Drive 14 by Runwild Media Group

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WELCOME Rolls-Royce is, well, on a roll. Global sales in 2015 were the second highest on record, the model range has been both rejuvenated and expanded and there are signs that the company is becoming less conservative. The new Dawn drophead – driven for us this issue by Andrew Frankel – is officially described as “sexy”. The new Black Badge Ghosts and Wraiths were developed for a younger “rebel” audience and even have the Spirit of Ecstasy bonnet ornament painted black, while the next major project to come from Goodwood is an all-terrain SUV. This is radical stuff from a company whose products used to be more establishment than the Establishment. But it’s clearly working as the man in charge, Torsten MüllerÖtvös explains on page 43. As TMO admits, the SUV party has already started without them, and in this issue we drive Levante, the “Maserati of SUVs” and take an alternative slant on Bentley’s spectacular Bentayga, deep in the wilds of east London’s Olympic Park. This issue also has a motorsport theme. We corner Maurizio Arrivabene, the man charged with turning podiums into wins at Ferrari, and get our heads around the science and indeed art of racetrack design in discussion with Hermann Tilke – the man responsible for shaping so many of the new-generation Grand Prix circuits. Watch magnate Richard Mille, meanwhile, shows us around the garage of his French château, packed to the rafters with immaculately restored and still-driven Sixties and Seventies Le Mans and F1 cars (turn to page 48 for instant jaw-slackening) and Simon de Burton advises on investing in motor racing posters. As ever, we hope you enjoy this issue and welcome your comments as reader Leslie Butterfield did. In our feature on the Maserati Merak (issue 13) we asked: “Can you name another car with flying buttresses?” “Yes,” said Leslie, “the Lancia Beta Montecarlo.” (He could have also mentioned the Mercedes C111…) So thanks for keeping us on our toes – to do the same, just drop me a line at the email address below.

MATTHEW CARTER Editor-at-Large | DRIVE drive@hrowen.co.uk

C O N TA C T S & ACKNOWLEDGMENTS DRIVE Magazine is published on behalf of H.R. Owen PLC by RWMG Bespoke. For all publishing and advertising enquiries please contact: RWMG BESPOKE 6th Floor, One Canada Square Canary Wharf London, E14 5AX T: +44 (0)20 7987 4320 E: info@rwmg.co.uk www.rwmg.co.uk DRIVE EDITORIAL TEAM Tom King: Marketing Director Matthew Carter: Editor-at-Large Alex Doak: Deputy Editor H.R. OWEN PLC Melton Court Old Brompton Road London SW7 3TD T: +44 (0)20 7245 1122 F: +44 (0)20 7245 1123 E: enquiries@hrowen.co.uk www.hrowen.co.uk RWMG BESPOKE Giles Ellwood: Publisher Alan Cooke: Managing Director Mark Welby: Creative Director Adam Garwood: Project Manager PUBLISHING ENQUIRIES Call Alan Cooke on +44 (0)20 7987 4320 or email a.cooke@rwmgbespoke.co.uk ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES Call Rachel Eden on +44 (0)7793 380 012 or email r.eden@hrowenmagazine.co.uk CONTRIBUTORS Words: Stephen Bayley, Simon de Burton, Andrew Frankel, Kevin Hackett, Chris Hall, Images: Sven Eselgroth, Drew Gibson, Richard Grassie, Mark Lacey, Richard Parsons

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©COPYRIGHT 2016 H.R.OWEN PLC 2016 Whilst every care has been taken to ensure that the data in this publication is accurate, neither the publisher nor H.R. Owen PLC nor any of its subsidiary or affiliated companies can accept, and hereby disclaim to the maximum extent permitted by law, any liability for any loss or damage that may be caused by any errors or omissions this publication may contain. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form – electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise – without prior written permission of the publisher. Information correct at time of going to press. Views expressed are not necessarily those of the publisher or H.R. Owen PLC. Every effort has been made to trace the copyright holders of material used in this publication. If any copyright holder has been overlooked, we should be pleased to make any necessary arrangements.

C1000 C1000 Typhoon Typhoon – Cockpit – Cockpit Edition Edition

THE THE ETTORE ETTORE BUGATTI BUGATTI COLLECTION COLLECTION ETTORE ETTORE BUGATTI BUGATTI BOUTIQUE BOUTIQUE 24-2624-26 BROMPTON BROMPTON ROAD, ROAD, LONDON LONDON MONTE-CARLO MONTE-CARLO MUNICH MUNICH TOKYO TOKYO MILAN MILAN SHOWROOM SHOWROOM

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MATTHEW CARTER Editor-at-Large | DRIVE drive@hrowen.co.uk

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SUMMER 2016 // VOLUME #14

contents

C OV E R S TO RY

56 URBAN SAFARI: BENTLEY BENTAYGA Taking the notion of “luxury SUV” into awe-inspiring new territory, Bentayga is as fiercely capable off-road as it is fierce on the fashion-forward streets of east London

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F E AT U R E S

DAYBREAKER: ROLLS-ROYCE DAWN First-drive impressions reveal a new era, let alone a new day for Chichester’s finest, reckons Andrew Frankel

R-R/CEO: TORSTEN MÜLLER-ÖTVÖS A silver fox with a winning smile, the German CEO of Rolls-Royce grants DRIVE a refreshingly candid interview on the marque’s new, younger audience

UNDER LOCK & KEY: TICKING OVER Richard Mille may make cutting-edge timepieces, but his first passion has always been cars. Alex Doak tours his château’s extraordinary garage

MOTORSPORT: DESCRIBING A CIRCLE Far from a random wobbly loop, there is a serious science to track design, as Hermann Tilke explains to Kevin Hackett

REGULARS

ART & CRAFT: THE MAN WHO SELLS THE WORLD What do you do when you can’t find a decent globe for your father’s 80th birthday? If you’re Peter Bellerby, the answer is to make your own

LAMBORGHINI: ALL THE RAGE Co-founder of London’s Design Museum and all-round “design guru” Stephen Bayley ponders the Raging Bull’s rebellious aesthetic

29 AUTOMOBILIA: POSTER BOYS Simon de Burton’s guide to collecting vintage motoring posters – an artform in itself from the Jazz Age

SCUDERIA FERRARI: EYES ON THE PRIZE It’s high time the Prancing Horse started bothering F1’s podium again, as team principal Maurizio Arrivabene tells Joe Saward

86 MEET THE EXPERT: PUSH YOUR ENVELOPE Two days’ intensive coaching with Total Car Control could be the best performance upgrade for your car, reckons Alex Doak

FRONT SEAT: NEWS, REVIEWS, CULTURE Our treasure trove of a front section embraces the best of car culture, revealing the 11 most exciting elements of the forthcoming DB11 and recommending the best SPF creams for top-down motoring

ROAD TRIP: EUROPEAN FESTIVAL SPECIAL Everything you need to know to drive to two of the best musical events on the Continent: Festival Internacional de Benicàssim and Montreux Jazz Festival

AT YOUR SERVICE: H.R. OWEN VIP SERVICES Whether you’re too young to drive, can’t drive at all, or simply don’t have the parking space, you can still arrive in considerable style with the help of H.R. Owen’s booming chauffeur and hire service

96 THE BACK SEAT: PHIL HOWARD 11 11

THE BIGGEST NAME IN PRIVATE AVIATION IS ABOUT TO GET EVEN BIGGER. The Citation Latitude is on its way to NetJets, joining Europe’s largest and most advanced fleet of aircraft. With the widest and tallest cabin in its class, fully WiFi enabled and space for up to 8 passengers, the Citation Latitude is the ultimate office in the sky. The NetJets Citation Latitude lands in December. But to be one of the first on board, talk to us today. Fractional aircraft shares are available now, and start from 50 flying hours per year. The Citation Latitude will be touring Europe this summer. To book a viewing please call +44 (0)2038 117 696.

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SUMMER 2016 // VOLUME # 14

FRONT SEAT NEW MODELS // NEWS + EVENTS // MODERN CLASSIC // KNOWLEDGE = POWER // // ACCESSORIES

MASERATI LEVANTE

THREE-PRONGED AT TACK We’re in Italy, but for once, we’re not sitting in the outside lane of the autostrada inches away from someone’s rear bumper, as the locals are wont to do. Instead, we are gingerly driving down a bumpy, gravel-strewn path letting the hill descent control take the strain. Once through a water splash and up a tricky incline complete with an awkward right-angled bend, we complete the course with ease and in some comfort. OK, so we’re not crossing the Borneo jungle, but this remains a highly significant drive. The reason? We are at the wheel of the first Maserati capable of tackling anything other than a stretch of tarmac. The Levante – named after an easterly wind that blows through the Mediterranean – is the company’s first SUV. MATTHEW CARTER’S FIRST-DRIVE IMPRESSIONS CONTINUE OVERLEAF…

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reasons to be excited by the DB11

We’ve all seen it. Some outsiders have even driven engineering prototypes. But we’re all going to have a few months longer before the definitive Aston Martin DB11 hits showrooms. Before that, let’s reflect on 11 exciting elements that point definitively towards Aston’s “Second Century” plan, and bode very well indeed for their most important new car since the DB9

NEW BONDED ALUMINIUM STRUCTURE The DB11’s body sits on a new platform that uses pressings, extrusions and castings that combine lightness with strength.

05 CLAMSHELL BONNET Distinctive new LED headlamps sit on the unusual front-hinged clamshell bonnet – a huge onepiece pressing.

CHASSIS Fine-tuning of the chassis, brakes, steering and electronics have been overseen by handling expert Matt Becker, late of Lotus. There’s three dynamic modes: GT, Sport and Sport Plus.

03 VIRTUAL REAR SPOILER Rear-end lift is not controlled by a spoiler, rather the clever Aston Martin “Aeroblade”. Discreet intakes at the base of either C-pillar duct air through an aperture on the boot.

PARKING AID DB11 has a 65mm increase in the wheelbase over DB9, so help when parking is welcome. It has parallel and bay assistance as well as a 360º camera.

THANK YOU, DAIMLER One of the benefits of the link with Daimler-Benz is access to the latest in-car technology. SatNav in an Aston has never worked so well.

ROOF STRAKES DB11’s dramatic profile is outlined by the roof strakes that flow, uninterrupted, from A-pillar to C-pillar with either a gloss-black or bright-anodised finish.

TRACK-INSPIRED AERODYNAMICS Front-end lift is reduced by a gill-like curlicue that releases highpressure air from inside the front wheel arch via a concealed vent in the side strakes.

TWIN-TURBO ENGINE Thanks to Mercedes AMG, there’s still a massive 5.2-litre V12 under the bonnet, but this one has twin turbos developing 600bhp – the most powerful production “DB” ever.

10 OPTIONS, OPTIONS, OPTIONS… If the 400W standard audio system doesn’t pack a big enough punch, you can opt for the 700W Premium, or even a bespoke 1,000W Bang & Olufsen system.

11 PRACTICALITY The doors open wider and the steering wheel moves out of the way to ease ingress and egress. There’s even more head and legroom in the rear.

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ICONIC ALLOY WHEELS

WHEELS OF FORTUNE

CAN YOU CORRECTLY PAIR THESE ICONIC WHEEL DESIGNS WITH THE ICONIC CARS THEY ONCE SHOD?

A ALFA ROMEO TIPO 33 Now rare as hen’s teeth, Campagnolo made its famous “GTA” magnesium wheels for several top Alfa models in the Sixties and Seventies.

ASTON MARTIN DB9 CARBON BLACK Edgy, minimal and diamond-turned for a crisp finish, the 10-spoke forged-alloy design is available in gloss black.

MASERATI LEVANTE

THREE-PRONGED AT TACK [Continued from previous page]

C BUGATTI TYPE 35

A no-nonsense eight-spoke design in aluminium for Ettore’s hugely successful 1924

excellent ride while the steering is superbly meaty. The styling, too, is a confident combination of SUV practicality and swooping coupé lines. The front end is dominated by a huge toothy grille, while the high-waisted side profile rises above a pair of powerful rear haunches to meet a sloping roof line. As for performance? At the Geneva Motor Show, when the car was revealed, we were told the UK would get just one version, powered by a potent 3.0-litre turbo diesel. It develops 275hp – enough to deliver a 6.9-second 0–62mph time with almost 40mpg if you’re careful: not bad for an automatic-only SUV. At the dynamic launch, however, Maserati CEO Harald Wester caused Maserati UK representatives to choke on their chianti by suggesting we could get also get the flagship version, powered by a Ferrari-built 430hp twin turbo 3.0-litre petrol V6. With this, the 0–62mph time comes down to 5.2 seconds and top speed rises to 165mph. And there’s a soundtrack to match. Given the SUV market in the UK is dominated by diesel, it remains to be seen how many might be tempted by the Levante “S”. But that really would be the Maserati of SUVs.

racer, when alloys were ahead of their time.

D FERRARI TESTAROSSA An unmistakable star shape for the Prancing Horse’s flat-12 classic, forged in magnesium,

with a single-bolt “knock-off” mounting.

E FORD CAPRI So-called “slot-mags” for every boyracer’s dream coupé in the Eighties, made by the British company Wolfrace. 6

F MINI First designed for competition Mini Coopers, the Minilites mag-alloy wheel went on to shoe all manner of racing classics.

G LAMBORGHINI DIABLO

The Fighting Bull’s Nineties beast had wheels similar to the Countach LP400 S, but now in multi-piece aluminum “OZ”.

A=3, B=6, C=5, D=4, E=7, F=1, G=2

So why an SUV? Because that’s what is selling in the premium sector – that’s what people want. And the Levante expected to become Maserati’s biggest selling model, accounting for an estimated 50% of all Maserati sales globally. How do you blend a four-wheel drive utility vehicle seamlessly into a range of performance and luxury cars? In this case, it’s simple. As far as the company is concerned, Levante is the “Maserati of SUVs”. In other words, performance remains at the heart of the car… which is perhaps one reason why it’s taken a while to get here. Maserati showed the Kubang SUV concept back in 2011, after all. But a great deal has changed since then. Any temptation there might have been to use Jeep underpinnings under a Maserati body has gone by the board and Levante is pure Trident. It’s based loosely on Ghibli underpinnings, but comes as standard with an intelligent allwheel drive system and height adjustable air suspension – both vital elements if the car’s SUV credentials are going to be accepted. Meanwhile, the combination of a little extra weight and the air suspension gives Levante an

KNOWLEDGE = POWER

0’55.999

Ferrari’s Factory

The Fiorano Circuit’s record lap time, set by Michael Schumacher in 2004’s F1 car. The record for a road car was set last year in a LaFerrari.

52°02’26.9”N

0°31’45.4”W

It was 1943 when Enzo Ferrari moved his four-year-old aircraft manufacturing company “Auto Avio Construzioni” from the old Scuderia Ferrari works racing facility in Modena (where he once built race cars for Alfa Romeo) to Maranello, where it has remained ever since. During the war, the factory was bombed by the Allies then rebuilt in 1947 – including, finally, a works for road cars. The first to bear the famous Cavallino Rampante badge was the 125 S, which Ferrari reluctantly built to fund his revived Scuderia Ferrari race team. Nowadays, on the constantly expanding campus, the Formula 1 team is still cheek by jowl with roadcar production, up to 7,000 per year.

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FIORANO TEST TRACK

10 RESTAURANT

FERRARI MUSEUM

11 COMPOSITES FACILITY

GESTIONE SPORTIVA

12 PAINTSHOP

FERRARI STORE

13 FOUNDRY

HISTORIC ENTRANCE

14 PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

CLASSICHE RESTORATION

15 WIND TUNNEL

ROAD CAR PRODUCTION LINE

16 ENGINE MACHINING

ENGINE ASSEMBLY

17 TRI-GENERATION PLANT

FINAL INSPECTION

18 MAIN ENTRANCE

769 The size, in litres, of the Tri-Generation Plant’s two 20-cylinder engines, which use natural gas to produce electricity, hot water and cold water for the entire factory.

NCP 101 LONDON’S TOP FIVE

CAR PARKS WITH A TWIST As Brutalist architecture enjoys some well-earned time in the sun, in parallel with the unflagging craze for pop-up street food, car parks are proving to cater for both – affording incredible views of our capital to boot, not to mention unusually vast swathes of space in a cramped metropolis. But they’re not all rooftop hipster hangouts, nor are they all concrete carbuncles, as our far-fromcomprehensive list attests. We’re sure you have your own quirky multi-storeys with a certain something else, so do let us know at drive@hrowen.co.uk, and we’ll run our favourites in a future issue.

