Magneto issue 5 sampler

ISSUE

5 SPRING 2020

+ STEVE MCQUEEN LAND ROVER | PHIL HILL | FERRARI MODULO MEETS LANCIA STRATOS ZERO | BRABHAM BT52B | 50 GREATEST EVENTS

Holy Scaglione,

it’s the BAT cars

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A Taste of Issue 5 Welcome to Magneto! Over the following pages you’ll see a small sample of the features included in Issue 5, which is available to buy now in high-quality print form at www.magnetomagazine.com.

Wherever you are in the world, we’ll ship Magneto to you.

If you’ve not come across Magneto before, it’s a print quarterly that was launched in February 2019. We feature only the very best classic and collector cars and stories, and we print on only the very best paper, because we love magazines but hate having to read them on sub-standard paper.

You can also read them in electronic form by clicking on the link below. Trust me though, you’ll love them even more in print form!

And the cars? We cover all the greats, from the great road racing pioneers of the 1890s to the very latest hypercars, written about by the most knowledgable and experienced writers.

This sample of Issue 5 is typical: the Alfa Romeo BAT cars reunited for an exclusive photoshoot and a history told by expert Winston Goodfellow; Doug Nye describing that ‘Hamlet in a Helmet’ Phil Hill; Steve McQueen’s recently discovered Land Rover Series II; and racing driver Marc Surer testing the 1500bhp Brabham BT52B. Elesewhere in Issue 5, the iconic Ferrari Modulo and Lancia Stratos Zero are brought together on Fiat’s famous rooftop Lingotto test track and we chart the world’s Top 50 collector car events. With Issues 1 to 4 also available on the website, there’s a lot to enjoy!

Click here to subscribe to in print

David Lillywhite Editorial director

Click here to subscribe to digital editions

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ISSUE

5

20 COMING SOON Monaco, La Jolla, Round the World and many more events for 2020

31 S TA R T E R News and views, from Bentley’s Birkin Blower Continuation project and the Nasamax DM139 eco-racer to the $3.74 Bullitt Mustang and other auction updates

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H O LY S C A G L I O N E , I T ’S T H E A L FA R O M E O B AT C A R S

PHIL HILL – HAMLET IN A HELMET

ON THE TRAIL OF THE BLOODHOUND LSR CONTENDER

LOST AND FOUND; STEVE MCQUEEN’S LAND ROVER

The story of Bertone’s Berlinetta Aerodinamica Technica trio, and the impact these icons made

Racing legend’s superb photography skills hint at the cultured American hero’s hidden depths

Land Speed Record chaser is back on track thanks to engineer and classic car enthusiast Ian Warhurst

King of Cool’s Series II, and how it went from Solihull to Southern California – and beyond

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512S MODULO M E E T S S T R AT O S HF ZERO

THE ROAD TO LE MANS CLASSIC

HOW BMW CLASSIC R E B U I LT T H E BRABHAM BT52B

THE TOP 50 G R E AT E S T E V E N T S IN THE WORLD

Ferrari, Lancia, Lingotto... together at last, Italian legends celebrate a golden era of style and optimism

Building up to the race of the year, with three famous cars from Aston Martin, Jaguar and Ferrari

The first turbo to take the World Championship roars again – we followed it from workshop to track

Concours, rallies, races, shows... we round up the very best classic and collector car events

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M A R K E T WAT C H : M A S E R AT I M C 12

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M A R K E T A N A LY S I S : 3 0 0 S L G U L LW I N G

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KNOWLEDGE: TOOL KITS

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COLLECTIONS: PASS IT ON

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LEGAL: IMPORT ADVICE

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HISTORIC RACING: MODERN CLASSICS

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BEHIND THE LEGEND: JPS LOTUS MAGNETO

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ISSUE 1 REPRINT

ISSUE 2 REPRINT

The original print run sold out months ago.

This is your chance to pre-order a reprint of issue 1, which features 100 years of Zagato, Alfa Romeo 8C, McLaren P1 vs Senna, BRM V16 and much more.

Limited-edition pre-order for £15 plus p&p on www.magnetomagazine.com

As with issue 1, the second issue of Magneto is now out of stock. It features Doug Nye’s sublime feature on Enzo Ferrari, the Shah of Iran’s Miura, the 50 greatest motor sport innovations, and more.

Limited-edition pre-order for £15 plus p&p on www.magnetomagazine.com

THE CONCOURS YEAR

MAGNETO SLIPCASES

This beautiful 240-page hardback is the first-ever yearbook documenting the world’s best concours.

It also features Lalique, interviews and a 2020 diary.

Standard edition from £58.20 plus p&p.

Slipcase edition £78.20 plus p&p.

Publisher’s edition with limited-edition print £125. www.concoursyear.com

Protect your precious copies of Magneto! Slipcases are now available to pre-order, each one designed to hold four issues. You can also pre-order the first four issues of Magneto complete with slipcase.

Slipcase £35 plus p&p.

