-known VSCC racer: ‘I restored it very amateurishly but when I saw an SS100 at a dealer I really wanted that. This was around my 21st birthday so I requested it from my mother as my present.’ Thus, in 1966, ABA 855 was given to John by Mrs Guyatt, baffled by her son’s desire for what she saw as an old bone-shaker. ‘Wouldn’t you rather have a new E-type?’ she asked. John responded, tongue in cheek: ‘How about for my 22nd?’ – and a year later an E-type followed. John recalls his early days of ownership: ‘I had become interested in skiing and set up a company that enabled me to spend the winter in the Alps and to go racing in the summer.’ The SS100 provided regular year-round transport, rain-orshine, frequently undertaking long European journeys. When he took on ABA 855, its original engine had been replaced by a post-war unit. ‘Later I was lucky enough to get hold of one of the three experimental engines [number M2] that had been built and raced by the factory, and that is what it has today.’ Back then the car was green, later changed to white and, more recently, to its current ivory colour. ‘It may be scruffy but it wears its battlescars with pride,’ he says. ABA 855 is, says John, the only car he has kept – and for more than 50 years now. Others have come and gone, including Lagondas, supercharged Alfas, English Talbot racers, Talbot-Lagos, a Mercedes ‘S’, a low-chassis Invicta, a Delage, a Ferrari, various Astons and Jaguars (including a D-type), and even a Kurtis-Kraft Indy car.

Clockwise, from above Turner’s car, glorious in deep blue; interior is immaculate yet suitably vintage; engine uprated in period; Guyatt’s cream car wears its history with pride.

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‘WHILE THE JOURNEYS ARE SHORTER, THE SPECIAL BOND BETWEEN THE CARS AND THEIR DRIVERS REMAINS’ John’s late wife was Lesley Macalpine, herself something of a VSCC legend and a fan of ABA 855, even down to helping John with a rebuild including paint, mechanics and upholstery, in time for the 50th anniversary celebrations in 1986, which they attended as well as the Turners. ‘No matter how far from home we are and whatever happens, the SS always gets us home,’ Lesley had told me, recalling an incident on the way to a wedding in Brussels when the head gasket failed. ‘We stopped regularly on the way back to refill the radiator and made it home safely.’ Lesley recalled another occasion when, having driven with John in the SS100 to the Prescott hillclimb, he saw an advertisement for a load of Talbot parts in the depths of Wales. ‘We headed off to Wales, John bought the parts, loaded up the SS and we returned home, parts spilling out everywhere.’ Wisely, he had fitted a luggage rack. Both John and Michael have driven vast mileages in their respective SS100s and, while the journeys may be shorter these days, the special bond between the cars and their drivers remains intact.

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SS100 JAGUARS

Above Two cars, two lengthy histories, and a matching degree of enthusiasm from the owner in each case.

HAVING NEVER previously driven an SS100 but as the long-term owner of its successor, the Jaguar XK120 Roadster, I have been looking forward to the opportunity to drive not one but two examples of this groundbreaking model: Michael’s car, beautifully restored, immaculate in its deep blue coachwork; and John’s, self-maintained and wearing the kind of patina that can be earned only during years of motoring adventures. Michael’s car first. The cockpit is snug to say the least, the tight footwell and closely spaced pedals a challenge for anyone with feet larger than a ballet dancer’s, while the broad steering wheel, close to the driver’s chest, makes entry and exit less than elegant. Once in, I find the driving position comfortable and the nicely weighted controls direct and intuitive, as is the steering, which requires some heft yet offers plenty of feel and a surprising level of directional stability. The 3.5-litre straight-six proves lively and torquey, demonstrating that Michael’s car still delivers the enhanced performance of its early post-war competition career. The

SS100’s oft-maligned Moss gearbox is a joy, its rifle-bolt precision more than making up for the need to pace the shifts. Meanwhile the rod-actuated drum brakes, while very much of their era, provide a reassuring level of retardation. John’s car, perhaps understandably, feels somewhat ‘looser’ but is no less enjoyable to drive and its ex-works competition engine feels even more willing than that in Michael’s car. Furthermore, and to quite a surprising degree, there is evident similarity in driving dynamics between the SS100 and the XK120. The SS100 Jaguar was the first genuine high-performance sports car that could be bought by the merely well-off rather than the super-rich, a tradition continued with the XK120 and E-type. Although now highly prized, the SS100 has not, perhaps, received the credit it is due as the first ever ‘affordable’ supercar. These two owners would surely attest that it lives up to that. THANKS TO the late Lesley Macalpine and Helen Turner, to whom this feature is dedicated.

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For sale: 1938 SS100 Jaguar 3 ½ Litre

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RALPH LAUREN TOUR D’ELEGANCE

OUR MAN IN JAPAN James Elliott joins an exclusive Japanese classic tour in an exquisite Alfa Romeo Junior Zagato 1600 Photography Kazumi Ogata; Ryota Sato; Octane Japan

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uddenly it doesn’t feel like tourist Japan anymore. We are far from the dominant shadow of Mount Fuji, well away from the constraints of Tokyo and its head-rule-heart Expressways, and chasing car designer Ken Okuyama’s pokey little hardtop racing Frogeye through a network of deserted private toll roads. At every tollbooth we are told that the car in front has already paid for us. Classy. Especially as Okuyama had a traumatic start to this event, his Corvette C2 failing on the Expressway out of Tokyo and causing a big tailback. He dashed home, picked up his Frogeye to rejoin the rally, then that Frogeye ran out of fuel in a long mountain tunnel and had to pull over into an emergency layby to await a top-up. And all this while his fellow entrants were still talking about his speeding violations on the previous tour! Thankfully the intrepid Ken retains his good humour far better than I might have and all of that angst seems well in the past now – he is clearly enjoying himself as he threads the Frogeye through the forests and canyons. As am I, following him in this little 1973 Alfa Junior Zagato that has suddenly come alive. Dramatically so. Not that it was any less capable with more mundane driving conditions, but you know when you can sense a car’s emotions – well, here that emotion is happiness. Myself and my excellent co-pilot Dr Maki – daughter of Yuki Hayashi, who had generously asked Octane to join him on the invitation-only Ralph Lauren Tour d’Elegance in Japan in November 2023 – have come alive, too. I am in the driving zone, she is filming the road we are gorging on as it flashes under the car. This exclusive event is the only Ralph Lauren Tour d’Elegance in the world. There are high hopes it might provide the template for similar events in other territories and it deserves to but, for 2023 at least, it is unique to Japan. The event was dreamed up with the intention of ‘bringing style and excellence to classic car touring in Japan without the pressure of timed stages’. It is willfully small – only 16 starters in 2023, the maximum set at 20 – for those who ‘appreciate the finer things in life’, including the very best hotels and exceptional cuisine (usually traditional Japanese at lunchtime and more international in the evenings). Co-organised by Paul Goldsmith, an ex-Goodwood guy who has run major concours in Tokyo and Kuwait, plus Octane Japan’s editor-in-chief Shiro Horie, it is supported by Range Rover and Bollinger and this third running has been meticulously planned and is full of surprises. Of course, even after Osato Research Institute boss Yuki invited us and supplied his own kin to co-drive, Octane still needed a car. That came courtesy of the unbelievably generous Dr Masatoshi Tanifuji, who has not only loaned me the Alfa but is also supplying steeds for the other British guests. Racing driver Anthony Reid and wife Tina opt for a pokier V6 Maserati Merak, while John Brigden and Claire Cochran from Bespoke Rallies take the touring choice with a V8 Mondial Cabriolet. So why pick the little four-pot Alfa against such power-brokers? Well, given the pick of eight cars from Dr Tanifuji’s collection, excluding the V12 Lamborghini Jarama S he was happily burbling along in with wife Hiromi, I wanted the Alfa simply because I have never driven one and I wanted to see if there really is that much difference between this and a stock 105, to gauge exactly the potency of Zagato’s magic if you like. A Giulia 105 would be great in itself, but the much-vaunted added nimbleness and agility of the Zagato should elevate that to another level. The Junior Zagato was born out of Alfa boss Giovanni Luraghi’s visit to the Zagato stand at the 1967 Turin Salon. Could Elio Zagato build a compact, more wind-cheating, sportier baby GT on the 105 Pininfarina Spider platform? He could. Getting to work the following year, Ercole Spada evolved design themes already trailed in the 1967 Rover 2000 TCZ to give the Alfa its distinctive, pointier and thoroughly modern looks. The all-ally prototype was delivered by July and between then and 1972 just over 1000 Junior Zagato 1300s – productionised with only doors and bonnet in aluminium – were manufactured, sales stunted by 131

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RALPH LAUREN TOUR D’ELEGANCE

a Lire800,000 premium over the stock car, lack of support from ambivalent step-parent Alfa, and a shape that may have been been prescient but at the time deviated too far from Alfa’s established ‘look’. I guess it might look very ‘wrong’ to Alfascisti but it’s also incredibly right, especially thinking about the outlines of so many cars that followed, from Giugiaro’s Alfasud Sprint and VW Scirocco Mk1 to Kigoshi’s Honda CR-X. That plexiglass light cover could have looked cheap, tacky and placky, but as a part of this design it is beautiful – there’s something very attractive about it and its chrome surround that belies their simplicity, framed by the subtle tilt of the bonnet. Where others see costcutting, I see only great proportions and balance. Late in 1972 came the 1600, with myriad small differences and two big ones. For a start, the bigger engine offered 109bhp and the car was also longer, but there were also new wheelarches, floor panel, deck, lights (Berlina 2000 instead of 1750) and bumper at the rear, plus front bumper, dashboard, three-spoke steering wheel and more. These upgrades didn’t make enough difference to potential buyers, however, and only 402 had been built when the plug was pulled in late 1975. Today they are notoriously tricky to restore because so many parts rot, and most of them are unique to the model, but Dr Tanifuji’s car is exactly how I like a classic: in lovely condition, but primarily usable, on the button and mechanically sorted. With 105-series mechanicals, of course, it offers a perky twin-cam engine and a willing five-speed ’box. So, in a way ideal for a touring rally, in many others not. We shall see. The event kicks off with a private shopping session at Ralph Lauren’s flagship Tokyo store in Omotesando, which I miss, and then a Champagne reception the night before the rally, which I don’t. There we all introduce ourselves and then mingle, giving me the opportunity to reacquaint myself with the car designer Shiro Nakamura. An early night follows because we need to be lined up behind the store early the next morning for the lengthy but fascinating blessing ceremony (of both cars and crews) before the off. The 16 cars range from Bugatti guru Franco Majno in a locally owned 1929 Corsica-bodied T44 to the Brigden/Cochran 1988 Mondial Cabriolet. White, of course. The rest of the fleet includes the likes of Susumo Otomo’s pre-A Porsche 356 to the Müller family’s wonderfully wafty 1956 Bentley Continental, which makes almost unnervingly serene progress throughout the tour. My host, Yuki Hayashi, is in his Aston Martin DB5 with wife Toshi, while Octane Japan editor Shiro Horie is playing support in a Range Rover. When we are flagged off by Ralph Lauren Japan president Jay Kimpton, objective one is simply to get clear of Tokyo, which we do, slowly. First stop is for an extravagant traditional Kaiseki lunch at the Hakone forest retreat, about an hour-and-a-half south-west of Tokyo, and that is followed by a visit to the unexpected Lalique museum on its doorstep, with afternoon tea in an original Orient Express carriage decorated by Lalique in period. After that we strike out due south for Atami and the astonishingly luxurious Pearl Star Hotel. Getting there means passing through the 770m Jukkoku pass, which provides the most breathtaking views of Mount Fuji imaginable. Credit to the route planners, we arrive just in time for sunset on a cloudless evening; even the Japanese are saying that the views are rarely that good. As we descend into the achingly chic seaside resort of Atami after 130km on the road, you cannot help but draw comparisons to dropping into Monte Carlo. Park up, check in, get in your daily steps just traversing the Clockwise, from opposite top Pressing on in Alfa; lunch stop at Hakushu; afternoon tea in Lalique museum’s Orient Express carriage; Dr Masatoshi and Hiromi Tanifuji with Lamborghini Jarama S; traditional Japanese lunch at the Hakone Retreat; Alfa ready for the off behind Omotesando Ralph Lauren store; Jay Kimpton flags away Franco Majno and Takahiro Mochizuki in Bugatti.

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RALPH LAUREN TOUR D’ELEGANCE

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This page, from top Porsches setting the early place with Alfa in pursuit; unrivalled views of Fuji from Fuji Kawaguchiko herb garden; in-demand local delicacy has a shelf-life of 30 minutes; Ken Okuyama and co-pilot Daisuke Saito picked up the Frogeye when their C2 Corvette failed to proceed; Octane’s host Yuki Hayashi with his wife Toshi in their Aston Martin DB5.

hotel room, then dinner accompanied by a stunning fireworks display. Mount Fuji still looms large on day two as the tour quits Atami and heads for the next overnight stop some 267km north-west. There is an equally packed schedule, starting with the Herb Garden Fuji Kawaguchiko and its spectacular views of the mountain, then calling in at the alsounexpected Nakamura Keith Haring Collection in Kobuchizawa, where more than 200 of the late New Yorker’s works are on display. Lunch is at the Shichiken restaurant Daimin attached to an ancient but still working Saki brewery. Next we call in for a hugely in-demand seasonal dessert – describable only as water jelly – at the 120-year-old Daigahara Kinseiken sweet shop, before hitting the road again for the last call of the day, arriving at the Takizawa-Bokujyo farm just as the temperature plummets. The hotel for the next two nights is the splendid Hiramatsu in Karuizawa Miyota, meaning we can unpack our luggage, which has of course arrived before us after travelling in supreme comfort, before dinner and an entertaining after-dinner speech from Anthony Reid. After waking up to incredible views of Mount Asama and enjoying an Onsen bath while taking in the panorama, it is time to consider day three. A redrawn route due to snow closing the 2170m Shibu Pass means the final day on the road is a loop back to the Hiramatsu, starting at the newborn Komoro Distillery, through the picturesque old town of Unnojuko, a lunch consisting almost entirely of chestnut dishes – including the world famous Mont Blanc cake – in Japan’s chestnut capital Obusedo, and then an unscheduled guerilla visit to a museum dedicated to the Edo-period artist Hokusai. Last stop of the day is at an avant-garde art museum honouring the rather more modern artist Horishi Senju, before it is all rounded off with a gala dinner (for which I lugged a dinner jacket halfway across the world), some awards (in which Octane did not feature) and a well-earned rest before saying our goodbyes in the morning. The previous two nights, thanks to a combination of jet-lag and narcolepsy, I had been falling asleep early and embarrassingly publicly, but on this final night I’m still buzzing from the driving and the Alfa. It has been only a 167km day, but the route was more engaging and challenging from the off, then it really got going after that old town and a quick dash down the Joshin-Etsu Expressway – ever improving, ever gnarlier, building up to the deserted toll roads that kick in at 130km. On these roads I was discovering not Japan, but the brilliance of Zagato, from the body-clasping qualities of those unique bucket seats (complete with integrated headrest that swivels out of the backrest) to the spirited revving of the twin-carb twin-cam as it powers the Junior zip-smooth from corner to corner. The short overhangs mean you know exactly where the corners of the car are and can place them precisely, the stiffer suspension offering more nimbleness, perfect steering feedback whispering advice all the time through the ribbed-for-pleasure wheel, the steering box offering a wonderful fluidity. Of course, the terrain and undulation and corners skirting along the wooded base of a high vertical cliff play a huge part in these thrills, but this Alfa tackles a sequence of corners so effortlessly that it feels as if it is straightening them, like pulling on a string, like a shuttle flying across a loom. The brakes, discs all around, are more than adequate, as is the smooth five-speed gearbox, both of which point towards how sophisticated the Giulia was for its era. That said, however tight the transmission, I will always baulk slightly at the way the long, chunky lever sprouts out of the top of the tunnel like a front-wheel-drive’s. And its long throw. Shorten both and you’d have a genuine world-beater. 135

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RALPH LAUREN TOUR D’ELEGANCE

Road time also allows us to celebrate familiar Giulia touches – including the beguiling simplicity of turning a stalk to activate the headlamps or the surprisingly effective two-speed heater – plus Zagato-specific features such as the eye-crossing kink of just one of the wiper blades and the button that lifts the tailgate a few centimetres to aid airflow. Remarkably, it works both in theory and practice. If the Zagato lacks anything it is accessible space, with rear seats no more than a twin arse-shaped parcel shelf and only a small cubbyhole in the front. The Italianate driving position also means there is little space for driver’s legs (even as short as mine), one of which impedes the gearshift’s first-second plane as it arches around to operate the throttle. None of this matters, though, as you arrow through those corners, where all 109bhp of Alfa advances with supercar intent and family wagon smoothness. There is much less noise than you would expect, even on the Expressway, where it canters along at 140km/h. For me the Alfa is as beautifully proportioned and balanced to drive as it is to look at and it is far more nimble, tight and quick than I had dared to anticipate. Its humble(ish) spec might be quite in contrast to this luxurious event, but the Ralph Lauren Tour d’Elegance is similarly dripping in generosity of spirit. While the island-race Japanese revel in a reputation for being slightly insular in the same way as Zagato’s cars might be, break down the barriers and both are keen to share their enthusiasm with the world. THANKS TO Yuki, Toshi, Maki and Aki Hayashi, Dr Masatoshi and Hiromi Tanifuji, Paul Goldsmith, Jay Kimpton and Matthew Sleath, plus Shiro Horie and the Octane Japan team. See tourdelegance.jp.

