Magneto Magazine Issue 10: Summer 2021

ISSUE

10 SUMMER 2021

+ JAGUAR E-TYPE

MILLION-DOLLAR MUSTANGS

ALFA ROMEO 6C

BRM ARCHIVES

THE TOP 50 AUCTION PRICES

BLOWER BENTLEY

, STRATOS 50 years of

£10.00 |

SUMMER 2021

PRINTED IN THE UK

Catalogue online The Amelia Island Auction Fernandina Beach, Florida | 20 May 2021

Entries now invited Quail Lodge Auction Carmel, California | 13 August 2021

ENQUIRIES +1 (917) 340 9652, East Coast +1 (415) 391 4000, West Coast motors.us@bonhams.com bonhams.com

© 2021 Bonhams & Butterfields Auctioneers Corp. All rights reserved. NYC DCA Auction House License No. 2077070

1934 MERCEDES-BENZ 500/540K (FACTORY UPGRADE) SPEZIAL ROADSTER Chassis no. 105136 Engine no. 105136

Exciting period Concours d’Elegance history Superb restoration recently performed 1948 TALBOT-LAGO T26 RECORD SPORT CABRIOLET DÉCAPOTABLE Coachwork by Figoni et Falaschi

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18 COMING SOON The cream of what’s happening where over the next few months

27 S TA R T E R Driving the first Blower Bentley Continuation, Ferrari at Le Mans, cars of the Maharajas, TVR Trident and playing polo in Model T Fords...

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L A N C I A S T R AT O S HITS 50

MILLION-DOLLAR M U S TA N G S

A L FA R O M E O 6C 1750

LAMBORGHINI SIÁN

T H E D E AT H O F BENTLEY

We celebrate this outrageous WRChomologated legend, which first wowed at the 1971 Turin Motor Show

Shelby Mustangs are among the Holy Grail of 1960s US sports cars.

We feature some of the rarest and most valuable

Driving a beautifully preserved 1933 Mille Miglia class-winning Touring Berlinetta Aerodinamica

How does it feel to get behind the wheel of top Italian marque’s rule-breaking new hybrid? We find out

Historical insight into how financial challenges and uncertain times led to the downfall of WO’s empire

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INSIDE THE BRM ARCHIVE

FERRUCCIO’S R I VA R U N A B O U T

DUESENBERG’S 1921 LE MANS COUP

TOP 50 CARS SOLD AT A U C T I O N

Hidden for decades, the remarkable BRM archive is now moving to Silverstone. We show a selection of highlights

This V12 icon is no Lamborghini as we know it. Riva’s elegant Aquarama never looked – or sounded – so sexy...

Karl Ludvigsen on how US style and simplicity beat Europe’s complex cars at the French GP to put the seal on the straight-eight era

From Ferraris to Astons, a host of stars feature in our countdown of the most expensive cars ever to have crossed the block

179 NEW SECTION ACQUIRE Buying an E-type, market intelligence from Hagerty and Dave Kinney on the potential of the MercedesBenz SLR McLaren, the art of Simon Britnell, classic watches, cinema art and even stamp collecting!

196 LEGAL: JAGUAR COPYRIGHT

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198 COLLECTIONS: BRM IN BAHRAIN

200 HISTORIC RACING: M E N TA L P R E P

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202 BEHIND THE LEGEND: FERRARI 250GTO MAGNETO

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E DI TOR ’ S

W E LCOM E

Issue 10 Issue 10! In many ways it doesn’t seem long ago since we launched the first Magneto at Rétromobile, Paris, in February 2018. In other ways it seems like an eternity, underlined by the absence of the Parisian event in 2021 due to COVID-19.

This is the first time in the first ten issues that we’ve featured a single car on the front cover; we’ve previously starred 100 years of Zagato, Enzo Ferrari, the greatest-ever concepts, the Ecclestone F1 collection, the BAT cars, Sir Stirling Moss, Lotus, Bonneville and the Le Mans movie. And now, 50 years of the Lancia Stratos HF. Yes, it was half a century ago that the prototype was exhibited at the Turin Motor Show, a year after the debut of the Stratos Zero concept (featured in issue 5). The production car, finally launched in 1973, is one of the most outrageous results of the World Rally Championship homologation rules we’ve ever seen. In competition it was hugely successful. On the road, it looked like the aliens had landed.

Andrew Frankel has driven examples of the Stratos in the past, but he was unsurprisingly keen to remind himself just how extreme the car feels on the road. I think you’ll enjoy the resultant story.

Elsewhere in this issue (our biggest yet) we also have the first reveal of the long-hidden Rubery Owen archive of BRM documentation and memorabilia, a never-seen-before line-up of the most important Mustangs ever made, a revisit of Ferruccio Lamborghini’s twin-V12 Riva, a full guide to the E-type market and much more. Enjoy!

David Lillywhite Editorial director

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© Pierre-Yves Riom

Converting power into performance.

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efginternational.com EFG International’s global private banking network operates in around 40 locations worldwide, including Zurich, Geneva, Lugano, London, Madrid, Milan, Monaco, Luxembourg, Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney, Miami, Bogotá and Montevideo. In the United Kingdom, EFG Private Bank Limited’s principal place of business and registered office is located at Leconfield House, Curzon Street, London W1J 5JB, T + 44 20 7491 9111. EFG Private Bank Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. EFG Private Bank Limited is a member of the London Stock Exchange. Registered in England and Wales as no. 2321802. EFG Private Bank Ltd is a subsidiary of EFG International.

Contributors WINSTON GOODFELLOW If you’re not a follower of muscle cars, you might wonder what distinguishes one that sells for thousands from one that goes for over a million dollars. Winston, most famed for his deep knowledge of Italian supercars, is also quite the expert on this – and probably the only writer around who could have lined up the four very significant Mustangs for our feature.

MASSIMO DELBÒ How to sum up Massimo? He’s the ever-smiling Italian most often to be found on a concours field somewhere in the world, with a classic car knowledge to shame the best of us. In this issue Massimo takes a ride in Ferruccio Lamborghini’s twin V12 Riva Aquarama motor boat. It’s been seen before, but not in this amount of detail – and we love it!

D AV E K I N N E Y Dave is the go-to guy if you want to know what’s happening in the collector car market. He was founder of USAppraisal in 1991, and is publisher of the essential reference Hagerty Price Guide. You’ll find him watching proceedings at every major auction around the world – and you’ll now find his words in the back of Magneto, explaining the latest market trends.

Eight of Rick’s portrait photographs currently hang in London’s National Portrait Gallery. He’s worked with clients and subjects as diverse as the Royal Ballet, Hugo Boss, British Airways, Nike and Ferrari. He’s also a great petrol-head so he leapt at the chance to studiophotograph the Lancia Stratos for this issue? The results are spectacular!

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I LLUST R AT IONS P ET E R A LLE N

RICK GUEST

A U C T I O N S & P R I VAT E B R O K E R A G E

G O O D I N G C O .C O M

+ 1 . 3 1 0 . 8 9 9.1 9 6 0

VIEWING IN THE UK BIDDING OPENS 1 1 JUNE AT 09:00 GMT LOTS BEGIN CLOSING 18 JUNE AT 17:00 GMT

1961 ASTON MARTIN DB4 GT SOLD £2,750,000 I European Sporting & Historic Collection 2021 Geared Online | 11–18 June is presented by Gooding UK, LLC, a division of Gooding & Company.

FRIDAY AUG 13 SATURDAY AUG 14

1958 FERRARI 250 GT LWB CALIFORNIA SPIDER SOLD $9,905,000 I Pebble Beach Auctions 2019

Pebble Beach® and Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance® are trademarks and service marks of Pebble Beach Company. Used by permission.

Now Inviting Consignments

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Editorial director

Managing director

David Lillywhite

Geoff Love

Art director

Advertising sales

Peter Allen

Sue Farrow, Rob Schulp

Production editor

Staff writer

Accounts administrator

Sarah Bradley

Elliott Hughes

Jonathan Ellis

Lifestyle advertising

West Coast US contributor

European editor

Sophie Kochan

Winston Goodfellow

Johan Dillen

Contributors in this issue Matt Bryson, Jonathon Burford, Simon de Burton, Rémi Dargegen, Robert Dean, Dirk de Jager, Massimo Delbò, Andrei Diomidov, Patrick Ernzen, Andrew Frankel, Michael Furman, Winston Goodfellow, Rob Gould, Rick Guest, Sam Hancock, Brian Henniker, Mathieu Heurtault, Matt Howell, Dave Kinney, David Lawrence, Pawel Litwinski, Karl Ludvigsen, John Mayhead, James Nicholls, Debbie Nolan, Drew Phillips, Andy Reid, Mark Riccioni, Clive Robertson, Darin Schnabel, Tim Scott, Max Serra, Amy Shore, Diana Varga, Ed Welburn, John Wiley, Rupert Whyte Single issues & subscriptions Please visit www.magnetomagazine.com or call +44 (0)1371 851892 For US orders or renewal www.imsnews.com/publications/motorsports/magneto or call 757 428 8180 Subscriptions managed by ESco Business Services

HOTHOUSE MEDIA Geoff Love, David Lillywhite, George Pilkington Castle Cottage, 25 High Street, Titchmarsh, Northants NN14 3DF, UK Printing Buxton Press, Palace Road, Buxton, Derbyshire SK17 6AE, UK Printed on Finesse Silk from Denmaur Paper Specialist newsstand distribution Pineapple Media, Select Publisher Services Who to contact Subscriptions & business geoff@hothousemedia.co.uk Accounts jon@hothousemedia.co.uk Editorial david@hothousemedia.co.uk Advertising sue@flyingspace.co.uk or rob@flyingspace.co.uk

©Hothouse Media Ltd. Magneto and associated logos are registered trademarks of Hothouse Media Ltd. All rights reserved. All material in this magazine, whether in whole or in part, may not be reproduced, transmitted or distributed in any form without the written permission of Hothouse Media Ltd. Hothouse Media Ltd. uses a layered privacy notice giving you brief details about how we would like to use your personal information.

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Magneto [mag-nee-toh] noun, plural mag·ne·tos 1. Electrical generator that provides periodic high-voltage pulses to the spark-plugs of an internal-combustion engine, used mostly pre-World War One although still fitted for emergency back-up of aircraft ignition systems.

2. Fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.

3. Great quarterly magazine featuring the most important cars in the world.

ISSN Number 2631-9489. Magneto is published quarterly by Hothouse Publishing Ltd. Great care has been taken throughout the magazine to be accurate, but the publisher cannot accept any responsibility for any errors or omissions that might occur.

The editors and publishers of this magazine give no warranties, guarantees or assurances, and make no representations regarding any goods or services advertised in this edition.

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Casual car fun at The Classic Motor Hub

Festival of Speed; the ultimate Historic hillclimb

Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance’s 70th birthday

Round-up of yet more of Magneto’s favourite events

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Coming soon

THE CLASSIC MOTOR HUB

WILL BROADHEAD

Various dates throughout 2021 With attendance lists for The Classic Motor Hub’s packed itinerary of events filling up fast at time of writing, we’d recommend you book soon for the Cotswolds meeting place’s planned late-summer get-togethers.

Sunday August 1 marks the return of Coffee & Classics, which will take place from 10am-3pm, while Sunday September 5 will see the green, white and red flag flying at The Hub for the second edition of Italian Coffee & Classics.

Only motorcycles will be allowed through the gate on Saturday September 25 for the inaugural Ride-It Day, which will feature special guests and displays to celebrate all classic and vintage two-wheelers.

The Classic Motor Hub will round off the summer season with its final Coffee & Classics of 2021 on Sunday October 3.

Casual classic fun at The Hub – what easier way to get back into the joys of motoring on two wheels or four? www.classicmotorhub.com

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F E ST I VA L OF SPEED July 8-11, 2021

JAYSON FONG

Event organiser Goodwood has suffered more than most thanks to the plethora of COVID cancellations since early 2020. We don’t know which we’ve missed the most: two editions of the Members’ Meeting; the Festival of Speed; or the Revival. Regardless, we can guarantee that the Duke of Richmond is planning one hell of a party for his first motor sport knees-up of 2021.

Among the highlights at July’s FoS is a celebration of The Maestros – Motorsport’s Great All-Rounders, featuring former US driver and current championship team owner Roger Penske. Assembled machines associated with Penske – who competed at the Goodwood Motor Circuit in 1963 – will include those from IndyCar, NASCAR, TransAm and Formula 1.

Staying with the F1 theme, five current teams are set to attend motor sport’s ultimate summer garden party: Red Bull Racing Honda, McLaren F1 Team, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team, Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow and Williams Racing.

We can’t wait to see their cars charge up the hillclimb alongside their Historic counterparts. Roll on July! www.goodwood.com

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AU T U M N

WINTER

SPRING

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PEBBLE BEACH CONCOURS D’ELEGANCE August 15, 2021 This premier celebration of the automobile marks its 70th anniversary in 2021. As the flagship event of the Monterey Car Week, the concours hosts the world’s finest collector cars on the Pebble Beach Golf Links. Each is critiqued on their elegance, history and technical merit in a bid to be crowned Best of Show. Further highlights including the unveiling of much anticipated concepts and new-car debuts.

Of course, there’s so much more to Car Week, what with the Porsche Monterey Classic, Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance, Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, Concours on the Avenue, McCall’s Motorworks Revival, Concorso Italiano, Legends of the Autobahn, Concours d’LeMons, The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering and much more. Auctions will be staged by RM Sotheby’s, Gooding & Company, Russo and Steele, Mecum, Bonhams and Worldwide Auctioneers.

Get ready to celebrate! www.pebblebeachconcours.net

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SPRING

BELOW London Concours in the heart of the City.

AMELIA ISLAND CONCOURS D’ELEGANCE May 20-23, 2021 Amelia Island in Florida remains a cornerstone of the concours circuit. This year’s event celebrates racer Lyn St James, along with Weird and Wonderful cars and more. RM Sotheby’s holds the on-site sale, with Bonhams just down the road. www.ameliaconcours.org

B I C E S T E R H E R I TA G E SCRAMBLE June 5-6, 2021 The popular Scramble is back, this time over two days in Oxfordshire, UK. Expect an eclectic mix of machinery and a relaxed, enjoyable atmosphere. www.bicesterheritage.co.uk

LONDON CONCOURS June 8-10, 2021 Returning for a fifth year and with a new three-day format, this concours at the Honourable Artillery Company HQ features 80 cars (plus supercars on day three). www.londonconcours.co.uk

C I N C I N N AT I C O N C O U R S D’ELEGANCE June 11-13, 2021 This year featuring special displays of Motorsport Excellence, 100 Years of Lincoln, 60 Years of the Jaguar E-type, 50 Years of the Z-car and Microcars. www.ohioconcours.com

E -T Y P E 6 0 June 12-13, 2021 A celebration of the E-type’s 60th birthday and the Swinging 1960s at Shelsley Walsh hillclimb, UK. www.etype60.com

A U T O R OYA L E July 16-18, 2021 All-new concours at the UK’s Waddesdon Manor. The special classes include Cars of the Indian Maharajas, 70 Years of Scaglietti Cars and Jaguar XKs. www.autoroyale.org

C L A S S I C N O S TA L G I A July 17-18, 2021 A celebration of motor sport at Shelsley Walsh, UK (below), including tributes to Colin McRae and Richard Burns. www.classicnostalgia.co.uk

CONCOURS OF AMERICA July 23-25, 2021 Historic concours at Inn at St John’s in Plymouth, Michigan. www.concoursusa.org

F E ST I VA L O F T H E UNEXCEPTIONAL

MONTEREY CAR WEEK

September 13-17, 2021

A week of heaven in California, including: Concours on the Avenue; McCall’s Motorsports Reunion; RetroAuto; The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering; Concours d’Lemons; Monterey Motorsports Reunion, Concorso Italiano; multiple auctions; and Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

Book accommodation now!

HERO-ERA historic rally through the Scottish Highlands, starting in Edinburgh. Competition level for this is suitable for novices.

www.whatsupmonterey.com

SALON PRIVÉ

Hagerty’s Concours de l’Ordinaire, for the most unexceptional cars.

This year in the grounds of Grimsthorpe Castle, UK. www.hagerty.co.uk

www.salonpriveconcours.com

CONCOURS OF ELEGANCE September 3-5, 2021

THRUXTON HISTORIC Motor Racing Legends’ festival at the UK’s fastest circuit, featuring historic racing and Land Rovers!

Top-level concours at Hampton Court Palace, UK, featuring more than 300 of the world’s finest and rarest cars – this year including Martini vs Gulf, 60 Years of E-type and Rolls-Royce Silver Ghosts.

www.motorracinglegends.com

www.concoursofelegance.co.uk

June 12-13, 2021

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www.heroevents.eu

G O O DWO O D R E V I VA L September 17-19, 2021 Historic racing at its very much – and so much more than that.

Dress in pre-1966 style and be a part of the experience. www.goodwood.com

September 1-5, 2021 The 16th Salon Privé will see concours on the Wednesday and Thursday, Ladies’ Day on Friday, Club Trophy on Saturday and Classic & Supercar on the Sunday, at Blenheim Palace, UK.

July 31, 2021

H E R O C L A S S I C M A LT S

August 6-15, 2021

CONCORSO D’ELEGANZA VILLA D’ESTE

October 1-3, 2021

Naturally, only the world’s most beautiful cars have graced the world’s oldest concours, on the shores of Lake Como. www.concorsodeleganzavilladeste.com

C A R R E R A I TA L I A October 2-12, 2021 Rally The Globe’s historic event around the lakes and mountains of northern Italy, via Sanremo, Verona and Cortina d’Ampezzo. www.rallytheglobe.com

CALIBER RM 33-02

www.richardmille.com

AN AUTOMOTIVE GARDEN PARTY IN THE HEART OF THE CITY

Now over three days; Owners Day, The Style Edition and Supercar Day. The perfect combination of concours cars from the UK’s leading private collectors, luxury retailers, fine watches, art, gourmet food and champagne; an occasion of pure indulgence.

Limited ticket allocation available now. londonconcours.co.uk/tickets

PRESENTED BY

First drive of the new Blower Bentley Continuation car

Hot rodders gather for So-Cal founder’s 99th birthday in LA

Tales of 190mph two-up in the Aston Martin Bulldog

How much did Ettore Bugatti’s watch sell for?

Aussie rules? How to play polo in Model T Ford speedsters

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Starter

FIRST DRIVE

Blower Bentley Continuation

How authentic does Bentley’s new 4½ Litre recreation feel? We compared the prototype with the original 1929 No.2 Birkin Team Car

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S T A R T E R

FAR LEFT Blower Bentley Continuation prototype Car Zero proves its mettle at Millbrook’s twisty ‘Alpine’ circuit.

ABOVE As with the rest of the car, legendary 4½ Litre engine has been recreated using authentic materials and methods.

LEFT Magneto’s Lillywhite behind the wheel; Car Zero is laden with test gear and instrumentation.

ONE IS ESTIMATED TO BE worth around £25 million. The other is £1.5 million – or at least it would have been if you were one of the 12 customers to have snapped up Bentley’s first foray into continuation cars. One has 92 years of stories to tell; the other is the product of around 18 months of intense work.

On a sunny day in April, a very small group of journalists was invited to Millbrook Proving Ground to try Car Zero of the Blower Continuation programme. This is the development prototype built ahead of the 12 customer cars, at that point 1500 miles into its 8000mile intense testing. Sat alongside it was the No.2 Team Car on which the Continuations are based.

As Bentley’s race victories racked up in the 1920s, WO Bentley’s answer to his cars’ ever-faster rivals was to increase power by upping engine size. Gentleman racer Sir Henry ‘Tim’ Birkin, however, proposed supercharging the existing 4½ Litre.

WO disagreed, but Birkin persuaded fellow Bentley Boy and company chairman Woolf Barnato to sanction the build of the 50 road cars needed for homologation plus five for competition. He then built four supercharged race machines in his own workshops, two of which competed at Le Mans in 1930.

Bentley Motors bought back the second-built of the four Team Cars, known as No.2, in 2000. Such good use was made of the model ever since that it was in need of sympathetic restoration. Meanwhile, other manufacturers were making a commercial success of continuation cars. With plans to revive its Mulliner coachbuilding division, Bentley announced that No.2 would be stripped down, digitally scanned and restored alongside the build of 12 new versions of No.2 in its 1930 Le Mans specification.

No one could claim that task sounded easy, seeing as – unlike with other continuations – there’s no one alive who built the original Team Cars. Lockdown slowed progress, but by that point it had already become clear that there were more differences between the Team Cars and standard production

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LEFT Team Car and Car Zero go head-to-head on high-speed bowl.

BELOW All dozen of Bentley’s Blower Continuations have been sold, at £1.5 million each.

Blowers than anyone – specialists included – had realised, and that No.2’s 1960s refresh had been more extensive than thought. Also, the chassis had clearly been accident damaged at least twice, and was twisted in two planes.

If you count each major assembly such as the engine, gearbox, axle etc as single parts, then Bentley created 1846 of them. But as 230 of these ‘parts’ are actually assemblies, the number of individual components designed and hand-crafted number several thousand. Materials and production methods were kept authentic, working with existing Vintage Bentley specialists such as RC Moss, NDR and William Medcalf, plus heavy engineering companies like the steam-train boiler makers employed to produce the chassis using traditional methods.

By early 2021 Car Zero had been completed in the extended Mulliner workshops, and testing work started in earnest. To acclimatise the journalists to the famously recalcitrant Bentley fourspeed crash gearbox, Team Car No.2 was brought in, having a more worn-in transmission than Car Zero. Training sessions in the nearinvaluable No.2 were followed by a swift swap to Car Zero, giving the perfect chance to compare the original and the copy directly.

How did they weigh up? Admirably,

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it has to be said. What’s common to both is that, after flicking on the two magneto switches, doing the same with the fuel-pump switch and then pushing the starter button on the left of the dashboard, the engine fired instantaneously in both cars with a satisfyingly deep roar, followed by a noisy but steady idle. The unblown 4½ Litres produced 130bhp compared with 175bhp for the roadspecification Blowers and 240bhp at 4200rpm for the Team Cars, and yet there was no hint of race-machine temperament from either of the cars – and Car Zero’s engine is built to the same spec as No.2’s, running the same amount of boost from the Amherst Villiers supercharger.

The pedals are to central-throttle layout, so clutch on the left, accelerator in the middle, brake pedal higher and to the right. The short gearlever is on the floor almost under the driver’s right thigh, operating via an open gate with a

simple reverse-blocking mechanism that flicks out of place when needed.

There’s no synchromesh, so doubledeclutching is necessary, ensuring the clutch pedal goes right to the floor and is lifted right up on every operation. Blipping the throttle on downchanges requires a hefty shove on the accelerator.

True to reputation, the changes took time for me to master. First to second needs a brief pause halfway through the operation, while second to third needs to be quicker and smoother. Third to fourth is somewhere between the two. If you miss, well, all you can do is take a deep breath, bring the clutch back up, blip the accelerator, shove the clutch back down and ease it down a gear.

Despite having done it all before, initially I found it painful, but after a few miles those clean changes started to come more regularly.

Forget the pleasure in hitting a golf ball correctly; there’s nothing

more satisfying than acing a Blower Bentley gearchange.

Thank goodness, though, that the engine is so forgiving. It’s a seething mass of torque, unphased by missed shifts, clumsy starts and low-speedhigh-gear running. It just pulls and pulls, bellowing in pleasure as the car rapidly builds momentum. As corners approach everything gets even more physical, with a hefty shove on the brakes bringing the speed down, aided by the external handbrake if necessary, followed by a massive heave on the huge steering wheel that pulls the car onto the desired line as it skitters over the bumps. Amazing!

Which car am I talking about?

Both, actually. Car Zero’s clutch and steering are lighter, its accelerator heavier, the engine smoother and even cleaner running than the Team Car’s. There’s not much to choose between the ’boxes, but where Car Zero let itself down on the test was the brakes; not yet bedded in, they didn’t inspire the confidence that its counterpart’s did. That will be fixed.

If we hadn’t been briefed on the brakes and the gearbox differences, would it have been possible from the driving experience to tell which was the original and which was the copy?

No, it wouldn’t. Nothing in the world can replace the Team Car’s history, but for an authentic Vintage Bentley driving experience, the Continuation has got it nailed. David Lillywhite

REGISTER TO BID | JUNE 17-19 | LAS VEGAS | 480.421.6694 AT THE ALL-NEW WEST HALL OF THE LAS VEGAS CONVENTION CENTER

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Spot the hot rod legends at Alex Xydias’s 99th!

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Greats of the US car scene come together in Los Angeles to celebrate with So-Cal Speed Shop founder

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BRUCE MEYER’S GARAGE IN Beverly Hills was the suitably august location for an equally impressive celebration recently, when legends of the US West Coast car scene assembled to mark the 99th birthday of iconic hot rodder Alex Xydias.

Many of the attendees at March’s Petersen Museum-hosted event were historic figures in the rodding scene – and some are also celebrating significant birthdays this year. Ed ‘Isky’ Iskenderian, founder of the eponymous tuning company, soon turns 100, while famous drag-racing engineer Ed Pink will be 90. Racing driver Don Prudhomme turns 80 in 2021, and so too does event host Meyer, founding chairman of the Petersen Automotive Museum.

The glittering ensemble also included car customisers, collectors,

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industry leaders, drag racers and writers. Their presence speaks volumes about Alex Xydias’s status and impact on the auto community.

Over lunch and cake, Alex regaled his friends with fascinating tales.

His story of becoming a hot-rodding hero began when he bought a 1929 Ford at the age of 19. Taking it to an El Mirage dry-lakes meet would prove a formative moment in his life.

His wartime role as an engineergunner on B-17 and B-25 bombers armed him with the technical knowhow and daredevil spirit required to become a luminary of post-war American car culture. On top of his So-Cal Speed Shop fame, Xydias helped found SEMA, features in the Dry Lakes Hall of Fame and has won the Robert E Petersen Lifetime Achievement Award.

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Raylene Meyer, wife of organiser Bruce Meyer Rich Cholakian, collector Ed ‘Isky’ Iskenderian, engine-tuning legend Ed Pink, engine-building legend Alex Xydias, So-Cal founder Billy Gibbons, ZZ Top guitarist and hot rodder Chip Foose, TV customiser and car designer Greg Sharp, curator of the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum Don ‘The Snake’ Prudhomme, drag-racing legend Bobby Green, co-founder of The Race of Gentlemen Ed Justice Jr, photographer and collector Cathleen McLevey, Alex Xydias’s daughter Jerry McLevey, Alex Xydias’s daughter’s partner ‘Gentleman’ Joe Schubeck, drag racer Gigi Carlton, former assistant to Robert E Petersen (publisher and museum founder)

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Dennis Varni, collector Dick DeLuna, collector Jimmy Shine, TV customiser Tony Thacker, hot rod journalist and author David Steele, director of American Hot Rod Foundation Peter Eastwood, renowned hot rod builder Terry L Karges, executive director of Petersen Automotive Museum Evan Meyer, son of Bruce Meyer Bruce Meyer, collector and organiser of the gathering Tom McIntyre, collector Lynn Park, Cobra collector Roy Brizio, renowned hot rod builder Mark Vaughn, editor at Autoweek Scott Gillen, collector Troy Ladd, customiser Dan Kahn, PR director Tom Kenney, Meyer collection manager Jay Ward, Pixar Animations creative director of franchise

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S T A R T E R

LEFT Remembering the good times: Gerry and Matt at the 2013 Peking to Paris Motor Challenge.

King of rallying remembered Endurance rally driver Gerry Crown wasn’t going to let his age get in the way of Peking to Paris victories, as his navigator and lifelong friend Matt Bryson’s tribute explains

NOT ONE TO DO THINGS BY halves, rally master Gerry Crown finally succumbed to an intensive fight against highly aggressive brain cancer in March, aged 89. Yet he’d never give up; he was still planning our assault on the 2022 Peking to Paris Motor Challenge to the last.

Always modest, Gerry was a successful business and family man as well as a consummate driver. The Londoner came to Australia in 1957 with friend Vic Andrew, and started rallying in the 1960s when the typical Australian event was at night, 500 miles long and highly competitive.

Gerry recalled: “My first was the four-day, 2500-mile 1963 BP Rally, in a Mini 850. At that point I was the greatest driver of all time; I just hadn’t yet had the chance to prove it.”

While showing off for a photo on the Grand Ridge Road, he cut a corner so fine he put the front wheel into thin air and rolled down the mountain eight times. Fortunately, cushioning from saplings meant the

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occupants escaped unharmed. “Every panel was deformed, but I thought it’d still run. When a tow guy arrived hours later, I told him to pull us up carefully. Sure enough, we gave the car a push and it started. We finished late, but we won the novice prize.”

From there, Gerry honed his skills to become one of the fastest drivers in Australia, perhaps later the world.

As a Renault factory driver he scored multiple successes in R8 Gordinis, while in the 1970s he concentrated on business and took up rallycross with a supercharged Ford Escort.

In the 1985 off-road Wynns Safari he was one of fewer than 80 finishers out of 283. He then took another break to concentrate on business and charity work – which was recognised with the Order of Australia Merit.

In the mid-1990s he and my dad, Australian Rallying Hall of Famer John Bryson, did the Peking to Paris.

Their 1964 Holden EH came second in the Classics. For the 2007 P2P, Chinese law stopped over-70s holding

a driving licence. Gerry would be 75 – and so came a life-changing opportunity for me; the start of a fantastic friendship and the ultimate endurance-rallying team. He and I set many fastest Vintageant times in our 1940 Buick on that P2P, and we also beat the top Classics. We went on to win in 2010 in our trusty Holden EH. Dad, who’d been a factory driver and navigator in the 1960s and ’70s, always said the Leyland P76 was the best long-distance rally car, so we rebuilt one in which Gerry and I went on to have great success in the 2013 P2P. We also took part in everything from the Trans-American Challenge and Samurai Challenge to the Road to Mandalay and Road to Saigon.

We were super competitive, but we did these events for more than that.

The friendships we’ve made are very special. Strictly business in the car, Gerry would flick the fun switch as soon as he got out. His infectious laugh could be heard in a bar after a long day at the wheel, or booming across a Mongolian camp-site.

He was a great sportsman and very

ABOVE Gerry scored multiple rally successes in his Works R8 Gordinis.

good loser, but a terrible passenger.

I’d had both driving and co-driving experience, but he’d only ever been a driver; his fear of being a passenger was clear. In 2007 he had to navigate for three days due to those Chinese laws, and we shared the driving from then on. That was such a privilege.

But in 2010 he sprained his wrist in Mongolia. His huge pain stopped him changing gear. For a day I moved the stick from the passenger seat and Gerry did the rest, but it was difficult and his wrist was deteriorating, so the next day he said I’d better drive.

I could see just how hard it was for him to make this decision; how incredibly brave. After a few days’ rest, he was back behind the wheel.

Gerry was a remarkable driver on dirt and loose surfaces – neat, smooth and concise. But on Tarmac – and especially on racetracks – something went wrong; he drove slower and he knew it. His decision to let me drive the circuits was the bravest thing I’ve seen. He hated being in the navigator’s seat, but he just encouraged me to go faster.

Gerry lived the fullest life you could hope for, surrounded by friends and family, constantly planning and working towards another big rally or project. The stories of our friendship and adventures are endless. He held it flat until the end! We are all better for knowing this great man, and the world is a lesser place without him.

You can find Matt on social media channels @mattbrysonrally. Thanks to HERO-ERA at www.heroevents.eu.

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S T A R T E R

Poignant visits paid to Bulldog

AS THE RESTORATION OF THE Aston Martin Bulldog progresses at Classic Motor Cars in Bridgnorth, UK, the team has received more invaluable feedback from two of the former engineers who were behind the project in the late 1970s, along with Lizzie Cariss, widow of Bulldog designer William Towns.

The three visited the project’s workshop recently, where the Bulldog has been joined by several other Towns-designed cars thanks to Lizzie, including the Hustler, Microdot and Minissima. Ex-Aston engineers Dr Keith Martin and David Morgan were reunited with the Bulldog, bringing back memories of late nights in the factory and long days at the MIRA test track.

“I haven’t sat in here for 40 years,” said Keith from the car’s original driver’s seat. “I did a lot of miles in this; we just drove it everywhere.

At MIRA we were two-up with a big tape recorder, recording all the temperatures, reaching 140mph on the banked corners and 190mph on the straight. It could’ve gone faster, but we didn’t want to put it under any more strain; I chickened out!”

When the restoration is finished, complete with hidden extra rollover strengthening, the plan is for Aston Martin works driver Darren Turner to attempt to reach the 200mph mark that the Bulldog was designed for. Darren also joined the group at CMC to try out the driving position and view progress,

prompting looks of envy from Keith.

CMC managing director Nigel Woodward explained: “David and Keith have shown us why the Bulldog was built in a certain way, along with its idiosyncrasies, and helped us to rebuild it so that it faithfully represents the car as they would have known it 40 years ago.

Lizzie’s insights into the model and how her husband initially designed it have also been extremely useful.

It was great to see her at CMC.” The team is currently reinstating the twin turbochargers to their original positions, mounted on the V8 engine’s cylinder block, below the heads. Later on in period, due to the units overheating, they were moved higher, to the rear of the engine bay, and mounted on the chassis. However, by using modern Garrett turbochargers – which look outwardly almost identical to the originals – overheating is less likely to be a problem, so they can be returned to their correct position.

This will also enable the spare wheel to be fitted above the engine, again as originally intended, which the relocated turbos had prevented.

Meanwhile, the body panels have been painted in their original colours, and the interior is currently being retrimmed in its authentic brown leather, for which Connolly has managed to supply an original sample. All in all, the target to complete the Bulldog by the end of 2021 seems to be on track.

AMY SHORE

Magneto joined two of the original project engineers along with William Towns’ widow to view restoration progress of 1970s supercar

FROM TOP Dr Keith Martin tells Darren Turner how Bulldog felt at 190mph; Lizzie Cariss with more Towns designs; David Morgan.

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adapted by introducing live and online hybrid sales in 2020. We’ve also introduced a successful totally online sale in Paris this year.

However, there are two types of online sale; where the auction house does the entire transaction, and also online market providers such as Bring a Trailer and The Market.

In the future, not everything will be event based, but there will be a 24/7 offering of cars. With the acquisition of The Market we’ve been able to combine the old world, which is what we represent, with a new world of fast-pace, high-level, high-quality offerings, but at a little bit of a lower price level.

What do you view as Bonhams’ current strengths?

The expertise, particularly in prewar, is unparalleled. There’s a strong team of experienced specialists, and new specialists coming in. I think the brand name is very strong, too.

And with this online component I think now we’re going to go to an offering where you get everything.

INTERVIEW

Maarten ten Holder Bonhams’ new MD of motoring has been involved in both art and collector car auctions.

Where does he see sales and the automotive market heading?

Congratulations on the move.

What made you switch from RM Sotheby’s to Bonhams?

I’ve had a fantastic three years at RM, taking responsibility for its business in Europe. I left there on good terms; we’re all friends. The reason why I joined Bonhams was it’s a great brand, with a very strong presence in the UK together with global activity as a classic car auctioneer. I just saw a huge opportunity to help develop and grow its business even more, in a global role versus a European role.

How does the car market compare with the art market of your earlier Sotheby’s role?

What we’d seen in the past was the automotive market exploding in a continuous up-bounce manner, whereas the art market was more volatile, particularly in contemporary

art. The car market has flattened, however, in the past five years and come a bit more in sync with the art market, being less buoyant than it used to be. In the past three years we’ve also seen a lot of new online players becoming more important.

