Octane 263 May 2025

BUGATTI TYPE 35B 100 YEARS OF A SUPERCHARGED GREAT 263

PORSCHE 911

MAY 2025 / £6.50 / AUS $15.00

AIR VS WATER Carrera RS 2.7 takes on 997 GT3 PLUS 993 tackles 996

MOON BUGGIES! Five decades of a , NASA masterpiece the Lunar Rover

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ALFA GIULIA SS On the road in a stunning example of the ’60s Bertone beauty

EPIC MAZDA MX-5 DRIVE The length of Britain in four generations of an icon

14/03/2025 16:08

Catalogue Now Online Goodwood, Chichester | 13 April 2025 Circa 600 miles from new 2024 LAMBORGHINI REVUELTO £330,000 - 400,000 *

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Forthcoming auctions ENQUIRIES +44 (0) 20 7468 5801 ukcars@bonhamscars.com

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bonhamscars.com/membersmeeting

bonhamscars.com/miami

* For details of the charges payable in addition to the final hammer price, please visit bonhams.com/buyersguide

THE BONMONT SALE | 29 June +32 (0) 476 87 94 71 | eucars@bonhamscars.com GOODWOOD FESTIVAL OF SPEED | 11 July +44 (0) 20 7468 5801 | ukcars@bonhamscars.com THE QUAIL AUCTION | 15 August +1 (917) 206 1630 | uscars@bonhamscars.com

Issue 263 May 2025

PAGE

Contents 80

‘THEIR INTRODUCTION ENABLED APOLLO ASTRONAUTS TO COVER NEARLY 60 MILES OVER THREE MISSIONS’ NASA’S LUNAR ROVERS

86

122

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YORKSHIRE ELEGANCE 2 2 ND - 24 TH J U LY 2 0 2 5

CONCOURS D’ELEGANCE SHOWCASES & CELEBRATIONS 140 Years of the Motor Car The first production motorcar built by Karl Benz the in 1885 The Greatest Endurance Drive in History 7o Years since Stirling Moss won the 1000 Miglia

3 D AY S C E L E B R AT I N G THE FINEST MARQUES AT G R A N T L E Y H A L L

50 Years of the Porsche 911 Turbo A showcase of the 7 generations of the Iconic Model The Rolls Royce Phantom 100 Years since the successor to the Ghost was launched The Aston Martin DB Era (1947-1972) To celebrate 60 years since the DB6 was launched Exclusive VIP packages available including overnight stays at Englands finest hotel, Grantley Hall. Or simply come for the day and enjoy the spectacle of beautiful prestige & classic vehicles...

To enter the Concours or book a VIP package please visit:

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Contents Issue 263

70 Features

96 108

PORSCHE 911s 54 Air-cooled versus water-cooled: 911 RS 2.7 takes on 997 GT3, 993 tackles 996 PLUS we hear from Mr 911, August Achleitner

BUGATTI TYPE 35B 70 On the road to celebrate a century of the legendary supercharged racer

LUNAR ROVERS 80 Light enough to take to the Moon, tough enough for Apollo astronauts to explore it

ALFA ROMEO GIULIA SS 86 Driving this restored super-sleek, superlightweight 1960s Bertone-built coupé

THE OCTANE INTERVIEW 96 Aloisa Ruf, youngest in the Pfaffenhausen high-performance family line

100

BRISTOL 408 100 In Australia’s wine country with chassis No.1 PLUS Bristol’s future revival plans

MAZDA MX-5 DRIVE 108 From Land’s End to John O’Groats in all four generations – and powered by e-fuel

FRACTIONAL OWNERSHIP 116 Invest in your dream car in affordable chunks

CAMPBELL’S WOODIE 122 Traces of ‘Bluebird Blue’ paint confirm this 1938 Ford V8 as the record-breaker’s own 7

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Contents Issue 263

Regulars

18

EVENTS & NEWS 18 Eyes on the best classic car events around the world; all the important dates for your diary; Sunbeam 1000HP soon to run again

COLUMNS 43 Listen up as Jay Leno, Derek Bell, Stephen Bayley and Robert Coucher have their say

LETTERS 51 Remembering the rarest Ferrari 348

OCTANE CARS 134 Ford Model T, Aston DB7, Saab 96 and more

OVERDRIVE 142 The 635bhp Land Rover Defender OCTA

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN 144 Last of the F1 privateers, Bob Anderson

GEARBOX 146

142

McLaren designer and artist Paul Howse

ICON 148 Guinness stout and flavourful advertising

CHRONO 150 Marie Antoinette never received this Breguet

144

BOOKS 152 Wedge-shaped cars take the lead this month

146

GEAR 154 Desirables including special pen and helmet

THE MARKET 160 Insider knowledge, auction news, stats, cars for sale, Dodge Viper buying guide

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 194 Touring’s new head of design, Matteo Gentile

148

150

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Issue 263 May 2025

WELCOME

FEATURING

FROM THE EDITOR

SAM CHICK ‘Sometimes photographers must sketch and search for the “right” heights and angles to best capture a car. Not so with the flowing lines and forms of the Alfa Giulia SS, which were a joy to capture.

Scaglione’s genius was never in doubt.’

Sam’s beautiful photographs illustrate Peter Tomalin’s story on pages 86-94.

JORDAN BUTTERS

Porsche: the great debate FORGET THE WAILING and gnashing of teeth over Ford resuscitating the Capri name in a way that many enthusiasts feel is inappropriate: that is a mere skirmish compared to the all-out war that greeted Porsche going water-cooled. Very little else was talked about for months and, while most of the new-car magazines bravely sat on the fence, for a long time James Elliott, they didn’t have to worry about filling their Letters pages, Editor in chief which spilled over with virulently expressed, largely negative opinions. Hell, there hadn’t been as much collective fury among enthusiasts since Porsche went front-engined. Yes, there is a theme there, which speaks volumes about Porsche, purity and the petrolheads that are devoted to the marque. After all, if your manufacturing schtick is creating a formula so perfect that it barely changes over decades, then you have to expect that the shock of the new is going to be substantially greater for you than when others, others who more frequently update their platforms, take similar leaps of progress. Even today, you can spark an argument about Porsche air-versus-water as easily as you can buy a dodgy mobile phone. And it seems the poor old 996, a phenomenal bargain, still hasn’t been forgiven even after 25-plus years, though that is likely to be as related to Tiptronic as it is to cooling.

ANOTHER CAR whose evolution caused similar dismay was the Mazda MX-5. You can understand why. The NA from 1989 was a masterpiece in retro-lightening and simplicity, the Mk2 introduced largely practical updates but unquestionably kept the spirit. In comparison, the Mk3 was a bit of a bloater that had conspicuously strayed from the original intent, even if it was in production longer than either of its predecessors. That Mazda acknowledged and addressed that in the Mk4 is something so out of kilter with what other manufacturers would do that it really deserves to be applauded more than it is. But then, what would you expect from the company that decided to bring the two-seat sports car back from the dead anyway?

Of course, Matthew Hayward got to try all four on his sustainable fuel testing trip from Land’s End to John O’Groats; you can see what he thought from page 108.

JAMES NICHOLLS ‘Bristols have always been very special to me due to the rarity and “Britishness” of the marque. When the opportunity came to own such a special one, it was a project that was hard to turn down – especially as I found it in Australia.’

Bristol 408: driving the former press car.

Turn to pages 100-104.

PAUL GRIFFIN ‘From the times of friends running cars together on a pint-and-a-pie basis to today’s pure financial investment, the fractional ownership of classic cars has come a long way.’

Paul unravels the complexity of buying a share in a classic or supercar on pages 116-120.

COVER PHOTOGRAPHY JORDAN BUTTERS

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Issue 263 May 2025

NEXT MONTH

EDITORIAL Editor-in-chief James Elliott james@octane-magazine.com

ISSUE 264, ON SALE 23 APRIL

Associate editor Glen Waddington glen@octane-magazine.com Art editor Robert Hefferon roberth@octane-magazine.com Markets editor Matthew Hayward matthew@octane-magazine.com Founding editor Robert Coucher Contributing editor Mark Dixon

TOM SHAXSON

MATT HOWELL

TIM ANDREW

Italian correspondent Massimo Delbò Design assistance Ruth Haddock Contributor Chris Bietzk

Inquiries to info@octane-magazine.com

ADVERTISING Group advertising director Sanjay Seetanah sanjay@octane-magazine.com Account director Samantha Snow sam@octane-magazine.com

British muscle

How Aston Martin redefined its appeal with the gloriously overstated V8 Vantage

Plus Renault 5 GT Turbo by Dimma Getting under the skin of the wide-body for wideboys, plus its maker and his latest extreme 205 project AC Aceca barn-find An ex-rally car sees daylight after 56 years in a lock-up Peter Livanos’s RS 911s Heaven is a Greek island and the full range from ’73 RS Lightweight to 3.0 Group 4 SC RS (Contents may be subject to change)

Dealer account manager Marcus Ross marcus@octane-magazine.com Lifestyle advertising Sophie Kochan sophie.kochan2010@gmail.com Advertising inquiries Tel: +44 (0)1628 510080 Email: ads@octane-magazine.com

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This issue on sale 26 March.

June 2025 issue on sale 23 April

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PRE V

th WORLD SHOW FOR VINTAGE, CLASSIC & PRESTIGE AUTOMOBILES, FUTURE CLASSICS, MOTOR SPORT, CLASSIC TUNING, MOTORCYCLES, SPARE PARTS, RESTORATION, YOUNG CLASSICS AND WORLD CLUB MEETING

Artist: Alfredo de la Maria

W IE

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Issue 263 May 2025

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

AUCTIONS & PRIVATE BROKERAGE

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Bleed 228 mm w x 291 mm h Trim 222 mm w x 285 mm h 196 mm w x 256 mm h Live

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2-28-2025 5:10 PM Revisions

Notes Int'l ISSUE: RHP/May, On Sale 3/27 Due: March 4-6 150 Line Screen PDFX1A 7MB limit Ship: elaine@hothousemedia.co.uk

Production Artist Production Manager Proofer 1 Proofer 2 Project Manager

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05.06.25 – THE NEED FOR SPEED

SUPERCAR DAY PRESENTED BY

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T H E L O N D O N C O N C O U R S | H O N O U R A B L E A R T I L L E R Y C O M P A N Y, E C 2

J O I N A T H R E E - D AY A U T O M O T I V E G A R D E N P A R T Y IN THE HEART OF THE CITY The London Concours is the capital’s leading automotive summer garden party,

UNIQUE ART CARS | THE HYPERCARS Y O U N G T I M E R S | T H E FA S T F O R D S 7 0 TH A N N I V E R S A R Y M E R C E D E S - B E N Z S L LEGENDARY AC CARS | DREAM CARS | WILDCARDS

gathering together nearly 150 spectacular privately owned cars into one of London’s most beautiful hidden venues. Hosted at the Honourable Artillery Company HQ, a five-acre oasis of green in the heart of the City of London.

This year the London Concours will host – among many others – celebrations of Aston Martin, Mercedes-Benz and a dedicated Supercar Day to showcase the very latest performance innovations. Alongside these breathtaking displays, the London Concours is an occasion of pure indulgence, featuring luxury popup boutiques, champagne by Veuve Clicquot, catering by Searcys and a line-up of celebrity and expert guests as well as live podcast recordings.

For tickets visit londonconcours.co.uk

T U E S D AY 3 J U N E – A B R I T I S H I C O N – A S T O N M A R T I N W E D N E S D AY 4 J U N E – T H E G R E AT E S T M A R Q U E – M E R C E D E S - B E N Z T H U R S D AY 5 J U N E – T H E N E E D F O R S P E E D – S U P E R C A R D AY

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The Month in Pictures

Ignition E V EN T S + NE WS + OPINION

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ModaMiami 1-2 March Phillip Sarofim’s Aston Martin Bulldog (Octane 234 and 256) won the People’s Choice award at this stunning event, already feeling so mature that it is almost unbelievable that it is only in its second year at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, Florida. As well as the concours and RM Sotheby’s auction, which included more lots from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum (see Markets, page 160), there was the Moda Classic scenic drive, plus parties every evening. Yet the Sunday was the main show, with hundreds of cars and thousands of visitors. A huge highlight was the Mercedes-Benz Classic cars on show and in action, including a 300 SLR (W196 S) and a Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren ‘Stirling Moss’ edition. The 2026 ModaMiami will take place from 28 February to 1 March.

ModaMiami

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Ignition The Month in Pictures

Sydney Harbour Concours d’Elegance 28 February – 2 March The seventh running of the southern hemisphere’s premier concours, and its second visit to Cockatoo Island, was a phenomenal success. Overall winner was David and Adele Cohen’s sensational 1933 Alfa 6C 1750 GS Figoni (below left).

Gareth Carr / Jackson Taylor

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Amelia FP

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Ignition The Month in Pictures

The ICE St Moritz 21-22 February More than 20,000 people were at this spectacular Alpine event, a welcome record attendance following its last-minute cancellation in 2024. Winners from the 52 cars ranged from 1934 Bugatti Type 59 (Open Wheels) to 1971 Porsche 908/03 (Racing Legends).

The I.C.E.

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RS

1973PORSCHE ONE OF THE FIRST 500 S P E C I A L O R D E R FA C T O RY B L A C K

CARRERA2.7

K I D S T O N S A 7 AV E N U E P I C T E T D E R O C H E M O N T, 1 2 0 7 G E N E VA , S W I T Z E R L A N D T E L + 4 1 2 2 7 4 0 1 9 3 9 W W W. K I D S T O N . C O M

Ignition The Month in Pictures

CLOCKWISE, FROM TOP LEFT

East Riding Stages Rally 23 February

Andrew O’Hanlon and Kevin Hogan’s Mini Cooper ‘S’ during the Beverley & District Motor Club’s first competitive event of the year.

Matthew Pitts

Tour of Cheshire 1 March

The opening round of the HRCR Clubman’s Rally Championship had a field of 75 cars.

Reigning champ Ian Crammond had a bad day in his Mercedes 280SL and finished well down the order.

Ben Lawrence

Retro Classics Stuttgart 27 Feb – 2 Mar

77,000 people attended the 24th running of the event in Germany’s motor city. Attractions included 70 years of the BMW 507 and Citroën DS. Retro Classics

Riponian Stages 9 February

After six fast but slippery special stages in the Yorkshire forests, Dan Mennell scored a breakthrough first BHRC victory at the head of a gaggle of Ford Escort Mk2s.

Ben Lawrence

Classic Sports Car Club 8-9 March

Pippa Cow won her class and finished second overall at Silverstone in the Lackford Engineering Midget & Sprite Challenge. She also won her class the previous day when she was third overall.

Peter McFadyen 24

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Ignition The Month in Pictures

The Amelia 6-9 March Some 275 cars were spread across 35 classes for the annual concours on Amelia Island, Florida, with the main day again moved to the Saturday after weather warnings.

The twin concours winners were a 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 and ex-Jim Clark ’67 Lotus 49.

Hagerty Events

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2025 PALM BEACH AUCTION | APRIL 24-26 Consign. Bid. Experience.

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Ignition The Month in Pictures

FROM TOP

VSCC Pomeroy Trophy 22 February

For many, the best event on the calendar and without doubt the most hilarious, as a smörgåsbord of classics do battle at Silverstone not just against each other but also Laurence Pomeroy’s convoluted formula to discern the ideal touring car. As they have done since 1952.

Familiarly, it was a chain-gang Frazer Nash that took the spoils, on this occasion Simon Blakeney-Edwards’ Super Sports.

Jeff Bloxham

21 Gun Salute 21-23 February

Event mastermind Madan Mohan poses beside Dhanraj Gidwaney’s 1922 Rolls-Royce 40/50 HP Silver Ghost Open-Tourer Hunting Car by Windover, winner of the 11th edition of India’s longest-running concours. Second place went to the 1955 Chrysler Imperial Limousine of Mr Viveck and Mrs Zita Goenka.

Geoff Love

Race Retro

21-23 February The exhibition halls at Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire were overflowing with competition cars at this superb event, but as usual all the thunder and drama were outside with the demonstration runs on the show’s Live Rally Stages.

Michael Holden

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BLENHEIM PALACE, OXFORDSHIRE 27–31 AUGUST 2025

20th Anniversary Celebration Driving Tours

Experience VIP hospitality in the stunning new Gallery at Salon Privé Blenheim Palace Choice of GT or Rally Tour | Evening Entertainment

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Ignition Events

Dates for your diary old. This year’s event begins with scrutineering at Monza Circuit, where crews will drive some practice laps before they head to the official start at Lake Iseo.

milano-sanremo.it

10-13 April 1000 Miglia Experience Italy Crews in classic and modern cars contest a rally that begins in Sorrento and ends in Bari.

1000miglia.it

12-13 April Goodwood Members’ Meeting Highlights this year will include the Win Percy Trophy, a new race for sub-3.0-litre Group 1 Touring Cars from the period 1970-1982.

goodwood.com Grand Prix de France Historique, 25-27 April | Image: Morgan Mathurin

17-22 April The Japan Driving Experience

28-30 March

5-9 April

6-14 April

Generations Rally

Copperstate 1000

Based in Harrogate and designed to introduce youngsters to the joys of endurance rallying, this event is exclusively for multigeneration crews.

Crews in pre-’74 cars explore Arizona. This year’s itinerary includes an evening at the Lowell Observatory, where Clyde Tombaugh was working when he discovered Pluto in 1930.

Goodwood Members’ Meeting Tour

rallytheglobe.com

1-5 April

mensartscouncil.com

VIP access to the Members’ Meeting is the main attraction, of course, but the programme also features a track-day at Goodwood and a visit to the McLaren Technology Centre.

audrainmotorsport.com

P800 NorCal Rally

6 April

Conceived by the folks from the Petersen Museum, and this year running between Arroyo Grande and beautiful Lake Tahoe.

Coffee & Classics

7-12 April

Car enthusiasts roll up to the Classic Motor Hub in Bibury to enjoy tasty breakfast grub and some live music.

Tour Auto

petersen.org

3-6 April

classicmotorhub.com

The Flying Scotsman

6 April

Pre-’48 cars cross the North York Moors and the Pennines before tackling the Scottish portion of a route that finishes, in keeping with tradition, at Gleneagles.

Haynes Breakfast Club

hero-era.com

haynesmuseum.org

5 April

6 April

VSCC Spring Start

Brooklands Veteran & Vintage Motorcycle Day

The VSCC kicks off its racing season at Silverstone Circuit, where there will be a guest grid for 1950s sports cars courtesy of FISCAR (fiscar.org).

vscc.co.uk

April’s gathering at the Haynes Motor Museum will feature a special paddock for Volkswagens and Fords.

Organised by Brooklands and the Sunbeam Motor Cycle Club, and including a talk on the evolution of early motorcycles.

brooklandsmuseum.com

One of the great driving events, starting in Paris, finishing this time in Nice, and featuring four track races in-between, at venues including Dijon-Prenois and Charade.

peterauto.fr

9-13 April Techno-Classica Essen The daddy of indoor classic car shows will again test the stamina of visitors, who will find more than 1250 exhibitors packed into the Messe Essen in Germany.

siha.de

10-13 April Coppa Milano-Sanremo A regularity rally that pays tribute to the Milano-Sanremo races of

Organised by the folks behind The Quail concours, this tour begins in Tokyo and takes crews out towards Mount Fuji before ending with a visit to the private racetrack at Magarigawa Club.

peninsula.com

19 April Brooklands Easter Gathering Pre-31 July 1995 cars are invited to park at the Museum for this year’s Easter Classic Gathering, which will feature live music, a barbecue, and a traders’ village.

brooklandsmuseum.com

19-20 April 6 Hours of Magny-Cours V de V’s first historic endurance race of 2025 will be run to the same regulations as the 2 Tours d’Horloge, meaning the grid will feature pre-1991 GTs and Touring cars plus a selection of pre-1987 sports prototypes, all pedalled by teams of up to four drivers.

vdev.fr

19-26 April Rallye Dubrovnik – Venise Crews in post-1950 cars drive up the Adriatic coast from southern Croatia to north-eastern Italy.

rallystory.com

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24-26 April Manx Classic

the name suggests, Porsches of all eras and types are welcome.

On the Isle of Man, roads are closed to allow competition on three hillclimb courses, each of them over a mile long.

air-water.com

manxmotorracing.com

24-27 April

Pre-1990 vehicles and sellers of vintage goodies gather at King’s Cross in London.

Anantara Concorso Roma

classiccarbootsale.co.uk

A new concours d’elegance for 2025, held in Rome’s historic centre and open exclusively to Italian cars (see page 38).

anantaraconcorsoroma.com

25-27 April La Jolla Concours d’Elegance A picture-postcard venue on the seafront north of San Diego, and a good variety of classes, including one this year for ‘Iconic American Hot Rods’.

lajollaconcours.com

25-27 April Veterama Hockenheim Germany’s Hockenheimring hosts a giant autojumble that attracts upwards of 2500 traders.

veterama.de

25-27 April Grand Prix de France Historique Top-notch racing and parades at Circuit Paul Ricard, with a special appearance by the R25 that helped Renault win the F1 Constructors’ title 20 years ago.

grandprixdefrancehistorique.com

26 April Air/Water The Orange County Fairgrounds in California will again host this sister event to Luftgekühlt. As

26-27 April Classic Car Boot Sale

27 April Drive It Day Classic car owners take to the road to promote the historic vehicle movement and to raise money for Childline. See the website to find a Drive It Day event in your area, and to buy a fundraising plate for your car.

driveitday.co.uk

27 April Simply British Classic British vehicles of all types mass at Beaulieu. Look out for a special display celebrating the 40th birthday of the Sinclair C5!

beaulieu.co.uk

27 April Bicester Motion April Scramble With a central display of ‘Record Cars’ – which in this case means both record-breakers and cars that appeared on album covers.

bicestermotion.com

27 April VSCC Diffey Brothers Wessex Trial In addition to the usual contingent of pre-war cars, the final event of the VSCC’s trials season will feature a number of trials specials from the late 1940s and early ’50s.

vscc.co.uk

BOOK NOW! Some of these events may seem a long way off, but you need to secure your place and travel plans now to take part South African 4x4 Adventure 4-15 March 2026 Classic Grand Touring’s sixth South Africa 4x4 Adventure is a guided, self-drive tour. Limited to ten couples, it starts in Cape Town, traverses the Karoo desert, and takes in the Garden Route and the winelands of Paarl and Franschhoek before heading back to Cape Town. CGT promises ‘rustic luxury’ in hotels, game reserves and safari lodges. classicgt.co.uk

Three Legs of Mann 13-15 March 2026 The sixth edition of this gruelling event (at top), based at the Palace Hotel and Casino in Douglas. It starts at the iconic TT Grandstand and delivers a challenging mix of closed-road tests and punishing regularities. Organisers say: ‘It’s Rally of the Tests – cranked to the extreme.’ hero-era.com

Classic Route 66 100th anniversary tour 20 June – 15 July 2026 An escorted tour along the most evocative road in the world. You’ll pass through the heart of the USA for 2450 miles over 25 days enjoying all the neon signs, truck stops and Americana en route. Packages with or without flights start at £4299 per person including standard car hire. sceniccartours.com

Nordic Challenge June-July 2026 Rally the Globe’s third Challenge event explores the forests and fjords of Scandinavia in a two-week, 4000km competitive rally for pre-’77 cars. It is the company’s most northerly adventure yet and focuses on some of the less-explored parts of the Nordic countries. RTG promises: ‘Crews will finish tired but with countless stories to tell.’ rallytheglobe.com Air/Water, 26 April | Image: Air/Water

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Ignition News

Sunbeam roars towards a return to Daytona Beach Land Speed Record car is halfway through the huge project to relive its glory days Words Nathan Chadwick Photography National Motor Museum

THE NATIONAL MOTOR Museum’s Sunbeam 1000HP restoration project has taken a huge step towards its dream return to Daytona on the centenary of its finest hour.

The twin-engined Sunbeam, affectionately known as The Slug, was the first non-American car to take on Daytona Beach for a Land Speed Record in 1927. It was designed by Captain Jack Irving, employed the engineering skills of former Automobiles Talbot-Darracq engineer Louis Coatalen, and was piloted by Henry Segrave to 203.79mph on 29 March 1927. In front of 30,000 rapt spectators, it became the first car to break 200mph and claimed the Land Speed Record.

With the 100th anniversary of this feat looming, the National

Motor Museum – which has had the Sunbeam on display since 1958 – launched an ambitious plan to get it running again and then to ship The Slug back to Daytona Beach to thunder down the sands once more… though not at 200mph this time.

The museum revealed the bold scheme two years ago, at the same time launching a campaign to raise £300,000 to fund the project to bring the three-tonne monster back to life.

Even before they started, the biggest obstacle was expected to be the Sunbeam’s two 22.5-litre V12 Matabele aero engines, placed fore and aft of the pilot and each generating 435bhp.

They are so heavy they had to be lifted from the chassis by a forklift truck.

Having not run for more than 80 years, internal corrosion had wreaked havoc in the engines.

