est 1973
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2 4 - PAG E PR EVIEW
Fer r a r i Ca lifor ni a
new collector cars series
uk test of rare open-headlight spider
buying guide
ac 428
power and Style
timewarp 1950S
alFa spider
‘i should have been more like Senna’
John surtees on Juggling F1 and bike racing careers
too good to restore?
Healey 3ooo is an austin
right for you?
ex-tim birkin le mans
alfa romeo 8C driven at goodwood
discover which is the best real-world classic
e-type
2+2 vs merC slC
plus • mg n type • williams Fw14b • ’70s vauxhall concepts • Ford Falcon
january 2012 £4.50
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GETTING YOU CLO CLASSIC CARS MAGAZINE JULY 2012 | ISSUE 468
Welcome to a fresher and more compelling Classic Cars magazine Over the winter months we’ve treated Classic Cars to a thorough overhaul with new feature series, better regulars and a fresh new look. Our new Collector Cars series explores the appeal of the elite band of cars that make jaws drop, dreams soar and wallets flutter wherever they appear, Preservation Class showcases the evocative patina of cars that have never needed restoring and Legendary Designs gives fresh insight into iconic examples of automotive technology.
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As well as the features we’ve improved the regulars and added some new ones, including Desirables, Collectables and Models, each showcasing the classic automobilia that we simply can’t resist. Like works of art, beautiful cars need space and sympathetic presentation to be appreciated. Our more expansive photography and feature treatment aims to showcase the cars at their best. All of this starts with the July issue, on sale now. Here’s a quick taster of what to expect in our preview and if you like what you see then you can now buy just this single copy. I hope you enjoy it. Phil Bell, Editor
events, sports and markets news
1932
What’s going on in the world of classic cars The inside line on the Monaco Historic Grand Prix, Monaco auctions and Texas concours n ew ser ies: collector ca r s
AlfA AlfA Romeo 8c Piloted by Earl Howe and Tim Birkin, this Otto Cilindri once led the pack at Le Mans. Can it still rekindle that old magic? Words richard heseltine PhotograPhy george F Williams
Centre throttle and snarling exhaust focuses the mind. Mascot gives you something to aim with
51 Classic Cars
Classic Cars 51
eXCLUsIve test
Find out what it’s like to drive the cars that made history Behind the wheel of the Alfa 8C 2300 that Tim Birkin raced at Le Mans in 1932 11|opinion
simon kidston
09|opinion
The day my inflatable dolphin and
’ve talked classics with plenty of to famous people but the weirdest has years be Fidel Castro. Yes, really. Several on a ago I bumped into the Cuban dictator a lift in family holiday in Barbados. I was in the Sandy Lane Hotel, the doors opened dressed and in he walked. A giant of a man by a in a taupe-coloured suit and flanked strange box similarly uniformed minder with a flip-flops, shorts strapped to his chest. I was wearing and felt at a and carrying a child’s inflatable dolphin, or do in a surreal slight disadvantage. What do you say box looked uneasy. moment like that? The man with the you could feel Castro’s rheumy eyes fixed mine and space. I took a the silence elbow its way into the tiny thing that came deep breath and blurted out the first those colourful old into my head: ‘The world admires all growled: ‘But they cars in Cuba.’ Quick as a flash Castro ‘but they tell the are all American.’ ‘Ah yes,’ I struggled, else. You fought history of Cuba better than anything dominance, their against American power, excess and and his eyes world hegemony.’ He paused thoughtfully at me. The lift lightened. The man with the box stared stopped and the doors slid open. ending the But instead of walking out and brusquely ‘Their cars were fat conversation, Castro began a tirade: American values. and wastefully huge. Corrupt Fifties lights like missiles. The worst had fins like rockets and ‘You mean the 1959 They were symbols of aggression.’ and in brightened face stern Castro’s Cadillac,’ I said. common territory that brief moment I knew I’d found