Where do you see the automotive market going?

I think we’ll see a lot more online.

Some of that has been catapulted over the past 16 months, but highlevel live events are coming back, and they’ll be a mainstay. However, I think over time the market will be dominated by a few really strong live events and live auctions, and a lot of online offerings.

What have been the greatest challenges for Bonhams?

It has been a challenging year for the collector car market, and Bonhams

What’s next for Bonhams?

There will be more online sales and a little bit of curation of the live events that we currently offer. We’ll also be taking The Market from a UK-based operation into a global one, so into Europe and the US. And again for Europe and the US, Bonhams will probably also increase activities and sales because that’s where some of our competitors are larger.

What are you most looking forward to in the next year?

I’m looking forward to being present at live events again, such as the Goodwood Festival of Speed and Revival. Also, to coming back to the UK – I’ll be based there for Bonhams – and really getting to see the clients.

I think that’s what all of us have missed over the past 16 months, having full-blown events again. And I am looking forward to helping Bonhams grow; we will very quickly ramp up our activities and come back to pre-pandemic levels.

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THE RECENT NEWS THAT Ferrari is coming back to Le Mans at the top level, the new hypercar class, was greeted with delight by fans of the 24-hour race.

There have been Ferraris on the grid most years since the team’s first entry in 1949, but the last time the factory was directly involved in the top class was in 1973. In that golden period, Maranello took nine overall first places and 14 podiums. The last win was 1965 in a 250LM; the

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Maranello’s formidable new hypercar looks to build on the marque’s glorious competition history with a return to toplevel endurance racing

infamous ‘Ford vs Ferrari wars’ that followed ended the prancing horse’s dominance, which in turn was taken

by Porsche from 1971.

Ferrari’s hypercar will be the first sports car prototype from the manufacturer since the customer 333SP, which raced between 1994 and 2003, and achieved a best place of sixth overall.

There were other heroic attempts over the years, though. The flat-12 512BB was initially developed by

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NART for Daytona, then worked over for Le Mans by the Ferrari factory customer racing division.

The resultant 512BB LM competed at the top level from 1979 to 1984.

In 2001 Prodrive built 550s specifically for Le Mans, following a commission by Frédéric Dor. More recently, a 488GTE Evo won the GTE Pro class in 2019.

Ferrari’s hypercar will join the FIA World Endurance Championship and Le Mans in 2023.

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Robert Opron’s 21st century vision

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Forward-thinking futurist predicted today’s electric-powered, autonomous cars as long ago as 1959, with his Simca Fulgur concept

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DESIGNER ROBERT OPRON, who died in April, was best known for the Citroën SM and the Alfa Romeo SZ. But it’s important to remember the concept car that he created early in his career.

From his childhood in Africa and younger years spent painting and sculpting, Opron’s first automotive job was at Simca.

In 1958, the French Tintin comic contacted the company asking for its ideas on a car for 1980; Opron took on the challenge, although aiming for the year 2000 rather than 1980. Simca committed to turning his sketch into a full concept car – the 1959 Fulgur.

The model demonstrated ideas that Opron remained committed to until his death, particularly autonomy and fuel-cell power.

In the Fulgur, a voice-activated onboard electronic brain operated all functions, and used dual radar to monitor the road and stop the car if an obstacle was detected. On main highways, Opron imagined the Fulgur being controlled from towers along the roadside. The car was powered by electricity received via cables integrated into the highways, supplemented by six fuel cells for secondary roads

without embedded cables.

Its two electric motors powered the rear wheels; at speeds above 95mph a gyroscopic system would allow the two front wheels to retract clear of the road in order to improve aerodynamics and reduce drag. Rudders in the V-tail would steer the Fulgur.

Adaptive electromagnetic suspension ensured a smooth ride; Opron was adamant that the Fulgur should cosset its occupants. The cabin was airconditioned and soundproofed, with an anti-reflective plastic bubble offering all-round visibility. Seats were inspired by Eames, while the dashboard was dominated by a radar screen.

The Fulgur was exhibited at motor shows between 1959 and 1961, initially in Paris and Geneva, later making it to the US. The futuristic innovations were theoretical only, of course.

Publicity pictures show the Fulgur with a glamorous model – who was actually Colette Duval, a renowned skydiver.

The plastic-covered metal-tube chassis Fulgur was later scrapped – but as we now know, Opron went on to greatness.

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Packards line up for royal visit Five superb examples from the US marque are among star attractions heading for the Concours of Elegance at Hampton Court Palace

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AMONG THE MANY SPECIAL displays already announced for this year’s Concours of Elegance at Hampton Court Palace, it’s a planned line-up of Packards that might raise the most eyebrows. After all, the marque isn’t often seen in the UK. On investigation, the story gets all the more fascinating. The five cars are part of the JBS Collection in Elkhart, Indiana, and they are being shipped to the UK specifically for the 2021 Concours of Elegance.

The collection is the work of Jack Boyd Smith, who until 2012 didn’t own a single classic car. He now has more than 50, housed in two large buildings of 24,000 and 48,000 square feet in size respectively.

Jack was already a collector of art and antiques, so the move into automobiles came naturally. The prompt was the chance to buy a Rolls-Royce Corniche and a Bentley Continental from the estate of a

friend who had passed away – and that got him thinking about more.

“I was bitten by the bug – or maybe I bit the bug!” says Jack. “I found a dealer online with a stunning 1931 Cadillac Dual-Cowl Phaeton, so I went to see him and I bought the Cadillac and seven more cars in one day.” These included two other Cadillacs (1905 and ’06), a 1923 Studebaker and a 1932 Ford.

Then, in 2013, Jack visited the Pebble Beach Concours for the first time, and the bug bit deeper. At the auctions he bought a 1933 Packard Twelve Coupe – one of five made, and of two known to exist – and commissioned LaVine Restorations to prepare it for the 2014 Pebble Beach, where it came second in class.

In 2015 he was back, with a rare 1934 Packard Twelve Convertible Victoria with custom trim by Dietrich, again freshly restored by LaVine Restorations. This time he won Best

in Class, and since then there have been many more accolades at Pebble Beach and other concours.

Why Packards? “I like quality,” says Jack. “They’re a big car, they’re extremely well built, and in the early ’30s Fords sold for $350 and Packards sold for $5000 to $10,000, depending on the model and the year. It was really only somebody in Hollywood or royalty who could afford to buy a Packard.”

Of Jack’s nine Packards, the five due to appear at the Concours of Elegance are (clockwise from top left in the pictures): 1934 Twelve Coupe Roadster; 1934 Twelve Formal Sedan; 1933 Twelve Coupe; 1934 Twelve Victoria; and 1938 Twelve Coupe Roadster.

The Concours of Elegance takes place on September 3-5 at Hampton Court, UK. More details can be found at www.concoursofelegance.co.uk. Jack’s cars are at www.thejbscollection.com.

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S T A R T E R

Own a piece of TVR history THE STORY OF TVR IS PACKED full of surprising tangents – an early example of which is the Trident, intended to push the brand upmarket.

It all started when a TVR director, Bernard Williams, met with designer Trevor Frost in a Lancashire pub in 1963. Of course, a napkin was used to sketch out a new model...

Frost worked with several design houses, Carrozzeria Fissore of Turin in particular, using his Italian name of Trevor Fiore. His sketches resulted in two left-hand-drive prototypes, both powered by Ford 289ci V8s in lengthened TVR Mk3 1800 chassis. The first was exhibited at the 1965 Geneva and New York Motor Shows, and received a strong enough reception for two more prototypes to be approved – another coupé and a convertible.

It’s not entirely unrelated to the costs of the Trident project that TVR went into liquidation in summer

Thirty-five years after this coupé last changed hands, one of TVR’s four Trident prototypes has come up for sale. Here’s its unique story, as full of intrigue and legal battles as you’d expect from the Blackpool marque

1965. The company was bought by Martin Lilley and his father, who were keen to continue with the model.

However, TVR dealer Bill Last had already approached Fissore to acquire the Trident design. Some say that TVR had never paid Fissore; whatever the truth, Last set up Trident Cars after a legal battle, building glassfibre versions of the Trident on a Healey 3000-type chassis fitted with a Ford V8, until the business failed in 1977.

To placate Lilley, Fissore had sent the last two prototypes to TVR in 1965. The convertible (prototype no.4) was used by Martin as his personal car for several years.

The RHD coupé prototype (no.3) is the car seen here, currently for sale at The Classic Motor Hub in Gloucestershire, UK. It had been displayed at the 1965 Turin Motor Show, but its engine – and perhaps its chassis, too – are thought to have subsequently been used on the

production line. Eventually, in 1972, the body and some spares were sold.

Years later it appeared, still unrestored, in an advertisement in a 1986 issue of Classic & Sports Car. The advert was seen by the current owner, who had fallen in love with the TVR Trident when, as a teenager in 1965, he bought a copy of Style Auto and saw a picture of prototype no.1 at the Geneva Motor Show.

He purchased what was described as a complete body and interior, correct-spec chassis and Rover V8, plus a large quantity of parts, and set upon a five-year restoration using the correct 289ci Ford V8.

Since then the car has been seen in magazines and at shows including the Goodwood Cartier Style et Luxe concours. It’s now for sale at The Classic Motor Hub for £135,000 – a fascinating piece of TVR history.

More information can be found at www.classicmotorhub.com.

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Bugatti watch is the jewel in the crown Mido timepiece commissioned and worn by marque founder Ettore sells for €272,800 at auction

A GOLD, BUGATTI-BRANDED wristwatch that painstaking research revealed to have been the personal property of marque founder Ettore has fetched more than a quarter of a million Euros after crossing the block at a regional saleroom near Toulouse, France.

The Mido ‘Bugatti’ watch – featuring a case in the distinctive horseshoe shape of a Bugatti radiator grille and topped with an enamelled ‘EB’ logo and ‘filler cap’ winding crown – sold for €272,800 after a bidding battle among wouldbe buyers from around the world.

It was expected to sell for a more conservative €80,000-€150,000.

The rarity was consigned by an anonymous owner who bought it at auction around 15 years ago before its significance was fully appreciated.

Bugatti commissioned Mido to make the watches in four series – the first between 1925-1926, and the remainder between 1930-1932. He is believed to have ordered around 90 examples as gifts for his top racing drivers, mechanics, customers and members of his family during the seven-year period, but only ten are known to have survived. The rarest of all are those that were owned by members of the Bugatti family.

And, according to auction house Stanislas Machoïr, this one unequivocally belonged to none other than Ettore Bugatti himself.

Following his death in 1947 the watch was bequeathed to Michel Bugatti, just two years old at the time and Ettore’s son from his second marriage. By the time Michel reached his 20s, he was wearing the

LEFT Mido ‘Bugatti’ watch, which once belonged to Ettore himself, was at the centre of a saleroom bidding battle.

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watch on a regular basis. In 1967 he decided to replace the leather strap on which Mido supplied the watches with a unique ‘Milanese’ mesh bracelet in matching gold – a choice based on the Bugatti family’s historic association with Milan.

The bracelet subsequently helped Michel to confirm the authenticity of the piece when he was approached by auction house specialist Alexandre Léger and certified watch expert Jean-Christophe Guyon, co-founder of Vintage Watch Story (www.vws.fr).

While researching the Bugatti piece, the pair compiled an exhaustive list of serial numbers of the majority of similar watches made, in order to further verify this particular example as having belonged to EB himself.

Once the watch was identified, it was taken to the home of the celebrated Schlumpf Collection of Bugattis at the Cité de l’Automobile in Mulhouse, France, where it was reunited with Ettore Bugatti’s personal 1929 Type 41 Royale.

The watch, which was purchased by an anonymous European buyer, set a record for any timepiece by Mido, a dial name that was established at Biel/Bienne in 1918 by a young watchmaker called George Schaeren. Following the success of the initial Bugatti order, Schaeren began to specialise in watches for motorists, and filed patents for cases and dials inspired by the radiator surrounds of marques including Alfa Romeo, Buick, Delage, HispanoSuiza and Rolls-Royce. Models for both men and women were available in wrist, pendant and pocket formats. Simon de Burton

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Style leader redresses the balance Leading Black automotive designer Ed Welburn champions the recognition and encouragement of diversity in his field

IN EARLY MARCH OF THIS year, I was fortunate enough to be the keynote speaker in a virtual forum with students representing eight colleges and universities. It was a spirited group of young people with incredible hopes and plans for the future, and their questions were many and, at times, quite challenging.

One of their requests was that I enlighten them on the many achievements and firsts in my long career in design. I talked about how my career at General Motors Design began in 1972, and the fact that I was the first African American hired to design cars at GM. I talked about creating a global network of studios in 2005 as VP of Design. I talked about many of the designs I worked on and oversaw, and the joy I always had in watching members of my team succeed, as well as the many challenges I faced over the years. It is my hope that my messages of that day would help motivate these very bright young people to succeed in life.

Later that same day, I received the Spring 2021 issue of Magneto, a very high-profile, well crafted automotive magazine. The spring issue included an article titled The Top 50 Car Designers: Renegades, Trend-Setters, Introverts and Showmen. It went on to say: “We pay tribute to the legendary style leaders who shaped the automotive industry.”

The 15-page article included names whom I have very much admired for many years. In fact, a couple of them I consider my heroes in design.

There were others who were of my generation in the auto industry, and there were some whose portfolio I consider very thin. I was stunned

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when I realised that I was not on the list. As I scanned the 50 designers once, twice and even a third time, my emotions turned to anger.

I have often been described as a “mild-mannered” person, and I generally don’t sound my own horn.

But sometimes you just have to call it out when an injustice is done, and this “mild-mannered” guy was pissed! I’ve dedicated my entire life to automobile design. It has been my passion, my calling, and one might even say it was my mistress. I have BELOW Corvette Stingray among Ed’s work from an esteemed design career stretching back to the 1970s.

had the opportunity to work for, work with, and lead some of the most gifted designers in the world, and although I had many competitors across the auto industry, I respected many of them and was inspired by them all.

I’d created a network of 11 design studios in seven countries around the world, and created a culture of collaboration within that very powerful design machine comprised of over 1400 creative individuals.

Magneto’s oversight angered me because it not only ignored my many contributions to this industry, but this snub also ignored the many contributions and serious commitment by the creative people who worked for me at General Motors, as well as the young people in design schools whom I coach today.

Magneto’s oversight ignored the C7 and C8 Corvette designs that I oversaw, as well as the many production and concept vehicles that I spearheaded for Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Opel, Vauxhall, Holden, Buick in America and China, as well as the Wuling Motors brand. Many say that I “brought style and beauty back to General Motors Design”, and today, my archives are the only body of work of an automobile designer to be housed in the Smithsonian Museum.

Not only was I not included in the Magneto list of great car designers, there were no other Blacks on there, and definitely no women. The lack of diversity in the selection was very disturbing. Diversity is what makes each of us unique, and includes our backgrounds, personality, life experiences and beliefs. All of this makes us who WE are as a culture. It

is a combination of our differences that shape our view of the world, our perspective and our approach.

It helps us build bridges of trust, respect and understanding across cultures, and makes the world much more interesting.

Diversity must begin at the top, with our corporate leaders, boards of directors and editorial staff. It must exist within the decision makers – those who set policy, review content, hire personnel and advise careers.

Inclusion occurs when people feel a part of something, and are valued and respected. It creates the opportunity to fulfil their individual and combined potential, being able to participate freely and equally in areas of public life, including the workplace and education. When everyone is on the playing field, we all win.

Diversity is not a threat to who we are; it makes us stronger. To celebrate The Top 50 Car Designers is an incredible chance to celebrate the freedom of opportunity for all.

In an age in which it is regularly said that young people are not as interested in automobiles, it would definitely be valuable for young people to see themselves in a positive role in that world.

We need a new generation of bright, enthusiastic people. Young people and their parents look to Magneto and other publications for inspiration and guidance, and I’m challenging Magneto, and all of us, to open our eyes, ears and minds to a world of inclusion.

I dedicate this essay to my children, grandchildren and the next generation of designers around the world. Thank you. Ed Welburn.

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BEST OF THE BOOKS Our favourites of the latest publications, covering everything from IROC legends to IndyCar infighting INDY SPLIT: THE BIG-MONEY BATTLE THAT NEARLY DESTROYED INDY RACING

THE IROC PORSCHES The subline tells the story: “The International Race of Champions, Porsche’s 911 RSR, and the Men Who Raced Them.”

This $60, 192-page publication

by Matt Stone from Motorbooks chronicles the International Race of Champions 1973-74 season, in which the world’s top drivers raced identical Porsche RSRs. Those competitors came from IndyCar, Formula 1, NASCAR, Can-Am and other international racing series. This book relates the stories of this entertaining and dramatic spectacle well, in addition to documenting the cars, drivers and circuits. www.quartoknows.com

Long-time motor sport reporter John Oreovicz has bravely taken a deep dive into the political infighting within the industry that resulted in a 12-year split from 1996 to 2007 between competing forms of IndyCar racing. The split damaged the sport, preventing it from achieving its true potential.

Oreovicz began attending the Indianapolis 500 as a teenager in the late 1970s, allowing him to witness the sport’s growth as an avid fan before documenting its decline as a journalist. His passion and knowledge are clear, and he pulls no punches delving into who was to blame, and why.

Indy Split is a serious 320-page tale for serious fans, and is well priced at $45 from Octane Press. www.octanepress.com

BOOK REVIEW CRUSADER: JOHN COBB’S ILL-FATED QUEST FOR SPEED ON WATER

NORMAN CONQUEST He’s not a household name, but there’s a fair chance you’ve heard of Vic Norman, whose autobiography this is. Maybe you know him for racing, for aerobatics – or for both.

Norman Conquest tells of water-skiing with Stirling Moss and Donald Campbell on the Riviera; the exotic cars owned; setting up the famous AeroSuperBatics team; flying with the Red Arrows and setting wing-walking world records; and even Vic’s involvement in the recording of the Pink Floyd album The Final Cut. It costs £45. www.porterpress.co.uk

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We all owe much to those early engineering pioneers who risked their lives to test new technology and set records on land and water. This book pays tribute to one such hero, modest businessman John Cobb, who worked with the equally gifted Reid Railton to push their Crusader jet-powered boat to hitherto uncharted frontiers.

Ultimately the intriguing endeavour was to result in tragedy on Loch Ness in 1952.

This book details the saga in true detective-story style, thanks to author Steve Holter’s access to key figures and reams of original documents, plus exhaustive analysis of the technical aspects of the ill-fated bid. As a longoverdue crash investigation, it takes some beating. www.evropublishing.com

Ultimate read for car collectors Taschen has gone supersize on its latest release, a stunning appreciation of 100 of the world’s most important cars, of all ages

S T A R T E R

WE’VE BECOME SPOILT FOR choice over recent years for supremely high-quality books from specialist motoring publishers. But it’s still a big occasion when a leading light such as Taschen dips into the car market. You might remember its Ferrari publication, which came in two editions – both in aluminium cases in the style of engine cam covers – one priced at £5000 and the other at £50,000. Yes, really.

Ultimate Collector Cars is more reasonably priced at £200, in what Taschen refers to as an XXL-size publication. That puts it at a ‘mere’ 28.1cm x 36cm rather than the 50cm x 70cm of its ‘sumo’-size art books.

Still, the two-volume book is big and heavy enough to cause the delivery courier to curse, but just about tolerable to balance, one tome at a time, on the lap. If you’re wondering, it’s 11.1kg for the two

volumes, including the slipcase.

It’s a beautifully produced book covering a well chosen range of machinery within its 904 pages, from the first Indy 500-winning 1910 Marmon Wasp to the 2020 Aston Martin Valkyrie.

In between are so many of the great icons: Stutz Bearcat, Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic, Talbot-Lago T150-C SS ‘Goutte d’Eau’ Coupé by Figoni et Falaschi, Mercedes-Benz 300SL, Porsche 550 Spyder, Jaguar D-type, Ferrari 250GTO, Ford GT40, Porsche 917K, Lamborghini Miura, Porsche 959, McLaren F1 LM, Bugatti Veyron and more.

If you’re thinking that’s a rather predictable list, well, yes it is – but with 100 cars featured, and plenty of inspired thoroughbred choices plus a few wildcards such as top-end muscle cars, we don’t think you’ll be in the least bit disappointed.

‘Big and heavy enough to cause a courier to curse, but tolerable to balance on the lap’ Each car is illustrated using mostly archive pictures, some historical, others more recently taken by leading car photographers such as Michael Furman, Peter Harholdt, Tim Scott and Dirk de Jager. Many were shot for auction houses, so you might recognise them, but you won’t have seen them printed at this size.

Likewise, the text; each car is well documented individually, with plenty of interesting detail. There doesn’t appear to be anything new, but then it’s not that kind of book, and the

prose isn’t sparkling but it’s readable and enjoyable. It also includes specifications on each model: engine size, bhp, top speed, transmission and production numbers.

While authors Charlotte and Peter Fiell aren’t out-and-out automotive specialists, they know their cars well enough for this book to work.

There are interesting interviews with several big names in the collector car world, too, including Dr Fred Simeone of the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum, The Duke of Richmond and Gordon of Goodwood, Sandra Button of Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, historic Ferrari dealer John Collins, and Shelby Myers of RM Sotheby’s.

All are excellent choices.

The Ultimate Collector Cars ‘Famous First Edition’ first printing is available in 10,000 numbered copies. www.taschen.com

MAGNETO

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AN AUTOMOTIVE AFFAIR TO REMEMBER A SOUTHERN CLASSIC EXQUISITE CARS

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Including the Classic Car Club of America’s Grand Classic ® , the STuTZ Club’s Grand STuTZ and the Legends of the Autobahn East

Featuring STuTZ as the Honored Marque

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S T A R T E R

Jupiter’s still rising for Ted WHILE THE 1979 EARL’S COURT Motorcycle Show didn’t make much of a mark on exhibition history, big bike fans may remember it as the occasion when Kawasaki introduced Britain to the six-cylinder, watercooled behemoth that was the Z1300.

As an impecunious 15-year-old with a year to go before the law would allow me near a public highway on a moped, the mighty Z was momentarily thrilling but totally irrelevant. So, wandering dejectedly from the crowded Kawasaki stand, I came across a makeshift display in the low-rent area where a lone, curly haired man was sitting behind a trestle table piled with books. Beside him stood a battered and travelstained Triumph Tiger 100 which, at the time, probably had a street value of £200. Now that I could relate to.

His name was Ted Simon, and this was the bike on which he’d just spent four years riding around the world.

Back then, he was a revolutionary; plenty of people used motorcycles for short-jaunt tours around Europe, some even fulfilled the dream of riding Harley-Davidsons coast-tocoast across America. But riding solo around the world, through its deserts,

jungles and mountain ranges where Tarmac was often a novelty – well, not many people did that.

Ted’s many experiences along the way resulted in an account of his odyssey called Jupiter’s Travels, the book he was selling at Earl’s Court. I still cherish the copy I bought from him on the day, and the work has since become the overland biker’s bible, inspiring thousands of riders searching for more out of life to follow in his tracks – Long Way Round riders Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman being among them.

But the story didn’t end with Jupiter’s Travels, because in 2001 Ted set off to ride around the world all over again. Aged 69.

By then, I was a freelance journalist supplying articles to the national newspapers, so it was with great pleasure that I arranged to meet my long-standing hero in order to interview him for the Daily Mail.

Perhaps pitifully, I arrived at our rendezvous clutching my well thumbed copy of Jupiter’s Travels, which Ted dutifully signed. Despite the passing of 22 years, he was the same kind-eyed and affable man I remembered from Earl’s Court, and

Revered motorcycle-travel adventurer and author Ted Simon led where others follow – and he’s still going strong at 90 years old

although we hadn’t seen one another during the intervening period, the fact I’d read all his books made me feel as though I was meeting an old friend.

Ted completed his second roundthe-world trek in two-and-a-half years, and wrote of his adventures in

2007’s Dreaming of Jupiter. That was followed by Rolling Through the Isles, an account of his journey around Britain by Piaggio MP3 scooter in the summer of 2009 and, most recently, he has reprinted Jupiter’s Travels in Camera, the story of the first trip told through his original, often stunning, photographs We’ve kept in touch and, at the end of ‘lockdown one’, I had occasion to ride to Montpellier on my old BMW GS. I knew Ted was in the nearby village of Aspiran, where he keeps a couple of rooms available – gratis – to fellow writers and adventurers.

He generously invited me to stay, and it was while we were chatting about how the world has changed since his epic ride around it more than 40 years ago that I realised May 1, 2021 will be rather special for Ted – because he will be 90 years of age.

I predict a busy day for Aspiran’s postman, but I’ll be delivering my card in person. By bike, of course...

You can keep up with Ted’s news and buy his books via www.jupitalia.com.

And you can see his celebrated roundthe-world Triumph on display at the Coventry Transport Museum.

Simon de Burton

MAGNETO

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LEFT Mean streets: E-type UK’s V12 ‘Unleashed’ build looks the part.

Unleashing the Series 3 E-type

LEFT AND ABOVE Restomod hones Jaguar’s original detailing on top and underneath to create a 21st-century classic GT.

New restomod V12 finally addresses the issues that have put off buyers for years.

How does this change the driving experience?

WE ALL KNOW HOW THE V12 Series 3 E-type has suffered over the years, always thought of as the least desirable of the range, although in fact it’s a great grand tourer. But seeing as there’s no shortage of S3s around, who can object to one that’s been given the restomod treatment?

The only surprise is that so few have been upgraded previously.

This is E-type UK’s second V12 ‘Unleashed’ (as it’s known) build, but the first created to largely its own specifications. In metallic black paint, with a factory hardtop and lowered, it looks mean. There’s no other word for it. It also looks sleeker than a typical S3 – and not just because it’s closer to the ground.

It takes a while to work out why.

It’s all in thoughtful detailing, which the factory rather failed on in period.

Look at the bumpers; they’re slimmer

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in profile, without the original’s overriders. At the rear, this has necessitated making a highly curved one-piece bumper rather than the three-section original – tricky given how closely it sits against the body.

The separate reversing lights have been removed and incorporated into new rear lenses instead. Neat touch.

At the front, the chrome around the grille has gone, as has the upright centrepiece, and there are 50 percent more bonnet louvres as part of the cooling upgrades. Those chunky indicators are still there, although there is an option to delete them and move the flashers into the headlamps.

While we’re on the headlights, you will notice they’re the modern units used on so many of these restomods, incorporating daylight running rings. I’m not the greatest fan of how they look, but they do

work much better than the originals.

Inside, the modern air-con unit blows out through new directional vents in an all-new centre console that’s reminiscent of the S1’s lovely polished-metal item. Custom-made seats and reprofiled door cards and armrests are all treated to leather with subtly contrasting stitching, and parts of the dash and undertray receive similar treatment in the reverse colours. It’s all very tasteful and, as it turns out, comfortable, too.

The switchgear is all to original style but with the markings neatly remade to suit their revised functions.

The fully rebuilt V12 is bored out to safe limits, taking it to 6.1 litres and just over 400bhp, running on fuel-injection throttle bodies and mapped ignition. The ’box has five speeds, although a six-ratio or auto can be optioned. Suspension and

brakes are of course upgraded, set up to sit slightly nose down, the hydraulic power-assisted steering rack is a higher ratio than standard, the custom-made wheels are wider and the chassis has been strengthened.

Occupants sit lower than usual to improve the centre of gravity.

On the road, all this translates to a much sportier feel, although never uncomfortable or tiring. The front damping is too soft for me, allowing the front to bounce slightly, but the car is set up for life in California rather than on UK B-roads. The V12 is a gem; it’s as smooth as you’d expect but also faultless in its delivery, oozing torque and pulling from low down at any speed. Beautiful!

Prices start at £275,000 plus donor car, and include a full restoration. More details at www.etypeuk.com.

David Lillywhite

S T A R T E R

INTERVIEW

Keeping ahead of the crowd With his Wall Street background, RM Sotheby’s president Ken Ahn has a different take on what is happening in the car market

I’VE ALWAYS BEEN INTERESTED in cars, and among friends I’ve been getting away as the ‘expert’. But when I got to RM I realised it’s like a math whizz in fourth-grade elementary school sitting in a MIT class, where the level and depth of knowledge is quite different. And, in a way, I’m glad that I’m an enthusiast but not the car expert in our company.

A lot in life is serendipitous, and it’s all about relationships. After [Harvard] business school, I became a management consultant at Boston Consulting – but then I realised I had no idea how to think about reading companies’ financials or how to value a company, so I went back to Goldman Sachs, where I’d interned during college. I was there for seven years and got to know a few partners really well. One of those partners left to become the CFO of Sotheby’s.

I always knew I didn’t want to be a banker, so with two young kids I decided to take a year off to do some soul searching and spend time with my family. As luck would have it, Sotheby’s was going through a very interesting time, reinventing a 275year-old business. The management team asked me to lead strategy and corporate development, as they were thinking about new growth avenues.

Before I started in July 2014, the firm delivered a UPS box full of binders from RM Auctions. Sotheby’s CFO said: “That’s your first project.

Can you analyse the industry, the business, and think about if that’s something we want to get into now.”

Sotheby’s used to be in the car business, but it got out in the early

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1990s. That was a hard time for the collector industry; what it missed was this huge run-up from then on.

But the market was growing well, and I was personally interested, too.

So, did we want to grow it on our own? Building the expertise would take too long. So then, let’s go buy; RM was the number one by total sales, but also in the very high end of the market – how Sotheby’s trades.

Rob Myers has been in the industry for 40-plus years, and the auction world for over 20. From my purely investor perspective, this would be a great business to acquire – but of course, he didn’t want to let his baby go. We ended up with a minority investment of 25 percent with a potential path to grow that stake.

At the start of 2016, Rob called me: “You know, this business has gotten bigger than I ever imagined when I borrowed $5000 to start a little garage painting classic cars. I need somebody else to come in and help drive it.”

I took this job in November 2016, as the market started to soften up…

It was a quintessential entrepreneur business; Rob was doing the biggest deals in the firm, in fact he was about a third of the company. At the same time, he was going through every employee’s mobile phone bill.

He was head of HR, of accounting… of everything. Today he probably spends two hours a week in the office, but we’re talking every single day. It’s been a smooth transition.

The priority was to maintain leadership at the high end of the market. RM Sotheby’s had a big geographical divide [between North

‘In 2019 we made a strong push to set something up to start competing in the online market’

America and Europe], and so I tried to integrate that to one team and one consistent way of operating.

We had just three European sales: Paris, London and, every other year, Monaco. To me, that market was very significant. My first priority was to defend that market share within the current footprint. My second was to grow into different regions, which led us to Essen, and to Abu Dhabi for the Middle Eastern presence.

I’ve also developed a private-sales business. Selling a car at auction requires two, three or more vendors to drive the sale, and ultimately it only goes to one person. And yet we have very good data about the nexthighest bidders, so we know if a person wanted a certain type of car.

It’s about connecting the dots.

About two years ago, I started to see what was happening with Bring a Trailer, Collecting Cars and other online platforms; classic disruptive

innovation. We don’t spend less or more time for a $10 million car vs a $100,000 car, but by nature you tend to focus on the high end. That’s why the new entrance can start to move up the market from starting low.

So, how not to get disrupted with a dynamic dinosaur of a business model? We started to separate out the business and think about getting into digital. I wish I could say I had the foresight that the world would be shut down with COVID in 2020, but in 2019 we made a strong push to set something up to start competing in that market, because there is a relevance to a lot of the clients. They don’t start with 250GTOs, they start with muscle cars or entry-level cars.

The week after Amelia Island 2020 we had a Palm Beach sale. The news came out that the government was considering shutting down; it looked like the sale might not go ahead, so I called an emergency meeting. Our

tech platform was alpha going on beta testing. So that started our online business, which accelerated our effort by two to three years. The average price of our cars for the six months pre-shutdown was $152,000. For the next six months, the 100 percent online average value was $148,000.

Also, maybe not so surprising, is our clients are in their 50s, 60s, 70s or 80s. Online, we reduced the average age by nine years. So we’re dealing with different demographics.

Once live events open up, I think it will come back growing because there’s so much pent-up demand.

But at the same time I want to ensure we don’t lose online momentum.

Cars are now more of an asset class for a lot of people, not just a toy.

Thinking about market volatility or low interest rates, there’s a strong negative correlation between vehicle values, or even the auction market size, to the rates. The 1970s-90s cars

are doing well. There’s movement.

There is always a question about whether Brass Era and London to Brighton-type cars are a dead or dying market. You’d think so, but looking at the data I wouldn’t say so.

It’s just that certain pockets are moving faster than others, but as a whole it still seems pretty robust.

Just like the stock market, just like real-estate speculators, there are people who really love what they buy.

You should focus on what appeals to your emotions, as opposed to trying to predict which markets will go up over the next few years. Take someone who bought a GTO... I don’t think they were thinking about what that car might be worth, it was just what they liked at the time. In fact, some of these models were out of favour at the time. Cars are very much about emotions; I get just as much joy driving my AMG 55 that I bought for $19,000 as a Ferrari 599GTV.

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Cars of the Maharajas come to the UK Unique automobiles from the rulers of pre-independence India will be among the stars of the inaugural Auto Royale at former Rothschild home

IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE 20th century, wealthy Indian regional rulers competed with each other to acquire some of the finest cars of the time. The desire for prestige and their fierce rivalry did much to ensure the success of premier brands and coachbuilders of the period, none more so than Rolls-Royce – although Bentley, Delage, Isotta Fraschini, HispanoSuiza and others were also popular.

By the late 1920s, hundreds of Rolls-Royce cars were owned by Maharajas across India, but this created its own problem; the models were too similar. The Maharajas then began to order customised cars to further outdo each other through extravagant modifications. By the 1940s, there were more than 1000 Rolls-Royces in India.

There’s the famous tale of King Jai Singh visiting a Rolls-Royce showroom and being told he would not be able to afford one. Infuriated, it’s said he bought all the cars from the showroom, cut off their roofs and used them as garbage trucks.

The Maharaja of Mysore – who at the time was the second richest man in the world – tended to buy RollsRoyces in multiples of seven, up to 28 at a time, which was popularly referred to as ‘doing a Mysore’. The Maharaja of Nabha famously customised his car to look like a swan. Every evening he would drive it slowly through the admiring crowds thronging the streets.

Many were adapted for hunting.

His Highness Aga Khan II installed extra footboards for servants to stand on while holding spotlights to shine into a tiger’s eyes, making the animal an easy victim. The Maharaja of Kotah had an elephant rifle and hand-cranked machine gun attached to his car for hunting purposes.

The Maharajas lost their official powers when India gained its

LEFT ‘Rhubarb and Custard’ Bentley and Delage are among the Maharaja cars to be displayed in July.

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independence in 1947, but by then many had built opulent automobile collections that ranged from exotic to eccentric. Most of the Maharajas were pushed into obscurity postindependence, and found it difficult to maintain their fleets of cars.

These were sold to enthusiasts and museums across the world.

The models that marked the days of the Raj have since achieved hallowed status in the concours world. This year, ten Maharaja cars will feature at the inaugural Auto Royale on July 16-18, some of which will be taking the long trip from India for the very first time.

UAE-based author and motoring historian Mohamed Luqman Ali Khan has curated the class and is excited about the line-up. “It is an honour to bring together such a fine display of automobiles from esteemed collectors in both India and the UK, and to feature cars that have been previously celebrated at Pebble Beach, Rétromobile and 21 Gun Salute,” said Luqman. “For those who have not before experienced the opulence and whimsy of the Maharaja cars, they are certainly in for a treat.”