1. The Beaumont Hotel 8 Balderton St, London W1K 6TF Recently, a stroll through Mayfair seems to involve picking oneself around a string of vast holes excavated behind precariously preserved facades. This, the first hotel from the group behind The Wolseley, is one of the most interesting, “repurposing” a beautifully appointed car park built in 1926 for affluent Selfridge’s shoppers, who had adopted the newfangled horseless carriage.

Britain’s biggest car park operator is, of course, National Car Parks – also the oldest, having been founded in 1931 by Colonel Frederick Lucas. In October 1948 Ronald Hobson and Sir Donald Gosling founded Central Car Parks by investing £200 in a bombsite in Holborn, expanding the company by recognising the under-developed state of many post-World War II towns. By 1959 Central Car Parks bought NCP from Anne Lucas, the widow of Colonel Lucas. It was recently sold to Australian bank Macquarie for £790 million.

2. MeatLiquor 74 Welbeck Street, W1G 0BA Nestled beneath another multi-storey car park built especially for a department store (this time Debenhams, in 1970) is cult Marylebone burger joint MeatLiquor – one of the first no-reservations

gourmet “dude food” hipster hang-outs. It’s still in use as a car park above, and notable for its façade’s beautifully tessellating pre-fab’ concrete diamonds. Sadly, it was turned down for listing and then sold to a hotel group, so its days may be numbered…

F R O N T

26 / 56 The respective times, in minutes, that a V8 and V12 road car spends at each workstation on their journey along the two production lines.

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TUBULAR BELLS AND WHISTLES Looming over a grassy mound by the main entrance, is the complex’s most distinctive feature: the wind tunnel, designed in 1996 by the eyes behind London’s Shard, Italian architect Renzo Piano. He conceived it to be, “more like an enormous machine than a building in the way all the mechanisms and apparatus are on show instead of being hidden from view.” Which isn’t far from what Ferrari do themselves with their mid-engined V8 cars. In fact, if the airflow return pipe was painted crackle red, it wouldn’t look much different from an exhaust manifold.

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3. Roof East Level 8, Stratford Multistorey Car Park, E15 1XE Stratford’s prickly horizon of cranes, bland luxury apartment and even the Olympic Park itself aren’t exactly beautiful, but here atop the Westfield shopping centre you’re

not necessarily here for the view, rather the cult Eighties films screened by Rooftop Cinema Club, enjoyable from the comfort of your very own deckchair, cocktail in hand, posh-dog in the other, as the sun sets on the capital.

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DRIVING FORWARD The huge complex at Maranello, northern Italy, is built on an L-shaped plot served by wide avenues lined with plane trees, each named after a Ferrari hero – Viale Enzo Ferrari, Via Niki Lauda – through which workers swarm upon company push bikes, painted Rosso Corsa and emblazoned with the Prancing Horse logo (like most things here – even the bins).

The most recent additions to the campus are 2011’s Nuovo Montaggio Vetture – or “New Car Assembly” – by Jean Nouvel (the practice behind One New Change by St Paul’s Cathedral) and Wilmotte & Associates’ gleaming “Gestione Sportiva” facility by the Fiorano Circuit – opened only this year and the birthplace of every Ferrari F1 car for decades to come.

Some of the world’s finest architects are behind the patchwork quilt of buildings that comprise the Ferrari factory. The iconic, white-panelled wind tunnel rising from the ground by the main entrance was designed by Renzo Piano, 2005’s vast “Nuova Meccanica” engine-machining building was the vision of sustainability pioneer Marco Visconti, with its adjustable south-facing aluminium sun shades, plus abundance of greenery amongst the CNC millings machines – not only to create a more attractive workplace but to regulate its microclimate. In fact, Ferrari prides itself on some 25,000 tropical flowerbeds, gardens and trees found throughout the campus.

Across Nuovo Montaggio Vetture’s 21,000 square metres, each car, pre-specified and earmarked by its customer, is suspended on its own cradle, which progresses along an overhead track, swivelling, lowering or raising at each work station to suit the technician. There are plenty of robots in Nuova Meccanica to finish and assemble the pistons, cylinder heads and valves (themselves roughly smelted from raw billet at Ferrari’s in-house foundry), but there’s only one robot used on the assembly line; it fits the windscreen.

4. Frank’s 10th Floor, Peckham Multi-Storey Car Park, SE15 4ST Peckham Rye was a more unlikely pocket of south London to be gentrified, but Frank’s put it on the map from 2008 – not least for the Google Mapsworthy view of London its afforded by its spectacular rooftop setting. Here you’ll find talented young chefs serving up a short, everchanging seasonal menu to an arty crowd, here for the exhibitions down the ramp, plus a bar that mixes some of the best negronis in town (natch).

5. Brewer Street Car Park Brewer Street, London, W1F 0LA It was quite the surprise last year when London Fashion Week moved from the glamorous courtyards of Somerset House to a car park. But the edgy Soho location proved to be a smart move, especially when detractors noticed how, behind the gaudy NCP logos stands a lovely Art Deco façade. For the rest of the year, The Vinyl Factory curates a rotating programme of installations.

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INSIDE THE OWNERS’ CLUB

T H AT ’S T H E S P I R I T ! CONTINUING OUR NEW REGULAR SPOT FOR FRONT SEAT PROFILING THE UK’S FINEST SINGLE-MARQUE AUTOMOTIVE ASSOCIATIONS, WE LIFT THE BONNET ON THE ROLLS-ROYCE ENTHUSIASTS’ CLUB – ONE OF THE MOST INCLUSIVE OUT THERE In August 1957, 11 like-minded car enthusiasts got together at a farm near Oxford having answered an advert in the local newspaper. The ad was aimed at getting together owners of pre-war Rolls-Royce motorcars… and thus was born the Rolls-Royce Enthusiasts’ Club. Today, almost 60 years and 9,000 members later, the RREC has broadened its horizons beyond the pre-war era. Now it embraces any car that wears a Spirit of Ecstasy on its bonnet as well as Bentley models produced when the marque was owned by R-R – with registers for every model pre- and post-war, including one dedicated to the Goodwood-built cars. “The Goodwood Register is a recent addition to the RREC,” says membership secretary Lisa Alderson, “but an important one as many of our members own not just older Silver Ghosts, 20hp, 25hp or Derby cars or later Silver Clouds and Silver Shadows but also have a Goodwood-built car as their daily driver.” As well as the 10 registers, all of which provide access to experts on the

particular model in question, the RREC has 38 regional sections in the UK and overseas – the Club is well represented in Switzerland, Germany and Sweden – organising regular meetings and events including tours, rallies, weekend and social gatherings. The highlight of the Club’s year is the Annual Rally and Concours, to be held this year at Burghley House in Lincolnshire on 24–26 June, which is said to be the largest gathering of Rolls-Royce and Bentley models anywhere in the world. The Club headquarters are established within the Sir Henry Royce Memorial

C AR ART

POP! GOES BENTLEY Just when you thought the Continental GT was eye-catching enough, Bentley’s bespoke Mulliner coachworks has gone and collaborated with the godfather of British pop art, Sir Peter Blake, to create a vibrantly decorated V8 S Convertible one-off. It will be auctioned by Bonhams at the Goodwood Festival of Speed on 24 June, with proceeds directly benefiting the Care2Save Charitable Trust, which provides palliative care around the world. The most striking feature of Sir Peter’s bold vision is the heart motif painted onto a Continental Yellow bonnet, symbolising the compassionate work of hospices. The rest of the exterior has been adorned with bright collage – a speciality of Sir Peter, most famously born out by the cover artwork of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – with “St Luke’s Blue” dominating the haunches, named in tribute to Bentley’s local hospice in Cheshire.

Foundation building – Hunt House in Paulerspury, Northamptonshire – where chassis cards, construction and test records for more than 100,000 cars are held in the archives greatly aiding restoration projects to be carried out. On that note, the Club offers extensive technical support with regular seminars held in its workshops plus a specialist tool hire service for members. Other benefits include the bi-monthly Bulletin, a 68-page glossy magazine that carries features on historical and technical subjects as well as a round-up of club events. You don’t have to be a Rolls-Royce owner to join up – all that’s required is an enthusiasm for the products built by, and later inspired by, Sir Henry Royce and his colleague the Hon Charles Rolls. It’s a wonderful spirit of inclusivity that’s even born out by the membership fee, which, as Lisa attests, “we endeavour to keep lower than the average cost of a tank of fuel.” rrec.org.uk

RREC CALENDAR Particularly choice events for the year ahead 24–26 JUNE: Annual Rally & Concours d’Elegance – Burghley House, Stamford 7 AUGUST: North of England Rally – Harewood House, Leeds 11–13 NOVEMBER: Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show – NEC, Birmingham 23–25 JUNE 2017: Annual Rally & Concours d’Elegance – Burghley House, Stamford

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NEW CONCEPT

DOUBLE BUBBLE FROM THE DIMPLED ROOF TO THE GAPING GRILLE, EVERY ZAGATO MOTIF IS PRESENT AND CORRECT IN THE ITALIAN COACHWORKS’ FIF TH, SHOWSTOPPING CONCEPT FOR ASTON MARTIN

It’s a collaboration stretching back six decades, yet in that time has produced just five, highly desirable models. The first was the glorious DB4 GT Zagato that appeared in 1960. The latest is one of the undoubted stars of the prestigious Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, held at Lake Como at the end of May. The mean, lean, scarlet-red Vanquish Zagato Concept was developed and engineered at Aston’s Gaydon HQ, but designed by the storied Milanese auto-stylist, Zagato, led by CEO Andrea Zagato himself. It is of course based on the flagship V12 Vanquish supercar, but incorporates design cues from special-edition Astons like the track-only Vulcan and One-77 as well as the forthcoming DB11, all mixed with some iconic Zagato touches, such as the deep grille, round tail-light reflectors and the famous “double-bubble” racing roofline – originally used to provide space for a driver’s crash helmet without compromising aerodynamic efficiency.

Shaped entirely from carbon fibre, the body features, “proportions that remain quintessentially Aston Martin and emphasise a dynamic, forward-looking stance,” goes the company line. The wing mirrors were inspired by those on One-77 while the rear end is similar to DB11’s aerodynamic profile, complete with retractable spoiler and rear hatch access to the luggage compartment. Vanquish Zagato is clearly a working concept, not just a show car (to match the bold design, the normally aspirated V12 has been boosted to 600hp). But what next? Aston CEO Andy Palmer (@AndyatAston) sent a teasing tweet from Villa d’Este: “We had so much attention this weekend about the Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato – should we produce it?” The overwhelming response was of course along the lines of “…why do you need to ask?” Watch this space, readers.

THREE OF THE BEST

A TO Z

F R O N T

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SUMMER SPFS ISSUE 13 OF DRIVE RECOMMENDED A CAUTIOUS APPROACH TO TOP-DOWN MOTORING, WITH THE BEST HATS TO WARD OFF THAT RESIDUAL SPRING CHILL. BUT WITH SUMMER MOST DEFINITELY UPON US, IT ’S UV R AYS THAT CONVERTIBLE DRIVERS SHOULD FEAR , ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU “FACTOR” IN THE FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY AFFORDED BY THE BREEZE BLOWING THROUGH THE COCKPIT. HERE ARE THREE OF THE BEST SUNCREAMS FOR WHICH YOUR SKIN WILL BE MOST THANKFUL

1960: DB4 GT ZAGATO Just 19 examples were built between 1960–62, with a further six official “Sanction II and Sanction III” models built in the 1990s. Lighter, smaller and more aerodynamic than the DB4.

1986: V8 VANTAGE ZAGATO Twenty-five years would pass before the second Aston-Zagato appeared, which was built as a coupé (52 examples) and a Volante (37). Controversial looks – and a huge bonnet bulge.

DERMALOGICA Pure Light SPF50 (£55)

2006: DB7 ZAGATO With 99 examples of the coupé and Americaonly roofless roadster (DBAR1) built, the DB7-based Zagato was almost commonplace in comparison to its forebears.

By no means the cheapest cream on the market, but one of the most advanced, thanks to Dermalogica’s tireless research into the science underpinning your body’s largest organ. This advanced daycream shields the skin using oleosome technology to boost SPF protection without having to add higher concentration of sunscreen agents, whilst a potent blend of red algae and botanical extracts helps balance uneven skin tone. Like most Dermalogica products, it’s unisex, so don’t be surprised if your supply depletes suspiciously quickly.

KIEHL’S Facial Fuel SPF15 (£33) It’s come a long way since humble beginnings as a family “apotheke” in East Village, Manhattan, but Kiehl’s traditional, old-world values of no-nonsense quality are intact throughout its broad range, especially this daily moisturiser, spiked usefully with just enough UV protection to not worry about applying extra block, but not so much that you won’t acquire a healthy glow throughout the summer. A bracing, reassuringly clinical scent reminds you that you’re doing your skin a whole lot of good, too.

LAB SERIES BB Tinted Moisturizer SPF35 (£36)

2011: V12 VANTAGE ZAGATO Created to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the DB4 GT Zagato, the V12 Vantage Zagato was designed at Gaydon, rather than Milan, but incorporated many of the familiar Zagato cues.

Another daily moisturiser, to apply straight after cleansing in the morning without needing to worry about additional SPF, you get a whole lot into the bargain here, including corrective and reparative treatment that perfects the skin instantly, plus (and you might not want to admit this to your admirers) a touch of “shade” that’ll adjust to any skin tone, lending a radiance to your complexion right from the start of summer.

F R O N T

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MODERN CLASSIC

ASTON MARTIN VIRAGE VOLANTE

TOYS IN THE HOOD The 1990 Virage Volante was a full four-seater, fitted with a fully powered retractable hood made from mohair. The interior hand-stitched Connolly hide featured polished burr walnut.

ANOTHER “MARMITE” MODEL FROM THE BRITISH MARQUE’S ERRATIC 1990S, THIS CONVERTIBLE MUSCLECAR IS FAST BECOMING A CULT COLLECTABLE

MOTORHEAD The Virage’s new V8 engine was a development of Aston’s tried-andtrusted 5.3-litre V8, featuring new cylinder heads with four valves per cylinder for better breathing and to overcome power losses from the use of catalytic converters.

WATCH WATCH:

W16 FOR THE WRIST

hile Bugatti’s newly unveiled 1,500bhp Chiron is incomparable to any other car – like its Veyron predecessor, it even trumps an F1 car for power and speed – the marque is not above a watch-brand tie-in. Parmigiani Fleurier has been licensed to draw direct inspiration from the Molsheim carmaker since 2004, resulting in watches that are as outrageously engineered as you’d hope. That year’s Type 370 was inspired by the formidable W16 engine block, its “transverse” movement exploding the usual sandwich of bridges and plates found in a mechanical movement, and laying them across the wrist with the dial sidelong. Easily readable while clutching a steering wheel, see? This year’s Type 390 is still a concept, but the movement is yet another tourde-force of engine-block futurism in the true spirit of the new Chiron. It manages to combine the tubular transverse arrangement of the Type 370 with a dual-plane plate arrangement by reorienting the mechanical transmission via bevelled gears. The cost? To be confirmed, but easily north of what you’d pay for a Lamborghini Aventador. And much easier to park. parmigiani.com

F R O N T

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ASTON M ARTIN

PRODUC ED

VIRAGE

- 1992-199

6 ENGINE - 5.3L V8 MAX POW ER - 354b hp TOP SPEE D - 155m ph NUMBER PRODUC ED - 223 RAREST - A V8 Vo lante long wheelba se was m ade betw 1997 and een 20 even rare 00; however, an r V8 Vant was mad age Vola nte e in 2000 to round things of f. Just ni ne the light of day, on cars saw e of which was a LW B varian t.