I
13|opinion
Romancing the motor car: nothing new under the sun
Quentin Willson
martin gur don My day with a driving instructor
I talked Cadillacs with Fidel Castro
helped bring the with the ruthless figure who in 1963 who’d wrangled world to the brink of nuclear war and with John F with Nikita Khrushchev and argued an I let you in on the motoring beaming. Kennedy. The man with the box was ‘It was world’s worst-kept secret? Not all ‘Yes, I know this Cadillac,’ said Castro. but made them supposed to be the American dream the gloss you read about cars is The fins were like look foolish to the rest of the world. moments of strictly accurate. Nothing new daggers.’ And then in one of the strangest me to a table in about that, of course, as Quentin steered and arm my my life he touched were surrounded by the hotel reception. In seconds we Willson observed last month: Castro waved them worried-looking men in taupe suits. at my shoulder. Jaguar’s press department was away, but the man with the box stayed old cars? You ‘Tell me, what should I do with all these furiously massaging the E-type’s I there So struggles?’ Cuba’s say they tell the history of performance figures more than half a century ago. am in a hushed lobby flanked by a revolutionary most famous The Italians wrote the book on boosting the entourage, telling one of the world’s with his country’s classic dictators what he should do credentials of new models, as was brought home to me dolphin. cars. And I’m holding an inflatable him told I maybe. vividly during a recent trip to Modena to oversee the minutes We didn’t speak long. Five to be sold not to allow them to protect Cuba’s old cars,restoration ofthat some high-profile Latin exotics. they’ve Quentin Willson came to their preservation and understand help off, First stop, a carrozzeria where a racing car – worth of the world fame by appearing on BBC become a Cuban image that the rest gone, TV’s Top Gear every week wasall then he Andthan more the the houses in the village – is being recognises and understands. for nine years, plus his own of Caribbean islands, ushered away to a conference worked on.the An old Italian with several days’ stubble and show The Car’s the Star. He’s the with man But which was why he was at my hotel. been passionate about cars ‘He enjoyed hand: a cigarette permanently clamped between his teeth is box stayed for a second to shake my from childhood and started the dolphin I respect.’ Cradling trading up from an Austinbashing the naked aluminium bodywork with a that. Thank you for yourcasually and towards the pool Healey Frogeye Sprite as a walked out into the sunlight hammer. Not long ago this voluptuous, crimson objet taken had just teenager. He’s written ten trying to process the enormity of what wife on her motoring books, including my recumbent was gracing thesun manicured lawn at Pebble Beach, place. ‘Darling,’ I said tod’art The Ultimate Classic Car just met...’ I’ve who guess never ‘you’ll lounger, stray blades of grass picked from its tyre treads by a Book and Cool Cars.
‘Protect Cuba’s old American cars,’ I told Castro, ‘they’ve become an image that the rest of the world recognises and understands’
C
detailing crew wielding toothbrushes, its coachwork glossed by feather dusters. Today it’s laid bare for restoration, with nothing to hide, just age-stained sheets of aluminium covering old metal tubing and a V12 engine cradled silently in the engine bay. In a world of ‘important’ motor cars, ‘world-class’ events and ‘blue-chip’ investments it’s easy to forget that beneath the skin virtually every one of these valuable artefacts is composed of humble ingredients – steel, rubber and some cheap wood perhaps – that
‘The 1971 catalogue for my Maserati Ghibli promised 335bhp. The dynamometer says 255bhp’
Simon Kidston lives and works in a world filled with the finest classics. In between acting as a consultant to collectors and performing as the multi-lingual presenter at top European events, Geneva-based Simon (www.kidston.com) finds time to enjoy his own cars, including a Porsche 911 Carrera 2.7 RS and a Lamborghini Miura SV.