Clockwise, from below The tour gathered at the new Komoro distillery; Anthony Reid’s Maserati Merak; organisers Paul Goldsmith and Shiro Horie, with Shiro Nakamura in background.

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ADVERTISING FEATURE

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by Octane staff and contributors

OCTANE CARS OW N I N G + D R I V I N G + M A I N T A I N I N G

Model T goes to the movies 1927 FORD MODEL T MARK DIXON

SO THERE I WAS, on set with George Clooney… Of course, as a humble ‘extra’ (I can’t get used to the modern term ‘supporting artist’) I didn’t dare speak to the great man, but it was still one of the more surreal experiences of my life. Especially since the set represented a street in 1930s

Washington State, but we were actually in a disused quarry near Cirencester, Gloucestershire. I was dressed up as the driver of an old sedan, part of the background for a scene involving the film’s star and his girlfriend, and was required to make leisurely circuits around the block while trying not to run over any pedestrian extras. Sorry, ‘supporting artists’. The movie is called The Boys in the Boat and is based on a true story of how an impoverished young man, Joe Rantz – played

by British actor Callum Turner – became part of the USA’s rowing team at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. It was directed by George Clooney, filmed mostly in the UK, and I got the chance to take part thanks to my mate Richard Rimmer, whose own Ford Model T had been hired for one of the earlier scenes. The film-makers needed more 1920s American cars and Richard kindly suggested me to the action-vehicle chief Marek Oyrzynski, whose movie roll call extends to multiple Bonds and

beyond. I duly trailered the ‘T’ down to Cirencester, where it was to be used as a static prop on another set: this one the shanty town where Rantz is living when he takes up rowing. The car was needed for three days, for each of which I’d be paid a rate that seemed almost embarrassingly generous. Because my ‘T’ is right-hand-drive, a large tarpaulin was strategically draped over the cockpit, and the car’s care-worn appearance suited its backdrop down to, well, a ‘T’. The attention to detail on a

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SUPPORTED BY

OCTANE’S FLEET

Clockwise, from this picture Strategically draped tarp hid the fact that Dixon’s T is right-handdrive; the famous Cirencester shanty town; loads of period vehicles on set, but few made the cut; incredibly detailed sets.

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

ROBERT COUCHER

International editor ● 1955 Jaguar XK140

ANDREW ENGLISH

Contributor ● 1962 Norton Dominator ● 1967 Triumph GT6 ● 1972 Moto Guzzi V7 Sport

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

Deputy 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 big-budget movie is staggering; everything has to be spot-on, even though 99.9% of it won’t be visible on screen. I was particularly impressed by a huge wooden boathouse used by the rowing team, which was beautifully made (you can see it towering behind the huts, left) – and which would be demolished once filming was over. The professionalism of the crew is a joy to watch, too: dozens if not hundreds of people, all calmly doing jobs they know inside-out. A couple of weeks after I’d collected my Model T, Marek called me up to ask if I’d be interested in doing some driving,

too. You bet! Another Model T would be involved, plus a handful of similar-era cars, which is how I came to find myself just a few feet from Mr Clooney. He seemed a decent bloke. As, indeed, did Callum Turner, with whom I chatted briefly in-between takes. All this took place in the summer of 2022 and the film was released in the UK early this year; it will still be showing in a few cinemas when this magazine goes on sale. Sadly, pretty much all the scenes involving vehicles ended up on the cutting room floor, and there’s only the tiniest glimpse of my Model T. But hey, that’s showbiz.

Editorial director ● 1971 Saab 96 ● 1996 Prodrive Subaru Impreza

MATTHEW HOWELL

Photographer ● 1962 VW Beetle 1600 ● 1969 VW/Subaru Beetle ● 1982 Morgan 4/4

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

ANDREW RALSTON Contributor ● 1955 Ford Prefect ● 1968 Jaguar 240

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OCTANE CARS / Running Reports

SAM CHICK

Photographer l 1969 Alfa Romeo Spider

RICHARD HESELTINE

Contributor l 1966 Moretti 850 Sportiva l 1971 Honda Z600

PETER BAKER

Contributor l 1954 Daimler Conquest l 1955 Daimler Conquest Century

DAVID BURGESS-WISE Contributor l 1903 De Dion-Bouton l 1911 Pilain 16/20 l 1924 Sunbeam 14/40 l 1926 Delage DISS

MATTHEW HAYWARD

Markets editor l 1990 Citroën BX 16v l 1994 Toyota Celica GT-Four l 1996 Saab 9000 Aero l 1997 Citroën Xantia Activa l 1997 Peugeot 306 GTI-6 l 2000 Honda Integra Type R l 2002 Audi A2

SAMANTHA SNOW

Advertising account manager l 1969 Triumph Herald 13/60 Convertible l 1989 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL

JESSE CROSSE

Contributor l 1968 Ford Mustang GT 390 l 1986 Ford Sierra RS Cosworth

MARTYN GODDARD

Photographer l 1963 Triumph TR6SS Trophy l 1965 Austin-Healey 3000 MkIII

Talking dirty 1974 ALFA ROMEO SPIDER EVAN KLEIN

DELWYN MALLETT

Contributor l 1936 Cord 810 Beverly l 1937 Studebaker Dictator l 1946 Tatra T87 l 1950 Ford Club Coupe l 1952 Porsche 356 l 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL l 1957 Porsche Speedster l 1957 Fiat Abarth Sperimentale l 1963 Abarth-Simca l 1963 Tatra T603 l 1973 Porsche 911 2.7 RS l 1992 Alfa Romeo SZ

Clockwise, from above Engine removal speedy; readying the shell for Gustavo; don’t mention the cams; mint pistons and liners; Benny giving the engine bay a hose down.

IT’S TUESDAY MORNING at Benny’s workshop here in LA, and we’ve eaten our doughnuts before we get started on my ‘new’ Alfa Spider (see Octane 249). I’m wearing my dirty clothes because it’s always dirty-clothes day at the shop. First on the list is getting the motor out, for our goal is to have the Italian car off to the bodyshop by Friday. We drain the coolant and unbolt everything: the bell housing, starter, battery, Spica injection, exhaust manifold, motor mounts. It really doesn’t take that long once you get started. Of course, it looks as if Benny is doing all the work, but someone has to hold the

camera… We have the motor hoisted out and on a stand before noon, after which I start scrubbing the block, timing cover and so on. The whole process of working on the car sort of revolves around food. At this point the discussion turns to: ‘What should we have for lunch?’ We get sandwiches and talk through all the ‘What are we gonna do?’ while the car’s sitting right there, listening. After lunch I take the head to the machine shop, Benny starts dismantling the motor and I do more cleaning. With the valve cover off, we set the motor at Top Dead Centre and check the cam timing – which is when we find out why the car

EVAN KLEIN

Photographer l 1974 Alfa Romeo Spider l 2001 Audi TT

HARRY METCALFE

Contributor l 20 cars and 15 motorbikes To follow Harry’s adventures, search: Harry’s Garage on YouTube. 142

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had no power. The cams are off by an eighth of an inch, which is why the engine wouldn’t rev past 3000rpm. As we dig deeper we find that the pistons and liners are new – you can still see the factory honing marks on the liners – and the bearings show no wear. When we get done, this is going to be one great little motor. We power-wash the engine bay and it’s soon evident how straight and rust-free it is for a 50-year-old Alfa. Bumpers off front and rear, headlights, side markers, tail-lights, door handles, door panels, exterior trim: all that takes the rest of the afternoon. By Thursday we are

calling our guy at the bodyshop. No answer. We call again on Friday: no answer. I start to get that sinking feeling: is this how it’s going to be? I imagine the car sitting in this shop for another six months. So we call two other places and get estimates that are way too high, and them saying things like ‘We’re going to sandblast the whole car.’ On Monday morning my phone rings. It’s Gustavo at the bodyshop: he has been home sick for the past four days, but now he says to bring the Alfa Romeo over. Gustavo has had it for a few days now. He’s ordered supplies and started stripping the car, finding that, aside from the very small nose bump, it retains all of its original rust-free metal. By now I’m making the parts list and I’ll be giving Classic Alfa a call to get everything. I love Classic Alfa because it offers great prices and DHL shipping, so we get things practically next day, even here in the States. I’ve alerted the bodyshop that once the car is stripped I’ll be bringing my strobes to take proper pictures. I’ve told them to wear something nice.

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OCTANE CARS / Running Reports

Left, from top Fuel pump is easier to replace from below: the 96 Club’s Alex Hearnden checks ‘new’ tank for leaks; marrying up fuel line with new pump was fiddly; a sense of (lack of) accessibility.

Fuellish things 1969 LOTUS ELAN S4 JAMES ELLIOTT

IT ALL STARTED when I went to do the Gearbox piece on John Simister for Octane 246. Actually, it all started when I collected my car in November 2022, when booting it at speed revealed a hesitancy that I presumed to be fuel-supply related. I ignored it, of course (for good reason, as will become clear), but it gradually worsened over the months until the point where, unless I was pottering around at 30mph locally (which I largely was, to be fair), I needed to do something about it. Cue Simister announcing as I was photographing his favourite things that he still had an alloy tank from when he had been an Elan owner; apparently inspired by one of my earlier examples, a yellow S2 that I ran for a decade from 1999. He dug the tank out of his garage, mentioned that it might weep a little from one of its welds and I was on my way. First stop was the 96 Club’s fantastic new facility near Guildford (96club.co.uk). Always been a fan of Michael Scott’s club and it has really upped its game of late, as this unit with full workshop facilities for everything from rally prep to full restoration attests. To be honest, I felt a little guilty asking a man of Alex Hearnden’s abilities – ex-Jota mechanic and Safety Devices design engineer, Masters in Automotive Engineering etc – to check out a fuel tank, but he did offer. Sort of. Having confirmed the weep, but not having the equipment on-site to weld

aluminium, he sloshed it and plopped it. Quite beautifully, I might add. Back at home, and with the new tank manhandled into place with minimal ‘adjustments’ to the fixing holes, I discovered that, with a different, side-mounted outlet, the notorious Elan fuel line (if you lose it in the chassis, you are in big trouble) didn’t quite stretch, when it popped off the fuel pump. I got more line from Classic Team Lotus plus a union, some hose coupling and spring clamps, and fashioned an as-yet unproven extension. Then came the new pump, my presumed culprit for the original fuelling problems, and also from Classic Team Lotus (parts. classicteamlotus.co.uk). I’ve replaced one of these before – horrible job, even with stubby screwdrivers. You can get the old one out just by removing the air-box, carbs etc and disassembling it in-situ to get to the bulkhead-side bolt, but to get the new one on it’s best to remove the starter motor and attack it from underneath. As I type, it is all on and back together but, shamefully, I have not yet fired it up to see if it all works and has cured the fuelling issues, because I haven’t yet got around to constructing a gravity feed to prime the system. But hey, you know, something-something gift horse something-something. On a more positive note, thanks to a new non-return valve, the headlamps are now working without the need to fit my electric kit. Two lessons there: first, always start by trying the smaller, cheaper fixes; second, if the chassis crossmember is holding air, that means it must be solid after all. Hooray!

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2001 SALEEN S7-R GT1 “VITAPHONE”

1999 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C5-R #002

COLLECTION

OCTANE CARS / Running Reports

SUPPORTED BY

Teething problems 2002 AUDI A2 MATTHEW HAYWARD

THERE’S NOTHING LIKE a 120-mile round trip to Brooklands, at rush hour – including the delightful section of the M25 past Heathrow – to put a recently recommissioned car to the test. After the initial bout of suspension work, a full service and a reasonably easy MoT pass, I was feeling optimistic. I had faith that my ‘new’ A2 would be up to the task. It made it, but the journey highlighted that there is still plenty of work to be done. I might have pushed the A2 into use a little sooner than I should have, after it had been off the road for more than three years, but it was certainly the quickest way to uncover any weaknesses. An engine warning pinged on about halfway there, accompanied by a drop to three cylinders.

‘Not a huge issue; potentially just a coil pack,’ I thought. When I stopped and restarted the car, it returned to full health, and a later code scan revealed it was just as I suspected. The engine light hasn’t returned in over four months, so I’m going to say that a good ‘Italian tune-up’ has cured this. A worsening vibration turned out to be the poor-quality driveshaft, fitted in order to pass the MoT, and remedied by finding a good secondhand OE item. I had no idea that finding new driveshafts for the A2 that actually fit correctly is almost impossible. Then the low oil pressure warning pinged-up on the dash during my return journey. Sigh. A quick under-bonnet inspection confirmed that the diaphragm inside the sender unit had ruptured (and was leaking oil), causing a false alarm. A £12 sensor fixed the issue. The front dampers fitted to the car were simply awful, too. An A2 should feel light and agile, but this one was just soggy and poorly controlled. Due to time pressures

I had chosen to run with the original front dampers in order to get the car through the MoT more quickly. With a little more time to play with, I decided to do the job properly and fit a new set of slightly lower springs all-round, and salvage the (barely 18 months old) gas-filled front dampers from my spares car. With a full alignment carried out, it’s absolutely transformed. After a few longer trips, and just as I started to gain a little more confidence, the clutch pedal dropped to the floor while I was en route to the NEC Classic Motor Show. The clutch slave cylinder had failed but I managed to nurse the A2 home. A new part was found locally for around £55, although I also had to buy a self-bleeding kit to complete the job. What a fantastically simple but useful bit of gear! I consider these to be minor teething troubles and stand by my assertion that this is a good car at its core. At over 20 years old, it deserves a little bit of care and attention. I’ve now covered around 4000 miles since the rescue and, other than the clutch issue, it’s been as good as gold. It sits happily and quietly on the motorway, although I’m toying with the idea of retro-fitting cruise control to make longer journeys a little more comfortable. I’m certainly looking forward to the next few years with the A2.