EXOTICA

FACTOR

SPECIFIC ATIONS

hen it made its debut at the 1988 Birmingham Motor Show, the Virage was, incredibly enough, Aston Martin’s first new car in nearly 20 years. Ford had recently purchased the company (along with Jaguar), and was taking the brand headlong into the modern era. This was to be Aston’s flagship model, sitting above the later DB7. Designers John Heffernan and Ken Greeley came up with a softer design than the outgoing V8 Vantage, dropping the muscle-car bonnet vents and fat tyres, but they still retained a good deal of the boxy, muscular aggression at the front and rear. Much was made at launch, however, of the number of borrowed parts one could find on a Virage – headlights and rear lights from an Audi 200 and VW Scirocco respectively; much of the dash from GM, Jaguar and Ford – and the car was, in truth, a mixed bag in more ways than one. Reviewing the Virage coupe for Car magazine in 1990, Rowan Atkinson (for it was indeed he) praised it to the heavens for its design, build quality and interior luxury (of the leather, he remarked that it was “the softest, smoothest stuff you’ve

6/10

ever slid your butt into”), but lamented the “agricultural” gearbox, “wallowy” ride and high asking price. The Virage coupe cost £125,000 – this at a time when a Ferrari Testarossa was £111,999 and a Mercedes 500 SL £61,520. The Virage had its roof sliced off in 1990, again debuting in Birmingham as the Virage Volante. It boasted a fully electric roof mechanism, lined with mohair, and the same hand-stitched Connolly leather inside that Blackadder liked so much. Under the bonnet was the same 5.3 litre V8 that the

coupe had launched with – a 32-valve beast with heads designed by famed Corvette tuning house Callaway, and Weber-Marelli fuel injection. It created 330 horsepower, taking the four-seater on to a top speed of 158mph (the first Volante shown in 1990 had just two seats, but the production models were all 2+2). In 1992 Aston offered owners the option to convert their puny 5.3-litre V8 to 6.3-litre, which hailed originally from the Group C AMR1 racer. This brought the power up to a phenomenal 500hp, and increased the top speed to 174mph. The Volante ceased production in 1996, to be followed by a long wheelbase version in 1997. Just 64 of these were produced (at-aglance spotter’s guide: the long wheelbase version has a small air intake in front of the rear wheels). For now, it might seem like a stop-gap between the V8 Vantage iterations of the Eighties and late Nineties, but in time, the Virage and Virage Volante will surely have their deserved time in the sun as quintessential examples of that heavily rounded earlyNineties style.

The most famous owner of the Virage Volante was none other than HRH Prince of Wales, who often drove to polo matches in his Special British Racing Green 1993 example. Charles chose to tick the 6.3-litre conversion option but unusually kept the standard (non-wide) body. It sold at Bonhams in 2012 for almost £120,000 – twice the estimated hammer price, which could be good news for anyone interested in investing in the pristine, 500-mileage example currently being sold by H.R. Owen’s Classic Cars division.

Words by Chris Hall

hrowen.co.uk/Classic-Cars

PRINCELY ENDORSEMENT

FACTORY OLFACTORY

TOP NOTES THE LATEST FRAGRANCE FROM BENTLEY IS AN “INFINITE RUSH” OF ROSEMARY, VETIVER AND AMBER WOOD

ollowing exclusive launches at Harrods in 2013, the car maker from Crewe’s range of fragrances now counts as one of the benchmarks in top-luxury perfumery. And say what you want about automotive merchandising, but there’s no denying its authenticity and sheer heady wonderfulness; in keeping with its promise of top-notch craftsmanship, the brand has called on renowned “noses” from French perfume houses to quite literally distil the essence of Bentley. With this year’s release of Infinite Rush, it’s the turn of Mylène Alran, hailing from Robertet – a family-owned company

based in the famed “perfume town” of Grasse just north of Cannes, which specialises in natural, raw materials. unique mosaic pattern. Sure enough, this is an eau de toilette with a real freshness to the rosemary and mandarin top notes (that so-called “rush” of adrenaline), followed by a cocktail of spices such as fennel to electrify the senses. Stirring woody base notes conjure up Bentley’s characteristic universe of luxury and warmth. Bentley Infinite Rush goes even further with the bottle, varnished with a crackle effect whose cracks retract haphazardly, giving every bottle a totally unique mosaic pattern.

P R E - D R I V E N

PRE-DRIVEN The approved-used side of H.R. Owen’s business is growing fast, with as broad a cross-section of luxury cars as you could imagine – all in “as-new” condition and offered with a comprehensive manufacturer-approved unlimited mileage warranty. What’s more, it isn’t just a one-way street: H.R. Owen are always looking for high specification cars to buy, and as a reader of DRIVE magazine it’s likely your car may be just what we are looking for. So get in touch if you’re selling, and we may well be buying from you instead. www.hrowen.co.uk/approved-used

2011 ASTON MARTIN VANTAGE S V8 SPORT SHIFT COUPE Cobalt Blue with Obsidian Black interior

2015 ASTON MARTIN V12 VANTAGE S ROADSTER Meteorite Silver with Red interior

2007 BENTLEY CONTINENTAL GT 6.0 W12 SPEED 2DR AUTO Granite with Beluga Hide interior

2010 BENTLEY CONTINENTAL SUPERSPORTS Red with Black interior

9,628 miles

1,250 miles

23,385 miles

25,000 miles

£65,950

£127,950

£59,950

£74,950

BENTLEY CONTINENTAL GTC 4.0 V8S MULLINER DRIVING SPEC Jetstream with Beluga interior

2015 FERRARI CALIFORNIA T Rosso California with Nero interior

2013 FERRARI F12 BERLINETTA Nero Daytona with Nero interior

13,290 miles

10,149 miles

2015 LAMBORGHINI HURACAN LP 610-4 S-A Arancio Borealis with Nero interior

£169,950

£153,950

£214,950

£177,950

2013 LAMBORGHINI GALLARDO LP 570-4 Bianco Monocerus (White) with Black Alcantara interior

2016 MASERATI GRANTURISMO SPORT MC AUTO Bianco Eldorado with Rosso Corolla

2015 MASERATI QUATTROPORTE GTS Nero Ribelle with Cuoio interior

2015 ROLLS-ROYCE WRAITH Black Kirsch and Jubilee Silver with Moccasin and Black interior

14,080 miles

1,000 miles

£149,950

£91,950

£69,950

£229,950

2015 ROLLS-ROYCE GHOST Arctic White with Seashell with Black interior

2013 PORSCHE 911 CARRERA S PDK Grey with Silver interior

2014 AUDI R8 4.2 FSI V8 QUATTRO 2DR S TRONIC White with Black interior

2010 ALFA ROMEO 8C SPIDER Rosso Alfa with Nero interior

1,535 miles

3,113 miles

28,511 miles

5,400 miles

£209,950

6,875 miles

2,089 miles

5,500 miles

6,612 miles

£66,950

£72,950

£174,950

HARRODS BULLION BUY ONLINE AT HARRODSBANK.CO.UK HARRODS BANK LIMITED • 87-135 BROMPTON ROAD, KNIGHTSBRIDGE, LONDON SW1X 7 XL • TEL: +4 4 (0)20 7225 6789 • FA X: +4 4 (0)20 7225 3712 REGISTERED IN ENGL AND AND WALES UNDER COMPANY REGISTR ATION NUMBER 0955491. AUTHORISED BY THE PRUDENTIAL REGUL ATION AUTHORIT Y AND REGUL ATED BY THE FINANCIAL CONDUC T AUTHORIT Y AND THE PRUDENTIAL REGUL ATION AUTHORIT Y (FRN 204 479)

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TOP BILLING VINTAGE MOTORING POSTERS THAT ONCE ADORNED BILLBOARDS BROADCASTING TO THE JAZZ AGE ARE AN ARTFORM IN THEIR OWN RIGHT, RARE AS HEN’S TEETH AND MASSIVELY DESIRABLE AS A RESULT. HERE’S SIMON DE BURTON’S GUIDE TO COLLECTING THE COOLEST ADVERTS OF ALL TIME

t takes an unusually imaginative car advertisement to excite the jaded motoring public nowadays, but during the early 1900s the unstoppable advance of the new-fangled automobile was every ad man’s wildest dreams come true. Motor cars were characterised by speed, glamour and exclusivity. The people who drove them were rich, brave and adventurous, they wore outfits that reflected their dashing image and they apparently

gave not a jot for their own safety. All in all , the ideal ingredients for a great picture – but the era preceded by decades the wide-scale use of photography as an advertising medium. It did, however, coincide with the time that painters such as Edouard Manet, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Edouard Vuillard, along with pioneer poster artist Jules Cheret, perfected the technique of chromolithographic printing, which allowed large images to be reproduced accurately in vibrant colours.

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The process was already being used successfully to promote the theatre and the circus, but the arrival of the motor car opened up a whole new world to artists who were called upon by manufacturers including Mercedes, Fiat, Renault and Peugeot to depict the performance and glamour of their products with eye-catching poster designs. Now the relatively rare survivors from this golden age of automobile advertising can be worth as much as many a classic car. The most paid to date is more than £100,000 at Italian auction house Bolaffi for a striking depiction by Pliniot Codognato of a 1923 Grand Prix Fiat being driven by Tazio Nuvolari in an early example of competition success being used to sell road cars (“win on Sunday, sell on Monday,” as they say). However, you don’t always need to take out a second mortgage in order to be able to own a striking original from the golden age of speed. Good-condition images showing goggled racing drivers wrestling with bucking steering wheels and torpedo-bodied sports cars kicking up rooster tails of gravel can be picked up for as little as £500. London-based automobilia dealer Simon Khachadourian has been following the steady rise of the pre-war motoring poster since the early 1970s, when the Victoria & Albert Museum recognised the subject as an art form and staged an exhibition with pioneer English collector James Barron called The Art of the Automobile. “Compared with the number of posters which were produced, the survival rate is absolutely minuscule,” says Khachadourian. “Although hundreds of copies of a certain image might have been printed, 99% would probably have been trashed because they were pasted on billboards and hastily ripped down again so the site could be used by someone else. “To make things worse, the process of chromolithographic printing allowed the use of very cheap, poor quality paper which was known as ‘biftek’ – because it was exactly the same stuff used by butchers to wrap meat.” This, combined with the destruction caused by two world wars and the fact that, by the 1940s, posters were becoming old hat as photography took over, makes it all the more remarkable that so many wonderful and evocative images do survive by celebrated automobile artists such as Rene Vincent, Ernest Montaut (the first artist to specialise exclusively in automobile images) and Georges Hamel (who signed himself simply Geo. Ham). Occasionally (but increasingly rarely) batches of unused posters in mint condition emerge from obscurity during clear-outs of defunct printing works, or they might be re-deiscovered in the dark corners of long-established motor dealers, or among the effects of former garage or race track workers who helped themselves to a bundle for posterity. One of the most sought-after motoring posters of all is an 1898 image worth up to £20,000 which does not feature a single car – but does mark the first appearance of the Michelin man created by Maurice Roussillon, a top poster artist who used the alias O’Galop.

“A LT H O U G H H U N D R E D S O F C O P I E S M I G H T H AV E B E E N P R I N T E D, 99% WO U L D P R O B A B LY H AV E BEEN TRASHED BECAUSE THEY WERE PASTED ON BILLBOARDS AND HASTILY RIPPED DOWN AGAIN”

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P O S T E R S

Previous page: One of the most collectable motoring posters is 1898’s “Nunc est Bibendum”, showing the original Michelin Man drinking a goblet of sharp road debris without deflating (unlike his dining companions). This example sold at Sotheby’s in 2013 for $46,000. Opposite page, top, from left to right: An original Brooklands 11th International 200 Miles Race poster from 1938; an original Brooklands Whit Monday poster for 1932, known as “The Right Crowd and No Crowding”, sold at Bonhams’ Goodwood Festival of Speed sale last year for £937; a rare “Dunlop Ballon” advertising poster after artwork by Pierre Charles Delarue-Nouvelliere, circa 1922, depicting the tyre “at the track on a hollow-rim”, sold at Bonhams last year for £1,250; a rare poster from the 1920s, advertising the French marque, La Buire.

ART DECO IN PIMLICO

PULLMAN EDITIONS’ 21ST CENTURY TAKE ON VINTAGE MOTORING POSTERS

Opposite page, below: An original poster for the BRDC 500 Mile race at Brooklands, 1933, depicting Birkin’s single-seater “Blower” Bentley leading the 10½ litre Delage on the Banking.

Pullman Editions is an ingenious off-shoot of the Pullman Gallery, which specialises in creating new, limited-edition posters inspired by the eye-catching artwork of those produced during the “golden era” of the early 1900s. Simon Khachadourian and his wife, Georgina, commission leading contemporary poster artists to create original images in the classic, art deco style which are then reproduced in limited numbers using chromolithographic printing and top quality paper. Currently, 35 different motoring images are available, together with similar numbers of ski and travelthemed posters. They cost £395 each. pullmaneditions.com

O C C A S I O N A L LY, B AT C H E S O F U N U S E D P O S T E R S I N M I N T C O N D I T I O N E M E R G E FROM OBSCURITY DURING CLEAR-OUTS OF DEFUNCT PRINTING WORKS, OR THEY MIGHT B E R E - D I S C O V E R E D I N T H E D A R K C O R N E R S O F O L D M O T O R D E A L E R S…

Although today we regard the famous Monsieur Bibendum as a friendly character, O’Galop’s original was a more sinister creature shown preparing to consume the contents of a large goblet crammed with broken glass, nails and other road debris to demonstrate the puncture-resisting qualities of Michelin tyres. “Nunc est Bibendum” had to be toned down after parents reported that it was scaring their children. More accessible, and possibly easier to live with, are the less rare works which can be picked up at auction for below £1,000, the sort of money which will buy a striking vintage image advertising oil lamps, petrol, oil or tyres. A little more, perhaps £1,500–3,000, will secure posters promoting prewar motor races or well known makes of car, while £3,000-plus buys high quality artwork produced to publicise major events such as the Monaco Grand Prix of the 1930s and the era’s most prestigious car marques, such as Delage, Alfa Romeo and Bugatti.

Bugatti commissioned five different factory posters, four of which were produced in tiny numbers and are subsequently very rare. The fifth, showing a Bugatti Autorail train beside a Type 57 car, was printed in such quantity that the numerous leftovers were used by the factory as packaging for spare parts – a mint condition original is now worth £600–800. Toby Wilson, automobilia specialist at Bonhams auction house, says the rising popularity of motoring posters has led to some collectors being palmedoff with modern fakes. “Inexperienced buyers need to look for a guarantee that they are buying a genuine piece that is actually old. Beware, also, of buying a motoring poster via the Internet unless it is from a respected dealer – if you can’t see it, there is no way of telling if it is the genuine article whereas, with time, it becomes possible to recognise old paper and old printing. “After that, the most important point to consider with motoring posters is whether or not you can live with them – they were designed to catch the eye, and that is exactly what they still do every time you look at them.”

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C O N T E N T

MEET THE NEW MET Gone are the Brit Pack, Brit Pop and Cool Britannia – a new, cooler crowd has moved into a landmark hotel, completely reimagined

easoned, pleasure-seeking globetrotters will be plenty familiar with COMO Hotels and Resorts’ trademark brand of paradise retreats. Whether it’s Bali, Turks and Caicos, or the Maldives, you can always be sure of an infinity pool, tropical seclusion and suitably balmy weather. All of which happen to be absent from one of COMO’s lesser-known acquisitions: the famous-inits-own-right Metropolitan. Overlooking London’s bustling Hyde Park Corner, gazing across the park, with the cityscape sweeping beyond, you couldn’t get more urban if you tried. And yet, in a way, you couldn’t get more “COMO” if you tried. It’s usually impossible to escape our capital’s hustle and bustle, but thanks to the COMO Metropolitan London’s floor-toceiling glazing, towering poise and neighbouring greenery, your room feels like a tropical retreat in itself – light flooding in, trees swaying outside, next to no sound of traffic. It’s this unique aspect that COMO has cleverly played on for the hotel’s top-to-toe redesign, completed in autumn last year. A crisp, yet serene contemporary aesthetic has been rendered in sunsoaked whites with accents of vibrant yellow. Light floods all 144 rooms and suites whilst uncluttered

COMO METROPOLITAN LONDON’S F L O O R -T O - C E I L I N G G L A Z I N G A N D NEIGHBOURING GREENERY MEANS YOUR ROOM IS A SANCTUARY FROM T H E C A P I TA L’ S H U S T L E A N D B U S T L E

wood and upholstered furnishings play second fiddle to the view and pervading sense of sanctuary. Of course, should you crave even more calm, a COMO Shambhala Urban Escape spa is present and correct downstairs on the second floor, taking a highly personalised approach to fitness and wellbeing in a sleek, minimalist environment. Just as sleek and minimalist as the sushi served at Nobu on the first floor, in fact – almost 20 years young, and still as exciting on the palette. COMO Metropolitan London is, in a nutshell, the perfect urban bolthole – welcoming, unfussy, cutting edge, and – most importantly – calm. Being London, however, the only thing COMO can’t guarantee is the weather. Best pack a brolly. comohotels.com

E U R O P E A N

F E S T I V A L

S P E C I A L

Last year, our Road Trip pages gave you the inside track on “weekending” two of the UK’s finest new festivals, No.6 in Portmeirion and Kendal Calling in Cumbria. But in an ever-more crowded landscape of musical extravaganzas, the sheer choice can be overwhelming, not to mention increasingly hard to book at short notice. So why not throw your flip-flops into the boot, hop across the Channel, and let your hair down at one of Europe’s classic gatherings? You don’t even need to camp at one of them!