Aside from several Rolls-Royce members of the class, one of the star attractions will be the 1930 Delage D8 Sports Tourer, resplendent in bright orange Figoni coachwork, originally owned by the Maharaja Holkar of Indore. Joining the Delage is the 1949 Bentley MkVI Light Touring Saloon by Hooper, formerly owned by the Maharaja of Mysore, and Katie Forrest’s 1912 Rolls-Royce 40/50 Silver Ghost ‘Taj Mahal’, originally in the collection of the Maharaja of Nabha.

Auto Royale will take place at former Rothschild family home Waddesdon Manor, near Aylesbury, UK, from Friday July 16 to Sunday 18 July 2021. www.autoroyale.org.

S T A R T E R

Freaks, Ford Model Ts and Autopolo

ABOVE It was mallets at dawn in the ultimate T party, as Autopolo returned after nearly a century.

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BACK IN 1913, AUTOPOLO WAS described as the latest ‘freak’ sport from the US. Played with Ford Model T speedsters, it was last seen during the Depression era of the early 1930s.

Nearly a century later, it was played again at Brooklands Airfield near York in Western Australia.

The sport was originally described as a mix of daredevil driving, quick turns, stops and starts, combining all the risks of a bullfight, a football game and a ride in an aeroplane. It is much the same today...

Autopolo is played with a fit ball filled with a very small amount of water, and the rules are simple: a ‘malleteer’ hits the ball from the lefthand seat of a Model T, with the purpose of scoring a goal. Each team comprises three cars, each with a driver and a malleteer. Only two Fords from each team are on the field at the same time, and these are substituted halfway through each quarter with the third team car.

The four quarters are 15 minutes each, with a short interval between each period to cool the cars down. At the beginning of the game, the ball is placed on the centre line of the playing field, which is 300 metres long and 50 metres wide. Opposing teams are lined up in their cars, with engines running. A toss of a coin determines who will start with the first hit of the ball.

The ball can only be hit by the mallet of the malleteer, who has to

stay in the car during the game, mallet in one hand and hanging on for dear life with the other.

A group that calls itself the Ford T Party was the brains behind the 2021 event. The contest was conceived as a way of using the period race cars in a more exuberant way than the usual quiet drives in the country.

All six cars were antique Model T speedsters, ranging from a 1913 Ashton Racer – named for its 1980s constructor Vic Ashton – to a 1926 Gow Job built by Graeme Lockhart for the Lake Perkolilli Red Dust Revival in 2019. The drivers had no trouble getting malleteers to join them; several underwater-rugby players, a veteran of the Hawaiian Ironman event and taekwondo aficionados joined up, keen to play yet another extreme sport.

With scores tied at five-all in the last quarter, umpire Hugh Fryer decided to call it a tie for Australia’s first Autopolo match in almost 100 years. The Model T speedsters had proven ideal ‘iron horses’. Their lowspeed acceleration was perfect for attacking the ball, while the top gear proved ideal for racing down the course to get ahead of play. With a field of only 300 metres, top speed was never required. Yes, it’s slightly crazy, but everyone had a blast.

Now there’s talk of teams from New Zealand, the Netherlands and the US taking part. Autopolo is back!

James Nicholls

JAMES NICHOLLS

A vintage American game has been revived near the Outback town of York in Western Australia after 90 years in hibernation

August 15, 2021 70th Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance

We can’t wait to start our engines, shift into gear, and gather with our friends again — and we will.

Stay connected with us through the Insider — our digital magazine sharing inspiring stories, insights and information about the Pebble Beach Concours and the collector car community.

Sign up at pebblebeachconcours.com/insider ©2021 Pebble Beach Company. Pebble Beach®, Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance®, and their underlying images are trademarks, trade dress and service marks of Pebble Beach Company.

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BELOW Stylish yet purposeful cabin features period Veglia dials, Ferrero wheel plus oh-so-1970s orange and tobacco trim.

TYPEFACE DESIGN KEVIN MCCAULEY, THANKS TO NATHAN, TOM, ROB, STUART AND JAMES AT CURIOUS

THERE ARE SO MANY FACTORS, SO many characters, all required to be in play at the same time, that really the most extraordinary of many extraordinary things that can be said about the Lancia Stratos is that it ever got built. And following at a close but respectful distance is the fact that, despite all those vested interests, all those strong, passionately expressed and often violently contrary opinions, the car turned out as it did; one of the most pure and focused machines ever to set foot on a public road or, for that matter, a rally stage.

So it seemed to us here at Magneto that 50 years after the Stratos dropped every jaw in Turin at its first public appearance, and 40 since its final World Rally Championship victory on the 1981 Tour de Corse, now is the time to see how it got that way. And, of course, find out what this most enigmatic of machines from one of the world’s most enigmatic automotive companies is really like to drive.

Inconveniently for us, there will be some who have already concluded I’ve got my dates wrong. For did a car called Stratos not make an appearance a year earlier than I have suggested, in 1970, rather than ’71? Well, yes it did. But while the Stratos Zero concept that was shown at the 1970 Turin Motor Show may have had plenty of Lancia underpinnings, not only was Lancia not involved in its creation, but Bertone – whose work it really was – went to considerable lengths to conceal the model’s existence from the manufacturer.

The Stratos that Lancia not only knew about, but commissioned and paid for, did indeed pop up at the same show a year later, and is the one to which I refer. To me the Zero is a Bertone, not a Lancia, and it bore little resemblance above or below the skin to the Stratos you and I know and, certainly in my case, love. But I accept that it can be argued both ways. Nor would I seek to diminish the role of the Zero in the Stratos story, for without it there would certainly have been no Stratos story to tell.

So our cast of characters begins with Nuccio Bertone, head of the eponymous styling house and, at the point he enters this story, the man

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‘The Bertone-designed Lancia Stratos was a brilliant piece of design; short, squat, pugnacious, yet somehow beautiful, too’

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with a plan. Which at that point was absolutely not to design a rally car but, rather more prosaically and true to form, to nick some business from Pininfarina. The rivalry between these two great Italian carrozziere is one of the most fabled in the history of the automobile.

In this case, while Lancia had commissioned Pininfarina on a number of road and racing projects including Aurelias, Flavias, Flaminias and the almost indescribably beautiful D24, Bertone had not yet been asked to design so much as a bumper overrider.

However, what Bertone had done is work well with Fiat on the understated but rather lovely Giorgetto Giugiaro-styled, Ferraripowered Dino coupé that had made its debut in 1967, a few months after Pininfarina’s more voluptuous Spider alternative. Two years later, Fiat bought Lancia – which provided just a crack of light in the door to potential Lancia business. What Bertone needed was a wedge with which to jam it open. And what finer wedge has there ever been in all creation than the Zero?

But there was more to the design even than that. This, you may recall, was the age of the gloriously insane Italian concept car. Bertone had already produced the Lamborghini Marzal and Alfa Romeo Carabo, yet at Geneva in 1970 Pininfarina had shown the Ferrari-based Modulo. And what could be madder than that?

The Zero, with a windscreen that was also a door, that’s what. So now there’s someone else walking quietly onto the stage, Giugiaro’s successor at Bertone and designer of the Marzal and Carabo, one Marcello Gandini. He and Giugiaro would spark an argument over who actually designed the Lamborghini Miura that would last for decades, but that’s another story for another time. For now, it was to Gandini that Bertone entrusted the Zero project with a brief to not hold back.

Marcello did not disappoint. The Zero was as classic a concept as was ever produced by an Italian styling house. It was stunningly futuristic but, true to its creator’s angular design language, it was wilfully, almost gratuitously different to the curvaceous themes of the perhaps prettier yet less daring Pininfarina approach.

To function as a hook by which to snare Lancia, the Zero had to be Lancia powered – but Bertone feared that approaching the marque for an engine would achieve nothing more important than alerting Pininfarina to his plans. So a Fulvia – some say already crashed – was acquired privately to use as a donor from which the V4 powerplant, transmission and front suspension were removed and installed 70

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in the back of the Zero. When finished, the car was a mere 33 inches tall – enough to make a Ford GT40 look like a double-decker bus. Even the Modulo appeared pretty lofty, at 37 inches off the deck.

At first it must have seemed that the plan had failed, because it was 1971 before Lancia got in touch. But the man who picked up the telephone was no less than Piero Gobbato, recently parachuted into the MD’s chair by Fiat. He wanted a closer look at the car, so – despite the Stratos looking so outlandish, it appeared fanciful to imagine it even capable of moving under its own power – Nuccio Bertone simply jumped in and drove it over.

There’s a lovely story about the car being so low Bertone simply drove it under the barrier at the factory entrance to the thunderous applause of the security staff, and it really ought to be true even if it’s not. What is true is there was someone else – sorry – at Lancia with more than a passing interest in the car. And his name was Cesare Fiorio.

Fiorio was the brand’s sporting director, and the man who had returned Lancia to competition in 1965 after ten years out of the sport. But with cars to sell and lacking funds to return to Formula 1, it was to rallying that he now turned the firm’s attention. He had already established the HF Squadra Corse privateer team (HF standing for High Fidelity), so this was now brought in house and tasked with turning the Fulvia into a rally car, with the highly successful Fulvia HF being the result.

Yet by 1971 the Fulvia was fast approaching the zenith of its career, and there was no obvious replacement on the stocks. Could it be that the solution lay with that slice of cheese which had just slid under the barrier?

It could. Just as Fiorio was concluding that a rear-drive car with the engine behind the cockpit was absolutely the way to go in rallying – the example of the Porsche 911 and Alpine A110 being somewhat hard to ignore – just such a vehicle, complete with Lancia running gear, drew up and parked outside his office. It didn’t take long to figure out what to do next.

Bertone drove the Stratos concept to see Lancia in January 1971. By February, he had a contract to build it.

The brief was to construct a car specifically to win what would become the new World Rally Championship. It was at this point in ’71, when the car we all know as the Lancia Stratos was conceived, that its real story begins. The Zero, although crucial, was its parent and, as parents usually do, it bore the same name.

Gandini worked fast – fast enough to have the prototype at the Turin Motor Show exactly

OPPOSITE Look at how short the wheelbase is, and how far forward the engine is. The result is amazing turn-in (and highly offset footwells).

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‘Gandini and Fiorio wanted to use the Dino V6, but Enzo Ferrari wasn’t interested in supplying the engine – and neither was Fiat’ MAGNETO

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a year after the Zero had appeared on the Bertone stand. It was a brilliant piece of design; short, squat, pugnacious, yet somehow beautiful, too, it sat on a comedically short wheelbase (shorter by far even than that of the original 911, despite needing to package an engine between the wheels) with a steel monocoque, at the either end of which were hung subframes to carry the powertrain and front and rear double-wishbone suspension.

All it lacked was a motor.

For Gandini and Fiorio, there was only ever one serious contender for this role – Ferrari’s 2.4-litre Dino V6. It was perfect; the engine was a known commodity to Bertone, thanks to it already powering the Fiat Dino, and it had great development potential despite the fact it was no longer in the first flush of youth.

Best of all, it was now being made for Ferrari

by Fiat, so extracting the necessary 500 units required to homologate the Stratos into Group 4 would be easy. In theory.

In practice, it was a nightmare. Enzo Ferrari wasn’t interested, partly because after Fiat had taken a majority share in his company he was more focused than ever on his own race team.

He had always regarded his road cars only as a means to an end – now more than ever.

And, of course, the engine was old and Ferrari the company concentrated on its replacement, the 3.0-litre V8 that would power the first Dino 308GT4 in 1974.

To compound the problem, Fiat wasn’t interested in supplying the engines, either.

Why? Could having bought Abarth and developing its own rally programme with its 124 Spyder have had something to do with it? The incentive to provide the muscle a recently bitter rival required to beat you may not have been strong. Instead, serious consideration was given to powering the car with the 2.0-litre, twin-cam, four-cylinder engine Fiat had already agreed to provide for the forthcoming Beta.

Unsurprisingly, Gobbato, Gandini and Fiorio were unamused; something had to be done to break Fiat’s intransigence and get Ferrari on side. They’d tried being nice, they’d offered good money for the engines, yet they were still being stonewalled. The carrot had failed – what was needed was some kind of stick.

So, Gobbato rang Maserati.

Presumably spotting an opportunity to both shift some engines and annoy the hell out of Ferrari, Maserati agreed at once. What’s more, Ferrari couldn’t call Gobbato’s bluff because in a convoluted corporate way (Maserati was owned by Citroën, in which Fiat already held a significant stake), Lancia and Maserati were 72

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‘The finally fully sorted Stratos enjoyed if not total supremacy then certainly convincing superiority over rivals’ already connected. What’s more, it had engines, too, including the 3.0-litre V6 used in the Merak and the Bora’s 4.7 V8. And while it never came to this, I’d bet plenty that had Ferrari and Fiat not fallen into line, the Lancia Stratos would indeed have gone to war with Maserati fire-power at its disposal.

What actually happened was that Enzo Ferrari hit the roof. When he’d come back down again, he agreed with Fiat – and with the backing of the Agnelli family – to supply the V6 to Lancia in the required quantities after all.

But this was now December 1972, and while the Stratos had already made its competition debut the previous month – Sandro Munari running in and retiring with rear-suspension failure from the Tour de Corse in the Group 5 prototype class – all chance of homologating the car into Group 4 for the 1973 season was gone.

Interestingly, that rear suspension had already been changed from the original, classic double-wishbone arrangement favoured by racing purists for a simpler MacPherson strut set-up. This is because, while it provided fewer tuning options and inferior wheel control, it allowed far more suspension travel and better access to the engine. In the world of rallying, such things count.

And with hindsight, the delay was perhaps no bad thing. Had Lancia homologated the car in 1972, it would have been undeveloped in terms of its powertrain, suspension and aerodynamics, and far more limited and difficult to develop thereafter. Instead it competed in the prototype Group 5 category, with first Giampaolo Dallara and then the brilliant English racer and engineer Mike Parkes doing the development, with Munari and Jean-Claude Andruet at the wheel.

Power was increased from the 190bhp of the standard engine to an initial 220bhp and then around 250bhp, while a separate development created heads with four valves per cylinder for the Dino engine, ultimately raising output to around 350bhp. There was a turbo Stratos, too.

During that 1973 season Munari and Andruet came second on the last-ever Targa Florio to be run as a World Championship event, while the

former took the Lancia’s first competition victory on the Firestone Rally in Spain.

But by 1974 the car was finally starting to realise its potential. Of the 15 events contested by the Stratos that year, one or other of the machines won ten, including the now nonchampionship Targa Florio. Yet, staggeringly, the model wasn’t actually homologated until October, almost three years since the real Lancia Stratos prototype had first been shown.

And however good its record thereafter, it is worth reflecting for just a moment how much better even than that it would have been had the car been properly developed and homologated on time for the start of the 1973 season rather than 18 months later. All that internecine squabbling, manoeuvring and games playing had come at a heavy price.

In the 1974 World Championship, Lancia was actually saved by the oil crisis. Its prehomologation form had in fact been quite patchy, but thanks to four of the anticipated dozen rounds being cancelled and the bulk of the season being packed into the last quarter of the year, the finally fully sorted Stratos enjoyed if not total supremacy then certainly convincing superiority over its rivals. Up until October it had just one third-place finish in three championship rallies to its name; worse, it was that bloody Fiat 124 that convincingly led the title charge.

Then came homologation, and in the five remaining rounds the Stratos came first, first, fourth, third and first. From being effectively nowhere on October 1, two months to the day later the Lancia won the title by a distance.

The performance was repeated in 1975, when the Stratos won four out of ten rounds of the World Rally Championship – twice as many as anyone else. The 1976 season saw even greater domination, with four more victories and no one else winning more than one. When the points were added up, Lancia had almost twice as many as anybody else. Five years on, the Stratos was finally on top of the world.

So, of course, Fiat knocked it off. By now, it’d had quite enough of its upstart underling making its 124s and 131s look inadequate.

Lancia was told not to contest the 1977 championship, but to do only a limited programme of selected rounds in a car undeveloped from the previous season.

Yet while the Stratos’ championshipwinning era may have been over, its rallywinning days were not. It would take its Monte Carlo hat-trick in 1977 (and claim a fourth with a privateer win in 1979), its fourth San Remo in 1978 with a fifth to come in ’79, and a fourth and fifth Tour de Corse victory in 1979 and,

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L A NC I A ST R ATO S

finally, 1981. A decade after it started, with the all-new Lancia 037 soon to make its debut and with World Rallying embracing its new allwheel-driven Group B era, the greatest rally car of the 1970s finally called it a day.

If anyone knows how many were built, they appear to be keeping the number to themselves. The homologation requirement was adjusted down from 500 to 400, and it seems that a number somewhere between the two – nearer the former than the latter – is what was finally achieved.

The Stradale version you’re looking at here is chassis no.829, which was bought by Martin Cliffe in 1985 four years after he founded the UK’s pre-eminent classic Lancia specialist Omicron Engineering Ltd. And apart from a set of optional 15in Campagnolo wheels sourced from Rowan Atkinson, and the fitment of electronic ignition inside the box provided for the original and complicated Marelli Dinoplex, the Stratos remains stock standard to this day.

Unlike the competition cars, it has the same gearbox as the Ferrari Dino (but not its exposed gate), and the engine is essentially the same save for the use of Weber ICF carburettors in place of the Dino’s same-size DCNs. Cliffe believes the reason is that the ICF has a central float chamber, so the mixture is not affected by lateral loadings in either direction when cornering.

To these eyes, there has never been a betterlooking rally car, or road version thereof. In that profile you can see Gandini trace the car’s wedge from nose to tail with one effortless flick of his pencil. It’s all there: that extraordinarily high waist, the tiny glasshouse, the external latches, the gold Campags… I know that door handle, too, but struggle to place it, so I ask Cliffe. “Fiat X1/9”. Of course.

The inside is quite mad. Somehow, somewhere, Martin found an original set of correct tobacco seats and orange carpets when he got the car. The Veglia dials appear to be refaced versions of those found in the Dino, but rearranged with the speedometer demoted to far right of the dash and all the more minor instruments in direct line of sight, which is odd but quite charming. On the tachometer the yellow and red zones have moved, too – the former starting 300rpm earlier than on a Dino at 7000rpm, the latter ending a couple of hundred later at 8000rpm. What are we to infer from this? Almost certainly nothing.

Since I tweeted a picture of the car, I think the single most often expressed emotion among respondents is incredulity that I actually fit in it. But I can report that a conventionally distributed 6ft 3in bloke can sit behind its 74

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‘A car that has it all: an incredible career, those looks, a drive to match and a back story you’d scarcely believe’ Ferrero wheel with reasonable ease. A greater challenge to your comfort are the pedals, which are violently offset towards the middle of the car to make space for those fat front tyres.

Despite all appearances to the contrary, the Stratos is entirely straightforward to drive, at least if you’re going slowly. A couple of throttle pumps prime the Webers, and with gentle pressure on the accelerator that blue-blooded V6 catches and settles. By complete chance I happened to drive a Dino about a fortnight before my encounter with Martin’s Stratos, so I can say with confidence they do not sound the same. Doubtless due to its different exhaust and lack of sound deadening, the Lancia’s voice is louder, more angry and a little less musical.

This fits its appearance perfectly.

Without Ferrari’s exposed steel gate, the gearshift is longer and less precise than you expect. You have to be quite deliberate and accurate, as there’s nothing other than your hand to guide it home. But you soon get used to it. In the meantime, you learn that the engine has lovely low-down response, more than enough to make missing out second gear while the ’box oil warms – as important in a Stratos as in any Ferrari from this era – no trouble at all.

But it is quite intimidating in here. Forward and front three-quarter vision through that extraordinary wraparound screen is amazing, yet it reminds you of the angles at which the car is designed to be driven – but probably not so much as the door bins shaped to hold not bottles of water but crash helmets. Over-the-shoulder visibility is poor, and the ATE brakes designed to fit behind standard 14in rims feel unassisted and, frankly, not that great. Apparently Group 4 cars with 15s and larger Lockheed discs are an entirely different proposition.

Still, conditions could scarcely be better. The Lancia lives at Martin’s house near Lotus, where he used to work, and I know the roads the engineers use to develop some of the world’s finest-handling cars. It’s dry, and my instructions are to go and enjoy myself for as long as I like. Just keep the rev-counter needle out of the paint, which seems fair enough to me.

And the first thing to say is that despite being of a similar age and configuration, and

regardless of its near-identical powertrain, to drive the Stratos is nothing like driving a Dino.

The Ferrari is probably at its best at medium effort, travelling fast but not frenetically, a car in which to soak up the sight, the sound and the sense of occasion. The Stratos is not like that. The quicker you go, the better it gets.

It feels more rapid than a Dino, and so it should; a physically smaller car with plastic panels and not much sound deadening, it is at least 100kg – around 10 per cent – lighter than its engine donor. Importantly, it feels more alive in your hands, too, the steering surprisingly light and absolutely exquisite in the detail of the feel it provides. The ride is remarkably good, but the whole car has this impatient quality about it; perpetually it exhorts you to just get on with it.

So you do. And then, thanks no doubt to its set-up in general and the brevity of its wheelbase in particular, you’ll find a car with an appetite for an apex like nothing you might ever have driven before. Actually, those big wheels calm it down a touch, but it would still bite large chunks out of the kerbs if you let it.

The Stratos’ scarcely kept secret is to use the steering to set the approximate direction of travel, and then deploy your right foot to make it go precisely where you want. At road speeds this is just a question of trimming your attitude; less throttle to angle in, more to push away. But even at sensible speeds, you can tell that all it really wants to do is slide. Power off on turn-in, rotate the car, catch it with an armful of lock and a slug of power, and drift, drift, drift away.

I expect if you found an appropriate environment to drive it like that the Stratos would be fairly frisky, earning your undivided attention and keeping you as busy as you’d want to be. But there was nothing I felt while driving the Lancia, nor read when researching it, that suggested it was any kind of menace; a car just waiting to mug anyone who failed to accord it the respect it felt it deserved. On the contrary, I expect driving a Group 4 Stratos on a loose surface would be just about the most entertaining thing it would be possible to do with a steering wheel in your hand.

Another time, maybe.

For me, however, it was enough – more than – just to be able to stretch the legs of a car that has it all: an incredible career, those looks, a driving experience to match and a back story you’d scarcely believe. And one more thing; the Lancia Stratos was also the world’s first purpose-built rally car – and that makes it not just one of the most successful competition models there has been, but one of the most important, too.

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Stratos the victor

MCKLEIN

Amid many ups and downs, one thing remained constant; the ability to win in motor sport

BELOW This image of the Lancia team workshop in 1976 sums it all up as well as any action shot can: Group 4 rally cars in Alitalia livery dotted around, with Sandro Munari’s in the foreground; the Giro d’Italia-winning Group 5 Stratos Turbo in Marlborough colours in among them – and even a Beta Montecarlo road car in there for good measure.

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BELOW As early as 1972, long before it was homologated, the Stratos was entered into events for Group 5 prototypes. In April 1973 it claimed its first victory on the Firestone Rally, Spain.

The wins continued into ’74: this is Andruet/ Biche on the Ronde de la Giraglia, Corsica.

BELOW The Stratos was finally homologated for Group 4 in October 1974. It won at its first outing, San Remo, and also took first in the RAC Rally. The success continued through 1975, although not in the RAC this time; Björn Waldegård suffered a broken driveshaft, fixed mid-stage but the rear bodywork was left off, to save time. Waldegård went on to win 40 of the 70-odd stages, only to be disqualified for driving on the road with no number plate or taillights.

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BELOW Think the Stratos was fragile?

Think again; it blitzed the car-killing Safari Rally in Kenya, taking second and third places in 1975 (Sandro Munari and Björn Waldegård) and third in 1977 (Munari/Piero Sodano).

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BELOW If there was an event that the Stratos really made its own, it was the Monte Carlo, winning three years in a row in 1975, ’76 and ’77.

In 1976 the Stratos took first, second and third.

After Lancia pulled out, Bernard Darniche won in 1979 in the blue livery of the Team Chardonnet French Lancia dealerships – but it’s the Alitalia livery, below, that we all remember best.

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Winning a Stirling Moss Trophy race in the little Lotus XV against much bigger engined cars is always special. Keeping the Lotus reliable when it’s pushed that hard is always a challenge, but making it to the chequered flag is even more rewarding when we do! These wins are made even more special by sharing the car with my Dad. Oliver Bryant

Creating Motor Racing Legends of Tomorrow motorracinglegends.com

BELOW Lancia also built two Group 5 turbocharged Stratos, intended for closedtrack endurance racing.

Although they couldn’t match the Porsche 935s on conventional circuits, they proved their worth in hybrid events such as the Tour de France Automobile, which it won a record five times between 1973 and 1980, and the Giro d’Italia, which it won in 1974, 1976 and 1978. A Stratos Turbo also competed at Le Mans in 1976 and 1977.

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BELOW Stratos even made it into rallycross, this one driven by Franz Wurz, father of F1 driver Alexander. In 1976 it won the first-ever European Rallycross title recognised by the FIA, and was later fitted with an experimental 24-valve, 3.0-litre engine developed by former racer turned Stratos engineer Mike Parkes.

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Shelby Mustangs are among the Holy Grail of collectable 1960s US sports cars. The four here – including a brace of experimental one-offs – are some of the rarest, most sought after and most valuable of them all

WOR D S A N D P HOTO G R A P H Y WINSTON GO ODFELLOW

MILLIONDOLLAR MUSTANGS

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WHAT MAKES A CAR WORTH A MILLION dollars, and more? A key attribute is mystique, and this grouping of Shelby Mustangs is a concise treatise into a potentially murky subject.

At the centre of their tale is a character straight out of central casting – to which we can now say ‘literally’. Carroll Shelby’s run from 1959 to 1969 may be the best ten years by anyone in automotive history, for he went from Le Mans winner with Aston Martin in June 1959, to a washed-up and nearly broke racing driver on October 24, 1960. Within two years of a heart condition forcing his retirement he achieved his long-held ambition of becoming a sports car constructor, and within two years of that his Cobras had won multiple SCCA and USRRC championships in America.

In the following 24 months his Cobra Daytona Coupes defeated Ferrari for the FIA

CLOCKWISE FROM OPPOSITE Single-familyowned, 19,000mile survivor has extraordinary originality. It made a world-record $962,500 when sold in March.

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CLOCKWISE FROM OPPOSITE One of just four ’66 GT350 convertibles made, one of only two manuals and the only one in red. Owner Craig Jackson drives it to work most days.

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endurance-racing crown, and in 1966 he became the only individual to win Le Mans as a racer, team owner and constructor, when a Shelby American-prepped GT40 took the chequered flag. In between were other projects such as the King Cobra, 427 Cobra and Sunbeam Tiger – all this engineering and creating taking place under sun-kissed skies not far from southern California’s mythical Pacific coastline.

Such accomplishments form an impressive heritage, but what separates Carroll and Shelby American’s legacy from that of numerous other great marques is approachability. To wit: If the nameplate had only produced approximately 990 Cobras, the six Daytona Coupes that won 1965’s world championship, and the GT40s that twice won Le Mans while dominating endurance racing from 1965 to 1967, it would

1966 GT350 convertible

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1967 GT500 Little Red

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be as highbrow and untouchable as the revered names from Italy, the UK and elsewhere.

But in the second half of 1964 Carroll’s special ‘pixie dust’ found its way into something most anyone could buy. That’s when Ford vice president Lee Iacocca called to see if Shelby could turn the recently released – and selling like hotcakes – Mustang into a sports car. “It was a secretary’s car that sold for $2395 and had a three-speed transmission,” Carroll told me. “I said to Lee: ‘I don’t think that’s a very good idea.’

“Iacocca said: ‘I didn’t ask you that.’”

Several Mustangs were sent Carroll’s way, and he and his men took that ‘secretary’s car’, applied said pixie dust, and created the GT350 “that is all that most of us wanted the original Mustang to be in the first place,” as Car Life’s road test concluded. More remarkably,

CLOCKWISE FROM OPPOSITE Recovered from a field, test bed has many engineering innovations. It’s now restored to “its biggest, baddest self”, complete with twin blowers.

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CLOCKWISE FROM OPPOSITE Formidable ’68 coupe features a 500bhp 428ci V8 modified with Conelec injection, plus unique independent rear suspension.

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its competition sibling was victorious in its first-ever race, and the GT350R won a number of championships over the next several years besting Corvettes, Alfa Romeos, Porsches, Jaguars and more.

By the summer of ’66 the letters ‘GT’ were part of the motoring public’s lexicon, and Ford’s management tapped the phenomenon with its second-generation, restyled and more refined Mustang. For Carroll, that meant: “The Mustang got bigger and heavier. I couldn’t build a race car out of it; I couldn’t build a sports car out of it, so we had to have a bigger engine.”

For 1967 Shelby debuted the 428-powered GT500, and sales soared 50 percent-plus over 1966’s totals to top 3000 cars. Then Carroll’s landlord called, unexpectedly terminating the company’s lease. A mad scramble ensued, and

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production moved to Ionia, outside of Detroit.

Although purists feel Shelby lost its southern California mojo from the move, what they tend to overlook is that the unquenchable desire to create hotter-performing cars never left Carroll, and his key personnel. Experimentation continued apace, and in 1968 Shelby’s muscular GT theme advanced when the GT500KR became available with a more powerful 428 Cobra Jet V8, extra bracing, different exhaust and, on four-speed KRs, staggered shocks.

In 1969 the GT350 and GT500 gained new bodywork that was vastly different from all other Mustangs, but with the Mach 1, Boss 302 and Boss 429 also in Ford dealerships, the end was approaching. In February 1970, with no fanfare whatsoever, Shelby and Ford parted ways, and over the next several years Shelby Mustangs were simply used cars, continually depreciating so most anyone with desire and a little spare change could acquire one. Indeed, back in the mid-1970s 1965-66 GT350s could be purchased for less than $1500.

Which is when the first oil crisis hit, and enthusiasts wondered whether they would ever see engaging performance cars again. Interest in Shelby Mustangs started to blossom, and a mystique that surrounds something special was becoming recognised. This was especially true in the mid-late 1970s malaise of interesting, new automotive offerings.

That awakening raises a question: What causes such mystique to originally form?

In what may seem a blasphemous comparison on first glance, we can identify many of the elements by examining the Modena area and its famed constructors, and comparing them with Shelby and these Mustangs. We’ll start with a broad picture; both central Italy and southern California have long-standing cultures of speed stretching back into the 1920s. In Modena, testing was done on the street, competitions were held at circuits in town and later, the Aerautodromo di Modena; in southern California, the dry lakes and local circle tracks were the proving grounds.

Following World War Two, both locations saw a large influx of engineers and craftsmen looking for places to apply their skills, and word quickly got out that speed shops and specialist manufacturers were hiring.

Some constructors’ reputations would become lofty enough to spread around the world, and over the years people flocked across multiple time zones to work for them.

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‘GT350s are charismatic performers, with nimble handling, superior cornering and braking, and a solid-lifter engine that sounds like music’ travelled from Switzerland to southern California to work for Carroll. When each left their home country, neither spoke the tongue of the land to which they migrated.

For locals the process was far easier, some arriving at factories in cars that inadvertently became ‘resumes’. In 1957 Giotto Bizzarrini was interviewed at Ferrari, travelling in his modified Fiat Topolino that was his graduating thesis from college. The engineer later told me it was Ferrari’s seeing the car that got him hired. Some seven years after that, southern Californian hot rodder Bernie Kretzschmar drove to Shelby to apply for a job. He pointed out that not one person reviewed his application; instead, they crawled over and under his ’32 Roadster that had appeared on the cover of Rod & Custom. He, too, got a job.

Luring them were the charismatic characters behind the companies. Shelby, Lamborghini, Ferrari… employees would walk through fire for these larger-than-life figures to be part of the special atmosphere they and their organisations created. Racer John Morton told me about foregoing evening activities to head back to the Shelby factory: “I would return after dinner because those employees that were of any value… had something going on they had to get finished, and I would come back just to watch them.” That sounds much like what former Lamborghini chief engineer Giampaolo Dallara said about working on the Miura and 350GT: “We were there all the time. It was so exciting, and happily we did not realise how difficult it was.”

These ‘individuals of value’ were people such as Maserati’s chief engineer Giulio Alfieri, who could “create something from nothing” according to Dallara. At Shelby the magician was Phil Remington, whose uncanny ability to devise a solution to most any problem meant he usually solved it the first time he tackled it.

Another component to mystique is the test drivers – memorable men with an innate feel for how to make a car better. Guerino Bertocchi at

Maserati, Bob Wallace with Lamborghini, and Giotto Bizzarrini at Ferrari, Iso and elsewhere were masters at developing and refining road models and/or competition cars. In southern California Ken Miles helped transform Shelby’s Cobra, Daytona Coupes, GT40s and GT350s into world-beaters, and in 1966 he would oneup his Italian counterparts by winning Daytona, Sebring and, realistically, Le Mans.

This brings us to the machinery these individuals made and, specifically, the Mustangs seen here. The creators injected their DNA into each, and whether the cars were built

by Shelby or the competition, basically all had the same mission; to go faster than whatever was next to you.

Carroll’s organisation may have utilised mass-production parts more than his Italian counterparts, but the results were the same.

Race winners emanated from their respective factories, numerous new components were designed and/or machined in house, and that formed an ethos to create seriously engaging road cars. The 1965 and ’66 GT350s are charismatic performers, enthralling driver and passenger alike with nimble handling, superior cornering and braking, and a solid-lifter engine that loves to rev while sounding like music.

At the time of our photoshoot these Shelbys were part of auction impresario Craig Jackson’s collection; the GT350 coupe is one of 521 made in 1965, and was a single-family-owned, 19,000mile example that sat untouched for 30-plus years. “I never had a streetcar from 1965,” diehard gearhead Jackson reflects. After the car’s purchase: “An idea came up; could we restore (it) to go win all the awards, which we did… At the Mustang Club of America it won the Thoroughbred Class and the Authenticity Award, which means it has to have 99 percent of the parts it came with on the assembly line.”

While Craig jokes that the difference between production-line and NOS parts is their price, because the ’65 had so much assembly-line ‘unobtanium’ on it, shortly after our shoot he said: “It’s the only car in my Shelby collection I don’t drive. I want to take it out and smoke the tyres.” Not trusting himself to have such restraint, he decided to part with it – and at Barrett-Jackson’s March 2021 sale, it brought a world-record $962,500.

The ’Stang group highlights another element of mystique: rarity. One-offs, handbuilt prototypes, experimentation and eyecatching coachwork were Italian hallmarks in the decades after the war. Shelby, too, had its share of such machinery, and also made what in Italy were called fuoriserie cars – which is

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where the GT350 convertible comes in. Ferrari and coachbuilder Sergio Scaglietti constructed 10 NART Spyders in 1967-68; Shelby built four GT350 convertibles in ’66.

Powering them was a 306bhp 4.7-litre V8, and all were individually specced with different colours and options. Craig’s is one of two fourspeed cars, the only one in red, and it’s the Shelby he uses the most. “After I bought it,” he says, “we got all the bugs out. The clutch was chattering away, and the cam had flattened out.

It’s restored, but not to the degree of the ’65, and it’s a lot of fun to drive.” He often uses it to commute to work, and it’s the one I most wanted to try, but threatening rain and the need to complete our shoot before the heavens opened up didn’t allow that. About its value, its ’66 green convertible counterpart with an automatic transmission sold last year at auction for $1.1million; this is very likely somewhere north of that.