Now, halfway through the project and with the deadline just two years away, the rear-mounted V12, which is date-marked 1918, is almost complete. This engine will be started up before it is lowered back into the chassis and, although the Sunbeam could run with just one of the V12s, the team will then begin work on the front engine as soon as possible.

Beaulieu’s senior engineer, Ian Stanfield, says: ‘It’s one of the most exciting parts of the project to put the engine back together.

We wanted to make sure that everything was turning and free before bolting it up.

‘They were clever people who designed and built Sunbeam

1000HP back in 1918. When you look at the materials they used, the machining was phenomenal and the design was incredible.

They were able to come up with some very good ideas.’

The rebuild process has seen the crankshaft, conrods, pistons, cylinder blocks and all four camshafts cleaned, restored and put back together. The only items that couldn’t be saved were the piston rings, which were stuck with Castrol R oil that had become glue-like. ‘We tried heating them, flexing them, flushing the oil – in the end every one of them broke.’

Crankcase cracks were laser welded and a complete set of replacement piston rings for both the Sunbeam’s engines has been made from a pattern part.

‘It became the first car to break 200mph when Segrave piloted it to 203.79mph’

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PRICELESS BERNIE ECCLESTONE F1 COLLECTION BOUGHT AS A JOB LOT

With no reference manual, the team has relied on a small number of pictures and documents sourced from the original designers and the factory. Another challenge has been dealing with unique problems, such as multiple thread sizes and types, Frenchman Coatalen having an affinity for metric, but with Whitworth and BSF also used.

Progress has not solely been confined to the engines, however. The chassis has received attention and been Trimite coated, the front suspension and brakes stripped, cleaned and refitted, and cracked drums mended.

The gearbox has been a major project. The unique threespeeder sat beside the pilot and drove chains to turn the rear wheels because a conventional axle couldn’t take the power.

From top Segrave with the Sunbeam in Florida; Ian Stanfield at work on the crank; prepping one of the pistons; reassembly of the engine.

The restoration of the gearbox revealed pronounced gear-tooth chipping where Segrave must have struggled to get The Slug into second gear during his runs on Daytona Beach, so when it returns in 2027 the team has decided to use only first gear – which is still good for 72mph!

It is estimated that the project, launched with Hampshire-based Brookspeed Automotive, could yet require another £300,000 to complete The Slug and run it at Daytona in 2027. Donations towards the restoration can be made at nationalmotormuseum.org.uk/ sunbeam-1000hp-restorationcampaign.

F1 enthusiasts are set to gain access to the world’s greatest collection of single-seaters following the lock, stock and barrel acquisition of the Ecclestone collection by Red Bull heir Mark Mateschitz. The unexpected upshot of the sale means a number of the cars will have gone full circle, having been bought by ex-F1 supremo Ecclestone when Tom Wheatcroft’s Donington Grand Prix Collection was dissolved.

Ecclestone, 94, put the collection up for sale via Tom Hartley Jnr at the beginning of December, but was coy over whether it was for sale only en masse or could be split up. It came with a terrifying estimate of £300-500million, a figure that would put a major dent in the £650m tax bill Ecclestone received in 2023.

The 32-year-old Mateschitz, whose father Dieter co-founded Red Bull, has committed to preserving and expanding the collection, with the intention of making it accessible to the public, most likely in Austria. He said: ‘I am very pleased that Bernie has placed his trust in me to take care of this historically significant collection. It will be carefully preserved, expanded over the years, and in the near future it will be made accessible to the public at an appropriate location.’

Tom Hartley Jnr said that there had been interest from around the world, including offers from two sovereign wealth funds, but that Mateschitz was a clear favourite for seller Ecclestone.

The 69-strong car collection includes such important machines as the Thin Wall Special – the first Ferrari to defeat Alfa Romeo – as well as the 1951 Italian Grand Prix-winning 375 F1 driven by Alberto Ascari. Also featuring in the collection are Niki Lauda and Michael Schumacher’s World Championship-winning Ferraris, an array of Brabham F1 cars from Ecclestone’s tenure as team owner, and his personal favourite, the Vanwall VW10 driven

by Stirling Moss. The cars embody 70 years of Formula 1 history, in terms of both technical milestones and sporting achievement.

Other highly significant cars include the 1978 Brabham-Alfa Romeo BT46B ‘fan car’, which achieved victory in the 1978 Swedish Grand Prix at Anderstorp, and the 1957 Vanwall F1 that Stirling Moss drove to three victories in the 1958 season, securing Vanwall’s Constructors’ title.

Further highlights include the 1957 Ferrari Dino 246, the 1975 Brabham BT44B that helped Brabham to second place in the 1975 Constructors’ Championship, and the 1983 Brabham BT52B in which Nelson Piquet won his second world title.

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Ignition News

Morgan reveals Supersport BRITISH CAR MAKER Morgan has unveiled its new flagship model, the Supersport. Although continuing to use the BMW B58 3.0-litre six-cylinder engine – driving through a ZF eight-speed transmission and BMW rear axle – from the current Plus Six, the Supersport is built on a new CXV-aluminium platform that is said to be 10% stiffer. The redesign of the CX chassis was extensive enough that the car had to go through crash testing and homologation again. As well as a fresh chassis it has a new tyre size and manufacturer, new wheels, re-engineered suspension, a new steering rack and tweaked steering geometry.

Echoing the silhouette of last year’s Midsummer collaboration with Pininfarina, another stand-out feature will be the lightweight carbon composite hard-top, which not only adds another 10% of rigidity but, along with a fold-away soft-top and redesigned sidescreen system, will also make the car more weather-versatile than any previous Morgan.

Jon Wells, chief design officer, said: ‘Visually, there is nothing on this car that isn’t designed by Morgan except the gearshift. The Morgan name is spelled out on the car for the first time and it’s in a new HFS font, which is tilted slightly so it reads better from behind. The overall proportion has been really informed by aero.’

Morgan MD Matthew Hole added: ‘More than just a sports car, the Supersport is a testament to the dedication and passion of our small but exceptional team of engineers, designers, and craftspeople. Their relentless pursuit of excellence has shaped a flagship that evolves our legacy while staying deeply rooted in our heritage. Every Morgan carries an inherent honesty and Supersport is no exception – crafted with care, built to be bespoke, and designed to deliver something increasingly rare in today’s world: pure, undiluted driving joy.’

It is available to order now and is priced from £85,000 plus taxes.

Event postponements Two leading London events have announced that they will not be taking place in 2025. Due to extensive ongoing building works at its venue, the Concours on Savile Row (originally planned for 21-22 May) will next be held in May 2026, while Salon Privé London, scheduled for 10-12 April, is taking a year off due to a lack of manufacturer support.

Head judge anointed John Carlson is the new chairman of international concours judging collective ICJAG, having been elected by the ICJAG board of directors. The British Columbia, Canada, expert is a founding member of the International Chief Judge Advisory Group and is chief judge for several events that use ICJAG judging forms and judging guidelines.

RM double boost for RAC RM Sotheby’s has signed a five-year deal with the Royal Automobile Club to continue its title sponsorship of the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run and committed to its adjacent sale at the Peninsula Hotel. The auction house is also supporting The club’s inaugural Woodcote Park Concours at the RAC’s Epsom estate on Wednesday 9 July.

Classes will include Grand Tourers, Riviera, Coachbuilder’s Art, Limousines, and the Mille Miglia, with a further category for pioneering London to Brighton veteran cars, and another celebrating 50 years of the Honda Gold Wing motorcycle. No less impressive will be the Members’ Paddock of club members’ cars.

Race groups gathered Motor Racing Legends owner Aythorpe Promotions has acquired the HRDC. MRL chairman Shaun Lynn and CEO Pierre-Antoine Lecoutour will take the helm of HRDC with founder Julius Thurgood but vow its commitment to affordable, community-led historic club racing will not waver.

Sonoma summer nights Velocity Invitational takes place at Sonoma Raceway, California, on 6-8 June. The event will feature 11 grids as well as the second Velocity Invitational Hill Climb.

As ever, a star-studded roster of drivers is promised, with past events attracting the likes of Mario Andretti, Lando Norris and Romain Grosjean.

City spectacular One of the star displays at the ninth London Concours (londonconcours.co.uk/tickets) – taking place at the Honourable Artillery Company in the heart of The City on 3-5 June – will be a collaboration with the Goodwood Road Racing Club to display a mouthwatering selection of Mercedes-Benz SLs, from Gullwing to Pagoda and beyond.

Other highlights will be The Hypercars, presented by Apollo Capital, including the UK’s only Maserati MCXtrema alongside LaFerrari, McLaren P1 and Porsche 918 Spyder. Thursday 5 June will be Need For Speed – Supercar Day in association with Drivers’ Union. Event partner Adrian Flux insurance has also signed up for a further three years and will present the Fast Fords class.

Suffolk paradise The UK’s most picturesque boutique concours takes place on 27-29 June. Held at the Grade I listed Palladian mansion Heveningham Hall in Suffolk, and with just 50 world-class classic cars arranged on the famous terraced lawn behind the house, Heveningham Concours also boasts a huge fly-in, aircraft concours and country fair on site during the event. There is live motoring action on Horsepower Hill, plus a tour, and all proceeds from the event support local charities as well as a prestigious automotive design scholarship at the Royal College of Art. See heveninghamconcours.com.

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German concours return The second edition of the Concours of Elegance Germany will return to Gut Kaltenbrunn on the edge of Lake Tegernsee on 25-26 July. Confirmed cars include the one-off 1967 Serenissima Agena and a 1976 Lamborghini Countach LP400, plus a pair of Chapron-bodied beauties: a Citroën SM Mylord and 1931 Delage D8 Roadster.

Island life The fourth Jersey Concours d’Elegance will take place at Weighbridge Place, St Helier, on the afternoon of Saturday 7 June as a satellite event during the wider Jersey International Motoring Festival Weekend. It promises to display some of the Channel Islands’ finest and most exotic cars and admission is free.

The event is organised by the famous Le Riche Automobile Restorers in tandem with ROK Construction and Barnes Publishing & Events.

Colin Crabbe RIP A giant – literally, he was 6ft 5in tall – of the classic car world, the former Scots Guards officer raced a Maserati 250F in 1965 before tackling Aston Martin DP214 and Ford GT40. He entered a Cooper T81B in Grands Prix for Neil Corner and Vic Elford and gave Ronnie Peterson his big break in a March 701 before moving to historics. He became a car hunter extraordinaire while also running the Complete Automobilist, the business he set up in 1969. See Octane 62 for a full interview.

Gene Winfield RIP Missouri-born custom car legend Gene Winfield moved to Modesto, California, aged just two and grew up to be one of the central pillars of the hot rod and custom scene. Notable for his film and TV cars, including for Blade Runner, his most famous creations include The Reactor, The Pacifica and even the car from Woody Allen’s Sleeper. You can read Octane’s full 2011 interview with Gene, who died aged 97, at octane-magazine.com.

JERSEY CONCOURS D’ELEGANCE SATURDAY JUNE 7th

Jack Vettriano RIP The self-taught Scottish painter – ferociously popular despite frequent and condescending dismissal from the art establishment – was a wellknown petrolhead who often featured Bluebird, Bonneville and Pendine in his artworks, as well as collaborating on the Tension, Timing, Triumph – Monaco 1971 triptych with Sir Jackie Stewart.

He shared his favourite things with Octane readers in issue 92.

They also served…

Octane was saddened to hear of the recent passing of the following and our thoughts are with their friends and families. Former BMC Competitions manager Bill Price, Autocar editor and originator of Thoroughbred & Classic Cars Lionel Burrell, Morris Minor Owners’ Club legend Rosie Hamilton, and Nigel Allen who, with brother Michael, was instrumental in helping Colin and Hazel Chapman get their fledgling Lotus company off the ground.

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Ignition News

Join the Hope Classic Rally

New Middle East concours to take place in Bahrain Thorough Events has royal patronage for a golf course-based concours plus tours and cultural events in November this year A NEW EVENT from the team behind Concours of Elegance, the London Concours and Concours of Elegance Germany is to run in Bahrain in November, with the patronage of Crown Prince and Prime Minister HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa.

Taking place on 7-8 November at the Royal Golf Club, the concours promises to display 60 hand-selected, world-class classics from across the region and beyond, as well as showcasing the very best of Bahrain’s beauty and culture, including a pre-event Tour for participants with a track-day on the Bahrain International F1 circuit. In collaboration with the Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority, the event will also include cultural excursions to Bahrain’s souks and historic sites, as well as a Cars by Candlelight evening spectacular.

Thorough Events CEO James Brooks-

Ward said: ‘We’re delighted to launch this exciting new concours, which will bring the world’s finest cars to the Royal Kingdom of Bahrain later this year. It’s an area full of passionate enthusiasts, vibrant culture and natural beauty, making the perfect canvas for this Royal Concours. We are looking forward to delivering a truly world-class concours event, set at one of the Gulf ’s most stunning venues: the Royal Golf Club.

‘More than anything, I’ve been struck by just how welcoming the Bahraini people have been and we greatly look forward to working hand-in-hand with the Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority to bring much of this beautiful country’s magic to life for our entrants from all over the world. We are immensely privileged to have HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Bahrain as the Patron.’

A DATE HAS been set for the tenth anniversary of the Hope Classic Rally, the unique classic car run that has raised over £2million for We See Hope (weseehope. org.uk), a charity that provides community-led skills and education for children in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Taking place on Friday 27 June, the rally will again be hosted by Ledmore and supported by a host of blue-chip classic companies including Tuthill, GTO Engineering, Hagerty and JLR Classic. It will be based at Wotton House Country Estate Hotel in Dorking and the format remains the same – meet for breakfast, then a one-day road rally through the Surrey countryside for 50-60 cars with a lunch stop, followed by dinner and charity auction at the hotel, with many participants booking in for an overnight stay.

What makes the Hope Classic Rally unique is that, although it is also open to owner-drivers, many of the cars taking part are loaned to the event by collectors who believe their cars should be ‘used for positive reasons rather than hoarded as trinkets’. As a result, and based on last year’s fleet, participants could find themselves in anything from a Lynx Eventer to a Lamborghini Miura or Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing.

Also new for the special anniversary event is a stop at Dunsfold Park, where Top Gear was filmed, for lunch at Ledmore’s state-of-the-art facility overlooking the track followed by a processional lap before heading back to Wotton House.

Prices start from £1000 plus VAT per person to attend, plus a one-off charge of £1500 to borrow one of the classic exotics (subject to meeting insurance criteria).

Discounted rates for Wotton House have also been secured. See hopeclassicrally.org or contact event manager Marina Hamilton on Marina@HopeClassicRally.org or +44 (0)7966 145494 to book a place.

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14/03/2025 12:07:07

Ignition News

Left The Anantara Palazzo Naiadi Rome will be a focal point, but the concours is at Casina Valadier.

Italian concours takes shape Great cars and events are rapidly being added to the line-up for the inaugural Anantara Concorso Roma this spring WHEN 50 GLORIOUS Italian cars take part in the inaugural Anantara Concorso Roma on 24-27 April they will be marking 100 years since the first concours in the eternal city. Anantara Concorso Roma, presented by UBS and with supporters including Octane, RM Sotheby’s and Technogym, will echo the Concorso Romano delle Carrozzerie, which took place in April 1926. The new event is the brainchild of collector and chairman of Anantara Hotels & Resorts’ parent company Minor International, Bill Heinecke (see Octane 262).

Concours director Jeremy Jackson-Sytner explained: ‘We will be celebrating the 100th anniversary of the first ever Rome concours – the Concorso Romano delle Carrozzerie – which was held in April 1926 at the Terrazza del Pincio in the gardens of Villa Borghese, just

metres away from the setting for the 2025 Anantara Concorso Roma, presented by UBS. ‘That event was actually held three years prior to the first Coppa d’Oro Villa d’Este on Lake Como, which was in 1929, and period film footage of the Pincio-based shows feature huge crowds swarming around the many elegant coachbuilt cars of the day.

‘One sequence from 1929 includes the winner of the Placca d’Oro, Signora Assunta Bruchi Ponzo, piloting her 1928 Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A sevenpassenger saloon by Cesare Sala, a monster of a car with a 7.3-litre straight-eight that was “guaranteed” to do 145km/h!’

The concours cars – every one of them Italian! – will be judged by a team led by Dott. Adolfo Orsi Jr and featuring Lorenzo Ramaciotti, Massimo Delbò, François Melcion, Stefano Pasini,

Laura Kukuk, Donald Osborne and Joanne Marshall.

New star cars are being revealed almost daily. As well as the sensational two-times Le Mans-winning 1963 Ferrari 275 P and the 2023 Pebble Beach Ferrari Competition classwinning 1957 Ferrari 500 TRC Scaglietti Barchetta, there will be

an extremely early – in fact pre-Romeo – Alfa. The 20-30 HP Torpedo was actually the first model to wear the Alfa Romeo badge, but this 1914 example predates that. It was bodied by Falco after the Great War and is set to make its concours debut.

According to Jackson-Sytner: ‘The car is fully matching in all respects, beautifully restored on the basis of a totally original car and has never been shown anywhere. It had been hiding in a small collection in Austria. The car is now in The Netherlands and the Anantara Concorso Roma will give it its world debut.’

The Alfa will not be the oldest car in the concours, however, with a 1911 Lancia Beta 15/20 HP from Museo Nicolis already signed up. The youngest car as Octane went to press was a 1979 Maserati Ghibli.

While the event carries the name of the Anantara Palazzo Naiadi Rome, where owners are expected to stay, the concours itself will take place at Rome’s neoclassical Casina Valadier, with stunning views across the city.

On the Friday morning participating cars will enjoy the Giro d’Anantara, a 20-mile drive from Piazza Della Republica outside the Anantara Palazzo Naiadi Rome Hotel, through le strade di Roma and onward to Frascati and Villa Aldobrandini.

See anantaraconcorsoroma.com.

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Ignition Opinion

The Collector

Jay Leno How to end up with three icons in your garage

O

ne of the more exciting aspects of my automotive life has been how many of the greats I’ve got to know.

Men like Juan Manuel Fangio, who gifted to my garage one of his many World Championship trophies.

Stirling Moss, who always wanted to know the latest jokes going around. John Fitch, the first American to race successfully in post-war Europe, as well as Phil Hill, America’s first Formula 1 World Champion.

Dan Gurney was another boyhood hero who occasionally came by the garage.

There have been more recent icons as well. But I mention these 1950s and 1960s heroes for a specific reason. They were all there at the beginning of what would soon become automotive royalty. Marques such as Ferrari, Lotus, Jaguar, to name a few. Phil Hill told me he would race just for gas and tyres.

It seemed like a very romantic time to me, and I wish I had been around in those days. Recently I had a small taste of what that might have been like when I hosted McLaren at my garage for the reveal of the new W1.

Over a decade and a half earlier I had heard rumblings that McLaren was going to build a new road car. By this time, I’d had my F1 for a number of years and enjoyed hearing: ‘No car is worth that much, so buy now before it goes up again!’

I recall the day 25 years ago when they had one F1 for sale. They’d had it in their showroom for a few weeks and were asking $800,000 for it. I was a bit miffed because that was what they cost new and this was a used car. A 1994 model being sold in 1999.

I reluctantly told Harold Dermott: ‘I’ll tell you what, I will call you back in two weeks. If it hasn’t sold by then I will buy it.’ Secretly I hoped someone would save me from making a huge financial mistake. When I called back he told me they had had a number of inquiries about the car and one customer was very interested. I took the bait and bought the F1 on the spot. Not following my own advice, I bought it sight unseen. Not even knowing if it could be made US-legal. It’s a decision I have never regretted.

What a difference this time around! When they announced the W1 I wondered how much better than the P1 it could be. I called Roger Ormisher at McLaren in the US to inquire about it, and as soon as he recognised my voice he said ‘We have one left! Do

you want it? I’m sorry to do this to you but it’s a very short window.’ So I said yes.

It is not just about buying the car, it is about buying into the company. On a visit to England a few years ago, what I saw at Woking impressed me more than any other automotive facility that I had ever seen. Their racing credentials were impeccable, but they had yet to build any successful production automobiles. Remember, as good as the F1 was, it was not a sales success, at least in the beginning. Still, the whole place was hospital clean. Ron Dennis was the most driven individual I’ve ever met.

Buying the F1, I felt like Gabriele Besana who bought the very first road-going Ferrari ever made.

Soon after that they announced the P1, designed by another man I’ve come to know, Frank Stephenson, who also designed the Mini and said how its exhaust pipe diameter was based on a beer can he had in his hand at the time. I never forgot that story.

When the P1 was announced, I sensed that McLaren was worried it might not be able to sell 375 of them. Once Chris Harris and a few other respected journalists got hold of the car, they quickly sold out. No wonder the W1 sold out fast.

I was deeply honoured when Roger Ormisher contacted me about having a press event at my garage for the W1. I was stunned to see McLaren CEO Michael Leiters was coming in from England, as well as chief engineer Marcus Waite. Both did a great job of explaining the car to the audience. The car we unveiled was not a running example but it gave me, as well as the press, a good idea of what the finished car would be like.

The part I enjoyed most was not a CEO talking about running a multi-million-dollar corporation but talking about cars with the very people shaping its future. I have had good luck with McLaren; all it builds relies on science and engineering to get the job done, and combines classic British handling with emphasis on steering and rear-wheel drive.

Someone at the event asked me what it was like to have the Holy Trinity of McLarens. I didn’t realise that until they actually said it. So, Monday morning I went down to the Department of Motor Vehicles, and secured the licence plate ‘F1 P1 W1’ for my new McLaren – how cool is that?

‘Good as McLaren’s F1 was, it was not a sales success, at least in the beginning’

Jay was talking with Jeremy Hart.

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Ignition Opinion

The Legend

Derek Bell A Miami event provokes some very British thoughts

M

y motoring year kicked off when I attended the ModaMiami concours d’elegance along with my youngest boy, Sebastian. It was staged in the grounds of the Biltmore Hotel, which is something of a landmark. I had preconceptions of what it was going to be like, having been a judge at the wonderful concours at Amelia Island in the past, when it was run by Bill Warner. However, while it was dubbed a concours, it was really a gathering of beautiful cars and attractive people in a nice setting, all having a jolly time in the sun.

I was there as a guest of the Royal Automobile Club. I am sure that will sound a bit odd, being at a profoundly American show with representatives of this most resolutely British of organisations, but bear with me. They were in town to drum up support for the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run, the hope being to attract greater interest from owners in the New World. They had a superb display of cars, including the 1902 Grand Prix Mors. It seemed to work, too. I hope so because it is a wonderful event, and one that has been around for so long.

I really enjoyed being in Miami. I am a bit of a social butterfly so it’s nice to catch up with old friends while making new ones. It was relaxed and peaceful, although perhaps not quite so much when Magnus Walker fired up the TWR Supercat. I was never a big fan of the Jaguar XJ-S, at least of the styling, and I wasn’t altogether sure of what to make of this beast, either, but anything packing a 6.0-litre V12 and 600bhp will attract my attention, although demand is perhaps more accurate.

By way of an awkward segue, I was in conversation recently with someone about the opening round of the World Endurance Championship that was staged in Qatar. Ferrari blanketed the podium positions, which pleased me given that ‘The Reds’ hadn’t won a round since the 24 Hours of Le Mans last June.

Nevertheless, it was the Aston Martin Valkyrie that seemed to be all that anyone wanted to talk about.

Why? Because of its choral 6.5-litre normally aspirated V12 that was developed by Cosworth.

There is only one other non-turbo car in the WEC, the V8-engined Cadillac V-Series.R. Like the Aston, it provides an antidote to the flatulent sound of the

turbo runners. I have always believed that the noise a car makes is intrinsic to how I feel about it. When I first got involved in motor racing, first as a spectator and then as a marshal, it was the sounds, the smells, and the overall ambiance of just being at a circuit that grabbed me and I have never left its thrall. Talk to those who are new to being at a track, and the first thing they mention – invariably – is the noise.

That is something that has been sadly lacking, if only to my ears – or rather, the right kind of noise.

When I was in Formula 1, you had V8s, V12s, flat-12s; all sorts. The same was true of sportsprototypes. You could identify a car without seeing it just from the engine note. For obvious reasons, that side of things has largely been removed from the equation. I didn’t really get much of a thrill from hearing the diesel-engined sports-racers from the start of this century, assuming I could hear them at all, and I feel the same way about some of the hybrids. The lure isn’t the same.

Which is why I am glad that the Aston is packing a high-revving V12. As for how successful it will be, who knows? I know that legions of fans will root for it and be hoping this storied marque will win the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the first time since 1959.

There have been quite a few attempts since then. I mentioned Robin Hamilton last month. I remember his Aston-engined Nimrod Group C cars, but they weren’t particularly competitive, nor was the AMR-1 thing that I raced against at the end of the 1980s.

Then there was the disastrous Prodrive AMR-One of 2011. It hasn’t been a particularly distinguished run of cars or results. In fact, I am reliably informed that the last time Aston Martin made the podium at Le Mans was back in 1960 when it was third, so it has plenty of ground to make up. I wish them luck. I am delighted that this classic marque is back and that sports car racing seems to be gaining traction. There are eight manufacturers at the sharp end in the WEC. Genesis and Ford are also now committed to programmes so the future appears bright. I hope so because sports car racing brought me so much pleasure. I would love for it to be in the limelight rather than being considered the poor relation to Formula 1. It deserves more than that, and I predict the great race at Le Mans this year will be a corker.