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the nation’s capital and global fashion hub, Madrid, arriving in the afternoon for some last-minute festival additions at the Mercado de Fuenncaral before an evening of indulgence at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Ritz, Madrid. Built in 1910 by King Alfonso XIII, this Belle Epoque palace in the city’s “Golden Triangle” of culture helped establish Madrid as one of the truly great European cities and is routinely cited as one of the world’s top ten hotels, having also acted as a military hospital during the civil war. Duly indulged, set off early, out of the city on the R3 to Tarancon. Spain’s highways glide across the country’s arable interior making light work of the often arid but spectacular landscape. Continue down onto the A40 to the town of Cuenca in Casta La Mancha, the third least populated region of Europe,

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taking in the utterly stunning although slightly unsettling “Hanging Houses”. No less of a wonder are the town’s culinary delights; try La Bodeguilla de Basilio, an eccentric, standing-only place with a superb menu and an excellent saffron-flavoured Manchego cheese. Roaring on down through the country on the A3, take a moment to view the Viaducto del Istmo as you emerge from the tunnel (no doubt having made the most of its acoustics) and if there’s any steam left in the tank then stop in at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo. A favourite on the MotoGP circuit and F1 teams for test purposes the track features an 876-metre straight and a capacity of 120,000. Once into Valencia, unless camping is your thing, CUENCA

idely regarded as one of the most exciting on the international festival circuit, Benicàssim is something of a boisterous young upstart compared to its cultured Swiss cousin. Although no spring chicken, in its 22nd year, the beach-based FIB (Festival Internacional de Benicàssim) entertains exuberant sun worshipers in their droves, many staying for more than a week to lap up the eclectic mix of pop, rock, electro and a burgeoning number of short films, fashion and art exhibitions. Chances to indulge your hedonistic and touring ambitions rarely come as neatly as this, interior Spain’s vast expanse of steamroller-flat tarmac giving way to winding, meandering hillsides and undulating mountain passes in the autonomous region of Valencia – a grand tourer’s dream. We’d suggest beginning your Hispanic expedition in

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BEST STRETCH Serra Calderona National Park If by any chance you fancy delving off the beaten track and that last stretch into Benicassim doesn’t quite catch your eye, on your way out of Valencia head onto the CV-310 and take yourself up into the Serra Calderona National Park. The fun way round, this intricate, challenging road winds through dense forest and olive groves, ascending more than 900 metres before culminating in a hairpin and handling section to rival most race tracks.

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hrowen.co.uk/ Maserati

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mandarinoriental.com/ritzmadrid carohotel.com fiberfib.com

use the Granturismo is powered by a Ferrari derived 4.2 litre V8, packing some real punch with over 400bhp and delivering that crackling roar you’d expect from Il Tridente while providing ample room for four and unrivalled ride quality.

PARC NATURAL

WHICH CAR? Maserati Granturismo Emblematic of your Valencian excursion, the Maserati Granturismo offers it’s own blend of refinement and hedonistic thrill, this superb GT’s performance being matched only by its practicality on the road. Equally comfortable negotiating the foothills of Cuenca or idling Valencia’s boardwalks the sleek and stylish body is unmistakably Maserati and has the voice to match. Created for everyday

there are few better boutique hotels this end of the continent than the Hotel Caro. A five-star hidden gem, the old building’s foundations protrude stunningly into the Michelin-endorsed restaurant and 26 bespoke bedrooms. There’s even off-road parking for your faithful steed. Finally it’s on to the festival itself, only an hour down the E-15 and a final opportunity to really open up on the excellent A-roads this country has to offer. This year’s acts include Muse, Jamie XX and Florence + the Machine. But The Prodigy, Portishead, Blur and even Public Enemy are also at hand if you fancy something a little more mainstream…

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e can all hum the legendary opening guitar riff of Deep Purple’s Smoke on the Water, but do you know where the song title actually comes from? Far from the immediate mental image of certain narcotic-related apparatus, it is in fact a reference to the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. In 1971, during a Frank Zappa concert at the grand old Casino, a member of the audience fired a flare into the rattan ceiling, causing the whole complex to burn to the ground – the smoke billowing across Lake Geneva’s serene waters for the rest of the night. It’s just one remarkable event in the Festival’s 50-year history, whose anniversary is being celebrated in no uncertain terms this year from July 1st through 16th, with the biggest line-up yet. It’s long since ceased to be exclusively jazz-related of course – a fact underlined by performances from Muse, DJ Shadow, Mogwai, Patti Smith, PJ Harvey and, believe it or not, Slayer. Of the entire, flourishing European festival scene, it’s a prime option for petrolheads wanting an excuse to stretch their GT car’s legs this summer, with the rapid A-roads of France injecting you straight into the heart of the Continent, followed immediately by the challenging mountain roads of the Swiss Jura and a serene lakeside cruise, before being deposited in Montreux itself – a delightful Riviera town that comes alive throughout the Festival’s fortnight. With a prevailing wind it could take little over 11 hours, but we’d recommend affording yourself a

final full night’s sleep back home and bringing your first layover forward to Epernay, France, deep in the heart of Champagne region. Come off the A4 at Reims on exit 23 and head south on the D951. Once in town, check yourself into the beautifully restored L’Hôtel La Villa Eugène, a Belle Epoque gem that

once belonged to the Mercier family of winemakers. There are just 15 rooms, and a parking space is available for every room booked, meaning it’s a popular hotel for driving clubs and motoring press trips. So you might want to stop at a car wash before arriving… Having blasted down the A26, A5, A31 and A36 past Besançon, you’re soon over the Swiss border and deep into Jura country – home to the world’s finest watchmaking and in particular the Jazz Festival’s principal sponsor, the particularly fine watchmaker Parmigiani Fleurier. A relatively young brand, its eponymous founder’s contemporary twist on classical horology has been impressively industrialised by its “Vaucher” facility in Fleurier – a

fascinating complex of ateliers, tours of which can occasionally be organised (pop into Parmigiani’s boutique on Mount Street in Mayfair for a quiet word… you never know.) From there, it’s a gloriously twisty ascent through fir forests, and back over the Jura towards Lake Geneva. Just before reaching Montreux itself, you could stop at Vevey to visit a remarkable new museum, just opened in April: Chaplin’s World. Situated in the legendary Hollywood star’s final resting place, the home of “The Great Dictator” himself has been ambitiously converted into a definitive historical tribute, endorsed by Charlie’s son, Michael Chaplin. You have a heady few nights ahead at the Festival itself, so make sure you book yourself into the finest hotel in Montreux: the Fairmont Le Montreux

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BEST STRETCH Route du Lac Once past Lausanne on the E23, make sure you hop off the A9 at junction 11, and wind south onto the Route du Lausanne leading into Route du Lac. You’re skirting Lake Geneva, flanked thickly by vertiginous vineyards, with the Alps rising over the water to your right. Covering 800 hectares, Lavaux is the largest contiguous vineyard region in Switzerland, and its daringly constructed hillside terraces have been protected by UNESCO since 2007.

EPERNAY Champagne Aspasie During your layover in Epernay, why not explore (and sample) a little of the local horticulture? The 400-year-old house of Champagne Aspasie in Brouillet is on the way back to the A4 and offers free visits and tastings, not to mention bottles of its sublime Brut Tradition for just €14.50.

WHICH CAR? Aston Martin Rapide S With seats in the back for the kids (probably the only reason you might be persuaded to see DJ Shadow), ample bootspace for a case of Champagne Aspasie, not to mention what you might find in Lavaux (the Chasselas is a local speciality) you’d be forgiven for thinking the Rapide is far from capable of delivering the sort of GT thrills for which its two-door siblings are famed. But that’s precisly what Aston’s designers and engineers set out to avoid. The lithe, coupe silhouette is still thrillingly redolent of the DB9 and the performance still determinedly biased towards driver entertainment. There’s nothing quite like that naturally aspirated V12, which delivers a sprint time of 4.2s and 552bhp of power – 18% over the original, non-S Rapide.

champagneaspasie.com

hrowen.co.uk/AstonMartin

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(named after the event’s founder, appropriately enough). Known locally as “The Pearl of the Swiss Riviera”, guests enjoy yet more magnificent views of Lake Geneva and the Alps (on a clear day). What’s more, if your journey has tired you out, you can just amble downstairs from your room to the Montreux Jazz Café – your very own in situ venue. villa-eugene.com parmigiani.ch chaplinsworld.com montreuxjazzfestival.com fairmont.com/montreux

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DAY B R E A K E R [ FIRST DRIVE ] The Rolls-Royce Dawn heralds a new era, let alone a new day for Chichester’s finest, reckons Andrew Frankel, managing to be the industry’s finest luxury convertible in the process

t doesn’t matter whether you’re talking about a LaFerrari, a Land Rover Defender, a Smart ForTwo or a Rolls-Royce Dawn: in these days of jelly-mould design and one-size-fits-all engineering, it is a delight to see there are still some cars out there that are designed to do one job only, and to a standard unrivalled by any other on earth. For however good a convertible you think you drive, however comfortable and quiet it may be, the Dawn will take your idea of ultimate drop-top luxury and burn it before your eye. I exaggerate not at all. With the three-layer roof raised, the Dawn is so quiet its engineers have admitted it makes less noise than the fixed head Wraith upon which it is based. At its launch in South Africa, I drove it over speed bumps you’d swerve to avoid in the UK and even over train lines while my passenger remained blissfully ignorant of the terrain we were traversing. I don’t know a saloon from another manufacturer that rides as well as this, let alone a convertible. Its refinement is similarly unrivalled.

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H OW FA R H A S R O L L S G O N E? FA R E N O U G H TO S WA D D L E THE ROOF ’S ELECTRIC MOTORS IN INSULATING MATERIALS SO THAT IF YOU R AISE OR LOWER THE ROOF AT A STANDSTILL THE ENTIRE PROCESS IS ALMOST INAUDIBLE

So soothing is the experience of driving this vast open-topped Rolls-Royce that, temporarily at least, it can even change who you are. If there is a rule that says there is no driving experience available on great, open and deserted roads that cannot be improved by going faster, the Dawn is the exception that proves it. You can drive it fast thanks to the mighty 6.6-litre twin turbo V12 under its endless bonnet, and it will indulge such behaviour with a kind of benevolent indifference, but its character is such that it makes you want to ease off, sit back and chill. It’s one of just a handful of cars in which you find yourself genuinely wanting any journey, even in heavy traffic, to take more and not less time. It got that way because Rolls took one critical decision when creating the Dawn. Faced with cutting so much of the top of the car away and the inevitable loss of structural strength that would result, the choice was to accept that its chassis would wobble a bit and minimise weight gain by only adding essential additional strengthening, or let the car weigh what it’s going to weigh and do the job properly. In any other car, the compromise would be the correct decision, but a Rolls-Royce Dawn does not subscribe to such common sense rules. Rolls added the weight and took the hit in terms of fuel consumption,

performance, emissions and handling because none of these lie at the core of the job the Dawn had to do. How far has Rolls gone? Far enough even to swaddle the roof ’s electric motors in insulating materials so that if you raise or lower the roof while the car is at a standstill the entire process is almost inaudible. If you do it on the move and at up to the 30mph top speed permissible, it is inaudible. This then is more than just the best luxury convertible on the market, it is a truly great Rolls-Royce too. Sumptuous within, truly gorgeous without and with a range of relevant talent no other can approach, it is exactly the kind of no-compromise cabriolet the world’s most revered and regarded luxury car brand should be building. At £264,000 it is beyond the reach of many even before you consider the £50,000 in optional extras and personal commissioning the average Dawn owner will spend. But spend any time at all in this exquisite and extraordinary machine and you will struggle to say it’s not worth it. hrowen.co.uk/Rolls-Royce

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HIGH ROLLER A silver fox with a winning smile, the German CEO of Rolls-Royce is responsible for transforming the world’s most renowned luxury brand into something younger and more international. In a refreshingly candid interview exclusively with DRIVE, Torsten Müller-Ötvös reveals the future of Rolls, its relevance to the SUV market and why, after 20 years as a BMW career man, he’s here till retirement

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WORDS : MATTHEW CARTER // PORTRAITS : SVEN ESELGROTH

“sexy” convertible is now on sale. A “high-bodied” car (that’s But despite this obvious heritage in tough, go-anywhere vehicles, Mülleran SUV to you and me) is on the way. Annual sales have Ötvös denies that today’s Rolls-Royce is late in developing its first SUV. quadrupled since 2009 and owners are getting younger. “It is a trend and we have been looking at it for some while. There can be little doubt that Rolls-Royce is changing. “These are cars that can be used for all purposes – for driving to the And the architect of all that change is a tall, elegant opera, for driving down to the harbour – with plenty of space for all the German with a winning smile. Torsten Müller-Ötvös has been CEO since family; even the dog. You can do everything with these cars and this is what March 2010, arriving at same time as Ghost. On his watch, Rolls-Royce our customers are asking for. has introduced Wraith (2013), updated Ghost with the “But are we a little bit late to the party? I would say 2014 Series II and launched Dawn this year. definitely not… who joins a party when the party starts? “A R E W E A L I T T L E B I T But perhaps the most significant new model, the Better to arrive when it is in full swing!” LATE TO THE PARTY?” one that could encapsulate the “TMO” years when Whatever the production version will be called – future historians come to analyse the Rolls-Royce and Müller-Ötvös is not saying – “Cullinan” will arrive HE PONDERS OF PROJECT renaissance, won’t be here for a couple of years yet. towards the end of 2018. It will have four-wheel drive CULLINAN’S ENTRY TO THE Known publicly as Project Cullinan – named after but, despite what other manufacturers (notably Bentley) S U V M A R K E T. “ I W O U L D what was the world’s largest uncut diamond when it are doing, there won’t be a diesel. S AY D E F I N I T E LY N O T. W H O was discovered in South Africa in 1905 – Rolls-Royce What about an emissions-lowering electric-petrol JOINS A PARTY WHEN THE is developing its first four-wheel–drive SUV because… hybrid or a pure electric Rolls-Royce? well, because the customers have demanded it. “We listen to what our customers want and, so far, PARTY STARTS? BET TER In an open letter published last year to no-one is asking for a diesel or for four-wheel drive TO ARRIVE WHEN IT IS introduce the concept, Torsten Müller-Ötvös wrote: on our other cars. And while they liked the power IN FULL SWING!” “Rolls-Royces conveyed pioneers and adventurers and silence of the experimental electric vehicle we like Lawrence of Arabia across the vastness of produced – the Phantom 102EX – so long as there are unexplored deserts and over mountain ranges. In other parts of compromises like a restricted range and a long charging time, pure theworld including Australia, India and the Americas, Rolls-Royces electric power is unacceptable for Rolls-Royce. carried their owners over challenging terrain with absolute reliability “As for a hybrid, we are not big enough to develop our own system and comfort. so we have to wait for BMW to produce the technology for us. But we “[Cullinan] will embody all the values and capabilities that drove are also waiting to see what the legal aspects of this are; there is some our two Founding Fathers [sic.] to secure Rolls-Royce’s reputation, early talk that big cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Los Angeles might shut last century, by taking top honours in rigorous overland adventures out the combustion engine completely… and that will include hybrids. such as the Scottish Reliability Trials, the London to Edinburgh event Rest assured, however, that we are on it and that Rolls-Royce will offer an and the Alpine Trials.” alternative drivetrain in the future.”

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This spread and overleaf: Rolls-Royce’s charismatic CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös in conversation with DRIVE’s Matthew Carter at the marque’s Goodwood headquarters, West Sussex. Opposite page left: The engineering mule for Rolls-Royce’s “Project Cullinan” SUV development programme. The final, as-yet-unnamed production car is expected to launch in early 2018. Above: Unveiled at this year’s Geneva Motor Show and aimed squarely at Rolls-Royce’s newfound, younger, edgier customer base, the Black Badge versions of the Ghost and Wraith see a power boost and a moody colour treatment that even stretches to the Spirit of Ecstasy.

Although Cullinan will increase Rolls-Royce’s global sales volume, MüllerÖtvös does not believe its arrival will compromise Rolls-Royce’s carefully nurtured exclusivity. “We aren’t offering any cars below Ghost, price-wise, so we are maintaining our position in the super-high-end luxury market. We are not tempted to go down to lower segments for pure volume reasons – it would be very easy to do this and we could double, triple, our sales. “But we are custodians of a very precious brand, probably the most well known luxury brand in the world. We are selling to an extremely demanding clientele, people prepared to pay more than £1 million for a Phantom with Bespoke options and who want… no, expect exclusivity. “They don’t want to see ‘their’ car on every street corner. They want to make sure their own car remains a rare object of extreme luxury, something they have commissioned themselves. For us, volume is counter-productive.” That might appear at odds with the fact that sales have increased dramatically since Müller-Ötvös arrived at Goodwood, from just over 1,000 cars in 2009 to 4,063 in 2014, the company’s best ever year. “Yes, we have quadrupled sales in the last five years or so. But this is because we have extended our reach into new markets rather than simply increasing sales in existing ones. We have a created a nice global footprint for ourselves, moving into new areas in Asia, the Middle East, Europe, North America… All the hotspots where you find ultra high-net-worth individuals are now covered.” Another reason why sales have risen is down to cars like Ghost and Wraith, and not just because they don’t cost as much as Phantom. “We are no longer a chauffeur company where the cars are just meant for people sitting in the back. Today our cars are also meant to be enjoyed from behind the wheel, in particular Wraith and Dawn. Wraith is bought 100% by self-driving owners and Dawn was designed to be easy and relaxed for self-drivers.