Slipcase with four issues £85 plus p&p. www.magnetomagazine.com

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Britain’s finest multi-class concours d’elegance Entries are now open for the inaugural British International Concours d’Elegance A U T O R O YA L E

17-19 July 2020 Althorp Estate, Northamptonshire

For more information visit

www.autoroyale.org

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C O M I N G S O O N SUMMER

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GRAND PRIX DE MONACO HISTORIQUE May 8-10, 2020 The most glamorous of GP locations must surely be Monte Carlo, and this year will mark the 12th running of the prestigious Monaco Historic Grand Prix. More than 220 of the very best heritage race cars will tackle the world-famous street circuit, on which 80 percent of the straights and turns remain the same as in 1929.

Each of the seven races will be named after a driver who made an impact in period. Can anything beat the evocative sight of pre-war GP cars drifting round La Rascasse in Race A, Louis Chiron? Maybe the front-engined 1946-’60 GP cars in Race B, Juan Manuel Fangio, or 1977-’80 F1 cars in Race G, Gilles Villeneuve?

Spectating opportunities are legion and span all pockets; paddock access is available during lunch and the Historic GP uses the same grandstand set-up as the modern-day F1 World Championship, while there’s the opportunity to rent properties lining the circuit or even charter yachts to obtain the ultimate off-shore viewpoint. Numerous further attractions including auctions from the likes of RM Sotheby’s add to the spectacle. www.acm.mc/en/accueil

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THIS PAGE AND OPPOSITE The hi-tech meets the traditional as Sir Tim Birkin’s legendary Team Blower is stripped ready for cataloguing and replication.

WHEN BENTLEY ANNOUNCED that it would be building 12 Continuations of Sir Tim Birkin’s famous 4½ Litre Team Blower, you might have thought that it’s treading a path recently well worn by Jaguar and Aston Martin. And it is… except that the skills, tooling and documentation required are even more scarce for a 1920s car than they are for a 1950s or ’60s model – plus Bentley has promised to create a replica of the Birkin car, Team Car No 2, registration UU 5872, rather than one of the factory-built 55 homologation Blowers.

No 2 was one of the four Team Cars developed by Birkin rather than the factory, so few drawings or original specifications exist. To replicate it, there was no choice but to strip the Birkin right back to a rolling chassis and scan it, working from a dedicated room at Envisage in Coventry, a temporary outpost of Bentley’s Mulliner division while additional Mulliner buildings are

Bentley’s Birkin surprise When Bentley started on its Birkin Blower Continuation project, it found that not everything was as expected...

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completed at Crewe specifically for the Blower Continuation project.

The last time the Birkin was stripped down to anywhere near this extent was in the 1960s, and some of the parts probably haven’t been seen in such detail since the 1930s.

It was clear from pictures that the car had evolved during its time with Birkin: the supercharger changes; the headlights go from small black units to larger chromed lamps; mudguard shapes and fixings change (partly due to a double tyre blow-out during the 1930 Le Mans that destroyed two of the guards); mirrors appear and disappear; and even the horn moves from one side of the car to the other between races.

However, the big shock was the chassis, which had been assumed to be stock Bentley 4½. Not so! Instead of riveted fixings, the Birkin chassis uses large castellated nuts and bolts, and further investigation revealed that it’s a thicker gauge of steel – 5.2mm instead of the 4.6-4.7mm of

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LEFT AND ABOVE The Rexine-covered body is removed for the first time since the 1960s; every component,

the stock chassis. That makes it unique, scuppering the original plan to use existing RC Moss replacements. “The project suddenly got a whole lot more difficult,” understates Mulliner special projects leader Glyn Davies.

The Birkin front crossbeam is also different, as are the rear axle and fuel tank. Bentley drafted in three of the leading Vintage Bentley experts, Graham Moss (RC Moss), Neil Davies and William Medcalf. All agreed that they’ve never seen a Blower Bentley like the Birkin.

The original car will be lightly restored while it’s apart, and some of its later additions made good. “We have the original wiring diagram,” says Glyn as an example. “And there

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are very few wires. Then we take the body off and it’s like Spaghetti Junction under there!” The current headlights appear to be incorrect as well, and other items don’t quite correspond with the 1930 Le Mans specification, which is how the Bentley team have decided to keep No 2. The Continuation cars will then be built to the same spec.

Birkin’s No 2 car was originally fitted with a Harris body, but Birkin replaced that with the shorter, squarer Vanden Plas body that it still wears today. Although original-style Rexine is now finally available again, there’s no way the Birkin’s will be removed, so the team plans to X-ray the body to determine the exact shape of the ash frame underneath.

including the brake drums, are 3D scanned; the Mulliner team is working in a dedicated room at Envisage.

As for the bonnet, it’s clear that extra louvres were added at different stages, and they’re all quite rough. It would be easy to use a louvre punch on the Continuation cars, but they’d be too good, so each louvre has been scanned so it can be replicated exactly. The same goes for all the

‘To replicate the car, there was no choice but to strip the Birkin back to a rolling chassis and scan it’

rivet positions around the body – and even the indentations Birkin’s feet made in the driver’s footwell.