J
ohn Lyon is a driving instructor with a difference. He teaches people to go quickly, safely, and he’s been doing it
for five decades. more often than not were not made for close scrutiny. His early days weren’t spent teaching typists to reverse Morris Minors round suburban A peek at the bare dashboard of my Maserati Ghibli corners: no, as a civilian instructor he helped Spyder, stripped for a rebuild in a nearby bodyshop, coppers get the best from their pursuit cars and on thearound prompts horror. Who butchered the metalwork famous High Performance Course taught the great and the good how to avoid getting the steering column? Answer: thetheir factory. Nobody Triumph TRs and Jaguar E-types tangled in the thought to design a right-hand drive layout atteaches the time, topiary. He still and still takes to the track. He’s alsoa written a book,and Advanced Driving (Haynes), which so the pre-UK launch expedient was hammer is part guide, part polemic covering everything from chisel. The glassfibre underside ofroadcraft an early Lamborghini to road engineering. He thinks Countach sitting alongside makes me realise whycars flatter to deceive, masking modern driver ineptitude in ways that were unimaginable when Maserati build quality was considered so good. he started driving his Austin 7 special. This is progress, More out of curiosity than necessity I’dbutasked for the of course, Lyon thinks the drivers of classics often get more from their cars because they Maserati’s ‘as new’ engine to be dynamometer-tested. understand how they work and know they need treating with respect. Bafflement greeted such an unusual request: around This reminds me of a story my dad ruefully tells of the freelwheel here only modern racers and Subaru Impreza owners mechanism of his Bristol 401 going bang when he dumped the clutch at some lights. The average scientifically measure their cars’modern horses instead of gearbox would need hours of sustained, relying on the seat of an experienced meccanico’s moronic, tyre smokingpants. torment to let go. ‘Ask people Even the Ferrari factory, if asked, sends its how older enginesworks and most won’t synchromesh be able to tell you, and lack of knowledge leads to abuse,’ out to a tiny local dyno-shop for testing. our says Lyon. Luckily He has legion stories of drivers who stamp on mechanic knows its owner, who agrees toslam slipupin the brakes and and down transmissions, never matching engine and gearbox speeds, with results Maserati engine between work for Maranello. like locked wheels and lurid tail slides. We get chatting and between espressos he dusts off his old test sheets. Ferrari 275 GTB? 280-300bhp claimed, actually 249bhp. Maserati 450S? 400bhp claimed, in reality 356bhp. Most accurate, amazingly, was a Ferrari Daytona (352bhp vs 352bhp). And the Ghibli? The 1971 catalogue promised 335bhp, but the dynamometer says 255bhp. I don’t know whether to weep or call my lawyer until I see Maserati’s internal homologation papers for the model: 233bhp. ‘Romancing the product,’ as a successful US retailing client calls it. I guess I should know better than most.
opInIon
who understands what put the bounce
‘The Met favoured automatics because they had more stamina in chases, and it specified these transmissions for its fleet of Daimler Darts’
Martin Gurdon has written about cars for more than 20 years and owned nearly 70, from a Honda Z600 to a Bristol 401. He writes and makes videos about new cars for Honest John’s website (www.honestjohn.co.uk) and has written several books, including Hen and the Art of Chicken Maintenance. He is currently working on a sequel.
into bouncing bomb
When Lyon was training police officers in the Sixties they spent a week learning how cars worked so that they wouldn’t commit acts of mechanical cruelty. ‘If you’re chasing a villain and he’s done a bit of banger racing you don’t want to abandon the chase because you’ve broken the transmission.’ Lyon says the Met favoured automatics because they had more stamina in chases, and it specified these transmissions for its fleet of Daimler Darts, ‘but they would kick down too early and the cars could spin’. These days going fast isn’t difficult, but for many drivers it’s a point-and-squirt exercise where the car does the work. Much the same applies to slowing down. Today’s cars have good brakes and their drivers have grown up without experiencing brake fade or servo-less systems requiring a mighty shove to make them work, so the anticipatory skills that would have kept them alive in earlier eras don’t apply now. ‘I had a little MG YT which I was driving when I went into a blind curve and found a van parked on the road. It was a shock, but I was able to pull up in the distance I could see. Experience teaches you things like that.’ It doesn’t necessarily teach you a deep understanding of what a car is doing when cornering and braking, something Lyon clearly possesses. During a chat about kinetic energy, weight transference and wheel pivot points, I realise I’d experienced what he was describing, but couldn’t put down succinctly on the printed page. Mind you, back in 1966 one of his pupils said Lyon’s views on speed-related centrifugal force were ‘spot on’. He was Barnes Wallace, inventor of the bouncing bomb.