PROFILE: TORSTEN MÜLLER-ÖTVÖS

Age: 56 Born: Germany Lives: England Career: BMW Project Leader in Marketing, 1989–1991; BMW Head of Department in Product Strategies, 1992–1996; BMW Vice President – International Market and Trend Research, 1996–1998; BMW Vice President – Brand Strategy/Market and Trend Research, 1998–2000; MINI Director of Brand Strategy and Product Management, 2000–2003; BMW Group Senior Vice President Central Marketing and Brand Management, 2004–2008; BMW Group Senior Vice President Product Management Automobiles and Aftersales, 2008–2010; Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Chief Executive Officer, since March 2010.

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Right: The highly technical interior of the Rolls-Royce Ghost’s Black Badge edition cocoons its passengers with a mysterious, almost vampish allure.

arrival in early 2018. It will be based on new aluminiumarchitecture “That has put many customers we haven’t seen before into our cars. that is lighter and even stronger than the current car while the same With Wraith, we have seen for the first time Ferrari customers becoming technology – said to include much greater use of carbon-fibre reinforced our clients. I’m not saying that they have sold their Ferrari – these guys plastic – will be used for the SUV. and girls have big garages housing many, many cars – but they are saying Cullinan has meant the demise of two Phantom variants, however. that although they knew Rolls-Royce was a great brand they never knew “We will not be replacing Phantom Coupé or Phantom Drophead. they were such fun to drive. Wraith made that happen.” Why? We are quite a small company, we employ 1,500 people and we It has also created perhaps the most significant change in the sell 4,000 cars a year. I am not swimming in investment company’s recent history, by dramatically lowering the money, so for that reason we make deliberate, carefully average age of buyers. What was once seen as an older thought-through business decisions as to where to man’s car is now being bought by young, self-made “WE ARE NO LONGER A spend that money. Although it would be nice to invest millennials. The average age of the Rolls-Royce buyer C H A U F F E U R C O M P A N Y. this money in replacements for these two models, we today is around 44. WR AITH IS BOUGHT 100% BY now have Dawn so we feel the money is better spent on This, in turn, has helped the development of the SELF-DRIVING OWNERS AND a project like Cullinan.” “Black Badge” series. So the business plan is clearly working and within “Black Badge is Rolls-Royce’s alter-ego, something DAW N WA S D E S I G N E D TO a couple of years the product range will be one of the a little bit darker, a bit more menacing. It is edgier and BE EASY AND RELAXED FOR youngest in the business. Time for Müller-Ötvös, a aimed at a younger, people who are more outgoing, a SELF-DRIVERS. THIS HAS past managing director of Mini, to practice his magic little more aggressive. They are rule breakers, disrupters, PUT MANY CUSTOMERS WE elsewhere within the BMW empire, perhaps? unconventional thinkers… H AV E N ’ T S E E N B E F O R E I N TO “I hope not. I want to stay here until I retire,” says “What we have done with Black Badge is to make the Müller-Ötvös who is now in his mid-fifties. “I am at the cars unconventional. We even made the Spirit of Ecstasy OUR CARS” helm of a small company and that means I can really black, which was quite a bold move. I’m sure that some influence what is happening here. of our more conservative owners – and I don’t mean that “Secondly, it is really an honour to run Rolls-Royce. I am so proud in a negative way – might have a problem with that. But the rulebreakers to work here… It’s the same for everyone who works here. We are all so think it is great. They love it.” proud of the cars we build. It’s the same with Dawn, which Müller-Ötvös called “sexy” – a “And the third reason is that I am meeting unbelievable individuals very non-RR word. He smiles and says: “This was not invented by our all the time: our customers. I travel extensively and meet customers PR department or our marketing team. It was how some customers for dinner. The personalities and people I meet are extraordinary. It is described the car when we first showed to them in clinics. It is their enlightening to talk to these guys and girls and to understand their lives, word… But I agree with them: Dawn is sexy!” their careers and what they are doing in the future. Not that Rolls-Royce is abandoning its traditional market. The end “There is no better job in our industry.” of the current Phantom has been announced, with a new car slated for

Rolls-Royce perfect the Art of Arrival with Preferred Hotels & Resorts and Smythson London is one of the most enchanting, varied and exciting cities in the world. Whilst we all love to drive, it’s perhaps the one place where it’s better to sit back and take in the sights while someone else plots a course through the traffic. Now you can explore the UK’s capital from the unruffled calm of a Rolls-Royce rear compartment whilst staying at one of Preferred Hotels & Resorts’ flagship London hotels for two nights and upon arrival you will be presented with an iconic Smythson currency case which can be personalised for you at a Smythson boutique. Step out of the hotel and straight into your chauffeured Rolls-Royce Ghost for a night in the West End or a day exploring London’s top boutiques. You have the choice of three exceptional London locations; the glorious Art Deco of The Beaumont Hotel in Mayfair, The Wellesley in Knightsbridge, or ME London, the Foster & Partners boutique hotel in the heart of theatreland.

For reservations, please call Preferred Hotels & Resorts on 00800 7123 1030 or visit www.preferredhotels.com/rollsroyce. *Terms & Conditions Validity: from 27 May to 4 November 2016 • Available for Suite bookings only, with two people sharing including breakfast, minimum of two-night stay • Three consecutive hours’ use of chauffeur driven Rolls-Royce Ghost within M25 radius. Additional hours, if required, need to be booked in advance and will be charged at an additional hourly rate • One Smythson Currency Case will be offered per suite with the option to add complimentary personalisation of up to three initials at any Smythson boutique. Terms & conditions apply • Reservations to be made at least 48 hours in advance • Offer cannot be combined with other promotions and is non-refundable • Promotion is subject to availability, blackout dates may apply.

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TICKING OVER Whisper it, but while Richard Mille founded the most revolutionary watch brand of recent years, his first passion has always been cars – as the extraordinary garage at his French château attests. Slack-of-jaw, we take the tour

WORDS : ALEX DOAK // IMAGES : DREW GIBSON

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egular readers of these pages will be used to our frequent Lego, Scalextric, Airfix and arcade-game references. But there’s one legendary childhood institution that’s remained un-mentioned, until now: Tintin. Hergé’s faithful illustrations of real-life vehicles, from tanks to helicopters, warrants a feature of its own, but it’s something else that springs to mind as we crunch up the driveway towards Richard Mille’s private residence, and that’s the château known as Marlinspike, which (spoiler alert!) Captain Haddock inherits at the end of The Secret of the Unicorn (1943). Inspired by the crisp, classical Louis XIII architecture of Château de Cheverny in the Loire Valley, Marlinspike’s perfect symmetry, manicured grounds and sprawling parkland are all present and correct at Monsieur Mille’s own château, near Rennes in northern France. The only differences are the owners themselves: one, a drunken buffoon of a salty seadog; the other, a swarthy, infectiously exuberant genius of modern watchmaking, credited with breathing revolutionary, high-tech urgency into a fusty old craft. But it isn’t the house, 130 hectares of grounds or indeed the watches that we’re interested in today (though the $800,000 Rafael Nadal-edition tourbillon

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strapped to Mille’s wrist with bright-orange fabric is difficult to ignore). It is in fact the building to the right of the sweeping driveway, just within the moat (yes, there’s a moat). An outwardly subdued garage complex, it is built in keeping with the main house’s light brickwork and slate tiles. Inwardly, it is packed to the brim with pure motoring nirvana; a comprehensive cross section of racing’s “golden era” of the Sixties and Seventies, with a few classic coupés in for good measure. Richard Mille as a brand has always been closely associated with cars, from its long-running sponsorship of the Le Mans Classic, to Felipe Massa’s enduring ambassadorship. Hell, the slogan on the original ads in 2000 even ran, “A Racing Machine for the Wrist”, in allusion to the uncompromising, stripped-back build of the watch – “engine” and “chassis” ticking away in perfect coherence. But this year’s announcement of Mille’s partnership with two of the most revered names in British motoring – Aston Martin and McLaren – would still have had petrolhead purists spluttering into their tea mugs. Stepping over the threshold of his garage, however, any doubt as to Mille’s compatibility is immediately vanquished.

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For a start, the first car crouched by our feet is none other than Bruce McLaren’s original Formula 1 car of 1966 – one of only three “M2B” chassis built. “If, when I created the company 15 years ago,” Mille says, ushering us into his Aladdin’s cave, “someone had told me that one day I would partner with McLaren, I would not have believed it. This car is the first-ever F1 car that came out from Robin Herd’s garage. It paved the way for the brand’s 50 years of racing, which we are celebrating this year. “I admit it; for me, the racing machines always came first!” he continues, as classic race car after classic race car reveals itself beneath the low oak beams. “Nonetheless the passion is the same for both cars and watches, as the only real difference is the size. The engineering challenges they each encompass are actually identical.” “I’m used to saying my main business is automobiles, and watchmaking is just to help me pass the time!” To know Monsieur Mille’s watches – all crafted in-house and by a select few top-flight facilities in Switzerland – is to know this is a massive understatement. The industry’s craze for sci-fi-inspired horology owes its existence entirely to the

“THE PASSION IS THE SAME FOR BOTH CARS AND WATCHES, AS THE ONLY REAL DIFFERENCE IS THE SIZE. THE ENGINEERING CHALLENGES THEY EACH ENCOMPASS ARE A C T UA L LY I D E N T I C A L”

vision of this self-styled “createur”. And somehow, he and his team manage to up the ante every year, with restless aesthetic, material and mechanical innovation. Perfectly attuned to Aston Martin’s newfound reinvention in other words. “We arrived in a world where high-end horology was still synonymous with gold, roundness and weightiness,” explains Mille, whose daily rounaround is the four-door Rapide. “Richard Mille was an UFO in that sense, bringing lightweight materials and architectural movements. We are known to be five

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years ahead of our time, so we keep a very high pace of innovation. And we like to choose our partners likewise. “You’ll be surprised, for sure,” he says of the forthcoming fruits of the Aston Martin hook-up. So come on, Mr Mille, what of your collection? What came first? When did things really start to snowball? “Well, my first car was a rusty old Peugeot,” he says with trademark gusto, “I was a student at the time, full of dreams and testosterone – and needless to say the car did not fit my ideals or my lifestyle at that time!” So which car really got things started? “Does a collection start when you have 2 or 3 cars? I don’t know really; I always planned to have a collection one way or the other. It became serious when I started paying big money for some cars, as was the case with my 1967 BRM P115 H16-engine lightweight chassis 01.” It’s not all F1, though. His most passionate persuasion is born out by a certain Ferrari 512M from 1971, squeezed between his Lancia Stratos and E-Type. Oh, and the small matter of a Porsche 907 and 908/3, wedged into a corner littered with automobilia. “The best era for me is the golden period of Le Mans. There were just so many amazing cars and drivers back then… I would have loved to go back in time and be there to see it first-hand.

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Previous page: Richard Mille’s Ferrari 250 GT PininFarina Série 1 from 1959, outside the garage at his private residence. Top left: Lancia Stratos 1975, Ferrari 512M 1971 and Jaguar E-Type 1965. Top centre: Dallara GP2 2010 (in the foreground). Top right: Porsche 907 1967 and Porsche 908/3 1974. Above right: Ferrari Daytona 1972 (background) and Matra MS11 1967. Above centre: Lotus 49B 1968, Matra MS5 1967 and BRM P115 1967. Above left: Richard Mille, relaxed in his château’s drawing room.

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THE FIRST CAR CROUCHED BY OUR FEET IS NONE OTHER THAN MCLAREN’S 1966 M2B. “IT IS T H E F I R S T- E V E R F 1 C A R T H AT C A M E O U T F R O M ROBIN HERD’S GAR AGE. IT PAVED THE WAY FOR 50 YEARS OF RACING”

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“I suppose that’s why we’re a main sponsor of the Le Mans Classic races – each time I stand by that amazing track, it gives me a little sensation of time travel.” One bit of time travel he’s surely wishing on is a return to form for his most recent signing, McLaren. But over his 16 years of sporting associations, Mille has built a notoriety for backing underdogs who go on to great things. Everyone was scratching their heads when he teamed up with Rafa Nadal, Bubba Watson and, tragically, the late great-in-waiting Jules Bianchi. “We like to partner with personalities who become friends, and even part of the RM family, as we like to put it,” he says, diplomatically. “We share everything with them, victories as well as defeats. “It’s the same with McLaren with whom we will share the ups and downs that’s known to every racing team. Hopefully there will be more victories, but we are very confident. This is part of the game, of the sport. You know, we are all about the fair play!” With Aston expanding rapidly, and the only way being up for McLaren, Richard Mille could well have forged two of the cleverest deals in motoring this year. But meanwhile, what’s the next deal for his garage? Does Monsieur Mille have a “Grail car”? “I would rather not mention that,” he says, sliding the doors home emphatically, “because if I do, and you publish it, the price will be even higher when I finally find it!”

Previous page, main: Peugeot bicycle 1970 and ( just inside) McLaren M2B 1966. Top: Ferrari Daytona groupe 4 1972 and Ferrari 250 GT PininFarina Série 1 1959. Above right: BRM P160 1971 (in white) and Ferrari 312B 1970 (in red). Above left: Lotus 33 1964.

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D E S C R I B I N G A C I R C L E Far from a random wobbly loop, there is a serious science and indeed art behind the world’s most thrilling tracks, as racing’s chief architect Hermann Tilke explains to Kevin Hackett

e’ve all done it. At one time or another, the Scalextric instructions have been jettisoned and we have let our imaginations run wild, designing and constructing the miniature circuit of our dreams, usually only coming undone when we realise we’ve run out of black plastic curves. That desire to create complex and beautiful patterns around which to drive tiny cars, while squeezing the life out of a hand controller, is a veritable rite of passage for millions around the world. Some incredibly talented people get to do it for real, in 1:1 scale. Racing circuits, no matter if they’re used for Formula 1, BTCC, Moto GP or karting, began with a designer standing on a plot of land, sketching ideas with a stick in the dirt or with a pen on a piece of paper. Where do they begin? How do they come up with designs and layouts that are suitable for multiple applications while giving spectators something uniquely special? These days, Formula 1 comes in for a bit of stick. Not enough action, not enough danger, it’s viewed by many as a sterile turn-off – and part of the problem lies with the circuits themselves, which have been designed and constructed with a completely different set of rules and regulations, compared to when many of what are regarded as the greatest tracks in the world were created. Safety never used to be mentioned in the same breath as motorsport but nowadays it’s paramount, which is just one reason F1 can be a bit dull (albeit with virtually no deaths, which is a good thing of course).

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2012 ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX Sebastian Vettel starts from the pitlane in 24th to finish a phenomenal 3rd by slicing through the field, the most amazing manoeuvre being his overtake of Jenson Button on the 11-12-13 chicane, both centimetres apart.

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As a monsoon hit the track, Button took advantage, storming to the front from fourth after

a poor start from pole. As conditions became too

severe, the race was halted after just 33 laps with Button pronounced the winner, meaning Brawn GP became the first team since Alfa Romeo in 1950 to win their first two GPs.