It seems that instruments were added to No 2 at various points in its early life, meaning they’re a mix of makes and styles. The chronographic clock is particularly complicated and will prove difficult to replicate.

The famous billiard counter on the dashboard, used to keep track of laps covered, will also be copied.

Now busily turning the scans into usable data, and sourcing suppliers from all over the world, the team aims for the prototype Continuation car and the first customer car to be finished by the end of 2020. The rest of the 12 customer cars should follow every two-and-a-half months.

THE WORLDS LEADING WO BENTLEY SPECIALISTS & CUSTODIANS OF OUR HERITAGE. PROUD TO BE ASSISTING BENTLEY MOTORS WITH THEIR EXCITING NEW BLOWER PROJECT. WWW.NDR.LTD.UK PHONE: +44 01923 220370 EMAIL: SALES@NDR.LTD.UK NDR LIMITED, MILL HOUSE, 119 BUSHEY MILL LANE, WATFORD, WD24 7PD

PLACES TO VISIT

PISTENKLAUSE RESTAURANT This superb eatery at the Nürburgring boasts more motor sport memorabilia than you can shake a steak at. Don’t miss out if you’re in the area LOOKING FOR A quality, nononsense dining experience while luxuriating in the ultimate motor sport atmosphere? Then head to the Pistenklause Restaurant, which – thanks to its close proximity to the world-famous Nürburgring in western Germany’s Eifel mountains – offers a unique setting in which to eat, drink and relax after a hard day spent pounding around the Green Hell.

Many of the world’s greatest drivers, along with their mechanics and team staff, have visited this traditional 200-cover eatery, whether to fuel up during a day’s testing or to celebrate victory on the merciless Nordschleife. Most have left their mark on the walls; patrons are surrounded floor to ceiling by signed photos and memorabilia from the likes of Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna, Mika Häkkinen and countless more heroes of the racetrack. Event posters, stickers, trophies, mangled pieces of car bodywork and even sections of Nürburgring guardrail add to the authentic ambience.

Food is of the Italian and European variety, with a mean line in steaks cooked and served on a hot stone. And naturally, the wine, beer and spirits flow in the

D E TA I L S WHERE IS IT? Kirchweg 4, 53520 Nürburg, Germany WHEN IS IT OPEN? 4pm-12am Monday-Sunday HIGHLIGHTS Where do we start?

The ultimate motor sport memorabilia museum, with the bonus of superb food and drink…

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST? Italian, European and steakhouse dishes are affordably priced WEBSITE www.pistenklauserestaurants.com

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ABOVE Food, drink and the best selection of race memorabilia around; a petrolhead’s paradise.

best German tradition. The Pistenklause forms part of the three-star Hotel am Tiergarten, which is open year-round. The venue’s unbeatable location in the centre of Nürburg village is just 150m from the GP track’s start-finish straight and 500m from the Nordschleife entrance.

It has been run by Ursula Schmitz since 1969; her youngest daughter Sabine – ‘Queen of the Nürburgring’ – was the first woman ever to win a 24-hour endurance race.

Thanks to its famous roster, who knows what big stars will be eating at the Pistenklause when you drop by? Book in advance to ensure a table, however; such is the restaurant’s popularity with petrolheads from around the world that, depending on the event and time of year, dropping in unannounced may result in serious disappointment and an empty stomach. Plan ahead, settle in and grab a menu...

Did the Bullitt Mustang sell too cheap?

The most famous ’Stang in the world has sold for $3.74m. It’s an astronomical price for a car with an impeccable movie history – but some commentators say it could have gone for even more

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THE BIDDING STARTED at just $3500, but that was merely a nod to the previous time the Bullitt Mustang was sold, to Bob Kiernan in 1974. Bob used the famous 1968 Highland Green Fastback as his family car, well aware that it was one of two Fords used for the majority of the filming (the other, stunt, car was found recently in a terrible state in Mexico, and is now being restored).

Bob took his Mustang off the road in 1980 when the clutch failed, and although he started to repair it years later, it was still in pieces when he passed away in 2016. Few had known about the car, and McQueen himself had tried to buy it off the family in 1977 – but in later years, after a few break-ins at the garage where it was housed, its location and ownership were kept a closely guarded secret.

It wasn’t until January 2018, in the 50th anniversary year of Bullitt, that the Mustang reappeared, the news broken by Hagerty with the agreement of Bob’s son Sean. It was revealed in public with Ford at the Detroit show, and exhibited in a glass case on the National Mall, Washington DC by the Historic Vehicle Association. It then starred at the Amelia Island Concours, drove up the Goodwood Festival of Speed hill (once with Magneto editor

David Lillywhite riding shotgun), went on display in America’s Car Museum and accompanied the new Bullitt Mustang launch in San Francisco.

Then, midway through 2019, Sean announced that he was to offer his beloved Mustang for sale at Mecum’s January sale in Kissimmee, Florida – the world’s largest car auction.