‘I’m planning a trip in the ’Healey 3000 to North Yorkshire in May. It’s a club event, a type I’ve not done before, so how much I enjoy it remains to be seen!’ Martyn Goddard

‘Had enough of winter; looking forward to longer days and better weather – which will coincide, I hope, with the BMW’s MoT date’ Glen Waddington

‘I’m back after more than six years away and a clear-out of cars, but the good news is that the Prodrive Subaru Impreza and my grandad’s old Saab 96 are better than ever’ David Lillywhite

‘While my modern Jaguar has been in the garage for some work, I’ve been using the 1926 Delage for local transport – and it seems quite happy to run on E10 unleaded’ David Burgess-Wise

E ST . 19 6 2

Left and below A2 in picturesque surroundings near the Trough of Bowland, Lancashire, having given sterling service on the long journey there; the clutch slave cylinder disgraced itself, however.

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The Ex-Works, Eddie Hall, 1934 Mille Miglia, 1934 MG K3 Magnette

1934 Lagonda M45 Rapide T9 Tourer

1934 Talbot AV95/105 Super Sports Special Also Available: 1912 Talbot 12HP Sporting Model, 1933 Talbot AX65 by Vanden Plas, 1933 Talbot AV105 Super Speed Saloon. Please see website for more details.

Landline: +44 (0) 1440 841 447 Mobile: +44 (0) 7493 897 975

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by Octane staff and contributors

OVERDRIVE

Other interesting cars we’ve been driving

Blithe spirit 2023 ROLLSROYCE SPECTRE MARK DIXON

EVERY SO OFTEN the hapless automotive PR copywriter, desperately trying to find a hook to plug a new car, will come across something that causes them to shout ‘YESSS!!!’ and punch the air. When publicising the new Spectre, a quote by Rolls-Royce co-founder Charles Rolls in 1900

must have seemed like a lottery win: ‘The electric car is perfectly noiseless and clean. There is no smell or vibration. They should become very useful when fixed charging stations can be arranged.’ It took more than a century for Rolls’ prophetic words to become reality – well, the last bit has almost happened – and for Rolls-Royce to debut an electric Phantom prototype, 102EX, at the Villa d’Este Concours in 2011. We featured it as a sidebar to an epic road trip in the then-current Ghost (Octane 99) and my co-driver Richard Heseltine wrote: ‘This is only a testbed; it foretells what the hyper-luxury car might be like in a few decades time. Consider us intrigued.’ Well, we need be intrigued no longer, because that time has arrived a lot sooner than Richard predicted. The Spectre is indeed a

hyper-luxury electric car: the world’s first, says Rolls-Royce. It’s a massive, near-three-tonne two-door coupé, similar in concept to the previous Wraith but brand new in every respect. Chances are your first thought will be: how far can it go on a single charge? A Rolls pro driver told me that they were getting well over 300 miles in the dry heat of California earlier in 2023; in the cold and wet of a British winter my own experience suggests a max of 230 miles, reduced to 185-190-ish if you follow the official guidance about only fast-charging to 80% capacity (to prolong battery life, and keep recharging time to the minimum). For a car of this size and luxury, that’s impressive in a way. Yet Royces are perfectly suited to long journeys; I once did over 1100 miles in a single day, co-driving a

Phantom Coupé with colleague Glen Waddington back from the South of France (Octane 158, this time). Frequent stops would be frustrating. Even at a rapid charger, it can take the best part of an hour to get to that magic 80%. Range anxiety aside, it’s impossible not to love this car. Indeed, the love seems to extend to the public at large; the reception from passers-by when parked was universally favourable. Rolls-Royces attract admiration, not envy: while I was charging the Spectre outside a McDonald’s in Mansfield, Notts (the glamour!), a yoof in a blinged-up hatchback pulled up to compliment me. ‘Beautiful car, mate. What you do for a livin’, then?’ The Spectre is pitched very much as a driver’s car – Rolls likes to talk about the relative youthfulness of its customer base

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This page and opposite Charles Rolls himself eulogised about EVs in 1900 – now the first production electric Rolls-Royce proves that battery power is in many ways perfect for luxury cars.

‘Range and charging reservations aside, the Spectre is a truly lovely thing’

– and it is a surprisingly wieldy tool on a twisty road, despite its substantial girth (it’s 2.14m wide over the mirrors, which is more than seven feet). Its all-wheel steering is a real benefit here, and especially on a tight roundabout. There’s drive to all four wheels, too, courtesy of front and rear electric motors. Combined power output is 430kW – equivalent to 584bhp – with the rear motor contributing nearly two-thirds of that. Interestingly, the previous Wraith produced 624bhp from its twin-turbo V12, and weighed 600kg less, but that’s the price we’re paying for a greener future. What’s most outstanding is the Spectre’s ride quality. It sits on massive 23in alloys and yet it has an incredible ability to smooth

out all but the harshest of potholes. Most of the time you’re aware of no more than a faint tremble from the air suspension as this huge machine simply irons out the scabbiest patchwork of road surfaces; the anti-roll bars decouple one side from the other when encountering asymmetric bumps on straight roads so that each wheel becomes truly independent. Very, very rarely is there a ‘thunk’ at lower speeds, and you can guarantee that it signifies the kind of road defect that would have the drivers of lesser cars dialling the local tyre depot afterwards. Inside everything is as lovely as you’d expect, with – praise the Lord! – beautifully crafted physical controls for key functions

such as heating and ventilation, while the famous Starlight Roof, featuring hundreds of fibre-optic ‘stars’ in the headlining, still has the wow-factor guaranteed to make first-time viewers’ jaws drop. There’s decent space for rear-seat passengers, but my 6ft 3in brother and his 6ft 4in eldest son both complained about the semi-reclined position of those rear seats, which they found uncomfortable on long journeys. No such gripes up front, where you have more seating controls to play with. Most of the techy stuff is controlled by the latest version of BMW’s iDrive rotary knob, which is pretty intuitive to use. Those massive rear-hinged doors swing shut electrically, and the driver

can close theirs by keeping a foot on the brake pedal, leaving hands free to sort out seatbelt and so on. Thank heavens for Google because – inevitably – there’s no physical handbook now. Would producing one really be such an eco-crime in the context of a 2.9-tonne hyper-luxury car? Come on, RR, buck the trend and issue a handbook that’s a work of art in its own right. A car that costs the thick end of £400,000 by the time you’ve specced it up a bit deserves this kind of added value. Range and charging reservations aside, the Spectre is a truly lovely thing. As I’ve said before in this magazine, there are two types of vehicle that really suit electric power: off-roaders – and Rolls-Royces. 149

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OVERDRIVE / Other Cars

DAN SHERWOOD

Left and below Looks like a Porsche 914 with a few tweaks, which is true – what you can’t see are the uprated Cayman 987 engine and running gear.

Appearances can be deceptive FIFTEEN ELEVEN 914 STEVE BENNETT

AS THE PYTHONS once said: ‘And now for something completely different…’ If you’re bored of Porsche 911 restomods, this radically transformed 914/ Cayman 987 mash-up from Fifteen Eleven is the antidote. Fifteen Eleven is an offshoot of Peak District-based Mellors Elliot Motorsport, a stalwart of the British/International rallying scene. Specialising in restoration work, recent projects include

recommissioning Alan Jones’ 1979 Championship-winning Williams FW07 and restoring the Salon Privé runner-up Maserati 3500GT Inezione. Ben Mellors decided on a more leftfield entry into the Porsche restomod scene. The result owes a lot to both Ben and father Chris’s rallying background. The headline is 914/Cayman 987, the reality goes way beyond. Indeed, the only tangible 914 elements are the doors and windscreen. Think GpB tarmac rally car and you’re not far off, because what Fifteen Eleven has created is a CAD-developed, carbonfibrebodied, custom chassis with integral T45 tubular structural

reinforcement, plus simply massive sills and suspension turrets for maximum rigidity. Dimensionally it is just 5mm longer in the wheelbase and 300mm wider than a 914. The suspension pick-up points have been engineered to take Cayman 987 front and rear subframes, plus running gear. The standard Cayman springs and dampers have been substituted for Dutch-made Reiger three-way adjustable coilovers, Reiger being renowned in the world of rallying. The engine and gearbox? Cayman, albeit much modded at 3.8 litres with forged pistons and steel rods, custom exhaust and Life Racing ECU for ignition and

fuelling. Power is close to 400bhp. Enough, given it weighs 1000kg. The look is retro modern, in Porsche Stone Grey, contrasting carbon front and rear aprons and a neat, cropped ducktail at the rear. Lights are LED in place of the pop-ups; Michelin-wrapped 18in Fuchs complete the widebody stance. Build quality needs to be seen to be appreciated. The real story, though, is how it drives. If you’ve ever thought that the perfect UK road set-up is probably something akin to a tarmac rally car, then Fifteen Eleven has proved the theory. After all, what is rallying about if it isn’t to go very fast on rough surfaces? Too many modified cars are conceived for the track, but the track isn’t the real world. The distressed tarmac Derbyshire Peak District roads are very real, and this ultra-rigid 914 on its Cayman and Reiger underpinnings rises above the mayhem and skims across the broken surface. One of the best Porsche restomods? Certainly. But it’s more than that. What Fifteen Eleven has done is build a 914inspired mid-engined sports car from the chassis up, using Porsche parts. And it’s not another 911. Yes, the price is punchy at £300,000-plus and future builds will use all-new components, so no need for donor vehicles (see fifteenelevendesign.com). In fact, customer cars are in build right now. We’ll take ours in Viper Green, please.

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Gone but not forgotten WORDS DELWYN MALLETT

COURTESY RICHARD ADATTO

‘HER MARRIAGE TO LAURY WOULD BE ONE OF EQUALS, WITH LUCY PERHAPS MORE EQUAL THAN HE’

Lucy O’Reilly Schell The first American woman to compete in a Grand Prix was also a distinguished rally driver and team owner OCTANE READERS are likely to be aware of Harry Schell, the first American to participate in the modern Grand Prix era (although he was born in France and lived most of his life there – see Octane 62) but few will know much, if anything, of his spirited mother, herself a Grand Prix driver, rally driver and race team owner in the 1930s. Lucy O’Reilly was born in Brunoy, south of Paris, in 1896. Her father Francis Patrick O’Reilly was the son of Irish immigrants and made a fortune in construction and investing in factories in his hometown of Reading, Pennsylvania. At the age of 46 he decided to devote the rest of his life to enjoying his money and travelling the world and, in 1896, while in Paris, he married Henriette Celestine Roudet, who gave birth to Lucy, within the year. On the eve of World War One, the teenage Lucy met and fell for Selim Laurence ‘Laury’ Schell, son of an American diplomat, and at the start of the war volunteered as a nurse in a Parisian hospital, caring for wounded troops. In 1915 she accompanied Laury and his family to the US only to return to Paris in 1917, where the couple were married. There was no way that Lucy, a dynamic force of nature, was going to comply with the implied subservience of the marriage vows. ‘Obey’ was not part of her vocabulary. As an independentminded, wealthy and emancipated woman, her marriage to Laury would be one of equals – with Lucy perhaps more equal than he – and

O’Reilly would remain in her married name. As a couple they were the very definition of opposites that attract. Laury tended to be quiet, reserved and undemonstrative while she was vivacious, outward-going and commanded attention. It was also said that she was a faster driver than Laury. The couple’s two sons, Harry and Phillipe, were born in 1921 and ’26 and, as the 1920s roared, Lucy and Laury discovered the thrill of fast cars and began competing in motor races and rallies. Lucy’s first major race was in the 1927 Grand Prix de la Baule, the fashionable resort on the Atlantic coast, where she piloted her Bugatti 37A to 12th place, making her the first American woman to compete in a Grand Prix. The following year she placed eighth. Her first Monte Carlo Rally was in 1929 in a Talbot. It ran in appalling weather conditions and she was the sole female driver in a field of 93, finishing eighth of only 27 that made it to Monaco. In four successive Montes her best placing was third in a Bugatti Type 44. Then, in 1933, the hitherto staid Delahaye surprised everyone by announcing it was to go racing and showed a brace of sports cars at that year’s Paris Salon. Lucy was impressed and, unannounced but with Laury in tow, divebombed the office of Delahaye production chief, Charles Weiffenbach. They proposed he build them a car for the following year’s Monte by dropping a six-cylinder 138 engine into the shorter, more agile four-cylinder 134 chassis.

Weiffenbach protested but, undaunted, Lucy persisted to the extent of persuading a dozen of her wealthy friends to order exactly the same version. With this bulk order Weiffenbach had little option but to comply and build the 135. Their investment didn’t net a result, retiring in the 1934 event, but the following year the Delahaye placed third, and in 1936 they were pipped into second place by moments. Lucy’s father died in 1936 and with even greater wealth at her disposal she founded her own Grand Prix team, Ecurie Bleue, modelled on that of Alfa’s Scuderia Ferrari. Delahaye dissolved its racing programme at the end of the season and Ecurie Bleue became the de facto factory team – paid for by Lucy. Priority was given to developing a new V12 engine and Lucy engaged the services of René Dreyfus as team driver. In 1937 Dreyfus, driving the V12 Delahaye, won the Prix du Million, a state-sponsored million-franc prize to encourage development of a car to take on Germany’s all-conquering Silver Arrows. The high point for Ecurie Bleue was the 1938 Grand Prix de Pau, where Mercedes fielded its 460bhp-plus W154, confident that Caracciola would leave the 230bhp Delahaye and Dreyfus to suffocate in its methanol-infused exhaust fumes. In the event, the less powerful Delahaye was more suited to the tricky ‘round the houses’ course and its significantly better fuel consumption meant it didn’t have to stop to refuel. Much to the chagrin of the Nazi officials in attendance, Dreyfus won by over two minutes. The second Ecurie Bleue Delahaye finished in third place. However, tragedy struck the Schells in October 1939 when a truck pulled out on their car and Laury was killed in the resulting collision. Lucy herself was badly injured. She recovered, but fell out with French motor racing officialdom, moved her team to Monaco and switched allegiance to Maserati. In 1940, with northern France occupied, she moved to America and arranged for Dreyfus to compete in the Indy 500 in her Maserati. Being Jewish, Dreyfus wisely decided to stay in the US, but Lucy settled in Monaco post-war, dying in 1952 at the young age of 55. Her racing driver son, Harry, died testing his F1 Cooper just eight years later.

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Photo by James Lipman

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WORDS DELWYN MALLETT

Atomium An iron molecule, 100m tall and scaled-up 165billion times, was the future in ’58 ‘IN A NOTE DATED 3 June 1954, the Belgian Ambassador in London conveyed an invitation to Her Majesty’s Government of Great Britain: an invitation to take part in a new World’s Fair, which the Belgians were calling the “Exposition Universelle et Internationale de Bruxelles 1958”.’ Thus begins Jonathan Coe’s novel Expo 58, the most surprising legacy of the first World’s Fair since New York’s in 1939/40, and the first to be held after World War Two. The exposition opened in April 1958 and closed six months later, more than 41million visitors having passed through its gates. Coe was inspired to write his novel after a Belgian journalist chose to conduct a 2010 interview with him in what had been the centrepiece of the Expo, the hitherto-unknown-to-Coe Atomium. Fascinated by this extraordinary structure, he fashioned a comic Cold War espionage novel around it, largely confined to the location and duration of the Expo. Through the 1950s the world was held in a perpetual state of anxiety as the ‘big boys’, the USA and the USSR, engaged in a ‘mine is bigger than yours’ battle, pumping radiation into the atmosphere as they popped off ever-more-powerful nuclear devices. As a counterbalance, governments were promoting the peaceful potential of nuclear energy. The first nuclear power station, EBR-1 – for ‘Experimental Breeder Reactor One’ – started producing electricity in Idaho in December 1951. It produced enough electricity to power four 200W light bulbs, but much more was to follow. Russia’s first nuclear power plant came in 1954 and Calder Hall, Britain’s first, in 1956. The optimistic and positive view of the future benefits of nuclear energy became the underlying theme of the Expo, and metallurgical engineer-turned-architect André Waterkeyn, assisted by his architect brothersin-law André and Jean Polak, was commissioned to create a centrepiece for the exposition that expressed both this optimism and Belgian technical innovation. Waterkeyn was born in 1917 in Wimbledon, where his Belgian parents had sought refuge during WWI. He graduated from the University of Leuven in 1942 and played for Belgium’s hockey team in the 1948 London Olympics.