While a run of just four definitely makes something rare, one-offs may be the most coveted road cars of all. In the 1950s and ’60s Ferrari had a number of models that were peppered with one-offs during their production runs, and Maserati did the same with its A6G2000, 3500GT and 5000GT. In the 1960s, Shelby built the GT500 Super Snake, Green Hornet and Little Red, all one-offs with ‘take no prisoner’ attitudes. The latter two are seen here – and Little Red introduces another element of mystique: urban legends.

In August 1966, Shelby ordered three early big-block Mustangs to start the GT500 development process: a convertible, a fastback that would become the production template, and a notchback. The last of these became known as Little Red – a name given to it

by Shelby’s chief engineer Fred Goodell, who used it regularly.

“When it arrived at Shelby American in southern California,” Craig notes, “it became their test bed for engineering innovation.”

Changes were numerous, and constant.

Jackson’s in-depth research indicates that it came with a 428ci V8 powerplant fitted with two four-barrels, at some point it likely had Lucas mechanical fuel injection, plus it had single and double superchargers (the latter registering 600bhp on the dyno). The three-speed automatic transmission got an experimental tail-shaft, there were special rear brakes and a massaged exhaust system, while the cosmetics saw numerous changes as different ideas were tried.

To comprehend Little Red’s reputation, Charles Fox’s column in Car & Driver’s April 94

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‘When the difference between cars and how they feel vanishes, will such mystique survive?

Or will it become even more revered?’

1978 issue recounts a drizzly southern California evening spent behind the wheel. “It was as quick as the Vicar’s daughter to a hundred,” he noted, “but the real magic came between a hundred and when the nose started to get airborne (at) 135-140mph. It was annoying having to lift with fifteen hundred revs in hand.” Eye-opening stuff for the era – and even more eye opening was his ending up in jail for exhibiting such speed…

According to the 1965-1967 Shelby Mustang Registry, Fourth Edition, after three years of tearing up southern California and Michigan’s asphalt: “Little Red was sent to Kar Kraft in Brighton, Michigan sometime in 1970, and unceremoniously crushed.” For decades, that’s what Shelby historians and the Mustang world believed, so when noted restorer Jason Billups suggested to Jackson and crew “What about Little Red?” they rolled their eyes at the thought it might still be out there, somewhere. As Shelby American’s marketing manager Scott Black noted: “You cannot find what cannot be found.”

On a whim Billups gave the Ford (rather than the Shelby) chassis number to a private detective, and to his great surprise they got a hit from a 1994 registration. Billups ended up tracking the owner down, and Jackson would eventually purchase the dilapidated car out of a field in Texas. (The story is superbly recounted in the video The Hunt for Little Red.) Because so little was actually known about Little Red and its history, Jackson made an intriguing decision; to create and publicise a website to crowdsource the real story. With new information flowing in from multiple ex-Shelby and Ford employees and their family members, he says: “Restoring this car was an archaeological dig. Going through with everybody… who had anything to do with it…

The car spoke to us when we took it apart, for it had many 1968 prototype parts on it.”

Crucially, they found Walter Nelson, the individual who originally built Little Red for

Carroll, and the only known period colour photograph he possessed. Today Little Red has been meticulously restored to what Jackson calls “its biggest, baddest self”, complete with twin blowers that, amusingly for a Shelby, look like cobras slithering across its big V8.

The Green Hornet is also a one-off test bed, built in 1968, and it too has undergone a painstaking restoration. “It’s amazing how similar the two are,” Jackson says, “just different technologies. One is brute force, the other high tech – reflections of the different mentalities of southern California hot rodders and Detroit.”

No superchargers are found in the Hornet’s engine bay; instead, there’s a Conelec fuelinjection system augmented by what was likely the world’s first automotive computer. The modified 428 V8 makes 500bhp on the dyno, and unlike Little Red and every other vintage Mustang, the Hornet has an independent rear suspension set-up.

Had Shelby put the car in production, the 2+2 coupe would have played havoc with the competition. At Ford’s Michigan proving grounds the Hornet hit 0-60mph in 5.7 seconds, 100mph in 11.4, and averaged 157mph over four laps. For comparison, a Vantagespec Aston Martin DB6 and Ferrari 365 2+2 needed 6.1 and 7.8 seconds to 60mph, 15 and 20.8 seconds to 100mph, and topped out at 148mph and 152mph, respectively.

Which leads into perhaps the most important element of mystique: how something drives.

Over the years I’ve spent time with the Aston Martin, Ferrari, Green Hornet and other 2+2 competitors such as Lamborghini’s Islero, Iso’s Rivolta GT, and more. All deliver entirely different experiences behind the wheel, so they feel like nothing else. The same can be said for the 1965 and ’66 GT350s, which ‘taste’ somewhat like Ferrari’s 250 SWB in terms of sensations and noises while maintaining their own distinctive characters.

But these are machines from a different era, one that lasted for decades. Now there is an unrelenting proliferation of electric vehicles, and the eventual disappearance of brand-new internal-combustion cars seems inevitable.

Manufacturers continue to engineer out noise, vibration and harshness – those minute characteristics that give automobiles true individuality on the road – all while speaking of achieving Levels 4 and 5 autonomy. When the difference between cars and how they feel completely vanishes, will such mystique survive? Or will it gain additional significance, and become even more revered?

SYDNEY AUSTRALIA

SUPER COOL SEVENTIES

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When Alfa was best

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The famous red lights betray competition history.

This Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Touring Berlinetta Aerodinamica was not only the class winner in the 1933 Mille Miglia, but it’s also the last known survivor of its kind, and exceptionally well preserved. We drive it

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ABOVE Alfa started life in 1931 as a 6C 1750 GT competition chassis, with a non-blown twin-cam engine.

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BELOW 6C 1750’s coachwork uses a fabric skin wrapped around an aluminium frame structure.

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IT WAS IN A 6C 1750 THAT NUVOLARI pulled off a stunt in the 1930 Mille Miglia – actually by switching off his headlamps. As he was closing in on Achille Varzi, Tazio didn’t want to alert his team-mate of his presence, so the Mantovan daredevil turned off his lights and followed Varzi in the dark. Only upon overtaking did Nuvolari illuminate the way once again... or so legend has it.

There are a couple of footnotes to add to that story. The first being that Alfa Romeo’s technical director Vittorio Jano had frozen positions – having assured Varzi, who was running first on the road, that the race was his.

Suffice to say, Varzi was not a happy man at the finish line. Also, in the classification, Nuvolari was already ahead by the time he had wheeled in Varzi, having left Brescia minutes behind his rival. Nuvolari would be the first to cover

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the whole 1000-mile course at an average speed of just over 100km/h.

Those startling red light covers had a double function. On the one hand, they were shields that were used to protect the headlamps from stones projected up from the road. But the red light was also less tiring on the driver’s eyes. At night, sometimes the red covers were used and sometimes they were removed.

It does make for a unique spectacle, though, when you see the road before your eyes suddenly turn red. This can mean only one thing; you are behind the wheel of one of the fabled Alfa Romeos. This is not a Zagatobodied 6C 1750 Gran Sport Spider as Nuvolari and Varzi drove, but an even rarer 6C 1750 Touring Berlinetta Aerodinamica. It has a story of its own to tell. Not only is this the sole known survivor of just three or four cars built, but this

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ABOVE Other than the body fabric, probably replaced in the 1960s, this car is very much as it left the factory.

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car also won its class in the 1933 Mille Miglia.

The 6C was essential in forming the Alfa Romeo myth, and it played its part in establishing the dominance of the Milanese brand in the Mille Miglia. Before World War Two, the manufacturer was denied overall triumph in the famous road race only twice in 12 participations. And it’s not just the victories; Alfas often also dominated the top ten and the various classes. Before the war, it simply crushed the competition at the Mille Miglia. The 6C would win on three occasions, taking first through fourth places in the controversial 1930 running.

With the 6C – short for six-cylinder – Vittorio Jano followed up on his successful eight-cylinder P2 single-seaters. Even before a capacity rule change had forced Alfa out of Grand Prix racing, Jano had already been given the task to come up with a 1.5-litre engine to prove that the company could produce a smaller road car that would still honour the marque’s sporting credentials. In 1925, the first of the 6C series made a public debut at the Milan Motor Show.

True to his style, Jano innovated with a 1487cc six-cylinder engine that boasted a single overhead camshaft instead of the traditional pushrod-operated technology Alfa was using up until then. As of 1926 the company would commercialise the first 6C 1500 models but, as soon as 1927, line-up changes were made.

Next to the single-camshaft Normale, a twincamshaft Sport appeared, pushing power up by 10bhp to 54bhp. In 1928, the Mille Miglia Speciale appeared – special because the engine was moved 20cm rearwards to make room for a Roots compressor. It took victory in the Mille Miglia, of course.

By 1929, Alfa Romeo had come up with an answer to the stiffened competition from Bugatti and Maserati. For the third series of the 6C, the engine was upgraded to 1752cc. In Sport trim, with double overhead camshafts, the 6C 1750 managed 64bhp. A supercharged

6C 1750 Super Sport would pump out 85bhp.

Of the 26 supercharged 6C 1750s entered in the 1929 Mille Miglia, 25 were at the finish – and, of course, victory went Alfa’s way.

Winner Giuseppe Campari defeated a 2.0-litre OM on his way to victory. In those days, it was Alfa Romeo or nothing.

Alfa was selling these cars to the public, in different coachwork forms and from different carrozzerie. Management was eager to prove to customers it had models that could be successful in other Mille Miglia categories as well – which is where this example comes in.

“It started life in 1931 as a 6C 1750 GT competition chassis, with a twin-cam engine but no compressor,” explains caretaker Philippe Mulders. “Alfa sold the car, chassis 10914569, to Gianangelo Sperti, chief engineer of the Alfa Corse department. He first roadregistered it in Firenze in 1932, as FI 738.

Officially, this made it a private car, but of course there was factory involvement from the Alfa factory in Portello.”

These were complicated times, in which financial injections and ultimately a complete takeover from the fascist-run Mussolini regime led Alfa to officially take a restrained approach towards ‘money-guzzling’ racing. As such, the marque’s competition activities were sub-let to Enzo Ferrari, and Sperti was officially a private entrant in the 1933 Mille Miglia.

His was one of three 6C 1750s entered in the closed-car class for 1933. The coachwork was especially created by Touring, and only three or four of these Berlinetta Aerodinamica versions were ever made.

“Touring’s own take of the Weymann method predates the Superleggera principle it would later adopt,” explains Mulders. “But it clearly shows Touring was already looking into ways to make the coachwork as low and light as possible. Except for the front windshield, all the windows are made in composite material.”

A fabric skin is wrapped around an aluminium frame structure. The bodywork is basic, and

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weighs in at a laughably low 140kg. The benefits show the minute we get on the road. This may be a non-blown version of the 6C 1750, but it has no difficulty in feeling powerful. I’m most impressed watching Mulders at work behind the wheel, showing me how it is done.

In the cabin’s cosy environment, the driving lesson feels intimate as I observe his legs dance effortlessly while he double-declutches and heel-toes around the central throttle position. His gearbox shift manoeuvres are lightning fast; he just tick-tocks the long lever round the gate quicker than you could change ratios in a new Golf. “Really, it’s the quality of this car that allows for this kind of driving,” he says almost apologetically.

The six-cylinder is very much the essence of this Alfa Romeo. It is omnipresent in sound and impressive in feel. Only the transmission noise cancels out some of the engine resonance.

The motor sounds much deeper, belying its nimble capacity and providing sufficient push to make you wonder whether this really is ‘just’ a naturally aspirated version of that fabled Alfa powerplant.

As Mulders points out, the engine has barely 800kg to propel. The combo is impressive, with this 90-year-old veteran easily holding its own in modern traffic. “Make no mistake about it,” he says. “This car may be old, but it was always a racer, built to go as fast as it can.”

When my time comes to give it a go, I have to acknowledge that there is a lot to get used to in a short timeframe. Let us begin with the steering position. The wheel is close to your chest, while the pedals are further removed, making for a stretched-legs-bent-arms driving approach that takes some miles before it starts to feel comfortable. Your lower back is firmly held in place in the custom-made bucket seats. By the way, this is the original and astonishingly well preserved upholstery – but more on that later.

The 6C 1750 starts on the first turn of the crank, and is surprisingly quiet. It has a little clutch travel, but taking off is really the easy

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part. Once the gearbox is properly warmed up, there is no longer the need to double-declutch on the upshifts. You need to be decisive with your movements, but with just the softest of clicks, the lever slots into place in the next of the four available forward gears. Silky smooth.

The 6C 1750 overcomes the drop in the revs with ease, responding instantly to the throttle’s demand. That central pedal takes time to adjust to if you’re new to this game, and when the braking, steering and downshifting all come at the same time, mistakes are bound to happen. The gearbox teeth will angrily curse your clumsiness. Double-declutching on the downshift is essential, and I make a bit of a dog’s breakfast of things. The transmission protests, Mulders winces in the passenger seat and I just can’t help feeling terrible at my own incompetence in not living up to the standard this car deserves.

Even feeling uncomfortable as I do right now, the genius of the car shines through and I pick up on it. For starters, the steering is not just light, but it’s also incredibly precise. I quickly start aiming the nimble 1750 through the artificial chicanes that pop up on the road, comfortably keeping it in third and letting the engine roar enthusiastically.

There is none of the ‘approximate’ approach you often detect in other pre-war cars. On the contrary, the Alfa slices decisively at your command. Body roll is well contained, making quick transitions in the corners possible. This fast and nimble nature would have paid dividends on the more mountainous stretches of the Mille Miglia.

We only take the engine up to 4000rpm – still some way to go before it reaches the 6000rpm red line against which it would have been pushed for hours on end come race day. The brakes wear their racing heritage on their sleeve, offering strong performance throughout.

It is impossible not to fall in love with this car.

Production of the 6C 1750 ended in 1933. In racing, the 8C 2300 brilliantly followed in the footsteps of the ageing model. For racing, Alfa moved towards eight-cylinder engines, but in the road division the six-cylinder would remain important. Post-war, an evolution of this unit came back in 2500cc form, while the famed 2.0-litre four-cylinder twin-cams that followed in the 1950s had all the characteristics of the 6C engine, minus two cylinders. It wouldn’t be until the 1980s that evolution would come; Giuseppe Busso kept the six cylinders, but opted for a V6 instead of an inline configuration.

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crucially, it was a couple of years ahead of the French designers in working out that the teardrop shape towards the rear was the ideal solution in the search for more speed.

There were no wind tunnels yet to substantiate this vision with a scientific approach, but our Berlinetta clearly showed the theory worked in the 1933 Mille Miglia, when Sperti drove this very car to a class win among the closed models, racing for 17 hours and 49 minutes on end. That year, three closed 1750s competed in the event, with two reaching the finish. In fact, the top 20 consisted of no fewer than 19 Alfa Romeos, with the two Touringbodied Berlinettas finishing 17th (this car) and 18th. Ours is the only known example left.

Wait, there is more! It is not just the sole survivor, but it’s also incredibly well preserved.

There is reason to assume that the odometer’s 24,000km reading is in fact correct.

“The Alfa remained in the Firenze-Bologna region for most of its life,” Mulders says. “After the Mille Miglia, Sperti sold it in 1934. It changed hands a few more times, before Mauro Ceretti bought it in 1935. He kept it for 33 years.”

More owners were to follow, but the Alfa was always sold on as a static object: “The fabric of the skin was restored at one point, probably before 1968 even. And we think the mudguards were resprayed around the same time, because the paint used has post-war characteristics.

But other than that, this car is very much in the same condition as it left the factory in 1931.”

In what can only be described as an incredible vote of confidence in the vehicle’s quality, it was re-registered in 1982. New oil, new number plate, and go. “It was used only occasionally, we think,” Mulders says. “In 1994, with a new owner, this car did one more Mille Miglia.” Up until this point, it would look as though the mileage was more a matter of presumption than a fact.

That changed when the current custodian, Dutch pre-war expert Jaap ‘Jack’ Braam Ruben, had managed to buy the car from an Italian private collector and decided to open up the engine. “We just wanted to see the condition,” says Mulders. “It was astonishing – there were hardly signs of wear. In fact, it was just a matter of cleaning the parts, and then we closed the engine again.” You could run it in the Mille Miglia again now; this car is a guaranteed entry.

The thorough examination revealed the particular attention this ‘privately owned’ 6C 1750 had received in period. “A conrod bears the Alfa Corse stamps. We also found Alfa Corse stamps on the rear suspension, and it was clear this car benefitted from some of the updates Alfa had used on the 8C 2300 factory

‘The motor provides sufficient push to make you wonder whether this really is “just” a naturally aspirated version’ cars. For instance, as with the Monzas, it has an electric fuel pump instead of the normal auto-vacuum system you’d otherwise find on a 6C. It also has the same freewheel hub at the rear as you’ll see on the 6C 2300s.” One can say these are the small benefits of the owner working in the Alfa Corse department.

Perhaps the finest treasure was hidden in the boot. “The car has two spare wheels. The furthest one turned out to be one of the original Pirelli Corses, a tyre that had gone out of production after World War Two. No one had touched it in all that time. It is no longer usable for driving, but for display it is magnificent.”

All of the Berlinetta Aerodinamica models have slightly different details. “This car has no taillights; no holes were ever drilled in the rear mudguards to place them. And at the front, there are different fixings for the three headlights.

Such details further confirm the identity.”

While Alfa Romeo may no longer sell a sixcylinder, it’s still happy to use the 1750 badge up to the present day. Even though the product is not the same – oh, how we miss an Alfa six – we can only be happy that this might help to keep the 6C 1750 present in the minds of Alfisti and others. As this car shows, there was a time when Alfa Romeo was simply the best sporting brand in the world. One shouldn’t forget.

Our thanks go to Jaap Braam Ruben and Philippe Mulders (www.fineautomobiles.nl). and Max Luca for the historic backdrop of Château Charles (www.chateaucharles.be).

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Electric hybrid power.

Lightning fast. Vision of the future. Freedom to innovate. Overcoming technical challenges.

Optimising efficiency.

Boosting the senses.

Generating emotions.

Creating new solutions.

Traditional values. Rulebreaking. Lamborghini Sián. It’s already sold out.

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I MAY BE SMILING WHILE THE photographer takes the static images, but the moment Automobili Lamborghini chief technical officer Maurizio Reggiani hands me the key of the prototype Sián, car no.00 of 63, butterflies invade my stomach. Thanks to my work, I’ve been able to sneak behind the steering wheel of several Lamborghinis over the years, including doing a few long journeys in the V12 Aventador, but this is the first time I’ve been given the opportunity to test drive one of the supercar marque’s prototypes. And what a prototype it is.

The Sián, a local-dialect word meaning ‘lightning bolt’, is the first hint of the Lamborghini of the future, and the first ever to have a hybrid engine solution as well as shapememory components. Most likely, it is a new supercar concept that will lead the way in the years to come – exactly what the Miura (1966), Countach (1971) and Aventador (2011) did before this. It hasn’t happened by chance.

Reggiani is an unusual figure in the car world.

Born in 1959 in San Martino Spino (Modena), about 20 miles away from Sant’Agata Bolognese, he graduated in mechanical engineering at the University of Modena before joining Maserati in 1982. In 1987 he was put in charge of the EB110 transmission and engine programme at Romano Artioli’s Bugatti Automobili, and in 1998 he became Murciélago project leader at Lamborghini. In 2001 he was appointed chief of the company’s propulsion and suspension R&D team, and in 2006 he became chief technical officer, a position that includes the Centro Stile and Racing Department, too.

Amazingly for a man so invested in the future, he is part of the Polo Storico Comitato 1 18

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dei Saggi (the committee of ‘wise men’ in Lamborghini’s heritage department). They are in charge of driving the process of and having the final word in the approval of classic Lamborghini certification.

“I grew up with the myth of Giampaolo Dallara and the late Paolo Stanzani, admiring their capacity and courage to innovate. Later in life, while spending a lot of time with both of them and even working together, I had the privilege of discovering the men behind the engineers, and my respect grew further. In working with my team on the Sián’s creation, I often wondered if they – together with the visionary Ferruccio – would have been proud of the car, as I really did try to build it in the way they would have done were they still working for Lamborghini.

“In my office I have two pictures signed by both of them; one, with a Miura S taken on the Gran San Bernardo pass, the other with the Sesto Elemento, the full carbonfibre, extra-light track cars we manufactured in 20 units in 2010, and the car they declared they would’ve loved to have made. That is my legacy, and a personal responsibility that I feel every day at work, because they created the values that remain the foundation of Lamborghini; the spirit of innovation that you can perceive only when breaking every conventional, established rule.”

With the Sián, the team had to face several technical challenges, including where to find the space for ‘the electric components’ and the extra weight linked to that. “When we started the TOP The true spirit of innovation: stunning Lamborghini Sián harnesses up-to-the-minute hybrid tech to give the ultimate supersports drive.

thinking for a hybrid,” says Reggiani, “we had a car to start with, the Aventador, and a piece of white paper to fill for the electric part. This means we were ‘caged’ on one side and we were absolutely free, beginning from zero, on the other; neither being a very easy starting point.

“We aimed to do something innovative, not copying what everybody else already did, and we started our analysis of possibilities from there. One of the pillars of the discussion with my team was the understanding that, for a Lamborghini, it is more important to have an electrical aid to reach higher peaks than an extended electric autonomy, the latter being quite useless on a supersports car. In thinking about a conventional battery solution, we faced weight, space and cooling issues, and we started to look at supercapacitors as a possible solution, as they have most of the characteristics we were searching for.”

He continues: “A supercapacitor (supercap) can store about three times more energy than a conventional battery. It is capable of charging and discharging in virtually no time, and has an efficiency close to one. This means if I charge 100, I discharge 100 – and such high efficiency virtually deletes the inefficiency linked with lithium-ion batteries. It means a lot in terms of heat dissipation, as the typical inefficiency results in heat that you need to manage, with a heavy cost in terms of the system’s weight and dimensions.

“A final bonus of the supercapacitor compared with a battery is its hugely extended lifespan, allowing an endless number of charges and discharges without losing efficiency. In deciding upon this solution, we then had to

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deal with homologation issues. You can’t pass off 60 volts as a low-voltage machine.

This was a mandatory condition for us, because we really didn’t want to have a car that was considered high voltage and therefore in need of being completely re-homologated.

“We self-imposed a 48V limit, which is already on the market because many cars adopt it. But instead of generating electricity and putting it back into the system like everybody else, we opted to make 600 Amps, creating 34bhp, and use them immediately. An electric engine is directly keyed to the gearbox, to mechanically send energy, alias torque, to the wheels.”

Reggiani says this solution brought two important benefits: “We were able to improve, where needed, our V12’s torque curve while helping the single-clutch system to smooth its gearchanges, greatly decreasing the perceptible gap in the curve you get when shifting ratios in the Aventador. In the Sián, every time you change gear with the setting on Strada (road), the supercap-powered electric engine fills the torque hole, creating more continuity in the power transmission and thus increasing the car’s comfort. In Sport or Corsa (race), the same function is no longer used to increase comfort, but instead as a boost to create more elasticity (alias more torque) using the mechanical aids generated by the electric engine in the moments before the arrival of the thermodynamic power.

“A final benefit is in the weight, because the whole electrical system, capable of generating 34bhp, weighs 34kg, with a 1:1 power-to-weight ratio. That’s a kind of record considering that our Aventador SVJ has a power-to-weight ratio of 1.7:1. This mean the supercapacitor system – which is recharged every time you brake or release the throttle pedal, generating mechanical energy – is about 70 percent more efficient.

“Even better, the supercapacitors are not based on the rare extractive materials used for batteries, but on the much more available, and less speculative, coal and derivatives. In a carmanufacturing group such as the one to which Lamborghini belongs, one of our duties is to explore new tech and materials, as we are in the lucky position of having customers who are capable of financially supporting and are willing to adopt the latest-possible technology. A littleknown fact is that, since 2014, our Aventador starting battery has been a supercapacitor, which we developed with a local firm. We made that choice to save weight and space, and we’ve never had an issue with it.”

When Reggiani says a supersports car has to generate emotion, he knows what he’s talking about – and every detail of the Sián is made to fit this purpose. Even the keyholder is special; 1 2 0

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it is the tool needed to open the engine hood, is ultralight and is 3D printed. Other parts of the Sián have been made with a 3D printer, too – the most visible being the cockpit air vents.

Those supercapacitors are not the only firsts for the car. Just look at the air exits on the rear.

They’re made from shape-memory material, and the way they work is incredible. They stay closed until the heat of the engine opens them (via a sort of programmed deformation) to dissipate the heat. When they cool down, they simply return to their original shape, without showing any sign of distress. Simple, light, maintenance free and virtually eternal.

As soon as I sit in the Sián, its very Aventador air helps me feel at home. I have to familiarise myself with a few extra buttons, and as soon as I discover what they are for I spend a good ten minutes playing with them. Part of the Sián’s roof is made from liquid-crystal glass which, thanks to a button-activated low-voltage electrical current, is capable of arranging its molecules into a pattern that changes the glass from transparent to opaque and back again. It is beautiful, because it can add extra light into the cockpit without the discomfort of the sun hitting the occupants and trim too harshly.

Engine on and here we go. While everything warms up – engine, brakes, tyres and myself – my apprehension begins to improve. On the road, it is easy to perceive the extra lightness compared with a ‘normal’ Aventador, but a strange whining noise soon alerts my senses.

It is like driving a classic Range Rover with a noisy diff. Because this is a prototype, a 15,000km development car, I fear for the worst and phone back to base to check. Nothing to worry about, I’m told; this is a good sign that the supercapacitor is healthy and charging. They also alert me as to what soundtrack will follow, because when quickly discharging the supercap sounds like two cats fighting in the distance.

I admit that the early kilometres are not the best. I’m stuck on typically Italian, very bumpy, two-lane roads, with endless speed traps, a ridiculously low limit and huge potholes in the very uneven Tarmac. I work hard to keep the car going where I want it to, bumping around at about 90km/h, and nothing seems to work as it should. Then finally the situation improves; the road smooths out, the speed limit rises and everything changes. Driving only a few kilometres faster the Sián enters a new world, and then it shows the real character of an amazing supercar.

By the time I’m travelling at about 130km/h, the aerodynamics are working as intended. With the internal air flow pushing the Sián down, I distinctively sense a whole new car under my bottom. The Lamborghini becomes attached to

the Tarmac in an entirely different way, and I feel better and better. When, at 140-150km/h, the rear wing settles in its final position, the Sián is glued to the road. The reaction to my steeringwheel inputs becomes lightning fast, and the quicker I go the better the roadholding gets, becoming what I’d expect in such a supercar.

Entering corners becomes a pleasure, with very limited initial understeer followed by a tail that’s always willing to cope. Even if I am too heavy on the throttle and unleash the 800bhpplus muscle a little early, I can easily manage the resultant tail slide. On-track, this sort of suspension setting allows you to fully control the drift; on a public road, it is fun and safe.

The soundtrack further boosts my senses while I’m enjoying the drive. This amazing V12 voice, one of the smoothest and most musical engine sounds ever, surrounds me above 3500rpm, and actually enters me from just over 5000rpm. Ulysses and mermaids’ songs are the first thing that come to mind, because you’d be willing to do anything just to hear these tones.

With the Aventador, there is a perceivable gap in every gearshift. In the Sián, with the 34bhp electric motor moving the transmission’s primary shaft and so reducing the speed differences among the components, keeping the system in Strada mode gives a much softer change. In the sportier settings, the engine becomes even more reactive as soon as I start to push on the gas pedal when exiting corners.

The better I get to know the system, the more I can leverage it and the bigger the rewards become. It allows me to drive very fast indeed, or be quite smooth in my gearchanges (even if I do always instinctively perceive the shifts).

When I stop to open the bonnet, instead of the usual large front boot I’m confronted with a deep hole, big enough for little more than a full-face helmet, while the remaining space is completely covered. This is the price to be paid for the Sián’s aerodynamics, because beneath the cover are the intake pipes channelling the air to the requisite positions within the body.

When it’s time to return the car, I know I’ll miss its roadholding, so pure and fun, and its sound. As for the supercap, it really is a great idea – and it works perfectly. If, in the future, its capacities can be paired with the need for a few miles in fully electric mode – something Reggiani’s team is working on in conjunction with Boston MIT – we’ll have the perfect match.

In the meantime, I can only dream of owning a Sián. Not only because of the list price and the limited production (only 63 coupés and 19 spiders will be manufactured), but because they are all already sold out. And this is not in the least bit surprising.

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How financial challenges and uncertain times led to the downfall of WO’s empire

THE DEATH OF BENTLEY

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ODDLY ENOUGH, OUR STORY STARTS 60 years almost to the day after the collapse of the original Bentley Motors, and involves – if you will forgive a brief moment of self-indulgence – me. It is July 1991, and I am the road test editor of Autocar magazine, answering a telephone call. Within his first sentence I can tell the man on the other end of the line is quite elderly, that his parents paid for his education and that he is most frightfully sorry. About what I cannot yet work out.

It turns out he’s sorry because he was meant to deliver a Bentley to us for assessment, but is rather late. Do we still want the car? My mind draws a blank. So I ask him to remind me which car he is providing. “Ah! It is a 4 Litre – a 1931 4 Litre – and I am exactly 60 years late…”

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‘WO was many things, yet he lacked the objective eye of the cold-hearted businessman’

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Extraordinarily enough, the man on the telephone was AF Rivers Fletcher – the same AF Rivers Fletcher who, as a 19-year-old lad, had delivered a 4 Litre to The Autocar for testing in 1931. However, the car had to be returned on account of a broken gearbox bearing, and it was on the point of redelivery when Bentley Motors called in the receivers. Now, almost 80, he did indeed deliver precisely the same car – and a jolly nice time I had driving it, too.

I mention this now, not just because it’s 90 years since the demise of Bentley Motors, but also because – if you believe WO Bentley – the 4 Litre contributed to the collapse of the company. Whether that is the truth, a close approximation thereto or a handy scapegoat in the form of the only Vintage Bentley whose

engine he did not design, we’ll discover shortly.

In reality, such catastrophes are rarely down to single factors, particularly when said factors are introduced mere weeks before the end; the first 4 Litre was delivered in June 1931, while one Patrick Frere of Frere Brown and Co was appointed as official receiver on July 10, 1931 while Rivers twiddled his thumbs waiting to redeliver the demonstrator to The Autocar.

The hidden truth is that for all its majestic saloons, raffish coupés and racy open tourers, the Bentley Motors story is one of a company clinging by its fingernails for almost the RIGHT WO Bentley circa 1912-13, having started a company with his brother selling French-made Doriot, Flandrin & Parant cars.

duration of its existence. Just once between its creation on January 18, 1919 and that fateful day a dozen years later did the marque show a meaningful profit; £28,468, for the financial year ending on March 31, 1929. Less than six months later the London Stock Exchange crashed, followed shortly thereafter by Wall Street. Although the fact cannot have been known at that point, it was now only a question of time. However, we can trace the source of Bentley’s downfall far further back than that.

Even calling the company Bentley Motors is misleading, because there were two of them, the original being voluntarily wound up in 1926 when WO Bentley and his fellow directors had to go cap-in-hand to diamond millionaire (among many, many other things) Woolf Barnato. The price WO paid for Barnato’s patronage was loss of control of the company that bore his name.

How did it happen? It is in fact simple to understand once you accept that despite external appearances, Bentley Motors was never run on a commercial basis. And this was true both when WO was in charge and after Barnato took over, although the reasons both failed to ensure the marque’s long-term success are rather different.

WO was many things: a gifted engineer whose aero engines helped win the Great War, an under-rated driver and a decent man among them. Yet he lacked the objective eye of the cold-hearted businessman. He had a vision, famously expressed as “a good car, a fast car, the best in its class”, and he appeared to think that would be enough. It wasn’t even close.

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ABOVE Bentley’s busy Cricklewood production line belied behind-the-scenes financial trauma.

in October 1919. The finished car was delivered to The Autocar’s SCH ‘Sammy’ Davis for testing in January 1920, but it would be September 1921 before a product reached a customer.

Fatally, WO then tried to grow the business too quickly – a common mistake by young companies with outstanding products, which the 3 Litre truly was in its early days. A shed in Oxgate Lane, Cricklewood became a new factory whose capacity was never met by commensurate demand. Indeed its greatest annual output was 424 cars, and it should be noted this was in 1924, before WO’s second model, the 6½ Litre, had even been introduced.

Neither did Bentley have the resources to engineer another all-new car, let alone the magnificent mobile palace he envisaged with its six-cylinder engine of more than twice the size of that in the 3 Litre. In Bentley – Cricklewood to Crewe the eminent automotive historian Michael Frostick wrote of WO getting the 6½ Litre into production: “How he did it no one will ever know, but one thing is certain – he should be remembered as much for his ability to surmount these obstacles as ever he is for the cars he made.”

Except such financial obstacles were not really surmounted at all. They were merely displaced temporarily to the middle distance

by Barnato’s money, and then only at the cost of losing the chairmanship.

Barnato was a fascinating character: millionaire, soon-to-be triple Le Mans winner, capable boxer, powerboat racer and occasional

wicket keeper for Surrey. His lavish hospitality contrasted so starkly with his extraordinary personal parsimony that many rose to the challenge of trying to steal a smoke from his gold cigarette case. There is only one documented case of an attempt actually succeeding.

WO’s view of the man and his reasons for bailing out the company are revealing to say the least. Writing in 1967’s My Life And My Cars, he said: “It has sometimes been said that he came into Bentley Motors only for the fun of the thing, because if he hadn’t there would have been no more nice Bentleys for him to race, and that this was a shame when several of us, to whom the firm was everything, were dedicating our lives to it.” I find it interesting that nearly 20 years after Barnato had died from cancer aged just 52, WO couldn’t quite bring himself to put such words in the first person, as if to do so would be disloyal to his long-departed friend, saviour and rival.

But his demotion from chairman to managing director in 1926 (and again to mere joint MD in 1927) would have stung WO not just in the heart but in the pocket, too – the condition of Barnato’s involvement reducing the value of existing shares from £1 to a shilling. In time, WO’s role would be reduced to little more than running the race team, and doing some but by no means all of the design work.

Barnato’s arrival did, however, provide a golden opportunity to turn the business around.

Whatever troubles had lain behind the scenes, the name had built a good reputation. There was new product, with more in the form of the superb 4½ Litre not far away. Bentley Motors already had one Le Mans win under its belt, and for the

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first time in its life it enjoyed proper funding.

Sadly, the opportunity was not seized. Up until Barnato’s arrival, Bentley had actually been quite careful in when and where it raced beyond local meetings at Brooklands. It didn’t compete as a proper works team at Le Mans until 1925, previously having only provided works support to John Duff in 1923-24. In the following two years Le Mans was the sole significant event entered by the works, but with Barnato’s money racing activities rapidly expanded.

By 1929, with those profitable results behind it, Bentley entered four cars into Brooklands’ first 24-hour Double Twelve, took no fewer than five to Le Mans (needlessly, as they were so dominant the four survivors finished in the first four positions), plus entered another five into the Brooklands Six Hours, three into the Irish Grand Prix at Phoenix Park, one into the Irish GP and four into Brooklands’ 500-Mile Race.