Come the day, he drove the Ford through the biggest crowd ever seen at Mecum, and onto the stage. It went swiftly to $1 million, then in $500,000 steps to $2.5m, slowing to $100,000 steps to gradually climb to $3.4m. It was sold to a bidder on the phone to Frank Mecum, son of founder Dana. The result – $3.74m with premiums – was greeted with a double thumbs-up from Sean.

But was it enough? Could it have sold for more at a Monterey sale, as some have suggested? It’s likely that the Kiernan family was offered a great deal by Mecum, perhaps Dana – who has an extensive car collection himself – even guaranteeing a set amount in the event of a no-sale (at the time of writing, the buyer hasn’t been announced). And, of course, Mecum and Barrett-Jackson are the auction houses of choice for muscle cars, so there was a logic there.

Even comparing the Bullitt with

other movie cars is little help. The Bond Aston DB5 used to promote Thunderball sold for $6,385,000 at RM Sotheby’s in Monterey last year, but one of the Goldfinger DB5s sold for much less, £2.6m, in London in 2010. The Bond Lotus Esprit ‘Wet Nellie’ submarine went for $500,000 in 2013, one of the Back to the Future Deloreans sold for $541,000 in 2011, and the Porsche 917K used in the McQueen’s Le Mans sold for $14m in 2017 – but it could have been worth up to $10m even without film history.

As for Sean, the responsibility of owning the Bullitt Ford, and keeping it safe, weighed heavily on him. “To have it sitting there knowing that my father had taken it apart, and that I’d have to put it back together on my own, then take the most personal thing to me and show it to the whole world… psychologically that messes with you,” he told us in 2018. “Now I’m scared to death every turn I make. Little rocks kicking up. Gravel and water are my worst enemies. I want to make myself a replica that I can drive without worrying.”

He recognised the wild ride he’d been on, though, going from auto paint sales manager to world traveller and celebrity: “This car has changed my life.” After the sale, he

ABOVE Movie Mustang was star billing at Mecum sale, where bidding was started at a nominal $3500. told Hemmings: “What I really hope for is that whoever buys it doesn’t change a bolt on it. My Dad was 66 when he died. All of this, selling the car, is going to be bittersweet for me.

But I know that what it needs is to find a whole team of new owners so it can be pampered in its new life.”

Magneto market expert Andy Reid is adamant that the price was right.

“It sold for a very strong price but one that isn’t likely to be repeated.

It’s an amazing piece of classic car history, an icon for a generation that grew up with it. Newer generations don’t have that connection with the movie or Steve McQueen.

“The McQueen ‘tax’ is usually around five to eight times the value of a similar model without that history, and this car well surpassed that amount. The 911S used in the opening of Le Mans at the time sold for around eight times the amount of a standard 911S, hence my surprise with the Mustang sale amount.”

Regardless, the time was right for the Kiernans – and the transformation the Bullitt Mustang has made to their lives is now complete.

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579 Outlandish, bold, audacious... Such adjectives apply equally to Bertone’s revolutionary Alfa Romeo BAT cars from the early 1950s as they do to Franco Scaglione, the design genius who created them. How did these ground-breaking aerodynamic studies come into being, and what was their impact on the contemporary automotive industry and, in more recent years, the collector car world? Here is their story WOR D S W I N STON G O ODF E L LOW   P HOTO G R A P H Y SA M C H IC K

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RIGHT AND BELOW Scaglione’s wild imagination and unfettered hand dreamed up BAT 5.

ABOVE AND LEFT BAT 7 and BAT 9 completed trio of audacious cars from Italy’s design zenith.

HOW CAN AN influential visionary pass away in complete obscurity?

It’s difficult to imagine today, but that’s exactly what happened on June 19, 1993 when Franco Scaglione left this world from the small medieval village of Suvereto, Italy. An incredible talent who burst onto the automotive scene in 1952, over the next decade or more Scaglione lit up the industry with some of its most startling shapes and artistic forms. Then he seemed to vanish so quietly it was almost as if he hadn’t been there at all.

Thankfully, many of his greatest creations have lived on, including a very famous trio. The Alfa Romeo BATs are likely the most audacious cars created during Italy’s incredible ascent to becoming the automotive world’s design mecca in the first half of the 1950s, and those three one-offs are ideal mirrors of the man himself, his unique abilities and vision, and the seismic shifts in the way collector cars have been perceived over the years.

Francesco Vittorio Scaglione was born on September 26, 1916, the son of a doctor who oversaw a military hospital. From a very young

age, Scaglione was passionate about art, design, style and flight. “He was a lover of the arts in general, but I don’t think he was influenced by somebody in a special way,” his daughter Giovanna Scaglione remembered on FrancoScaglione.com. “Aerodynamic studies were his great passion, but always with a special eye towards elegance and style; he used to meld technique with beauty.”