Above What could be more futuristic than a Tatra 603? The Atomium has nine 18m ‘atoms’ linked by stairs, escalators and elevators.

Fascinated by the thought that something so unimaginably small as an atom could also be unimaginably powerful, he proposed what still seems a crazy idea: building a representation of an iron molecule scaled-up 165billion times! Maybe there’s a billion or two margin for error in that, though few are qualified to challenge it. Looking as if it had landed from another planet, the Atomium stood 102m (335ft) tall, with each of the nine aluminium-clad ‘atoms’ measuring 18m (59ft) in diameter and with displays in each. Steel tubes housing stairs and escalators connected the spheres, while a highspeed lift in the central tube, the fastest in the world when it was opened, provided additional access to the top sphere and its restaurant and panoramic view. Visitors to the Expo loved it. Not all reactions were positive, however. The outspoken US-domiciled architectural critic Sybil Maholy-Nagy, widow of artist and former Bauhaus teacher Laszlo, was not one to mince words, declaring that it was ‘clumsy, hollow, and pathetically unrelated to the visible forces that might well be the end of all of us’. There is some irony in the choice of an atomic theme and perhaps a certain amount of whitewashing on behalf of the Belgians, as the uranium supplied for the first atomic bombs that devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki was largely supplied from mines in the Belgian Congo, which were virtually slave labour camps. The most controversial display in the

Expo was its grossly misjudged ‘human zoo’, in which Congolese were dressed as ‘primitives’ and posed in huts. Fed up with being gawped at and having to endure monkey sounds and tossed bananas from the public, they decided to pack their bags and return home. The US and USSR pavilions slugged it out opposite each other, with the US plugging the ‘American way of life’ while the Russians emphasised their technical achievements, scoring a coup by displaying a replica of the recently launched Sputnik, the first man-made object in orbit. When it later went missing, the Russians suspected that it had been stolen by the Americans. The Gold Medal for best pavilion was awarded to the Czechs, punching above their weight, who took the opportunity to pose their futuristic Tatra 603 saloon in front of the Atomium. Hard to think of a more appropriate automotive juxtaposition. The Atomium had been intended to last only for the duration of the Fair, yet the organisers soon realised that its popularity meant they had an ‘Eiffel Tower’ on their hands, and it remained in situ to become a much-visited Brussels landmark. By the turn of the Millennium the Atomium was four decades past its use-by date and, during a major restoration, the aluminium cladding was replaced with stainless steel and LED illumination added to the exterior, ensuring that it should see out the 21st Century.

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N IX G R E E N G A R A G E

T h o ro u g h b r e d S p o r t s C a r s

Alfa Romeo 8C Zagato Spyder Toolroom Copy POA Short-chassis, assembled over 25 year period, all parts exact copies of originals, almost complete.

1931 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 GT £325,000 Original English delivered car, upgraded with supercharger in 1950's, TT style body.

1930 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 GS Testa Fissa POA Ex-George Eyston, record-breaking Brooklands history sympathetic restoration, ready for immediate use.

1930 Lagonda 2-Litre Low Chassis Tourer £75,000 One-family owned for 67 yrs, originally supercharged, black with red upholstery, good original condition.

1921 Bentley 3-litre POA Chassis no. 29, restored, matching numbers, retains original brakeless front axle, on the button.

1928 Lancia Lambda 8th Series “Roadster“ POA Award-winning restoration/build by Greg Mackie, magazine featured, overdrive, very good condition.

Also available: 1934 Lancia Astura Gran Sport Torpedo, by Viotti, magnicent condition, major concours class winner 1924 Amilcar CGS, restored to correct specication 1923 Amilcar CC, original tourer body 1929 Alfa Romeo 6C, 1750 Super Sport, original Zagato coachwork Large quantity of pre-war Lancia and Alfa Romeo parts available NICK BENWELL

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Chrono

WORDS MARK McARTHUR-CHRISTIE

‘CAPT WASN’T ABOUT TO SACRIFICE HIS MECHANICAL FIRSTBORN TO A SHORT-TERM MANAGEMENT COST-CUTTING DECISION’

The Valjoux 7750

Rendered obsolete in the late 1970s, Edmond Capt’s wonder movement is not only back, but selling 200,000 units a year UNLESS YOU’RE FORTUNATE enough to have a watch with a manufacture movement (one made in-house), yours will be an ébauche; an engine made by a specialist maker and bought-in by a watch firm. If it’s a chronograph, chances are there’ll be a Valjoux 7750 behind the caseback – hence the old Swiss saying: ‘Vous n’êtes jamais à plus de 1.83m d’un Valjoux 7750.’ It’s probably the single most common mechanical chronograph movement. It very nearly wasn’t like this. When the 7750 started life as a young movement back in 1973, the watch industry had hit a peak of craftsmanship, tech and materials quality. It meant Seiko, Zenith and an alliance of Breitling, Buren and Heuer were all able to claim the release of the first automatic chronograph movement within a sneeze of each other: the cal.6139, El Primero and cal.11/Chronomatic, respectively. All of a sudden, venerable Valjoux was left wondering what had happened. The firm needed a new automatic chronograph movement to offer a cost-effective competitor. As with so many things in watchmaking, the answer was evolution rather than revolution,

and Valjoux took the old manual 7730 chrono movement (itself a derivative of the Venus 188 from the late 1940s) and gave it to a 24-yearold watchmaker and movement designer called Edmond Capt. Capt had a good slug of natural genius as well as access to Valjoux’s fancy new mainframe computer in Neuchâtel, miles away from his Les Bioux workshop. It meant a twohour round trip to run the programme, but it slashed the 7750’s development time because he could use the new technology to simulate the functions of his new movement and test them before they even went into prototype. This mattered because Capt had the classic nightmare brief from his bosses. They wanted the new movement to be cheap, excellent and ready by Tuesday. By starting with the 7730 he was able to use plenty of the existing technology. The 7750 would also save design, production and assembly time by using cams and levers to run the chrono functions rather than a more traditional column wheel (that big cog that looks like the top of a castle turret). The new movement came off the bench in 1973 and, with 100,000 a year flying out of the workshop doors, found its way into watchcases

very quickly indeed. One would have thought tea and medals for Capt – and his 7750 – were assured. But Watchworld’s capricious gods had other ideas. Just a few years later, as numbers flatlined, Capt was told to close production, scrap the tooling and throw away the designs. This was the late 1970s. Quartz and anything shiny and electronic was The Thing. The world was a mere five years away from the Austin Maestro, a car with a TALKING dashboard, though admittedly it usually said ‘malfunction’ as bits of trim fell off. No-one wanted Capt’s boring old mechanical chronograph. Why bother when even James Bond had a Pulsar that lit up red when you pressed a button? Capt, however, had other plans. He wasn’t about to sacrifice his mechanical firstborn to a short-term management cost-cutting decision. He ignored the order, spirited everything away and hid the lot from the Valjoux board’s prying eyes while taking a job as technical director at Piguet. His prescience was remarkable – we know today how the story turns out, but back in 1978 he most certainly didn’t. Capt was no Luddite, though. He realised the future belonged as much to quartz as it did to mechanicals and he went on to design quartz movements at Piguet – including the exceptional twin-quartz Caliber FP 1270. Then, as the 1980s rolled on, mechanical watchmaking emerged into the daylight once more and makers searched for movements. It was time for Edmond Capt to bring the 7750 out of what might have been extinction but was, in fact, just a little early retirement. The 7750 soon became the movement of choice for makers. It had the virtues of being sound, solid, reliable, accurate and almost infinitely customisable. That meant, in its basic form, it could power £1000 chronographs, while more highly finished examples could command ten times that price. The industry loved it. It’s a testament to Capt that it’s had very little reworking since its design in 1973. A few plastic parts were redesigned in metal and that was about it. Today, it’s selling at a rate of 200,000-plus each year. So next time you put on your 7750-powered chrono and it gives you that friendly little rotor wobble, say a quick thanks to M’sieur Capt and his extraordinary vision.

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SUNDAY 7 APRIL 2024

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Chrono

WORDS MARK McARTHUR-CHRISTIE

ONE TO WATCH

The Casio DBC-62

The ultimate in ’90s playground kudos is yours for a pittance WHEN I STARTED work in an ad agency, we still marked up colour press ads on large boards rather than a screen and faxed the proofs to clients. If they wanted changes (and they always did), you had to literally cut and paste strips of new copy onto the boards and wrestle them through the fax again. No ⌘ C and ⌘ V for us. When was the last time you even saw a fax, let alone used one? The DBC62 databank calculator watch comes from the same period and is just about as redundant, but a lot more interesting. If you were at school in the early 1990s you might have had one. If you were lucky and your teachers were more concerned about a coffee and a breaktime cig rather than perusing your wristwear, you might even have got away with using it nefariously in exams. This slim, black plastic case could hold 50 sets of 12 character messages and make the difference between surviving Mr Mallin’s Friday afternoon physics tests, or detention. Then, on top of that, the fourfunction calculator would coast you through double maths with minimal effort. To be fair, it took so long to enter the data using the ant-sized keys that it would have been quicker just to learn the stuff, but where would have been the fun? Today, even the cheapest phone will do everything a DBC will do and plenty more. These are starting to appear on collectors’ radars, but the serious only want them in their original boxes and unworn. Even then, a perfect DBC-62 is only around £200. Then spend another £40 and bag yourself a scruff y example to wear and enjoy beeping through your next meeting. NEW WATCHES

AUTODROMO NIGHT STAGE IV LIMITED EDITION GROUP B

OLLECH & WAJS US AIRFORCE B52

RAYMOND WEIL MILLÉSIME AUTOMATIC SMALL SECONDS

Bradley Price, the chap behind Autodromo, is a proper petrolhead so it’s always good to see what he’s up to. This time it’s a new take on his Group B series watches – the Night Stage. It uses a Miyota 9015 automatic movement in a slim, lightweight 39mm, two-part titanium capsule with sharply angled lugs. The whole case is less than 10mm thick and has an integrated, stainless bracelet, which can be removed and is resizable. Everything is water resistant to 50m so, should you stuff your Delta S4 into a ditch, at least your watch will be OK. £880. autodromo.com

Had you been around in 1966, you could have snagged the original model B-905 from Zurich company Ollech & Wajs for a trifling $39.50. This new watch is more of an ‘inspired by’ than a re-issue and comes 70 years after the B-52’s first flight. It carries the same white silhouette of the plane on its dial, however, even though the 39mm case is beefed-up a bit with integrated lugs and a choice of smart Milanese bracelet or a military-grade nylon strap. There’s a Soprod calibre P024 inside and the watch is a solid 300m water resistant. CHF1256. ow-watch.ch

This is the Geneva-based independent’s first appearance on these pages but, with this calibre of watch coming out of its workshops, it could become a regular. This watch aced the GPHG (Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève) Challenge Watch Prize 2023 – Watchworld’s equivalent of Le Mans. That sector dial is a beauty, with different tracks for hours, minutes and seconds, and different finishing to match. It’s no monster, either, at just 39mm. Even the choice of a sapphire box crystal gets your attention back to the dial. £1695. raymond-weil.co.uk

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Motoring Booksellers 26 Murrell Green Business Park Hook, Hampshire, RG27 9GR The 8c Story Continues by Simon Moore £300.00 An Addendum containing newly discovered historical information and photographs relating to the three previous books: The Legendary 2.3 The Immortal 2.9 second edition The Magnificent Monopostos

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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.

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Gear

COMPILED BY CHRIS BIETZK

KINETIC SERIES 2 PRINTS BY GUY ALLEN Collectors of Guy Allen’s work will soon need to find a load more room on their walls, because the British artist has just completed a second set of drawings for his ongoing Kinetic project. Featured this time are the Alfa Romeo Alfetta, the Lotus 25, the Ferrari 312T and the McLaren MP4/4, the cars together representing the first four decades of the F1 World Championship. £75 each, or £265 for the set of four. guyallen.co.uk

NAIM NAIT 50 AMPLIFIER Outwardly at least, this limited-edition bit of hi-fi kit is straight out of the ’80s. It looks almost identical to the famous NAIT of 1983 – a product that gave rise to a series of modest but musical integrated amps described by one reviewer as ‘almost subversive’ in their simplicity. There are still no unnecessary bells or whistles here, but the NAIT 50 offers more power (25W per channel) than the original NAIT, as well as superior build quality and a headphone amp. £2699. naimaudio.com 160

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SCALEXTRIC ‘FAB 1’ Thunderbirds featured a 15,000mph rocket-plane that launched from beneath a retractable swimming pool, but it never stretched credulity more than when Lady Penelope’s modified Rolls-Royce was on screen, and that magnificently ridiculous contraption – capable of 200mph on land and 50 knots on water – is now available to drive thanks to Scalextric. £53.99. scalextric.com

BMW M1 NOTEBOOK

SUIXTIL IBSLEY JUMPER

Some of Ricardo Santos’s best poster designs have been repurposed as cover art for a collection of notebooks – including, of course, his tribute to the unforgettable BASF-liveried M1 campaigned by Hans-Joachim Stuck. ¤25.90. ricardo-car-artwork.com

Available in ‘Ruby Red’ as well as ‘Smoke Blue’, Suixtil’s latest offering is a recreation of a lightweight woollen jumper that was favoured by racers including Stirling Moss and Duncan Hamilton in the early 1950s. £199. meandmycar.co.uk

DRALI MORPHEUS When master framebuilder Giuseppe Drali shut up shop in 2014, aged 91, it seemed the Drali marque would be lost forever – but it was resurrected by a group of Giuseppe-approved investors, and Drali is again producing some of the prettiest bikes around, including this, the exquisite, steel-framed Morpheus. Frameset fom ¤3160. ciclidralimilano.it

OMP CLASSIC RACESUIT OMP’s story began in the early 1970s, and this FIA-approved racesuit harks back to that time, its design loosely based on the suit worn by Steve McQueen’s character, Michael Delaney, in the film Le Mans. ¤589 plus VAT. ompracing.com 161

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Books

REVIEWED BY OCTANE STAFF AND CONTRIBUTORS

Book of the month

The Last Eye Witness DOUG NYE, Porter Press International, £195, ISBN 978 1 913089 91 7

‘John Moore-Brabazon… became the first resident Englishman to make an officially observed flight, at Shellbeach, Isle of Sheppey, in May 1909. That November saw him take livestock aloft, contained in a waste-paper basket, just to prove that “pigs can fly”.’ Besides being the world’s pre-eminent motorsport historian, Doug Nye also has a knack for writing informative and frequently witty captions. The John Moore-Brabazon mentioned here – after whom the ill-fated Bristol Brabazon airliner would be named – is pictured in this book, sliding a Minerva around the 1907 Circuit des Ardennes. Elsewhere, Nye describes a riding mechanic in the 1904 Gordon Bennett Cup, swaddled in a voluminous smock and bonnet, as ‘looking rather like one’s deeply unimpressed granny’. He does, too. But, of course, it’s the images that dominate this large-format hardback. They are all of early motor racing in the 1902-1914 period, and all taken by Parisian photographer Maurice Louis Branger (although his assistant Meurisse may have taken some; we have no way of knowing). Painstakingly exposed onto 7x5in glass negatives, the photos in this book represent just a tiny fraction of the 100,000 that were dispersed after Branger’s death in 1950. This selection is mostly from the collection of Nye’s late friend and former colleague, the photographer Geoff Goddard, which is now part of The GP Library.