WO did put some figures on the cost of racing, but they are not credible and no one knows exactly how much the company’s ontrack exploits sapped meagre resources. And it took longer than was ideal to realise that the more Bentley raced, the more the only story worth telling would be when Bentley didn’t win. The team was stood down after its fourth consecutive Le Mans win in 1930, but by then it was far too late to be putting the marque’s house in order.

The directors didn’t help themselves, either; Barnato enjoyed three company 8 Litres (three per cent of total production), while the prospect of staying anywhere other than at the finest establishments would have been inconceivable.

When the crash came, the timing could hardly have been worse. What Bentley needed was a modestly priced car to weather the storm, but the doughty little 3 Litre, which accounted for over half of all models ever sold by Bentley Motors, was already out of production. The 6½ Litre was ageing, and the fabulous 8 Litre that would replace it – the car WO regarded as his masterpiece – was about as unsuited in such times as would be easy to imagine. In the meantime, the company had committed to building the 50 supercharged 4½ Litre road cars required to homologate it for racing. It was a model WO hated, and sales were dismal. Even the lovely standard 4½ Litre was looking like an anachronism, with its thumping four-cylinder engine where rivals such as Rolls-Royce used a smooth six.

The knee-jerk reaction was the 4 Litre, whose engine was designed by Ricardo – the same Ricardo that builds McLaren road car motors today. It was a much-maligned unit, sniffed at by engineering purists because it 1 28

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‘But it seems not even the coup de grâce could be delivered without a final flurry of intrigue and drama’ lacked the overhead camshaft and four valves per cylinder of all WO-designed Bentley engines, and rendered unable to perform by the massive weight of the 8 Litre chassis into which it was installed. The inconvenient truth for its detractors, however, was that it gave more power on 3915cc than did the WOengineered 4½ Litre on 4398cc.

There’s been endless speculation examining how various survival strategies may have seen Bentley Motors through the storm. The most plausible involves cutting back and selling off as far and as much as possible, hoping the company could survive on a thin gruel of service and repair work, supplemented by occasional sales of 8 Litres to that curious constituency of the ultra-wealthy to whom global recessions are phenomena sometimes observed but rarely if ever actually experienced.

I find it all rather fruitless. All that matters is what is known, which is that in the summer of 1931 Barnato turned off the tap and the end would follow shortly. But it seems not even the coup de grâce could be delivered without a final flurry of intrigue and drama.

The aforementioned receiver, Patrick Frere, did his best and managed even to lift the spirits of WO who, by this time and his own admission, had become “horribly depressed”. This Frere did by arranging to sell the company to D Napier & Son, whose wonderful racing cars of the Edwardian era and aero engines need no explaining here. To provide some context, it is perhaps worth mentioning that the latter were often seconded to Land Speed Record-breaking duties, and at the time of Frere’s intervention the record was held by Sir Malcolm Campbell’s Blue Bird (at 245.7mph) powered by a 1450bhp 23.9-litre Napier Lion ‘broad-arrow’ W12.

Napier wanted to get back into the road-car game and WO, with nothing but respect for the company’s work to date, was delighted; so delighted, indeed, that he started work on a new engine before the deal was done. The 6¼ Litre straight-six had a trademark overhead cam, 24 valves and what would have been for the time very advanced ‘square’ 110mm x 110mm internal dimensions. Napier even dangled the possibility of designing a new aero engine under his nose.

By November 17 the deal had been agreed, and all that remained was for the receiver to have it rubber-stamped by a court. Over a quarter of a century later, writing in his original biography simply called WO, Bentley still regarded that day as “the most disastrous in my life”.

It gives some insight into how dysfunctional things had become at Bentley that, unbeknown not only to WO but even to Frere, Barnato had for months been involved in drumming up a rival bid. Clare Hay’s masterly Bentley Factory Cars states that the first approach to this other entity had been made as early as June 1931, by Jack Carruth – MD of Bentley Motors and, more significantly, Barnato’s business manager or, as he was always referred to by a significantly underwhelmed WO, “Barnato’s crony”.

As the court sat, an unknown man stood up and identified himself as representing an unknown organisation called the British Equitable Central Trust. He stated that he was ready to make an offer higher than the £103,675 on the table. Napier immediately said it would raise its bid, whereupon the man from BECT said he’d raise his bid, whereafter the judge felt obliged to point out that he wasn’t an auctioneer.

He said both parties should put their best offer forward in sealed envelopes at 4.30pm and that would be that. When the envelopes were opened, Napier had raised its bid to just £104,775, BECT to £125,275. It was over; the mortal remains of Bentley Motors had just been bought by a company no one had ever heard of.

Days passed, with WO having no idea who controlled either his future or the company he’d started. BECT was clearly a front, but for whom? He found out not by official communiqué or being summoned to a private room in a smoky London club, but from his wife. As WO tells it, she had been to a cocktail party where she overheard a man say his company had just bought Bentley. “Later in the party she managed to find out the man’s name from her hostess. ‘It was Arthur Sidgreaves,’ my wife told me. ‘Who is he?’ ‘He’s the managing director of Rolls-Royce,’ I told her.”

The irony is I’ve never seen any persuasive argument to suggest Rolls-Royce particularly even wanted Bentley. It just didn’t want anyone else having the brand, let alone a company as capable as Napier. I expect if there had been no rival, Sir Henry Royce would have been delighted to see Bentley’s assets sold off, its creditors repaid and its name consigned to history.

In the event, within days Sidgreaves had formed a brand-new company called Bentley Motors (1931) Ltd. Although no one knew it at the time, the era of The Silent Sports Car had just been born.

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THE EX – REDMOND GALLAGHER, U.S.R. 1926 BUGATTI TYPE 35A TO 35B

THE EX – MARTY HINZE, WHITTINGTON BROS, PRESTON HENN, 3RD OVERALL AT THE SEBRING 12 HOURS 1979 PORSCHE 935 A.I.R. M16 / K3

THE EX – GIANCARLO FISICHELLA 2000 BENETTON B200 FORMULA 1 T. +44 (0)1285 831 488 / E. cars@williamianson.com / www.williamianson.com

A MULTIPLE WINNER IN HISTORIC RACING SINCE 1978 BRM P25 FORMULA 1

THE EX – DAN GURNEY, ONLY INTERNATIONAL RACE WINNING 1960 BRM P48 FORMULA 1

THE EX – GRAHAM HILL, PROTOTYPE 1964 BRM P261 FORMULA 1 /williamiansonltd

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RACING

BRITISH

MEM0RABILIA

W O R D S DAV I D L I L LY W H I T E

For decades, thousands of fascinating BRM documents have been hidden away in the archives of the team’s parent company Rubery Owen. Now, the Owen family is sorting through and digitizing what historian Doug Nye has referred to as “probably the finest archive I have ever encountered in motor sport” as it moves to a new home at the superb Silverstone Interactive Museum. There it will be stored and selected items displayed P H O T O G R A P H Y M AT T H O W E L L

LEFT Although the BRM documentation has been hidden from view, the archive also includes around 60 trophies. For decades they have been on loan to the Bourne Heritage Centre museum, in the Lincolnshire town in which BRM was based. Many are tall and ornate, but one is

under 30cm in height, yet arguably the most important: the 1962 World Constructors’ Championship trophy.

ABOVE To help “restore British prestige in Grand Prix racing”, the British Motor Racing Research Trust was formed in 1946 by

Raymond Mays, who recruited British companies to donate funds and skills to create a new car; the BRM V16. When the model was available to run, the company was renamed British Racing Motors Ltd. The list of backers is a who’s who of industry in the late 1940s.

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RIGHT One of the true gems of the archive is the collection of photo albums put together by the wonderfully named Peter Spenlove-Spenlove, development engineer at BRM from 1951-55.

His photographs show the team’s bases at Bourne and the former RAF Folkingham airfield in Lincolnshire, often during testing of the V16. Here, the carefully annotated photographs feature Raymond Mays looking troubled during an April 1954 weekend test session with driver Ron Flockhart – and Peter has even noted the presence of the works Standard Vanguard van in the background.

Other pages and albums feature races, the insides of the BRM workshops and press cuttings, including one on the BRM mechanics winning the team prize in the BBC’s Sports Review of 1962.

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LEFT This evocative memorabilia from the 1951 Daily Express Trophy Meeting tells a story in itself; in the previous year, in front of royalty and the motor-racing world, the all-new BRM V16 broke both driveshafts on the startline. In 1951, BRM didn’t enter the Trophy, but Sir Alfred Owen was invited to attend – and a year later his company, Rubery Owen, took over BRM, rescuing it from its financial troubles.

BELOW LEFT The archive contains a fine collection of regulations and programmes from the races that BRM attended. As with much racing memorabilia, it’s the Monaco items that stand out – and these are a reminder of BRM’s success at Monaco in this era, winning four in a row from 1963 to ’66. In all, BRM won 17 Grands Prix, starting with Jo Bonnier in the 1959 Dutch GP, followed by ten wins by Graham Hill from 1962 to ’65 plus two by Jackie Stewart in ’65 and ’66.

The final four wins, from 1970 to ’72, were taken by Pedro Rodríguez, Jo Siffert, Peter Gethin and Jean-Pierre Beltoise.

X X X X X X X X BELOW It’s fitting that some of the greatest wins were at Silverstone, where several of the trophies will now be displayed at the Silverstone Interactive Museum. All three here are for wins in the prestigious BRDC International Trophy, sponsored by the Daily Express, at Silverstone: 1957 (Jean Behra), 1962 (Graham Hill) and 1965 (Jackie Stewart). It first ran in 1949 for Grand Prix cars; then, with the introduction of the new World Championship, in 1950 the Trophy became a nonchampionship race held to Formula 1 rules.

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LEFT The piles of press cuttings, compiled in period, are daunting in number. But what comes through is the support for BRM in the early days; a 1949 Daily Express article notes that 160 companies have supported BRM, making it “the one to beat the lot”, and others echo that tone. Later it slips a little, with Basil Cardew in the Express in 1968 asking “what is wrong with the most publicised racing car in the world?”, and receiving a robust reply from BRM racing director Raymond Mays.

RIGHT Having already experimented with gas turbines, Rover came together with BRM via Sir Alfred Owen to build a Le Mans racer.

BRM supplied Richie Ginther’s accidentdamaged 1962 Monaco F1 car, to be fitted with a gas turbine and new bodywork. Ginther and Graham Hill ran it at Le Mans in 1963, reaching 140mph on the Mulsanne Straight, and Hill returned in 1965 with Jackie Stewart, finishing tenth.

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

JORDAN 191 - FORD HB

Michael Schumacher’s first Grand Prix car – used by Michael at Spa Francorchamps in 1991. The 191 was the first Jordan F1 car, for the team that has now become the Aston Martin F1 Team. This car was driven by Andrea de Cesaris, Michael Schumacher and Alex Zanardi, in De Cesaris’s hands it came tantalisingly close to winning a GP. A project which was indirectly funded by pop music’s biggest star setting his hair on fire, lost a driver to incarceration and gave the debut to one of F1’s all-time greats, the 191 could have its own feature film.

We are pleased to offer this unique piece of F1 history for sale.

1996 WILLIAMS - RENAULT FW18-3

One of the most successful F1 cars of all time the FW18 won 12 of 16 races and the World Championship in 1996, designed by Adrian Newey the car dominated the opposition. This car was driven to 2 pole positions, 3 Race Wins and 2 Second places by Jaques Villeneuve and only decided the World Championship at the last race of the season. Offered complete in running condition and with a complete set of running equipment including pre heaters, jacks and 2 sets new wheels.This car remains eligible for the Williams Racing Heritage program and has most recently been run by Williams. A rare opportunity to acquire a multiple GP Winning car in running condition.

Please call for more information.

Download the TargetCarsApp™ and scan the Williams-Renault image for exclusive content on this car, dealership and more...

B R M A RC H I V E

ABOVE Sheets upon sheets of paper scrawled with lap times and race notes, often scant on details – so the Owen family is having to work hard to identify them (alongside its V16 Continuation project).

Some were more conscientiously filled in; the top sheet here is for Peter Collins in the 1955 British GP at Aintree,

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driving not a BRM but Sir Alfred Owen’s Maserati 250F. Jet sizes, tyre pressures and ambient temperatures were all noted, as was retirement with clutch failure. Others record lap times for Ron Flockhart, and for John Surtees testing at Monza. Fascinating!

See www.britishracing motors.co.uk for more.

Ferruccio’s runabout

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This V12 icon is no Lamborghini as we know it. Riva’s Aquarama never looked – or sounded – so sexy...

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BELOW Lamborghiniengined runabout is the fastest Riva Aquarama ever built – a true taste of la dolce vita.

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R I VA AQ UA R A M A L A M B O R G H I N I

IN THE 1960S, LIFE FOR THE RICH AND SUCCESSFUL WAS definitely easier. Where status symbols were concerned, it was enough to buy a sports car and a powerful wooden motor boat, head to SaintTropez, and it was done. This is what, in May 1968, drove the 50-something Ferruccio Lamborghini to Sarnico, on the not-too-distant Lake Iseo, to order something special indeed; a Riva Aquarama ‘runabout’ equipped with two Lamborghini V12 engines.

Ferruccio was the perfect symbol of the era; a self-made man capable of creating his fortune from scratch, basing his industrial empire on his personal ideas, needs and feelings. A gifted mechanic, after World War Two he started transforming surplus American army machinery into much-needed tractors. By 1948 he was an entrepreneur with his Lamborghini Trattori, and by 1959 he was wealthy enough to diversify his business, opening a second industry in the oil-heater business.

He soon became a good customer for Ferrari, buying several cars for himself and, often, a second one for his wife. Ferruccio had a temper, though; when, unhappy with his Ferrari 250’s clutch, he had an argument with Enzo, he decided to create his own sports car company. Automobili Lamborghini was established in 1963.

Born in 1922, engineer Carlo Riva was an entrepreneur who shared Ferruccio’s vision and industrialist capabilities. Since the 1950s he’d led the family shipyard business, founded in 1842. He’d transformed it into one of the world’s most revered, fashionable and exclusive brands. As in

Maranello or Sant’Agata Bolognese for supercars, to this day the Riva office in Sarnico – shaped like a Modernist bridge suspended over the lake – receives kings, actors and the planet’s most successful people. In period, the company’s most successful range was a highly sophisticated, powerful runabout made of mahogany, and at the top of the range was the 8.02-metre Aquarama, whose twin V8s could propel it to 46mph.

Launched in November 1962, its name originated from Cinerama, the contemporary and revolutionary widescreen format for movies, whose concept was reflected in the runabout’s wrap-around windscreen. It cost a staggering 11,000,000 Lira, at a time when a new Fiat 500 was 450,000.

In placing his order, Ferruccio requested that his Aquarama be ready for his summer holiday, three months hence – and that it would be equipped with Lamborgini V12s. He pledged to take care of preparing the engines for nautical use, but it would be down to the capability of the Riva team to fit the units and manufacture what would be the fastest Aquarama ever made. All the experience and capability of Lino Morosini (then-head of the Riva engine department) would be called upon to study and custom build the exhaust system – which, as requested by Ferruccio, would be left open to enhance the sound of the powerplants – and get everything working as it should.

This was not a rich man’s whim, but for both business leaders an opportunity to test a potential new market for their respective companies.

Ferruccio was willing to explore fresh uses for his engines, while Carlo Riva – who quickly accepted the proposition on the understanding that no warranty would be offered with the boat – was attracted by the opportunity to offer something still cooler, faster and unique to his customers.

As agreed, hull no.278, christened ‘Lamborghini’, was ready for its proud owner’s holiday – complete with some structural differences compared with other Aquaramas. “Every Riva was a special boat – Lamborghini just a little more so,” recalls Arturo Savoldi, who joined Revisione Assistenza Motoscafi, Riva’s maintenance side-company, in 1957 at 14 years old. By the age of 16, even if still too young to have a boat licence, he had already been appointed RAM’s mechanic and test driver.

He explains that the Riva technicians believed the structure of the

ABOVE Azzurro Riva – turquoise – trim and elegant ‘jukebox’ dash reflect automotive styling of the era.

ABOVE Trademark polished chrome and exquisitely finished wood helped establish Riva as a legend.

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Aquarama to be perfectly able to cope with the extra power of the Lamborghini engines, so modifications were fairly minimal: “The structure was solid enough, but Carlo Riva – whose motto was that the most important part of a Riva is the one you don’t see – preferred to play safe and made some bones of the wooden hull just a little thicker. This is why, when driving Lamborghini, you can’t perceive any differences in the way the boat reacts or works on the waves.”

As for the engines, Ferruccio took two surplus-stock 3.5-litre V12s as used in the 1964-66 350GT, capable of 280bhp in standard form. The well executed marinisation process was not too complex, and still today most of the original components are still in use on board Lamborghini.

“Until 1956-57, Riva was far from being an industry,” says Arturo. “After the growth to bigger production in the early 1960s we used a multitude of engines, spanning from the early BPM six-cylinders to the Chrysler V8s, then the Chris-Craft V8 up to 1966 followed by the Crusader V8 from 1967. Carlo created the water-system intercooler, built in copper/ brass, and the exhausts in copper/bronze, and they were so good that most are still in use today, almost 60 years later – even in Lamborghini.”

Hull no.278 is from the second-series Aquarama range, built from

1967-69 and characterised by a more slender, deeper bow and with four air intakes on the side. “As with every Riva of the period, it was mostly hand-made, built to the highest-possible quality levels,” explains Arturo.

“Carlo’s credo was trying to reach the closest-possible result to perfection.

All the necessary wood, with special attention to the mahogany, was bought and left outside for years to age, to limit its movement as much as possible. During every stage of production his attentive eyes were looking for defects, and even the barely noticeable ones were fixed before painting.

He felt he was in charge of promoting Italian beauty and arts when selling his runabouts all over the world, and enough was never enough.”

As a real gentleman, when Carlo supplied the boat to Ferruccio he also shipped the two V8 engines that would have originally been fitted in Aquarama no.278. As for the craft itself, the only visible modifications from a standard 8.45-metre Aquarama (several lengths were available) were Ferruccio’s specially requested side railings for holding on to during water skiing and speed-record attempts.

At first, though, Ferruccio was not very happy with his new runabout, and he initially ended up installing the supplied Riva V8s. However, from 1969, and after further development of his V12, he was finally content with the Aquarama, which was specified with Azzurro Riva – turquoise – upholstery and was capable of a maximum speed of 46 knots (about 53mph). He used it at every opportunity over his 20-year ownership, before selling it to his personal friend Angelo Merli in 1988.

Scared of the potential maintenance bills for the Lamborghini engines, Angelo requested that Ferruccio remove the most recent V12s he’d fitted in the boat (several were used during his ownership) and re-fit the two V8s originally supplied by Riva. The dismantled powerplants remain in Lamborghini family ownership, and are, still today, in the Ferruccio Lamborghini museum. One remains as it was when removed from the Aquarama, complete with its exhaust and ancillaries, while the other has

ABOVE In-period, Riva Aquarama equalled 250GTO in the status-symbol stakes for the rich and famous.

ABOVE Riva was founded in 1842, but it wasn’t until Carlo took over in the 1950s that it became iconic.

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been re-converted to car spec and painted red, and is used for display only.

Angelo Merli passed away in 1993, and with his heirs not too interested in the Aquarama it was stashed away in a boatyard in Punta Ala, Italy, hidden from the world and considered lost. It was only in the summer of 2010 that Sandro Zani, collector and owner of the Riva-World restoration shop in the Netherlands, spread the news that the Riva Lamborghini had been found and bought by Adriaan De Vries, one of his customers.

It had been, says Sandro, a word-of-mouth process over 18 months: “It started from a friend of a friend of a friend, and finally reached Mr De Vries. When he travelled to Italy he knew he was going to look at a ‘longterm storage’ Aquarama, but he had no hull number. When he saw the boat, it still had its Lamborghini name on the transom – not written with the original screwed chrome letters, but in darker decals. Inside were the original documents and some race gear from the Ferruccio period.

“Mr De Vries knew I’d done some research about this boat for my personal interest, while being unable to find its whereabouts. He asked me what to look for to be 100 percent sure. Then, in true Italian style, a long – very long – lunch happened before seller and buyer agreed on a price.”

It would take three years to restore the Aquarama back to its full glory.

“We brought the boat to the Netherlands, and studied the restoration for a few months, mainly to decide whether to keep the boat with the V8 engines, as when discovered, or to go back to using Lamborghini V12s,” says Sandro. “I clearly explained to Mr De Vries that if it was rather easy for Ferruccio, the owner of Automobili Lamborghini, to have a pair of marine motors built in the engine shop, for us it would be a real challenge.

Of course, we went for the V12s… a road surely not without bumps.”

He continues: “This gave me the opportunity to collaborate with interesting people such as Lino Morosini and Bob Wallace, who gave me valuable advice to avoid making errors that they found out at the beginning of the project in 1968 and when Ferruccio was using the boat at sea.

“The late Bob Wallace – the legendary 1960s-70s Lamborghini test

ABOVE AND RIGHT Simple controls unleash the formidable force of the twin Lamborghini powerplants.

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driver, who passed away shortly after the completion of this project – supplied two Espada 4.0-litre V12s, tuned in the right way for a boat and with one made to rotate in the other direction to balance the forces. As in 1968, their preparation required some effort, and it was necessary to copy some parts from the surviving original units as well as to ask for the precious help of Lino Morosini. Our main difficulty was creating the specially designed water-cooling closed circuit.”

In the classic Riva world, it is normal to schedule a full restoration – ‘frame-off’ in the classic car world – every 10-15 years. “Wood moves,” says Romano Bellini, collector and one of the world’s most respected Riva restorers. “Dry or wet, after some time the paint protecting it starts cracking. The best restorers apply 25-30 layers of paint, sand papering the finish after each one. You must have the correctly aged, right type of wood, mostly mahogany in four different essences and colours, and a very skilled workforce to achieve good results. In my shop, after decades of work on hundreds of boats, we still learn something new every time.”

“In driving the Lamborghini,” says Romano, who currently stores the Aquarama on behalf of its owner on the Lake Iseo shore, “you don’t feel any difference from a standard Riva, but you perceive something special about the engines. Most impressive is not the difference in power, but the amazing torque, which really pulls this boat in a seemingly endless way.”

The dyno figures show each engine – as tuned by Bob Wallace, each with six twin Weber carburettors – produces a healthy 320bhp at 5000rpm, and 380lb ft of torque at 3600rpm. Thanks to the open exhaust as when originally built, they create a wonderful mechanical soundtrack – beautiful music, intense but never too loud to bother.

After a shake-down tour with the late Carlo Riva on board to doublecheck the quality of the work, the Riva was inspected by the Lamborghini Polo Storico specialists, too, to verify the compliance with the original specification before releasing its certification of the boat.

The historical importance of no.278 is enhanced by it being the first example of Lamborghini’s involvement with boats – a move that would bring the marque countless offshore-championship world titles. On the flip side, it was unable to convince Carlo to go on using the marque’s V12.

“The engines were, and are, very good indeed,” says Arturo Savoldi, “and he was impressed by their quality. What blocked further development was the aftersales service, which was important for Riva. Carlo imagined a customer stranded on holiday, looking for Lamborghini parts in the middle of the summer. He decided to stay with the US V8s – for which, in every harbour, it was easy to find parts and specialists.”

Special thanks to Giuseppe Venturi and Sandro Zani.

A R I VA L O V E A F FA I R

A lifetime of love and laughter on the lake Lamborghini custodian Romano Bellini reflects on his passion for Riva and introduces his personal collection YOU IMMEDIATELY SPOT A MAN IN LOVE; THE EXPRESSION of his eyes, the tone of his voice when talking about the object of his affection, are clear evidence that is impossible to miss. This is what hit me when Romano Bellini promised to let me visit his Riva boat collection.

I knew something special was awaiting me. What I didn’t know was the depth of this lifetime passion. When, at 16, he lost his father, Romano was left with a shipyard in Clusane on the shore of Lake Iseo, where his dad had manufactured the Bellini runabout before shifting to winter storage and maintenance a few years before his passing.

“I was left with a good knowledge, too,” recalls Romano. “I loved my father’s work, and loved learning from him. He let me drive a Riva at the age of seven. Back in 1980 nobody wanted a wooden boat. I first worked on a Riva at 15, when my duty was to cut up a Florida with a chainsaw. It took up space, and you’d have to pay to dispose of it. I still feel guilty.

“When my father died, I had to decide whether to keep the shipyard.

It seemed a very unsafe investment, but it was my dream work. That was 40 years ago. As Bellini Nautica flourished, I was able to grow my Riva collection. I bought the very first piece – the 1954 Sebino I still own – just after my father passed. It cost 200,000 Lira; €500 today.”

Romano has now assembled an 18-piece collection. “You should say 17 plus one,” he says. “The one-off Lamborghini, the fastest Aquarama ever, is not mine, even if it is spending most of its life in my collection.

“Restoring Rivas helped me to understand the best criteria to pick my collection. Prices, until recent years, were not too high, and that was a benefit. But don’t think it was easy; I had to study a lot to see before others where Riva history laid. I had to dig, even in unconventional places.”

He isn’t kidding! He actually dug out original documents, along with the Riva posters that now adorn his warehouse walls, from trash bins in the Riva shipyard. “In 1999, the then-owners decided to dispose of a lot of old material. From an historical prospective, this was a disaster. They didn’t consider my offer to buy, so I was ‘forced’ to spend some nights

‘exploring’ their bins, saving whatever was possible to save.”

He also got to know Carlo Riva, who died in 2017. “He was always very helpful and kind to me. He remembered every detail of the boats, and was generous in sharing his knowledge of Riva – which had always been considered the best wooden ‘lake boat’, even before his time.”

The oldest piece in Romano’s collection is the one-off, outboardengined 1929 ‘Racer’, built to compete in the Raid Pavia-Venice, and never restored. Also from 1929 is the Inglesina rowing boat built by Carlo’s father Serafino. It shows the early quality of the craftsmanship and the attention to detail that 30 years later would create the legend.

One of Romano’s most aesthetically beautiful boats is a 1951 Lancetta CA, one of the first with an inboard engine, while a Scoiattolo from 1957 – one of only 137 built – brings us into the Carlo period. “The Scoiattolo is the first boat he designed and made, and is the genesis of the runabout concept that developed into the Sebino, Corsaro, Ariston and Florida.”

There’s a rare 1968 Super Florida, a 1973 Olympic, a 1956 Ariston and a 1973 Super Ariston. And then there is the iconic Aquarama, which replaced the Tritone in 1963... “It’s the equivalent of the Ferrari 250GTO,” says Romano. “It’s the symbol of la dolce vita, and the list of owners was a ‘who’s who’ of the 1960s and ’70s. The secret of its success is the beauty of the shape, the always-incredible Riva build quality and the long sundeck.”

In the collection there is a totally original 1965 and a rare 1971, one of the last Aquaramas Carlo built before selling up in 1972. There is also an Aquarama Lungo, made to use up what materials Riva had in the warehouse before the sale of the firm. Only two of seven are known to survive. The youngest Aquarama is a 1972 Special. “Keeping the boats usable is not easy, as wood is alive and tends to move,” explains Romano.

“The warehouse has a good humidity-control system, which prevents the air getting too dry for the wood, or too moist for the interiors.

“My son Battista and daughter Martina are happily involved, too, and we select two or three boats each year to use and give extra care. I miss directly working on my boats, as I was doing as a teenager. But I still wouldn’t hesitate to jump into a trash bin to save a Riva piece of history.”

ABOVE AND LEFT Romano Bellini has spent a lifetime working with Rivas, and he has established his own world-class collection, too.

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DUESENBERG 1921 FRENCH GP VICTORY

‘THIS AIN’T A RACE, THIS IS A ROCK-THROWING CONTEST!’

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US style and simplicity defeated Europe’s complex cars and engines at

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Mechanic Ernie Olson waving to a crowd that was generous to the plucky American victory at Le Mans.

After adjustments, the Lockheed hydraulic brakes gave a big advantage.

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The 3.0-litre straight-eight powerplants that Duesenberg built to meet the new 1920 racing rules featured single inlet valves and forked rocker arms to twin exhaust valves.

at Le Mans in 1921 to put the seal on the straight-eight era. Karl Ludvigsen celebrates the centenary of this great victory

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Olson prepares to gesture as Jimmy Murphy begins to use his superior acceleration to lap the Ballot of Ralph DePalma, who finishes second.

Filtered from the work of Germanborn brothers, Yankee practicality and simplicity aided the Duesenbergs’ 1921 Le Mans first, fourth and sixth placings.

5 The challenge of high-speed Indianapolis led the Duesenbergs to create an improbably narrow car in spite of the requirement to carry a mechanic.

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IF RELIABILITY IS AN ASSET FOR A racing engine, the 1921 3.0-litre Duesenberg was so blessed. Jimmy Murphy’s Duesie crossed the line to win the 1921 French Grand Prix at Le Mans with a hole in its radiator and precious little coolant left in its powerplant.

It nevertheless finished – and indeed covered another 10.7-mile safety lap. That’s toughness.

And other Duesenbergs of the four entered finished fourth and sixth.

That a team of four Indianapolis-built racing cars could travel to France to compete in this great race was facilitated by the congruency, since 1920, between the rules of American competition, including the Indianapolis 500, and those of Grand Prix racing. Both shared the engine-size limit of 3.0 litres, or 183 cubic inches.

In America and Europe, racing-car builders were adopting the straight-eight configuration for their 3.0-litre engines. Duesenberg was on the brink of introducing a straight-eight production car as well, its Model A. Taking its cars to France would – if successful – win valuable publicity for this new model.

The first 3.0-litre Duesenberg eights placed third, fourth and sixth at Indianapolis in 1920, and one of the cars placed second in the 1921 ‘500’ two months before the French race. In design, their engines were scaled down from a 5.0-litre predecessor, which in turn had been inspired by work that Fred and August Duesenberg had done during the war on 16-cylinder aviation engines.

To the eyes of Europeans, accustomed to admiring elaboration and complexity for their own sake, the Duesenberg engine looked absurdly simple. It made only sparing use of light alloys. Aluminium was employed for the cam cover, shallow ribbed sump and finned covers for water jackets on both sides of the block. The material was employed as well for two covers on the left side of the crankcase, through which the pistons and rods could be withdrawn for servicing; these carried tall crankcase breathers. The main castings, the block and the detachable cylinder head were made of grey iron by a specialist foundry located in Chicago.

The Duesenberg block’s all-iron construction and the use of only three main bearings allowed it to be short and stiff. This was helped as well by the relatively small bore diameter of 2.50 inches (63.5mm) which, when combined with the stroke of 4.63 inches (117.5mm) provided a displacement of 2977cc. The block/crankcase extended down to enclose the crankshaft fully

G P V IC TORY

and to allow the one-piece crank to be inserted into a 360-degree plain bearing shell set into the front bulkhead. The centre main was also plain, in a two-piece housing drawn up to the block by cap screws.

The rear main was a number-220 ball bearing with a seven-inch outer diameter, nested into the block’s rear bulkhead. This accepted the thrust loadings from the adjacent clutch inside a flywheel that was cap-screwed to the end of the crankshaft. The latter, machined from a single steel billet, was configured like two four-cylinder crankshafts placed end-to-end, with one rotated 90 degrees with respect to the other.

Meanwhile, the two plain main bearings were 2¼ inches (57.2mm) in diameter. Rod journals measured 17/8 inches (47.6mm) and were of precisely the same width. Riding on them were connecting-rod big ends that were retained by two bolts and surrounded by ribbing for stiffness and cooling. Using a technique that the Duesenbergs had developed through trial and error in racing, the rod big end was tinned and then given a coating of babbit bearing metal that was only 1/32-inch thick – about three-quarters of a millimetre.

They found this method effective in ensuring a rapid transfer of heat away from the bearing and into the metal of the rod.

Machined from a hand forging, the rod had a tubular shank 17.5mm in diameter with walls 3.2mm thick. All its surfaces were ground and polished to eliminate any stress raisers.

Measuring 8¾ inches (222.3mm) from centre to centre, the rod had a split little end so that it could be clamped around the ¾-inch (19.1mm) wrist pin, which used the aluminium piston as bearing material.

Pressure oil was supplied to the crankshaft by borings in the block to the two plain bearings. The further transfer of oil to the rod big ends was achieved in an unusual way.

The crankshaft webs between the offset rod journals were completely circular. Machined into the periphery of each was a groove 3/16-inch wide and 5/16-inch deep. Covered by a ring – initially of copper and later of steel – shrunken into position and soldered, this groove formed the oil passage between the big ends. The other crank webs carried counterweights.

At the nose of the crank, a small bevel gear drove another bevel at engine speed and a short shaft running downward to the pumps.

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RIGHT A fatigued and delighted Jimmy Murphy looks the part after his historic Le Mans victory. “This ain’t a race,” he said.

“This is a rockthrowing contest!”

shaft to the cam’s other bearings. A passage delivered oil to the shaft on which the valve rocker arms pivoted. A trough below the camshaft collected oil, which bathed the cam lobes before draining through the housing that carried the cam-drive shaft.

Below the oil pumps was the centrifugal water pump, which delivered coolant to the cylinder block’s left-front side plate. From there it flowed back through the block and up to the head through an aperture at the very rear. Intermediate apertures between block and head were avoided for fear that the water column in the long straight-eight engine would confuse coolant flow when the Duesenberg’s powerful four-wheel hydraulic brakes were applied.

From the crank’s nose bevel gear another shaft ran upward, at engine speed, to a halfspeed bevel at the top that drove the single overhead cam. Running in ball bearings with a steadying plain bearing at its centre, the shaft had its own aluminium housing. A skew gear just below the steady bearing drove a small aviation-type Delco dynamo to top up the eight-volt battery for the engine’s coil-ignition system. Projecting from the left side of the head, the Delco distributor was driven by a skew gear from the centre of the camshaft.

There it was conveniently placed for the leads to the spark plugs, which projected horizontally into the inlet side of the combustion chamber.

Following the precedent of their aviationengine designs, the Duesenbergs gave the 3.0litre engine one inlet and two exhaust valves.

They judged that this gave adequate inlet area while helping to dissipate the heat to which the exhaust valves were subjected. The latter were made of a cobalt-chrome steel alloy and were 27mm in diameter. Tungsten was alloyed with 1 58

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the steel of the single inlet valve, which had a 39mm head. The valves were symmetrically inclined at an included angle of 60 degrees in a chamber that was recessed deeply into the head. Twin coil springs closed each valve.

Thin-wall aluminium pistons were full skirted except for cutaways at the sides of the skirt that allowed them to be removed for servicing, past the crankshaft, through the access apertures in the crankcase. Although at the time of the Le Mans race the piston was two-ringed, three rings were later fitted. Protruding well into the chamber, in different castings the piston crown was varied in height to adjust the compression ratio, which for Le Mans was a modest 5.2:1.

Running the length of the head, above the camshaft, was a shaft carrying the rocker arms that operated the valves. Cast-steel rocker arms were roller tipped where they contacted the cam lobe, and had high multiplication ratios that gave lift at the valve of 9.5mm for the inlets and 7.9mm for the exhausts. The inlet rocker was T-sectioned. The paired exhaust valves were opened by a forked rocker arm that was drilled, down the centre of each arm, for lightness. Valve clearance was adjusted by filing the tips of the valve stems, although it was not unknown for a mechanic in a hurry to ‘adjust’ clearance by tweaking the rocker arm.

Induction on the GP-winning car was through two updraft Miller carburettors whose barreltype throttles were joined by a shaft in torsion.

Through a two-branch manifold each fed two ports in the head, within which the inlet ports were siamesed. The ports from the two exhaust valves were siamesed within the head as well, to deliver to an eight-branch exhaust manifold.