A different view on the classic car scene from columnists Quentin Willson, Simon Kidston and Martin Gurdon Talking classics with Fidel Castro, exaggerated performance figures and high-speed driving lessons
O S E R T O G R E AT C A R S OF T H E PA ST
thy
r
J a g u a r E -t y p E v s M E r c E d E s s L c
collector ca r s: Fer r a r i 250Gt ca liFor ni a spider
why
The reason
Of all Ferraris the 250GT SWB California Spider evokes the most passion, glamour and power to inspire. But why? Join us on a journey to explore this legend’s true value
Words richard heseltine PhotograPhy charlie magee
42 of
to the
power Does adding a roof and practical rear seats have to compromise an iconic roadster? Find out in a Jaguar E-type S3 and Mercedes SLC
Born to give the American market a flavour in open-topped roadgoing form of the Tour de France racer, California Spiders today command Monopoly-money values
51 Classic Cars
Classic Cars 51
new serIes: CoLLeCtors Cars Access to the most desirable cars UK test of a rare open-headlight Ferrari California Spider
Wor ds rob scor a h P ho t o g r a P h y g e o r g e W i l l i a ms
Jaguar E-typE SEriES 3 and Mercedes-Benz SLC – so alike they could be twins, don’t you think? Sure, there are subtle differences, but they share at least one fundamental aspect: both svelte gts are evolutions of more overtly sporting, two-seater machines. granted, those whose definition of ‘sporting’ resides firmly with earlier E-types might raise an eyebrow at the word being applied to the Mercedes, swift and capable though it is. But if you’re looking to combine the dynamic abilities of the originals with a little more practicality – somewhere to put the kids/friends/dog/laptop – then you
really need to consider these two. and they retain a good deal of their forebears’ look too. predictably, the E-type makes the most immediate visual impact. By the time Jaguar launched its third iteration of the model in 1971 the simultaneously iconic and iconoclastic roadgoing torpedo had redefined what was sexy and sensual in the sports car world. the quasi-aeronautic, race-bred Malcolm Sayer design language is still very much in evidence ten years on, most especially on the outside. you can almost feel ‘virtual’ rivets in joining edges or envisage a D-type-like rear wing
Add two seats and an E-type S3 coupé or 350 SLC becomes much more accessible
Classic Cars 95
oLd rIvaLs
Real world comparisons to help you choose your next classic Does a Jaguar E-type V12 coupé or Mercedes 350 SLC work best in the real world? Beneath that Frua-styled Beneath that Frua-styled bodywork you’ll find a bodywork you’ll Cobra find a seven-litre
bu yy in g gg g uu id ee : A CC4 4 22 88 bu in id : A
seven-litre Cobra
• When the Cobr a er a drew to a close
• AC When thetoCobr er amore turned its attention producinga something
Here’sa afast, fast,stylish stylishand andrare rare Here’s Britishluxury luxuryGT GTthat thatwon’t won’tcost cost British theearth earthtotorun run– –asaslong longasasyou you the buythe theright rightone oneininthe thefirst firstplace place buy WRODRSDRUS S RUS P HO ORG A RP AH PY HY TM O MWW OD OD WO S SSMS IMTIHT HP HO T OTG TO OO
drew to aatourer closerather ACthan turned civilised, a racer,its andattention in coupé andto convertible forms. The Cobra chassis running gear were retained, producing something moreand civilised, a tourer using the less hardcore 428ci (7014cc) hydraulic tappet engine, but the rather than a racer, and in coupé and convertible chassis was stretched by 150mm before being beautifully clothed in forms. The Cobra chassis steel by Italian styling house Frua. and running gear were retained, using the less 428cinovel (7014cc) The 428 was immortalised in hardcore Douglas Rutherford’s Clear The Fast Lane, which revolves around abut 60-hour from London hydraulic tappet engine, theblast chassis was to Greece and back to collect ‘a package’. Our hero borrows an AC 428 for stretched by 150mm before being beautifully the run, though it’s no ordinary 428 – the car described in the book clothed by Italian styling Frua. appears toin besteel the final example built: a one-offhouse four-seater coupé that The 428 was immortalised intransport. Douglas became AC boss Derek Hurlock’s personal With that kindnovel of recipeClear the car should have been a raging success, Rutherford’s The Fast Lane, which but there was a complication: the chassis had to be shipped to Turin to revolves around a 60-hour blast from London to be bodied then brought back to Thames Ditton for finishing, which Greece and back collect ‘a package’. Our meant production wasto time-consuming and expensive. Thehero result was borrows an AC for thetherun, no that a 428 wound up 428 costing about samethough as an Astonit’s Martin DBS V8 or Ferrari ACdescribed only managedin to build ordinary 428 –Dino, theand car the about book two a month. appears to be the final example built: a one-off A halt was called to the project in 1973 when the world fell out of love four-seater coupé AC fuel boss Derek with thirsty luxury cars that duringbecame the Middle East crisis. By then Hurlock’s personal transport. only 51 coupés and 29 convertibles had been built, making the AC 428 a rare beast – butkind not oneof you need to shy owning. Thanks to With that recipe theaway carfrom should have basic but powerful seven-litre running gear borrowed from the Ford been a raging success, but there was a Galaxie they are mechanically bombproof, simple to maintain and complication: parts are cheap. the chassis had to be shipped to Turin to lies the temptation to own one: Maserati-like styling And therein without massive running cost worries. be bodied then brought back to Thames Ditton