SEPANG INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT, MALAYSIA

Formula 1 circuits. In fact he is the creator of more than half the circuits Many classic tracks, such as Nürburg’s Nordschleife and Monza have been currently used on the F1 calendar and he’s come in for a lot of flak from fans reworked so they’re less dangerous, with some of the more challenging of the sport, who claim his tracks offer next to no opportunities for overtaking, corners being made less severe. The former’s aptly nicknamed “Green Hell”, resulting in races where nothing of any interest happens. for instance, was built in the mid-1920s so it’s hardly surprising that today’s The 61-year-old German owns the eponymous Tilke Engineering, a racecars can sometimes come unstuck – in some respects these old circuits are company of architects and engineers no longer fit for purpose and the same rules founded in 1984, which operates in apply to them as anywhere else, necessitating his home country and designs new (or a slow but certain design evolution. “ W H E R E D O E S T H E WAT E R L E AV E T H E T R A C K ? upgrades existing) facilities that are not It’s also worth noting that many of the W H AT A B O U T T H E H E AT A F F E C T I N G limited in scope to just motorsport. Race world’s most popular tracks are so revered T H E S U R F A C E S ? I S T H E A I R S A L T Y, D R Y, W E T ? circuits, however, are definitely the main because they literally go with the flow of thrust of the business. And despite his the land they were built upon. The changes E V E RY P O S S I B L E FA C TO R I S C A R E F U L LY incredibly busy schedule, Hermann Tilke of elevation make for incredibly dramatic C O N S I D E R E D B E F O R E W E E V E N S TA RT has managed to take some time out to talk driving, compared to F1’s recent venues, to DRIVE about the intricacies involved in with Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and many others INITIAL DESIGNS FOR THE TRACK” circuit design, as well as to answer some of being built on completely new, flat sites his outspoken critics. where opportunities for incorporating “There are three distinct types of design work we carry out,” he says hills into the designs are, at best, extremely limited. in perfect English. “All new, modification of existing circuits to the latest Hermann Tilke is a man who knows all about these challenges, being standards, and then there are street circuits, such as Monaco or Singapore. one of only four designers accredited by the Fédération Internationale de It’s never as simple as just walking onto a piece of land and saying it should l’Automobile (FIA) and the only one of those four to have designed operating

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2012 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX The inaugural race of the circuit, and the first US GP since the 2007 race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton was able to secure his 2nd career win in the States by catching and passing Vettel on Lap 42 in the DRS zone, keeping the lead into turn 12.

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be one way or another – the variables that need to be considered are enormous. There are existing land boundaries to work around, dimensions, existing landscape with varying elevations. All of these things affect where spectators will be able to view from and that’s before we look at other unchangeable factors such as the weather patterns, where the sun will be in the sky while the circuit is in use, and so on. And, of course, there are almost always tight budgetary constraints.” He says weather is one of the biggest issues, with wind being particularly problematic. “In the Far East countries often experience tropical climates so drainage is a big deal. Where does the water leave the track? What about the heat affecting the surfaces? Is the air salty, dry, wet? Every possible factor is carefully considered before we even start initial designs for the tracks and the surrounding buildings.”

Other matters weigh in heavily, too. He points out that different motorsports require different elements of track design and that circuits are often used to host more than one type of event. “Some tracks are used for all sorts of things and even car manufacturers often have a say in the design, as they hire circuits for their own use, either for drive events or vehicle development.” With so many pressures from all sides, it’s little wonder then that not everyone is happy all of the time. “If a circuit will be used primarily for F1,” he says, “then the focus has to be on challenging racing and spectator enjoyment – we need to offer at least one or two opportunities for overtaking.” Many of Tilke’s critics don’t realise that the man himself is an experienced racing driver. He competed in the 1980s in touring car and endurance racing campaigns, many of which took place on the feared and revered Nürburgring, which is where he landed one of his first design contracts, making a new access

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DRIVE’S

DREAM CIRCUIT WE QUIZZED THE EDITORIAL TEAM ON THEIR A L L -T I M E F A V O U R I T E C O R N E R S A N D S T R A I G H T S F R O M R A C E T R A C K S A R O U N D T H E WO R L D, T H E N

STRUNG THEM ALL TOGETHER TO CREATE NOTHING SHORT OF THE GREATEST CIRCUIT

Matthew Carter, Editor-at-large: Eau Rouge at Spa, the uphill turn 1 from Austin, Paddock Hill Bend at Brands Hatch, Mirabeau at Monaco, Parabolica at Monza, Hangar Straight from Silverstone and Raffles Boulevard on Singapore’s nighttime street circuit.

IMAGINABLE. OR SHOULD THAT BE THE MOST CHALLENGING IMAGINABLE? LET US KNOW W H AT YO U T H I N K AT D R I V E@H R OW E N.C O.U K, AND WHETHER WE’VE MISSED ANY CLASSIC OR CRUCIAL SECTIONS

Mark Welby, Creative Director: Without a doubt, the Corkscrew at Laguna Seca – a left-then-right, with a scary 12% gradient drop. 3

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Kevin Hackett, Author: Variante Ascari chicane at Monza (incredibly challenging but so rewarding when you get it right) and the Mulsanne Straight at Le Mans (as there’s nothing quite like standing there at night during the 24 hours).

Alex Doak, Deputy Editor: Turns 12/13 at Montreal leading to the “Bienvenue au Québec” wall, or “Wall of Champions” as it’s been ironically known since 1999, when Damon Hill, Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve all crashed there. Plus Hermann Tilke’s finest hour, turn 8 at Istanbul – a 160mph daisy chain of four tight apexes.

road to the track. Since then his work rate has been prolific but his detractors don’t stop complaining. Writing in the Sunday Telegraph five years ago, Sir Jackie Stewart castigated Tilke’s track designs for being too forgiving of driver errors, homing in on the season finale at Abu Dhabi in 2010. “Alonso ran wide at the Yas Marina track on four separate occasions,” complained the racing veteran, “as he tried to best the Renault. And yet incredibly the car behind him, driven by Mark Webber, was still not able to pass. The run-off area was so well manicured and without obstacles that Alonso was effectively able to make fairly big mistakes and still maintain his position. That is plainly wrong.” Tilke remains unapologetic. “Everyone who complains seems to have no idea about the challenges faced. Modern racecars are so different to those used when some of the classic circuits were designed, and their aerodynamics,

Adam Garwood, Project Manager: Suzuka’s 130R – named after its 130m radius turn – was the site of Alonso’s daring pass of Schumacher in 2003 and is considered one of F1’s bravest corners with drivers taking it flat-out at 190mph+. While a clean run of Becketts has been likened to threading the eye of a needle.

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10 MIRABEAU, MONACO 11 WALL OF CHAMPIONS, QUÉBEC 12 RAFFLES, SINGAPORE 13 PADDOCK HILL, BRANDS HATCH 14 TURN 8, ISTANBUL

braking systems, levels of grip and sheer speed all make overtaking more difficult than it used to be. Of course a balance needs to be struck between exciting racing and personal safety of drivers and spectators alike, and I believe we have achieved that.” Despite protestations from Sir Jackie and the likes of Mark Webber, former F1 driver and BBC commentator, Anthony Davidson, says he has heard no such criticism of Tilke’s circuits from other drivers. Speaking to The Guardian he said of Tilke: “He understands the demands of the modern cars. You see very wide circuits with a lot of space; he gives us run-off areas and it’s all well thought-out. They are enjoyable to race on because they suit modern F1 cars,” before adding that Istanbul Park’s Turn 8 is, “a bit of a legend.” He’s right, which is why it stars in our dream circuit, above. What do you think?

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THE MAN WHO SELLS THE WORLD What do you do when you can’t find a single decent globe for your father’s 80th birthday? If you’re Peter Bellerby, the answer is to make your own – and revive a long-lost art in the process. Alex Doak visits his north London atelier, whose customers now span the circumference of their very purchases

ooking back, Peter Bellerby is happy to admit that he was being a trifle cocky when he decided to make his father a globe, reckoning just three or four months and a few thousand pounds to complete the project. After all, how difficult can it be to make a ball and put a map on it? As it transpired, it was over two years of difficult – plus the car, the house and an increasingly frustrated fiancée. “In the end,” says Bellerby, stood in his cluttered Stoke Newington workshop surrounded by globes of all sizes and colour, “the cost for my first two globes was closer to £200,000. “My previous venture was setting up and managing Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes in central London, which within a year of opening was turning over more than £100,000 per week. So perhaps I was a little over confident… “Either way, I’m blatantly obsessed with spheres!”

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Previous page: Peter Bellerby in his Stoke Newington workshop in northeast London, “goring” a globe with one of several paper map sections (photo by Julian Love). Above: It takes six months to learn how to gore, before Bellerby lets his craftspeople loose on a customer’s globe (photo by Cydney Cosette).

Above: Once the gores have been matched perfectly on the sphere, Bellerby & Co. sets about painstakingly hand-painting the coastlines and contours, bringing the Earth to life (photo by Jade Fenster).

lurching drunkenly? Bellerby’s exhaustive quest for perfection eventually Obsessed certainly being the operative word, for when it came to creating led him to a Formula 1 supplier, who could fabricate spun resin composite the quality of globe he sought, not only was there only one other maker into a perfect sphere, to be mounted on oil-free ball bearings, balanced in the entire world, but even they and their suppliers didn’t come up to with internal lead weights. But even UK Customs presented an issue there. scratch. And as soon as you scratch the surface – literally in this case – it’s “You would have thought that if their X-ray machine detected heavy quickly apparent that it’s so much more than a ball with a map on it. metal,” he says drily, “they might possibly use a geiger counter rather than Firstly, there was the supposedly simple case of the map itself, which a hammer to establish the contents?” Bellerby had to license from what he thought was a Today, Bellerby’s collection ranges from their reputable source. Which is where the first hurdle entry-level Mini Desk Globe – a snip at £999 and presented itself. “W H E N YO U H AV E A TO L E R A N C E available from Harrods – all the way up to the “It had incorrect capitals,” he recalls. “Most of ON A SPHERE, YOU MIGHT AS mothership: the Churchill, priced at £59,000 and in the names in the Middle East were either rubbish or W E L L M U LT I P LY T H I S BY P I. need of a spacious drawing room as well as a capacious incorrectly spelled or positioned. And don’t let me IF EVERY SECTION IS 0.1MM wallet, looming over 1.5m in height. It’s inspired by start on the Aral Sea.” a pair of globes presented to Winston Churchill and In the end, he changed everything, teaching TO O B I G, YO U H AV E A 2.4M M Franklin D. Roosevelt as a sign of friendship during himself Adobe Illustrator in the process, spending OVERLAP – AND THERE ARE an intensely difficult period of the war, and Bellerby six hours a day for an entire year editing everything LESS SCRUPULOUS MAKERS intends to make only 40, at a rate of just one a year. using Google Maps, then finding an IT-savvy friend to WHO OVERLAP TO THE EXTENT What’s more, while there’s little chance of Bellerby write the programme that would morph a rectangular THAT THEY WIPE OUT ENTIRE incorporating a cocktail cabinet any time soon (more’s map into “gores” – the triangular paper panels that the pity), the company does offer a degree of bespoke tessellate onto the sphere. C O U N T R I E S …” customisation for its larger globes. “The reason being,” Bellerby explains, “that when “One customer,” he says, “asked us to highlight in you have a tolerance, or margin of error, on a sphere, red everywhere she and her husband had lived, which turned out to be a you might as well multiply this by Pi. If each 24 section is 0.1mm too big, lot of places. It looked beautiful.” you have a 2.4mm overlap to contend with. From additional cartography or tailored colour palettes, to adding “There are less scrupulous makers who overlap to the extent that they places of special significance and hand-drawn illustration, it’s easy for the wipe out entire countries.” imagination to start unravelling with the relish of a world-conquering That said, it still seems incredible that it takes each one of Bond villain. Bellerby & Co.’s small team of globemakers up to six months of Marked-out driving routes could be fun, what say you? apprenticeship before they can match the gores to a saleable level. And what of the sphere itself ? How for instance do you balance bellerbyandco.com a ball so that when it spins it comes to rest smoothly, rather than

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Writing exclusively for DRIVE in the 100th anniversary year of Ferruccio Lamborghini, renowned critic, co-founder of London’s Design Museum and all-round “design guru” Stephen Bayley considers the Raging Bull’s unabashed rebellion against the received automotive aesthetic 75

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Previous page and left: Lamborghini’s original 350 GTV prototype of 1963, with swooping, futuristic lines not a million miles from the tail-finned American cars of the Fifties. Below: Ferruccio Lamborghini himself, talking through the 350 GTV at its launch, and posing with his Jarama grand tourer (made between 1970 and 1976) and his very first tractor, the L33 of 1950.

amborghini was not the first supercar. The original was the sensational jet-powered craft with no wheels that floated on air in the puppet television series Supercar, which aired in 1961. It was piloted by the impossibly handsome Mike Mercury. Mike was a marionette and even the most advanced puppeteers found it difficult to give him convincing animation, hence it was a convenient subterfuge for the producers to put Mike in a car of astonishing design (by Professor Rudolph Popkiss and Dr Horatio Beaker). Before the series had ended, Lamborghini launched its own supercar. Nowadays, we talk of hypercars, but hyper means fanatical, rabid, and excessive. Super just means better. This was Ferruccio Lamborghini’s intention: to make a better car. Because the story of Lamborghini’s origins has new acquired the comfortable sheen of a creation myth does not mean it is untrue, so it bears repetition. Signor Lamborghini came from an agricultural background, speaking modern Italian mixed with the crude Emilian dialect. At 33, he opened a factory making tractors in Cento in 1949 and began manufacturing HVAC units in 1960. Lamborghini had a collection of cars that included Morgans, Jaguars,

Opposite page, top: Freshly restored by PoloStorico in all its glorious metallic-green Verde Metallizata, this is the chassis #4846 Miura SV (Super Veloce) pre-production model, unveiled at the 1971 Geneva Motor Show on Bertone’s stand, while Lamborghini showed its new Countach. Opposite page, bottom: The Countach LP 400 in red (made between 1973 and 1981) and 1988’s 25th-anniversary model in silver, with new front and side spoilers and modified air vents.

Triumphs, Aston Martins and Mercedes Benzes, but it was his habit to give visitors factory tours in a Ferrari. Frequent problems with the clutch led him to make representations to Enzo Ferrari himself who treated his protestations with disdain. Rebuffed, Lamborghini dismantled the clutch and discovered that it contained componentry identical to that used on his tractors. So, in an operatic act of bravura revenge, he decided to best Ferrari. The result was the prototype Lamborghini 350 GTV of 1963, with its body by Franco Scaglione. Although four years later Scaglione would design the Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 Stradale, often cited as the most beautiful car ever made, the original Lamborghini had the impressive, but slightly gauche, aspect of the Italo-American show cars of the Fifties: gigantic glass, curious proportions and bodywork struggling to disguise a tendency towards tail fins. Plus lots of chrome. The engine was designed by the temperamental Giotto Bizzarrini, who had earlier been responsible for the Ferrari 250 GTO. This general arrangement was refined for production as the 350 GT by Carrozzeria Touring of Milan (authors of the Aston Martin DB4) with many of the aesthetic eccentricities removed, but Lamborghini and Bizzarrini

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FERRUCCIO LAMBORGHINI HAD NO INTEREST IN MOTORRACING, WHICH WA S A C R E AT I V E L I B E R AT I O N – H E WA S F R E E TO M A K E D R A M AT I C P O I N TS O F DIFFERENCE THROUGH DESIGN ALONE. AND VERY SOON THAT DESIGN BECAME D E L I B E R A T E L Y S E N S A T I O N A L ; “A H Y M N T O T R A N S G R E S S I O N ,” I T W A S C A L L E D

were in conflict about the performance characteristics: Bizzarrini’s instincts were to produce a high-revving racer, while Lamborghini wanted, “a happy marriage between passion and the most advanced technology... for an elite clientele.” In a huff, Bizzarrini left and men in cream linen suits began to drive these new Lamborghinis. This was the beginning of perhaps the most singular design story in the history of the car. Unlike Bizzarrini, or even Ferrari himself, or any other sports car manufacturer, Ferruccio Lamborghini had no interest in motorracing. He just wanted to make a more super car. In one sense, this was an artistic impediment since, at Jaguar for example, the forms and details of racing-cars from the Fifties influenced its design to this day. But it was also a creative liberation as Lamborghini was free to make its many dramatic points of difference through design alone. And very soon that design became deliberately sensational, each successive car forcing Lamborghini higher up the tightening helix of creativity. “A hymn to transgression,” it was called. Sensation number one began as an exciting bare chassis, designed by Gian Paola Dallara, with a transverse rear-mounted V12, shown at the Turin

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POLAR OPPOSITES FROM ONE EXTREME In 2004, in an act drenched with symbolism, US Marines in Baqubah destroyed Uday Hussein’s personal LM002. Lamborghini’s entry into the military vehicle market in 1986 cleverly anticipated the contemporary taste for extreme SUVs, although the fine vision was not matched by any delicacy in execution. The 5167cc V-12 powered LM002 had the weight and proportions of a tank.

…TO ANOTHER By the 50th anniversary of the company’s first car in 2013, Lamborghini was owned by Volkswagen. Walter de Silva held design responsibility for Lamborghini and proposed the Egoista, a megalomaniac 751bhp singleseater. It was never manufactured, but is surely the ultimate expression of the Lamborghini method: extreme, uncompromiswed, startling.