These engines’ light reciprocating parts helped them reach new crankshaft-speed

highs. Before the war, no GP engine developed its peak power at more than 3000rpm. In sharp contrast, the Duesenberg developed its 115bhp output at 4250rpm and was capable of revving to a then-astonishing 5000rpm.

After Indy in 1921 came the French Grand Prix on July 25, giving just enough time for four Duesenbergs to be readied and shipped to the Old World. Here at last was a rejoinder to the Peugeots, Delages, Mercedes and Ballots that had taken away big prizes from Indianapolis.

Although the European cars all had four-wheel brakes, Duesenberg went a step better with hydraulic units to make up for its disadvantage of three speeds versus the others’ four.

The race at Le Mans covered 322 miles over loose, dusty roads. With Augie Duesenberg in charge of the team, the cars from Indiana faced other straight-eights from Ballot, Talbot and Talbot-Darracq. Joe Boyer set the pace for Duesenberg, retiring with engine trouble just past half distance. Jimmy Murphy stayed the course and won with a quarter-hour advantage over favourite Ralph DePalma driving a Ballot.

Doughty Duesenbergs also finished fourth (Albert Guyot) and sixth (André Dubonnet).

“It was noticeable that the Duesenberg engines seemed to misfire a good deal just at the first opening of the throttle after cornering,” The Autocar noticed. “But within a few yards they settled down again to an acceleration which soon became remarkably good.” From the standing start (cars were started in pairs at 30-second intervals), the white Duesies regularly out-accelerated their heavier French and Anglo-French rivals. They were also distinguished by the “machine-gun-like crackle of their exhaust”. The Americans had come, seen, won – and been heard from.

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THE TOP 50 CARS SOLD AT AUCTION

From Ferraris to Aston Martins, and Bugattis to Duesenbergs, a host of glittering stars feature

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in our countdown of the most expensive automobiles ever to have crossed the block

$38,115,000

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49 50 DARIN SCHNABEL, PATRICK ERNZEN, MICHAEL FURMAN, DREW PHILLIPS, DIANA VARGA, ANDREI DIOMIDOV, REMI DARGEGEN, TIM SCOTT, PAWEL LITWINSKI, MATHIEU HEURTAULT, BRIAN HENNIKER

1967 FERRARI 2 7 5 G T B /4 $ 1 0 ,1 7 5 , 0 0 0

RM Auctions, Monterey, 2014 THIS Ferrari (below) was delivered new to Steve McQueen on the set of Bullitt, and was owned by him for four years before Zorro actor Guy Williams acquired it. The 275GTB/4 was then restored

by Ferrari Classiche and gained its all-important certification in autumn 2013.

It was put up for auction by racing driver Vern Schuppan in August 2018. Between 1966 and 1968, 330 275GTB/4s were built; the car featured Gioacchino Colombo’s famed 3286cc V12, producing 300bhp.

RIGHT 1961 Ferrari 250 California SWB Spider was once owned by actor James Coburn.

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1931 DUESENBERG MODEL J $10,340,000

Gooding & Co, Monterey, 2011 ON its 1928 debut, the Model J was one of the fastest and most luxurious cars of its day. The most expensive Duesenberg ever built was ordered by George Whittell, heir to a vast banking and transportation family fortune.

It was purchased as a chassis in 1929 before being fully customised to his spec by the Walter M Murphy Company in 1931. The only Duesenberg Coupe in existence, it won Best in Class at the 1996 Pebble Beach Concours and had done just 12,500 miles from new when it was auctioned. It’s the second most costly Duesie ever sold.

48 1932 B U G AT T I TYPE 55 ROADSTER $1 0,4 0 0,0 0 0

Gooding & Co, Monterey, 2016 AS a road-going version of the Bugatti Type 51 Grand Prix car, the Type 55 can almost be thought of as a pre-emptive example of a homologation special.

The elegant bodywork was designed by Jean Bugatti, the eldest son of marque founder, Ettore. Only 38 Bugatti Type 55s were built between 1932 and 1935 – this example accounts for one of 16 Roadsters among them. The car was raced as a works entry in the 1932 Mille Miglia by Achille Varzi and Count Castelbarco. It retains its original bodywork to this day, and was fully restored in 2013 by marque authority Laurent Rondoni.

47 46 1937 B U G AT T I T Y P E 57 S £7,85 5,0 0 0 ( $1 0,4 3 3,9 65 ) Gooding & Co, London, 2020 BUGATTI built just 17 Type 57S Atalantes, and this one lay forgotten in a NewcastleUpon-Tyne garage from the early 1960s until 2007, when owner Dr Harold Carr passed away. The magnificent twodoor coupé was originally purchased by Earl Howe, co-founder of the British Racing Drivers’ Club and former Bugatti Owners’ Club president. Its 3.3-litre straighteight had been upgraded with a Marshall supercharger early in its life, before the car was unceremoniously locked away. The Bugatti was first sent to Paris’s Rétromobile auction in 2009, before being consigned again

by Gooding & Co last year.

1961 FERRARI 250 CALIFORNIA SWB SPIDER € 7, 0 4 0 , 0 0 0 ( $ 1 0 ,9 7 6 ,1 6 3 )

RM Auctions, Maranello, 2008 IN 1960 the SWB version of the 250GT California arrived.

It was based on the 250GT Berlinetta SWB, and had its wheelbase shortened from 2600mm to 2400mm for sharper handling. The car was fitted with a 3.0-litre Colombo V12, and its elegant aluminium and steel body was designed by Scaglietti.

This model was the 13th of 55 SWB California Spiders produced and was previously owned by actor James Coburn, who bought the car while filming The Great Escape. Former Top Gear host and DJ Chris Evans bought the Ferrari in 2008, setting a sales record for the most expensive model sold at auction at the time.

Evans sold the car in 2019.

LEFT Ford GT40 is one of two surviving lightweight cars of the three originally built.

45 1968 FORD GT40 $11,000,000

RM Auctions, Monterey, 2012 THERE are few cars as evocative in automotive lore as the Ford GT40, particularly when decked out in that iconic ’60s Gulf livery.

This GT40 is one of two surviving lightweight cars of the three originally built. The car’s first race was the 1967 Spa 1000 Kilometres, which it won with the help of F1 driver Jacky Ickx and Dr Dick Thompson on driving duties; this was the firstever victory for a contender wearing Gulf colours. After a successful racing career, the GT40 became the famous Ford camera car in Steve McQueen’s Le Mans film.

44 1960 FERRARI 250GT C A L I F O R N I A LW B COMPETIZIONE SPIDER $11,275,000

Gooding & Co, Monterey, 2012 OWNED by the famed Ferrari collector and businessman Sherman Wolf, this 250GT California is one of nine LWB, all-aluminium examples. Wolf used the car in the first Colorado Grand, a 1000-mile rally run in aid of the state’s charities. It was fastidiously restored by esteemed Ferrari specialist David Carte to its original specifications, before being put on the block at Monterey in 2012. The car has been documented by lauded Ferrari historian Marcel Massini, and came first in the 1994 Ferrari Club of America concours.

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1960 FERRARI 250GT SWB £ 7, 3 9 2 , 0 0 0 ( $ 1 1 ,41 4, 5 4 9 ) H&H, Duxford, UK, 2015 DEVELOPED by Giotto Bizzarrini, Carlo Chiti and Mauro Forghieri, the 250GT SWB was launched at the 1959 Paris Motor Show. As the first of the 250 series to primarily focus on chassis dynamics, it eventually led to the legendary 250GTO. Car no.1995 was the second of nine right-hand-drive 250GTs, and in 1976 it ended up with Richard Colton, who kept it until he passed away in 2015.

It was sold unrestored with original paint and several modifications, but with original, Classiche-confirmed V12, gearbox and rear axle.

Proceeds went to the RNLI.

42 41 1964 FERRARI 250LM COUPÉ $11,550,000

RM Auctions, Monterey, 2014 CONCEIVED as a coupé version of the 250P racer, the 250LM was ostensibly a homologation special for the FIA Group 3 GT class. Ferrari made just 32 – too few to pass FIA requirements. This, the 19th (below), has had a successful life as a concours and Historic racing entrant, gracing Pebble Beach in 1969 and winning multiple awards at the 2014 Cavallino Classic.

It was previously owned by US businessman William F Harrah, and was consigned with full Ferrari Classiche Red Book certification.

1936 MERCEDES-BENZ 540K SPECIAL ROADSTER $ 1 1 ,7 7 0 , 0 0 0 Gooding & Co, Monterey, 2012 THIS Special Roadster (above) originally belonged to American aviator Reginald Sinclaire, a prolific collector of both pre- and post-war automobiles. The US-spec car was one of just a handful of pre-production 540K models fitted with Mercedes’ 5.4-litre straight-eight engine. Even more incredibly, the car is one of a mere six left-hand-drive long-tail roadsters left in existence today. RM Sotheby’s sold this historic Mercedes-Benz in 2016, after the car had remained with its owner for 26 years boasting just 10,277

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40 1933 A L FA R O M E O 8C 2300 MONZA $11,990,000

Gooding & Co, Monterey, 2016 THE ‘Monza’ name was bestowed on SWB two-seater 8C 2300 models after they claimed first and second places at the 1931 Italian Grand Prix with a homegrown line-up of drivers including Giuseppe Campari and Ferdinando Minoia. The 8C Monza found further successes with four consecutive victories at the Le Mans 24 Hours, consecutive Mille Miglia and Targa Florio wins, and back-to-back triumphs at the Spa 24 Hours. Since this car was sold from new in Italy during the 1930s, it has been consistently involved in motor sport and road rallies.

BELOW 250TR Spider became the most expensive car sold at auction at the time of its 2009 sale.

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39 38 1957 FERRARI 250TR SPIDER € 9,020,0 0 0 ( $1 2 , 21 2 , 29 4) RM Auctions, Maranello, 2009

CHASSIS no.0714TR was offered in Maranello at the Ferrari Leggenda e Passione event back in 2009, where it became the most expensive classic sold at auction at the time, trumping the previous year’s record set by a 250 California SWB. The car was raced extensively during the late 1950s and early ’60s, earning a fourth place in its debut outing at the Buenos Aires 1000km against the likes of Phil Hill, Wolfgang von Trips and Peter Collins.

The Spider also competed in the Cuban and Portuguese GPs before taking part in its last race in 1963; the Elkhart Lake 500. The Scaglietti body shrouds Ferrari’s Colombo 3.0-litre V12, and is finished in original red and black.

1934 B U G AT T I T Y P E 59 £9,535,000 ($12,666,600) Gooding & Co, London, 2020 THIS works GP car raced in 1934 and ’35, taking victory at Spa and third at Monaco with René Dreyfus. It has a supercharged straight-eight and is entirely original. One of its five previous owners was King Leopold III of Belgium, further reinforcing this rare Bugatti’s provenance and desirability. It eclipsed the previous $1.8million record set for a Bugatti Type 59 back in 2005, selling for nearly ten times that amount at Gooding & Co’s Passion of a Lifetime auction last year.

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1953 FERRARI 340/375 M M B E R L I N E T TA € 9,85 6,0 0 0 ( $1 2 ,81 2 ,80 0 ) RM Auctions, Cernobbio, 2013 DRIVEN by three World Champions – Alberto Ascari, Giuseppe Farina and Mike Hawthorn – this 375 (above) was one of three entered into the 1953 Le Mans by Scuderia Ferrari. Unfortunately, it was disqualified after running as high as second place because of an illegal pitstop fluid change. The car also entered the Carrera Panamerica, Spa 24 Hours and Pescara 12 Hours. After the 375MM’s racing career was completed it was imported into the US, where it spent time with a number of collectors. It was fully restored and had its racing livery reapplied in 2006, and was sold at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este for more than double RM Auction’s estimate thanks to its racing heritage.

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1956 FERRARI 250GT TOUR DE FRANCE $13,200,000 RM Sotheby’s, Monterey, 2015 FOLLOWING the tragic accident that shook the motor-racing world in 1955 at Le Mans, the FIA renewed its emphasis towards dual-purpose grand tourer racing cars. The new rules inspired Ferrari to commission Scaglietti to create a series of 250GT competition cars. This one, 0557GT, is the fifth of just seven Scaglietti-bodied first-series competition berlinettas built. With the legendary Alfonso de Portago behind the wheel, it won the 1956 ten-day Tour de France Auto – meaning it’s the very car to institute the TdF name. It went on to win the 1956 Rome GP. The car was restored in the early 1990s, and subsequently won the 1994 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and the Platinum Award at the 2004 Cavallino Classic.

35 1953 JAGUAR C -T Y P E $13,200,000

RM Sotheby’s, Monterey, 2015 SCOTTISH privateer Ecurie Ecosse famously secured two victories at Le Mans with the Jaguar D-type, in 1956 and 1957. The outfit created the foundations of its successes with C-type XKC 052. It was the second of three final racers built for the 1953 Le Mans, complete with a few upgrades over their 1952 counterparts. As the apex of C-type development, it’s one of three ‘lightweights’, built from thin-gauge aluminium.

Ecurie Ecosse took it to fourth in ’53, before it was retired from racing in 1959 and restored with a new body the following year.

The car was auctioned in concours condition with its original XK straight-six.

RIGHT Shelby Cobra has been described as “the most important American sports car in history”.

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1961 ASTON MARTIN D B 4 G T Z A G AT O £10,081,500 ($13,315,899) Bonhams, Goodwood, 2018 THIS Aston, 2 VEV, topped the 2018 Goodwood Festival of Speed auction, and was the seventh British car ever to breach the $10m threshold.

Of 19 DB4GT Zagatos built, just three were in the DP209 lightweight racing spec; this is one of them. It competed at Le Mans in 1961 for John Ogier’s Essex Wire Racing Team, alongside its sister car; both retired with engine issues after three hours. Jim Clark raced it at Goodwood in 1962, where he crashed into the Ferrari 250GTO of John Surtees. This Zagato (below) raced into the late ’60s before retiring. Following a road accident in 1993, it was restored to 1962 spec before finally being sold by Bonhams.

33 1960 FERRARI 250GT SWB COMPETIZIONE $13,500,000

Gooding & Co, Monterey, 2016 BUILT between January and March 1960, chassis 1759GT was one of the first Ferraris SWB competition Berlinettas and was designed to race in the Le Mans 24 Hours, where it finished seventh. Prior to its entry, the car was tested

by Ferrari’s factory drivers including Phil Hill, Wolfgang von Trips and Richie Ginther.

After Le Mans, it went to a Dr Schur in the US, before making its way through various owners up to the 1980s. During this time it competed in the Ferrari club’s Hillclimb in Virginia City and raced at Laguna Seca in California every year from 1975-80. The car was fully restored in 2005, when it was finished in its Le Mans livery, before being entered into many events including the 2007 Cavallino Classic.

32 31 1998 MCLAREN F1 (LM SPEC) $ 1 3 ,7 5 0 , 0 0 0

1962 SHELBY COBRA 260 ROADSTER $ 1 3 ,7 5 0 , 0 0 0

RM Sotheby’s, Monterey, 2015

RM Sotheby’s, Monterey, 2016

WHILE not originally an F1 LM, chassis 073 was one of two F1s that were converted to LM spec by McLaren Special Operations (MSO), making it one of the most desirable F1s around. MSO set out to create the ultimate example of Gordon Murray’s masterpiece by improving the engine with parts derived from the F1 GTR racing car and enhancing the wheels, suspension and interior, and fitting high-downforce bodywork. The finishing touch was a transmission tunnel signed by Murray.

This car was the penultimate example of 64 road-going F1s, and had covered a mere 13,048 miles from new when it was auctioned in 2015.

ITS official description as “the most important American sports car in history” may sound like hyperbole, but the fact that this car is chassis CSX2000 makes such a statement very difficult to disagree with. Why? Because it was the first Shelby ever created, and was the catalyst for the marque’s place in automotive legend. It was built by Carroll Shelby after health concerns finished his highly successful racing career; CSX2000 was the result of his dream to build his own model and compete successfully on the world stage. For a while it was the only Shelby car in existence, it was simply resprayed during its time as a press model in order to mislead the automotive world into thinking the firm had a fleet of Cobras available. As per Carroll’s wishes, the car was offered to RM Sotheby’s to raise funds for the Carroll Hall Shelby Trust after five decades in its ownership.

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1970 PORSCHE 917K COUPÉ $14,080,000

1966 FERRARI 275GTB/C $14,520,000

Gooding & Co, Monterey, 2017 THIS Porsche 917 (chassis 024) was built in 1969, and

by February 1970 it had been wrecked and subsequently scrapped. No.024 rose from the ashes in April 1970, when Porsche needed a Le Mans training car for that year’s event. Mike Hailwood and Brian Redman drove the 917 during its first test session, with Redman setting the fastest time.

The car’s history became even more interesting when, after buying it from Porsche, Jo Siffert leased the 917 to Steve McQueen’s Solar Productions in 1971. It took a starring role in McQueen’s Le Mans, where it was filmed battling Ferrari 512s and was famously used as a camera car. Following Siffert’s death in 1971, it was eventually sold to Pierre Prieur of Saclay, France.

It was then stored in a warehouse outside Paris for several decades, before being discovered in 2001 in original condition still wearing its famous Gulf livery. A Swiss individual bought the car in 2002, and had it fully restored by marque specialists before selling it to its current owner in 2017 after 15 years of ownership.

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29 28 1962 ASTON MARTIN D B 4 G T Z A G AT O $14,300,000

1964 FERRARI 250LM COUPÉ $14,300,000

RM Sotheby’s, New York, 2015

RM Auctions, New York, 2013

CHASSIS 0186R (below) may not have a racing heritage as extensive as the previous DB4GT Zagato on this list, but it is still one of the most desirable of the 19 examples in existence. The car was originally shipped to Sydney, Australia in 1962, where it enjoyed a short but successful racing career. It finished no lower than fourth overall aside from one DNF, and it won six times including a first overall in the 1962 South Pacific GT Championship.

However, 0186R really made a name for itself after it retired from racing. It was purchased by Peter Read who, with the help of Zagato, decided to fully restore the car over two years to its factory specification.

After this, the Aston picked up a hoard of coveted accolades on the international concours circuit, including at the Louis Vuitton Concours and Bagatelle Concours d’Elegance in 2002. Awards were also forthcoming at the 2007 Villa d’Este, Pebble Beach and the Niello Concours, as well as at the San Francisco Presidio Concours and Carmel-bythe-Sea Concours in 2009.

THIS Ferrari single-handedly accounted for 22 percent of the total value of RM Sotheby’s 2013 Art of the Automobile Auction, for what was at the time a world-record price for this model. The 250LM Coupé (above) was the 24th of 32 examples constructed, and bears the chassis no.6107.

Uniquely for this competitionfocused model, the original 1964 owner did not intend to use the car for racing, and so

Gooding & Co, Monterey, 2017

it spent its early life cruising the open roads of California.

However, this doesn’t mean it has never seen the asphalt of a circuit; its racing career started in 1968, when it was entered into the Daytona 24 Hours in a new, deep-red livery. The car finished eighth overall and first in its class. It retired from racing in the mid-1970s, before making its way into the hands of a Japanese collector in 1983. The car was then unseen for decades, before finally being offered for auction in 2013 in original but ‘gently freshened’ condition with 10,000 original miles on the clock.

THE sixth of just 12 examples, there is no doubt that this 275GTB/C is very rare.

Chassis 09051 has a rich racing heritage, having competed in Italy from 1966-70. It won its inaugural outing at the Mugello 500km for Round Eight of the Sports Car World Championship, and secured a further seven class wins in that year’s nine remaining races. In 1967 and ’68 it took victories in three Italian hillclimbs and the Trofeo Città di Orvieto.

After 1970 the Ferrari passed through several UK owners, before going to the US in 1993. In early 2007 it was given a show-quality renovation and returned to its original 1966 livery, before placing second in class at the Pebble Beach Concours. The car was restored a final time in 2013 prior to its sale by Gooding & Co in 2017, and was offered with extensive history and documentation

by Marcel Massini.

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1961 FERRARI 250 CALIFORNIA SWB SPIDER (CLOSED HEADLIGHT) $ 1 5 ,1 8 0 , 0 0 0

1962 FERRARI 250GT B E R L I N E T TA S P E C I A L E $16,500,000

1957 FERRARI 250TR SPIDER $16,390,000

Gooding & Co, Monterey, 2014 AS one of just 56 SWB Cal Spiders, chassis 2903 GT was already a rare car – but this example is one of only 37 fitted with closed headlights, and one of an even smaller number with the optional hardtop. It debuted at the 1961 Salon de l’Automobile, before finding its way into the hands of its first recorded keeper in the late 1960s.

American actress Barbara Hershey owned it for two years after it arrived in the US in 1970. During this time, the car went missing for a month; it was then sold shortly after it was recovered.

The 250 changed hands regularly following a decade of Spencer Stillman’s ownership, until it was restored in the early 1990s while in the possession of actor Charles Wegner. He then entered 2903 GT into the Cavallino Classic and Monterey Ferrari Concours.

The car was given Red Book classification in 2014, and its successful tenure on the concours circuit, history of famous past owners and mysterious month-long disappearance meant it was the most sought-after car at Pebble Beach in 2014.

Gooding & Co, Monterey, 2011

25 1995 MCLAREN F1 $15,620,000

Bonhams, Monterey, 2017 ONE of just seven McLaren F1 hypercars federalised for use in the US, chassis no. 044 (above) was the first to be imported stateside and the 37th of 64 road cars made.

The winning bid at Bonhams’ annual Quail Lodge Auction was reportedly secured by a “man with a very long history connected to F1”. The chassis number is something of a giveaway as to who that might have been; it was none

THIS Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa (chassis no.0666), is the first prototype racing car that was built on the 290MM chassis. It debuted at the 1957 Nürburgring 1000km clothed in more conventional (but still gorgeous) Scaglietti bodywork similar in appearance to the Ferrari 500TR’s. Masten Gregory brought the car home in tenth position, but this was just a taste of what was to come.

In late 1957 the Ferrari was reskinned in the iconic Scaglietti pontoon bodywork seen here, and would go on to achieve podium finishes at the Buenos Aires and Caracas 1000km races. Chassis 0666’s two Le Mans 24 Hours entries and one-time participation in the Sebring 12 Hours were less successful, recording DNFs in each event, although its stablemates would win Le Mans three times, in 1958, 1960 and 1961.

other than Sir Lewis Hamilton, who famously uses ‘44’ as his race number.

The British hypercar has an enviable history file, having belonged to American business magnate Herb Chambers from new after he visited McLaren’s Woking assembly line in 1996. The F1 held the coveted title of the fastest car in the world for an unprecedented reign of nearly 15 years, before being dethroned by the Koenigsegg CCR in 2005. This made it a perfect ownership prospect for a now-seven-time F1 World Champion.

Gooding & Co, Monterey, 2015 BERTONE’S legendary Giorgetto Giugiaro styled this unique member of the 250 family at just 21 years old. His design was inspired by the ‘shark-nose’ Ferrari 156 Grand Prix car of 1961, which Phil Hill drove to World Championship glory, as well as the TRI/LM and 246SP. The result (below) is deservedly regarded by enthusiasts and collectors as an emblematic example of Italian automotive design, and a vehicle of unprecedented beauty and historical significance.

Car 3269 GT came about when Carrozzeria Bertone founder Nuccio Bertone purchased a 250GT SWB chassis from Ferrari, which he’d retain for his personal use. Nuccio was growing frustrated with Ferrari’s continued commissioning of his main rival Pininfarina, and wished to demonstrate what his design house was capable of. The presence of Nuccio’s name on this 250GT’s documents amplified its provenance, as did the car’s cameo in Marlowe, a film noir starring James Garner. The Ferrari has been restored twice; first in the 1980s, and then in the ’90s when it was returned to its original specification. It won Best of Show in the 1996 FCA and 1997 Louis Vuitton Concours d’Elegance.

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1959 FERRARI 250 CALIFORNIA LW B A L L O Y S P I D E R $ 1 7, 9 9 0 , 0 0 0 RM Sotheby’s, New York, 2017

1961 FERRARI 250 CALIFORNIA SWB SPIDER (CLOSED HEADLIGHT) $16,830,000

Gooding & Co, Monterey, 2015 CHASSIS 3095 GT is cited as one of the most desirable nonalloy 250 California Spiders thanks to its entirely original condition and closed lights. Its only alteration was a repaint in Ferrari’s iconic red, after originally being delivered in metallic blue. The car has no particularly outstanding provenance, although it was rumoured to have once been owned by Gunter Sachs, the husband of Brigitte Bardot.

It is believed the car was passed between European and US owners before eventually ending up as the centre-piece of the collection of Lord Laidlaw – one of Scotland’s wealthiest citizens and a passionate collector.

In 2014, millions saw the 250 on television when it was used as Kimi Räikkönen’s parade car before the Belgian Grand Prix, and then it was consigned at the Gooding & Co Pebble Beach auction the following year. With Ferrari Classiche certification and documentation by Marcel Massini, 3095 GT sold within its projected estimate of $16m to $18m.

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1961 FERRARI 250 CALIFORNIA SWB SPIDER (CLOSED HEADLIGHT) $ 1 7,1 6 0 , 0 0 0 Gooding, Amelia Island, 2016 LAST exhibited in 1983 at Auto Club d’Italia’s Ferrari Days, 2871 GT had never been previously offered for public sale. It had just three Italian owners from new, including seminal ’60s Italian industrial designer Gianfranco Frattini.

Aside from a cameo in the 1963 Oscar winner Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow, the Ferrari was rarely exhibited publicly during its early life. Frattini sold it in 1978 to artisan Terzo Dalia, who showcased it at the Raid Ferrari d’Epoca and Ferrari Days events. It was sold again in 1985, and kept by that owner until its 2016 consignment at Amelia Island. Originally finished in Rosso Cina, this car was never fully restored, but instead kept in good working order and original condition.

20 1964 FERRARI 250LM COUPÉ $ 1 7, 6 0 0 , 0 0 0

RM Sotheby’s, Monterey, 2015 THIS 250LM (chassis 6105, above) was ordered in 1964

by Ron Fry, a privateer racing driver and descendant of the Fry chocolate family. Fry’s 250LM proved a capable companion, taking him to triumph in a multitude of events, including a victory at Castle Combe in 1964.

So prolific were these racing

successes that Enzo Ferrari himself presented the Briton with a medal of recognition for his efforts. Fry sold the 250LM prior to the 1967 motor sport season, and it was subsequently purchased

by David SD Skailes, who drove the car to sixth overall at the 1967 Kyalami Nine Hours in South Africa.

The Ferrari’s racing triumphs continued imperiously until 1984, when chassis 6105 made its way to Japan, where it would spend the next 11 years. The car then had a brief three-year stint in the US, before finding its way back to Europe and returning to the track after a 30-year absence in the 2012 Le Mans Classic. Ferrari Classiche certification confirms that 6105 is still fitted with all its original components, and was offered by RM Sotheby’s in an exceptional level of originality for a bona fide racing car.

CHASSIS 1451 GT (below) was the second all-aluminium California Spider built, and was ordered by Luigi Chinetti – three-time winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours and founder of Chinetti Motors and the North American Racing Team (NART) – for US gentleman driver Bob Grossman. Chinetti entered this car as one of a trio of Ferraris (the others being a 250 Testa Rossa and a 250GT LWB Berlinetta) set for the 1959 Le Mans. Its Competizione spec meant its lightweight Scaglietti body was complemented with the first outside-plug Tipo 128F V12 with high-lift cams, triple 40 DCL6 carbs and a comp-spec fuel system.

Grossman drove 1451 GT to fifth place overall and third in class at La Sarthe.

The next phase of 1451 GT’s life saw it pass between the hands of various US owners with whom it found success on the international concours circuit, notably winning Pebble Beach in 1984. In more recent times the car was fully restored to its original Le Mans livery, after which it was granted Ferrari Classiche certification.

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17 16 1954 FERRARI 375 PLUS SPIDER £10,753,500 ($18,309,613) Bonhams, Goodwood, 2014

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1959 FERRARI 250 CALIFORNIA LW B A L L O Y S P I D E R $ 1 8 ,1 5 0 , 0 0 0 Gooding & Co, Monterey, 2016 AS car number 42 of 50, 1603 GT was one of the last examples built and is the most expensive LWB California Spider ever sold at auction.

First owner was George Reed of Midlothian, Illinois, who purchased it via Chinetti Motors. Between 1959-61 he campaigned 1603 GT in the Sebring 12 Hours, Nassau Trophy, Grosvenor’s Trophy and at Road America. At Sebring in 1960 he finished third in class and fifth overall.

Reed sold the car in 1964, and it was sold again in 1969.

In 1984 its newest owner, Brian Brunkhorst, restored it in dark blue with tan leather trim. The restoration yielded a first in class award at the 1989 Ferrari Club of America meeting. By 2001 the car was owned by Todd Morici, who participated in the Ferrari Challenge before having the California refinished in its Sebring Silver livery. The car attained Ferrari Classiche certification during Morici’s ownership, confirming 1603 GT’s high level of originality.

The 250 was lightly restored once more by the next owner in 2010, and won awards at Palm Beach in 2011 before being consigned in 2016.

KNOWN as the ‘fearsome four-nine’, the cool $18.3m this works Ferrari (chassis 0384) accounted for almost half the total $38.4m sales at Bonhams 2014 Goodwood Festival of Speed auction.

The nickname refers to the 4.9-litre V12 developed by Aurelio Lampredi, which had secured the Scuderia’s first F1 victory at Silverstone in 1951, albeit in 4.5-litre form.

Ferrari’s first F1 winner, José Froilán González, won at Silverstone again in this car in 1954. Chassis 0384 also competed at Le Mans and the Mille Miglia in the same year.

Jim Kimberly, Troy Rutman, Howard Hively and Umberto Maglioli drove it, too. After a decade of competing in the world’s most prestigious races, the car was neglected.

Happily, it was retrieved and restored from the poor state it found itself in, by Belgian racing driver and Ecurie Francorchamps team owner Jacques Swaters. Thanks to his efforts, the Ferrari was fully restored and reunited with its original V12.

1961 FERRARI 250 CALIFORNIA SWB SPIDER €16,288,000 ($18,405,440) Artcurial, Paris, 2015 SELLING for $18.4m, chassis 2935 GT cost the most of the eight 250 Californias here.

The car (above) was displayed

by Ferrari importer FrancoBritannic Autos at the 1961 Paris Motor Show, where it was bought by French actor and director Gérard Blain.

He promptly sold it to another actor, Alain Delon, who registered it in Monaco.

In 1964 Delon took the car to California, and then sold it on. Having passed through the hands of several actors, it ended up with lauded French collector Jacques Baillon in 1971, and only resurfaced in 2015 after decades in storage.

This was the last closedheadlight SWB 250 California built at Maranello, and in its unparalleled level of originality it led Artcurial to describe it as “the Holy Grail of grand-touring Spiders”.

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1939 A L FA R O M E O 8C 2900 B TOURING B E R L I N E T TA €16,745,600 ($18,563,605) Artcurial, Paris, 2019 THE second example of just five 8C 2900 B models built with Carrozzeria Touring Berlinetta bodies on the Lungo (LWB) platform, little is known of chassis 412024’s early life. Built in 1937 but not formally registered in Italy, its first owner is said

to have been Italy’s foreign minister and son-in-law of Benito Mussolini, Galeazzo Ciano. In February 1939, the car was shipped to London Alfa dealer Jack Bartlett and advertised with blue paint and 5000 miles on the clock.

The spectre of war meant the 8C remained with Bartlett until it resurfaced in 1947, now finished in silver. After winning the 1947 Regent’s Park Concours and 1948 Eastbourne Concours, its next custodians were Lord Ridley (who kept it until 1964) and Nigel Mann, who painted it red and then sold it to Jan Martens in 1976. Jan owned it until it crossed the block in 2019. The Alfa (below) was sold in stunningly original condition save for a few colour changes, and won the Most Elegant Closed Car award in 2001 and 2018 Best of Show awards at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

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1939 A L FA R O M E O 8C 2900 B LUNGO TOURING SPIDER $19,800,000

1955 JAGUAR D -T Y P E $ 2 1 ,7 8 0 , 0 0 0

RM Sotheby’s, Monterey, 2016

RM Sotheby’s, Monterey, 2016 THIS car’s complicated history proved to be no obstacle on its path to becoming the most soughtafter and expensive Alfa ever sold. One of just seven Lungo Touring Spiders built, its known heritage extends only around a decade into its life and was uncovered by acclaimed Alfa Romeo historian Simon Moore. The car was imported from Italy to Brazil in 1949 by amateur racing driver Mario Tavares Leite, who replaced the entire bodywork (except the grille) and won races with it in 1949-50. After this, the Alfa disappeared.

Some time later, the chassis was shortened and a Chevrolet Corvette V8 was installed for racing purposes.

Miraculously, the car was reunited with its elegant Touring bodywork after having its chassis relengthened and its original driveline reinstalled in 1997, four decades later. Tony Merrick’s award-winning restoration won the model second in class at Pebble Beach in 1999. Then, in 2016, it won Most Elegant Car at the Cavallino Classic. The restoration was ordered

by Sam and Emily Mann, famous American automobile collectors who had acquired the pre-war Alfa Romeo when it became available in 1994.

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13 12 1994 MCLAREN F1 $19,805,000

RM Sotheby’s, Monterey, 2019 THE second of the two road cars that McLaren Special Operations (MSO) converted into LM (Le Mans) specification, chassis 018 (above) commanded the highest price ever paid for Woking’s 240mph supercar when it was auctioned in 2019 at Monterey. During the model’s infancy it was finished in Midnight Blue Pearl with black trim, when it was shipped to its first owner in Japan back in 1994.

In 1999, 018 was sold to a collector in Germany who commissioned MSO to carry out the LM-spec upgrades.

MSO equipped the car with Extra High-Downforce bodywork, GTR-spec 6.1-litre V12, two extra radiators, a transmission cooler, revised suspension, 18-inch GTR wheels, a new exhaust and upgraded headlights. The finishing touches? A lashing of Platinum Silver Metallic paintwork and a retrimmed beige leather interior. In 2004 the car made its way East to a new owner in Singapore, and by 2007 it was thousands of miles from home, in New Zealand.

Despite this, it was regularly serviced by MSO and had covered only 13,352 miles when it was consigned.

1963 ASTON MARTIN DP215 $ 2 1 ,4 5 5 ,0 0 0 RM Sotheby’s, Monterey, 2018 ASTON Martin was riding high after winning the World Sportscar Championship in 1959, although its F1 programme was rather less successful. With nothing left to prove, David Brown halted all motor sport operations in 1960 so the company could focus on its latest road cars.

Dealers were dismayed by

the decision, and implored Brown to return to the circuit in order to sell more cars. This Design Project was the result. One of four DB4GTsourced ‘project cars’, the DP215 was a 1963 Le Mans Works entry, having been developed from its DP212 and DP214 predecessors.

Drivers Phil Hill and Lucien Bianchi clocked a scarcely believable 198.6mph on the Mulsanne Straight, but unfortunately the car retired after two hours. It then bid farewell to racing, and after Aston Martin sold it in 1974 it underwent a long-term restoration spanning several owners. This was only fully complete when the DP215’s then owner rebuilt a new, period-correct transmission, having traded the car for a Formula 1 Ferrari in 2002.

In recent decades the Aston (below) has run at Goodwood and the TT Revival.