Franco was lean, athletic and active, and excelled in a number of sports. He had a very sharp mind and keen memory, so good grades were never an issue. During his teenage years he developed a cultured sense of personal style and fashion; in a photo from 1935, a 19-yearold Scaglione is immaculately dressed in a fitted suit and tie, his hair perfectly coiffed as he nonchalantly sits on the front fender of his new Fiat Balilla and gives the photographer a deadpan look that is equal to ‘Bogie’ at his tough-talking, film noir best.

Franco was fluent in five languages – able to read, speak and write Italian, English, German, French and Spanish – and could get by with passable Greek. He remained incessantly curious

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BELOW BAT 5 revolutionised automotive styling when it first appeared, at the 1953 Turin show.

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about the world around him, and was a voracious reader. His love for aerodynamics very likely found him devouring the works of radical thinkers such as Wunibald Kamm and Paul Jaray, while formal education came from studying mathematics at the renowned University of Florence.

He later enrolled at the University of Bologna to get a degree in aeronautical engineering, but Italy’s entry into World War Two cut his studies short. According to the book Franco Scaglione Designer, he was a second lieutenant in the Pontoon Engineering Regiment, and ended up on the Libyan front. Later his ship was torpedoed, and Scaglione was rescued at sea. But much of the war was spent in an English prison camp in Punjab, India, where he was detained with 10,000 other Italians. Daughter Giovanna summarised the hardship as “five years in absolute nothing”.

It definitely affected Franco, for after he was released in 1946 he made his way to Calabria in southern Italy, where he spent a year with his mother convalescing and recovering from the trauma of captivity.

He then returned to Bologna in 1947 to complete his aeronautical degree, while a new interest garnered much of his attention – the automobile. His formidable creativity was now in overdrive, and he began sketching cars and harbouring a dream of working in the industry. Soon he was writing letters to coachbuilders such as Pinin Farina, Bertone and others about becoming a designer.

That went nowhere, so in 1948 his skills with the pencil and acumen for form and colour landed him a job as a clothing designer.

He flourished in his newfound role, much of it focused on women’s fashion. While war-torn Italy struggled to get back on its feet Franco was doing quite well, and that year he proposed to schoolteacher Maria Luisa Benvenuti, who wore a gown of Scaglione’s own design at their wedding. “He was the ‘Prince of Taste’ about dressing,” Giovanna noted. “A simple design but always chic.”

That success and a comfortable lifestyle couldn’t take Scaglione’s mind away from cars, so some time around 1950 he decided to chase his passion. Depending upon what source you refer to, Franco either moved or repeatedly travelled to Turin from Bologna, determined to finally break into the rapidly recovering automotive industry.

In Turin, one who was living Scaglione’s dream was Nuccio Bertone.

Three years older than Franco, Nuccio had grown up in the industry.

His father Giovanni was born into a large farming family, and after learning how to make horse-drawn wagons, in 1907 at age 23 he migrated to the booming industrial city. Intent on making his fortune there, Giovanni began working full-time at Diatto, and part-time as a handyman at a local school.

In 1912 he went out on his own and opened Carrozzeria Bertone,

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HAMLET IN A HELMET

A cultured man of discriminating taste, lifelong ‘car guy’ Phil Hill was far from a stereotypical racing driver. His superb photography skills can only hint at the American hero’s hidden depths WOR D S D O UG N Y E

PHOTOGRAPHY P H I L H I L L , G P L I B R A RY

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E JUST FROZE with embarrassment. It was the Wednesday – I believe – just before a 2000s British Grand Prix at Silverstone. The 1961 World Champion Driver Phil Hill was celebrity guide with a tour party from America. We were in the functions room of an Oxford hotel, where one of the speakers was a recent (failed) Formula 1 driver – who was proving rather more effective as a raconteur.

Phil and I were working then on the autobiography he’d always refused to write until several of us badgered him into it.

During the majority of his racing career a favourite hobby had been photography, at which he was brilliant.

I had brought with me a stack of proofs to spark some memories. I’d laid them out on a long table. Phil was reminiscing, when our recent F1 driver walked into the room. His reaction was typical of all upon first sight of Phil’s photography: “Cor! Phil, these are fantastic! Who took ’em?” Sparing his blushes, I said: “Phil did…”

“Wow! They’re brilliant…” cried our enthusiastic visitor. I wouldn’t disagree. But then our new friend gushed: “Cor – that’s Le Mans! Did you do Le Mans as well then, Phil?” Cue our embarrassment. Phil mumbled: “Err – yeah, yeah. I did do Le Mans…”

A second’s silence, then I heard myself snap: “Yes! Phil won Le Mans three times.” And then I added: “And he also won the Sebring 12-Hours three times, and the Nürburgring 1000km twice… and the Buenos Aires 1000km twice… and the Italian Grand Prix twice… and the Belgian Grand Prix…” Whereupon Phil just murmured: 86

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RIGHT ‘Outstanding mechanic’ Hill in Ferrari’s engine test house, 1958.

“But I guess I got lucky…” Typical.