There are 21 cars in the Hypercar class, and that’s just for starters. Yummy!

‘I am delighted that Aston Martin is back and that sports car racing is gaining traction’

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Ignition Opinion

The Aesthete

Stephen Bayley Can Fiat survive the mediocrity of Stellantis?

I

have been to meetings where the design of a new car is discussed. So I have an idea of what’s involved. Scratching chins, nodding heads. But I have no idea what happened in Turin the day they approved the 2015 Fiat Tipo. Maybe they were impatient for lunch. Or maybe the meeting occurred after a lunch where many Negronis were involved.

If this is the design they approved, just how dire were the ones they rejected? The 2015 Tipo is a metal demonstration of colossal cognitive negligence. It is flamboyantly boring: a Charybdis of ennui and an insult to the opencast mines and rubber plantations that supplied its raw materials.

It is not even bad. In this context, bad would have been good: at least it would be noteworthy. How the ghosts of great Italian designers must have squirmed on launch day, an occasion with so little emotional energy it could not even tinkle a wind-chime.

Fiat is part of Stellantis, a maelstrom of mediocrity that makes sense to no one. Its boss stepped down having allegedly starved R&D to feed the bottomline, then annoyed dealers, chiselled suppliers and disappointed consumers, before receiving what The Financial Times called a ‘record’ compensation package, apparently unrelated to real-world activity.

The very name has a ring of disaster: ‘Stellantis’ was surely a poor relation of the Titanic. A coinage that was the work of overpaid corporate identity consultants preening with their own rare genius, it is as meaningless to the consumer as, say, Diageo.

Stellantis was the 2021 merger of FCA with PSA. As a general rule, companies known only by initials have severe psychological problems. Only IBM and 3M are exceptions. PSA was coined in 1976, short for Peugeot Société Anonyme, created when the dour men from Sochaux took-over the urbane Parisians at Citroën and sent that great company into a reputational death loop.

FCA was, of course, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.

Here was a marriage made in a Hades of Futility.

Can two engineering philosophies have ever been so different? Fiat with a tradition of ingenuity and economical elegance, while the last real Chrysler was the dreadful 300, the sort of car you might have found with Joe Pesci mummified in the trunk.

Chrysler’s own identity crisis can be explained simply by listing what it has called itself since 1998,

when the old Chrysler Corporation (born in 1925) became, successively Daimler-Chrysler, Chrysler LLC, Chrysler Group LLC and ultimately FCA. As if to confirm systemic problems in an old, corrupt dynasty, Manhattan’s superlative Chrysler Building, an eponym for New York and a brilliant advertisement of corporate swagger as conceived in 1928, is in dreadful disrepair. Read what you like into that as symbolism. The Stellantis muddle comprises one of the greatest dilutions of brand value in the history of business. Were it not so chillingly dismaying, the story would be comic.

Every single decision in its history has been a mistake: Vauxhall is involved because PSA bought it in 2017. Despite a history that goes back to Victorian marine pumps, Vauxhall has forever resisted the gravitational pull of consumer desire. The Vauxhall brand refuses gentrification. It cannot be saved.

Then there are the precious Italian brands. Anyone who has seen Neptune with his lactating Nereids in the Piazza Maggiore holding the trident that they put on the badge knows the romance of Bologna’s Maserati. But anybody who has driven a recent one knows that romantic associations are not enough to compensate for material failures. Anyone who bought a recent Maserati may still be in fiscal shock.

Ditto Alfa Romeo. You have to be quite elderly to remember when Alfa last made a good car. ‘Classic’ is all very well, but to retain any meaning it must have a component of the superlative in its definition.

Then there is Peugeot. Last time I visited the design centre, I was shown concepts and I thought schoolchildren had been asked to draw an Audi.

And because they couldn’t replicate Citroën’s traditional genius, PSA invented a new ‘luxury’ brand called DS, sales of which are so modest they are not statistically significant. You and I, if you know it at all, are not convinced by the DS proposition… and nor, more significantly, are the populations of China and the United States.

Stellantis is hopeless. Less worthy than Maserati or Alfa Romeo, Jeep might survive. Trumpists will still buy Rams. The rest? Who cares? I just like to think Fiat might emerge from the muddle. And I would forgive it the 2015 Tipo if it got back to the excellence that was Giugiaro’s 1980 Panda. That’s when design mattered and, if there is a future, perhaps one day it will matter again.

‘The Chrysler 300 was the sort of car you might have found with Joe Pesci in the trunk’

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Ignition Opinion

The Driver

Robert Coucher Why restomods are the greenest cars around

C

armageddon! The automotive industries in the UK and Europe are in a state of turmoil. Net Zero is killing the car industry by talking up over-spec’d and overpriced electric vehicles that are not suitable for every motorist’s needs. OK, so if you are on a substantial salary sacrifice deal, and you have a private charging point at home as well as at your underground parking spot at work, then an eye-wateringly costly Porsche Taycan might be just the job. But to most drivers an expensive EV is an extravagance, hence their secondhand values are plunging like a stone.

So Porsche, Audi, Merc and BMW are going back to manufacturing ICE vehicles, leaving the EV market to the Chinese, who have it sewn up already.

The good news is that it is beginning to dawn on British and European governments that their green goals are unsustainable (sorry) and will bankrupt our countries PDQ. EVs have a place in the car market but cannot be forced upon everyone, with the current Zero Emission Mandate proposing 80% of cars manufactured in 2030 to be zero-emission.

Hybrid vehicles seem the sensible option: clean and practicable for regular drivers. Meanwhile the French have whacked a massive tax – as much as €60,000! – on heavy and high-CO2 emitting cars. You can’t have failed to notice that the French car industry doesn’t produce big, heavy cars; though, to be fair, its new small EVs look rather good. No sniggering: UK car taxes are on the up as well.

But the world suddenly has more pressing problems than Ed Miliband’s self-indulgent preen that Britain should be seen as the ‘world leader’ in Net Zero – not difficult as UK PLC doesn’t actually manufacture much anymore, producing just 2% of the world’s CO2. Question: why do UK energy costs remain the highest in the world? Answer: green taxation. Let’s hope Miliband won’t be around for long as pragmatic Prime Minister Starmer cuts Net Zero to pay for defending the realm.

The good news is that we know the way around these environmental and car tax wheezes: classic cars. Any vehicle over (a rolling) 40 years old is viewed as an historic vehicle so no road tax or ULEZ charges. And rightly so. Classic cars are in effect recycled goods, constructed many years ago from simple materials, usually steel, wood and leather,

with no lithium or cobalt in sight. I still contend that a 1983 Mercedes-Benz 230E saloon is the ideal city car: simple, bulletproof, able to deal with modern traffic and camera-led speeding restrictions. Want more excitement? Go for a 450SEL 6.9.

Enthusiasts have been modifying cars since the dawn of motoring, either reducing weight (specials) or increasing power (hot rods). And along the way, as modern supercars, sports cars, saloons and EVs have morphed into highly complicated computer games in which the driver has been reduced to an operator, we have seen the rise of the restomod: updated classic cars that are developed to the point of the ultimate analogue driving experience without the need to be four-wheeled computer platforms.

There are some superbly reworked examples of Porsche 911, Alfa 105-series Giulia, Lancia Integrale and even a Bentley S2; restomods that offer the classic car enthusiast a modern interpretation of what these sporting cars can do.

And who started all this? No, it wasn’t some cool musicians in a California warehouse, it was stuff y Bristol Cars Ltd, 23 years ago. As you will read in this issue, after a long reign running Bristol from its singular showroom in Kensington, Tony Crook sold out to vintage Bentley driving enthusiast Toby Silverton. He had the great idea of developing the eccentric V10-engined Bristol Fighter. A valiant piece of kit but it killed the company. Yet Silverton also came up with a plan for the very capable Bristol 411, the model produced from 1969 to 1975 in five series. ‘We basically bought up old 411s to rebuild brand-new at the Works with all the upgrades you’d expect in a modern car while retaining classic 411 virtues,’ he said. Hey presto: restomod, a Bristol 411 ‘Series VI’, and a factory one at that (see Octane 64).

With a socking great 5.7-litre American V8 under the bonnet, the old dears are indecently fast. A bespoke 411 Series VI would have set you back £128,500 in 2008, with its efficient multi-port fuel injection, air-conditioning, power steering, four-speed, long-legged lock-up automatic ’box and delicious leather and walnut interior.

To some, a Bristol looks like an Austin Westminster, albeit with the full Kingsman treatment, and that’s the point. In a world of gauche bling, a discreet gentleman’s express is akin to wearing a hand cut Savile Row suit. No one else knows but you.

‘Enthusiasts have been modifying cars since the dawn of motoring, reducing weight and increasing power’

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Ignition Letters

Letter of the month

The really forgotten Ferrari REGARDING Kevin Jones’ letter in Octane 260 about the Ferrari 348 being overlooked today, this is probably an example of the power of journalism.

When it was launched, the 348 was criticised for the strange behaviour of its front suspension in certain circumstances. That criticism was probably justified because Ferrari immediately issued a recall order to dealers to modify the front suspension settings. It was an important improvement, but the damage had already been done.

The final modifications came with the launch of the GTB, GTS and Spider. The rear subframe was reinforced and all the suspension arm brackets on the chassis were modified. Not many journalists wrote articles saying that all was OK now. At the same time, engine power was increased to 320bhp.

But the really forgotten 348 is the 348GT Competizione. Only 50 were built, of which 11 were delivered to Michelotto for conversion into circuit racing cars, plus two more to be turned into 348LMs, which leaves 37 road-legal cars (nine with right-hand drive and 28 with left-hand drive).

These cars were each numbered on their steering wheel boss. They weighed about 140kg less than the regular GTB because a carbon/Kevlar composite was used for the front and rear bumpers,

doors and seats (which were trimmed in red, like an F40’s). The door sills, passenger footrest and ECU covers were also made of the composite.

Suspension was improved as well, and a special exhaust manifold pushed the power to 330bhp.

The wheels are three-piece 18in rims made by OZ. Altogether, the GT Competizione is a real collector’s item. Since so few cars were made, no sales literature was ever printed, and most Ferrari dealers knew nothing about this version.

A road test comparing this car with a Porsche 964RS easily restored the 348’s reputation.

Difficult Dymaxion I read your article in Octane 259 about the gyroscopically stabilised Gyro-X, which is currently in the Lane Motor Museum, with great interest.

Several years ago I met Jeff Lane at the Ault Park Concours (now the Cincinnati Concours), where he was showing several of the museum’s vehicles. Among them was its replica of the Buckminster Fuller Dymaxion [below]. One of only two replicas known to exist [Sir Norman Foster’s recreation was featured in Octane 90], the Lane Museum’s took eight years to build and was finished in early 2015, in time for it to be driven from Nashville to the Amelia Island Concours.

Jeff also drove it on the Countryside Tour the day before the Ault Park concours. Noted for its aerodynamic design and terrible handling, the Dymaxion is anything but easy to drive – but it’s another unique piece in the museum’s diverse collection.

Mark Turner, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

Manuel de Miguel-Mornet, Lérida, Spain

Show me the science Why are so many of today’s electric vehicles built like the proverbial brick outhouse? Apart from a few, most appear to be most unstreamlined. Improved design could probably improve their range, which would reduce charging ‘stress’ – especially here in New Zealand, where distances between chargers can be greater.

Mike Elliot, Otago, New Zealand

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Timely tribute Your interview in Octane 258 with the now-late Dave Brodie [above] couldn’t have been more timely and left me saddened, for I understand the racing world lost Dave between the time of his interview and issue 258 arriving here in Australia.

I never knew much about Dave and his racing career until he featured in the Williams doco on Netflix. He came across as a knockabout bloke and as a true friend to Frank Williams and his family. I also noticed that he started out in an Austin A30, much like Australia’s late tin-top hero, Peter Brock.

I enjoyed the interview immensely and I am sure that all who knew Dave will mourn him as one of the greats of motorsport.

Andrew Hall, Brisbane, Australia

Beaty, John Lewis and Iain Exeter) Lister venture – and ended up buying two early Lister XJ-S prototypes in succession from Iain Exeter. Having bought an E-type in the late 1970s (which I still have), I became friends with the splendid Ron Beaty of Forward Engineering, who looked after that car and a Mk1 that I raced in the early years of classic saloon car racing.

Those early Lister XJ-Ss had two particular virtues. First, the steering, ride and handling were transformed – they went around corners like a Jaguar should, rather than like a motorboat.

Second, the looks were spot-on Gary’s low-level picture of the car doesn’t show it off to its best but BLE’s restrained bodykit [left] helped the XJ-S appear longer, lower and sleeker, whereas later attempts by the likes of TWR or even Jaguar itself made it look swollen or weighty.

It’s a shame Gary was unable to find a way of making money from the project.

Chris Wood, London

Lithe Lister Following Gary Bartlett’s letter in Octane 262 about his setting up of Lister of North America, I was very aware of the BLE (Ron

Disgusted of Surrey For the first time in Octane, I’ve read something that actually made me angry! Brace yourselves…

The ‘Best Buys for 2025’ in issue 261 was utter nonsense.

To quote from your introduction:

‘“Cars of the 1950s have had their day,” says consultant Paul Jolly.

“Fewer folk can remember them now. Plus they were technically very basic, heavy, unsafe and dull.

Cars of the 1960s are starting to fall away for the same reason.”’

What the actual ****?!

In a quality magazine that caters for the entire spectrum of automotive enthusiasts, this kind of ‘clickbait’ is unwelcome and unexpected. Cars from the 1950s and ’60s may be more susceptible to rust and be less reliable – and perhaps lazy modern humans can’t be bothered with that – but I would much rather own a 1950s or ’60s car thanks to the soul and engagement they offer that modern classics simply don’t. And that’s without mentioning their delicacy and purity of design.

Trends do shift, and more recent cars become classics, but not at the expense of the past. The pool of cars to enjoy just grows.

I hope never to see this sort of sensationalist journalism in Octane again. On the other hand, as usual I really enjoyed the rest of the magazine – so keep up the good work!

Rover. It’s beautifully made and I like to think that it adds a further 10mph to my Landy’s top speed…

Jonathan Davies, Surrey

Welcome aboard!

I was very happy to see Nathan Chadwick in Octane 261 with a proper test of the Alpina B6, and John-Joe Vollans’ feature on hot hatches in Octane 262, having been sad when the magazine Modern Classics came to an end.

When it appeared, it was just as fresh and exciting as Octane, albeit coming at cars from a very different angle – usually chronic understeer if it was one of Nathan’s beloved Alfas!

Nathan’s and JJ’s enthusiasm certainly got me and several others through the dark early days of Covid, and I’m happy to see them under Octane’s wing.

Harry Peterson, Portugal

MIKE JOHNSTON

PAUL HARMER

Ignition Letters

Paul Howse, Surrey

Distressing though it may be to accept, we have to concur with Paul Jolly’s comments about the current market for 1950s cars. The passion for them remains intense, as you demonstrate, but sadly among conspicuously fewer people – JE

Go-faster badge?

Back in the 1960s, various main dealers would turn your Jaguar Mk2, S-type or E-type into a serious road/race car.

One of these dealers was Coombs of Guildford, run by the legendary John Coombs, which also sold many other brands – including Land Rover.

Many years ago, I was given a grille badge [above] for my Land

Properly used Mike Johnston’s account and photographs of his epic E-type hike from Kuala Lumpur to Yorkshire in Octane 262 [above] shows that used classics are so much more inspiring than cosseted vehicles, and is what makes me buy a copy of Octane.

As the owner of a 1973 Land Rover Series III, I’m proud of the scrapes I get into. Land Rover restorer and conserver Julian Shoolheifer once noted that ‘the best Land Rovers are the hardest driven’ and this is equally applicable to Jaguar E-types.

Well done, Mike.

James Anthony, Lancashire

Send your letters to letters@octane-magazine.com Please include your name, address and a daytime telephone number. Letters may be edited for clarity. Views expressed are not necessarily those of Octane.

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Porsche 911s Air vs water

AIRWATER VERSUS

Never has a method of engine cooling been so divisive as in the world of the Porsche 911. But is there any contest?

Octane pits one type against the other Words Glen Waddington Photography Jordan Butters

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Porsche 911s Air vs water

S

ome would argue that we’re not comparing like with like. Well, perhaps deliberately, in many ways we are not. The 911 Carrera RS 2.7 and 997-generation GT3 are 34 years apart. There is a discrepancy of 205bhp that means the newer car is almost twice as powerful as the older one. And then there’s the difference in values: one is worth about nine times as much as the other. You don’t need me to tell you which way round that is, but it’s something we’ll come back to.

Yet, while the owner of a GT3 might not stretch to a ’73 RS, it’s highly likely that someone lucky enough to keep a 2.7 in the garage would fancy a 997 GT3 as well. It’s that kind of car: honed, lightened, focused, a bit special – not only among sports cars but among Porsche 911s. Rather like the RS. And then there’s the big difference: the RS is air-cooled, pretty much the ultimate evolution of the original 911 generation in roadgoing terms. The 997, of course, has a water-cooled engine. It’s still a flat-six (read more about its development from 911 engineer August Achleitner on page 66), and still slung out the back. In a car that, in effect, homologated its type for competition, and the development of which included unusual attention to aerodynamic downforce. Maybe they’re not so far apart after all.

To look at the pair together is to recognise a clear familial relationship. No other car has evolved like the 911 in terms

of styling. Sure, there are several generations between them (three air-cooled: G-series, 964 and 993, plus the watercooled 996) but the proportions that define one also define the other. A quick outline sketch could be of either. Yet evolution there has been, and none of it insignificant.

Although the 997 is compact by modern standards, it’s still a good foot longer than the RS, it’s 6in wider and at 1395kg it weighs fully 320kg more.

That’s the price of progress, of course, as the GT3 is equipped with modern safety equipment from airbags to ABS and traction control, as well as a few more creature comforts, such as air-con and power-assisted steering. Its performance figures are also far removed: a top speed of 193mph and 0-60mph in 4.1sec play 152mph and 5.7sec.

Again, that’s three decades or more of advancement, not to mention the difference between 2.7 litres and 3.6.

But how do they feel? We’ll take the older car first, owned by enthusiast Alex Ham for six years. There’s that familiar click to the door latch and the metallic clunk as the door slams shut. It’s compact in here, yet airy, the bucket seat is enveloping yet doesn’t impede your view out. The dash is simple, little other than that five-gauge cluster – with characteristic central revs – to hold your attention.

Until you start the engine. It was developed by Hans Mezger and Valentin Schäffer, with then-newfangled fuel injection and a Nikasil cylinder coating to permit an overbore yet the same valves and compression ratio as the standard 2.4 to guarantee usability. As it erupts into life

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‘A discrepancy of 205bhp means the newer car is almost twice as powerful’

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Porsche 911s Air vs water

(less hefty sound deadening) you hear it as though it’s in the cabin with you, chuntering and whining like a leashed husky ready to mush.

This was the first Porsche road car developed for racing, hence the RS (Rennsport) label and, for the first time, the Carrera script appeared along the 911’s body. Thinner metal and glass kept weight down, suspension was reinforced and stiffened, rear wings were broadened to accommodate wider tyres, and there’s the famous ducktail spoiler, developed by engineer Tilman Brodbeck to reduce lift in conjunction with the re-profiled front bumper and valance.

The gearlever click-clacks into first like any early 911’s, you lift the clutch (with its characteristic over-centre action from the floor) and tickle the throttle for instantaneous revs. Wow, this car is alive! Few others respond to the accelerator with this kind of alacrity, all thanks to a simple cable (the GT3 relies on electronics). Pull away on the straight and the RS sits on its haunches, raises its nose and tears towards the horizon. Its power figures are far from brutal (many a modern family car could outstrip them) yet the rev-happy nature of its engine and the lack of weight mean it more than lives up to that Rennsport notion, while that hacking, soaring, ripping engine note entertains like little else. It’s loud, but not painfully so.

The RS feels surprisingly soft in corners, rolling slightly, but telling you exactly what is going on – which is important, with that pendulum behind you capable of overtaking

Clockwise, from above Separated by more than three decades and 205bhp yet equally focused on the driver; highbacks and a cage in the GT3; RS lighter on its feet, GT3 has higher limits; water-cooled yet closely related to what went before.

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accidentally (or not). And as for the feedback through the steering wheel, it’s sublime. This is a car that satisfies the senses and edifies the soul.

‘Part of the fun is that you can’t just walk into a showroom and buy one,’ says Alex. ‘I tend to keep it off the road in the winter months, but it’s never a massive compromise to drive, you can pop to the shops in it, it’s robust unlike certain other race-bred cars. You hear and feel so much – all the best things of an older car. I’m as happy driving it to the office as I am on a track-day.’

Only 1580 RS 2.7s were built in total, which goes some way to explaining the value of the cars today (see what markets expert John Mayhead has to say about it on page 68). Yet the basic package went on to underpin the standard version of the G-series generation that followed, truly an example of racing improving the breed. The GT3 isn’t exactly common either, with 3329 of the first generation (like this one) and only 2256 of the updated 3.8 from 2009.

Regular readers may recall John Mayhead’s market appraisal in Octane 259; suffice to say that values have been stable for some time, comfortably around £75,000 for an excellent 3.6 and £124,000 for the scarcer, further honed Gen 2.

We’re nearly 20 years on since it was introduced and time suggests it could be the definitive drivers’ 911 of the modern era. Octane photographer Jordan Butters owns this one, which replaced a 997 Carrera S: ‘They have only the electronic aids to keep you safe without destroying the analogue feel, and later generations of 911 are that bit bigger and bulkier. It’s small by today’s standards and has just enough refinement and comfort that you can drive it on the road without it feeling painful. The whole point of buying it was to drive as much as possible!’

Getting in is an occasion, if a rather different experience after the RS. The highback seat is bulky, you notice there are no rear seats but a half-cage instead, and, while the atmosphere is modern-premium black, the same suggestion

of focus is present. Surprisingly, the engine idles louder than the air-cooled car’s, perhaps more to do with the sporting exhaust than a noisier source: a water-jacket does much to silence an engine, and engine management makes the idle smooth and free from pops and bangs. There’s less granular detail in its voice, more an assertive growl than an aggressive baring of teeth.

That pleasingly analogue nature is present in the manual gearbox (a six-speeder) and, while the pedals are more conventional, you sit lower and straighter with legs outstretched. It followed from the first water-cooled 996 generation and was designed with the racing Cup GT3s in mind, built around the stiffer floorpan of the Carrera 4 but with a lower fuel tank in place of the C4’s front differential.

Perhaps most importantly, the 997 GT3 is the last 911 to employ the ‘Mezger’ flat-six. Of course it’s water-cooled but, while the new generation featured those water-cooled blocks in unit with a vertically split crankcase, and one three-cylinder head per bank, in the case of the more powerful 996 and 997-era engines (read GT3, Turbo and GT2 models) the blocks and heads were bolted to the original type of separate crankcase.

The given reason was that Porsche’s motorsport department liked what it knew – the Mezger arrangement had been thoroughly tested in racing, after all – but conveniently the arrangement avoided the modern engine’s Achilles’ heel: potentially frangible sealed intermediate shaft bearings. Naturally, the GT3 also has an intermediate shaft to drive the camshaft chains and it’s actuated by gears, in common with the 2.7’s, and adds to the GT3’s aural character in a similar way.

And that aural character is still something special. Watercooled it may be, but the 997 engine thrills purely with its voice. By 5000rpm it’s howling and there’s still 3400rpm to go, with a very insistent kick noticeable as high as 7000rpm.

We’d have called this supercar performance not so long ago.

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Porsche 911s Air vs water

Importantly, it still feels like a 911, with that characteristic tendency for the nose to bob over undulations and for the rear to be so utterly planted that it takes concentration and effort to quell initial understeer without overcooking things.

The big difference is that those things tend to happen at higher speeds. With the RS, you learn its secrets quite quickly; it always feels extremely light on its feet. The GT3 really comes alive the harder you push it. And it has limits way beyond those of the 2.7 RS. James Turner is the founder of 911 specialist Sports Purpose and curated the cars for this feature. ‘The GT3 is in balance and harmony. There’s not too much power, grip or weight – in later 911s you have to manage the weight much more,’ he says. ‘It’s relatively accessible and I’d happily drive one for the next 30 years.’

As for the 2.7 RS? ‘It will always lay claim to Greatest Of All Time status. And it’s the perfect mixture: 52 years old yet it feels youthful. It takes only a little familiarity to realise how good it is to drive – in so many different circumstances.

It’s the pinnacle of that mix, and still so quick.’

Remember the market value of the GT3 as we move to consider the sharp end of the air-versus-water debate: when one method gave way to the other. That happened in 1997 as the 996 generation arrived, marking – for the first time in the 911’s career – a wholesale change over what had gone before. And what went immediately before was the 993.