WITH a revolutionary aluminium monocoque construction, all-round disc brakes and a Malcolm Sayer-designed aerodynamic body, the D-type was one of the most progressive and celebrated racing cars of all time. Jaguar’s mission was always to win Le Mans, and it did so – three times. This car (chassis XKD 501) was the first D-type to cross the Circuit de la Sarthe’s finish line in first place, painted in the iconic blue of the Scottish Ecurie Ecosse privateer team, and driven

by Ninian Sanderson and Ron Flockhart at an average speed of 104.47mph.

After its time in the limelight, XKD 501 recorded a handful of DNFs including at the 1957 Mille Miglia. It was eventually bought by Sir Michael Nairn in 1970, who had it sympathetically restored to its Le Mans specification. It was purchased by an American collector in 1999 and showcased at Pebble Beach in 2002, winning the Jaguar Competition class and the Road & Track Award. Offered for sale by only its third owner in 2016, XKD 501 achieved the highest price paid for a British car at auction at the time.

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1964 FERRARI 275GTB/C COUPÉ $ 2 6 ,4 0 0,0 0 0 RM Auctions, Monterey, 2014

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1935 DUESENBERG MODEL SSJ LAGRANDE CONVERTIBLE $22,000,000 Gooding & Co, Monterey, 2018 OUR tenth entry represents the highest auction price ever paid for both a US and a prewar car. Still reeling from the Great Depression and the death of Fred Duesenberg, chassis 2594 was one of the last Duesies built. It was also one of two special SSJs made for Clark Gable and Gary Cooper as part of a PR exercise designed to reverse the ailing firm’s fortunes.

Cooper is said to have kept it until at least the late 1930s.

‘SSJ’ refers to two special features: short-wheelbase and supercharged. The blown 7.0-litre straight-eight develops 400bhp; staggering for a 1930s road car. From 1949 the SSJ had two owners, Briggs Cunningham and Miles Collier, who bought the car as part of Cunningham’s collection in 1986. The 2018 Pebble Beach Auction was the first time it was offered publicly in almost 70 years.

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1956 FERRARI 290MM $22,005,000 RM Sotheby’s, Los Angeles, 2018 CHASSIS 0628’s provenance is highly impressive. Its first outing was as a Scuderia Ferrari Works car at the 1956 Mille Miglia, piloted by Louis Klemantaski and Peter Collins. It finished second behind Eugenio Castellotti, with Luigi Musso in third and Juan Manuel Fangio Fangio in fourth, all driving Ferraris.

Later that year it raced in the Nürburgring 1000km and Targa Florio, recording a DNF and fourth respectively.

Fangio and Castellotti drove its final race of the season, the Swedish GP. Unfortunately engine problems led to another retirement.

In 1957 the car came third in the Buenos Aires 1000km and retired from the Sebring 12 Hours, in what would be its last Works outing. It then raced as a privateer entry and took part in Historic racing, rallies and concours through into the millennium.

In 2011 it was restored and certified by Ferrari Classiche.

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1956 ASTON MARTIN DBR1/1 $22,550,000 RM Sotheby’s, Monterey, 2017 THE DBR1 is regarded as the pinnacle of Aston’s storied history of legendary racing machines. It was born after the sports car rules were changed in 1955; entrants were no longer required to use cars that were road legal or based on such models.

Seeing this as an opportunity to build on the successes of the DB3S of the early 1950s, David Brown ordered a team of engineers led by Ted Cutting to create a purpose-built racer to take the fight to Ferrari and, ultimately, win Le Mans.

DBR1/1 (above) debuted at the 1959 Nürburgring 1000km, and etched itself into motor-racing lore in the process. Stirling Moss’s co-driver, Jack Fairman, made a mistake and had to push the car back onto the track from the lead, dropping the duo to fourth. Once Moss returned to the cockpit he won the race by a colossal margin, beating his personal best time set in a Mercedes 300SL by over a minute.

Three weeks later, sister car DBR1/2 would realise Brown’s dream and take victory at Le Mans. When this icon crossed the block at Monterey in 2017, it became the most valuable British car ever sold.

FERRARI’S 275GTB had the unenviable task of succeeding the legendary 250GTO. It arrived in 1964 with several improvements over its predecessor, including independent rear suspension, a trans-axle, fully synchromesh gearbox and Tipo 213 3.3-litre – the final

BELOW 275GTB succeeded the 250GTO; this example was sold in 2014 by RM Auctions.

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evolution of the Colombo V12. Three Speciale versions were made for homologation purposes, and chassis 06701 is one of them. Speciales all had lightweight aluminium bodywork, more power, a bonnet scoop and ducts for cooling the brakes.

After a short stint with Ferrari and a few European owners, the car was sold to Michel Pobrejeski of Boulogne-Billancourt, France, where it stayed for 25 years.

Next was Ferrari collector Brandon Wang, who entered the car into Historic races and restored it over several years, finally completing it in 1998. The 275GTB was rarely seen in public after this, save for appearances at the 2002 Ferrari Club of America National Concours, the 2005 Cavallino Classic and at Laguna Seca for the Monterey Historic Races.

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1967 FERRARI 2 7 5 G T B /4 N A R T S P I D E R $ 2 7, 5 0 0 , 0 0 0

1956 FERRARI 290MM SPIDER $28,050,000

RM Sotheby’s, Monterey, 2013

THE extraordinary story of this car begins with American businessman Eddie Smith Sr, whose preference for convertibles meant he took possession of one of the world’s most desirable Ferraris. US marque importer and racing driver Luigi Chinetti had convinced Enzo Ferrari to build convertible versions of the 275GTB Berlinetta, and he contacted Smith straight away once they became available. Chinetti convinced Eddie to purchase the car on the assurance that the latter could have his money back for the 275 Berlinetta he had just bought; Smith took delivery of the car in 1968.

Steve McQueen owned the very first of ten NART Spiders built; he then attempted to buy Smith’s car after his own was rear-ended, but to no avail. This was the first of many attempts from the rich and famous to prise the car from Smith Sr’s possession, but none was successful – it remained in his possession until his passing in 2007.

Six years on, Smith Jr felt the car had been ‘imprisoned’ in the family garage, so he consigned it and donated the auction proceeds to charity, in tribute to his late father.

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RM Sotheby’s, New York, 2015

FERRARI monopolised the new World Sportscar Championship in 1953 and ’54, but lost out to MercedesBenz in 1955 after the

ABOVE Ferrari 290MM Spider Works prototype racer was driven by a star-studded cast during its career.

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1954 MERCEDESBENZ W196 £19,601,500 ($29,650,095) Bonhams, Goodwood, 2013 IN 2013, the Silver Arrow that took Fangio to the second of his five championship titles became the most expensive car ever sold at auction. Today, it remains simultaneously the most valuable Formula 1 car and most valuable German car ever sold.

Chassis 00006 (above) was the first open-wheel ‘slipperbody’ Mercedes F1 model to win in the post-war era, when it took Fangio to victory at the German GP. It then won the next Grand Prix in Switzerland, making

300SLR dominated the series. Enzo Ferrari’s response came in 1956 with the 290MM. It was built from the ground up as a Works prototype racer, with the sole aim of recapturing championship glory for Italy and Scuderia Ferrari. To ensure the car’s success, Il Commendatore enlisted a star-studded cast of drivers to race his machine during its career, including Juan Manuel Fangio, Phil Hill and Wolfgang von Trips.

The drivers’ collective efforts brought the 1956 championship back to Maranello, with a fourth place at the Mille Miglia, third at the Nürburgring 1000km, and second at the Swedish Grand Prix.

In 1957 Masten Gregory, Eugenio Castellotti and Luigi Musso drove the car to championship glory once again. After its works racing career, chassis 0626 was imported to America by Luigi Chinetti, and it was then shipped to France in 1970 where it resided in Pierre Bardinon’s renowned Collection Mas du Clos for 33 years. In 2003 the car was sold on, and the owner then consigned it in 2015.

it the only surviving W196 to have won two championshipqualifying races.

Karl Kling drove 00006 in its last race, at Monza in 1955, after which it was used by the Daimler-Benz Exhibition Department at various events until the decision was made to sell the car some years later. Since then, the Mercedes-Benz spent many years out of view, except for cameo appearances at the 1999 and 2000 Monaco Historic GPs. At time of sale in 2013, its desirability was further increased by the fact that out of the ten remaining W196s, it was the only one not owned by Daimler-Benz or an international museum.

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Indianapolis

1933 Pierce Arrow 1236 Salon Club Sedan

Here we have an exceptionally rare and attractive Pierce Arrow that can be immediately pressed into service on either the Concours or Touring Circuit without hesitation. This is a rare opportunity to acquire a stunning example of the finest Pierce Arrow had to offer.

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1957 FERRARI 335 SPORT SPIDER €32,100,000 ($35,763,848) Artcurial, Paris, 2016 THIS 335 Sport Spider, one of just four made, holds the all-time record for a car sold at auction in Europe, after going under the hammer at Rétromobile. Works chassis 0674 was built in early 1957 as a 315S and entered into the Sebring 12 Hours, where it finished sixth. This dress rehearsal stood it in great stead for what would come next; the Mille Miglia.

Wolfgang von Trips drove the car to second place in the famous Italian race, but its result was tarnished by the death of Alfonso de Portago. 0674 was then converted to 335 Sport specification and entered into the Le Mans 24 Hours with Mike Hawthorn and Luigi Musso. Unfortunately, it retired with mechanical

problems, and the race was won by Ecurie Ecosse’s D-type.

Nevertheless, the car would take fourth in the Swedish and second in the Venezuelan GPs later that year, helping the Scuderia secure the 1957 Constructors’ Championship.

In 1958 the Ferrari was sold to American Ferrari importer Luigi Chinetti. It would win the Cuban GP with Stirling Moss and Masten Gregory, and participate in US sports car racing. With a glittering motor sport career behind it, and having been driven by some of history’s greatest drivers, the car was bought

by Robert N Dusek in 1960.

Dusek sold it to Pierre Bardinon in 1970, who in 1981 had the car restored to its original bodywork and livery configuration by Fantuzzi in Modena. 0674 remained in Bardinon’s esteemed collection of rare racing Ferraris until its record-breaking consignment in 2016.

BELOW 1957 Ferrari 335 Sport Spider competed in the last of the original Mille Miglia events.

2 1962 FERRARI 250GTO SI $ 3 8 ,1 1 5 , 0 0 0

Bonhams, Monterey, 2014

MARANELLO homologated 39 250GTs between 1962 and 1964 to lock horns with the Shelby Cobra, Aston Martin DP214 and Jaguar E-type in Group 3 GT racing. Enzo commissioned Carrozzeria Scaglietti for the coachwork and enlisted a team headed up by Giotto Bizzarrini and Mauro Forghieri to create this icon. Their efforts would coalesce in one of the most desirable cars ever built.

Chassis 3851 GT (below)

was the 17th 250GTO built (19th if you count the two 4.0-litre V12 330GTOs) and was ordered by French privateer Jo Schlesser.

He and his co-driver, top skiier Henri Oreiller, took second at the Tour de France Automobile, but Oreiller was killed at Montlhéry shortly afterwards. After this, Ferrari rebuilt the wrecked car and it was sold to Paolo Colombo, who drove it in 14 national Italian hillclimbs in 1963, winning 12 of them.

The car was next bought by another Italian gentleman driver, Ernesto Prinoth. He raced it throughout 1964-65 before rolling it at Monza when driving in the Coppa Inter-Europa GT, a support race for that year’s Grand Prix. Thankfully, the damage was largely cosmetic, and the car soon returned to the track. Prinoth then sold it to Fabrizio Violati; founder of Ferrari Club Italia and owner of one of the world’s most important historic Ferrari collections, he used 3851 GT until his death in 2010, making it one of the most raced 250GTOs in existence.

It remained in his estate until its record-breaking sale at Quail Lodge in 2014.

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THIS remarkable 250GTO – chassis 3413, the third example built – made history at Monterey in 2018 when it comfortably became the most expensive car ever sold at auction, with bidding opening at $35m. In just ten minutes, three collectors’ telephone bids pushed up the final price for the anonymous winner to just under $50m after fees.

This car was the first to wear the Series I Scaglietti coachwork, distinguishable by its narrow brake ducts, small radiator intake, bonnet fasteners and sail-panel vents.

Chassis 3413 was originally intended for testing by US World Champion and multiLe Mans winner Phil Hill, for the upcoming Targa Florio.

After this, it was purchased by the wife of Italian privateer Edoardo Lualdi-Gabardi – a personal friend of Enzo Ferrari. Gabardi won nine of ten national events in the car, his lowest position being second in class, making him 1962 Italian GP Champion.

His final victory came in ’63, when 3413 would also win the other two races it entered with its second owner, Gianni Bulgari; the Targa Florio and Coppa FISA at Monza.

In 1964 it brought home silverware again, winning the Targa Florio and BolognaRaticosa Hillclimb, and taking third at the Mugello 500km with Corrado Ferlaino. Next, London-based dealer Dan Margulies purchased the car and made modifications to the nose to incorporate twin vents to cool the brakes. David

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Piper drove the car in its last period race, the 1965 Redex Trophy at Brands Hatch. He finished first.

After Margulies sold the car in 1967, it would go on to star in Historic racing and concours events in the hands of world-class collectors such as Lord Anthony Bamford, Yoshiyuki Hayashi and Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones. At the turn of the millennium, 3413 was bought by Dr Gregory Whitten, founder of software company Numerix. He exhibited it at the Cavallino Classic, Shell Ferrari Historic Challenge and Monterey Historic Races. He also took the car to the 2011 Goodwood Revival and Pebble Beach Concours, where it was reunited with 17 other GTOs. Prior to its sale in 2018, Whitten had it inspected by Ferrari Classiche and Marcel Massini. The latter’s verdict was that 3413 was one of the finest examples in existence, thanks to its matching numbers, high originality and unparalleled racing heritage – and that is reflected in 3413’s recordbreaking performance.

All prices in this Top 50 include premiums and were provided

by Hagerty. We’ve used dollars as the default currency because the majority were sold in the US. Note that the three Alfa Romeo BAT cars sold together for $14,840,000 with Sotheby’s in New York in 2020 – but as a trio, we’ve excluded these.

Some cars are thought to have sold at higher prices privately.

1962 FERRARI 250GTO SERIES I $ 4 8 ,4 0 5 ,0 0 0 RM Sotheby’s, Monterey, 2018

BELOW Ultimate 250GTO set a world-record auction price in 2018. When will this be beaten?

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Senior Global Real Estate Advisor, Associate Broker olga.neulist@sothebyshomes.com o: 212.606.7707 | c: 917.821.1116 olganeulist.com EAST SIDE MANHATTAN BROKERAGE | 650 MADISON AVENUE | NEW YORK, NY 10022 © 2021 Sotheby’s International Realty. All Rights Reserved. The Sotheby’s International Realty trademark is licensed and used with permission. Each Sotheby’s International Realty office is independently owned and operated, except those operated by Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc. The Sotheby’s International Realty network fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. All offerings are subject to errors, omissions, changes including price or withdrawal without notice.

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Market Watch: Buying a Jaguar E-type 60 years on

Market Analysis: Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren on the up

Watches and art: Special editions and Simon Britnell

Automobilia: Lobby cards, the affordable movie memorabilia

Collecting: Why stamps and coins are still so popular

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Jaguar E-type With a broad choice of generations, bodystyles and engines, this glorious 1960s icon remains the classic sports car of choice for aficionados the world over W O R D S E L L I O T T H U G H E S P H O T O G R A P H Y M AG I C C A R P I C S

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ERA-DEFINING, GLAMOROUS, iconic, a national treasure; just a few apt terms used to describe the Jaguar E-type. Sixty years on from its debut, is this a good time to consider taking ownership of Britain’s most famous sports car?

The E-type’s story began with its unveiling on March 15, 1961 at the Geneva Motor Show. The tale has gone down in the annals of history, but suffice to say Jaguar boss Sir William Lyons was very happy with the 500 orders that had been placed by the end of the show.

So, why did the E-type make such a visceral impression? Let’s start with the obvious; its looks.

Enzo Ferrari famously described it as “the most beautiful car in the world”. Malcolm Sayer’s sculptural bodywork is an early example of aerodynamic automotive styling.

Then there’s the performance.

Upon its release the E-type was the world’s fastest production car, capable of 153mph and 0-60mph in less than seven seconds.

This was thanks to Jaguar’s straight-six XK engine, which had propelled the car’s C-type and D-type predecessors to a total of five Le Mans victories between them. Then there was the E-type’s fully independent suspension setup, disc brakes and monocoque construction, all of which were rarities for road cars of the era.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, there was the price.

At £38,000 ($52,392) in today’s money, it was half the cost of a Ferrari, Porsche or Aston Martin.

The E-type’s race tech and glamorous looks rapidly turned it into an icon of the 1960s, as stars such as Frank Sinatra, Brigitte Bardot and Steve McQueen all took delivery. It was produced for 14 years through three series, and remains as popular as ever today.

In celebration of this iconic car’s 60th birthday, Jaguar Classic is also now building four matching pairs of Series 1 continuation models.

T H E VA L U E P R O P O S I T I O N Jaguar built 67,300 E-types, far more than comparable offerings produced in Maranello, Stuttgart or Newport Pagnell. Even though it’s

LEFT AND ABOVE Series 1 4.2 is more usable than 3.8, but lost the alloy dash and centre console. fairly common for a 1960s sports car it still commands strong prices, while after years of sitting at its nadir in terms of value, plenty of examples have succumbed to rust and neglect.

At the top of the pile for rarity, desirability and high value is the homologation Series 1 Lightweight.

Originally, just 12 of a planned 18 were built, and they now sell for £5 million-£8 million ($6.8m$10.9m). Jaguar Classic built the remaining six cars back in 2015 for a price of £1.2m each ($1.6m).

Of the standard cars, E-type UK’s Marcus Holland says the early 3.8-litres are always popular. The 1961-1964 ‘flat-floor’ Series 1s are generally the most sought after by collectors, who value rare features such as the welded bonnet louvres and aluminium dashboard trim.

The price? Hagerty suggests £70,200-£149,400 (or $58,100$203,000 in the US market) for an outside-bonnet-latch, flat-floor Series 1 Fixed-Head Coupé (FHC), and £87,300-£190,800 ($101,000$332,000) for a Roadster. Early S1s

‘The E-type’s glamorous looks and race tech rapidly turned it into a 1960s icon’

without these features are a little less collectable, which is reflected in the price; Hagerty values a base 1963 FHC at £40,500-£127,800 ($57,100-$196,000) and a Roadster of the same year at £53,300£163,800 ($43,100-$251,000).

Driving-focused Series 1 buyers often choose the post-1964 4.2litre. These had more torque, and an all-synchromesh Jaguar ’box that replaced the earlier and less user-friendly Moss unit.

The 4.2 cars also had improved brakes, more comfortable seats and an alternator. Post-1964 cars are marginally more affordable; they’re valued at £36,300-£117,800 ($53,200-$229,000) for a 1965 Coupé, and £49,800-£161,500 ($63,100-$211,00) for a Roadster.

In 1966, Jaguar released the 2+2 Coupé, which is by far the most affordable Series 1, priced from £18,100-£59,800 ($21,000-$86,900).

The 2+2 was longer, wider and had a higher roofline, and many regard it as being less aesthetically appealing than the Roadster and Coupé. However, it still makes an excellent long-distance GT, especially if it’s specced with the optional Borg-Warner Model 8 three-speed ’box and air-con.

The Series 1s were phased out in 1968, and the cars built in the previous year adopted many of the features that made their way into the Series 2 – most notably, open headlights. These Series 1.5 cars represent a sweet spot for buyers who want the Series 1 looks and drive for less: “If joining the

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D E M O G R A P H I C D ATA

VA LU E P E R FO R M A N C E

1961-1967 Jaguar E-type SI

US$8,000,000

4%

US$4,000,000

13%

18%

E-TYPE LIGHTWEIGHT US$500,000

E-TYPE S1 (FLAT FLOOR) ROADSTER E-TYPE S3 ROADSTER

65%

E-TYPE S2 COUPÉ

US$400,000

US$300,000

All collector vehicles

US$200,000

7.1%

19.4%

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closed-headlight club doesn’t interest you, you can enjoy a proper Series 1 at a much more attainable level,” says Daniel Cogger from specialist Eagle E-types. Hagerty prices Series 1.5s between £13,500 ($27,200) for a 2+2 and £121,600 ($179,000) for an immaculate Roadster. A concours Coupé sits at £117,800 ($123,000).

The Series 2 came in 1968, with aesthetic changes brought about by increasingly exacting US safety legislation. Those open headlights were repositioned, along with the front-indicator and rear-light clusters, which were moved below new wrap-around chrome bumpers.

The grille was enlarged for better cooling, and the dual exhausts were routed to the edges of the bumper rather than the middle.

Inside, rockers replaced the toggle switchgear and the ignition was moved to the steering column.

The seats gained a reclining

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mechanism and headrests. Stylistic changes aside, braking and cooling refinements and a power-steering option mean the Series 2 is widely regarded as the best six-cylinder E-type to drive. It also brought the car in line with its growing competition, although a move from triple SUs to twin Stromberg carbs for emissions purposes limited US cars to 171bhp.

The well sorted Series 2 starts at £34,400 ($37,700) and £25,600 ($32,100) for the Roadster and Coupé respectively, climbing to £117,800 ($164,000) and £80,000

‘Buyers aren’t deprived of choice.

Three series and multiple styles give myriad options’

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($121,000) for an immaculate car.

The 2+2 ranges from £19,300 ($23,900) to £56,400 ($80,100).

These lower prices are certainly temptatious, but after decades of being overlooked for earlier cars, plenty of examples harbour costlyto-rectify problems. Remember, restoration costs remain broadly the same regardless of the car.

The V12-engined Series 3 came in 1970, and represents the biggest visual departure from what went before, as the 2+2 chassis became the basis for the range. Obvious changes are the flared wheelarches accommodating a wider track, and the redesigned, slatted grille.

While the S3 is still excellent, it attracts aesthetic criticism often aimed at US cars with ungainly rubber bumpers. Also, the 1970s oil crisis repelled buyers from thirsty V8s and V12s. Worse still, the roadster bodystyle was under attack from US safety campaigners who

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threatened to expunge such sports cars from existence altogether.

All this has kept prices relatively affordable, but the market is now waking up to the merits of the S3: “We’re seeing a focus on the V12s, with people enjoying what they offer as a GT,” says Marcus Holland.

Currently, a 1973 2+2 ranges from £18,900 ($27,500) to £62,000 ($105,000), and a Roadster from £34,200 ($42,600) to £105,000 ($191,000). Prices could climb if market interest increases; after all, the Roadster is arguably the Ferrari Daytona’s only contemporary rival as an open-top V12.

The most coveted S3s are the Commemorative special editions; the final 50 RHD E-types, which wore a brass plaque, black paint and cinnamon leather trim – except for a sole green example.

Commemorative models attract a small premium over other comparable Series 3 cars.

TIMELINE

1961

Fixed-Head Coupé and Roadster revealed in Geneva after a legendary 700-mile dash to meet the deadline.

At release, E-type was the fastest car in the world.

1963

Lightweight homologation special arrived, with an aluminium monocoque and 300bhp 3.8-litre straight-six with an aluminium block.

1964

Series 1 got a torquier 4.2litre straight-six, developing the same 265bhp as the previous 3.8. Car also had comfier seats, an all-synchro gearbox and better brakes.

1966

Jaguar released the 2+2 Fixed-Head Coupé with a longer wheelbase, higher roofline and option of a Borg-Warner Model 8 three-speed gearbox.

1967

T H E D E S I R A B I L I T Y FA C T O R E-type buyers aren’t deprived of choice. The three series, multiple bodystyles and equally brilliant six-cylinders and V12s give myriad options. The most rudimentary differentiator is paint and trim colours. “The most popular to date is Opalescent Silver Grey with Oxblood Red interior,” Marcus says. Any colour listed on the Jaguar Heritage Certificate is sure to heighten desirability, however.

If you’re looking for rarity, provenance or originality, early S1s, limited editions or cars with an interesting story will fit the bill. A comprehensive history and factory RHD status are also valuable; over 70 percent of E-types went to the US, so RHD cars are quite rare.

Most buyers will ostensibly want a driveable weekend classic, and there are plenty of options. The benefit of the 3.8-litre cars lies in the engine’s rev-happy nature, while a

ABOVE Series 1 3.8 DHC shows off the most desirable version of the dashboard, but note thin seats.

Series 2 is considered the best compromise that remains faithful to Malcolm Sayer’s original design while being more obtainable. The 4.2 engine is torquier and slightly less eager to rev, but it retains its character and has improved brakes, gearbox and cooling.

Seen as the E-type entry point, the Series 3 offers most of the earlier cars’ charms in a larger, less frenetic package. The V12’s glorious power and sound complement the car’s larger, more luxury-focused character. A very limited number had the 4.2 straight-six instead.

If originality isn’t a concern, a broad range of aftermarket parts can help with braking, cooling and other upgrades. Increasingly, fivespeed gearboxes are being fitted, but customers usually retain their

original unit, to preserve the car’s numbers-matching status. The ultimate upgrade is the growing popularity of restomods made famous by Eagle; comprehensive, high-end, ground-up overhauls.

T H E N U T S A N D B O LT S The E-type is a usable and relatively practical classic that is still excellent to drive. A big reason behind why it holds up today is its cutting-edge monocoque chassis at a time when body-on-frame sports cars were commonplace.

Today, that monocoque is a double-edged sword, because it is adept at hiding underlying rust.

Naturally, this is the first thing to be wary of. The best way to avoid a car plagued by rot is by obtaining one that’s been thoroughly restored by a reputable specialist, although the price will be high. Poor work that amounts to a shiny new paint job can fool all but the most

Transitional Series 1.5 had open headlights, rocker switchgear, twin cooling fans and reclining seats with headrests. These would feature on the Series 2.

US spec got twin Stromberg carbs for emissions reasons.

1968

Series 2 kept the 4.2 six, but aesthetic changes included wrap-around chrome bumpers, a larger grille plus relocated headlamps, front sidelights and rear clusters.

1970

Series 3 arrived. The short platform was discontinued in favour of the 2+2 chassis.

The track was widened, arches were flared and the Le Mans-developed 5.3-litre V12 now powered the car.

1973

The US-spec Series 3 got a rubber front bumper to satisfy new safety requirements. Fitted both front and rear a year later.

1974

Fifty RHD Commemorative UK editions marked the end of the E-type’s production.

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A C Q U I R E

T H E D E TA I L S 1961-1970 JAGUAR E-TYPE SERIES 1-2 ENGINE

STRAIGHT-SIX, 3.8-LITRE (S1), 4.2 (S1.5 AND S2)

POWER

265BHP

TOP SPEED

151-153MPH

0-60MPH

6.7-7.0 SECONDS

1970-1974 JAGUAR E-TYPE SERIES 3 ENGINE

V12, 5.3-LITRE

POWER

272BHP

TOP SPEED

148MPH

0-60MPH

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*NOT INCLUDING LIGHTWEIGHT

VALUES FROM HAGERTY’S PRICE GUIDE Lower price is for a usable driver needing work, higher price is for a concours example. Most cars for sale fall between these two extremes.

Current values of a Series 1 E-type are an average of 35 percent higher than ten years ago, which is a notable drop from the 85 percent increase the Series 1 peaked at in 2016.

UK £13,500£362,700

US $21,000$315,000

E-TYPE S2

£19,300£117,800

$23,900$164,000

E-TYPE S3

£18,900£105,000

$27,500$191,000

E-TYPE S1*

seasoned of specialists, so extreme caution is the order of the day.

More positively, cars that have been switched from LHD to RHD, or have non-matching numbers, aren’t necessarily a concern. A common bulkhead makes for an easy conversion from America’s more numerous LHD models, while differing numbers aren’t unusual due to the volume of E-types built. The XK straight-six was vulnerable to frost damage, so many cars simply had replacement engines. Those unconcerned with originality shouldn’t be deterred.

Straight-six head-gasket issues are common. With the car running, open the radiator cap and look for tell-tale bubbling or foam. Another symptom is foam or water on the underside of the oil-filler cap.

Look for dirty oil, and beware of old coolant or leaks, particularly on the V12; overheating can lead to warped cylinder heads. V12s also need to be driven regularly:

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ABOVE Wider, longer body and less delicately styled lights and indicators mean this is a V12.

“They don’t respond well to static display, so a car that has been used little and often will likely be a better prospect than one that hasn’t moved for years,” Daniel says.

Rough running could mean the carburettors need adjusting, particularly on straight-sixes. Idling oil pressure should read at 40psi on the straight-six and 60psi on the V12, and there should be no untoward rattling or excessive blue exhaust smoke; engine rebuilds are very costly: “Upwards of £6000, or even £10,000 for a V12,” says Moss Jaguar’s Angus Moss. He also advises buyers to be diligent with slipping clutches or a whining or leaky rear differential: “A clutch replacement is an engine-out job, and a diff rebuild costs about £1000, plus another two days’ labour to strip and rebuild the back axle.”

An E-type that feels nervous or uncomposed on the move may simply require a realignment job.

However, do check for leaky dampers, split gaiters, worn bushings and the presence of rust on the suspension mountings.

Other areas that are vulnerable to corrosion are the engine rails – particularly next to the battery – floorpan, boot floor, door bottoms, front valance, rear arches and inside bonnet seams. Notoriously difficult to align and expensive to replace, bonnets are also susceptible to damage underneath from being opened on uneven ground.

THE FINAL DECISION In all its forms the E-type is the definitive classic sports car, and its timeless appeal has remained steadfast over the decades. Its popularity has transcended car culture, and it has become a bona fide icon in its own right. As well as its rosta of celebrity drivers, it was

the third car ever to be inducted into the Museum of Modern Art. If rarity and collectability are your bag, an early car with a high level of originality and documentation could be the answer. If not, a limited edition or one with celebrity provenance certainly would be.

Want the perfect car to enjoy on the weekend? Opt for either a Series 2 or Series 3 in rust-free, well maintained condition, as these deliver the E-type experience in spades without the high outlay of cars favoured by collectors.

Restomod models add another dimension, by seductively fusing modern engineering with the E-type’s charm. These can be as expensive and desirable as most other examples in their own right.

Such is the Jaguar’s allure, if you find an honest car there really are no wrong decisions here.

Thanks to Eagle E-types, E-type UK and Moss Jaguar.

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On road, off-road, rallying or racing – it’s even better on the right rubber and that’s all we sell at Vintage Tyres.

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01590 612261

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vintagetyres.com

A C Q U I R E

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

SLR McLaren is getting ready to fly The butterfly-doored Mercedes-Benz is set to take off in a big way in the car world – our Hagerty market expert explains why W O R D S DAV E K I N N E Y

SO, A MERCEDES-BENZ SLR McLaren walks into a bar. Bartender says: “Why the long face?”

Okay, I get it. The SLR McLaren is not to everyone’s taste. It has a different ‘face’ – make that an unusually elongated bonnet – than other cars carrying the threepointed star up front, and not everyone is a fan of the look. It’s a supercar to some, a sports car to others and a grand tourer to many.

It’s fast, but it’s not the fastest. It has really interesting doors, and it’s quite sexy. It’s cool, but it’s…

Let’s just slow it down a bit.

Here are some important facts to know for our discussion. First, its cost new was up to $495,000-plus from the dealer for the later cars.

That was before taxes and options – and you can bet there were a lot of both on every SLR built. Second, only 2157 were produced when new. That’s Coupé (1262 built) and Convertible (520) as well as Roadster bodystyles, total, from 2003 until 2009. Third, it’s about to go up in value. Way up.

Do I have your attention now?

Good. Before we move forward, let’s be clear – we are discussing just the production Coupé and Convertible here, not including any of the variants such as the vaunted 722 (150 Coupé, 150 S Roadsters) or Stirling Moss (75 total), or the bespoke McLaren Edition. These special versions stand alone; they are on their own rocket-sled trajectory to increasingly higher values.

I like the SLR McLaren, and not

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just by a little bit. In fact, I personally love both the concept and the car. And yes, I’m going to call it the spiritual successor to the 300SL. (Gullwing folks? Are you listening? Would you like some new, younger club members?)

We all ‘get’ that there will never be another 300SL, and that the impact of the SLR McLaren in the automotive world is totally different to the incredible path once forged by the 300SL. This generation’s SLR was built (or at least marketed) as an homage to the Mercedes-Benz W196S 300SLR (Sport Leicht Rennen, sometimes Rennsport) – or, in English, Sport Light Racing.

All of that said, the SLR McLaren is and was one of the most misunderstood cars of this century.

The internet is full of information, and plenty of misinformation, about the models and service costs.

Forget almost all of it; these are damn good, if not fantastic, cars.

There are more than a few value forces at work here. I’ve spent a lifetime around collector cars, and about half of that in valuation, and I think most of us have seen at least one of the following pricing phenomena at work. Here are some totally observational and not quite scientific theories we can explore.

First up is the ‘fight to get back to original list price’ theory. There are many collectors who feel that limited-edition, expensive and desirable cars will gravitate back to the range of their original selling price over time. This has recently

ABOVE SLR prices will never come down to previous levels. In fact, they’re set to go up – way up. been borne out by a few examples, including, most popularly, the recent Lexus LFA, a V10 supercar from the luxury division of Toyota.

Available for a short period, 500 were built worldwide at a cost new of about $375,000 ($445,000 for the Nürburgring Edition). You might find one with a few thousand miles near the cost new, but ‘in the wrapper’, almost-zero-miles cars

‘The SLR McLaren is and was one of the most misunderstood cars of this century’

will well exceed their 2012 list price, often by quite a lot.

If you are a follower or investor in company stocks and shares, you will recognise this theory, as there are those who invest in $80 shares that have dropped from $120.

When the fundamentals remain the same, the thought is that they will fight their way back to the higher price. Sometimes, they actually do. I like this particular value theory for some collector cars – and we have seen it happen before, in a number of different models in a number of price ranges.

Next comes the ‘expensive, limited edition and different, so it must increase in value’ theory.

The SLR McLaren has this one in spades – the ‘butterfly’ doors and exterior trim, the unusual looks, low build numbers – and they were never, ever cheap. All three boxes are enthusiastically

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ticked for our SLR subject car.

Next is the ‘seven- (sometimes six-) or ten-year’ theory. The term ‘collector car’ is defined entirely differently than it was even 15 years ago. Ten years old in collector cars is no longer seen as a decade, it’s more like three decades in automotive advancement. There was once a 25-year rule – policed or enforced by no one – which stated that it almost always took a quarter century of depreciation to stop the value drop on interesting cars. Yes, there were some very exclusive auto brands that didn’t necessarily play by those rules – but often, for those cars, you needed to buy expensive models B and C to even be on the list to get D – or should that be F? Yes Ferrari, I’m looking at you.

Two of our charted cars helped to end that thought process: the Ford GT from 2005-2006, and the

A C Q U I R E

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

RIGHT Unusually styled, from two top brands, with excellent pedigree and tantalising exclusivity. What is not to love?

BMW Z8. Both of these models saw a touch of depreciation before coming right back in value to their original cost new within a very short period of time. It’s not commonplace for this to happen, but the list of cars that have experienced this phenomenon keeps growing – and in this ever-expanding awareness of collectable automobiles we have yet to see the brakes applied.

The ‘it’s never going to happen again’ theory is certainly in force here, as two automotive brands very rarely co-brand a model with both names sharing the spotlight.

Mercedes-Benz owned a reported 40 percent of McLaren at the time of the SLR’s development, so don’t think this was just one friendly company helping out another firm.