Later – as we strolled to a restaurant – Phil suddenly spluttered: “Can you believe that guy? That’s just a perfect example of how the current crop imagine Grand Prix racing has only just begun – just for them – just from nowhere.

“Dammit! By the time I was 12 I’d read everything I could find about racing. I’d read all the Bira books, and I was taking the English magazines Autocar and Motor…!”

But, typically – after a brief explosion – Phil was never happier than to chuckle and natter about almost anything else, despite being, truly, a lifelong ‘car guy’. I had got to know him properly in the 1970s, when we both contributed to Road & Track magazine. He was not the stereotypical racing driver. He was more a deeply thoughtful, cultured, thoroughly decent man, a fine and accomplished engineer, a highly successful car restorer, and a man of discriminating taste across a vast range from classical music through anything mechanical to British nonsense songs.

He had a wonderfully insightful mind, but he was also intense, a man long haunted by introspective self doubt, self-generated stress and tension. This was largely rooted in a stressful childhood with alcoholic parents – a dominant, status-conscious father and a mother prone to fire-and-brimstone religious mania. Phil’s later sometime-girlfriend, the racer and writer Denise McCluggage, had good reason to entitle her magazine profile of him Hamlet in a Helmet.

But Phil’s boyhood saviour had been his adored Aunt Helen – a well heeled carenthusiast divorcee – who encouraged his

inborn automobile fascination. From being an inquisitive, resourceful, then outstanding mechanic, Phil later drove most famously – but not only – for Ferrari but also, at top level, for Cobra, Ford, Chaparral, Porsche, Cooper and Aston Martin. Just consider the iconic cars he piloted, through Jaguar XK120 and C-type to 1938 ex-Mille Miglia Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 – from such Ferraris as the fearsome 121LM, the racing Testa Rossas, the 250GTOs, and the monoposto V6 Dinos, to the Aston Martin Project cars. Then followed the first Ford GTs, before final victory in his very last race, in the 1967 Chaparral 2F ‘winged wonder’… No other World Champion Driver’s career embraces such diversity.

Phil Hill became a global player, an internationalist who had seen his first F1 car at Goodwood in England as early as 1950. He would recall how: “At that time, the limit of my ambition was one day to be a mechanic to a great racing driver…”

Yet just 12 action-packed years later, he would have become Ferrari’s fourth World Champion Driver. And in his autobiography Inside Track, we have finally presented his story for other ‘car guys’ to enjoy. Of course, his fabulous photography really helped... but doing him adequate justice became so important for me that I took too long – and poor Phil never lived to see it published, passing away in 2008, aged 81.

However, just for a taste of Phil’s story, here are some significant – and typically thoughtful – recollections and his photos…

For more of Phil Hill’s evocative photography and additional detail on the absorbing Inside Track book, visit phil-hill-book.com.

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MCQUEEN LOST AND FOUND

A chance spot online unearthed the King of Cool’s lost Land Rover. Here’s its story from Solihull to Southern California – and beyond WOR D S A N D P HOTO G R A P H Y N IC K DI M B L E B Y

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BELOW Lost and found, the ultimate Hollywood anti-vehicle for the ultimate anti-hero.

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BELOW Bronze Green 1961 Series II Station Wagon formed part of a film contract when Steve was in UK.

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OPPOSITE With his Land Rover and son Chad, movie star McQueen was never happier.

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and – perhaps most importantly – time away from the superficiality of Hollywood.

It was a private space that symbolised his enjoyment of simple pleasures – a love of mechanical objects, the freedom of the desert and calm silence away from the craziness of his profession.

The Landy isn’t the flash sports car that you’d expect a film star to be driving down Sunset Strip or Santa Monica Boulevard, but I bet that McQueen loved every minute behind the wheel. Land Rovers weren’t designed to be cool in the 1960s, yet their no-nonsense attitude and consummate capability attracted people such as Steve. Not because they were trendy, but because of what they did. Like McQueen, his Land Rover’s actions spoke louder than words.

McQueen took delivery of the Bronze Green 1961 Series II Station Wagon while in the UK filming The War Lover. According to Matt Stone, writing in McQueen’s Machines: The

Cars and Bikes of a Hollywood Icon, Steve had the purchase of the Land Rover written into his contract for The War Lover, effectively replacing the use of a chauffeurdriven car during filming.

“My agent had a special bit written into my contract,” said McQueen. “He had the studio agree to provide me with a limousine and chauffeur to get me to the set. But that wasn’t my thing, and I told the studio people: ‘Why not let me buy a small car and drive it myself?’ This saved them money, so they okayed the offer. As a result, I got me a 12-speed, four-wheel-drive Land Rover, which I shipped back to California after the film was over. I came out ahead on the deal.”

In between filming at Shepperton Studios and Bovingdon Airfield in Hertfordshire, Steve ‘ran amok’ around the British countryside in the Land Rover, as well as indulging his passion for racing with Stirling Moss in Mini Coopers at Brands Hatch (much to the MAGNETO

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BARRY FEINSTEIN PHOTOGRAPHY

“THE MINUTE A picture is over, I run like a thief… I’ll put the old lady and the kids in my Land Rover and take off. Up into the mountains, out in the desert, anywhere…

Man, I don’t want to be bugged by anybody.”