Above: With styling inspired directly by the F-117 stealth fighter-bomber, 2007’s Murciélago-based Reventón in turn informed the lines of the Aventador.

Salone of 1965. Nuccio Bertone saw it and was impressed, but, in deference to Touring’s existing relationship with the manufacturer, did not make proposals for bodywork design until tempted by Lamborghini to do so. The job was handed to Marcello Gandini, now replacing Giorgetto Giugiaro as the chief creative force in the Bertone studio (although both were schooled by Eugenio Pagliano). Impressed by the Ford GT40, Gandini drew what became known by the time of its launch in 1967 as the Lamborghini Miura. This was an unprecedented shape and package: a perfect expression of mechanical art. Seven hundred and sixty four were built between 1966 and 1973. And in 1971, another sensational drawing of Gandini’s became a car. This was the Countach: the word being Piedmontese dialect for “hot damn” and said to be Bertone’s exclamation when he saw what his lieutenant Gandini had now achieved: an origami of dramatic, if impractical, proportions. The Countach represented a new hyperbolic – possibly even expletive – language in car design. True, functionality and comfort were neglected (a periscope was needed for rear-view), but creative energy that might once have been committed to ergonomics was released into startling sculptural adventures. Now the transgressions became more extreme. The Diablo replaced the Countach and then the Murciélago was an evolution of the Diablo. (Wonderfully, the Murciélago has assymmetrical side vents since one is for the water-radiator and the other is for the oil-cooler and their needs are different). Then there were the jet-fighter intakes of the Reventón and the Aventador. In between them the almost modest Gallardo became the best-selling Lamborghini of them all. Now, Gallardo has been replaced by the Huracán. A curiosity produced in a batch of three was the Veneno, once described as the ugliest car of the day. Nor is the Centenario, created in 40 examples for Ferruccio’s 100th birthday, an obviously elegant or pretty car. To the already aggressive Aventador, Lamborghini’s Centro Stile has added all the toxic flim-flam of the modern steroidal supercar: more skirts, more ducts, more

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splitters, more diffusers and even more bellicosity. Never mind transgression, aesthetically speaking a bigger word is required. Every one of its 20 coupes and 20 roadsters priced at €2.2 million each sold out immediately. But ugliness is a part of the proposition. The Veneno and Centenario are ugly only in the way an M4 assault rifle or a B-52 Stratofortress are ugly. The Italians call it “brutta”, but the English word comes from the old Norse for “aggression”. If you are not going to compromise, then Caspar Milquetoast and other “timid souls” will find you aggressive. Indeed, to this end, so many of the memorable Lamborghinis have names inspired by violent Spanish fighting bulls, the “toro más bravo” so admired by Ferruccio. Murciélago, for example, was an especially brave bull who

“ I P E E R E D D OW N A N D S AW A R A L LY O F C L A S S I C LAMBORGHINIS – CARS OF DOLCE VITA ELEGANCE, ORIGAMI SPACESHIPS OF THE GANDINI ERA AND THE LATEST FR ACTALISED PROFILES OF REVENTONS INFLUENCED BY F-22 AND F-117 S T E A L T H F I G H T E R - B O M B E R S …”

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survived a bloody corrida of 1879 and was acquired by Don Antonio Miura (mentioned, with enthusiasm, by Hemingway). In retirement, Murcielago sired Gallardo. Diablo was the bull that killed matador El Chicorro, and Reventón claimed the life of Felix Guzman. An Espada is the sword that matadors wield, while Aventador was a courageous bull weighing 507kg who fought at Zaragoza in 1993. Veneno killed a toreador in 1914. It’s all combative stuff, which finds its equivalent in Lamborghini’s extraordinary design. One day, several years back, I was sitting on the terrace of a grand hotel in Portofino when I heard gurgling and yelping and howling from the car park. I peered down and saw a rally of classic Lamborghinis of dolce vita elegance, origami spaceships of the Gandini era and the latest fractalised profiles of Reventons influenced by F-22 and F-117 stealth fighter-bombers. The spectacle was all very extreme and noisy, in that very Lamborghini way. They drove away into a Ligurian sunset. “Chiudere in bellezza,” as they say in Italy. Or maybe they say, “chiudere all brutezza” in Sant’Agata Bolognese? Beautiful? Ugly? Maybe both and, then again, maybe something altogether different. As former factory test-driver Valentino Balboni said, Lamborghinis are, “…not vehicles, they’re ways of understanding the quality of the emotions.” Maybe Lamborghini did not make the first supercar, but perhaps it will be making the last.

Below: This year’s Centenario LP 770-4 limited edition, celebrating Ferruccio Lamborghini’s 100th birthday – an Aventador with an entirely carbon-fibre body.

Above: Also entirely bodied in carbon was 2013’s Veneno, launched to celebrate the marque’s 50th anniversary. This Roadster version was launched in 2014.

ALT1-C CLASSIC

TH E BR EMONT ALT 1- C WILL L AST YOU A LIFETIME. POSSIBLY LONGER . The Bremont ALT1-C is a mechanical aviation chronometer that’s 99.998% accurate. It’s painstakingly built by hand at our workshops in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England. But if the inside of the ALT1-C is delicate, the outside is anything but. The case is made from steel that’s seven times harder than you’ll find in ordinary watches. (We bombard it with electrons to toughen it up.) The crystal is sapphire and scratch-resistant. (We know, we’ve tried.) And the whole thing is water resistant to 100 metres. We hope you enjoy the ALT1-C. After all, you’ll be together a long time.

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It’s high time Scuderia Ferrari started bothering F1’s podium once again, as team principal, Maurizio Arrivabene tells Joe Saward – and that time is now

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f you ask Maurizio Arrivabene, the head of Ferrari’s celebrated competition department, Gestione Sportiva, if he is under pressure, he looks rather resigned. Ferrari is a unique racing team and, because of this, it suffers from the high expectations of its millions of passionate fans. Ferrari is expected to win. In the hyper-competitive world of Formula 1 that is anything but easy. And yet every racing driver still wants to drive for Ferrari and the team still attracts far more fans than its rivals. “I would like to see how many people would be at the race without the Ferrari team competing,” Arrivabene says. He has a point.

Without Ferrari and without the Monaco Grand Prix, F1 would be just another racing series. The magic comes from these two celebrated brands, both of which have been associated with motor sport for around 85 years. “People don’t always realise that we don’t advertise,” Arrivabene explains. “Racing is the way that Ferrari promotes its brand. At the same time, we use the technology from racing for the production cars as well. It may take some time to find a way to put these things into road cars, but it is something that Ferrari has always done and it continues to be like this.” And as to the pressures, Arrivabene is sanguine.

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“YO U N E E D TO H AV E A G O O D D R I V E R , A G O O D C H A S S I S A N D A G O O D ENGINE. AT THE MOMENT IT IS A GOOD BALANCE BETWEEN THESE THREE. MAYBE THE ENGINE IS A BIT MORE IMPORTANT THIS YEAR , BUT NEXT YEAR IT COULD BE THE CHASSIS THAT IS MORE IMPORTANT ”

“It’s normal,” he says. “If you are a journalist and your editor asks you to sell more copies, he is putting pressure on you. The role of a manager is to push people to do better and better, so if the chairman is putting pressure on me, he is doing his job. He gives us what we ask for and he pushes us to do the best we can.” They don’t have schools for Formula 1 team principals, and in the current era Arrivabene is the strangest story. He’s 59 and has spent his career marketing Marlboro cigarettes for Philip Morris International. It has been the primary sponsor of Ferrari since the 1980s, even if Marlboro branding has not been seen on an F1 car since 2007. In order to justify an invisible sponsorship, worth an estimated $150 million a year, some clever thinking was required. Today, Marlboro uses the racing cars on its cigarette packets, rather than vice versa. The company also uses the sport to entertain business partners and customers, with VIP hospitality at races and visits to the Ferrari factory. There is, of course, a certain subliminal value in the current arrangement, with Marlboro benefiting from the emotional connection that exists with Ferrari in the minds of the fans. It was in his role as a marketing man that Arrivabene became the representative of all the F1 sponsors on the F1 Commission. He knew the right people, knew how to play the game and yet, when Ferrari chairman Sergio Marchionne appointed him head of the F1 team at the end of 2015, it was still a big surprise. Arrivabene had no experience running racing teams, but Marchionne wanted a politically savvy team builder, and that is precisely what he got. Arrivabene’s dark looks, slightly gruff ways and convoluted use of English may give the impression that he might have made a good villain in an Edwardian novel, but first impressions are not always correct and his primary talent seems to have to get everyone at Ferrari to march to the same tune. They are not winning yet, but they are getting closer.

“I have said many, many times that we must work together for the common goal, with our feet on the ground, with the same objective,” he explains. “I don’t want to hear talk about engines or chassis or who did what. If we lose, we lose together and if we are going to win we are going to win together. That’s my mantra. This is what I say to the team. They are calm, committed and motivated. That’s important for me.” It has been a very steep learning curve, particularly on the technical side. “You have to know a lot about it,” he admits, “you have to be curious, you have to go around the factory asking questions, meeting people but especially listening to the engineers. They talk a special language. They use 1,000 words to tell you want can be said in 10, so you have to make it simple sometimes.” Getting the right balance between all the elements is not easy. It is no good having the best drivers, if you cannot give them the best engines or the best chassis. “You need to have a good driver, a good chassis and a good engine,” he says. “At the moment it is a good balance between these three. Maybe the engine is a bit more important this year, but next year it could be the chassis that is more important. “The Mercedes team this year is the strongest one that I have seen in the last 10 years, and to be able to beat them you have to work and be better than they are. So, we are all doing our best. This year our car is three seconds a lap faster than last year. The problem is that they are still faster. You have to respect what they have do, but we are determined to catch up sooner or later. “We have to try very, very hard and take some risks.” formula1.ferrari.com

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Escape to any one of Swiss Deluxe Hotel’s 41 blissful Alpine retreats and you’ll be feeling rejuvenated and invigorated in an instant. Escape during the summer months and the drive will be as thrilling as the winter slopes…

t’s strange to think that it was little over 150 years ago when the resort of St Moritz began to promote the Swiss Alps as an alternative, wintertime destination for well-heeled globetrotters. Up until the turn of the century the lush mountainscapes and placid lakes had only been a summer prospect for well-to-do hikers and sailors. So, now that a week or two slaloming down the snowy slopes every new year has become the norm, perhaps it’s time to remind ourselves of the dramatic, unbridled beauty revealed by the spring thaw. With the sun beating down on dramatic peaks, the passes and winding switchbacks threading through are irresistible to drivers keen to stretch their car’s legs, and even get the roof down. It’s no wonder so many rallies take place in the Alps nowadays. One of the biggest is the British Classic Car Meeting, into its 23rd edition this July, with around 200 Rollers, Astons, Bentleys and Jags descending on St Moritz itself for a week of concours, tours

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WEGGIS: PARK WEGGIS

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AROSA: TSCHUGGEN GRAND HOTEL ANDERMATT: THE CHEDI ANDERMATT

ST. MORITZ: SUVRETTA HOUSE

N ASCONA: HOTEL EDEN ROC

LUGANO: HOTEL SPLENDIDE ROYAL

and regularity rallying through the surrounding scenery – scenery truly deserving of the word “majestic”. Should you be lucky enough to participate, you’d be hard pushed to find a more desirable residence than Suvretta House, which is a member of Swiss Deluxe Hotels’ 41-strong collection of exclusive five-star retreats. Here is a luxury hotel of such palatial decadence that it could have inspired Wes Anderson’s Grand Budapest Hotel. Built in 1911 by the Swiss hotel pioneer Anton Bon, it has remained the property of the CandrianBon family to this day, boasting 181 exquisitely appointed rooms and a panoply of haute cuisine dining spots. Alternatively, further north, petrolheads should look into the Arosa ClassicCar weekend. Held in September for the past decade, 25,000 spectators turn out to witness a host of vintage beauties hill-climbing between Langwies and Arosa – a windy 7.8km road of 76 challenging turns and an elevation of 422m. Again, racers and fans alike are well served accommodation-wise, thanks to the Tschuggen Grand Hotel, nestled in an idyllic spot. The celebrated interior designer Carlo Rampazzi has recently refurbished all 130 rooms, but the crowning glory has to be the Bergoase spa facility, its surreal clutch of fin-shaped skylights illuminating an otherworldy subterranean haven. Further south, and right on the Italian border, Lake Maggiore and Lugano offer a less-trodden haven of their own. Riviera in style and indeed

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lifestyle, the placid waters and looming foothills are like nowhere else on Earth. Here, rambling or mountain biking in the summer need not necessarily apply, as a simple quayside stroll and Aperol-spritz aperitif is quite enough activity for one day. The Hotel Eden Roc is located on the shore of Lake Maggiore, with its own private beach, marina and serene gardens all a short walk from the charming piazza in Ascona. Between the fragrant Garden of Eden and the gentle beating of the waves on Lake Maggiore, guests feel a million miles from the rat race. Similarly capricious pleasures await less than an hour’s drive away, at the Splendide Royal. An ornate, Belle Epoque palace from the late 19th century, this hotel enjoys a privileged location on Lugano’s waterfront promenade, blessed with spectacular views, while being just a few minutes’ walk from the city centre. What’s more, if you’ve flown into the Alps, rather than driven down from the UK, Lugano’s local mountain roads are still within reach, thanks to the Splendide Royal’s Maserati Quattroporte being available for guest use. Back into central Switzerland, either scything through the mountains on the tunnel road, or

winding through chocolate-box villages, The Chedi Andermatt nestles elegantly among the ski chalets of Andermatt – close to the Furka Pass, where James Bond so famously gave chase to Tilly Masterson in his Aston Martin DB5 in Goldfinger (1964). Back in town, the hotel is fit for 007 himself: cool, contemporary, with a touch of swagger, this is no-compromise luxury on a spectacular scale. The jewel in its crown is The Chedi Andermatt’s tranquil retreat of hydrothermal baths and pools set against the stunning landscapes outside. For somewhere that still enjoys views of the mountains, but just a little closer to some cosmopolitan urbanity, look no further than Park Weggis, its crisp Art Nouveau buildings perched on the shores of Lake Lucerne. A tranquil Far Eastern feel permeates the whole hotel, from the Japanese meditation garden to its spa’s six Asian cottages, bedecked with dark terrazzo floors and mahogany walls, right through to the Tibetan massage chamber. It’s almost impossible not to feel refreshed after a stay at any of these Alpine boltholes.

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[1] The Park Weggis Hotel, perched serenely on the shores of Lake Lucerne. The rainbow-striped building in the foreground is the highly versatile Aquarius Hall function space. [2] The spectacular complex of unbridled luxury that is The Chedi Andermatt, rendered in the typical Swiss-chalet style. [3] Overlooking Lake Lugano, the Splendide Royal was a 19th-century Belle Epoque palace, and staying here still feels regal.

[4] The modernist fin-shaped skylights of the Tschuggen Grand in Arosa, illuminating the hotel’s extraordinary Bergoase spa. [5] Hotel Eden Roc in Ascona on Lake Maggiore is blessed with impeccably kept gardens, as well as a private beach. [6] The Grand Restaurant of Suvretta House hotel in St. Moritz certainly lives up to its name, serving head chef Fabrizio Zanetti’s international take on marketfresh French cuisine.

MySwitzerland.com SwissDeluxeHotels.com

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WORDS : ALEX DOAK // IMAGES : DREW GIBSON

PUSHING YOUR ENVELOPE Two days’ intensive coaching with Total Car Control could be the most effective – not to mention cost-effective – performance upgrade for your car

or all its notoriety, there’s one particular bit of the M25 that is genuinely fun. Admittedly, it is a bit of road that gets you off the M25: junction 27, exiting eastbound onto the southbound M11. The speed-limit signs recommend “40”, and this seems ridiculous for a motorway, so you blithely plough on at around 60, until, suddenly, it catches you out. The road merges from two lanes to one with little warning, then twists even tighter to the right, with an adverse camber, on a downward slope. In fact, it wasn’t always so much fun as challenging – especially at rush hour with other cars jostling for that merge. But on the way home from Millbrook, after a full-on day in the company of Ivan Thompsett, this sweeping section of tarmac took on a completely new guise. It was a famous section of racetrack, whose combination of attitudes and sight lines were carefully plotted entry and exit points, joined up by a single, flowing line. I was instinctively sensing the roll of the chassis and tightening of grip on the outside front wheel, feeding throttle in as the steering straightened up, all with a broad grin plastered across my face. In essence, I felt faster, more confident, better aware of my car’s limits, and better connected to car and road. Which, in essence, is what Ivan’s outfit, Total Car Control is all about. The day didn’t necessarily start with a broad grin, however. For all the magnanimity it takes to surrender yourself to coaching, with thousands of miles under your belt and hours glued to footage from the cockpit of F1 cars, it’s still difficult coming to terms with your shortfalls.