for finishing, which meant production was time• WhiCh one and hoW muCh? consuming and expensive. The result was It should just be a question of soft-top or hardtop, but half-way through that a 428 wound up chassis costing about samethe as an the production run – around number 40 –the AC restyled interior.Martin And perhaps not for theor better. Most purists Aston DBS V8 Ferrari Dino,prefer andthe AC earliermanaged incarnation, with its curved, leather-clad instrument only to build about two aoval month. binnacle stuffed with eight chrome-rimmed gauges, and a central A halt called to theflick project inIt1973 panel filledwas with chrome-coloured switches. was allwhen very the world fell ifout of love with luxury cars Italian, even the labels on the dialsthirsty said Smiths and Lucas rather than Veglia Borletti. during the Middle East fuel crisis. By then only 51 The later dash29 wasconvertibles a lot more rectangular, black-rimmed coupés and had with been built, dials and parts-bin rocker switches. Its functional blackness was all the rage making AC 428 a rare beastmakes – but one you in 1970 andthe the deeper shrouding probably thenot gauges more need toonshy away Thanks toThe basic readable a sunny day,from but it’s aowning. look that hasn’t aged well. nostalgia factor emanating from the early interior is right off the scale, but powerful seven-litre running gear borrowed whereas the Ford later carGalaxie barely registers. from the they are mechanically However, which era it’s from has little if any effect on a 428’s value, bombproof, simple tocondition; maintain and parts which is much more down to an early dash mightare just make cheap. And liescomes. the temptation to own a car easier to selltherein when the time Good-condition coupés styling are priced without at £100k-140k. Very few have been one: Maserati-like massive rebuilt to concours standards, but if you can find one it might set you running cost worries.
back as much as £175k. At the other end of the scale there are still a few cars that haven’t been revived, but AC Owners’ Club registrar Andy Shepherd reckons that even basketcases now sell for £50k-60k. a surprisingly small price difference between coupés and ItThere’s should just be a question of soft-top or hardtop, convertibles. On many Italian supercars of similar vintage you can butthan half-way through production –a good more double the price for anthe open-topped version,run but for 428 convertible expect number to pay about40 £15k–more for a coupé. around chassis ACthan restyled the
• WhiCh one and hoW muCh?
interior. And perhaps not for the better. Most
prefer the eearlier incarnation, with its •purists body/struCtur
curved, ovalrusting instrument binnacle With Italianleather-clad steel welded to already chassis before being trucked back to theeight UK for painting, it’s no surprise that 428s are stuffed with chrome-rimmed gauges, and a prone to corrosion. most cars you’ll come across willflick at the central panelHowever, filled with chrome-coloured very least have been given new sills and outer wing tops. switches. It was all very Italian, even if the labels Check the whole body and chassis thoroughly for bubbling, holes, or on theofdials said Smiths andago Lucas rather evidence poor past repairs. Four years these cars were worth about of current values, so some are likely to have been thana third Veglia Borletti. maintained and repaired on a low budget. The later dash was a lot more rectangular, with If body repairs are needed there’s both good and bad news. The AC black-rimmed dials and parts-bin rocker Owners’ Club has stockpiled complete rear ends, from the rear edge of switches. Its functional blackness was all the rage the roof (for coupés) and doors backwards, which are available to club members £1000. Thedeeper club also shrouding has a small number of door skins in 1970forand the probably makes available to members for readable about £100 each. front but panels the gauges more on However, a sunnynoday, it’s a
00 Classic Cars 110 Classic Cars
new serIes: preservatIon Cars Exploring rare survivors in timewarp condition Starts with this 1959 Alfa 2000
new serIes: LeGendarY desIGns Mechanical masterpieces explained Starts with the SU carburettor
Classic Cars 00 Classic Cars 111
BUYInG GUIde
Pitfalls, pleasures and prices of the most tempting cars This month we analyse the AC 428
tHe rIGHt stUFF
Books, Collectables, Desirables and Models we can’t resist Includes the new Carroll Shelby biography, Ayrton Senna memorabilia, a barn-style garage and a 1:18-scale Lotus 25
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IN EV ERY ISSUE events, sports and markets news What’s going on in the world of classic cars
E SIVARS U CL C EX SSICVIEW A CL PRE
ON SALE