Such is the rarity of unspoilt 993-generation 911s – the last of the air-cooled line – that they are becoming increasingly valuable. The one you see here was insured for a value not far short of the 997 GT3’s. ‘It’s now harder to find a good standard car than a specialist version,’ says

Turner. ‘The 993 had the benefit of 30 years of evolution, it’s a brilliant car – but they’re not growing on trees.’

It’s the shortest-lived generation of 911, manufactured during four years from early 1994, retaining the bodyshell architecture of the preceding 964 (and all prior air-cooled iterations). However, heavily revised styling by Tony Hatter included new panels with much more flared wheelarches and smoother front and rear bumpers, though the doors survived intact from 1964. In short, the more modern, still pretty styling clad a platform that had been rejuvenated for the 964 generation in 1989, claimed to be 85% new, and the 993 brought a new multi-link rear axle (from the still-born 989 saloon) and a six-speed gearbox to the mix, too.

This 993 is a standard Carrera 2, rear-drive and featuring a 3.6-litre air-cooled flat-six with variable valve timing. It pumps out 276bhp. Read that again and remember that our iconic 1973 RS sports 210bhp. My, how far we had come.

The click/clunk of that ‘air-cooled’ door remains the same, but it’s plusher in here, there’s an airbag, lots of pale leather, though the dashboard looks familiar. Still the clickclack of the gearshift but so much torque from the off and the flat-six is more muted, though still so tuneful. The steering is power-assisted, so it’s quite high-geared, there’s more hush in the suspension and the ride feels rounded yet well-damped. Even so, there’s no mistaking the old character when you press on; it’s every inch a 911 in the way it feels during spirited driving. Purists love this car and it’s so easy to understand why.

Jonathan Ackerley bought this 993 in 2019, having been brought up on a diet of air-cooled Porsches. ‘I went for a late model as it’s the easiest to use every day, though I tend

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to keep it off the road between October and April. Short of air-conditioning, it’s perfect. It’s my first older car and I love the sound of the doors closing, the slim rim of the steering wheel, the way it looks. It’s really special.’

What’s perhaps surprising is how close the 996 feels.

It’s bigger, easier to get into, you sit straighter, the dash is a stylised update of the original (still five clocks, still a central rev-counter) and the passage of time means its interior now looks a little quaint – in the same way you got used to your grandparents’ swirly carpets. It’s a massive ergonomic improvement, however.

Start the engine and it sounds quite similar. Twirl the wheel and the sensation is likewise. Select first gear and you notice the cable shift is a little lighter but it’s not a million miles away in feel, and initial acceleration is similarly strong.

There’s an all-new body and an all-new engine, yet it’s not so different as you might have expected. There are shared elements: the gearbox and suspension front and rear are carry-overs, though neither dated back very far. And while the new engine is smaller in capacity (it’s a 3.4 in base Carrera form), power is up to 296bhp.

Once under way, dare we say it’s an improvement? Sure, the RS’s unassisted helm chatters more, but the 993’s doesn’t, and designing in power-assistance from the off makes this a paragon of its genre: sharp, linear, consistent, enjoyable. The ride has a slightly sharper edge to it, but there’s a little less body movement and the overall feeling is of slightly greater stability: incremental but there nonetheless, and hardcore road-testers instantly reported far more predictable on-limit behaviour. There’s also real strength in the power delivery and great character in the

Clockwise, from opposite Clever styling of 993 (behind) did much to hide the car’s age – there’s less character in the 996’s; last-of-line aircooled interior combines ancient and modern; air-cooled flat-six sounds the business.

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Clockwise, from below 993 looks closer to its successor than its predecessor; water-cooled flat-six sounds the business; five-clock layout modernised; swirly 996 interior beginning to mellow.

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multi-layered soundtrack. Worth mentioning are a 50kg weight-saving (despite the more generous dimensions), a 45% increase in torsional stiffness and a thoroughly modern drag factor of 0.30. Well, the old version was getting on a bit, though, to be fair, the 993 managed a very decent 0.33.

What price this great car? Think £20,000. Surely one of the great performance bargains of the era, and that despite a small surge in recent years. ‘It’s always been a good car,’ says Turner, ‘a car you can drive every day and that’s within reach of many people.’

Jon Miller bought this one recently, following a 986 Boxster, a 996 GT3, a Cayman and ‘so much air-cooled stuff I can’t even count’!

‘I alternate between this and an Audi as my daily driver,’ he says. ‘All weathers, it just depends how many passengers I have. It’s 20 years old but completely usable and most stuff I can service or fix myself. It’s not an ownership experience that frightens me, yet it’s still a Porsche sports car.’

Fair to say that, in terms of enjoyment per pound spent, the 996 surely wins any comparison. But in the air-versuswater debate, there can be no losers as there has never been a 911 that doesn’t live up to the reputation. Instead, what this closely related yet objectively disparate grouping proves is that there is a 911 for every kind of driver. And every occasion for driving.

‘The 996 is surely one of the great performance bargains of the era’

THANKS TO Sports Purpose, sports-purpose.com, and owners Alex Ham, Jordan Butters, Jonathan Ackerley and Jon Miller.

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Porsche 911s Air vs water

AUGUST ACHLEITNER The evolution of an icon: Mr 911 reveals all

‘WE HAD MORE concerns from the public with the move from air- to water-cooling than we did with going from natural aspiration to turbos, yet there is far more impact on throttle response and noise with turbos,’ says August Achleitner, reflecting on the evolution of expectations as much as the evolution of the 911 over its extraordinary 61year (and counting) career. As his swansong was to launch the 992 generation, he speaks with the utmost authority: Achleitner retired at the end of 2018, having started at Porsche in 1983, working on chassis development. He then led technical development from 1989, before taking over full responsibility for the 911 in 2001.

The move to water-cooling was a straightforward engineering decision. ‘We had to establish a four-valve cylinder head, purely on the basis of emissions regulations,’ he deadpans. ‘We made attempts with the air-cooled engines but they simply can’t be kept cool enough. Even looking at motorcycle technology, it was too difficult to get the heat out of the cylinder heads. So we had to move to watercooling.’ The decision had been made.

Yet it wasn’t an easy one: this was at a time of considerable economic stress at Porsche. There was a late move to develop the 964 into the 993 while laying the foundations for a new 911 that would share common parts and the same engine family with a new entry-level car: hence the introduction of the 996 and Boxster.

‘Our biggest challenge was to install the water-cooling system in a car that had a front luggage compartment. The result was two cooling elements, with a radiator in each front corner. Our rivals were less practical; we wanted to

keep that aspect intact.’ And for Achleitner, the configuration was more important than the cooling method.

‘It’s all about the layout. I love the flat-six, that very specific sound, its characteristic vibrations at low revs and the absolute smoothness from 1000 to 8000rpm. In the aircooled car, there was so much torque in the mid-range. But with the water-cooled car, with four valves, we worked on the induction, timing and camshafts and it developed even more from a smaller capacity.’

Naturally, Achleitner was keenly aware of the heritage of his charge. ‘We managed to transport the history of the 911 into the future with barely a single part carried over,’ he says.

‘It’s an icon. No other company has a brand like this. With the 996, our confidence was back after some difficult years, thanks to a combination of aspects. We had 300PS from the start, proper climate control at last, better fuel consumption.

It was a little bit bigger, too – people had got taller but the 911 hadn’t grown since 1963. We had to consider how people would fit, there was space for an automatic transmission, and because the convertible version was designed alongside the coupé we had space for rear seats and to stow the roof. We had a clean sheet of paper and a new start, with a goal to sell 30,000 sports cars per year.

We were at 60,000 within a few years, and that allowed us to develop a third product line.’

The 996 Carrera was only the start, of course. ‘With the 996 we could sell to new customers from Mercedes and BMW; that was not possible with the more hardcore aircooled car. But then came the Turbo and GT3. The discussion ended. We had silenced the critics.’

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Porsche 911s Air vs water

WHAT PRICE THE LEGENDARY RS 2.7?

John Mayhead on the ups, downs and ups of Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7 values WHEN THE FIRST UK Hagerty Price Guide was published in January 2012, there were a few models included that, in retrospect, were available for bargain prices. Hindsight, as they say, is a wonderful thing, but a Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7 Touring in ‘excellent’ condition for sale at £182,000 was a very real prospect. Today, the same car is listed at £617,000.

That’s not to say the trajectory of RS 2.7 Touring values has been a steady climb. Prices first rose rapidly, more than doubling between January 2012 and the start of 2015. They then corrected, falling back by a quarter and bottoming during lockdown at £355,700. In 2022, along with many other collectable cars, the RS 2.7 experienced a post-Covid boom and ‘excellent’ prices rose to £605,000. But, unlike other models that have slipped downhill again, values of this very special Porsche have remained strong. Values of Lightweight-spec cars have followed the same trajectory, although these ultra-desirable cars are typically 80-100% more valuable, the delta increasing since Covid.

Although RS 2.7 values look relatively similar to where they were back in 2015, there are huge differences between values of superb ones and the also-rans: Hagerty’s lowest ‘fair’ price is currently 37% of its top ‘concours’ value, down from 2015, when the lesser cars were worth 67% of the best. This is a trend Hagerty has seen elsewhere: during a tricky market, the very best demand top prices; those with any sort of ‘stories’ tend to struggle.

Porsche collectors are known to be a very particular bunch when it comes to specification, history and provenance. A great example was the RS 2.7 Lightweight offered by RM Sotheby’s at this year’s Paris auction in February. It was offered with a €1-1.4m pre-sale estimate: strong, but reflecting its significant period race/rally history and reported originality. It sold for €713,750 after a significant amount of ‘chatter’ on specialist forums about its restoration history prior to the sale. Correct or not, it may have had an impact.

ate

P O R S C H E 9 1 1 2 .7 R S VA L U E S O V E R T I M E £1.2m £1m

Lightweight

£800k £600k Touring

£400k £200k 0 2016

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FORCED AIR As for the 911 Turbos…

WE CAN’T DEBATE Air vs Water without mentioning the Big Brother 911s. Yes, we know, GT3 apart they’re all turbos now and have been since 2015. But five decades ago the race-bred 930 arrived, Ernst Fuhrmann having adapted the turbo technology originally developed for the 917/30 Can-Am racer and applied it to the Carrera RS’s 3.0-litre flat-six. Thanks to a single KKK turbocharger there was suddenly a whale-tailed monster to sit above the nimble sports car the enthusiast world knew and loved. It thumped out 256bhp at 5500rpm and 243lb ft at 4000rpm, transmitted to those all-too-easily-overwhelmed rear tyres by a four-speed gearbox. There wasn’t a five-speed tough enough to take the job on.

Fast-forward to 1999 and the first water-cooled Turbo was launched at the Frankfurt show. Like the 997 GT3, it employs the race-proven and bulletproof Mezger flat-six, this time with two turbos for a peak 420bhp, 0-60mph in 4.2sec and 190mph flat-out. With four-wheel drive, it was far less the widow-maker of early Turbo infamy and far more the businessman’s express. Thrillingly fast, of course, though so much less visceral. The monster had not so much been tamed as transmogrified.

Rather as with the naturally aspirated cars, the market has its say: Hagerty quotes the 3.0 930 in Condition 1 at £239,000. An excellent 996 Turbo is yours for more like £40,000. It’s the bargain here, again – though we’re not quite comparing like with like. And there is a very interesting middle ground in the 402bhp 993, partly tamed thanks to four-wheel drive yet still with the old-school character of the earlier cars. Not cheap (it mirrors the 930) but certainly an air-cooled car you could use for endless thrills.

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05/03/2025 09:56

A century on Bugatti Type 35B

The pursuit of perfection Bugatti typified the car as artform, and never more consummately than with the Type 35. Richard Heseltine celebrates a milestone from a century ago Photography Stéphane Abrantes

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A century on Bugatti Type 35B

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T

he mist is slowly clearing from the mountains, patch by patch. There is a tingle of anticipation as the car is warmed up by seasoned veterans moving in almost performative synchronicity. It would appear that a Bugatti Type 35B must be primed from all angles, and it takes a while. The car sounds angry, voicing a release of pent-up fury and mechanical clamour, and finally it’s ready, the moment has arrived. Everything car-related that you have done over the past half-century has been building up to now, savouring a Grand Prix ‘Bug’ on the road. And for that, no superlative is sufficient.

First there is the small matter of clambering aboard. The bodywork is Rizla-thin so it’s a case of hand here, foot there, heave up and slide in, all the while being careful not to accidentally switch off the fuel tap that is sited by your right shin. The cockpit is ultra-narrow, the machine-turned dash home to a fuel pressure pump, oil and fuel pressure gauges, a clock, the vertically moving advance-and-retard lever, a magneto and a revcounter. However, you cannot help but notice something that is conspicuously absent: space for your feet. The pedals are tiny to the point that they are practically touching. Even size 8 race boots with the thinnest of soles are too large.

Suddenly you are up the creek without a boat, let alone a paddle. How the hell do you drive this thing? Simple – take your shoes off. Defeat isn’t an option. Now all you have to do is remember the shift pattern: it’s back to front, that is to say the largely exposed lever is moved to the left and back for first, second is forward, third across the gate and back, and top gear is a further throw in the direction of the uncovered front wheels.

The multi-plate clutch is like a switch. It is disarmingly light, and not in keeping with something that is the better part of a century old.

It is at this juncture that the car’s custodian decides to jump in, just to check that you are happy at the helm. You are millimetres yet also worlds apart, the riding mechanic being someone for whom the Bugatti is practically his mistress. The engine revs rise and fall instantly in response to the throttle. They help drown out the self-doubt. Don’t let it spiral. It’s just a car, after all. It is impossible not to crunch it into first without familiarity, but then we are off with a slight chirrup from the rear tyres. Just remember not to blip on upshifts. There is no need, the lever snicking into place as fast as it can be pushed.

The Bugatti is nervily alive; the steering tremors and vibrations through the chassis and driveline are in keeping with its vintage. Then there’s the engine note. Snap open the throttle for the first time and it’s as though a dam has been breached. From as low as 1500rpm, which is roughly akin to tickover, the Type 35B just bolts. The deep ripping noise – the ‘tearing calico’ cliché – is otherworldly, the surge forwards immediate. The quivering rev-counter needle spins off its axis, acceleration being of the visceral variety. The onslaught of fresh air reconfigures your jowls and ensures that thoughts tumble out uncensored.

You cannot help but cuss a blue streak.

This may be the greatest thing ever. The Bugatti is as raw as you hoped it would be, but also a model of precision engineering. You would be amazed were it otherwise. So much has been written about the Type 35B, so much of it gushing, but it really is a work of genius. The mystique was earned the hard way, this being the car that kicked off a period of dominance for Bugatti in the Grand Prix arena, let’s not forget. It led to the visually similar Type 51 and the fearsome Type 59. It is remarkable

Clockwise, from opposite A century old and absolutely radical in its day; characteristic radiator and grille, plus a beautifully wrought crank handle; tiny yet exquisite pedals.

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A century on Bugatti Type 35B

Clockwise, from opposite Electrifying both to drive and to listen to; gorgeous engine-turned dash and delicate instruments; engine is a work of art – supercharging a reluctant response to rivals.

to think that the Type 35 first appeared in unblown 2.0-litre form as far back as 1924.

Over the next two seasons, it raced in 1.5-litre form and then in its classic 2.3-litre configuration (still normally aspirated) on the Targa Florio in April 1926. Bugatti finished 1-2-3-5 in Sicily. That same year saw the arrival of a supercharged variant as a catalogue model, distinguishable by its larger radiator that was moved forwards to allow space for the blower drive. A Bugatti-built ‘Roots-type’ supercharger was sited low down on the offside of the crankshaft and driven via a shaft and train of gears from the front of the crank. The engine, like the rest of the car, was a work of architectural artistry, even if some of it was fiendishly overcomplicated.

The heart of any Type 35 was an overhead-cam straight-eight that carried forward principles already trialled: two fixed-head four-cylinder blocks topped by an aluminium camshaft box that was crafted to symmetrical perfection. It was the first Bugatti to wear the characteristic cast aluminium wheels with integral brake drums, and also to feature a chassis frame tapered to match the pointed tail and enclosing the reversed quarter-elliptic springs (a marque constant). The Type 35 also ushered in the elegant tubular front axle that was to become another marque constant. Normally aspirated cars had two barrel-throated Solex carbs, supercharged versions a large single Zenith unit.

It’s worth recalling that the Type 35’s motorsport debut, the French Grand Prix of 1924, proved a disaster. Ten cars were ready for the race, only for their charge to be blunted after the tyres threw their treads. A year later, Bugattis placed sixth, seventh and eighth, beaten only by cars equipped with superchargers. As a result, Ettore Bugatti overcame his distaste for blowers and the result was the Types 35B and 35C. There followed a near-hegemony on-track in Europe and beyond that lasted for the remainder of the decade, albeit often against little effective opposition and by dint of sheer numbers. By 1929, the single-cam engines were deemed passé, but Type 35s continued to chalk up wins.

The car pictured here was originally owned by Henrique Lehrfeld, a Portuguese privateer of German and Swiss stock who competed exclusively in Bugattis save for a couple of outings in an Opel and a single race in a Gardner. He used the family wealth (his father owned a chemical works near Lisbon) to acquire a Type 35C from Philippe de Rothschild after the San Sebastian Grand Prix in July 1929, only to sell the car to Adalberto Marques the following year. Lehrfeld apparently bought the Type 35B direct from the Molsheim factory, the car being delivered in July 1930, although some sources insist it was ordered via the Bugatti showroom on the Champs-Élysées.

Lehrfeld didn’t waste any time enjoying his new mount, winning first time out two months later in the Caldas da Rainha speed trials. In November of that year, he won another sprint staged at Mindelo, near Porto. Chassis 4952 was clocked at an average speed of 120.5mph (194km/h) over the flying kilometre course, becoming the fastest car in Portugal in the process (he held the record until 1937). A year later, he was third in the Rampa de la Rabassada and finished fifth in the October 1931 Grand Prix de la Baule that was staged near Brittany. He continued to accrue solid results thereafter, but one of the car’s career highlights was racked up by a guest driver.

In 1934, António Guedes de Herédia convinced Lehrfeld to let him hire the Bugatti and race it at Vila Real, the carrot being that Lehrfeld would also receive the prize money should he triumph. De Herédia emerged victorious and kept his word (although he retained the trophy).

In 1935, Lehrfeld campaigned the car at the Gavea circuit in Brazil,

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‘Snap open the throttle for the first time and it’s as though a dam has been breached’

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A century on Bugatti Type 35B

claiming a celebrated second place in the 1935 Gran Premio do Rio de Janeiro, only for his repeat bid a year later to end in retirement. Sixth place at Vila Real in July 1936 was the last result of any significance for the car, Lehrfeld retiring from a race at Estoril in 1937. He apparently hung up his helmet before the season was out.

Nonetheless, Lehrfeld retained the Bugatti until 1956, when it was sold to João Lacerda, the founder of the Museu do Caramulo. It remains in the same family ownership and in remarkably well-preserved condition. The car’s original front axle and wheels were damaged in an accident, mind, although there is a degree of uncertainty over when. The injuries were either incurred at the Caldas da Rainha speed trials in August 1932 or during a meeting at the Parque Eduardo VII circuit two years later. Lehrfeld broke an arm in the latter event, which may explain why he was happy to let de Herédia race the car at Vila Real. Either way, it was repaired in period.

Today the Type 35B wears its years well despite being in its tenth decade. Everything about this car screams delicacy and exactitude. As the car’s custodian, Tiago Patrício Gouveia, is keen to point out, virtually every component was machined, fabricated or forged from solid materials yet they were invariably radiused, tapered, or curved smooth. Accordingly, there are no machining marks. His enthusiasm for the car is infectious, whether he’s extolling the wheel design (the outer spokes are angled to deflect air onto the brakes, if only in theory), or outlining the chassis design: there are six crossmembers, the engine block contributing towards torsional rigidity.

Watching its keeper and friends start and fettle the car is a thing of wonder. It’s simple enough once you know how. Lean in and turn on the fuel tap. Crank the hand throttle open a touch, work the hand pump on the left-hand side of the dash to get the fuel pressure gauge needle moving from its stop, move the vertically sliding advance/retard lever up its

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1930 Bugatti Type 35B Engine 2261cc OHC straight-eight, three valves per cylinder, Zenith carburettor, Roots-type supercharger Power 130bhp @ 5000rpm (approx) Torque 186lb ft @ 5300rpm Transmission Four-speed manual, rear-wheel drive Steering Worm and nut Suspension Front: rigid axle, semi-elliptic leaf springs, friction dampers.

Rear: live axle, in-swept reversed quarter-elliptic leaf springs, friction dampers Brakes Drums Weight 762kg Top Speed 128mph (est)

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A century on Bugatti Type 35B

‘With greater familiarity of road and car, you soon appreciate what all the fuss is about’

serrated slot to full retard, prime the carb, and… Well, you get the idea.

It’s a time-consuming process and you cannot help but stare in disbelief as the engine fires. It isn’t happy idling, at least not to begin with, and each blip of the throttle induces furrowed brows from its carers.

That, and a sharp, sky-tearing crackle. It’s giddying stuff, a sense that is heightened further on being let loose on your own against a seemingly never-ending yet everchanging backdrop. It’s like another world up here in the mountains, the jagged edges of the rockfaces softened only in the shadows. With greater familiarity of road and car, your shoulders relax and your jaw unclenches to the point that you soon appreciate what all the fuss is about. The Type 35B is unbelievably quick for its vintage, but it reacts instantly to the slightest surface defect. It doesn’t hop, skip or jump, it’s more that your contact points are working overtime. The steering is light and ultra-direct. Disarmingly so.

You don’t so much drive a Type 35B as think your way along. In theory, you can top 60mph in second gear easily enough, and exceed 90mph in third. This seems eminently plausible, but sitting exposed against the elements ensures that it seems much faster. Once you have mastered the shift pattern, it’s a doddle to move up and down the ’box so long as you are disciplined. Rushed, noiseless gearchanges are not an option. You also learn not to overcorrect; let the car wander a little. It doesn’t dart left or right but the front wheels shimmy a wee bit. That goes with the territory.

The cable-operated brakes, meanwhile, were deemed fabulous way back when. All these years later, you press the middle pedal hard before there’s any retardation from high-ish speed, at least until the brakes have warmed up. You must then release the pedal so as not to lock the rears.

It’s all a bit trial-and-error, but again that is to be expected. Not even a sudden rain shower can dampen the sunshine mood. The takeaway from an afternoon spent in the company of a Type 35B is that it is every inch the copper-bottomed, blue-chip classic that posterity has painted. There aren’t enough adjectival phrases to describe how immersive the experience is, and it really does tickle all of your senses.

You emerge feeling elated. That, and a bit oily. The Bug does like to mark its territory. Driving one makes you appreciate the Grand Prix drivers of yore who raced between trees, through towns, perhaps across a viaduct or two, and for hours on end. There was no safety net. Exceeding track limits meant you often connected with something immovable. They were heroes one and all, but even a relatively brief dalliance with a Type 35B is sufficient to leave you feeling as though you could have been among their number. It has that effect, as does the locale. Cue a cinematic end to the journey. Soaring score. Fade to black.

THANKS TO Tiago Patrício Gouveia and Salvador Patrício Gouveia at Museu do Caramulo (museudocaramulo.pt), and Adelino Dinis.

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Shipping quality tyres around the world European customers can still receive the same excellent service as pre-Brexit; we deal with the complications and the price you see on the website is the price you pay XWX

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Cars in space NASA’s Lunar Rover

› IN SPACE › NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU › LAUGH .

Of course, we realise exploring another world was no mere giggle. But the Lunar Rovers were nonetheless an entertaining invention, as Elliott Hughes discovers Photography NASA

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ASTRONAUTS DAVE SCOTT and James B Irwin were packed like sardines inside the cramped confines of the Apollo 15 Lunar Module, Falcon. In July 1971, they crossed the lethal 250,000-mile void of space to inscribe near-eternal footprints on another world. Not only footprints but tyre-tracks, too.

As with all previous Apollo missions, every inch of the Lunar Module was crammed with tools, equipment and supplies essential for scientific discovery – and survival.

Velcroed checklists, stashed food packets and myriad life-support systems competed for space within the cabin. But Falcon also carried something unprecedented: the Lunar Roving Vehicle 1 (LRV-1), folded beneath it like intricate origami, ready to transform forever the scope of human exploration.

As Falcon began its descent toward the Moon’s mountainous Hadley-Apennine region, Scott and Irwin peered through triangular windows at the crater-scarred surface below. Their perilous lunar landing was a masterclass in precision, requiring staccato bursts of thrust to control their descent safely to the surface. When the module’s landing struts pressed into the fine regolith, Scott’s voice crackled through the radio: ‘Houston, the Falcon is on the plain at Hadley.’

After hours of checks and preparation, they turned their attention to the rover, a machine as vital to this mission’s success as the module itself. Packed into a narrow triangular recess in the descent stage, the LRV was a triumph of engineering, ingeniously designed to unfold like a life-sized puzzle. On the lunar surface, Scott and Irwin released latches and pins, carefully deploying the skeletal aluminium-framed vehicle.