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O N T H E WAY H O M E F R O M M I L L B R O O K, A F T E R A F U L L-O N DAY I N T H E C O M PA N Y O F I VA N T H O M P S E T T, T H I S S W E E P I N G S E C T I O N O F M OTO RWAY TO O K O N A C O M P L E T E LY N E W G U I S E. I T WA S N OW A FA M O U S S E C T I O N O F R A C E T R A C K, A N D Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;D N E V E R F E LT FA S T E R O R M O R E C O N F I D E N T I N M Y C A R

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“What was quickly evident,” Ivan tells me from the passenger seat, after a few tentative laps of Millbrook’s Outer Handling Circuit in an Aston Martin DB9 GT Volante, “after looking at where your eyes are working, the detail you’re drinking in, how you’re using the road, your throttle input, is that you have a nice steering grip.” My spirits lift. But then… “However, your seating position isn’t right. You were constantly correcting your steering, and steering into bends too soon; only thinking about the corner entry when you need to be looking for the exit so as to determine the apex and correct turn-in point. Whilst it’s only natural to focus on the immediate situation, you need to deepen your vision, looking past the A-pillar, anticipating the road further ahead…” I would go on, but my suitability writing for a car magazine might be at stake. Needless to say, it was uphill all the way once Ivan’s coaching kicked in. Those first few laps were all he needed to judge what he had on his hands, and after extracting what exactly I wanted out of the whole experience, ensured that me and my Aston were left with an entirely new relationship. They always say the car should be an extension of yourself, but this went further – it was a melding of interaction with throttle, brakes, gears and steering, making the car glide more than drive. In fact, for little over a thousand pounds, two days with TCC charging around the twists and turns of Millbrook’s much-loved Alpine Circuit seems like the most economical, let alone sensible performance upgrade you could afford your car. It’s no wonder Total Car Control comes with H.R. Owen’s recommendation. With horsepower and braking capabilities growing with every model year, cars are becoming more and more capable than their owners. So it makes sense to “catch up”. And being fully bespoke, TCC Masterclasses are tailored to the existing ability and desires of each client. You may simply want to understand what your car is (or isn’t) capable of; maybe you’ve been “bitten”, and want to avoid a repeat; or perhaps you just want to get stuck into some track days without looking green.

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For me, the biggest revelation was so basic it hurt: keep your hands at quarterto-three, even at full lock, rather than constantly shuffling them around the steering wheel. My B-road driving has never felt so precise. “There was a Ferrari F12 owner who, following his own course with us, bought his wife a session too,” Ivan recalls. “But when they arrived on the day, she looked like she’d rather have been anywhere other than Millbrook. “So I sent the chap away and asked what exactly she wanted out of her day. She replied, ‘I just want to be able to position this thing on the road and park it.’ Turns out she found the car intimidating; she felt nervous driving a quarterof-a-million-pound car and much preferred her horse transporter. So we spent our time together learning how to manoeuvre the F12 confidently. “It was all she needed to get the most from it.” Ivan and his TCC colleagues certainly have the qualifications. After running BMW’s M Power Institute back in the days of the E39 M5, he freelanced for numerous high-performance training teams, including AMG and Lotus, as well as being on Porsche’s “senior team” of 12 driving consultants. But working away from home so much wasn’t ideal with a young family, so the decision was taken to start his own business. Thus, All Road Training was launched in 2008, providing advanced driver training to employees of companies like H.R. Owen. With business flourishing and performance-driving courses being offered on the side, it was only a matter of time before Total Car Control came into its own in 2012. And it’s this business, with Millbrook serving as his office most days, that Ivan is tangibly passionate about. “What really motivates me now is seeing those I coach developing a real connection with their cars, plus the confidence to enjoy them to the full in real-world conditions.” Later that day, pinning my tyre to the left apex on that M11 sliproad, feeling the moment of inertia acting on all four corners of the car..? Well, it’s certainly no Eau Rouge, but if Ivan can show me how to enjoy driving the M25, then he must be doing something right. total-car-control.co.uk

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WORDS : MATTHEW CARTER // IMAGES : RICHARD PARSONS

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Whether you’re too young to drive, can’t drive at all, or simply don’t have the parking space, you can still arrive in considerable style with the help of H.R. Owen VIP Services

magine you’re 15 again. You’ve just completed your GCSE exams and you’re about to move into the Sixth Form. But before you do there’s the small matter of the graduation ball (or “prom” as is fashionable now). How will you get yourself to the school bash? Dad’s taxi probably, or if you’re feeling flush perhaps a minicab? How crude of you. That’s certainly not how a group of seven resourceful school friends from north London are planning to get to their prom this July. They’ve hired a selection of supercars from H.R. Owen’s VIP Services – Lamborghinis, Bentleys and Rolls-Royces – to ensure they really make an entrance.

I know what you’re thinking: at 15, they are too young to take to the streets on a moped, let alone a 175mph supercar, so what’s going on? “The call came out of the blue. These seven school friends had seen pictures of some of our cars on Instagram and they asked if they could hire them for their School Prom. They wanted to arrive in chauffeured style in a Bentley Continental GTC or a Lamborghini Huracán and could we help? “Well, of course we could.” That’s one of the more unusual requests that Abbass Zadeh and his team have had in the seven months or so that VIP Services has been up and running, but it’s a perfect example of the way

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“EACH OF OUR 15 CHAUFFEURS ARE TRAINED HOW TO HANDLE NOT JUST THE CARS BUT THE CLIENTS AS WELL. IF WE ARE TAKING A CLIENT TO A R E D C A R P E T E V E N T, F O R E X A M P L E, T H E Y K N OW H OW TO E N S U R E THE PAPARAZZI CAN’T GET AN EMBARRASSING SHOT AS THE C L I E N T L E AV E S T H E C A R”

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H.R. Owen’s latest venture will go the extra mile for its clients… even those too young to hold a driver’s licence. Then there was the Middle Eastern Prince who wanted to hire a Huracán. The only trouble was that he was just 21 years old. “With due diligence we discovered that he owned and drove an Aventador and had a good insurance record so we were able to get cover.” As both stories show, the two arms of VIP Services – Luxury Hire and Chauffeur Drive – were created not just to meet the needs of clients, but also to exceed them. And by a huge margin. Indeed, every aspect of the business aims to set the highest standards. For example, none of the fleet of Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Lamborghini, Maserati and Aston Martin cars is more than nine months or 9,000 miles old. Each car is valeted to showroom standard before they go out and no car leaves VIP Services damaged… Not even a slightly scuffed wheel (the only damage so far incurred to the fleet) is allowed to leave. And thanks to H.R. Owen’s close contacts with those manufacturers, the fleet also has the latest models on its books – at the time of our visit both the Bentley Bentayga and the Rolls-Royce Dawn were out working. Sometimes it’s the little things that make all the difference. Every chauffeur car, for example, has a suite of charging cables for every mobile device under the sun as well as a selection of relevant magazines and bottled water in the back. Each of the 15 chauffeurs on the company books is specially trained in every aspect of the job. “They are all put through an intensive driving training course that is specially tailored to the chauffeur world. “That means they learn how to handle not just the cars but the clients as well. We even teach them where to look and when not to…

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“If we are taking someone to a red carpet event, for example, our chauffeurs know how to ensure the paparazzi cannot get an embarrassing shot as the client leaves the car,” says Abbass. Each driver undertakes a first-aid course and is completely versed in the technical specification of each model in the fleet to be able to answer any question that might arise. And it goes without saying that whatever happens in the cars – business deals, for instance – stays in that car: complete discretion is the order of the day. Another significant move due soon is the arrival of the company’s first female chauffeur. “Some female customers from the Middle East either cannot be, or do not want to be, driven by a man. So we are ensuring that we can offer the services of a top female chauffeur.” Tweaks and add-ons are constant at VIP Services, which is looking quite different to when it began – literally in one particular case: Abbass and his team recently discovered that some of their cars were getting booked more often than others… and it came down to their colour. “People hire our cars to arrive, to make an entrance. And that’s why we now have a purple Continental GTC, a pure-white Wraith and, my personal favourite, a bright green Huracán. It’s known as The Hulk to our Instagram followers,” said Abbass, “and has even featured in a music video.” No matter who is doing the hiring, the motto of H.R. Owen VIP Services sums it up perfectly: For Those Who Value The Art Of Arrival. Even if they are only 15 years old. To find out more or book your luxury hire: hrowen.co.uk/luxury-hire, vipservices@hrowen.co.uk, +44 (0)20 3699 6612

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CHEQUERED FLAG As usual, it’s been a hyperactive spring for friends of H.R. Owen. From the new Maserati Manchester South showroom to the London Motor Show, friends of the H.R. Owen Group have been treated to all manner of launch parties, driveouts and VIP showcases. But you don’t have to read jealously about fellow customers’ exploits – do get in touch with your local H.R. Owen business to see how you can get involved and, most of all, get the most out of your pride and joy of a weekend. Hopefully see you over the summer! HR OWEN // BENTLEY

H.R. OWEN // GROUP

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6–8 MAY: The inaugural year of The London Motor Show saw almost 20,000 motoring enthusiasts descend upon the Battersea Evolution venue on the South Bank, and as you’d expect, H.R. Owen dominated the luxury pavilion with its newest cars from across the model range all resplendent and turning heads – not least the brand-new, fit-for-summer droptop Lamborghini Huracán Spyder and Ferrari 488 Spider (pictured above). Lucky customers of H.R. Owen were admitted to the private hospitality area where they enjoyed a relaxed glass of Moët away from the hubbub of the show – something you can take advantage of, if you missed out this year, as the Show will return next year from 5th to 7th May.

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20–22 MAY: H.R. Owen’s third annual Convertible Weekend proved a roaring success at Bentley Surrey this spring, with over 70 friends of the Group popping by over the course of the weekend to enjoy BBQ burgers and veggie wraps, with complimentary champagne, juices and cakes all on offer. On display in the forecourt for all to admire and try for size was a great mix of convertible beauties from across the H.R. Owen marques (bar Bugatti of course)… plus a few “non-franchise” too!

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12 APRIL: H.R. Owen’s fourth customer drive day of the year was held at Goodwood’s historic motor circuit, to unanimous success. The gathering was as eclectic and immaculate as you’d imagine, with the new Ferrari 488 GTB, Lamborghini Huracán Spyder and Maserati Ghibli all present and correct, gleaming in the glorious south-coast sunshine. Even the new Rolls-Royce Dawn was taking on the Lavant Straight at speed with the roof down and smiles affixed. Off the track, lucky clients took the new Bentley Bentayga through its paces on the 4x4 circuit, which took muddy 40º gradients in its stride. To find out how you can get involved with the H.R. Owen Group Drive Programme, email events@hrowen.co.uk.

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H.R. OWEN // BENTLEY

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19 MAY: Over 100 customers staff and senior representatives of Maserati S.p.A attended the launch of H.R. Owen’s third Maserati dealership in Manchester. Guests were treated to a stunning line-up of cars, not least an example of the spectacular MC12 – one of just 50 homologation racers produced in 2004 and 2005. “Italian style” was the theme for the evening, with a selection of canapés inspired by Italy’s famed cuisine, plus prosecco and espresso martinis served throughout the night.

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21 MAY: After gathering early at H.R. Owen’s Bentley Hertfordshire showroom in Barnet for coffee and bacon rolls, guests set off on a thrilling convoy to the E.J. Churchill shooting range in Buckinghamshire for a day of clays. Set amidst 40 acres of woodland on the stunning West Wycombe Estate, the shooting ground was voted best shooting ground in the UK in the IPC Shooting Industry Awards 2014. Once instruction and practice sessions drew to a close, H.R. Owen’s guests took part in a friendly contest followed by a prizegiving – it’s difficult not to get competitive, after all!

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MAY: Ferrari London’s Showroom Logistics Co-Ordinator Mark Williamson and his fiancée Cate are just back from an incredible holiday in Malaysia, which they won in H.R. Owen’s New Year raffle, courtesy of the group’s Malay owners, Berjaya Corporation Berhad. They were lucky enough to stay at Berjaya’s resort on Langkawi, near Kuala Lumpar – a 90-acre jungle paradise, whose idyllic, stilted chalets overlook the Andaman Sea (hotel manager Chris Niuh pictured with the happy couple below). So now, when they finally do get married, Mark and Cate will be pleased to say they have already had the perfect honeymoon!

HR OWEN // FERRARI

RIVIERA CALLING

11–15 MAY: May saw HR Owen’s inaugural “Grand Tour” with fourteen teams enjoying a drive from Lyon down to Monte Carlo for the Grand Prix de Monaco Historique. Thirteen Ferraris and one 918 Spyder were trucked down to Lyon where our guests flew to meet them. A wonderful three days driving followed, via Chateau de Bagnols, La Bonne Etape and La Colombe D’Or before leaving the cars with a transporter in Eze to enjoy three days at the Fairmont Hotel with all the fun Monaco has to offer. The event was a huge success and we are already planning how we might better it in 2017! Contact owen.rothwell@hrowen.co.uk to receive information on the 2017 plans as they develop later in the year.

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THE BACK SEAT

PHIL HOWARD Multi-award winning chef Phil Howard sold his Mayfair restaurant earlier this year and ploughed some of the cash straight into another car for his collection. Here, he explains his, and

Illustration: Mark Welby

indeed many other top chefs’ passion for petrol

After 25 years of owning two-Michelin-starred The Square, I finally decided the time had come to call it a day and sold the business. With a taste of freedom and some money in my pocket it was not long before I found myself falling victim to my love of cars. I needed an investment opportunity. Cue a new car! It’s an AC Cobra 427, one of the continuation models built at Brooklands in 1998. It was the dream car since I was a kid and with a bit of time (and money) on my hands after selling up… well, it seemed like the right thing to do. Like many chefs, I am an unashamed petrolhead. Why are so many chefs into cars? I think it’s something to do with the fact that cooking professionally is a high-octane pursuit and we have and love to operate at a really fast pace. High-performance cars seem to fit the lifestyle. I also love beautiful things. An immaculate ingredient, a great dish – both are aesthetically pleasing and, of course, so is a beautifully designed car. I guess that’s why I’ve indulged myself over the years. My first car was a Fiat Panda but my first “proper” car was a Bristol 411 S2. Geoffrey Herdman, who was chairman of the Bristol Owners Club, was a regular at The Square and he used to invite me to cook at club gatherings in the Loire. From that I got hooked on the idea of owning a Bristol and the 411 was, for me, the last of the truly elegant Bristols.

But at that stage in my career I couldn’t really afford to run it and when it overheated for the umpteenth time in Mayfair I finally wised up and sold it. After that it was a series of ordinary city cars, Renault Clios and such like, until we won our second Michelin star when I bought myself a new Aston DB7 to celebrate. I used it as my everyday car for around 10 years and today, 18 years after I bought it, I still have it. Keeping it on the streets, however, did mean it suffered some abuse, including dents in the roof where persons or persons unknown decided to go for a walk. A couple of years ago, I sold it to a specialist who set about restoring it… and when it was finished I decided to buy it back partly for sentimental reasons and partly because it is such a beautiful car. Oh, and it’s no longer kept on the street! More recently I have had a string of Maseratis, all bought from H.R. Owen. I started with a GranTurismo, then changed that for a GranCabrio and I now have a GranCabrio MC. Although driving can sometimes be frustrating, especially for the London-based, it really doesn’t take too much effort to find some decent empty roads. There’s nothing to beat stowing the fishing rods in the boot and heading off for a spot of contemplation on a riverbank somewhere. But despite owning some clearly powerful cars, I am a pretty chilled driver, restricting my need for real speed to the occasional track day at the PalmerSport facility in Bedford – where I intend to get to grips with the Cobra. I’m really looking forward to that. The Cobra is a true iconic sports car. It’s muscular, brutal even, and I love everything about it. But it’s a car that needs to be treated with respect and track days will allow me to explore its (and my) limits. The Cobra will also be, I hope, an investment. I know nothing about stocks and shares and with interest rates as low as they are there is precious little point sticking your money away in a bank. A car like the Cobra – or a gilt-edged classic Ferrari or Aston – will be both a genuine pleasure to own and something which in 20 years time will also give you a huge return on that investment. I can’t think of a better way of spending it! Although he has sold The Square, Phil Howard remains a partner in three other London restaurants – The Ledbury (Notting Hill), Kitchen W8 (Kensington), and Sonny’s Kitchen (Barnes). He also cooks privately at special events and is, in his words, “working on something for the future…”

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