NOW
hy
r
collector ca r s: Fer r a r i 250Gt ca liFor ni a spider
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why
The reason
Of all Ferraris the 250GT SWB California Spider evokes the most passion, glamour and power to inspire. But why? Join us on a journey to explore this legend’s true value
Words richard heseltine PhotograPhy charlie magee
51 Classic Cars
IN EV ERY ISSUE new serIes: CoLLeCtors Cars
Access to the most desirable cars
Born to give the American market a flavour in open-topped roadgoing form of the Tour de France racer, California Spiders today command Monopoly-money values
Classic Cars 51
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to the
of
power Does adding a roof and practical rear seats have to compromise an iconic roadster? Find out in a Jaguar E-type S3 and Mercedes SLC W or d s r ob s c o r a h P ho t o g r a P h y g e or g e W i l l i a ms
2
J a g u a r E -t y p E v s M E r c E d E s s L c
IN EV ERY ISSUE OLD RIVALS
Real world comparisons to help you choose your next classic
Jaguar E-typE SEriES 3 and Mercedes-Benz SLC – so alike they could be twins, don’t you think? Sure, there are subtle differences, but they share at least one fundamental aspect: both svelte gts are evolutions of more overtly sporting, two-seater machines. granted, those whose definition of ‘sporting’ resides firmly with earlier E-types might raise an eyebrow at the word being applied to the Mercedes, swift and capable though it is. But if you’re looking to combine the dynamic abilities of the originals with a little more practicality – somewhere to put the kids/friends/dog/laptop – then you
really need to consider these two. and they retain a good deal of their forebears’ look too. predictably, the E-type makes the most immediate visual impact. By the time Jaguar launched its third iteration of the model in 1971 the simultaneously iconic and iconoclastic roadgoing torpedo had redefined what was sexy and sensual in the sports car world. the quasi-aeronautic, race-bred Malcolm Sayer design language is still very much in evidence ten years on, most especially on the outside. you can almost feel ‘virtual’ rivets in joining edges or envisage a D-type-like rear wing
Add two seats and an E-type S3 coupé or 350 SLC becomes much more accessible
Classic Cars 95
E SIVARS U CL C EX SSICVIEW A CL PRE
1932 AlfA Alf A Romeo 8c Piloted by Earl Howe and Tim Birkin, this Otto Cilindri once led the pack at Le Mans. Can it still rekindle that old magic? Words richard heseltine PhotograPhy george F Williams
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51 Classic Cars
n ew ser ies: collector ca r s
IN EV ERY ISSUE eXCLUsIve test
Find out what it’s like to drive the cars that made history
Centre throttle and snarling exhaust focuses the mind. Mascot gives you something to aim with
Classic Cars 51
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IN EV ERY ISSUE NEW SERIES: PRESERVATION CARS
Exploring rare survivors in timewarp condition
E SIVARS U CL C EX SSICVIEW A CL PRE
bu y ing guide: AC 428
• When the Cobr a er a
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Here’s a fast, stylish and rare British luxury GT that won’t cost the earth to run – as long as you buy the right one in the first place
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W O R D S RUS S S M I T H P HO T O G R A P H Y T OM W O OD
110 Classic Cars
drew to a close AC turned its attention to producing something more civilised, a tourer rather than a racer, and in coupé and convertible forms. The Cobra chassis and running gear were retained, using the less hardcore 428ci (7014cc) hydraulic tappet engine, but the chassis was stretched by 150mm before being beautifully clothed in steel by Italian styling house Frua. The 428 was immortalised in Douglas Rutherford’s novel Clear The Fast Lane, which revolves around a 60-hour blast from London to Greece and back to collect ‘a package’. Our hero borrows an AC 428 for the run, though it’s no ordinary 428 – the car described in the book appears to be the final example built: a one-off four-seater coupé that became AC boss Derek Hurlock’s personal transport. With that kind of recipe the car should have been a raging success, but there was a complication: the chassis had to be shipped to Turin to be bodied then brought back to Thames Ditton
Beneath that Frua-styled bodywork you’ll find a seven-litre Cobra
IN EV ERY ISSUE BUYING GUIDE
Pitfalls, pleasures and prices of the most tempting cars
for finishing, which meant production was timeconsuming and expensive. The result was that a 428 wound up costing about the same as an Aston Martin DBS V8 or Ferrari Dino, and AC only managed to build about two a month. A halt was called to the project in 1973 when the world fell out of love with thirsty luxury cars during the Middle East fuel crisis. By then only 51 coupés and 29 convertibles had been built, making the AC 428 a rare beast – but not one you need to shy away from owning. Thanks to basic but powerful seven-litre running gear borrowed from the Ford Galaxie they are mechanically bombproof, simple to maintain and parts are cheap. And therein lies the temptation to own one: Maserati-like styling without massive running cost worries.