‘It’s beautiful,’ Scott murmured, as the final components unfolded and then snapped into place. Once he’d been ratcheted into the driver’s seat, he palmed the simple T-shaped tiller and inched the rover forward. Crisp tyretracks appeared in the virgin regolith, destined to endure for epochs. And all this in fewer than 100 years since the first commercially available motor car – the Benz PatentMotorwagen – had made its first tentative tyre-tracks back on Earth.

Scott and Irwin’s extraterrestrial automobile was the first of three to be driven on the Moon’s surface. While some might dismiss it as a bold propaganda tool – or evidence of America’s unrestrained love affair with the motor car – the reality is far more profound. Not only were these rovers essential to some of Apollo’s most significant scientific breakthroughs, they also laid the groundwork for the future of extraplanetary exploration.

‘The Lunar Rover completely transformed everything about the Apollo programme,’ asserts Earl Swift, who chronicles the lunar vehicle story in his meticulously researched 2021 book Across the Airless Wilds. ‘Especially when you consider that on Apollo 11, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin ventured no more than 65 yards from

Opposite and above Irwin next to the Lunar Roving Vehicle on the Moon during NASA’s Apollo 15 mission; Apollo 15 lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on 26 July 1971.

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Cars in space NASA’s Lunar Rover

‘UNCERTAINTY ABOUT THE LUNAR SURFACE INSPIRED SOMETIMES BIZARRE VEHICLE CONCEPTS’ the lunar module. Their entire exploration could fit within a football field – with plenty of yardage to spare.’

The introduction of the rover vastly expanded the range of lunar exploration, enabling the Apollo astronauts to cover nearly 60 miles over three missions.

The LRV’s impact on the scope of the Apollo programme was profound and the story behind its creation is fascinating. ‘Its origins go back to the 1950s, both conceptually and in early prototypes,’ says Swift.

‘The idea emerged from the fascination of two General Motors employees: [Mieczysław Gregory] “Greg” Bekker, a Polish-born engineer, and his Hungarian protégé, Ferenc Pavlics. They became fascinated with the prospect of extraterrestrial mobility after Sputnik I, and immediately began working on it. They saw it as an interesting, abstract problem because no one knew what the lunar surface was like at the time.’

The uncertainty surrounding the lunar surface inspired a range of truly innovative – and sometimes bizarre – vehicle concepts. Austrian-born British astrophysicist Thomas Gold, for example, hypothesised that the Moon’s surface was covered in seas of fine, loose dust, accumulated over millions of years from relentless asteroid bombardment. Gold’s prediction led some to speculate that any spacecraft landing on this lunar ‘sea’ might simply sink into the dust.

To test these theories, GM’s engineering team in Santa Barbara, California, built a large soil bin – 5ft wide, 3ft deep, 50ft long – and filled it with baking flour to simulate the lunar surface. They used the bin to experiment with various extraterrestrial vehicle designs, including a novel Archimedes screw that would drill its way across the surface. Ultimately, however, it was the third and most conventional four-wheeled design that gained the most traction (pun intended).

‘Eventually, and after a lot of experimentation, GM concluded that, when factoring in weight and complexity, the wheel made the most sense. Wheels handle dry surfaces pretty easily, and since the Moon’s surface was waterless, they made the most sense,’ Swift explains.

‘So then it became a question of what arrangement and type of wheels would do best in an airless, waterless environment with extreme temperatures. This led them to come up with wheels that incorporated 800 strands of stainless-steel piano wire coated in zinc and wound into a fine, tight mesh. These wheels were very stiff and about the same size as automotive tyres of the day, but they

weighed only 12 pounds [5.4kg], including their spun aluminium hubs.’

These wheels had a unique advantage: ‘They were stiff yet provided a good contact patch. They deformed just enough to absorb impacts when encountering an obstacle.’ Perfect for a different world.

Titanium chevron tread was then added for traction, but the challenges didn’t stop with the wheels. Engineers also had to account for the Moon’s extreme temperature fluctuations, which ranged between a blistering 121°C during the day and a frigid -173°C at night. As if that wasn’t enough, the lack of atmosphere made combustion engines useless and also prevented air-cooling for the rover’s vital components. The lunar dust, while fine and dry, was also remarkably abrasive and could damage the vehicle’s moving parts.

With all of this taken into consideration, the design team, which was led by US aerospace company Boeing, turned to electric propulsion, incorporating a small quarter-horsepower motor into each wheel that delivered its drive via a harmonic reduction gear – similar to what’s used to turn heavy machinery. Both axles were steered, and the aluminium chassis was hinged so that it could fit within the lunar module.

While a mere 1bhp total might not sound like much, the rover’s remarkably lightweight design made it highly efficient. Weighing just 210kg on Earth, the LRV tipped the scales at only 34kg under the Moon’s reduced gravity – just 16% of Earth’s. Despite its minimal weight, it boasted an impressive payload capacity of 490kg, essential for transporting astronauts, cameras, scientific instruments and geological samples.

Predictably, the controls were entirely different from those of a typical vehicle. Acceleration, braking and steering were all managed using a simple T-shaped tiller, positioned in the middle of the cockpit for ease of access.

This design was chosen so that the LRV could be controlled by both passengers and because gripping a joystick while wearing a pressurised space suit required an enormous amount of physical effort.

‘When we watch footage of astronauts bunny-hopping around on the lunar surface, it looks like they were having a ball, but it was hard work,’ Swift explains.

‘Imagine wearing a space suit that’s 18 to 21 layers thick.

The best way to picture it is like putting on 18 raincoats, one after the other, sealing the cuffs, and then inflating them until they’re as stiff as an all-season radial tyre.

Now, try bending your arm. You’ll quickly see how much effort it takes.’

Despite its unconventional design, the LRV had an undeniable charm. The only feature it shared with a regular car was, perhaps, the lawn-furniture-style seats –

Opposite, clockwise, from top left LRV during a deployment simulation; Scott and Irwin on the LRV at Kennedy Space Center; Apollo 15 in lunar orbit; LRV was foldable for transport; Apollo 15 crew with their new wheels; LRV in geology training at the Cinder Lake crater field in Arizona; compact enough to fit in the Lunar Module.

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Cars in space NASA’s Lunar Rover

which, humorously, resembled those of an early Citroën 2CV. Yet these lightweight, utilitarian perches – much like the rest of the design – were perfectly suited to the lunar environment.

While both Boeing and GM collaborated on the project, the involvement of Pavlics and Bekker was crucial, with Pavlics, in particular, playing an important role in bringing the intrepid vehicle to life. The team’s work came to a head when, in a moment of mischief, Pavlics allegedly drove a scale model of the LRV into the office of Wernher von Braun, the former Nazi rocket scientist who pioneered the design of Apollo’s Saturn V rocket. His response? ‘We must do this!’

And so, by March 1971 – and after just 17 months – the first of the three LRVs was successfully loaded into Apollo 15’s Falcon module and deployed and driven by Irwin and Scott on the Moon. Despite the short build time, the project was beset with difficulties and ran well over budget from $19m to $38m – or $300m in today’s money.

However, putting the steep engineering challenges and the US Government’s vast financial commitment to one side, what makes the LRV and Apollo so evocative is the historic bravery of the men who piloted them, as Earl poignantly points out: ‘It takes a rare kind of courage to journey a quarter of a million miles to the Moon, step out of your one-way ride home, climb into a 1969 General

‘1BHP MIGHT NOT SOUND MUCH, BUT THE ROVER’S LIGHTNESS MADE IT HIGHLY EFFICIENT’ Motors creation, and drive it far beyond the reach of your only way back. It’s mind-blowing – a level of courage that’s almost unimaginable.’

It seems apt, therefore, that all three of the Lunar Roving Vehicles are destined to remain as monuments in the heavens to mankind’s greatest achievement.

Regardless of what the future holds for humanity – whether it ends through our own stupidity, pestilence, or some unforeseen cataclysm – a sliver of solace can be found in the knowledge that these automotive creations will endure in the bleak eeriness of the Moon’s landscape for millennia.

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Coachbuilt Alfa Bertone Giulia SS

In the name of beauty

For the Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint Speciale, coachbuilder Bertone sacrificed practicality on the altar of style – yet the resulting pain is worth it, says Peter Tomalin Photography Sam Chick

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Coachbuilt Alfa Bertone Giulia SS

‘Isn’t it just lovely?’ at the time. Scaglione produced a number of landmark designs Photographer Sam Chick is in rhapsodies, one minute for Alfa Romeo, most famously the trio of extraordinary crouching for a close-up of a badge, the next teetering atop a Alfa-based BAT concept cars, BAT standing for Berlina stepladder to capture the little Alfa’s form in all its streamlined Aerodinamica Tecnica. Those early-1950s aerodynamic studies glory from above. Sam has written in these very pages about his also informed Scaglione’s production car designs of the period, adventures with his own boat-tail 1750 Spider, so he’s a man and you can glimpse ghosts of them in certain aspects of the who knows his Alfas. He has also photographed everything Sprint Speciale. The way the wings wrap around the wheels, for from Bugattis to Bizzarrinis, so he’s no stranger to beautiful example, the deeply dished front and rear windscreens, the forms. ‘I could shoot this all week,’ he purrs. tiny frontal area, the tapering tail… You can almost sense the ‘This’ is an Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint Speciale to give it its wind rushing over it. full name, or Giulia SS for short. For those not fully up to The Giulietta SS had a 1.3-litre version of the classic Alfa speed on their post-war Alfas, a bit of context would probably twin-cam four. It produced a modest-sounding 99bhp and be handy here. And the first thing to know is that the model 83lb ft of torque, but its free-revving nature and the fact that started life not as a Giulia but a Giulietta. the SS weighed just 765kg meant spirited acceleration, while In the mid-1950s, Alfa Romeo offered a number of saloons, the wind tunnel-honed aerodynamics (a drag coefficient of coupés and spiders, all badged Giulietta but each quite different just 0.28 was claimed) helped it to a top speed of over 120mph. from the next. The most exotic member of the family was the In Giulietta form the SS was in production Giulietta Sprint Speciale, first glimpsed as a from 1959 to 1962; 1366 were sold. show-car in 1957, using a shortened Sprint Above and right Then, in 1962, the whole Alfa range was coupé platform and clothed in particularly Franco Scaglione’s given a major update. The 101 series of cars was striking Bertone bodywork, in essence the characteristic styling largely replaced by the 105 series, and the shape you see here. survived the transition from Giuliettas became Giulias. There were a The lines were the work of Franco Scaglione, 101 Giulietta to 105 Giulia; number of new body styles – most notably the the supremely gifted chief designer at Bertone interior is just as exquisite.

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Coachbuilt Alfa Bertone Giulia SS

When it emerged again, at Bonhams’ now-iconic Giulia Sprint GT/GTA – but the Above and opposite Beautifully detailed by Goodwood Speed Week auction in 2020, it Sprint Speciale continued in its sublime Bertone in the 1960s, and caught the eye of a British couple who fell in Bertone form, albeit with some minor beautifully finished today – love with its Scaglione lines. When it didn’t cosmetic changes (chiefly, more chrome). though the cockpit meet its reserve, conversations were had, a The more significant changes took place remains a tight fit. deal was done for around £80,000, and shortly under that skin, with the introduction of the afterwards the SS was dispatched to Kenttorquier 1.6-litre version of the twin-cam in based restoration specialist Barkaways for assessment. place of the 1.3, for peak outputs of 110bhp and 98lb ft. The Barkaways, which is hosting us today, is best-known for its new car was heavier, though, which blunted any performance Ferrari work. ‘It’s probably 80 or 90% of what we do,’ says boss advantage. Other changes included the adoption of discs for Ian Barkaway, ‘but often the owners will have other cars and the front brakes, while inside there was a redesigned dash and ask us to work on them, too, which is what happened here.’ a slightly plusher GT vibe.

The steel body was superficially tidy but when it was stripped Yet still the Giulia SS still wasn’t a particularly big seller. it was found that floorpan, inner and outer sills, inner ’arches, Only 1399 were made in a production run that lasted from all were riddled with rust. A full bare-metal restoration was 1962 until 1965, and of those a mere 25 were converted to agreed, even though at a cost of several hundred thousand right-hand drive (by Worthing-based Ruddspeed) for the UK. pounds it would make no commercial sense whatsoever.

This car, chassis number AR 380785, is one of those 25.

Which is rather refreshing. As Ian says: ‘These things are Built in the Bertone works (as were all SSs) in early 1964 usually decided with a calculator, but this was lovely because and delivered to Alfa Romeo UK in May of that year, it was first the owners just appreciated the car and they knew exactly what registered to one Ian Pelling, of Farnham, Surrey, in January they wanted to do with it.’ Basically, a restoration to the same 1965, carrying the registration plate it still wears to this day. level as their Ferrari 250 Lusso.

In more recent times its owners have included Nick Nicholas So the Giuseppe Busso-designed all-aluminium twin-cam of Alfa specialist Lombarda Sport, who had it from 2000 until was rebuilt with new internals, as were the five-speed gearbox 2015, at which point it was acquired by a collector and and rear diff. There were a few challenges along the way. ‘The henceforth kept mostly in storage.

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‘The freshly completed SS made its first public appearance at the 2022 Salon Privé concours’ conversion to right-hand drive hadn’t been done with much finesse,’ laughs Ian. ‘For the pedals they literally just cut a hole in the floor. And the clutch operation has the most extraordinary mechanism with all these bars and linkages…’

Perforated metalwork was cut away and new sections fabricated before the Alfa could go into paint. Over the years it had undergone a number of colour changes, from the original Bluette to traditional Alfa red to the black it wore when it arrived at Barkaways. Something close to the original blue seemed appropriate and the owners selected Azzurro Vincennes, used by Maserati and Ferrari in the 1960s.

The restoration took two years and the freshly completed SS made its first public appearance at the 2022 Salon Privé concours. ‘To get a car like the Alfa into an invitation-only event like that was recognition of what a very special little car it is,’ says Ian. ‘Everyone thought it was great that someone had done this much work on a car like this.’

Today we’re far from Salon Privé’s lawns, but even on the concrete apron outside the Barkaways workshop the Sprint Speciale looks heavenly. I bend down to peer inside. It’s all as perfect as outside, though space is tight. There are tiny seats in the rear where originally there was just a shelf, but since there’s no room for anyone’s legs, not even a toddler’s, they remain

somewhere to throw your bags and coats. Fair enough; lots of coupés are like that. Of rather more concern is that there doesn’t seem to be very much more room in the front.

I very quickly realise that getting in isn’t going to be the work of a moment. I try bum-first, but now there’s no way I can get my legs in. Or my head and shoulders, which remain, unhelpfully, outside the car. I momentarily consider legs-first but the size and lowness of the steering wheel make that impossible without having knees that bend the opposite way to the accepted norm.

After several attempts I enter head-first on my side and lie across both seats, facing the dash (as if I were placing my head in my passenger’s lap). Now, with my knees together, I can pull my legs in before threading them either side of the wheel. All very dignified. And only now do I sit up straight – at which point I find the top of my head pressed firmly into the headlining…

But at least I’m in. My knees are bent and splayed either side of the wheel in the classic Italian driving position. Not ideal, but not unexpected. However, when I close the door I discover that my right knee is now pretty much trapped between the wheel and the doorframe. Interesting. And when I give the gearshift a practice run through the gate, all’s well until I go for

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Coachbuilt Alfa Bertone Giulia SS

‘As speed builds, the engine is thrummily busy, and the SS adds its chuntering transmission into the sound mix’ fifth, at which point the long, raked-back shifter pushes up against my left leg.

MoT certificates dating back to 1990 reveal that the car has covered only some 9000 miles in the last 30-odd years. I can kind of see why. ‘You wouldn’t want to drive to Italy in it,’ smiles photographer Sam. I’m not even sure I can drive to the other side of Barkaways’ car park.

It’s not that I’m exceptionally tall. Pretty much bang-on 6ft, carrying a few extra pounds these days perhaps, but then who isn’t? Still, there’s much to enjoy. The fixtures and fittings are beautifully executed; a neat binnacle groups the attractive Veglia instruments directly ahead. The view through that deeply dished windscreen is wonderful: just ahead there’s a smaller, shallow Perspex screen to prevent the wipers lifting off at speed, and beyond that the curves of the raised wings and the long bonnet with its rows of vents.

A touch of choke and a couple of pumps of the accelerator to prime the Webers if it’s cold; a tickle of throttle is enough if it’s warm, and the twin-cam bursts lustily to life: noisy, exuberant, the thrash of valvegear above the chuntering of the clutch, while merely brushing the throttle sends the revs flying. Ian Barkaway says it sounds a lot better without all the air ducting over the top of the engine. Maybe another time…

The clutch pedal is stiffly sprung and the take-up quite abrupt, but we’re underway and heading out onto the roads of Kent. As speed builds, the engine is thrummily busy, and the SS adds its chuntering transmission and a little gear-whine into the sound mix. The gearchange itself won’t be rushed, and the steering’s pretty heavy, too. Beats going to a gym though. The wheel is canted slightly to the right (a consequence of the conversion perhaps), but of more concern is that my right hand can’t get past 3 o’clock, nor my left past 9 without

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This page and opposite It’s not often that a Ferrari specialist tackles a 250 Lusso owner’s Alfa Romeo, but Barkaways took on the SS, changing its colour from black to blue and rebuilding its engine; the result is glorious.

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Coachbuilt Alfa Bertone Giulia SS

1964 Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint Speciale Engine 1570cc DOHC four-cylinder, two Weber 40DCOE carburettors Power 110bhp @ 6500rpm Torque 98lb ft @ 4200rpm Transmission Five-speed manual, rear-wheel drive Steering Worm and sector Suspension Front: double wishbones, coil springs, telescopic dampers. Rear: live axle, trailing arms, coil springs, telescopic dampers Brakes Discs front, drums rear Weight 950kg Top speed 124mph

becoming jammed, so I do all the work between 10 and 2. And because the driving position is so short in the leg, my right ankle is cocked in order to modulate the throttle. Meanwhile, depressing the clutch introduces my left shin to the umbrellastyle handbrake tucked under the dash. Ergonomics? Pffft.

On the positive side, it rides pretty well. The view out is genuinely lovely. The shift from second to third – and back again – is pleasing, and the engine is willing, if unmusical: how much better might it be with the induction sounds unfettered.

And winding both side-windows down provides a pleasant breeze on a warm day without too much bluster – thank those astonishing aerodynamics for that.

If you could have only one classic, clearly a Giulia SS is not the car you would choose. This one’s part of a large private collection of mostly 1950s and ’60s machinery, including a number of Ferraris and Astons. The couple who own it prefer to stay anonymous, so we’ll call them M and S, and M tells me that he can’t fit in it either, which makes me feel slightly better.

But it’s very much his wife’s baby and she loves it to bits: ‘She just fell in love with the curves and the chrome; it really is the most stunning car from that era. Interestingly, when you put

it with the Lusso, there are certain lines that are quite similar, particularly the back ends. I often call it a baby Lusso.’

Next job for Barkaways is to fit a smaller (though still periodcorrect) steering wheel. If it frees up an extra inch all-round it will make such a difference. Some of the ergonomic flaws are possibly due to the rather crude period conversion to righthand drive, though the tight confines of the interior might be an issue anyway. One can only conclude that Bertone and Alfa were prepared to sacrifice a degree of practicality to create that wonderfully aerodynamic – and downright gorgeous – body.

Where does it sit in the hierarchy of post-war Alfas?

Overshadowed perhaps by the lighter, racier, Zagato-bodied Giulietta SZ, the Sprint Speciale nevertheless remains one of the prettiest and most covetable of all. Trying to squeeze inside brings with it a sharp jolt of reality, but, when it comes time to leave, a single glance back is all it takes for the SS to start weaving its magic all over again. Photographer Sam finally manages to tear himself away. He has a family engagement to attend, otherwise he’d probably still be there now.

THANKS TO the owners and to Barkaways, barkaways.com.

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THE O C TA N E INTERVIEW

Aloisa Ruf The youngest member of Pfaffenhausen’s first family of high performance is marrying her artistic talent with her restoration skills – and has exciting plans for Ruf’s future

HAGOP

Words Elliott Hughes Photography Ruf

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R-U-F. IN THE world of Porsche, these three letters are legendary. But they are also the surname of Aloisa Ruf, the latest generation of a family that transformed a small garage in Pfaffenhausen, Bavaria, into a globally renowned performance marque. Now, she is writing her own chapter of the family’s storied legacy.

‘The factory has always felt like a second home,’ says Aloisa, smiling over a video call. Warm, friendly and articulate, the 23-year-old has an innate passion for cars that is immediately obvious – perhaps unsurprisingly, given her surname. ‘When I was a kid, I was basically the company mascot without even knowing it. I was friends with all the suppliers and customers.’

For any petrolhead, the idea of growing up at Pfaffenhausen is intoxicating, and for good reason. The company was founded in 1939 by Alois Ruf Sr as a service garage that became a petrol station in 1949. By this point, Ruf Sr had broadened his horizons into vehicle design and created a tour bus in 1955 that developed into an offshoot company. Alois Sr passed away in 1974 and the company was taken over by his son, Alois Jr, whose passion for sports cars – and Porsches in particular – inspired him to create upgrade packages for 911s. The first Ruf-enhanced 911 arrived in 1975 and by 1977 the company was producing its first standalone model: a Porsche 930 Turbo powered by a 3.3-litre flat-six.

By 1981, Ruf was officially recognised as a car manufacturer by the German Government. The company soon gained international acclaim with the CTR (‘Carrera Turbo Ruf ’), better known as the Yellowbird. With a top speed of 211mph, it became the world’s fastest road car and was immortalised in legendary VHS footage of Stefan Roser’s breathtaking lap in Faszination on the Nürburgring.

As with any great performance car company, Ruf built its success on passion and innovation. For Aloisa, however, that level of passion wasn’t just company culture – it was part of her upbringing. ‘I can tell you plenty of stories about my infatuation with cars from when I was little. My first love was probably my dad’s Bali Blue Porsche 901 – it’s such a beautiful car. He would bring it out of his collection every spring and we would take it for Sunday drives. I often used to fall asleep on the back seat.’

Still, it wasn’t until her early teens that she fully grasped her father’s reputation in the car world. ‘I was about 12 or 13 and we were flying home from Pebble Beach when a gentleman came up to my dad at the airport and asked, “Are you Mr Ruf, the creator of the Yellowbird?” My father replied, “Well, yes,” and the gentleman asked for a photo. Then he opened his carry-on, pulled out a Ruf T-shirt and put it on for the picture. That was when something clicked.’

Yet a career at Ruf wasn’t inevitable. Aloisa explored other passions, but the sound of a flat-six engine and the smell of oil proved too intoxicating to resist. ‘I did try to have a rebellious phase when I was in high school,’ she smiles. ‘Perhaps not rebellious, but more experimental – and that was what encouraged me to start exploring the worlds of art and photography.’

Even then, Aloisa was far more hands-on with cars than most people her age. ‘I restored my Porsche 912

Clockwise, from opposite Aloisa with the Yellowbird at Villa d’Este, the first time a Ruf has participated in a concours; with her mother on the first day of school in the Bali Blue 901; working on the CTR production line.

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The Octane Interview Aloisa Ruf

Clockwise, from left Aloisa was the first female judge at Passione Engadina; in her Boxster while working at the Petersen Museum; her art, fresh from the framer; a break during her Bahrain art show; and ahead of the opening of her LA exhibition.

when I was 17 years old,’ she says matter-of-factly. ‘It started when I asked my dad, “What is my first car going to be?” He told me that I can drive whatever I can fix. “If you can make it run, it’s yours,” he said.’

That was all the encouragement Aloisa needed. She soon set to work on a rusty ivory Porsche 912 (nicknamed ‘Bertha’ after Bertha Benz) in Pfaffenhausen’s restoration department. ‘I began working on the car with my cousin, who also works at the company. I was still wrenching on other cars and helping to restore a few engines – it’s always good to get your hands dirty.’

At this point, however, cars were still more of a pastime than a definitive career path. After high school, she began seriously pursuing her passion for photography and art, something that would pay dividends for her future at Ruf. ‘I remember seeing this beautiful Yves Klein sculpture in a private collection. I thought, “Gosh, I want to make art that is as impactful as this and I want to make people feel the same way that this piece made me feel.” All of his sculptures are blue – just like my 901.’

Inspired, she started photographing friends, a passion that led to internships and a stint at Paris Fashion Week.

But fate had its say and the coronavirus pandemic meant that it wasn’t long before Aloisa was drawn back into the world of cars. ‘When I worked at Paris Fashion Week, I was just infatuated with the glamour and beauty of the

‘My passion for art and cars grew into each other. I wanted to bring them together’ people. But when Covid came, I had no one to photograph anymore, so I went back home and started working in the restoration department again. That’s when I began photographing cars. I realised they’re almost more beautiful than people.

‘My passion for fashion, art and cars began to grow into each other and I wanted to bring everything together. So, in 2020, I began my own business, selling my art prints.

It started booming. Cars have always been a part of it; I’ve had exhibitions in Los Angeles, Miami, Munich and Bahrain, and I have another planned for later this year.’