There are thrilling action shots, such as the one shown at the top of this page, of Denis de Boisse in his ultra-stripped 12hp De Boisse, slipstream causing his coat to billow; but the static images are perhaps the ones you’ll dwell over longest. The large-format negatives retain an incredible amount of detail, as the paddock shot, above, attests – note the row of fuel cans in the right foreground, and what, to judge from the square case over his shoulder, is presumably another photographer, front and centre. The realism of these moment-in-time scenes is so great that it’s shocking to remember that even the youngest child in them will now be long dead. Six chapters are loosely grouped by date and theme, beginning with the great Paris-Vienna and Paris-Madrid races of 1902/03 and ending with the 1912-1914 Grands Prix de l’ACF; most events are Continental but the Gordon Bennett Cup in Ireland is also covered. Running to 192 beautifully printed pages and with design by top layout artist Martin Port, this limited-edition book (a maximum of 100 copies per year will be printed) is a must for anyone interested in early motoring – or photography. MD

Tales from the Garage RODNEY KEMERER, Auto Didactic Print, £23.73, ISBN 979 8 9874 5080 2

A compilation of columns originally written for Garage Style Magazine, this compact softback contains nostalgic reflections not only about cars but about car-guy life in general. One example: the then-teenage author brought home in the family’s 1965 Dodge Polara an old non-working Wurlitzer jukebox against the explicit orders of his father. Dad was furious – but, when his son fixed it, the first record it played was mum and dad’s favourite tune from their courting days, and the jukebox soon became a treasured family heirloom. There’s lots to enjoy here. MD

Cars of the Rootes Group GRAHAM ROBSON, Veloce, £40, ISBN 978 1 787119 01 7

Another of the late Graham Robson’s long out-of-print works given a second life by Veloce, this 192-page hardback details every major model produced by the Rootes Group – comprising Hillman, Humber, Singer, Sunbeam and SunbeamTalbot – in perfect detail. A story not only of popular cars, but of family politics, mergers and the era-ending Chrysler takeover in 1964. Since this edition has been copied from a first-printing original, repro of the black-and-white images is rather grey, but, as a reference, it’s still a brilliant account. MH

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The Unbelievable Genesis of Volkswagen Performance from 1937 to 1968

MIKE WALRAVENS, €65 from ardennenrennen.be, ISBN 978 2 8052 0814 0

Belgium has a long history with VWs – the Belgian VW club is the oldest in Europe – and the sheer enthusiasm for the marque shines through every page of this self-produced hardback by graphic designer Mike Walravens. His day job means that it’s also a pleasure to handle, since the whole thing is stylishly laid-out. The title is a little bit of a misnomer, mind you, because although translated into English, the majority of the book is focused on two products from Belgian tuner D’Ieteren: the team of Type 3 1500s that competed in the 1964 Spa 24 Hours, and the Beetle Mach 1 edition that was offered to customers later. It’s only in the third

and final section of the book that the pre-war date mentioned on the cover is explained. A brief overview of early VWs in competition forms part of a section dedicated to the ‘OldSpeed’ retro movement: building Beetles (usually) that look like 1950s and ’60s race and rally cars. While the text has a number of random paragraph breaks, overall this is a fantastic effort with great images – and an inspiration for anyone tempted to build a racer-with-a-difference for the Spa-Classic historic meet. MD

Collector’s book

Otto Vu TONY ADRIAENSENS, Corsa Research, 2005, value £595

Ten years of research went into this twovolume set devoted to the Fiat 8V – Otto Vu – and its sibling, the Siata 208S. Together, the two books run to 1199 pages and they are weighty things to hold. Typically for a Tony Adriaensens production, everything is different from the norm. Instead of being housed in a conventional slip case, the volumes came in a fold-out presentation box with a carrying handle. The square format is unusual, too, as are the little quirks of design – such as the separate insertion of a reprinted period letter.

Both volumes are built around a stunning collection of images, mostly black-andwhite but with some colour, including lots of competition shots, but also photos of barn-finds and so on. As well as an account of the cars’ evolution and build, the history of each chassis is detailed as fully as possible; in fact the first 114 copies of the 1500 sets were set aside for owners of corresponding chassis-numbered cars. New, this set cost €395; today its value has increased to £595. Ben Horton

De Tomaso, Rise and Fall PAOLO TUMMINELLI, Waft, £90, ISBN 978 9 4645 9001 2

The Electric Vehicle Revolution KEVIN A WILSON, Motorbooks, £27, ISBN 978 0 7603 7830 4

Put away your clove of garlic and hang up your crucifix: this isn’t a polemic from a modernday EVangelist, but a fascinating account of how electric cars have evolved since the 19th Century. Reading it is a constant reminder of how nothing is truly new in motoring: hybrid gasoline/ electric cars were a ‘thing’ from the very start, while GM built a hydrogen fuel-cell electric van in the 1960s. The text is a little US-centric in its approach, but it’s also very readable and accompanied by dozens of images. Recommended. MD

What a fascinating book: at once both a biography of the man and a record of the car company he founded and its products, plus, as the publisher puts it, ‘the mess he made’. I’ve been a motoring journalist for 25 years and up until now had only a scant knowledge of Alejandro de Tomaso. I knew he was Argentinian, I recall the Vallelunga, the Mangusta and the Pantera, the takeover of Maserati, even the weird later stuff such as the Guara. But never before had I realised that he was based in Modena before even Maserati was, and neither did I think of him as a compatriot of Carroll Shelby (their fortunes were adversarially intertwined), nor that there was a De Tomaso version of the firstgeneration Ford Cortina just as there was one by Lotus. Never before had I read his name in the same sentence as Colin Chapman’s. I wasn’t aware that his marriage to the American socialite and racing driver Isabelle Haskell was key to his later success. I certainly hadn’t learnt that the stylised ‘T’ of the De Tomaso logo came from the cattle brand his family had employed in the Pampas. And if you’d wondered why the Ghia badge graced so many Fords, look no further.

Within the 275 or so pages here you will learn many facts. You will also see many photographs, sketches, diagrams and cutaways, period ads and press cuttings, lots of behind-the-scenes candidness as well as plenty of bold affrontery. And all of it is presented with tasteful design, beautifully printed on quality paper – this is a Waft product, after all, and the publisher has a reputation to uphold. It’s written not by Waft co-founder Bart Lenaerts but by Italian car design authority Paolo Tumminelli. The Waft touch remains, however, in a characterful and distinctive use of English, some way removed from formal correctness yet inherently readable and apt to raise a wry smile. This book is a joy to read and even to handle, and it grapples with a subject few people before have profiled so thoroughly. GW

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Models

REVIEWS AND PHOTOGRAPHY MARK DIXON

Classic model WORDS AND IMAGE: ANDREW RALSTON

1959 BUICK by Gama

1:18 scale

1959 JAGUAR MK 2 3.8

By KK Scale Price £87.25 Material Diecast

Jaguar’s late-1950s super-saloon – and it was pretty ‘super’ by the standards of 1959 – has always been a popular classic and it’s sobering to remember that specialists such as Vicarage were offering upgraded versions an amazing 40 years ago. This handsome diecast model should therefore have plenty of appeal: less expensive than a resincast, more refined than an old-fashioned Bburago diecast, it’s very well-finished.

This Mk2 is very much a display piece, with poseable front wheels and a limited amount of suspension travel its only working features. Besides the rather unsubtle green of our review model, it’s also available in the arguably more interesting colours of metallic grey or silver sand, but all three versions feature a superbly detailed interior and finely spoked wire wheels. For the price, there’s little to fault.

Auto Union Type C/D Minichamps £82.95 Neat model of the hillclimb car that Audi brought back from Latvia in the 1990s, with plenty of cockpit detail.

1956 Alfa Romeo Superflow 2 Kess £111.95 Wacky but wonderful, Pininfarina’s 1956 show car makes a captivating model thanks to its transparent roof.

1947 Lancia LP01 Autocult £126.95 Intriguing replica of possibly the least attractive Lancia ever, the centre-steer rear-engined V8 built for Gianni Lancia.

1985 Pontiac Trans Am Kammback Matrix £119.95 Fine model of an unusual car: this drivable prototype shooting brake was auctioned in 2019 for just $40,700.

2023 Ferrari Roma Spider Looksmart £151.50 Offered in a whole range of colours, this is a gorgeous model of Ferrari’s latest two-plus-two roadster.

1969 Brabham BT26A Spark £69.95 For a relatively complex subject, this highly detailed model of Jacky Ickx’s German GP winner is well-priced.

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Nineteen fifty-nine marked the peak of the craze for tailfins on American cars and, while the ’59 Cadillac may have had the tallest fins, those of the Buick were equally dramatic with their daring V-pattern, echoed in its frontal appearance. German toy company Gama seems to have had a particular liking for Buicks. Founded in Fürth by Georg Adam Mangold in 1882, Gama originally specialised in mechanical tin toys and one of its most successful early post-war products was the ‘100’ car, based on a late-’40s Buick and widely exported from 1950-56. During the 1950s many toymakers moved towards plastic and diecast materials, and Gama introduced a new diecast range called Mini Mod. It included a 1959 Buick, scaled to be roughly the same size as the more predictable German cars in the range; a common practice so that all the toys appeared to give comparable value for money. At 10cm in length, the scale works out at roughly 1:56. The Buick’s tinplate base is married to a diecast body, to which glazed windows but no interior fittings are added. Early issues have cream plastic hubs, later examples use metal ones, and the various metallic finishes include lilac, blue or bronze, with an off-white roof. At the same time as the new diecast range was being developed, Gama continued to make bigger toy cars with plastic bodies, and a 22.5cm version of the 1959 Buick also exists, powered by a friction motor. This is less robust than the diecast one and the plastic is prone to cracks, which makes it more difficult to restore than a diecast that can be stripped and resprayed.

Models shown above are to 1:43 scale and are available from Grand Prix Models, +44 (0)1295 278070, www.grandprixmodels.com

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Ferrari 375 Plus

AUCTION

Classic cars & motorcycles SATURDAY | MARCH 23 RD 2024 | 1:30 PM OLDTIMER GALERIE TOFFEN

The Ferrari 375 Plus won the 1954 World Sportscar Championship with victory in four of the six qualifying races including the Le Mans 24hrs and the Carrera Panamericana, beating Lancia and Jaguar into second and third championship places.

2013 Ferrari F12 Berlinetta Swiss delivery, one owner since new

In its tremendous value 18th scale series, KK Scale is modelling those two winning cars (Le Mans #4 & CPA #19) along with a “road” and sister Panamericana version too. Don’t miss out, order yours now!

Only £82.89* + £6.50 p&p** Quote: OCT375 *RRP £96.95 **UK only, rest of world at cost. Tel: 01295 278070 mail@grandprixmodels.com

1995 Audi-Porsche RS2 Avant

1949 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith

1960 Mercedes 220 SE Coupé

1965 Ford Cortina GT

2020 MV Agusta Brutale Dragster

1948 Citroën 11 BL

1999 Ferrari 456 M GT

1968 Velorex 16/350

1976 Jensen GT

1971 Citroën SM

1963 Morris Mini 850

1972 Mercedes 280 SEL 3.5

1971 Mercedes 280 SL

1981 Cadillac Coupe de Ville

1927 Rolls-Royce 20 HP Saloon

www.grandprixmodels.com

1983 Ferrari 308 GTB Quattrovalvole 1960 Triumph TR 3A Roadster

1968 Ducati 350 Racer

Viewing March 16th to 22nd 2024 every day from 10:00am Please use our online-form for your catalog orders (EUR 40.-) Guerbestrasse 1 Phone +41-31-8196161 CH-3125 Toffen info@oldtimergalerie.ch www.TheSwissAuctioneers.swiss

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A N D E NTE R O F F E R C O D E DFEB24

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PHOTO: ANDY MORGAN

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Central London’s Largest Classic Car Showrooms A selection of our 50+ cars currently for sale

1961 Austin-Healey 3000 MK II

MK II 3000 Tri-carb. Restored & upgraded.

1964 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III DHC 1 of 26 original LHD cars. Amazingly rare.

1964 Mini Cooper S

Matching Numbers. Minilites & Steel OEW with chrome hubs.

1963 Aston Martin DB4 Series V

Utterly immaculate. Fully restored with RSW 4.7ltr engine upgrade.

1964 Gordon Keeble GK1

3 owners since new. Full restoration by Ernie Knott.

1977 Jaguar XJ5.3C

43.350 miles only. Purchased from 1st owner & known since.

www.graemehunt.com

+44 (0) 20 7937 8487 mail@graemehunt.com

Edited by Matthew Hayward

THE MARKET BU Y I N G + S E L L I N G + A N A LY S I S

TOP 10 PRICES JANUARY 2024 £14,020,500 ($17,875,000) 1963 Ferrari 250GT SWB California Spyder Mecum, Kissimmee, USA. 2-14 January

£8,661,500 (¤10,158,125) 1960 Ferrari 250GT SWB Berlinetta Competizione RM Sotheby’s, Paris, France. 31 January

£5,437,000 ($6,930,000) RM SOTHEBY’S

1966 Ford GT40 Mk1 road car Mecum, Kissimmee, USA. 2-14 January

£4,076,000 ($5,175,000)

250GT SWB tops Paris auctions Competizione-spec Ferrari sells for €10m, leading RM’s Paris sale THE SEASON-OPENING auctions in Scottsdale and Paris act as a barometer for the general mood of the market on both sides of the Atlantic. The somewhat subdued Rétromobile-week bidding peaked with the 1960 Ferrari 250GT SWB Berlinetta Competizione sold by RM Sotheby’s (pictured above). At €10,158,125, it was the top seller of all three major auctions. The RM sale raised €36,893,900 in total, with 84% of lots sold. Aside from the top-selling Ferrari, other highlights included a 2007 Maserati MC12 Versione Corsa at €3,042,500, and a 1919 Hispano-Suiza H6 Torpédo by Duvivier, which sold for €522,500. Artcurial brought in €17,792,329 after its headline lot – a Ferrari 250 California Spyder – failed to sell. Instead, the sale was spearheaded by a 1955 Mercedes 300SL Gullwing at €1,427,440, which was closely followed by a 9354km McLaren P1 at €1,358,800. Other modern hypercars failed to find top form, too. Bonhams’ Grand Palais sale topped €16,000,000, with 83% sold. A black 2004 Ferrari Enzo at €3,910,000 was the star lot, though many older prewar classics struggled to find new homes. Although traditionally a focal point for pre-war cars, this year’s Arizona auctions continued the shift towards more modern hypercars. The perfect

demonstration of this came in the shape of this year’s top seller, a 2022 Bugatti Chiron Super Sport (below), which led Bonhams’ sale at $5.175m. Otherwise this was a relatively low-key event that amassed $12m in total for an 80% sale rate. RM Sotheby’s clashed on times and dates with Bonhams, and its $22,937,660, 76% sale was a significantly smaller affair than last year’s. Top seller was a 2020 McLaren Speedtail at $2,012,500, again highlighting a more modern twist at this year’s sales. Mecum’s immense Kissimmee sale actually shifted more metal than all the Arizona and Paris auctions combined, with 4383 vehicles offered. Not just quantity, but quality, too: take a look at the Top 10 auction prices, and you’ll see that five of them – including three top-level Ferraris – were sold at this event. With sales totalling $275m, it entered the record books as officially the largest collector-car auction ever held. Staggering.