• WhiCh one and hoW muCh?
It should just be a question of soft-top or hardtop, but half-way through the production run – around chassis number 40 – AC restyled the interior. And perhaps not for the better. Most purists prefer the earlier incarnation, with its curved, leather-clad oval instrument binnacle stuffed with eight chrome-rimmed gauges, and a central panel filled with chrome-coloured flick switches. It was all very Italian, even if the labels on the dials said Smiths and Lucas rather than Veglia Borletti. The later dash was a lot more rectangular, with black-rimmed dials and parts-bin rocker switches. Its functional blackness was all the rage in 1970 and the deeper shrouding probably makes the gauges more readable on a sunny day, but it’s a Classic Cars 111
E SIVARS U CL C EX SSICVIEW A CL PRE
09|opinion
Quentin Willson The day my inflatable dolphin and I talked Cadillacs with Fidel Castro
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’ve talked classics with plenty of famous people but the weirdest has to be Fidel Castro. Yes, really. Several years ago I bumped into the Cuban dictator on a family holiday in Barbados. I was in a lift in the Sandy Lane Hotel, the doors opened and in he walked. A giant of a man dressed in a taupe-coloured suit and flanked by a similarly uniformed minder with a strange box strapped to his chest. I was wearing flip-flops, shorts and carrying a child’s inflatable dolphin, and felt at a slight disadvantage. What do you say or do in a surreal moment like that? The man with the box looked uneasy. Castro’s rheumy eyes fixed mine and you could feel the silence elbow its way into the tiny space. I took a deep breath and blurted out the first thing that came into my head: ‘The world admires all those colourful old cars in Cuba.’ Quick as a flash Castro growled: ‘But they are all American.’ ‘Ah yes,’ I struggled, ‘but they tell the history of Cuba better than anything else. You fought against American power, excess and dominance, their world hegemony.’ He paused thoughtfully and his eyes lightened. The man with the box stared at me. The lift stopped and the doors slid open. But instead of walking out and brusquely ending the conversation, Castro began a tirade: ‘Their cars were fat and wastefully huge. Corrupt Fifties American values. The worst had fins like rockets and lights like missiles. They were symbols of aggression.’ ‘You mean the 1959 Cadillac,’ I said. Castro’s stern face brightened and in that brief moment I knew I’d found common territory
‘Protect Cuba’s old American cars,’ I told Castro, ‘they’ve become an image that the rest of the world recognises and understands’
Quentin Willson came to fame by appearing on BBC TV’s Top Gear every week for nine years, plus his own show The Car’s the Star. He’s been passionate about cars from childhood and started trading up from an AustinHealey Frogeye Sprite as a teenager. He’s written ten motoring books, including The Ultimate Classic Car Book and Cool Cars.