Aloisa’s artistic flair has led to collaborations with prestigious brands such as Ralph Lauren, Highsnobiety and Period Correct, and recent Ruf models, such as the Rodeo and CTR Anniversary, reflect her creative influence, complementing her father’s engineering vision.

‘My father is the engineer and he has a very engineeringfocused perspective. When we work together, I give creative feedback. I was very much part of the decisionmaking process for the trim and paintwork colours of the Ruf CTR Anniversary that we built two years ago and I was involved in the Ruf Rodeo off-roader that we released last year. The Rodeo was part-inspired by Ralph Lauren and my mother Estonia’s time studying in the US.’ Aloisa is currently studying for a Master’s in Art Business. ‘It’s great that my parents have that trust in me,’ she explains. ‘I have plenty of ideas in my head at the 98

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@BOULGATES

moment, too, and I can’t tell you about them yet – but you’ll see them at The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering during Monterey Car Week later this year.’

Monterey Car Week delivered a special moment for Aloisa and her parents in 2024, when the Ruf-restored 1963 Porsche 901 prototype claimed Best in Class and the Art Center Award at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. As the sixth 911 built, this 901 is not only the oldest example in existence, it was also once owned by the late Ferdinand Piëch.

‘It was my brother’s first car. Bringing it to Pebble Beach marked a significant milestone for him. The chassis had been damaged, and for years my brother had this burning desire to finish the restoration. Pebble Beach was the first time the car had been seen in the US, and being honoured there, surrounded by such iconic, beautiful cars, was an incredibly special moment.’

Pebble Beach and Monterey Car Week have exposed Aloisa to a different side of car culture, further enriched by her time with the marketing team at California’s Petersen Automotive Museum. ‘It’s been amazing to discover all the other facets of car culture,’ she reflects.

‘I’ve always found concept cars artistically fascinating, especially those that try to predict the future of the industry. But living in Los Angeles also sparked my interest in Lowriders – I love how creative they are, the artistry that goes into them is incredible. Culturally, they represent so much of California, too. But it’s hard to stay away from Porsche once you’re part of it.’ It will be intriguing to see if any of these US influences make their way into the car Ruf is set to unveil at The Quail.

Much like her father’s was, Aloisa’s love for Porsche is rooted in the driving experience. ‘I don’t own a Ruf yet, I’m still a little bit young, but that’s what I’m working towards in five to ten years. It’s very difficult to pick a favourite; I like them all and it depends on my mood.

Today I would say it’s the CTR Anniversary because of the power-to-weight ratio. It develops 710bhp and weighs only 1200kg so it makes you feel like you’re flying,’ she laughs. ‘It’s a car that you really have to drive because there are no electronic aids. It has the charm of a 911 but with all the performance and modernity, too.’

In the meantime, Aloisa is concentrating on how she can help Ruf continue to develop in the foreseeable future. ‘We have a lot more projects in the pipeline and we might expand production a little over 30 cars per year. I have ideas about how we can develop the customer relationship side of the business and become more a part of pop culture. The next generation needs to be involved with Ruf just as yours was with the Gran Turismo games,’ she tells me. ‘I want to inspire those people that usually say, “I don’t know much about cars but I think they’re quite nice.” One example has been the collaboration I did with Highsnobiety. It was really exciting to see people at Fashion Week wearing Ruf clothes. Nobody knew what Ruf was, but they loved the clothes.’

As the youngest member of the Ruf family to represent the business, Aloisa upholds its legacy while infusing her own creative vision for the future. Ruf ’s appeal remains grounded in performance and engineering excellence, and her influence is shaping the brand for a new generation. With her involvement, Ruf ’s future looks set to be as bold and distinctive as its past.

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Bristol 408 Past master

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Bristol custodian Tony Crook himself ran this first-of-the-line 408. Now Octane drives it in Australia’s Hunter Valley wine region Words James Nicholls Photography Gareth Carr 101

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Bristol 408 Past master

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o understand how radical Bristol’s V8-engined GTs of the 1960s were in the context of this seemingly ultra-conservative, archly British manufacturer, a history lesson is necessary.

It took its name from the Bristol Aeroplane Company, which formed a car division in 1945 and established a small factory at Filton Aerodrome, near Bristol, where the company had its headquarters. Cars would be built there in small numbers and to the very highest standards, capitalising on the experience and technical expertise that had been garnered by Bristol’s workforce during wartime, and thereby keeping that workforce employed beyond the military contracts.

Bristol had acquired the rights to BMW’s 327 chassis and 328 engine through wartime reparation, and the 400 was launched in 1947.

It was only a 2.0-litre yet its highly aerodynamic aluminium coachwork and aircraft build quality meant it was reliable and capable of 104mph, which made it popular among the

motorsport fraternity. The 400 and subsequent 401 saw success in the 1948 Mille Miglia, and Tulip and Alpine Rallies, and the straight-six engine was employed by many of the racing manufacturers of the 1950s, including Cooper, AC, ERA and Frazer Nash. Bristol’s own 450 took all three class podium spots at Le Mans in 1954 and ’55, and one of the cars recorded 150.34mph on the Mulsanne straight.

Bristol blossomed during that decade. Many consider its apotheosis to be the 404, of which Autosport magazine’s John Bolster said in his October 1953 road test: ‘The Bristol is an expensive car, but it gives that indefinable feeling of quality that only big money can buy.

The upholstery and interior trim, the walnut dashboard with its array of accurate instruments, the excellent finish of every little detail – all these things make this vehicle worth its price to the man who must have the best… For a long fast journey à deux, the 404 is a magic carpet indeed.’

The big change came in 1961, when the 407 arrived with a US-designed V8, better to compete with the top speeds of other luxury

cars from the likes of Facel Vega, Jaguar and Aston Martin. Chrysler had offered its V8 engine as a package with Torqueflite automatic transmission, which would save Bristol development costs on its own engine.

The V8 was an older design of 4.2 litres, built for the Plymouth brand, and its bore was increased for a capacity of 5130cc while the cylinder heads were modified, in both cases to suit Bristol’s requirements. Furthermore, the engines were sourced from Canada rather than the USA, saving on import duties as they came from a Commonwealth country.

While the 407 looked like its predecessor, it was capable of 122mph, a significant increase on the 406’s 102mph, and was 2.6sec quicker from rest to 60mph, sneaking under the 10sec barrier. The rack-and-pinion steering of the six-cylinder cars had to make way for a steering box to leave space for the new engine.

The 407 evolved to become the mechanically similar Bristol 408 in 1963, which introduced Armstrong Selectaride damping, a wider, rectangular grille opening and headlights mounted on flat panels, plus a slightly flatter

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roof and bonnet. It was the second Bristol to feature the Chrysler V8, and capacity increased to 5205cc towards the end of its three-year run.

The 408 you see here is chassis no.1, the first of only 83 built by hand. Its wide-opening doors provide easy access into the unfussy yet luxurious leather and burr walnut interior, and the firm, upright seats provide an excellent driving position. The distinctive two-spoke Bluemels steering wheel was introduced on the 401 in 1948, hinting at a pilot’s yoke, and a modern EZ electric power steering kit with speed-sensitive assistance has been fitted.

Push-buttons for the three-speed automatic Torqueflite transmission are positioned to the right of the wheel. Vision out is superb.

The Bristol pulls away as serenely as one would expect, rather like an ocean liner, more RMS Queen Mary than Ferrari 365GT 2+2, and it’s a genuine four-seater. It’s a joy to drive on the almost deserted open roads of Pokolbin in the Hunter Valley wine region of New South Wales in Australia, handling well and providing excellent feedback on unevenly surfaced country roads; there is no flex or chassis shake

despite the undulations. As with many of its ilk, this car now runs on conventional dampers, as the original cockpit-adjustable Armstrong Selectaride set-up was prone to sticking.

The 408 is quickly up to speed – back in the day, it was capable of holding a Ferrari 250GT 2+2 over a standing half-mile – the eucalyptus trees and livestock flashing by on both sides, but it is a feeling of rapidity under calm control.

This car was not built for the racetrack, where its handling becomes untidy (I know, as I have tried it!) but here a series of bends is dealt with adroitly, the narrow, aerodynamically designed body not throwing the driver from side to side but sitting steady on the tarmac.

It rides on period-correct Avon Turbospeed tyres as per its original specification, and features Lockheed vacuum servo-assisted Dunlop disc brakes. For fast driving in all Clockwise, from opposite Characteristic styling evolved from the 406 of 1958; the Bristol corners with purpose and poise despite its considerable length; interior is luxurious yet unfussy.

‘The 408 you see here is chassis no.1, the first of only 83 built by hand’

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Bristol 408 Past master

‘For fast driving in all conditions it is civilised, understated and controlled’

conditions it is civilised, understated and controlled, its characteristics on the road mirroring its looks.

Those characteristics were surely enjoyed by the first keeper, one Tony Crook. Crook was a racing driver who had competed in the 1952 Monaco Grand Prix and 1954 and ’55 British Grands Prix. In 1960, when the Bristol Aeroplane Company sold its car-making subsidiary, Crook purchased 40% and Sir George White II (grandson of the founder) 60%. White retired in 1973, following a terrible car accident, and thereafter Crook owned the company outright. Although born in Manchester, he had, by coincidence, attended school at Clifton College in Bristol. The 408’s cabin gets quite hot on a 35ºC Australian summer day; Crook was not an admirer of air conditioning, preferring pastoral smells through an open window as he drove.

His car was employed as a press demonstrator and appeared in September 1963 issues of The

Motor and Autocar, then Cars Illustrated in December 1964 and the 1964 World Car Catalogue. It also featured in the sales brochure of October 1963, which cited its ‘Supreme Performance Plus Individuality’ as ‘…one of the world’s few cars of obvious distinction’.

At £4459 the Bristol was outstripped in price only by the likes of the Bentley S3, Facel Vega II, the Maserati 3500, the Lagonda Rapide and cars from Ferrari and Rolls-Royce. Despite a raid on Hillman’s parts bin for lamps, the 408 won the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders coachbuilder’s prize at the 1963 Earls Court Motor Show, where it was represented by chassis no.2.

Chassis no.1 has a Bristol factory Car Service Record Card, beginning with its first inspection in October 1963 at 1642 miles and running to early 1966 and 31,921 miles, for which it reads: ‘30,000 mile service, fit 8 new spark plugs, change engine oil to Visco Static, fit two new tyres and tubes, Avons. Repair r.h. rear snubber strap. Fit new wiper blade to o.s. Reconvert headlamps to standard, remove fire extinguisher, remove Marchal horn, fit new exhaust mounting bracket r.h. clean engine bay, clean inside of car, wash.’ While owned by Bristol Cars Ltd it was likely used as a mule and in competition.

In January 1994 the 408 arrived in Fremantle, Western Australia, having been shipped by its emigrating English owner, who had bought it in December 1987. The car had been repainted to non-metallic mid-blue and re-upholstered from its original Warm Stone to Red. It has recently been the subject of a world class restoration, its body returned to the original two-tone colours of gunmetal and silver-grey it wore for those magazine road tests. The work was carried out by the multiple award-winning restorer and artisan craftsman Justin Hills, a recipient of The World’s Most Beautiful Custom prize. The 408 has since been a class winner at Salon Privé and The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering.

Chassis number 4087001 has been prepared for modern motoring but retains its original engine (no.949-23439C) and the vast majority of its original features, including the radio and its English numberplates! When not winning concours awards, it continues to eat up the miles in comfort and style and with class and distinction – exactly as it was designed and built to do, all those years ago.

1963 Bristol 408 Engine 5130cc OHV V8, Carter AFB3131S four-barrel carburettor Power 253bhp @ 4400rpm Torque 339lb ft @ 2800rpm Transmission Three-speed automatic, rear-wheel drive Steering Worm and roller Suspension Front: double wishbones, coil springs, telescopic dampers, anti-roll bar. Rear: live axle, torsion bars, Watt linkage, telescopic dampers Brakes Discs Weight 1670kg Top speed 122mph 0-60mph 9.9sec

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Magneto Tours: Château Edition Your chance to take part in an exclusive drive to the Dordogne, with Magneto magazine and Club Des Autos

June 26-30, 2025 Itinerary DAY 1 A warm welcome as we gather for lunch at Beaverbrook Country House, setting the perfect tone for the journey ahead. Departure at 15:00, led by Octane magazine founding editor Robert Coucher.

• Destination: St Malo (via Portsmouth ferry) • Distance: 60 miles / 96km Enjoy a relaxing supper at sea before retiring to your private cabin for a restful night, waking up refreshed in St Malo.

DAY 2 • Destination: Château Alexandra Palace, a 17th-century castle renovated into a luxury hotel • Distance: 200 miles / 325km A coffee break before a scenic journey to a charming lunch spot by the Loire River. In the evening, indulge at Le Daniel’s restaurant before unwinding in the luxury of Château Alexandra Palace.

DAY 3 • Destination: Château de Sermet • Distance: 235 miles / 375km Start your day with breakfast at Le Daniel’s, lunch in the town of Périgueux, then unwind with dinner and an overnight stay at the historic Château de Sermet.

DAY 4 • Destination: Les Jardins de Marqueyssac (loop) • Distance: 90 miles / 140km Enjoy a scenic drive to the stunning village of La Roque-Gageac, followed by a stroll through the breathtaking Les Jardins de Marqueyssac. Savour lunch by the Dordogne river, before returning to Château de Sermet for a delightful supper.

DAY 5 Join us for an unforgettable driving tour from the UK to the Dordogne, France, through picturesque French countryside on a stunning château trail. Enjoy exquisite food, fine wines and breathtaking roads in your classic car. This event is designed for motoring enthusiasts to relax, socialise and experience wonderful French roads. The tour concludes at the historic Château de Sermet, where you can unwind with fellow owners in an exceptional 14th-century setting. Full support and return routes or transport available.

• Destination: French market town (loop) • Distance: 60 miles / 90km Drive through scenic countryside to a French market, enjoy lunch at La Récréation, then return to Château de Sermet for wine tasting and supper.

For full details go to: www.magnetomagazine.com/events

Additional notes: Car storage is available for participants flying home. Return driving routes, hotel recommendations and private aeroplane bookings are available on request.

Or contact us: jasmine@hothousemedia.co.uk

DAY 6 A final departure breakfast, followed by farewells and airport concierge.

Bristol The future

Left Styling proposals suggest how Bristol’s own restomod will look when it’s revealed this summer.

B R I STO L I S D E A D – LO N G L I V E B R I STO L! Jason Wharton has dedicated the past five years to bringing back the great British marque Words James Elliott

FEW CAR COMPANIES have had as publicly torrid a demise as Bristol, its agonising death relatively recent but played out over decades. It has been especially painful because few other marques can boast a cadre of devotees quite as passionate (or pugnacious) and emotionally involved. Bristol enthusiasts are, by their own admission, a very tough audience to please.

After the underappreciated Toby Silverton era, which at great cost managed to keep Tony Crook’s company afloat from 1997 until it went into administration in 2011, came Kamcorp, and a decade of false dawns that ended when it, too, was dramatically wound up in March 2020.

Next batter up is Jason Wharton, a chartered surveyor originally from Hertfordshire whose late father got him into luxury cars and who was previously involved in the Allard revival, as well as owning several V8 Bristols himself.

He says: ‘I was attracted to the company by the whole package – the handbuilt and bespoke nature of the cars, their luxurious appointment, the connection with the Bristol Aeroplane Company.

‘I tried to buy the IP [intellectual property] off Kamkorp in 2019 even before they went bust and then again from the liquidator in 2020 [there was quite a public spat between Wharton and Frost Group over it], but they just didn’t want to know. It became clear that I could either just abandon the whole thing or start from scratch by registering my own IPs, so I did the latter and it was a total minefield.’

With Wharton’s intellectual property ultimately unchallenged and Kamkorp’s lapsing, the upshot is that Wharton found himself with five years to make something of the company, ‘but that doesn’t mean we had to build a brand-new car!’ he stresses. In fact, he describes Bristol Manufacturing as ‘just starting out’ commercially, but with immediate plans to raise its presence and profile, an atelier to open near Filton later this year, plans for an emporium in London, and eventually a factory in Bristol.

More excitingly, there are two cars in the pipeline, initially a limited-run restomod based on one of the classic-era V8s and to be revealed this summer, with the first cars being delivered in 2026. Even more tantalisingly, however, and also coinciding with the 80th anniversary of the Bristol 400 in 2026, Wharton is planning ‘several hundred units a year’ of a ‘reimagining’ of another classic Bristol on an all-new platform.

He adds: ‘Given how difficult it has been to get even this far, that might all sound very ambitious, but for us it has just become critical to get the marque up and running again as soon as possible, to raise public awareness and to build some beautiful British luxury cars.’

One thing about Bristol, embodying the spirit of a selfproclaimed founder who became the majority shareholder only in the 1970s, is that its history has never been easy but has always been colourful; eccentric, even. You sense that Wharton has already experienced enough of all of that to understand the very essence of Bristol. He certainly has the tenacity to make a go of it.

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PHOTO CREDIT: @J.COLEPHOTOGRAPHY PHOTO CREDIT: @J.COLEPHOTOGRAPHY

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Mazda MX-5 Land’s End to John O’Groats

ANNIVERSARY WALTZ

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To mark the 35th anniversary of the sports car’s second coming, Matthew Hayward drives four generations of Mazda’s MX-5 the length of Britain… on sustainable fuel Photography Mazda UK

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Mazda MX-5 Land’s End to John O’Groats

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S Clockwise, from top The journey gets underway at Land’s End; Cornish beach gleams in the glorious sunshine, which didn’t last long; the Mk3 MX-5’s modern features help to make the first leg a breeze; our man Hayward ponders the future of synthetic fuels.

ingularity of purpose is one of the most endearing qualities of Mazda’s MX-5, and through four generations and 35 years it has largely remained true to what the original engineers set out to achieve. Pure unadulterated fun – or, more precisely, high driver engagement at modest speeds – is the name of the game, and no other car has hit the mark quite so perfectly for quite so long.

When it was launched in 1989, Mazda effectively reinvented the two-seat British sports car, which is why it was such a huge success in both the US and the UK. Thanks to its compact dimensions, it’s a car suited particularly well to narrow UK roads, something I’m suddenly very grateful for as I mentally prepare for the journey we’re about to embark on. We’ve joined Mazda UK at Land’s End for the beginning of a 1000-mile trek to John O’Groats. Not only to celebrate 35 years of the MX-5, but also to complete the journey using 100% synthetic fuel – a feat never previously accomplished.

If you regularly ponder the long-term future for the historic car industry and our beloved petrol-powered cars, the prospect of commercially available synthetic fuels promises something of a silver bullet and we’re about to find out if that’s true. Mazda has been running its heritage fleet, including the four MX-5s you see here, on Coryton’s Sustain Classic Super 80 fuels since June 2023. That’s a classicfriendly ethanol-free mix that’s made up from 80% sustainable content, but for this trip Coryton has supplied a 100% synthetic blend. We’re planning to find out more about the fuel at various points along the route, including a few stop-off points with a connection to synthetic fuel.

I set off from the tip of Cornwall in the MX-5 Mk3. There is a good reason for this. For me, getting inside the Mk3 is like greeting a familiar friend, albeit one I’ve not seen for a while. Early in my career, this was one of the first new cars I tested and just sitting behind the relatively chunky wheel brings back memories of some fabulous drives. Although the NC-generation roadster had a slightly lukewarm reception when it was launched in 2005, due to being bigger, heavier and a little soggy-feeling after the Mk2, it wasn’t long before Mazda sharpened up the handling significantly. By the time this 20th Anniversary model was launched in 2009, it had gone through a facelift and was a seriously well-sorted car.

Roof down, we head out in convoy towards the A30, enjoying the bright sunshine with a stiff Atlantic breeze taking off the edge. Our first stop is Bicester Heritage, which at around 280 miles will be our first fill-up location.

Immediately, I’m into sports car mode, and revel in the light, precise steering, beautifully set-up pedal box allowing for easy heel-and-toe, and a slick six-speed manual ’box.

With 158bhp from the restrained-sounding 2.0-litre naturally aspirated four-cylinder engine, it feels nippy rather than properly quick, with fairly long gear ratios taking the edge off performance. This is especially noticeable on some of the steep hills on this leg of the journey, but it’s good fun

and, once you start exploiting the chassis a little more, the MX-5’s universal balance comes to the fore.

As the (thankfully quiet) dual-carriageway A-road turns to motorway, it’s time to make the most of this MX-5s modern creature comforts, namely cruise control. We’re warned that this will be the longest stint without opportunity to refill (although a back-up vehicle is following with a supply of Sustain, just in case), so we drive economically for the rest of the leg. Turns out there’s no need to worry; we arrive at the familiar former World War Two airbase with almost a quarter of a tank of fuel left.

Currently, the Sustain pump at Motor Spirit at Bicester Heritage is the only place you can fill-up with this fuel in the UK, unless you can house a barrel and manual pump at home. Sustain Classic 80 is a direct drop-in replacement for petrol, which means that no modifications are required. It’s manufactured with 80% sustainable content – processed and refined currently from agricultural waste and byproducts from crops. The last 20% is still derived from fossil fuels – that’s still a potential 80% reduction in CO2 – but of real importance to classic owners is the fact that it contains zero ethanol, unlike pump fuels. That means it will not eat away at perishable seals and is also extremely stable, so is perfect if you’re leaving a vehicle in storage over winter, eliminating the risk of moisture getting into the fuel system.

The high price – upwards of £3 per litre – means it’s not likely to appeal to anyone filling up a daily driver, but it is a viable option for classic cars that have more limited use. I’ve spoken with Octane readers who regularly use this pump, one of whom runs an Abarth hillclimb car exclusively on the fuel and swears by it.

After grabbing lunch and some bottles of water, I switch into an orange Mk4. Launched in 2015, this revelatory car hugely disrupted industry trends. It exemplified Mazda’s quest to rediscover the pure essence of a sports car, being smaller and lighter than its predecessor, and held off the shift to turbocharged power in favour of a new highcompression 2.0-litre four-cylinder with around 180bhp.

On our 122-mile drive to the Translational Energy Research Centre at Sheffield University, the cabin feels less roomy after the comparatively luxurious Mk3. That shouldn’t be a surprise, given that the Mk4’s footprint is so much smaller (105mm shorter and around 100kg lighter) than the Mk3’s. Despite that, safety is much improved, too.

This example is a 30th Anniversary special edition from 2019. Lower springs and Bilstein dampers, lightweight Rays forged alloy wheels and uprated Brembo brakes have tightened up the standard 2.0-litre’s handling considerably.

It still rolls a bit, but is a definite step up from the Mk3.

The steering wheel features a slender leather-wrapped rim, with nicely weighted albeit slightly dead-feeling steering.

The difference between the Mk3’s hydraulic set-up and the EPAS here is noticeable.

That’s about the only criticism I can actually level at the Mk4. The engine is surprisingly muscular, if slightly artificial-sounding, but there’s a pleasing rasp towards the top end of the rev range. The gearing feels even longer than 111

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Mazda MX-5 Land’s End to John O’Groats

Clockwise, from top left Mk2 MX-5 settles in for a long stretch of roadworks, a reality of driving in the UK; Sustain fuel pump at Bicester Heritage is the first of its kind; storm clouds gather on the way North; Mk1’s short gearing is slightly wearing on a long journey.

the Mk3’s, but the extra punch and lower weight mean it’s not an issue – this is by far the most efficient car here, potentially capable of up to 50mpg. The gearbox is a highlight, with a superbly tight and mechanical-feeling action. Shifting is a real delight.

Thanks to traffic problems on the M1, and mile upon mile of tedious 50mph roadworks, we arrive too late to tour the research facility and head for our hotel instead.

We’re up and off early the next day and immediately head for the Lake District, confronted by rather more familiar British weather – grey skies, biting wind and intermittent showers… but not enough to make us put the hood up.

Back onto the M1 for a short spell before joining the A1 and then onto the fabulous A66, where it really opens up. The country suddenly feels a lot less claustrophobic and the scenery begins to look a whole lot more interesting.

As we head into the Lakes, I’m following the Mk1, which is being hustled along at a decent pace by PR manager Owen Mildenhall. While the Mk1 looked like a scale model in modern traffic on main roads, it is far more at home here, and I’m beginning to get excited about switching into it at the next stop. As it’s the only car here without a catalytic

converter, when you follow closely you notice an unexpectedly distinct smell coming out of the exhaust. It’s odd: sweeter and even cleaner – which makes a lot of sense, as the synthetic fuel contains fewer of the nasty hydrocarbons that cause secondary exhaust emissions. This is the first (and only) time on the trip that I notice any difference between a car running on pump fuel and the synthetic brew.

We arrive at Windermere Boat Club (WMBRC) for our first stop of the day. An interesting location, as it is the oldest powerboat racing club in the world, with Sir Henry Segrave and Donald Campbell CBE among its former members.

Today, it runs its powerboats exclusively on Sustain fuels.

Very cool, yet I’m struggling to focus on anything but getting behind the wheel of the Mk1.