2022 Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+ Bonhams, Scottsdale, USA. 25 January

£3,537,500 ($4,510,000) 2004 Ferrari Enzo Mecum, Kissimmee, USA. 2-14 January

£3,279,500 ($4,180,000) 1965 Shelby Cobra 427 Competition Mecum, Kissimmee, USA. 2-14 January

£2,738,000 (¤3,211,250) 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB/6C RM Sotheby’s, Paris, France. 31 January

£2,684,000 ($3,410,000) 1956 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing Barrett-Jackson, Scottsdale, USA. 20-28 January

£2,674,500 ($3,410,000) 1992 Ferrari F40 Mecum, Kissimmee, USA. 2-14 January

£2,594,000 (¤3,042,500) 2007 Maserati MC12 Versione Corsa RM Sotheby’s, Paris, France. 31 January 169

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THE MARKET / Reports DAVE KINNEY’S USA ROUND-UP

1969 Moretti 500 Coupé Bonhams, Scottsdale, Arizona 25 January Giovanni Moretti primarily made motorcycles, starting in the 1920s, but cars and small vans became part of the mix: Fabbrica Automobili Moretti SpA was established in Turin in 1945, and built cars until December 1989. Almost all of those made after the late 1950s were based on Fiat platforms and were often sporty coupés, such as the 1969 500 Coupé you see here. They cost double the price of their Fiat donor, and were largely handbuilt and quite distinctive. The market for such cars was small, and Moretti remained a specialist manufacturer until the end. This example is believed to be one of fewer than 50 produced, and is an exceedingly rare survivor. It was finished in teal with a red vinyl interior, and its motor has been upgraded to a 650cc OHV twin-cylinder with single carburettor, with power up to a heady 50bhp at 4600rpm thanks to Abarth tuning parts. It also features a four-speed manual transmission, four-wheel hydraulic drum brakes, and independent coil-sprung suspension front and rear. Said to have been restored in 2005 in Italy, the Moretti was imported 1956 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Barrett-Jackson, Scottsdale, Arizona

Said to have been delivered new to the Mercedes-Benz distributor in Rome, Italy; the description lists ownership history in Pennsylvania from 1993, and a three-year ‘nut-and-bolt, frame-off concoursquality restoration’ in Canada by Coachwerks. At $3,410,000, this visually stunning 300SL Gullwing brought far above what might have been expected.

CAR OF THE MONTH into the US and became part of the Maine Classic Car Museum collection. Overall it is in tidy condition, ready for driving or possible show duty. This cute yet functional Moretti found a new home with a well-known automobile appraiser who has a penchant for interesting Italian cars. At $10,080, it sold well below the pre-sale estimate of $15,000 to $25,000. It was the first car offered in a six-hour-plus sale, so could have been a case of the early bird catching the proverbial worm. Dave Kinney is an auction analyst, an expert on the US market scene, and publishes the Hagerty Price Guide.

1963 Shelby 289 Cobra RM Sotheby’s, Phoenix, Arizona

CSX 2044 is documented as the first 289-engined Cobra (earlier cars had 260ci V8s), long-term owned by its original purchaser, a scientist who kept all documentation. Presented ‘as driven’ rather than show-ready, the Cobra sold for $1,125,000 – which is expensive for its condition, but well worth the money for its unique history.

AUCTION TRACKER ALFA ROMEO MONTREAL Starting life as a concept car designed by Bertone’s Marcello Gandini for Expo 67 in Montreal, the production version gained a dry-sump 2.6-litre V8 engine developed from Alfa Romeo’s Tipo 33 sports racing prototype. Values began picking up in 2013, when Artcurial’s Monaco sale brought €72,199 (£62,000) for a restored example in Arancio Pastello (orange), followed by Gooding &

Company a month later raising the benchmark to $99,000 (£78,000) with a car that had been expected to fetch $55,000-75,000. Gooding’s Montreal returned to the auction block in 2015 when RM Sotheby’s sold it for $110,000 (£86,500), and again in 2017 at €78,400 (£67,000). Gooding’s 2014 seasonopening sale in Scottsdale set a new auction record (pictured) at $176,000 (£138,500), something

£150,000 £100,000 £50,000 £0

2014

2016

Line charts the top prices for comparable cars at auction.

2018

2020

2022

of an outlier at the time, and the car was resold at Amelia Island in 2016 for $110,000 (£86,500). The best examples at auction have generally been trading below that level in the intervening period, until Gooding was back making headlines at Pebble Beach in 2023, with another stand-out result at $168,000 (£132,500). Davide De Giorgi, specialist at Girardo & Co, explains the Montreal market: ‘They were cheap for many years because there were very few people to service them. They stuck around €15,000-25,000 for an awful long time, which is remarkable to think today, given the car’s ingredients. Around 2010, you could get a really good one for €35,00040,000. Inevitably the values skyrocketed in line with the overall market from 2015. Today I’d pay between €70,000 and €90,000 for a good car, depending on colour. ‘Red was, unsurprisingly, the most

common choice. But I never found it flattered the design especially well. The rarest colour is black – a special order that few people realise ever existed. There’s a metallic orange, which is my favourite. It has a slight hint of salmon in it and it’s really to die for. So much of-the-era. ‘Today, spares and service parts can be hard to come by, but there are a number of companies across Europe producing more and more. Ownership is a great proposition.’ Rod Laws

Glenmarch is the largest free-to-access online resource for classic and collector car auction markets. Visit www.glenmarch.com to keep up to date.

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competed with it in the 1954 Golden Gate Park Race in San Francisco. In 1986 the car was discovered by the famous British actor, John Rhys-Davies and brought back to the UK. In 2008 KYN 9 was fully race prepared by Blakeney Motorsport and the car has been campaigned by three subsequent competitive owners. The current owner bought the car in 2021 and had BMS prepare the car to the highest standards. Presented in beautiful condition, “KYN 9” is one of the finest post-war Nash’s and is offered in race ready condition with current HTP papers.. A weighty history file accompanies the car with magazine articles, photos, bills and letters documenting all its owners and competition history.

PETER BRADFIELD LTD

1952 Frazer 196Nash 5 AlfaTarga RomeFlorio o TZ1 “KYN 9”

With a homologated of as 160 Kilos,car 160bhp and a streamlined Kamm tail body byjust Zagato, thecomfort TZ is a and fast The Targa Florio was weight designed a sports with competition potential combined with enough car. their debut “KYN in 1963, dominated theonly nextFrazer few years. rarity very bootMaking space for touring. 9” they is unique becauseracing it wasforthe Nash Ranking built within the 2.6with litrethe Austinbest sports cars engine only 112 between 1963Motorshow and 1967. Chassis 750036 delivered to Belgium in Healey derived andwere was built the 1952 London car. It was sold was to Louis Kellernew in the USA who 1965 and with was itraced the Golden EquipeGate Nationale Belge at numerous thediscovered 500kms at competed in theby1954 Park Race in San Francisco. events In 1986including the car was by Spa the Francorchamps, MontJohn Ventoux, Nurburgring and Zolder being driven by9Lucien Bianchi Gustave famous British actor, Rhys-Davies and brought back to the primarily UK. In 2008 KYN was fully race and prepared by Gosselin. 1983 the and car was andcampaigned passed through the hands of several discerningowners. enthusiasts Blakeney By Motorsport the in carthehasUSA been by three subsequent competitive Theincluding current Bob andtheTom Mittler. 750036 benefitted by RickPresented Bunkfeldt’s Vintage ownerRubin bought car in 2021 and had BMS preparefrom the extensive car to the restoration highest standards. in beautiful Restoration Services 2009 the engine a spare comes with the (Both HTP twin condition, “KYN 9” isinone of including the finest rebuilds post-wartoNash’s and isand offered in unit race that ready condition withcar current spark). Alain De Cadenet brought the car back to the UK in 2014 and it has not been used since. Offered in near papers.. A weighty history file accompanies the car with magazine articles, photos, bills and letters documenting concours condition and with UK registration. all its owners and competition history. Also available:

PETER BRADFIELD LTD 1925 Bentley 3-4½ Litre • 1934 Invicta S Type by Carbodies • 1954 Bentley R Type Continental

8 REECE MEWS peter@bradfieldcars.com

See website for more details KENSINGTON

www.bradfieldcars.com

LONDON SW7 3HE Tel: 020 7589 8787

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1952 Frazer 196Nash 5 AlfaTarga RomeFlorio o TZ1 “KYN 9”

With a homologated of as 160 Kilos,car 160bhp and a streamlined Kamm tail body byjust Zagato, thecomfort TZ is a and fast The Targa Florio was weight designed a sports with competition potential combined with enough car. Making their debut “KYN in 1963, dominated theonly nextFrazer few years. rarity very boot space for touring. 9” they is unique becauseracing it wasforthe Nash Ranking built within the 2.6with litrethe Austinbest sports cars engine only 112 between 1963Motorshow and 1967. Chassis 750036 delivered to Belgium in Healey derived andwere was built the 1952 London car. It was sold was to Louis Kellernew in the USA who 1965 and with was itraced the Golden EquipeGate Nationale Belge at numerous thediscovered 500kms at competed in theby1954 Park Race in San Francisco. events In 1986including the car was by Spa the Francorchamps, MontJohn Ventoux, Nurburgring and Zolder being driven by9Lucien Bianchi Gustave famous British actor, Rhys-Davies and brought back to the primarily UK. In 2008 KYN was fully race and prepared by Gosselin. By 1983 the and car was andcampaigned passed through the hands of several discerningowners. enthusiasts Blakeney Motorsport the in carthehasUSA been by three subsequent competitive Theincluding current Bob andtheTom Mittler. 750036 benefitted by RickPresented Bunkfeldt’s Vintage ownerRubin bought car in 2021 and had BMS preparefrom the extensive car to the restoration highest standards. in beautiful Restoration“KYN Services 2009 the engine a spare comes with the (Both HTP twin condition, 9” isinone of including the finest rebuilds post-wartoNash’s and isand offered in unit race that ready condition withcar current spark). Alain De Cadenet the car back UKmagazine in 2014 and it hasphotos, not beenbills used Offered in near papers.. A weighty historybrought file accompanies thetocarthewith articles, andsince. letters documenting concours condition and with UK registration. all its owners and competition history. Also available: 1925 Bentley 3-4½ Litre • 1934 Invicta S Type by Carbodies • 1954 Bentley R Type Continental

8 REECE MEWS peter@bradfieldcars.com

See website for more details KENSINGTON

www.bradfieldcars.com

LONDON SW7 3HE Tel: 020 7589 8787

THE MARKET / Auction Previews

The fast show Bonhams, Amelia Island, USA 29 February RECORD-BREAKING cars are always something to be celebrated, but the story of this 1904 Napier Samson L48 is particularly special. The L48 was the first car to break the 100mph barrier on US soil, achieving a speed of 104.651mph on 25 January 1905 at the Ormond and Daytona Beach races. Although the original car was dismantled a few years later, this incredible recreation makes use of the actual record-setting 15-litre straight-six Napier engine that powered the original car to its record. The immense power unit eventually made its

way to Australia, where it was installed into Nautilus 2, a record-breaking speedboat. It was owned by a pair of industrialist brothers, the Cornwells, who won many races throughout 1914 and 1915. After the boat was broken up, the engine sat in a corner of one of their factories until it was discovered in 1950 by Bob Chamberlain. He was a tractor designer and manufacturer, who didn’t initially know the significance of what he had bought, but in 1977 – after over 20 years of research – he began work on bringing L48 back to life.

Using original factory drawings found in the London Science Museum, as well as period photos, he utilised the full capability of his engineering workshop to faithfully recreate the record-breaker. The engine, which was fully rebuilt, first ran in the completed car in 1982. It has been seen at Goodwood, a couple of VSCC events and even at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in 1999. L48 is now heading to Bonhams’ Amelia Island auction, where it’s estimated to sell for $900,000-1,100,000. bonhams.com

Sellers’ market H&H Classics, Duxford, Cambridgeshire, UK 13 March ALTHOUGH NOT KNOWN for keeping his cars very long, Peter Sellers apparently rather enjoyed having this 1960 Bentley S2 Continental around. He owned it from November 1961 until July 1966, during which it was used regularly for commutes to the film set of The Wrong Arm of the Law. You might notice the unique front end – with an extra pair of headlights and reprofiled front wings – which was something that Sellers commissioned Bentley specialist Jack Barclay to undertake. It’s one of a few unique

features that makes this an interesting piece of history. Coming to market from a large Bentley collection, it’s offered in largely unrestored condition. While in need of some work, it currently retains much of the character and patina gained during Sellers’ time with it There’s a fantastic history file accompanying the car, as well as a bundle of Peter Sellers-themed memorabilia. It’s expected to sell for £120,000-150,000 when it goes under the hammer at Duxford handh.co.uk next month.

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QUICK GLANCE

AUCTION DIARY Please confirm details with auction houses before travelling 29 February Bonhams, Amelia Island, USA 1 March Gooding & Company, Amelia Island, USA DVCA, online 1-2 March Broad Arrow Auctions, Amelia Island, USA RM Sotheby’s, Miami, USA

1984 Ford Capri Tickford Turbo

1929 De Havilland DH60M Gipsy Moth RM Sotheby’s, Miami, Florida, USA 1-2 March, rmsothebys.com

2 March Historics, Ascot, UK

This glorious slice of the 1980s Ford scene sadly suffered an engine fire in 2019, but has since been treated to a bare-metal restoration, with bills said to total more than £50,000. The Tickford Turbo was based on a 2.8 Injection, gaining an IHI turbocharger and Garrett intercooler to generate 205bhp. The glassfibre bodykit apparently helped to reduce high-speed lift, too. It’s expected to sell for £45,000-50,000.

Not only is the Gipsy Moth one of the most iconic craft from the early days of aviation, but this example is perhaps the most famous of all, having appeared in the Academy Award-winning 1985 film Out of Africa. The bi-plane is fully operational, and was last inspected for airworthiness in April 2022. It’s estimated to sell for $140,000-220,000, and proceeds from the sale will go towards rhino conservation in Kenya.

5-9 March Mecum, Glendale, USA

Classic Car Auctions, NEC, Birmingham, UK 23-24 March, classiccarauctions.co.uk

9 March Barons, Southampton, UK RM Sotheby’s, Dubai, UAE 10 March Aguttes, Paris, France 13 March H&H, Duxford, UK 14 March Charterhouse, Sparkford, UK (motorcycles) 16 March WB & Sons, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK 17 March Hampson, Cheshire, UK

1976 GAZ-24 Volga

1966 Shelby 427 S/C Cobra

Gooding & Company, Amelia Island, Florida, USA 29 February – 1 March, goodingco.com

Broad Arrow Auctions, Amelia Island, Florida, USA 1-2 March, broadarrowauctions.com

Very different in appeal from the beautiful and significant cars offered from the Mullin collection (see News), Gooding & Company is also offering this fascinating piece of Soviet automotive history at Amelia Island. This Volga is offered in well-kept, original condition and, while its early history isn’t known, traffic violation receipts from 1978 suggest that it was a Russiandelivered car. It carries a $20,000-30,000 estimate.

Shelby built a total of 316 big-block Cobras, but only 31 were completed in this ‘ultimate’ Semi-Competition guise. The S/C 427 was in effect a race car reconstituted for road use following a problem in homologation with the FIA. This is CSX 3040, which has undergone an exacting, sympathetic restoration by pre-eminent Cobra restorer Mike McCluskey. It’s estimated at $3,000,000-3,750,000.