So said Steve McQueen, as quoted in Marc Eliot’s 2012 biography.

You don’t have to be a film fanatic to know that Terrence Stephen McQueen, actor, racer, spannerman and enthusiast of all things mechanical, loved his cars. As he became more successful, his fleet grew exponentially: Porsches, Ferraris and Mercedes featured heavily in his garage, as well as the famous Jaguar XKSS that he enjoyed so much he owned it twice. There was also a 1961 Series II SWB Land Rover, which, appropriately enough for such an unassuming vehicle, is one of McQueen’s lesser-known rides.

This discreet and determinedly unflashy Land Rover was a vehicle that brought together all of Steve’s true passions of family, racing

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Maserati MC12 The Italian manufacturer finally returned to the track with this GT1-homologated, Ferrari Enzo-based supercar. Now, a good MC12 can fetch more than four times its original price W O R D S T Y L E R H E AT L E Y   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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FABLED ITALIAN MARQUE Maserati is drenched in a history many of its modern contemporaries can only dream of. The history books show that Ferraris weren’t the only red cars to beat in motor sport…

It was the crimson flash of a Maserati that attracted the world’s top drivers and brought feverish excitement to Italian crowds the world over. Stunning victories in the hands of legends such as Juan Manuel Fangio cemented the trident as a symbol of worldbeating performance. However, tragedy during the 1957 Mille Miglia resulted in the Maserati factory officially withdrawing from motor sport and ultimately refocusing on series production cars.

As the decades passed and Maserati went through a series of ownership changes, eventually falling under the same banner as its historical rival Ferrari, its illustrious racing past began to fade into the pages of history. That was until the unexpected – but totally sensational – 2004 announcement that Maserati would return to the track after decades of absence with a new model, dubbed the MC12.

Utilising the bones of Ferrari’s flagship Enzo supercar, the MC12 was developed to comply with the GT1 racing regulations of its day.

A wonderful by-product of these guidelines was that a minimum of 25 road-legal examples of the racer were needed for homologation, resulting in one of the most extreme specials to ever grace Tarmac. Such was the excitement among fans for the sold-out MC12, that Maserati decided to extend production to a total of 50 road cars.

While the uninitiated might claim that the Maserati MC12 is simply a rebodied Enzo, this supercar received a complete development programme that resulted in many bespoke elements to satisfy its motor sport ambitions. Its lengthy 16.9ft profile manipulates the air to generate far greater downforce than the Prancing Horse, all while retaining a top speed of 205mph.

The naturally aspirated 6.0-litre V12 engine was reprogrammed and optimised to work with an air restrictor mandated by GT1 rulemakers. Gear-driven cams were

ABOVE Royal blue leather trim and figure-hugging seats help make cabin more cosseting than Enzo’s. fitted as the cherry on top to strengthen the engine for the punishing crucible that is motor sport. Its output of 623bhp and a 0-62mph dash of 3.8 seconds might be fractionally inferior to those of the Enzo, but several independent hot-lap tests over the years have consistently proven the MC12 to be the faster of this pair.

The MC12 Corsa competed in the FIA GT and GT1 championships with great success, winning the Manufacturers’ Cup in 2005 and 2007. Twelve customer track-only cars were produced, making an MC12 in any guise one of only 62 in the entire world.

T H E D E S I R A B I L I T Y FA C T O R Does it get any more desirable than a rarified road-legal racer, equipped with one of Italy’s most coveted V12 engines? Each example was spoken for prior to the MC12’s unveiling – despite a steep £501,365 price tag

‘True scarcity and GT1 provenance have resulted in higher values than the Enzo’

($790,000) – and collectors have since quickly re-homed those that re-entered the market. That said, the car did have its critics at launch, with some misunderstanding its motor sport motivations for typical supercar impracticalities.

In addition to an appearance akin to that of the Batmobile, the MC12 features several other traits that distinguish the car from its Ferrari cousin. The cabin’s trimmed in royal blue leather and plays host to a pair of figure-hugging seats, contributing to an environment that’s arguably more cosseting than the Enzo’s. It also possesses a detachable roof that not only allows the sunshine in, but serves that masterful V12 symphony direct to your eardrums.

The vast majority of the 50 road cars were finished in a distinctive pearl white and blue paint scheme, but two managed to escape the factory colours; one in black and the other in silver. The model’s price sticker when new was a fair chunk of change, but today’s values have proven the car to be a sound investment. Its rarity and pedigree have led to examples selling in excess of £1.6 million ($2m), while pristine low-mileage MC12s are changing hands for over £2m ($2.6m).

T H E N U T S A N D B O LT S Considering the MC12’s exotic nature and keen focus on high performance, you’d be forgiven for thinking it to be a burdensome beast

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FAR LEFT The JPS sponsorship deal extended to F2, F3 (like this 1972 Type 73) and GT, as well as merchandise and, of course, road cars.