What isn’t so rare is one brand working behind the scenes in engineering or even production – think Mercedes-Benz 500E or Audi RS2 wagon. Both cars were built by Porsche, and both, not necessarily coincidently, keep increasing in value. Just a bit off topic, but worth noting. Will there ever be another car built with Mercedes-McLaren

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co-branding? That remains to be seen, but for now the SLR is it.

The ‘hated by the automotive press when new’ theory. Maybe we should temper that and just call it the ‘unloved by the car writers’ theory, but this is one many of us relish. The BMW Z8 was the ‘German Corvette’. The Ford GT a bit too much ‘look at me’. The SLR was derided as a rich-person’s play thing, something someone with a brains-vs-money imbalance might choose. Clever stuff to some but, looking back, couldn’t we say the same of the original owner of a Lamborghini Miura or, for that matter, a Blower Bentley? In fact, that answer is yes as well.

The ‘step-up pricing’ theory. My personal favourite, this one. Right now, at time of writing, there are about ten SLRs advertised in North America, with asking prices ranging from $250,000 to more than $400,000. Most are currently hovering around the $350,000 range. And while it’s understood that bodystyles, colours, miles and options are all a bit different, when the last car priced at below $300,000 sells, there will be no

more offered for less. Even the ones with some slightly unfortunate aspects to their history, in an unpopular colour or with too many miles will now enter the marketplace at above $300,000.

That in turn pushes the asking price of excellent, extremely lowmileage cars, those in intriguing colours with loads of options, or those with a fantastic history into entering the market above the $400,000 level. There is a window of opportunity here to find a good car with a modicum of miles at a good price, as too many ‘investors’ are busy going down the miles-area-sin route. Based upon current used offerings, it looks like a large number of SLRs left the factory in one of the untold number of shades of silver available, so those

‘If you have the space, coin and gumption to hang on, the SLR will be a hell of a ride’

examples in other hues will likely command a premium.

What’s best to own; Coupé or Convertible? Funny you should ask. My survey of sellers indicates that if you’re touting a Coupé, then that’s THE one to own. Drop-top seller? Take a guess. My experts tell me it’s purely a matter of which suits you better. In the long run, it’s anyone’s guess at this point. If money is truly no object, you want the Stirling Moss. It’s delightfully impractical in so many ways.

Never, ever buy any car just because it has some value room to run. If the SLR doesn’t fit you, your lifestyle, your garage or your budget, take a hard pass. Remember, if you want a guaranteed increase in value, consider building a TARDIS, taking a ride backwards and buying some Apple shares. But if you want an unusually styled car from two well known, worldrenowned manufacturers, with excellent pedigree exclusivity – and you also have the space, coin, foresight and gumption to hang on – then the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren will be a hell of a ride.

All values provided by Hagerty.

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A C Q U I R E

WAT C H E S

How much does ‘rare’ cost?

The lexicon of the collector world can be misleading, but when a truly special watch comes along, the market soon reacts W O R D S J O N AT H O N B U R F O R D

SEVERAL TERMS ARE USED IN the watch-collecting community with which I’ve always been rather uncomfortable. ‘Holy Grail’ gets liberally used for watches that are available but at a price (surely a collectors’ Holy Grail should be unobtainable?). ‘Possibly unique’ is just vague enough to be acceptable, if overused in most examples, and ‘iconic’ gets used for any model whose name is recognised beyond our narrow watch-collecting world.

However, ‘rare’ is used more than any other, by collectors, dealers and industry insiders alike, to describe almost any watch. It’s a subjective, unspecific and undefinable term, and adds cachet by perception of scarcity. Yet it’s almost meaningless, especially in a world of endless limited and special editions. We should be asking what constitutes ‘rare’, and what financial value we should ascribe to this rarity?

In today’s retail market, rarity is relative to demand, not to the actual number of watches produced and available in the secondary market.

We’ve recently seen Patek Philippe Nautilus Ref 5711 prices exceed $100,000 after the announcement of its discontinued production in January. Yet this is objectively not a rare watch, having been a regular production model between 2006 and 2021, and with numbers likely well in excess of 20,000 examples.

With vintage watches, four-digitreference Rolex Daytonas of almost every iteration are described as rare.

It’s impossible to tell how many of these manual-wound watches were

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actually made between the 1963 launch of Ref 6239 and the 6263/ 6265 R-series’ discontinuation in ’87 given Rolex’s lack of communication on these issues, but it was plentiful.

Even the non-utilitarian variants cased in precious metals were relatively common, with those supplied with exotic dials, cased in 14k or 18k gold, still making regular annual appearances at auction.

Today’s Omega Speedmaster can often be mocked for its neverending moon-landing association and innumerable limited editions, but a number of vintage examples truly are rare. The earliest, the 1957 Ref 2915, are the most desirable, with good examples rarely seen.

Yet the later Ref 145.012-67 ST is undoubtedly one of the rarest Speedmasters. The last iteration to house the brand’s most revered manual movement Caliber 321, a standard 145.012 is one of the most recognisable examples made, with crown guards and lyre twisted

ABOVE Rarity premium raised price of Heuer/Abercrombie & Fitch Seafarer after bidding battle.

lugs. But a recent sale proved the premium to which collectors are willing to go in pursuit of real rarity.

The key here is the Racing dial of the watch sold in January. From 1967-68, Omega made a handful of Speedmasters with these distinctive dials, suspected to be prototypes and supplied to Swiss retailers.

There were two generations of the Racing, with three executions in total. All were characterised by their black dials, bi-colour indexes and specific hand configurations.

The first generation came in two executions, firstly a two-line PreProfessional dial with applied metal Omega logo and SWISS MADE dial designation. A second execution added ‘Professional’ below the Speedmaster text in addition to a painted Omega logo and T SWISS MADE T dial designation. Both shared the same hand combination; red for hours, minutes and seconds, and white for the chronograph indications. Powering the first gen

is the legendary Caliber 321 manualwound movement that Omega has recently reintroduced, such is the revere in which it’s held.

Twelve first-execution watches are known to exist, with only six being Pre-Professionals. In addition, this was distinguished by its retailer Meister of Zurich dial stamp. The combination of dial variant, retailer stamp, condition and provenance realised a $94,500 price – which, in my view, still represents a good buy. Compared with a standarddialled Ref 145.012 in similar shape, the ‘rare’ premium, or how much it exceeded most standard examples, was in excess of seven times.

Another example of this rarity premium can be seen with the recent sale of a Heuer/Abercrombie & Fitch Seafarer Ref 2446. Before it was the purveyor of millennial hoodies and odd-smelling cologne, A&F was a stylish and respected US gentleman’s retailer. Founded in 1892, its client list was a who’s

MOTORING ART

LEFT Racing dial makes this 1960s Omega Speedmaster an extra-special example. It recently sold for $94,500.

who of the great and the good, and its flagship store on Madison and 45th contained a shooting range, roof-top pool, resident golf pro, gunsmiths and watchmakers. The Heuer/Abercrombie relationship started in the 1940s, but flourished with the arrival of the Seafarer range from 1949 onwards.

Of the ten variants, the Ref 2446 with Heuer’s Autavia waterproof screw-back case, aluminium bezel and silvered dial is the rarest with, we think, circa 25 made and only six now known. In March, Sotheby’s offered a previously unknown watch which, after a fierce bidding battle, sold for $94,500 against a $12,000-$18,000 estimate. The condition was obviously a factor here, but the rare premium multiple was four times that for other Abercrombie Seafarers and at least five or six for similar Ref 2446s.

For many years we’ve seen this price disconnect between manualwound Rolex Daytonas with and without Paul Newman dials, but we are also seeing this much more across other brands and models, too. With so much of the value of a vintage watch tied up in the dial, collectors continue to chase not just condition and originality, but also interesting, unusual and, of course, rare dial versions. Accordingly, they will ascribe considerable premiums for objectively rare and desirable variants.

Jonathon Burford is vice president and specialist at Sotheby’s watch department. For its ongoing Watches Weekly sales see www.sothebys.com.

Art of the automobile How a career in the film industry and a love of cars informed Simon Britnell’s true calling as a fine artist WOR D S RU P E RT W H Y T E

AFTER A TEN-YEAR STINT as a jobbing artist in the 1980s, followed by a long career creating props, scenery and vehicles for top video-gaming companies and film studios, Simon Britnell decided to return to being a painter. He was in the perfect position to envisage a new and interesting way to represent his chosen subject matter – the iconic lines of significant 1970s automobiles he grew up with.

Influenced by the way the Impressionists used the ‘broken colour’ technique, he developed a style that combined his fine, detailed illustrative work with a more ‘artistic’ quality. This entails building up layers with different colours in a way that lets previous layers remain visible. By applying

colours to the painting in small strokes, but not physically blending them, they fuse optically rather than literally.

The composition of the paintings for which Britnell is now recognised was a serendipitous development: “When I was first working on compositions, I had a group of older canvases I wanted to use standing in the corner of my studio. They were the wrong dimensions for what I’d planned – side profiles. I experimented with introducing a ghosted front profile into the top of the canvas, and I found that this balanced the layout rather nicely.”

The ethereal, colourful splatter that engages the eye and brings each canvas to life was added, and his style recipe was born: “I spend a lot of time planning each work, even the seemingly haphazard splatters – although some of that is thrown at the canvas from a few feet away.”

Britnell uses his gaming and CGI experience to digitally render a rough of each painting very accurately. “I don’t like surprises on the canvas – I want a well resolved layout before I start to layer up paint.” He’ll have as many

as six layouts in slightly different colourways before narrowing down the selection until one goes forward to the easel. From research to planning to finished piece can take two months, such is the complexity of each artwork.

Britnell’s artistic influences of Roy Cross and Terence Cuneo came from a childhood interest in Airfix and Hornby, for whom both artists illustrated packaging.

American auto advertising’s Art Fitzpatrick and Van Kaufman were also an influence when Britnell started to consider combining his film-industry experience with a return to painting.

The cars he chooses to render often have that mythical status, and that ghosted profile is the car’s spirit. “I choose models that I think deserve to be celebrated – 1970s ones are my passion, but I’m happy to paint any iconic car.”

With an increasing number of cars now reaching such status, Britnell will not be short of subject matter. Don’t wait too long to have your icon immortalised in style, though; his waiting list is growing…

Rupert Whyte runs Historic Car Art, www.historiccarart.net, selling original works and posters.

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AUTOMOBILIA

The overlooked car movie collectable

Bigger Mexican lobby card, 12.75in x 16.75in. 1955’s The Racers (El Circuito Infernal) with Kirk Douglas and Bella Darvi. Value: $275.

Vintage lobby cards were used in cinemas to promote films; now they’re an affordable way into automotive movie memorabilia W O R D S A N D P H O T O G R A P H Y DAV I D L AW R E N C E

LOBBY CARDS FORMED AN integral part of most movie theatres’ advertising programmes in the 20th century. They were used in the marquee windows positioned around a much bigger poster – and for this reason, it is very common to find lobby cards that have staple or thumb-tack holes in the corners.

All film promotional material was supposed to be used just for the movie’s engagement, and then sent right back to the studio.

Lobby cards usually came in a set of eight, typically containing a title card – usually designated no.1 – and then a number of scene cards showcasing a significant setting or a star from the film.

The photographic images in the scene cards chronologically teased cinema-goers with images from the beginning to the end of the movie, while the key art around the photographs or on the left border stayed the same for all the lobby cards in the set. The cards were printed on a sturdy cardboard material – even thicker than the half-sheets and the 40in x 60in posters. In the UK, they tended to be smaller in size, and were called front-of-house cards.

According to vintage film poster curator and archive specialist Walter Reuben: “Sometime around 1913, lobby card sets started to be produced, and they were basically photographs printed on a heavy paper resembling cardboard. For several years, lobby sets were done in both an 11in x 14in format and

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also a smaller 8in x 10in version.

Eventually, the larger size became the standard for American lobby cards. Sets usually contained eight cards, but as few as four and as many as 15 have been produced.”

By the 1920s, these initially simple photo sets evolved into a very advanced, decorative art form. One early author on the subject described them as being akin to antique Persian miniatures.

In the early days, the technology to print them in colour did not yet exist, so the colouring was done by hand – sometimes with a stencil and sometimes by a water-colourist individually adding hues to each card.

The most expensive lobby card ever bought at auction was a title card for the 1931 film Dracula, which sold last July for $114,000.

For a few titles, the lobby card can be worth more than the larger posters for the movie. Modern cards can sell for as little as a few dollars each, but the more desirable examples can be in the range of $200-$500.

Lobby cards for racing or car films fall into a very small subgroup, and are extremely rare due to how relatively few movies have been made on these subjects. Even for a film from this genre, it is very unusual to find more than one or two of the cards in the set to feature an image of the car or cars shown on screen. If the central image is not an automobile, then you look for great border art.

Talk about a space-saving

Britain’s Mask of Dust (in the US, A Race For Life), starring Richard Conte and Mari Aldon. Fantastic artwork. Value: $450.

Hot rods and hot tempers: Vintage US lobby card no.5 for the 1957 delinquent hot rod action thriller Teen Age Thunder. Value: $425.

collectable; the finished size is so small relative to movie posters, you can fit a hundred in a drawer or frame them up. The cost to frame a lobby card is nothing compared with one-sheet, threesheet or six-sheet posters.

As a result of over 35 years of accumulating lobby cards dealing with racing and cars, I have

hundreds on hand. I have always felt lobby cards are the unwanted stepchild of collecting movie posters, and that they represent a great value that is off most enthusiasts’ radar.

Thanks to expert David Lawrence of www.madisonsauctions.com and to AutoMobilia Resource magazine, www.automobiliaresource.com.

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A C Q U I R E

COLLECTING

Stamps and coins It’s been gaining in popularity in recent years, and lockdown accelerated it; so why collect stamps and coins?

W O R D S DAV I D L I L LY W H I T E

WE ALL KNOW ABOUT STAMP collecting don’t we? Those dusty childhood albums, the famously valuable Penny Black. And coins?

Who doesn’t admire an old coin?

But the worlds of stamp and coin collecting of course go much deeper, as well as attract hobbyists, investors and even some big names, including Hugh Jackman, Maria Sharapova and Michael Caine. There are also fiercely contested stamp competitions; the concours of the philately world.

As an example of the intricacies of these worlds, look at the stamps on the right. The top ones should all be the same, but on one the E-type is missing and on the other the Mini has failed to print. The ‘normal’ stamp is almost worthless; those with the errors catalogue for £17,000 and £20,000 respectively.

For more information, we talked with experts Victoria Lajer, MD of Philately at stamp specialist Stanley Gibbons, and Neil Paisley, MD of coin specialist Baldwin’s.

“The thing about stamp collecting is that it’s super-personal,” says Victoria. “You can collect cars on stamps if you want to. I collect chickens on old envelopes. It’s just so unique to that person. You can get a stamp and it might be worth £10,000, but if you get it with a hole in, it’s worth £100; the value crashes through the floor the second there is something wrong with it.”

“On the coin side, an influx of investors have come into the market,” adds Neil. “In the past few years prices have continued to increase, but in the past year they’ve been phenomenal. Just last month

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there was a new record for a British Queen coin, at $1.95 million.

In fact, there’s more excitement in the stamp market right now, as Sotheby’s prepares to sell the Three Treasures collected by fashion designer Stuart Weitzman in New York on June 8. The fabled 1933 Double Eagle Coin, which set a world record when it last sold at auction in 2002, and is the only example that is legally sanctioned by the US Government for private ownership; the sole-surviving British Guiana One-Cent Magenta, the world’s most famous and valuable stamp; and The Inverted Jenny Plate Block, the most well known and sought-after US stamp rarity. The first two are estimated at $10-15 million each, and the latter is estimated at $5-7 million.

Of course, you needn’t spend millions. “Start off with a basic catalogue, a magnifying glass and a pair of tweezers,” says Victoria. “Go for something that interests you.

I’d encourage people to come into the store to have a chat, and always buy the best example you can afford, whether that be £20 or £50,000.”

It’s a similar story with coins, agrees Neil. “Only buy from reputable companies, and go for something that interests you. So if, say, the English Civil War interests you, go for Charles the First, for example. If you find something interesting, someone else will, too.”

The comment about reputable dealers is crucial. Both Stanley Gibbons and Baldwin’s offer a lifetime guarantee, so if a stamp or a coin isn’t what was claimed, even years later, your money will be

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP Spot the ‘mistakes’ on these stamps. Meanwhile, the Three Treasures will go on sale at Sotheby’s in June.

refunded. At the very least ensure any dealer is registered with one of the umbrella trade associations.

Most importantly, don’t get hung up by value. As Victoria and Neil point out, stamps and coins have the most incredible histories, and that’s what should be enjoyed.

Coins have been with us for 2000 years, so there are some out there from the time of, say, Alexander the Great. Stamps have been around only since 1814, but they changed

history. Making postage available for a penny was as revolutionary as the internet has been for our generations; as a direct result, literacy rates went up worldwide.

Stamps and coins are easy to store and display, too, in albums or frames, or just tucked away for your own pleasure. Take a look; you may be surprised what you find.

Thank you to Stanley Gibbons at www.stanleygibbons.com along with Baldwin’s at www.baldwin.co.uk.

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LEGAL ADVICE

Beware the Big Cat Jaguar’s legal growlings regarding copyright have caused consternation in the classic car world, but is its ‘bark’ worse than its bite?

W O R D S C L I V E R O B E R T S O N , S O L I C I T O R , H E A LY S L L P

JAGUAR LAND ROVER BEGAN its continuation series in 2015, when it completed six lightweight E-types, after which it worked through nine of the XKSS model, followed by 25 D-types. Naturally enough, production of six C-types started earlier this year. At a price of around £1.25 million per unit, the gross income would amount to something like £70 million. This is not an inconsiderable source of income, even for Jaguar, which was mined from the marque’s archives.

At some point in the development of this programme, Jaguar would have given thought as to how to protect this historic legacy from future potential competitors. In the 1950s and 1960s, race and competition machinery was of almost no value once it ceased to be competitive. Cars were difficult to shift at any price, and many were simply parted out. It may well be that scrutiny of design documentation revealed little in the way of intellectual property rights.

Be that as it may, Jaguar must have felt constrained to determine the extent of its copyright protection.

Two sets of proceedings were issued, in the UK and Sweden. The former applications sought to obtain trade marks in a number of areas, but principally in relation to the shape of four Defender body designs that had previously been built

by Land Rover. Ineos Automotive, being in the process of releasing its own 4x4 vehicles, opposed the application vigorously. The Hearing

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Officer refused the application on the grounds of distinctiveness. An appeal was made to the High Court, which confirmed the decision.

The Swedish proceedings were heard in the Stockholm Patent and Market Court, where Jaguar claimed breach of copyright. The defendants, the Magnussons, had constructed a facsimile C-type. Jaguar succeeded in its claim, being awarded costs of £450,000, damages to be assessed, with the prospect of the vehicle being scrapped. The Magnussons are appealing the decision, and have received donations of £51,000 in support of their cause.

Shortly after this judgement, Jaguar announced that it was not going after private owners of preexisting individual replicas nor insisting upon the destruction of vehicles. However, it would take action to prevent businesses using its intellectual property illegally.

Notwithstanding, there are multiple reports of ‘cease and desist’ emails being issued by Jaguar. It has been widely reported that Suffolk Sportscars went into administration following receipt of such an email.

There are also rumours that a

‘There are now multiple reports of “cease and desist” emails being issued by Jaguar’

ABOVE C-type Continuation has anchored Jaguar’s drive to determine extent of its copyright protection. greeting-card designer was contacted, having used a design incorporating an image of a classic Land Rover, and an E-type owner was informed that he was not entitled to sell photo images of his own car.

On another level, Ecurie Ecosse is planning to produce a series of seven all-new homages to the team’s successful seven C-types, which were dominant in their era at Le Mans, as reported in the spring edition of Magneto. It would be interesting to learn how the project is proceeding. It would not be unreasonable to assume that other replica builders and suppliers will be carefully considering their respective future plans.

Returning to the statement made

by Jaguar after the Swedish case, the marque was clear in declaring that action would be taken only against those acting illegally. Any claimant alleging illegality needs to prove their case, so it may be instructive to examine what can be gleaned from the Ineos and Magnusson rulings.

As to the former, the position is clear. Land Rover failed to establish entitlement to any rights in the shape of four Defender models. The Magnusson situation is somewhat more interesting. If the mooted appeal is a success, then Jaguar will have lost its argument and have no rights in the design of the C-type in Sweden. If no

appeal is lodged or such appeal fails, then the judgement of the Stockholm Court stands. I have spent some time discussing the legal implications with my good friend Richard Clegg of Counsel, and we have concluded the following; the Swedish judgement, in essence, applies to Swedish law.

That said, the judgement ought to be enforceable throughout the EU, although given that the Magnussons and their vehicle reside in Sweden there is no reason that would be necessary. However, first, it should be noted that Swedish law is not ‘EU law’. Secondly, the judgement does not dictate what other member states would say, eg Germany or Italy, if faced with a similar case for alleged breach of copyright infringement perpetrated in their own territories. They would judge each such case afresh after applying their own domestic copyright law.

Similarly, if faced with such a case, any UK court would base its decision on the facts of the particular case presented and UK copyright law. Magnusson would be of no direct effect.

The ‘cease and desist’ programme has caused much consternation in the classic world, with considerable adverse publicity accruing to Jaguar, but is there really cause for concern?

As outlined, the UK proceedings established no rights in the Defender design, whilst the Swedish case is applicable only in Sweden. Perhaps the Growler is just that; a Big Cat warning, that lacks teeth.

SPEED

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COLLECTIONS

Bahrain BRM blast was the best That time a prince, two rock stars and 24 historic race cars made for a Middle Eastern extravaganza – topped off by a surreal on-track experience

IN 2009, HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa invited Bernie Ecclestone to exhibit some race cars at Bahrain’s Formula 1 Grand Prix. Circuit CEO Martin Whitaker called me to say they wanted a cross section spanning the earliest to the latest, and his PR team who were organising the exhibition relied on me to pick the models and organise the shipping, which I did with CARS UK (now CARS Europe).

I picked 24 machines, starting with the Bugatti Type 54, through the Brabham BT46B ‘fan car’ and finishing with the BT56. I asked the inimitable Doug Nye and David Weguelin to write the fact sheets for each, and provide photographs for the massive banners hanging in the exhibition marquee.

The cars were to be shipped two to a container, but it was at a time when pirates were regularly boarding container ships and holding the crew hostage and the craft to ransom. So not only did we have to keep a significantly low profile, I was also tracking the ship to watch its progress past the danger area. I was looking two or three times a day to see that it was still moving, I can tell you.

Then-Historic Grand Prix Car Association president Tony Merrick was also highly concerned. As he put it: “There is a significant chunk of motor-racing history on that ship.”

Fortunately, everything turned up safely at the circuit. I arrived shortly afterwards, and found a neat row of sealed and locked containers. No one had dared open them until I got there, just in case three feet of sea water had been sloshing around inside, munching away at the aluminium and magnesium parts.

I also discovered that each car had to be unloaded in chronological order, because an open-air studio

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had been set up at the circuit and Ben Nicholson was photographing them for a book. The idea being that as each car was captured the sun would move slightly in the sky and a timeline would be established.

Nice idea, but it didn’t really work because the sun was so strong there were no shadows to move. What it did was give me sunstroke, because once started we couldn’t stop. With 24 cars, and half an hour per car, it was a long day. That evening, I sat in a cold shower feeling quite ill.

The next day was spent arranging the cars in the marquee, cleaning and finalising the barrier system. It all looked superb. Because there was not much room inside, we limited the number of people who could enter at any one time – but of course it was 100 degrees heat, so I had a row of umbrellas posted outside.

On the first day, Mr Ecclestone asked if I could prepare two cars for a demonstration run between the GP2 and F1 races. Nick Mason was to be the other driver, so could I prep the BRM V16 he once owned for him and something else for me? I chose the Lancia D50, which we had just finished, and arranged to tow them up to the circuit’s own workshop.

It was a bit of a bun-fight, as I had to find the correct oil and fuel, all in another country. Fortunately Tony the track manager was on hand to help, and most things were kept at the circuit. Although he struggled a

‘In this state of stoned, sensory overload you see things you can’t see during the day’

ABOVE Welcome to showbusiness: superstar Nick Mason prepares to get to grips with ‘intoxicating’ BRM. bit to find methanol for the BRM, we got there in the end.

Once the Lancia had been fettled and run up, I started on the BRM. This took longer than I thought, and it was dark by the time I was finished and ready to test drive it. Anyone who has owned a race car will know that they spring a leak or suffer a failure of some sort right in front of everyone if you don’t test them and check everything carefully.

By now it was about 9pm. Out in the desert, it’s very dark at that time, as there is little or no light pollution.

Tony said: “You follow me behind the course car. With all the flashing lights on, it’ll be fine.”

The BRM V16 is lovely when it starts from cold. It fires up on about nine cylinders, and complains and argues about things as the heat starts to build up in the engine.

Gradually the other cylinders strike up until the whole band is playing, and then... what a noise!

Having said that, you can’t rev it more than 8500rpm without earplugs, as it feels like someone has jammed knitting needles into your ears and is waggling them inside your head. Anyway, I persevered and took it up to about 9000rpm.

It was an extraordinary experience driving the BRM V16 at night round the Bahrain circuit. Not only are your senses overdriven by the sheer quantity of sound, but you also become intoxicated by the methanol fumes that flow back over you. In this state of stoned, sensory overload you see things you can’t see during the day.

The little stubby side exhausts that customisers call ‘zoomies’ issue a blue flame because of the methanol,

which wreaths the front of the car in a blue corona that builds and collapses as the revs go up and down.

It was something I shall never forget.

The next day, Tony Whittaker rushed up and shook my hand enthusiastically, saying I’d given him one of his three most memorable experiences in motor sport. He’d been in a meeting with the Crown Prince and some other very high officials when he heard the BRM start up.

Apparently, he jumped up and rushed out, followed by the Crown Prince (himself a great petrolhead).

They stood at the end of the pitlane watching the car going round the circuit. It must have been fabulous.

On the day, Nick and I got the cars into position on a slip road and stood around in the heat in our baby-grow outfits, only to be told by dear old Charlie Whiting that the GP2 race had over-run and there wasn’t time for us to go out.

I was very upset, not only because of the effort to get to that point, but because it would have been such a great honour. Nick, seeing how sad I was, put his arm round my shoulder and said: “Never mind Rob, welcome to showbusiness.” Funnily enough, it made everything okay again.

I showed many people round the exhibition that weekend – F1 drivers, royalty and politicians – but, for me, having lunch with Eric Clapton and showing him round was as good as it gets. He is such a gent, and I’d love to talk to him again. Having said that, demo’ing a pair of front-engine race cars and driving the BRM on-circuit at night… Difficult to choose. Maybe the whole weekend was the best.

Get the machinery out again, and be part of it.

Former Ecclestone Collection manager Robert now runs Curated Vehicle Management. See www.c-v-m.co.uk.

BEN NICHOLSON

WOR D S ROB E RT DE A N

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HISTORIC RACING

Develop your mind – and see results Take it from the professional driving coach; mental preparation in the guise of different forms of visualisation can greatly boost your performance. Why not give it a try?

WOR D S SA M H A NCO C K

IN THE PREVIOUS ISSUE WE talked about physical preparation for racing, and how fitness – or a lack of – can significantly impact your driving performance. I thought it would now make sense to look at mental preparation, and how various forms of visualisation can hugely enhance both pace and results.

I know you’re thinking: “Come off it, Sam! I’m not fighting for a World Championship here. It’s just a bit of historic racing I do for fun.” That may be so, but I suspect you’re more competitive than you think. Rather than spend thousands developing your car in search of a few tenths or a podium place, why not try a few free and simple techniques instead?

Let us start with ‘short-term’ visualisation which, to me, refers to the immediate future – the next few metres or seconds. Through my years of driver coaching, it’s become clear that what our eyes see, our hands and feet follow. So, rather than obsess

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over physical reference points and marker boards, simply lift your line of sight to look much further down the road, and through to a corner’s apex and exit before you’ve even turned in. Your inputs will naturally adjust to execute an appropriate braking point, deceleration rate and steering input. The better your vision, the more accurate these will be.

But what if the corner is blind, and you can’t yet see through to the exit?

Visualise it instead. Every lap. You’ll be amazed at how much later you brake or how much more entry speed you carry when focused on a corner’s exit profile rather than the panicked arrival of an arbitrary braking reference you’ve assigned yourself.

How about the start of a race? Do you simply sit there and wait for the lights to change or flag to drop? Or could you get the jump on your rivals by visualising the first millimetres of movement from the starter’s hand just before he unfurls and drops the

flag? By anticipating – visualising – these moments in advance, you’ll react faster and with greater accuracy.

Next, think of ‘medium-term’ visualisation as moments that are about to happen in a few minutes or hours; a banzai qualifying lap maybe, the frantic run to the first corner at the start of a race, or the procedure for a fast and clean pitstop driver change.

More seriously, it could be the instant and fumble-free locating of the kill switch when a throttle sticks, or instinctive press of an extinguisher button as flames lick up from an engine bay. Scenarios that all benefit hugely from a few quiet moments in advance, sat peacefully, eyes closed, repeatedly and calmly visualising their execution to develop a muscle memory that will self-trigger when required. I speak from experience.

‘Long-term’ visualisation is very different and, of all these examples, will perhaps seem the most tenuous.

But bear with me, because it has a funny habit of paying off.

It’s all about goal-setting. Not in a ‘five-year plan’ kind of way, but more about targeting realistic and attainable improvements at your next events

‘You’ll be amazed at how much later you can brake or how much more speed you carry’

and encouraging that reality by using strong, repeated visualisations.

I hesitate to cite a personal example, but it’s the easiest way to explain. In preparation for a big opportunity at Le Mans one year, I grabbed an image of a previous Le Mans podium from the web, and photoshopped my face onto the third-place driver (note, not the winner). I then set it as my screen-saver for about three months before the race.

I deliberately didn’t choose the winner because it’s critical to keep these targets within the realms of possibility in order to truly believe in them – and it was a year when, by most calculations, the best we could reasonably hope for was sixth overall.

When the engine expired with 45 minutes of 24 hours left, we were lying fourth and flirting with third.

Did it help? I don’t know. But visualising everything I could about a not wholly unattainable scenario made it feel real. I’d glanced at that image dozens – maybe hundreds – of times, imagined driving the car through that final lap, anticipated the feeling of crossing the line, considered the view from the podium, the taste of the champagne, the sound of the crowd, you name it… every detail I could think of to illustrate a podium finish. When I arrived at the race, I can truly say that I deeply believed we could achieve a podium. We nearly did!

If you think this is all a little over the top for historic racing, I don’t blame you, but consider this; I have a coaching client who, in a few years, went from watching Goodwood’s Revival from the grandstands to standing atop the rostrum of its biggest race. More than any other client, he would routinely visualise a lap before a session, set achievable goals for his next outing, and anticipate start procedures, driverchange routines and cornering techniques by repeatedly practicing them in his mind beforehand. When his moment arrived, he was ready.

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B E H I N D

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The tragic end of a true Crusader On a bleak Loch Ness in 1952, this modest man and his jet-powered craft paid the ultimate price in the pursuit of speed. But oh, what a hero...

EXTRACT FROM CRUSADER: JOHN COBB’S ILL-FATED QUEST FOR SPEED ON WATER, PUBLISHED BY EVRO AT £30

AS THE ISABELLE REACHED the Astrid, the Karunna and the ‘jolly boat’ set off towards the southwestern end of the loch, but as they did so their crews were surprised to see the Maureen coming in. As Cobb climbed into the Astrid, Patience pointed and said, “Why, that’s the Maureen.” Cobb looked over and, according to Patience, shouted across, “You were told to stay put, you’ll have to go back – we’re up against it here.” Patience recalled that Cobb was, “About as angry as I had ever seen anyone and he was normally a calm, gentle man.”

Indeed, Cobb probably could not even be heard by anybody aboard the Maureen, but he had been irked enough for a very rare public display of emotion. It is also unlikely that the Maureen got all the way back to Temple Pier, and instead it seems that, on seeing Crusader being prepared, she was turned around at the Urquhart Castle headland, disturbing the water in a way that might account for Crusader carrying instability into the measured mile.

Regardless, now instead of the usual hour of waiting for the various washes to settle down, there was a rush to capitalise on the glass-like water. After ten minutes, a green Verey light went up to indicate that the course was ready. Cobb climbed into the cockpit of Crusader as the starter cable was plugged in to connect the batteries aboard the Astrid. Cobb edged back into his seat, foregoing yet again the safety belt that had been installed. As he

was handed his goggles and gloves, he merely said, “I hope to Christ it’s not rough out there.” With that, the Ghost jet engine began to spin into life.

Quite why the Maureen had returned to Temple Pier is another question that can never be answered... Regardless of why, return she had, and was now ‘rushing’ back to the middle of the measured mile.

All this had held up getting under way with the first run, and it was not until 11.49 that Crusader’s engine began to spool up and Cobb ran the warm-up procedure. In the radio hut, Ted Cope relayed the lastminute messages: “I had been told that the water on the far [south] side looked better, and relayed this through to ‘6’, Mr Cobb’s call sign.

All I heard back was ‘aye’ – it was the last thing I heard from Crusader.”

Minutes later Crusader appeared from around the headland below Urquhart Castle. Quickly she went up onto her planing shoes. Cobb steered towards the course but, recalling Arthur Bray’s comments about being able to observe and time the run, he kept nearer the northern shore, the side where Maureen was moored. Having started further back than on previous runs, Cobb worked up to a speed that was very much faster than ever before – in the region of 240mph.

As Crusader accelerated, it became obvious all was not well. In a perfect plane a consistent wash was generated from the end of the

ABOVE A legend among men, Cobb knew the dangers he faced when he boarded Crusader for the final time. forward step and the two ends of the sponsons. What could be seen as Crusader approached the measured mile was the ‘white water’ of this wash travelling back and fore along the line of the underside of the step structure, whereas at the very stern the spray pattern remained more constant. This indicated that the bow of the craft was having trouble maintaining its planing attitude.

Then, just as Crusader went into the measured mile, three waves could be seen to travel out from the northern shore obliquely at about 45 degrees across her path.

The first was struck with what was described as an audible smack and the engine note changed before settling. Then Crusader could be seen to rock from sponson to sponson as well as exhibiting progressively worse fore/aft pitch.

On hitting the second wave, the bow lifted noticeably before being driven back in by both the thrust line of the jet and the rotation

moment about the rear fins. Just as Crusader started to settle from this, she encountered the third of the waves, with the bow barely touching water – but once the rear sponsons made firm contact, she appeared to tip in nose first. Somewhere, someone was heard to shout: “He’s over.” Then silence.

Cobb had been thrown forward out of the cockpit and had bounced across the surface of the water, coming to rest some 150 yards ahead. The ‘jolly boat’ started up and rushed to the scene, going first to where the water was covered in myriad small silver shards. As the boat circled, Harry Cole spotted the yellow of Cobb’s ‘Mae West’ lifejacket. Once alongside him, Cole and Hughie Jones pulled Cobb from the water. He had injuries to his chin and right leg, but was inanimate. His lifejacket had burst open and he nearly slipped out of it as he was lifted clear.

Jones: “We struggled to get him out of the water, but we could see it was over. He was just broken, like a bag of broken bones. It was horrible, just horrible.”

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

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