18 March Osenat, Fontainebleu, France (motorcycles) 20-21 March Mathewsons, online 23 March Oldtimer Galerie, Toffen, Switzerland 23-24 March Classic Car Auctions, Birmingham, UK 25 March Osenat, Fontainebleu, France 27 March Brightwells, online Charterhouse, Somerset, UK H&H, Solihull, UK (motorcycles)

ALSO LOOK OUT FOR… Early adopters of new gadgets always suffer through some teething problems for the benefit of the rest of us, but no group of technophiles has ever taken one for the team quite like the poor folks who bought a typewriter in the 19th Century. As late as the 1890s, almost every machine on the market was an upstriker, which is to say that the type hit the platen from below. The user of one of these utterly maddening contraptions could not see the words appear on the page as they were being typed; to check one’s progress, it was necessary to stop typing and lift the carriage.

Among the first to have a good stab at building an alternative to the ‘blind writers’ was American Eugene Ford. As well as a frontstriking design, the Ford typewriter boasted ‘unalterable’ alignment, and for a $10 upcharge buyers could specify a lightweight aluminium frame – a real novelty. Yet when the Ford went on sale in 1895 it was mostly ignored, and production was limited as a result. Eugene took the disappointment in his stride and went on to have a very distinguished career as chief development engineer at IBM, but he would surely be gratified to know that the few Ford typewriters

28 March Brightwells, online Ewbank’s, Surrey, UK 4-6 April Mecum, Houston, USA 6 April Manor Park Classics, Cheshire, UK 6-7 April ACA, King’s Lynn, UK

made are prized by collectors today. The iron-framed example shown here will be sold by Auction Team Breker in Cologne on 23 March, and the house fancies it to bring as much as ¤22,000.

7 April Iconic Auctioneers, Old Warden Park, UK (motorcycles) IN ASSOCIATION WITH

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THE MARKET / Showroom Stars

SHOWROOM BRIEFS

1980 MERCEDES-BENZ 300D $12,480 Although diesel cars never really took off in the US, these indestructible W123 models are fondly remembered. This one has had only two owners, and is barely run-in with just 127,000 miles. carcaveusa.com (US)

1965 Gordon-Keeble £89,995 from The Hairpin Company, Wiltshire, UK AS WAS OFTEN the case during the late 1950s, the Gordon-Keeble story began with an idea sparked by a private individual’s desire to shoehorn a large American engine into a British car. In this case Rick Nielsen, a US fighter pilot based at RAF Bentwaters, enlisted automotive engineer Jim Keeble to fit a smallblock Chevy V8 under the bonnet of a Peerless GT. With the work taking place at the Peerless factory in Slough during 1959, company MD John Gordon quickly took a liking to the project, and commissioned Keeble to design an all-new car to make better use of the Chevrolet power unit. Giorgetto Giugiaro, at the time working at Bertone, styled the bodywork, with a completed prototype shown to the public at the Geneva show in March 1960. The Gordon GT went down well and, after testing in the USA, GM agreed to supply the brand new 327ci V8 small-block from the Corvette Stingray. At that point the project stalled due to financing issues,

and the first example of the Gordon-Keeble – bodied in glassfibre – didn’t appear until 1964. The 300bhp V8 was connected to a four-speed manual gearbox, providing a sub-seven second 0-60mph time, and a 140mph top speed. This is the 75th out of 99 Gordon-Keebles produced before the company folded in 1965 and, as a Series II model, it received power steering and an improved braking system. It also features an incredible history file, which shows that it was brought into the workshop Enotts Coachworks in 1971 following an accident, at which point it was given a ‘better than original’ rebuild. After being used and well-maintained by four subsequent owners, a seven-year restoration was commenced in 2013 ‘to the highest standards’. It now features an improved five-speed manual gearbox – the original accompanies the car – and is ready to be enjoyed once again. thehairpincompany.co.uk

1927 VAUXHALL 6-LITRE STUTZ BEARCAT SPECIAL, £66,895 Built around 18 years ago, this special is based on a Vauxhall 14/40 chassis, with a hugely torquey 6.0-litre, four-cylinder 16-valve Stutz Bearcat engine. All components classified as vintage. charlesleith.com (UK)

1983 DE TOMASO PANTERA GT5 ZASTROW, POA Built by Zastrow – one of the lesser-known German tuning houses – this one-off Panterabased supercar looks suitably unhinged. Original and matching numbers, with French registration. speed8classics.com (BE)

1949 BRISTOL 402 CONVERTIBLE, $337,000 AUD Delivered new to Melbourne, this rarity is one of just 24 convertible 402s built. Single family owned for the past 42 years, it runs well and looks beautiful thanks to fastidious maintenance since new. brooklandscc.com (AU) 174

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THE MARKET / Buying Guide

Mercedes-Benz 250SL Pagoda Hidden gem that’s almost as quick as a 280, valued closer to a 230 YOU MIGHT THINK we’ve chosen the 250SL simply because it fits with our Issue 250 theme, but it’s a car we’ve been pondering for quite some time. The W113 ‘Pagoda’ is an undisputed all-time great, of course, and there’s a disparity in price between the early 230 and the final 280. The market favours the 280, which leaves the 230 as the best-value offering. The 250 is a third, often overlooked option – and might just be the pick of the bunch. Designed by Paul Bracq (see Octane 248), who was part of the Mercedes-Benz design team directed by Friedrich Geiger, the Pagoda helped to evolve the company’s design from the swoopy cars of the 1950s into a new, much sharper style for the ’60s and beyond. The 230SL was launched in 1963 and earned the Pagoda nickname thanks to the concave shape of its hardtop roof – similar in profile to that of a traditional Asian pagoda-roofed building. It was a car that attempted to tread a fine line between performance, comfort and style – which it masterfully achieved – and, thanks also to Mercedes’ traditionally fantastic build quality, it was an instant hit. The 230’s M127 six-cylinder engine was based on that of the 220SE, with slightly increased capacity. Power output came in at 148bhp. Production of the 230SL was scheduled to stop in January 1967 and a stop-gap was needed before the 280SL came on stream in the December. The 250SL was just that, built for a mere 14 months before making way for its larger-engined sibling.

At its heart was a new 2.5-litre straight-six, which produced an identical 148bhp. Don’t be too disheartened: the new engine design featured a sevenbearing crank, as opposed to five in the earlier unit, with a new cylinder head that made it far more efficient. Increased torque was the main purpose of the new engine and, with an increase of 14lb ft to 159lb ft, it delivered a heftier punch. It was a similar story when the 280SL was launched in December ’67. This was an evolution of the same seven-bearing engine, bored out to 2.8 litres. There was a power hike this time, producing a more significant 168bhp, with a jump in torque to 180lb ft. Improved drivability was the main goal but, unlike the earlier cars – which were primarily sold as manuals – around 90% of 280SLs were specified with a fourspeed automatic transmission. Later Pagodas were also more sparsely equipped as standard, and feature less of that lovely chrome trim. Many Pagodas were sold in the USA and, while importing one of these is tempting, converting to Euro-spec is pricey. Of the 49,000 Pagodas built, only 5196 were 250SLs, making it the rarest of the three versions offered. Despite its close relationship to the 280, it’s often seen as the poor relation. It’s closer than most would actually imagine, yet the gap in prices seems excessive. There aren’t too many hidden gems left in the world of 1960s classics, but the 250SL might be just that. If you’ve always wanted a Pagoda, the 250 could be the one. Matthew Hayward

THE LOWDOWN WHAT TO PAY Condition and history will always have more bearing on the value of a Pagoda than just the age and engine. As a rough guide, a 230 will cost somewhere between £38k for a reasonable ‘driver’ to £100k for a minter; the range for a 280 starts a little higher at £42k, with the best commanding a noticeably heftier £135k. The 250SL starts to look like a very interesting proposition when you realise that they start at around £40k, and top out closer to £115k – pretty much splitting the difference. WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR Cars imported from the US are normally in good shape structurally, but upgrading to European specification can be surprisingly costly. Bodywork repair costs can quickly become expensive to do properly, so be sure any previous work was done to a high standard. A specialist inspection is recommended. Engines are fairly hardy if maintained and regularly used, but do not like neglect. Check for head gasket issues, as well as signs of oil burning.

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1959 Jaguar XK 150 FHC

A really excellent original RHD example with numerous upgrades. Speciﬁcation includes a 3.8 Litre block, Jaguar power steering, Coopercraft disc brakes, bucket seats, overdrive and much more. Original Sherwood Green with Green Suede interior.

1965 Aston Martin DB5 Convertible An outstanding DB5 Convertible with an excellent history. Supplied by us as an excellent original car in 1982, having sinced been the subject of a ground up restoration and upgrade to 4.2 Litres. We are always eager to buy important collectors cars. Valuations and advice always available.

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

2024-02-08_Octane_April-24_converted.indd 1

08/02/2024 11:04

Where Great Cars Are Bought & Sold.

AVAILABLE 1930 BENTLEY SPEED SIX

SOLD 1932 ALFA ROMEO 6C 1750 GRAN SPORT

AVAILABLE 1935 AUBURN 851 SPEEDSTER

AVAILABLE 1970 DODGE HEMI CHALLENGER

AVAILABLE 1946 DELAHAYE 135M GRABER CABRIOLET

SOLD 1966 ABARTH 1000 SP

SOLD 2008 MERCEDES-BENZ SLR MCLAREN

AVAILABLE 1932 PACKARD TWIN SIX CUSTOM DIETRICH SPORT PHAETON

AVAILABLE 1953 SIATA 208CS

SCAN FOR OUR FULL INVENTORY

TA L A C R E S T

the world’s number one classic ferrari dealer

1960 FERRARI 250 SWB

1963 FERRARI 250 GT NEMBO

1971 FERRARI DAYTONA SPYDER

1967 FERRARI 330 GTC

1968 FERRARI 365 GTC

W W W. TA L A C R E S T. C O M +44 (0)1344 308178 | +44 (0)7860 589855 | john@talacrest.com

2017 FERRARI 488 SPIDER ‘TAILOR MADE’ Bianco Lagos with nero interior, ordered through Ferrari’s special Tailor Made department and is possibly the highest specification available in the UK and includes F12 TDF style seats, extensive red carbon throughout the interior and exterior of the car, front and rear parking cameras, suspension lifter and full PPF protection over the entire car, FFSH, 5,795 miles.

2016 FERRARI F12 BERLINETTA

2008 FERRARI F430 SCUDERIA

Rosso Corsa with nero leather, extensive carbon fibre, front and rear parking cameras, suspension lifter, 20” forged alloys, Scuderia shields, FFSH, 1,760 miles

Giallio Modena with nero alcantara and giallio stitching, factory painted racing stripe in grigio, carbon fibre driving zone with LED steering wheel, 14,878 miles

2016 MERCEDES AMG GT-S

2021 PORSCHE 911 (992) C4S TARGA ‘HERITAGE EDITION’

Selenite grey with black and pepper red exclusive nappa leather. 1 owner, AMG exterior carbon package and performance steering wheel, Burmester sound system, 7,655 miles

Guards red with Atacama beige leather and black convertible top. UK supplied 1 owner car, 1 of 992 cars produced worldwide, extensive options list, 39 miles

The leading specialist in sourcing the rare and unobtainable.

+44 (0) 1772 613 114 | sales@williamloughran.co.uk | www.williamloughran.co.uk We are always looking to buy interesting cars.

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2017 Aston Martin Vanquish V12 Zagato

Ferrari 458 Speciale

Full Pure Black leather interior. 1 owner example, just 69 Miles from new and comes optioned with Villa D’este package. Aston Martin main dealer service history from new. 69 Miles. £389,990

Carbon fibre front spoiler and aerodynamic fins, Carbon fibre side sill fins, Carbon fibre engine bay, Carbon fibre racing seats. 400 miles. £379,990

Lamborghini Aventador LP750-4 SV Roadster Carbon fibre interior, Satin Carbon fibre exterior, Transparent engine cover, Gloss black roof, Sports exhaust system, 21” Dianthus alloys finished in Gloss black. 6,300 Miles. £329,990

Carbon fibre front spoiler, Carbon fibre rear diffuser, Carbon fibre steering wheel with LED’s, Scuderia shields, 5 twin spoke alloys finished in Bright silver. 1,750 Miles. £318,990

Lamborghini Aventador LP740-4 S Roadster

2017 Lamborghini Aventador V12 LP 740-4 S

Fully electric seats, Branding package, Transparent engine cover, Lifting system, 20/21” Dionne alloy wheels ﬁnished in Gloss black with Diamond face,12,500 Miles. £244,990

Ferrari 812 Superfast

Leather headliner, Cavallino stitched on headrests, Passenger display, Red rev counter, Privacy rear windows, Suspension lifter, Scuderia shields. 11,600 miles. £209,890

2017 Porsche 911 991 GT3

Carbon ﬁbre bucket seats, Sports chrono package, 6 point racing harnesses, Carbon ceramic brakes, Reversing camera, Guards red Seat belts . 4,700 Miles. £142,890

Ferrari 296 GTS T V6

2018 Porsche 911 T 991 GT2 RS

Carbon bucket seats, Carbon interior package, Sports chrono package, Crusie control, Instrument dials in Guards red, Automatically dimming mirrors with intergrated rain sensor. £354,990

Mclaren 765 LT Coupe

MSO Clubsport package, Super lightweight Carbon ﬁbre racing seats, Bowers and Wilkins sound system, Lightweight alloys with Diamond ﬁnish. 4,500 Miles. £292,990

2019 Porsche 911 991 GT3 RS

Carbon fibre interior package, Carbon fibre side skirts, Carbon fibre air intake, Carbon fibre engine cover, 20/21” Dianthus forged alloy wheels finished in gloss black. 5,800 Miles. £234,990

Full Black interior with contrast green inlays. Carbon fibre bonnet, Carbon fibre roof, Carbon fibre rear spoiler, Carbon fibre bucket seats, Lizard green contrast stitching. 5,300 Miles. £209,980

Ferrari F12 Berlinetta

2013 Lamborghini Aventador V12 LP 700-4

Carbon fibre driving zone with LED’s Carbon fibre dash inserts, Carbon fibre central bridge, Carbon fibre kick plates, Fully electric and heated seats. 7,200 miles. £179,990

2017 Aston Martin Vantage Gt8

Full Pure black alcantara interior with Spectral blue stitching throughout, Fully electric and memory seats, Full exterior carbon ﬁbre, High level rear wing. 5,800 Miles. £134,990

Special order Blue Cepheus with full Nero leather interior with contrasting blue stitching, full speciﬁcation car including Full exterior carbon ﬁbre package. 17,500 Miles. £169,990

2013 Lamborghini Gallardo V10 LP 560-4

Full Nero leather interior, Fully electric and heated seats, Q-citura interior stitch in Giallo, Yellow Brake callipers, Apollo style alloys ﬁnished in Satin black. 16,500 Miles. £89,990

BUYING OR SELLING LAMBORGHINI MOTORCARS T +44 01580 714 597 E sales@vvsuk.co.uk W www.vvsuk.co.uk (Viewing by appointment only) Address: VVS UK LTD PARK FARM, GOUDHURST ROAD, CRANBROOK, KENT, TN17 2LJ www.lamborghinibuyer.com Additional Websites: www.justlamborghini.com

AC HERITAGE

1990 AC Cobra MKIV Lightweight Ordered by Drambuie Liqueur Company in corporate colours, 16,300 miles from new. Retains full factory specification. POA

1967 AC 428 Frua Factory prototype & press car, fully restored to the highest standard, 1 of 6 remaining manual gearbox specified convertibles. POA

1970 AC / Allard J2X Thames Ditton 428 rolling chassis with factory fitted 7 litre engine and gearbox. The prototype Allard J2X was fitted by Paul Emery of ‘Emery Cars’ fame. POA

1957 AC Ace Bristol 3 owners. SCCA race history. Matching numbers. Goodwood and Mille Miglia eligible. Current FIVA and FIA papers. £315,000

1956 AC Aceca Bristol ‘Prototype’ Works entrant to 1956/57 Tulip Rally. Full AC Heritage restoration. Period racing history, Goodwood and Mille Miglia eligible, FIA HTP valid until 2031. £179,995

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

Michael Wise Cars

Testarossa E Ferrari Type S1 4.2 Coupe

1990 original UK supplied RHD car in Rosso Corsa with cream leather interior, 2 owners from new and genuine black dash1965 and redwith carpets. 34000mls with a fully documented service history and just 40000mls. subject to a full recommission a full major cam belt service, new tyres Ground upincluding restoration in 2015-7 and only ++ Absolutely beautiful throughout and sold complete with all books, tools, keys etc 3000mls Walk roundsince. videos areSimply availablestunning! by request

£149,995 £119995

320 Vanden SL V6 Plas DaimlerMercedes Double Six

A simply stunning R129 model in Azurite Blue metallic with mushroom soft nappa 1973 Series 1,soft one of only approximately 250 cars leather interior, with navy top and panoramic glass hard top. Genuine 10700mls from new!! Still on its original tyres (spare supply and fit a new set made. Total restoration tounused), a veryI will high standard! when sold. Just serviced by Mercedes Benz, you will probably never find another like this car. Sold with all books, keys, tools etc Videos available on WhatsApp by request

£49995

£34,995

Mercedes Benz 280 SL Pagoda Ferrari Testarossa LHD LHD

Beautiful1969 originalEuropean example supplied new by Charleswith Pozzimanual of Paris, France in specification September 1989. Imported to the UK in 2015 by its only owner since. Only transmission. new interior hood, 56000kms (35000 mls) fromComplete new with a lovely service historyplus and just serviced with new cam belts by Meridien Modena in Lyndhurst. Complete with all tools, books, and just beautiful throughout keys etc.