George Hadfield on JPS Lotus John Player’s ace marketing man in the 1970s and ’80s explains the company’s surprising relationship with Colin Chapman and his drivers

WE SPONSORED MOTOCROSS, tennis and motorcycling, and I was involved mainly with cars. When John Player decided to go motor racing under Geoffrey Kent – a very forward-looking marketing director – its initial thought was to go with Paul Emery, who built and ran racing Hillman Imps in the mid-’60s.

I said: “You know that you’ll just be preaching to three clubmen and a sick dog. We really want to be talking to the whole nation, and there’s only one car to sponsor and that is a Lotus!” Eventually Geoffrey agreed with Colin Chapman to sponsor Formula 1, 2, 3 and GT, although he was never really interested in Formula 2 or 3. We went from Gold Leaf to John Player Special, by which time we had left Formula 2.

Not generally known is that we had an enormous problem with painting the cars originally; there was no such colour as black. It may look like black, but when it’s photographed or on TV or in bright sunlight there is no such colour as black ink. It doesn’t exist. We also had trouble with the gold; the original cars were gold-leafed, and they were appalling on TV. You couldn’t see the gold at all, so we quickly went to yellow, not that we ever told anyone, and the coachlines and logos were yellow paint until we finished.

Geoffrey used to write to Colin each year and say: “We would like to sponsor your cars, how little will it cost, and where will they be?” It was a one-sentence letter almost. Colin

would write back, and everything was done on a per-car start business; two cars per race, that’s 14 starts, plus Race of Champions and Daily Express at Silverstone – that’s two more, so maybe 16 car starts. The cost per car was so much, and Colin would do his best to win as many races as possible and become World Champion constructors, and Geoffrey would write back and say: “Enclosed is our cheque.” It was £30,000 a year [in the Gold Leaf days]... it crept up to £100,000-plus in 1972.

There was no contract. Why not?

Because John Player was extremely rich, awesomely rich, really. It could afford to do virtually anything it wanted, wherever it wanted, whenever it wanted. If we wanted a bit more profit we’d just add another 0.002 percent water to the tobacco.

Colin was treated like a [retail] buyer of tobacco goods: while he delivered, he was instantly paid, no question. And he’d tell you contracts are worthless pieces of paper… he never had contracts with Cosworth, Renault or Ford to supply engines.

He did have contracts with his drivers, though, not because he didn’t trust them but because of the possibility of death. Emerson Fittipaldi was amazingly adult for his age and Ronnie Peterson was one of the favourites of the team; everybody loved Ronnie. He went to Zolder and wrote off three cars, and still Colin would produce cars for him, which he wouldn’t do for anyone else. I wasn’t present when Ronnie died

but I believe Colin was very cut up.

And then we had Gunnar Nilsson, who died of cancer, who never really had the chance to pitch in. Mario Andretti had the world’s most feeble handshake, but put him in a car and he’s magic. Jim Clark and Colin were like brothers; Colin and Emerson like father and son. But Andretti and Colin were like brother and brother.

Graham Hill upset John Player the most. Why? His book never mentioned that John Player paid his wages when he was racing for Colin, and we kept him on while he was in hospital. Whatever shortcomings any of the drivers had, we kept paying until they left the team, because we were that sort of company. So when Nilsson was dying, he’d have been paid right up to the final day.

The other driver, of course, was Nigel Mansell. Now Mansell and Colin were almost as good as Colin and Clark, because Mansell is a tough Brummie. In those days even if his arse was full of petrol – which occasionally it was – he’d keep trying, he never, ever stopped.

It’s amusing to see the ingenuity [in later years] that teams with tobacco sponsorship have displayed in their graphic attempts to get around the ad ban. The 2015 Lotus F1 team [black and gold] livery looked contemporary enough, but of course it had nothing to with JPS. You have to go historic racing for that.

Extracted from a longer interview in Black & Gold: The Story of the John Player Specials, www.coteriepress.com.

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 USA by RRD/Spatial, 1250 Valley Brook Ave, Lyndhurst NJ 07071. Periodicals postage paid at South Hackensack NJ. POSTMASTER: send address changes to Magneto c/o RRD, 1250 Valley Brook Ave, Lyndhurst NJ 07071.

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1934 FRAZER NASH TT REPLICA ‘THE LIGHT BLUE RACER’ This well-known car, #2123, competed widely throughout the mid 1930s including at Brooklands, and is a wonderful example of these highly desirable cars. Supplied new as a long chassis, narrow bodied cars and with the Meadows 4ED engine

1954 LANCIA AURELIA B20 GT SERIES 4 After import to England in 2010, this Aurelia was subject to nearly 3,000 hours of meticulous restoration by marque specialist by 2012 Desirable Series 4 with De Dion rear end. Original engine with “Nardi” style twin-carb set-up and “Nardi” style floor-change transmission

CALIBER RM 017

www.richardmille.com