There’s more room in the cabin of the Mk1 than the Mk4 and the simplicity and clarity of the dashboard are refreshing. After starting the engine, my first instinct is to press an unfamiliar button in the centre console – to see the headlights pop-up. Adorable! This example is an early UKspec, low-mileage 1.6-litre car with power-assisted steering, something Octane contributor and Mk1 MX-5 owner/ enthusiast John Simister insists is the perfect combination.

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While it’s by far the least powerful car here, it’s the keenest feeling. Five close ratios, combined with the willing and beautifully crisp and responsive 1.6, instantly deliver everything you expect from a two-seater sports car.

Our final stop of the day is the Celtic Renewables refinery in Grangemouth, roughly equidistant from Glasgow and Edinburgh. With the drudgery of a long slog up the A74(M) towards Glasgow starting to wear a little thin, someone within our convoy suggests a more interesting route, so we follow. This turns out to be an extremely wise decision.

By sheer luck I find myself experiencing the Mk1 MX-5 on the best roads we’ve encountered: fast, sweeping, wellsighted and with epic mountain views to top it all off. The Mk1 laps it up and relishes the opportunity to exploit all of its 114bhp. That might sound modest, even in this company, but combined with the lowest weight and modest grip levels it feels so well-balanced, engaging and confidence-inspiring that it entertains at extremely sensible and legal speeds.

We’re now heading vaguely in the direction of Edinburgh, and well off the ‘official’ route. As the rain starts to get heavier, we finally relent and put the roof up, then head back towards civilisation. Best detour ever.

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Mazda MX-5 Land’s End to John O’Groats

At Celtic Renewables, a young company with big ambitions, we fill the cars and take a quick tour of the impressive-looking site. It’s developing new ways to produce vital chemical components – required for many industries, not just synthetic fuels – from the bio-waste put out by whisky manufacturers and other sources, instead of the traditional fossil fuel sources. Once refilled, it’s a short 50mile hop up to Dunkeld for an overnight stop.

For the final leg of our journey, 217 miles up to John O’Groats, it’s my turn in the Mk2. Visually, the Mk2 lost its signature pop-up headlights and gained a slightly larger, stiffer and more curvaceous body, but much of the NA’s basic formula remained. This 10th Anniversary special edition boasted an improved standard spec, including chrome-finish 15-inch alloy wheels, black leather and blue Alcantara seats, a matching Nardi steering wheel and a sixspeed gearbox. Bilstein dampers were standard, too, and it was powered by the top-spec 140bhp 1.8-litre engine.

Many of these elements make for a more modern-feeling and ultimately more capable machine. The extra stiffness in the suspension and larger wheels offer considerably more grip, but rob the car of a little of the Mk1’s magic. Still, as we

are heading onto the stunning North Coast 500 road, the extra performance makes a big difference, especially on smoother sections. This Highlands stint is faster and easier than anywhere else along the route and before we know it we are passing the ‘Welcome to John O’Groats’ sign.

As we pull into the car park, the tripmeter has just ticked over 1078 miles, and what fun it has been. The Land’s End to John O’Groats run is an essential pilgrimage, and the fact that all of the cars – plus the transporter and CX-80 support vehicle – were running on sustainable fuels hopefully proves the potential of them to a broader audience. Of course, their future depends not only on their acceptance by enthusiasts, but also on support from government in order to build scale and bring down prices.

Driving four generations of MX-5 back-to-back has been a real eye-opener. Here’s a manufacturer that hit the bullseye in 1989 with the original, and each generation has (more or less) stuck to the principles that made it such a great car to begin with. As motor manufacturers have moved inexorably towards larger, more complicated and considerably faster cars, we should applaud Mazda for its dedication to catering for real driving enthusiasts. Long live the MX-5.

Clockwise, from top left All four generations line up for a coffee stop; another fill-up during the tour of Celtic Renewables’ refinery; John O’Groats sign marks the end of the journey; the NC500 presents dramatic scenery.

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Sharing the love Fractional ownership

DREAM S Y N D I C AT E S Fractional ownership is all the rage in the classic car world – and other alternative investment markets – but what is it and how does it work? Paul Griffin investigates Photography Sam Chick

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WE’VE ALL IMAGINED it: part-owning a Ferrari GTO and blasting down to the coast on our allocated weekend with the car (when it will be street-parked outside our house, naturally). While that can happen to a lesser degree – and we’ll explore your options later – at the hard end of fractional investment in classic cars the benefits are usually a little less tangible. Of course, you will get to casually drop your part-ownership into conversation at every opportunity, and you may even get to gaze at your investment – some groups hold special gatherings for investors, or take them to events – but it’s unlikely that you’ll be driving it down to the local pub any more than the kids of someone with a share in a racehorse will be riding Dobbin at the local gymkhana.

Think of it more as a market-smart investment in a great work of art, with the benefit of a potential return on your

outlay. It’s fair to say that fractional ownership won’t suit everybody, and for good reason you will see warnings that the value of investments can go down as well as up.

However, the motivating factors are usually simple: returns from the classic car market have been very strong over the past decades, against gold, the FTSE, the housing market and especially against the banks. So if you are going to invest in anything, why not make it something you love? This way of thinking has in some cases nurtured the growth of communities around the investments, elevating the experience way above that of a mere financial transaction.

Fractional ownership is not a new phenomenon; it has been associated particularly with private jet and property ownership for many years, but it is more recently that classic cars have seen interest in part-ownership develop. Rally first

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Sharing the love Fractional ownership

‘Classic car capital gains are not ordinarily subject to capital gains tax in the UK’

offered a car for fractional ownership in the USA in 2016 and the largest community in the UK is currently TheCarCrowd, which first offered a Peugeot 205 GTI on its platform in 2021. More recently, many new ventures, each with a slightly different business model, have entered the market, creating a surge in interest and options.

From a background of financial markets and trading, Emanuel Georgouras of PistonDAO tells of a VIP group with community-owned cars and celebrity association. For many the attraction is a straightforward financial investment and returns over three to ten years, whereas for others it is car-based community association and events.

The business uses data analytics supported by market knowledge in its selections. Although this technology is

appropriate for several asset classes, PistonDAO concentrates on performance and classic cars in the range of $1-3million, with acquisitions and disposals through various auction houses, dealers and trading platforms. The FCA-regulated investment platform illustrates its position in the market via the examples of potential investment cars it shares on its website: Ferrari F40, Lamborghini Countach and the Bugatti EB110. Say no more.

While PistonDAO is primarily about investment, it is formatted around an international ‘club’ model, offering membership as your passport to the top table at elite events, the opportunity to mix with like-minded individuals, a podcast, and more. Furthermore, its tiered membership is accessible whether you have invested in a car or not.

MCQ Markets is a name that may be familiar to many.

Curt Hopkins and Lachlan DeFrancesco’s Miami-based business has access to public markets with operations in the US and the UK and plans to expand into other asset classes.

It prices shares from $20 and offers a minimum investment of $500, which has democratised fractional ownership by making affordable a stake in anything from a Lamborghini Countach 5000QV or Ferrari 512 BBi to a Lexus LFA. MCQ, which has an interest only in cars worth over $500,000, has also made it easy to sign up and invest and is developing a secondary market for people who want to pull their money out before an investment has gone full-term. It quotes excellent returns from previous investments, such as a Porsche Carrera GT bought for $375,000 in 2009 and sold five years later for $860,000, giving an ROI (Return On Investment) of 126.67% and CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 23.06%. A Ferrari 488 Pista Spider bought for $599,999 in 2021 and sold one year later for $760,000 offered ROI and CAGR of 26.67%.

These investments do not afford the use of cars that are accessible in showrooms and at events in the company of high-profile brand ambassadors. Road cars are at the centre of MCQ’s dealings, with expectations of expansion towards fractional ownership of related assets including race cars and race helmets. Club membership matters, as does an affinity for cars and a familiarity with alternative investments.

Currently live with MCQ are a 1984 Ferrari 512 BBi and Lamborghini Countach 5000QV, each at $20 a share.

While none of this includes the physical involvement of other forms of shared ownership, if you are in this for optimum returns (not to mention bragging rights), this form of fractional ownership can be seen as the pure play, and a way of benefitting from classic car capital gains not ordinarily being subject to capital gains tax in the UK. Founded by Christopher Bruno and Rob Petrozzo in New York in 2016, Rally is a long-time participant in fractional investing. It began with classic cars and is now an investment platform for assets including art, watches, sports collectibles, artefacts and books. Cars live in corporate entities registered as US securities and listed in a process similar to an initial public offering, inviting subscription for shares. These shares can be traded on a digital marketplace.

For the period of ownership, cars are stored and not roadregistered or capable of use. Rally’s catalogue includes a Saleen S7, an Aston Martin V8 Vantage Oscar India and a Ford Mustang Fastback. Coming soon to Rally is a $590,000 1994 Lamborghini Diablo VTTT at $20 a share or, at $10 a share apiece, a $315,000 Arsham RWB Porsche 964 or $295,000 1996 Ferrari F355 GTB. If they don’t float your

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Sharing the love Fractional ownership

boat, how about the $13.75m BCQ 24 Stegosaurus fossil (yes, you read that right) at $68.75 a share, or Joe DiMaggio’s $17,900 Rolex at $8.95 a share.

There are myriad alternatives for a more active involvement in the actual cars, other stages between pure investment and pure ownership that structurally could be compared to everything from straightforward rentals to motoring timeshares. In its more diluted forms, there could be the possibility of purchasing fractions in two or three different cars, providing greater variety than the outright ownership of a single car – and at less cost!

At Supercar Sharing, Deivis Valdes speaks of a business tending towards use, and modern, factory-warranted supercars typically divided into 10% shares. Clients gain access to club events and gatherings and can engage in car rentals as well as trading. Current favourites are the marquee models of Porsche, Ferrari and Lamborghini, with a distinct preference for manual transmission and petrol engines.

Cars are typically acquired after initial new-car depreciation and then remain subject to shared ownership until they have covered 60,000km or so. Sharing owners are often business travellers or tourists seeking short-term, local use. And among Supercar Sharing’s next steps? The extension of this blueprint to the hypercars of Koenigsegg, Bugatti and Pagani.

Supercar Sharing currently has almost 50 cars available for co-ownership investment, ranging from a 1959 MercedesBenz 190SL to a Bugatti Chiron W16. A tenth of the 190SL will set you back CHF 14,289 (approx £12,000) and that includes an allowance of 30 days and 1500km a year, but you can expect additional bills of about £1000 a year. The business anticipates it will sell on the car after five or six years or when it hits 100,000km (it’s currently on 31,900km). Given a value of roughly £3.35m, the 2018 Chiron is about £380,000 for a

tenth, including 30 days and 2000km. Your share of the annual operation costs would be another £10,000 on top.

David Spickett of TheCarCrowd describes steps to bring the benefits of classic cars to the investor market with an ownership model that crucially can boast capital gains tax free returns as well as sharing experiences and creating memories, based on a technology platform informed by research and observation of the classic car market. The result might be a Ferrari F355 in the ownership of 20 people and residing in a bespoke facility, or a Caterham in shared ownership for individual track-day use. The cars tend to be classics from 1980 to 2005, which show appreciation potential through pedigree, motorsport connection or celebrity. Recent strong investment performances have come via the Renault Megane R26.R and Jodie Kidd’s Lancia Delta Integrale.

TheCarCrowd has 4000 investors and over 100 blue-chip classic cars on its books, with a total portfolio valued at about £6million, packed with accessible exotica rather than unobtainable rarities. TheCarCrowd is a fine example of a shared ownership scheme, eliminating the relationshipdestroying risks of a similar but informal set-up with friends.

They source the cars, set each up as a Bare Trust with a formal syndication agreement, then store, insure and maintain the cars (with the costs included in the share price) for a maximum of five years or until the shareholders vote to sell. Next to go live with TheCarCrowd is a Porsche 996 GT3 RS. Of course, you could do all this for yourself, couldn’t you?

Plenty have, but the market has evolved for companies to look after people’s car investments for good reason. Most individual schemes are dreamed up between friends, realising that joining forces would allow them to own a car unattainable for each individually, something that might gain them access to the best grids, tours or concours lawns. Great, but you have to consider how the arrangement ends if one party wants out – or dies. However strong the friendship, it is essential to have a formal agreement covering every cost and eventuality.

Legal agreements, storage, transportation, maintenance and so on go way beyond the basic task of administering a number of investors. Each sharing owner’s enjoyment of time with the car will depend on what happens during the other sharing owners’ time with the car. So it’s important to agree in advance the division of expenses in proportion to share ownership, the annual number of days’ use for each shareholder, the limitations, nature and logistics of permitted use, driver restrictions, mileage restrictions, the scheme of allocation and priority of available times, ‘playing nicely’, and complying with a detailed set of rules concerning the car’s care during each sharing owner’s period of use.

When buying a valuable car as a group, the purchase of a share depends not only on the car’s purchase price but also its acquisition fees, a proportion of the costs of establishing and registering the company, effecting the corporate documents and shareholder agreements, legal, tax and consultancy fees, and establishing arrangements for the car. Then you need to account for recurring costs of maintaining, preparing, storing, insuring, taxing, valuing and transporting your joint asset.

As we said, it’s obvious why a business has sprung up regarding fractional ownership, and – granted – these may not sound like the sort of rules that friends need, but you’ll thank us. After all, when Coleridge commented ‘The happiness of life is made up of fractions’, it is doubtful he was envisaging arrangements as complicated as the shared ownership of a classic car.

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Never restored Ford V8 Woodie

WOOD YA BELIEVE IT? Bought in a rural auction almost 40 years ago and never restored, this rare Woodie was originally owned by speed record-breaker Sir Malcolm Campbell Words Mark Dixon Photography Barry Hayden

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Never restored Ford V8 Woodie

B

ack in the mid-1980s, BMW made a video to promote the extreme smoothness of its new V12 engine in the E32 750i saloon. This was the first V12 to be fitted to a German production car since World War Two and, to show how refined it was, the creative types had the brilliantly simple idea of showing a coin remaining balanced on edge on top of the engine while it was running.

Listening to the barely audible tick of Robin Batchelor’s 1938 Ford V8 Deluxe Station Wagon as it sits gently idling, I’m struck by the utter stillness of the engine. I wonder… It couldn’t work, could it? I fish around in my pocket and pull out a pound coin. Very carefully, I place it vertically on top of the inlet manifold between the V8’s two banks. It sits there perfectly happily, as the video on my iPhone still attests.

What’s even more remarkable about this little demonstration is that Robin’s car has never been restored, and its engine has probably never been apart since it was built

in 1938. But then, so much about this car is remarkable – not least the fact that it was first owned by Sir Malcolm Campbell and used as a support vehicle when he raised his own Water Speed Record to 130.93mph in Switzerland on 17 September 1938.

Not that Robin had any idea about his car’s illustrious first owner when he bought it at a Herefordshire auction back in 1986. ‘I’ve always had Woodies in my blood, because my grandfather had one, and when I saw an advert for this car in Exchange & Mart I asked a friend in Wales to go along to the auction and bid on it for me. He won it for £2000. There were bits of straw in the back when I went to collect it with a trailer; many years later, I met someone who remembered the car from when it was a working vehicle on a local farm. And it seemed huge – I couldn’t believe how big it was!’

Shortly after Robin bought the Ford, friend and legendary long-time editor of Motor Sport, Bill Boddy, suggested to him that the car might have a Campbell connection. While the speed king’s name doesn’t appear on the old buff logbook, he was a serial Ford V8 owner – a

1933 advert by Ford in The Field proclaimed ‘Sir Malcolm Campbell owns a Ford V8’, with accompanying text in which Campbell extolled the pleasures of running such a car – and it seems highly likely that he would have struck some kind of favourable deal, possibly through one of the car dealerships in which he had a hand. Campbell was a sharp businessman, never averse to using his name to help sell a car, whose maxim was: ‘Never trade with your own money. Always use that of others.’

It has also been suggested that the Woodie was a gift from Henry Ford himself. While there’s no evidence for that, it’s certainly possible, given Campbell’s celebrity status and his advertising tie-up with the firm. A copy of Ford’s autobiography, dedicated to Campbell

by Ford himself, sold at auction a few years ago for $1486 – and it is dated 10 November 1938, just two months after Campbell set that Water Speed Record in Switzerland.

What does appear in the buff logbook is a description of the Station Wagon’s colour: Bluebird Blue. The name of that colour was a coinage unique to Campbell, inspired by

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This page and opposite Roof covering aside, this Woodie has never been restored since it was used by Sir Malcolm Campbell to support his 1938 Water Speed Record run in Switzerland, where the picture, right, was taken.

a stage play he’d once seen called Blue Bird, and one that he used on many of his road vehicles as well on as his land and water record-breakers; it’s also now clearly visible in patches on the car where a later blow-over in green paint has peeled away. Furthermore, the very short registration ‘EXY 3’ is also suggestive of Campbell ownership – a 1930s photo taken at his Reigate home shows five cars lined up in open-fronted garages, all of them with similar three-digit/single-numeral registrations.

So far, so speculative. The clincher is another photo (reproduced here on the right), this one snapped in Switzerland during Campbell’s successful 1938 Water Speed Record attempt at Lake Hallwil. Three cars face away from the camera: on the flanks are a Studebaker and a Lincoln-Zephyr Coupe (the latter definitely owned by Campbell), and in the middle is the Ford V8 Station Wagon, EXY 3.

Tragically, while the cast alloy front numberplate on the car today (stamped ‘Chas Wright

‘It has been suggested that the Woodie was a gift from Henry Ford himself’

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Never restored Ford V8 Woodie

Edgware Mdx’) is the original, the rear one was lost some years ago while in Robin’s ownership.

‘I went to collect a Christmas tree and by the time I got home, the rear plate had fallen off,’ he explains. ‘I retraced my journey but just could not find it, and I suspect someone picked it up as a trophy. I posted about it on social media and was even interviewed by Radio Oxford!’

That incident, while unfortunate, does illustrate how Robin has never been precious about using the car. He takes a very pragmatic approach to running ancient machines – Bullnose Morrises are his ‘thing’ – which was inspired at the age of 19 by driving a 1927 Humber 9/20 tourer with owner Richard I’Anson to Istanbul and back.

‘It was the most wonderful vintage car education,’ he laughs. ‘The Humber was stolen from our campsite in Istanbul and found upside down with the roof smashed in and all the steel artillery wheels bent. While Richard repaired the engine, I chucked rocks from a nearby river at the wheels to straighten them out!’

It won’t surprise you to learn that Robin was a professional hot-air balloonist for 50 years,

which included giving passenger rides from a safari lodge in Africa (‘Robert Redford and US President Jimmy Carter both came over’) and teaching Richard Branson to fly a balloon (‘Fascinating guy, but had to be taught to walk before he could run’). He’s been a top-level ballooning competitor, and flown balloons for numerous commercials, TV series and movies, also acting as stunt doubles for Ryan O’Neal and Robert Vaughn. Old cars do seem to attract characters like Robin.

With him leading such a busy lifestyle, the Ford ended up being driven less and less by Robin, and in 2012 he was persuaded to sell it to The Automobile magazine by its then-editor, now-publisher, Jonathan Rishton, to form part of its ‘oily rag’ collection. Jonathan organised some timely conservation work, including a new roof covering and some localised woodwork repairs by Tony Devey of Smithys Coachworks, and he protected the frame with tung oil and the steel panels with Ankor Wax. After a set of new tyres had been fitted, the Ford was driven by Robin to Montlhéry for the Vintage Revival, and also attended the

‘Robin was a professional balloonist for 50 years – old cars attract characters like him’

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Above and opposite The Woodie may be showing its age (note Campbell’s Bluebird Blue paint under the green) but it’s still full of life – much like its owner, Robin Batchelor, pictured at the wheel.

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Never restored Ford V8 Woodie

1938 Ford 81A Deluxe Station Wagon

Engine 3622cc flathead V8, single Stromberg 97 downdraught carburettor Power 85bhp @ 3800rpm Torque 150lb ft @ 2000rpm Transmission Three-speed manual, rear-wheel drive Steering Worm and sector Suspension Front: beam axle, A-frame, transverse semi-elliptic leaf spring, Houdaille lever-arm dampers. Rear: live axle, A-frame, transverse semi-elliptic leaf spring, Houdaille lever-arm dampers Brakes Drums, cable-operated Weight 1408kg Top speed 75mph (est)

Clockwise, from left V8 still runs like a Swiss watch; drop tailgate gives huge load capacity; tyres and roof covering aside, nothing has been renewed in 87 years.

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VHRA races at Pendine Sands a couple of times. ‘We used it to ferry stuff around, to carry groups of friends – that kind of thing,’ recalls Jonathan. ‘It’s still a really useful vehicle.’

Nine years later, when The Automobile was moving offices, a decision was made to part with some of the vehicles in its collection, and the Ford was offered back to Robin. It’s since become a regular sight at events such as the Bicester Scrambles.

Because of Britain’s punitive horsepower tax and the high cost of fuel back in the 1920s and ’30s, V8-engined cars were never huge sellers in the UK, but Fords were the exceptions.

While conventional steel-bodied V8s were assembled in the UK, the more specialised ‘Woodie’ Station Wagons started life in the USA. There’s a lot of confusion online about exactly where the wooden bodies were made and they’re often attributed to Ford’s Iron Mountain plant in Michigan, USA, where Ford had acquired 313,000 acres of forest and two

iron mines in the early 1920s. However, it seems that until the late 1930s the wooden body parts were made there only in flat-pack form, with the Murray Body Corporation – conveniently located in Detroit near the Ford plant – assembling them onto steel cowls and floorpans before Ford mounted them onto chassis. From there, the Station Wagons were transported to Canada and then shipped to England, where UK-specific work was carried out, such as for wiring and lights.

Henry Ford’s genius had always been in keeping production costs to a minimum while ensuring the finished product was reliable, and the ‘flathead’ Ford V8 engine – each bank of cylinders is capped with a flat-topped cylinder head, with valves to the side of each cylinder and operating almost parallel with the pistons – is truly one of the world’s all-time greats.

Introduced in 1932, it remained in production for cars until 1964 (in Brazil) and was still being used in the French Army’s Simca

Marmon trucks into the 1990s, these last proving a godsend for latter-day hot rodders when their low-mileage engines were sold off.

Of course, the flathead evolved considerably along the way, but its essential characteristics – a short three-main-bearing crank, and crankcase and both banks of cylinders cast as a single unit, a ‘monobloc’ – remained the same.

The cranks were both statically and dynamically balanced, resulting in an exceptionally smooth motor, while high-pressure oil lubrication allowed relatively high revolutions to be maintained. From late 1936, the flathead had replaceable main and big-end shell bearing inserts, too, instead of the poured whitemetal bearings used previously.

Robin’s Woodie is a 1938 Model 81A Deluxe Station Wagon, the ‘81A’ signifying an 85bhp version of the 221ci (3.6-litre) V8. Inside, you’re enveloped in a cosy pre-war parlour fug of brown Bakelite, worn brown leather-cloth seats and brown (of course) plywood door 129

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Never restored Ford V8 Woodie

cards. There are three rows of seats, so you can squeeze at least eight people in if you need to, while the driver still has room to operate the long, willowy gearlever. The rearmost row is removable and the split tailgate hinges both top and bottom, creating a large flat load space that’s long enough to carry, say, a Christmas tree. ‘I’ve never slept in the back but I would certainly do so if I drove it to the Beaulieu Autojumble and wanted to stay overnight,’ claims Robin.

There’s a bit of ancient woodworm in some of the rear timbers, the steel wings bear quite a few dings and dents, many of the smaller metal fittings are pitted with rust, and the interior is heavily scuffed and badly worn. It all adds up to a patina to die for. And how many modern cars would survive on minimal maintenance for 87 years like this Ford?

Fact is, on the road, the Woodie feels remarkably of-a-piece. The steering may not be the epitome of precision, and progress is stately rather than record-breaking, but it’s like a wellloved old horse; you let it find its own way at its own pace and it’s happy. The quietly burbling V8 has torque enough for you to change up

early and easily, and, if that advert by wily old rogue Sir Malcolm Campbell is to be believed, ‘a consumption of 20 miles per gallon can be obtained under normal touring conditions’.

Touring is what this car would be perfect for: you’re sitting tall in what’s effectively a mobile conservatory, with unobstructed 360º views of the passing scenery. It’s a great stress-reliever and, of course, there’s room for several friends – and their luggage.

In fact, it’s definitely not a car for the unsociable. ‘Whenever I take it out, I always make sure I’m in a good mood and have plenty of energy, because I know I’ll meet members of the public who will want to talk about it,’ explains Robin. ‘When you drive a really old car, you have a certain responsibility to promote the movement. That’s something I learned from ballooning – where if you have to force-land in someone’s field, you need to be polite and friendly – and it’s also a great way to meet people. It’s all about sharing the fun.’

Robin and the Woodie are clearly natural companions for life – and, should you ever happen to come across it, he’s still keen to recover that lost rear numberplate.