POA £119,995

Mustang Convertible Bullitt Mustang Recreation

Absolutely stunning 1966 model with its original 289ci (upgraded to fast road) 400BHP with 5 speed g/box, engine and 4 speed V8 manual, ground up restored in its pas, originaluprated specification and colour scheme only ago. Features include: Power steering, power brakes and8000mls suspension. Very quick, looks and brakes, power hood, GT pack, Pony interior, Rostyle wheels ++ all confirmed in the sounds amazing!! paperwork file. Super rare with its original manual gear box. A joy to behold and drive!!

£100000 £46,995

Ferrari FerrariTestarossa 308 GTS

Genuine 22000mls, 1990 34000mls. 1980 Recent cambelt service, new tyres Original UK supplied car with only three former keepers. wonderful history ++ Absolutely beautiful throughout. Sold withnew all tyres, confirming the mileage. Recent full major service including cam belts, fully detailed, and sold with all books, tools, keys, etc books, tools, keys etc

£109,995

£129995

SL320 E Mercedes Type SeriesBenz 1 Coupe 4.2lt

OriginalR129 UK car Model, with matching numbers and registered in 1965 with 2000 (W) manufactured with Genuine 10800mls only 2 owners from new and a genuine 40000mls!! Subject to a total restoration Panoramic hard and soft tops. Good history and just a few years ago (with photographic record and invoices) and only 3000mls since. Simply stunning car with original books, tools, etc Ready forexample! its new owner to enjoy! serviced, anVideos amazing ‘time warp’ available on request

£29995 £129,995

Tel: 07836 622 234 • Email: info@michaelwisecars.co.uk • Web: www.michaelwisecars.co.uk

SPEEDMASTER SPECIALIST IN HISTORIC AUTOMOBILES Tel: +44 (0)1937 220 360 or +44 (0)7768 800 773 info@speedmastercars.com | speedmastercars.com

1993 Courage C30 - Porsche twin turbo First raced at Le Mans in 1993, this car competed at Le Mans 4 times in both Group C configuration as the car is now, and also LMP1 Spider in 1996 and 1997 when the car was driven by Mario Andretti. Always powered by a Porsche 962 engine and gearbox, the car is offered freshly restored and ready to race and with its LMP1 bodywork this is a great car for Group C racing and Endurance Racing Legends, Monterey Historics and many other premier motorsport events.

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R AW L E S M O T O R S P O R T LT D

Austin Healey Restoration - Upgrades - Sales - Service - Upholstery - Concours Prep - Engine Build & Rolling Road

Austin Healey 3000 MkII Rare 2 Seat - New Rawles Resto, No expense spared full restoration. Over 200hp, 5-speed gearbox upgraded brakes, suspension, LED lighting, full leather interior, including leather trimmed boot. Ultra-rare MkII Two-Seater. £180,000.

1967 Austin Healey 3000 MkIII, Healey Blue New Resto, zero miles new restoration ﬁnished in Healey Blue with Ivory Duotone, Chrome wires, Navy Blue interior with Navy wet-weather gear. £92,500.

1967 Austin Healey 3000 MkIII, Healey Gold Ultra Original Time Warp! Consistently well maintained and kept in a heated garage. Wonderful shape to the panels, never welded, no ﬁller - try and ﬁnd another one like this. £79,000.

1967 Austin Healey 3000 MkIII, UK RHD, one owner 1967-2014, Colorado Red, Black interior, engine rebuilt in 2014 with 5,000 mls to fast road speciﬁcation with 30hp increase, repainted in 2014, new front seats 2014. £63,500.

1963 Austin Healey 3000 MkII, UK RHD, Dark Blue, Major works 2023/4, very slick Dark Blue, bespoke full leather interior in Cream with Blue piping, original Donald Healey Motor Co works delivered. £59,400.

Austin Healey 3000 MkI BN7 Two-Seater, UK RHD, Ivory White with Red interior. Rare and beautiful home market two-seater 1 of just 68. Fast road upgraded engine with modernisations. Major RM service end 2023. £49,000.

1961 Austin Healey 3000 MkII Tri-Carb, Centre Change UK RHD, Primrose Yellow, Black interior, chrome wire wheels. A tidy example with great history, including some recent improvements and servicing. £48,750.

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187

1969 Mercedes 280SL Pagoda - UK RHD - Unrestored

Auto * Power Steering * Midnight Blue with Grey Leather * 20+ yr Roger Edwards Service History All Books in Wallet & Original Datacard ** 39k Genuine Miles Only ** £199,995

1968 Mercedes 280SL Pagoda - European LHD

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1971 Mercedes Benz 280SE 3.5 - European LHD

Auto * Power Steering * Black with Cognac Leather & matching Carpets/Tonneau * Electric Windows Blk Softop * Genuine Example * Recent Major Service (inc brake Overhaul) £299,500

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1974 Alfa Romeo Tipo 33-3/Flat 12: Rare, fantastic race record, Ickx, Stommelen, Reutemann, Monza, Nurburgring, Imola. All orig., fresh rebuild, race ready.

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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.

1958 MGA Twin Cam: Rare, disc brakes, Dunlop competition wheels, frame-up, show quality restoration on an iconic sports car.

1962 Lotus Super 7: 22 year ownership. Super well developed; quick and easy to drive. Known for its winning provenance. Everything has been rebuilt or replaced.

1982 March 82G: Quintessential GTP car, chassis serial No. 82G/001, raced by Rahal, powered by 358 cid, 650 HP Chevy engine. Ready for the track or show circuit.

1963 Alfa Romeo Giulia 1600 Spider: Excellent, orig. condition. Rust & accident free, matching #s, 26k miles, fully vetted, new shocks, brakes, chrome.

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Austin Healey 100/6. Early Longbridge RHD home market car originally sold by Lookers of Manchester in December 1956. Virtually unused since total nut and bolt restoration to the highest standards. Healey ice blue over ivory white with blue leather trim and blue mohair weather equipment. £ Please enquire

Austin Healey 3000 MK 3 BJ8 phase 2. This car has covered less than 200 miles since a total nut and bolt no expense spared restoration by ourselves. It is finished in duo tone Colorado red over ivory white with a black leather trim piped in red with black mohair weather equipment. £135,000

Austin Healey 100/4 BN2. Original right-hand drive export car built 31/5/56. Upgraded to M specification. Finished in ivory white over lobelia blue, louvred bonnet, M spec carburettors, telescopic shock absorbers, front disc brakes, 100S seats, 140mph speedo, Aston fuel filler cap and M registry membership. £87,500

Austin Healey 100/6. Original longbridge duo tone car supplied new to San Francisco 1957. Still in its original colour scheme, rust free ex California black plate car. 2020 Mille Miglia competitor. Fantastic opportunity to buy a Mille Miglia car at a sensible cost.

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1954 Austin Healey 100/4 BN1

Original RHD Uk car in Black with red leather trim, Hood and red weather equipment. Overdrive, wire wheels, unique registration number AH1004. A magniﬁcent and rust free example with continuous history. Cherished number plate is also available - AH 1004. One of the ﬁnest available.

Serious enquiries only. £79, 950

2006 Aston Martin DB9

Midnight blue with sandstone and blue leather. Usual high speciﬁcation, alloys, Aircond, Full electric pack, sport’s exhaust, sports seats, 47000 miles only, with Full AM service history plus one specialist, recent tyres, all books tools and documentation, in mint and original showroom condition. Very rarely as nice as this. £32950

2008 Porsche 997 Carrera 2S cabriolet With sports Tiptronic auto. Alloys, sports exhaust CD. Power Hood, plus superb factory spec.Black with Black full leather trim and red callipers, Stunning showroom condition example done 44000 miles from new with FPSH, all books & tools, keys and documentation. £36, 950

Dark Emerald Green with Beige leather 2 owners, low mileage, Full documented history in mint original showroom condition. Very special car. £22,950.

1975 Bentley T1 - Rare In Seychelles Blue with navy blue leather 75000 miles with excellent comprehensive service history, Vast documentation and original handbook pack original build sheets, bill of sale etc. Stunning example. £34, 950.

Rare LWB with division. Dark Seychelles Blue with Grey leather trim and Lambswool over rugs. 75000 miles with excellent comprehensive history, very famous ﬁrst owner, lovely original example. £29, 950.

2005 Bentley Continental GT

1975 Rolls Royce Shadow 1

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2002 Mercedes Benz. SL 55 AMG

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1964 Jaguar E Type 3.8 FHC

RHD Matching numbers example in Signal Red with original red leather trim. CWW, very original rot free car that drives better than any E Type we have owned. Mechanically perfect, with some areas of cosmetic patination, but if you like driving and rallies this is the

car. £79,950.

We are always interested in buying part exchanging or selling cars similar to the above. Situated 25 mins from Manchester Airport. Visit our website for more info/photos.

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Autobiography

INTERVIEW CHARLOTTE VOWDEN PORTRAIT JAKOB EBREY

Nathalie McGloin The only female tetraplegic racing driver in the world and co-founder of Spinal Track, a charity supporting disabled drivers TITLES DON’T EXCITE me, the things that make me feel amazing are what drive me, and racing makes me feel invincible. I suppose it’s cool that I’m the world’s first female tetraplegic racing driver, and it was nice to get a Guinness World Record for it in 2023, but I didn’t do it to be the first: I just followed something I was passionate about. When I think about growing up, I see it as before and after I broke my neck in a car crash on 16 September 1999. I was 16 and a passenger in my friend’s car. No-one did anything wrong, it was just wrong place, wrong time. Before the accident, I’d been a bit of a tearaway. I’m from Bridlington, in East Yorkshire, and used to hang around with boy racers in car parks by the beach. It was less about the hatchbacks and more about the older guys who owned them; I had a huge crush on a guy with a white Nova. After the accident, I was the girl who broke her neck. Bridlington is a small town, it’s like it happened to everyone, and I was haunted by memories of my able-bodied self. I spent 11 months in hospital, finished my A-levels and went to university in Nottingham to study English. That had been my plan and I wasn’t going to let my spinal injury stop me. I’m paralysed from the chest down with limited finger function, but Uni was a new beginning. I was 19 and the same as everyone else because we were all living away from our parents and learning to be independent. I learned to drive when I was 20, and passed first time, which I’m really proud of. My first car was a Peugeot 206, which I had adapted. It gave me the freedom to go wherever I wanted without help, and it hid my disability, which was huge for me back then. I have a very different attitude now. The first sports car I had was a John Cooper S Works, but when someone told me I wouldn’t be able to handle a Porsche 911 I decided that’s the one I had to have next. I was 23 and loved it, but as well as the speed, I loved the attention. It elevated my identity away from being

disabled even more than the 206. For me, the 911 is practical because I can put my wheelchair on the back seats and still have a passenger. I’ve had a few over the years, including a GT3, GT3 RS and a 997 Cabriolet. I was introduced to track days by someone I met through wheelchair rugby – I started playing for the GB squad during my degree but lost the passion when I had an injury in 2012. That’s when I decided to get a racing licence. Well, I did it, and things got out of control from there! I had tuition from ex-F1 driver Mike Wilds and turned a Porsche 987 Cayman S into my race car, which I still have. It’s fitted with hand controls that I push forward to brake, and down to accelerate, and as it’s a PDK, I leave it in auto and let the car change gear. I steer with my left hand on the wheel. To keep me completely secure in the seat, it’s fitted with an insert that wraps around my ribcage, which also allows my energy to go into racing rather than holding myself up. As a disabled woman in motorsport, I’m used to being in the minority, but racing gets rid of any disadvantages women have against men in a strength-based sport, or that disabled people have against non-disabled people. I compete in two championships: the Road Sports 750 Motor Club and the New Millennium series run by the Classic Sports Car Club. My first season was 2015 and I almost gave up in 2016. It was a competitive championship: one driver crashed into me on purpose and others told me not to get in their way, which destroyed my confidence. I carried that into 2017, when I had a huge crash due to mechanical failure, but a race weekend with the British Women Racing Drivers Club – with no pressure or peacocking – helped me enjoy racing again. In 2018 I became the first President of the newly formed FIA Disability and Accessibility Commission, presented Kimi Räikkönen with his trophy at the British GP and won my first race – it was a big year! I’m glad I didn’t give up, but my confidence levels are always up and down. When I went to Daytona [Florida] to race, I freaked out. It’s the first time panic attacks have defeated me, but it wasn’t safe to be on a track doing speeds of 170mph in that frame of mind. I didn’t know how I’d cope with the failure, or move forward, but I’ve realised I’m allowed to be scared. Fear is based on experience, so no fear is insignificant. I’m scared of flying, so now I’ve applied for a disabled flying scholarship. Overcoming that fear, I think, will help with racing. Everyone who races has to make peace with the fact that you are competing in a dangerous sport. The conversation I have with myself about it is slightly more loaded because I know what a car crash can do to someone. Losing more mobility would be horrendous, but I don’t associate what I do on track with that crash. Before I race, I’m manic. I drum the wheel with my hands and when I’m on the grid everything feels wrong; I worry that my harnesses aren’t right or that I’m hearing weird engine noises. But, when the lights go out, it all goes away. Music is a big thing. I used to listen to a playlist that reminds me of great moments – one of them is Shot at the Night by The Killers – but I’ve lost that habit. My pre-race routine is a work in progress. I set up charity Spinal Track with my husband, Andrew Bailey, in 2016. I wanted to give back to my community. The track-days and rally school we offer disabled drivers are free, but what it means to them, as well as their friends and family, is humbling. One lady who had a stroke at a young age shunned any association with her disability until she shared stories with other people during a rally day. She went into it ashamed, and came out of it proud. It completely changed her outlook on life. Another guy, a driving enthusiast with the same level of injury as me, had always wanted to do a track day. His dad cried as he watched his son drive round Silverstone, it was something he thought he would never see. He turned to Andrew and simply said ‘Thank you.’ I cry when I tell that story because being able to do that for other people is hugely special. The Spinal Track community also gives me the support I need when I feel isolated, it’s where I fit, it’s where I belong. When things get hard, I fall back on them as much as they do on me.

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

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