with the ruthless figure who in 1963 helped bring the world to the brink of nuclear war and who’d wrangled with Nikita Khrushchev and argued with John F Kennedy. The man with the box was beaming. ‘Yes, I know this Cadillac,’ said Castro. ‘It was supposed to be the American dream but made them look foolish to the rest of the world. The fins were like daggers.’ And then in one of the strangest moments of my life he touched my arm and steered me to a table in the hotel reception. In seconds we were surrounded by worried-looking men in taupe suits. Castro waved them away, but the man with the box stayed at my shoulder. ‘Tell me, what should I do with all these old cars? You say they tell the history of Cuba’s struggles?’ So there I am in a hushed lobby flanked by a revolutionary entourage, telling one of the world’s most famous dictators what he should do with his country’s classic cars. And I’m holding an inflatable dolphin. We didn’t speak long. Five minutes maybe. I told him to protect Cuba’s old cars, not to allow them to be sold off, help their preservation and understand that they’ve become a Cuban image that the rest of the world recognises and understands. And then he was gone, ushered away to a conference of Caribbean islands, which was why he was at my hotel. But the man with the box stayed for a second to shake my hand: ‘He enjoyed that. Thank you for your respect.’ Cradling the dolphin I walked out into the sunlight and towards the pool trying to process the enormity of what had just taken place. ‘Darling,’ I said to my recumbent wife on her sun lounger, ‘you’ll never guess who I’ve just met...’
11|opinion
simon kidston Romancing the motor car: nothing new under the sun
C
an I let you in on the motoring world’s worst-kept secret? Not all the gloss you read about cars is strictly accurate. Nothing new about that, of course, as Quentin Willson observed last month: Jaguar’s press department was furiously massaging the E-type’s performance figures more than half a century ago. The Italians wrote the book on boosting the credentials of new models, as was brought home to me vividly during a recent trip to Modena to oversee the restoration of some high-profile Latin exotics. First stop, a carrozzeria where a racing car – worth more than the all the houses in the village – is being worked on. An old Italian with several days’ stubble and a cigarette permanently clamped between his teeth is casually bashing the naked aluminium bodywork with a hammer. Not long ago this voluptuous, crimson objet d’art was gracing the manicured lawn at Pebble Beach, stray blades of grass picked from its tyre treads by a detailing crew wielding toothbrushes, its coachwork glossed by feather dusters. Today it’s laid bare for restoration, with nothing to hide, just age-stained sheets of aluminium covering old metal tubing and a V12 engine cradled silently in the engine bay. In a world of ‘important’ motor cars, ‘world-class’ events and ‘blue-chip’ investments it’s easy to forget that beneath the skin virtually every one of these valuable artefacts is composed of humble ingredients – steel, rubber and some cheap wood perhaps – that
‘The 1971 catalogue for my Maserati Ghibli promised 335bhp. The dynamometer says 255bhp’
Simon Kidston lives and works in a world filled with the finest classics. In between acting as a consultant to collectors and performing as the multi-lingual presenter at top European events, Geneva-based Simon (www.kidston.com) finds time to enjoy his own cars, including a Porsche 911 Carrera 2.7 RS and a Lamborghini Miura SV.
more often than not were not made for close scrutiny. A peek at the bare dashboard of my Maserati Ghibli Spyder, stripped for a rebuild in a nearby bodyshop, prompts horror. Who butchered the metalwork around the steering column? Answer: the factory. Nobody thought to design a right-hand drive layout at the time, so the pre-UK launch expedient was a hammer and chisel. The glassfibre underside of an early Lamborghini Countach sitting alongside makes me realise why Maserati build quality was considered so good. More out of curiosity than necessity I’d asked for the Maserati’s ‘as new’ engine to be dynamometer-tested. Bafflement greeted such an unusual request: around here only modern racers and Subaru Impreza owners scientifically measure their cars’ horses instead of relying on the seat of an experienced meccanico’s pants. Even the Ferrari factory, if asked, sends its older engines out to a tiny local dyno-shop for testing. Luckily our mechanic knows its owner, who agrees to slip in the Maserati engine between work for Maranello. We get chatting and between espressos he dusts off his old test sheets. Ferrari 275 GTB? 280-300bhp claimed, actually 249bhp. Maserati 450S? 400bhp claimed, in reality 356bhp. Most accurate, amazingly, was a Ferrari Daytona (352bhp vs 352bhp). And the Ghibli? The 1971 catalogue promised 335bhp, but the dynamometer says 255bhp. I don’t know whether to weep or call my lawyer until I see Maserati’s internal homologation papers for the model: 233bhp. ‘Romancing the product,’ as a successful US retailing client calls it. I guess I should know better than most.
IN EV ERY ISSUE OPINION
A different view on the classic car scene from columnists Quentin Willson, Simon Kidston and Martin Gurdon
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