‘Like a wellloved old horse, let it find its way at its own pace and it’s happy’

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PLUS SIX PINNACLE AVAILABLE IMMEDIATELY Plus Six Pinnacle is the final edition of Morgan’s flagship Plus Six model, culminating more than five years of successful prodiction. The Pinnacle edition represents the final high-powered Morgan sports car with the classc shape, ending a lineage that dates back to the beginning of Plus 8 production in 1968. Plus Six Pinnacle showcases Morgan’s bespoke abilities, featuring a curated selection of the most exclusive ‘special

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Octane Cars The trials and tribulations of the cars we live with

Ready, set – no go 1927 Ford Model T Mark Dixon THE MODEL T is not a conventional car. Although it was built until the late 1920s, it was launched in 1908, when the nascent auto industry was still feeling its way. So, rather than a conventional gearbox, it has an epicyclic transmission that’s operated by three pedals,

requiring the mental agility of a church organist if you’re used to driving just about anything else.

Its ignition system was idiosyncratic, too, using current generated by magnets on the engine flywheel rotating past iron cores fixed to the transmission cover. This current excited four

individual coils – one per cylinder – to deliver a spark to each plug via a simple timer driven from the front of the camshaft.

I’m using the past tense here because my ‘T’ has an aftermarket conversion for the more familiar coil-and-distributor system used in almost every car from the

1930s to the 1980s. However, when the T failed to start for a pre-Christmas meet-up with friends, I wondered whether Henry’s set-up might not be a better idea after all. There was not a glimmer of life, and after several frustrating minutes I gave up and took my 2006 Volvo instead.

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OCTANE’S FLEET Opposite and below Model T remained barn-bound when it failed to start before Christmas; Henry Ford’s unconventional ignition had been replaced, but a new coil eventually solved the problem.

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

JAMES ELLIOTT Editor-in-chief • 1965 Triumph 2.5 PI • 1968 Jensen Interceptor • 1969 Lotus Elan S4 ROBERT COUCHER Founding editor • 1955 Jaguar XK140 GLEN WADDINGTON Associate editor • 1989 BMW 320i Convertible • 1999 Porsche Boxster SANJAY SEETANAH Advertising director • 1981 BMW 323i Top Cabrio • 1998 Aston Martin DB7 Volante • 2007 Mercedes-Benz SLK200

‘Alarm bells rang when I tried earthing a spark plug lead to the engine block while turning the engine over’ Two months later, a spell of spring sunshine impelled me to try again. The engine was still dead as a dodo but, given fuel and a spark, a ‘T’ should run, so I started working through the possibilities. First job was to drain the carburettor bowl using the little petcock conveniently provided, to see whether any water had separated out from the fuel. But the petrol that came out looked as consistent and clear as modern fuel ever does.

Next, check the points in the distributor to see if they had closed up. The points gap did look a little narrow, so I reset it with the contacts held open on the back of one of the distributor driveshaft’s cam lobes, an easy task using the Model T’s starting handle. With the points closed again and the ignition turned on, flicking the points open did produce a spark.

Metaphorical alarm bells began to ring, however, when I then tried earthing the brass terminal of a spark plug lead to the engine block while turning the engine over on the starter motor. This should have produced a regular spark from terminal to block – but there was nothing.

Cue a call to my friend Matt Blake, who runs vintage specialist Auto Electric Supplies (autoelectricsupplies.co.uk).

‘Try the same thing with the end of the main coil-to-distributor lead,’ he advised. ‘If there’s no spark, then the coil is probably faulty.’ So I did, and there was indeed no spark.

More in hope than expectation, I made a Sunday-morning dash to my local motor factor to buy a new Chinese-made coil. With it jury-rigged to the engine, I tried the starter again… and the engine coughed, then died. Repeated

attempts produced exactly the same result: the engine was attempting to start, but it just wouldn’t run.

By now the starter’s pressswitch was getting distinctly warm from over-use, so I gave it a rest and climbed out of the car to take another look at the engine bay.

Which is when I spotted that I hadn’t re-secured the dizzy cap to its base with the two sprung-steel clips, so the cap kept getting knocked off its perch every time I spun the motor.

Re-clip the cap and try again.

Success! The motor caught, I quickly advanced the timing lever from full retard and opened the throttle slightly, and after a couple of minutes of clearing its throat the big 2.9-litre four was ticking over happily.

I’m not ashamed to admit that I gently touched a rear wing and uttered a quiet ‘thank you’.

MARK DIXON Contributing editor • 1927 Alvis 12/50 • 1927 Ford Model T pick-up • 1942 Fordson Model N tractor • 1955 Land Rover Series I 107in ROBERT HEFFERON Art editor • 2004 BMW Z4 3.0i DAVID LILLYWHITE Editorial director • 1971 Saab 96 • 1996 Prodrive Subaru Impreza MATTHEW HOWELL Photographer • 1962 VW Beetle 1600 • 1969 VW/Subaru Beetle • 1982 Morgan 4/4 BEN BARRY Contributor • 2007 Mazda RX-8 MASSIMO DELBÒ Contributor • 1967 Mercedes-Benz 230 • 1972 Fiat 500L • 1975 Alfa Romeo GT Junior • 1979/80 Range Rovers • 1982 Mercedes-Benz 500SL • 1985 Mercedes-Benz 240TD SAM CHICK Photographer • 1969 Alfa Romeo Spider ROWAN ATKINSON Contributor • 2004 Rolls-Royce Phantom 135

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Octane Cars Running Reports

Left and below Sanjay’s DB7 made a return trip to Aston Martin Works for a service and left him impressed.

ANDREW RALSTON Contributor • 1955 Ford Prefect • 1968 Jaguar 240 SAM CHICK Photographer • 1969 Alfa Romeo Spider RICHARD HESELTINE Contributor • 1966 Moretti 850 Sportiva • 1971 Honda Z600 PETER BAKER Contributor • 1954 Daimler Conquest • 1955 Daimler Conquest Century • 2005 Maserati 4200GT • 2008 Alfa Romeo Brera Prodrive SE DAVID BURGESS-WISE Contributor • 1924 Sunbeam 14/40 • 1926 Delage DISS MATTHEW HAYWARD Markets editor • 1990 Citroën BX 16v • 1994 Toyota Celica GT-Four • 1996 Saab 9000 Aero • 1997 Citroën Xantia Activa • 1997 Peugeot 306 GTI-6 • 2000 Honda Integra Type R • 2002 Audi A2 JESSE CROSSE Contributor • 1968 Ford Mustang GT 390 • 1986 Ford Sierra RS Cosworth MARTYN GODDARD Photographer • 1963 Triumph TR6SS Trophy • 1965 Austin-Healey 3000 MkIII DELWYN MALLETT Contributor • 1936 Cord 810 Beverly • 1937 Studebaker Dictator • 1946 Tatra T87 • 1950 Ford Club Coupe • 1952 Porsche 356 • 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL • 1957 Porsche Speedster • 1957 Fiat Abarth Sperimentale • 1963 Abarth-Simca • 1963 Tatra T603 • 1973 Porsche 911 2.7 RS • 1992 Alfa Romeo SZ EVAN KLEIN Photographer • 1974 Alfa Romeo Spider • 2001 Audi TT HARRY METCALFE Contributor • 20 cars and 15 motorbikes To follow Harry’s adventures, find Harry’s Garage on YouTube.

The full Works 1998 Aston Martin Volante Sanjay Seetanah AT THE START of the year, I was reflecting on the early 2000s and what was happening in the classic car world. 1950s and ’60s cars were still very much in vogue – who didn’t want an AustinHealey 3000 MkIII or an XK120?

– but 1970s and ’80s cars were quietly gaining in popularity.

Goodwood Revival was still in its infancy, the new BMW-built Minis had just appeared, and we were about to launch a stunning new magazine called Octane. Not very long before this, my i6 DB7 had rolled off the production line, on 23 January 1998. Soon I’ll have owned it for half its life.

Buying an Aston Martin was never on my radar. I was content with everyday classics. Yet, 13 years on, I still have the DB7, so I must be enjoying it. When I first bought it, I wanted to take it on an epic drive across France, so I had it meticulously serviced by Martin Brewer at Runnymede Motor Company. We drove 3000 miles in the height of summer, from Bilbao across to Bordeaux and along the Dordogne, then south to Marseille, the Côte d’Azur, into Monaco and finally back to the UK, without a single problem.

I then entrusted it to Aston Martin Works for some major improvements, which included having a new soft-top – which, by the way, was made by the same person who fitted it when new.

As I used the car less over time, I had it serviced by a local Jaguar specialist. However, an email from Aston Martin Works Service reminding me about my MoT made me reconsider. A few things needed attention, such as a loose trim panel around the rear light after driving it around the track at Silverstone for Aston’s 110th anniversary celebrations. Time to treat the car to another visit.

Calling Works was a breath of fresh air – I had forgotten what it was like to be treated as a valued customer. Its Heritage Service offers complimentary collection and delivery within a 50-mile

radius from its Newport Pagnell base (I fell just within that), and the pricing was competitive at £790 for a 7500-mile service. The transporter arrived on time, driven by a very polite assistant who had been to my house before.

From Works I received a health check video message – a refreshing touch. The car was found to be in excellent condition, with just two minor things to report: a possible air conditioning gas leak and a small oil weep from the differential sump to monitor.

A 7500-mile service includes a pre-service road test; engine oil and filter replacement, with all other fluids checked and topped up where required; a full interior electrical and functionality check (for my i6 Volante, this includes the roof); while all suspension and drivetrain components are examined for wear, play and deterioration before a final road test is carried out. The vehicle also has a complimentary service wash before it’s delivered home.

When you consider the level of customer liaison that comes with it, including close contact with the service team during the vehicle’s stay at Works Service, the collection and delivery, too, this is very good value for money. I’m delighted I received that email.

Thanks to Shaun Dixon and Scott Fisher at Aston Martin Works, astonmartinworks.com.

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1990 JAGUAR XJR 12 LM

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1986 SAUBER C8 MERCEDES

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COLLECTION

Octane Cars Running Reports

Left and below Lots of childhood memories of this car for David; new seat trims a bargain; ignition upgraded, too.

Getting some seat time in 1971 Saab 96 V4 David Lillywhite HOW THE not-so-mighty are fallen… Having owned more than 50 cars in my lifetime, I’m now down to just one classic. I think this is the first time I’ve not had multiple classics since mid-1992.

I’m OK with that at the moment, although my late-night browsing history suggests not, veering between Golf GTIs and the huge Stutz that my dad briefly owned as a barn-find in the 1960s.

You know what it’s like, I’m sure.

At the moment, though, I’m enjoying quality time spent with the Saab 96 that my grandad owned from around 1980 until his death in the 2000s, at which point it passed to my uncle, who later kindly gifted the car to me.

It took me years to really appreciate it. At one point, I had plans to build it into a longdistance rally car, encouraged by the late historic rally pioneer Philip Young. Then I looked at engine swaps for fast road use, but

it’s a difficult layout that very few Saab enthusiasts have ever managed to convert successfully.

I’m happy with the spec I eventually settled on: mildly upgraded, with a modestly tuned engine and uprated suspension.

What let it down until recently was the interior. The original seats had olive-green vinyl centres and a lighter green cloth. The vinyl

had survived well but some of the cloth was in tatters. The last thing I wanted was to get rid of the material that I’d slid around on as a kid (my grandad drove the lanes around his North Wales home ‘enthusiastically’, shall we say).

But several professional attempts to have the cloth replaced while keeping the vinyl ended up in frustrating delays and broken

promises – and then Paul at Staffordshire Saab revealed that he had an unwanted set of brand new replacement covers, sourced from Lseat in the US (lseat.com).

I snapped them up for a bargain price (they’re now $700 new, which is still a bargain), and I’m pleased to say that they’re of incredible quality and were relatively easy to fit. The black leather with subtle red stitching wouldn’t have been my first choice but they’re a huge improvement on the tattered originals, which I’ve kept in the hope of one day having the green cloth replaced. I bought a black carpet to match, but again the aim is to match the worn-out green original at some point.

Cutting holes in the top edges of the new covers for the rare and stylish optional Saab headrests was a little nerve-wracking but I finally got around to that in February, and topped off the interior revamp with new seatbelts all-round. This is the first time it’s ever had rear belts but luckily Saab 96s of this vintage came with most of the threaded holes needed.

The last job before breaking the car out of the garage for the first time in weeks was to finish fitting the electronic ignition and matching high-output coil. It’s a Pertronix unit that fits inside the distributor, and all indications so far are that the little Saab is starting better and running cleaner than I’ve ever known it to.

More drives are planned soon.

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Taking stock 1955 Jaguar XK140 Robert Coucher IT’S STARTLING to realise I have owned my 1955 XK140 FHC SE for 19 years. My ‘Little Black Book’ opens with the words: ‘Purchased by Robert Coucher on 12 August 2006 with 13,333 miles on the clock.’

The LBB is now almost full of entries and notations, including all the money I have spent along the way, so I keep it away from my wife! Like most enthusiasts, I’ve over-invested in the XK but amortising the costs over all these years makes it seem manageable (using man-maths, at least) and the car has taken me to some unforgettable destinations, including Barcelona, Le Mans, the Scottish Highlands – and the shops up the road.

The Jaguar received a full body-off and mechanical restoration in 1990 and I have since restored it all over again, including the engine, gearbox, brakes and suspension, with all the choice upgrades along the

way. The car has proven to be as rock-solid and reliable as it should be, given that virtually all of it has been renewed! It looks smart, if a bit patinated, because I have invested in making it run like the perfect cool rod.

As mentioned briefly last issue, I swung the Jag into Lance McCormack’s quaint Romance of Rust emporium on the riverside in Brentford. Lance is a concours-winning restorer and when he glanced at the XK he immediately noticed that the driver’s seat cushion needs restuffing. He suggested I call Jamie Perryman at Unrivalled Coachtrimming, based in Hook, Hampshire, and he also said I should go and see Steve Bell at Silver Crest Woodwork and Design (located in Buckinghamshire) to have my wood veneer sorted out.

He’s probably correct, so I will do – but it won’t make the Jaguar perform any better.

Top and left In nearly 20 years of ownership, Robert has worked through the Jaguar to keep it fighting fit – but maybe the seats and dash are due some cosmetic attention.

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Octane Cars Running Reports

The honeymoon continues 2005 Maserati 4200 GT Peter Baker I’VE NOW COVERED 2000 miles in my recently acquired Maserati 4200 GT Cambiocorsa and can honestly say – while quickly touching the nearest piece of wood – that it’s been the most satisfying and trouble-free of experiences. Mind you, the mileage still stands at an extremely low 36,000, and the car came with a complete history file. Even better, the previous long-term owner trusted only leading agent McGrath Maserati to service what is, in effect, a cut-price Ferrari.

For the record, an annual oil change/filter service plus health check seems to come in at around the £1000 mark which, in supercar terms, is not the end of

the world. And keeping those stamps up-to-date is so very, very important. Therefore, before our planned road trip to Modena this summer, I’ll add one more. After two years of searching for the right car and then finally taking the plunge, driving ‘Enrico’ (named after the famous Italian tenor, Enrico Caruso) for the first time happened only after I’d read the chunky instruction manual from cover to cover.

Getting comfortable is not a problem, thanks to the four-way adjustable and heated seats, with memory setting. Such luxury.

Switch on, wait for the oil to circulate, then fire up the Ferrari-inspired dry-sump 4.2-litre V8 engine. It starts

immediately, giving out a wonderful roar that, after just a few seconds, settles into a low, sleepy throb. All 23 warning lights go out. Bliss.

Cambiocorsa means ‘racing gearchange’ and what you get is a first-generation F1-style ‘flappy paddle’ pair of column-mounted levers – right side to change up, left side to change down – that connect the gearbox hydraulically to a conventional clutch. I also face the option of ‘Normal’ or ‘Sport’ mode. Yours truly, being something of a coward, leaves the power switch alone.

Time to go. Pull right-hand lever towards me and first gear appears in the digital readout.

Release handbrake, build revs, hesitate… and then, into second.

I live in the countryside, with plenty of straight roads, so I’m soon into sixth gear at 60mph.

At 2000rpm the engine is barely ticking over.

Manual downchanging through the upper ratios is also easy, with an automatic override built-in for protection, but this gearbox was never designed for urban side-streets. Hesitant back-and-fro auto-changing between second and first creates something of a nightmare and is the prime cause of premature clutch wear; that, and waiting at traffic lights. For short shopping trips I’ll borrow my wife Lin’s little Abarth 595.

If she’ll let me.

In the meantime, to preserve my licence and check out the claimed 0-100mph in 11.3 seconds, I’ve booked a couple of track-days at Goodwood and Castle Combe. Enrico will be in seventh heaven – as indeed will I.

OTHER NEWS ‘I am deeply embarrassed at the lack of attention – and running time – my Lotus Elan received in 2024.

With the sun starting to put in brief cameos in the UK, I am determined to set that right pronto’ James Elliott

‘Just booked the BMW in for its MoT and service – and to get to the bottom of the whining noise evident when it’s on the move.

Clue: it’s not my kids’ Glen Waddington

‘Significant progress with my Alfa Duetto restoration: work on the body is complete, so the engine, suspension and brakes are now being stripped, and a shopping list of consumables and upgrades drawn up’ Sam Chick

‘The BMW Z4 is back from the bodyshop, with bumper, rear quarter and wheels all looking like new. There are minor jobs still to do but, while the sun is shining, I’m reluctant to take it out of action’ Robert Hefferon

‘I need to fit new Michelin tyres to my Mercedes 500SL and 230 Fintail – so expect a report on the bank robbery I’ll have to carry out to pay for them…’

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1967 ASTON MARTIN DB6 VANTAGE

1955 AC ACECA V8

A multiple Concours winning MK1, finished in Cumberland Grey over red £350,000

A ridiculously quick, V8 engined Aceca with a 5 speed ‘box and vented disc brakes all round £95,000

2005 PORSCHE 911 GT3

Basalt Black over black, Full Service History, Recaro bucket seats and 41,000 miles £79,500

1963 JAGUAR E-TYPE COUPE

Pendine is proud to offer…

Located at

T +44 (0)1869 357126 W www.pendine.com E cars@pendine.com

Built in the spirit of an SCCA club racer from the mid 60s, ‘Giddy Minx’ is our own car built for events across Europe. A LHD, matching numbers example, it was fully restored over a number of years with numerous upgrades to make it fast, reliable and most importantly – FUN. Finished in Warwick Grey over red £139,500

Overdrive Other interesting cars we’ve been driving

Feel the earth move 2025 Land Rover Defender OCTA Elliott Hughes

BACK IN 1947, when Maurice Wilks sketched the original Land Rover, it’s doubtful he foresaw a 635bhp version on the distant horizon. Yet that’s what the Defender OCTA is: a leatherlined powerhouse that conceals a 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8, shared with the Range Rover Sport SV and the BMW M5, no less.

Conventional wisdom suggests that stuffing a 635bhp V8 into a lofty 2½-tonne off-roader makes as much sense as strapping a jet engine to a canal boat – but the OCTA has a trick up its Barbour jacket sleeve. That ace is

JLR’s 6D Dynamics suspension system. Instead of conventional anti-roll bars, the system uses hydraulically interlinked semi-active dampers to dramatically reduce pitch and body roll on the road while providing greater wheel articulation should you venture into the wilderness. Meanwhile, a central Load Distribution Unit controls squat and dive under acceleration and braking.

Octane experienced the results of this engineering witchcraft in both scenarios in the Scottish Borders. On-road, in its default

(and most docile) Comfort Mode, the OCTA feels like a more refined version of the regular Defender. The 6D Dynamics suspension keeps the ride supple and the body flat and controlled over road imperfections. The 4.4-litre V8, meanwhile, is quiet and, if you have a light foot, does little to hint at the incredible levels of performance on tap: 0-60mph takes just 3.8 seconds and top speed is limited to 155mph.

It’s a similar story off-road, too.

Whether you’re climbing muddy Scottish hillocks, wading through

streams or driving across grassy plains, it feels (say it quietly) eerily like a Range Rover, such is the ride’s refinement.

Yet none of this is particularly surprising. The ‘new’ Defender is now five years old and is a brilliant off-road performer regardless of the lump beneath its bonnet or the complexity of its suspension. The revelations come when you select one of the more aggressive, performanceorientated driving modes via the chunky transparent OCTA button on the steering wheel and bury your right foot into the bulkhead.

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This page and opposite Defender is refined and able, on and off road – but press the OCTA button and this one makes full use of its remarkable 635bhp twin-turbo V8.

Dynamic Mode is designed to provide the best performancefocused on-road experience by sharpening the steering and throttle response and increasing the suspension’s resistance to roll, pitch, squat and dive. The result is a 4x4 that’s not only incredibly fast in a straight line but also handles like a bone-fide performance machine on Scotland’s twisty, crest-laden B-roads. Throw it into a corner and it feels remarkably agile, exhibiting none of the lumbering waywardness that characterised SUVs of old. Vast Brembo brakes

do an admirable job of shedding speed, too, though that’s when you’re most aware of the OCTA’s 2585kg kerbweight.

Hold that button for a fraction longer and you enable OCTA mode for fast off-road driving – and this is its party trick. The clever dampers and four-wheel drive system constantly adapt to the terrain’s myriad demands, while the immense power and torque make provoking a lurid slide – and holding it around a hay bale – almost effortless.

The suspension is the real star.

On a rally stage, the OCTA feels

like a Bowler Defender Challenge car, shrugging off rocks, ruts, potholes and crests, while seeking out all the grip the slippery, muddy terrain has to offer. Then, with the press of a button, you’re back in Comfort mode: the thunderous V8 hushes, the steering and throttle soften, and the suspension shifts its focus from precision to plushness.

After two days of wading through rivers, scrambling up muddy tracks, and storming along B-roads, one thing was clear: the OCTA isn’t just the most performance-focused

descendant of Maurice Wilks’ Land Rover, it’s also among the most capable off-roaders the marque has ever built. This remarkable breadth of ability has created a performance car that thrives in any terrain or weather while delivering all the practical benefits of a Defender.

That alone makes it hugely appealing, so it’s little wonder that the UK’s full 1070-car allocation for the First Edition models (as tested) has already sold out – despite the punchy £160,800 asking price. The standard OCTA starts from £145,300.

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Gone but not forgotten

RICHARD HESELTINE ARCHIVE

Words by Richard Heseltine

Bob Anderson A privateer who lost his life when on the verge of the big break he had always yearned for IT WAS A bravura performance, and one that had no effect whatsoever on advancing his career. Bob Anderson’s third-place finish in the 1964 Austrian Grand Prix was partially earned through attrition, Zeltweg being a cruel joke of a circuit. The airfield’s many bumps did for some of the more fancied runners and riders – the plucky Brit may have come home three laps down on winner Lorenzo Bandini, but he was ahead of former Grand Prix winners as the chequered flag descended.

It was as good it got for Formula 1’s last true privateer driver/entrant.

Robert Hugh Fearon ‘Bob’ Anderson entered this world on 19 May 1931. The son of a doctor and a pathologist, he spent his early years in North London and lost his father at an early age. His mother later remarried and the family relocated to Bedfordshire, although the youngster was soon packed off to Gordonstoun. His time in Scotland proved character-building, especially after he developed osteomyelitis.

On leaving boarding school, Anderson attended agricultural college.

There was no great burning desire to compete on-track, though, until he was invited to join some friends on a trip to Castle Combe to watch some motorcycle racing. That was in 1953. Full of youthful swagger, he

Left Anderson’s finest result, third at the notorious Zeltweg circuit, could equally have flattered his talent or finally shown the true extent of it to the world. Sadly, we will never know.

proclaimed that it looked easy and, seeing as he already owned a half-litre Triumph, decided to have a go. Anderson made his motorsport debut at Cadwell Park later that year, and by 1955 he was making waves aboard an ex-Ted Davis Matchless.

Anderson had titanium-plated self-belief. He quit his day job as a mechanic/engineer to race full-time, eking out a hand-to-mouth existence, but the victories soon came. He won the 1956 500cc North West 200 and was second to Jimmy Buchan in that season’s Senior Manx. Better rides followed, highpoints including second place to John Surtees in the 1958 Senior TT, and a strong run in that year’s 350cc Swedish Grand Prix when he was runner-up to Geoff Duke.

Life was on the up, and then he met the love of his life at a Young Conservatives dance in Bedford. Anderson fell for a young French au pair and his ardour was reciprocated. Her parents were less receptive.

They dragged their precious Marie-Edmée back to France but she soon made her way over to Blighty again and the lovestruck couple eloped.

Anderson’s mother and stepfather then gave the couple part of their house in Haynes, and an adjacent shed/workshop remained the centre of operations for his motorsport bids thereafter.

However, 1960 saw his career at a crossroads. He was advised not to race again following a spill in South Africa, but then a friend from his agricultural days – sometime F1 driver Henry Taylor – suggested he try competing on four wheels instead. A year later, he made an impression in Formula Junior aboard a front-engined Lola. He remained in the category for 1962 driving for Team Lotus, displaying front-running pace even though he was eclipsed by his team-mate, Peter Arundell.

Then came Formula 1. Armed with an ex-Bowmaker Racing Lola and his trusty Volkswagen ex-builder’s wagon-cum-transporter, he became the entrant, driver, and mechanic. The only other full-time member of his team was Marie-Edmée. And so it continued for five years. Other cars came and went, most of them obsolete but always immaculately presented. There were wins, too, in non-series Grands Prix, and some decent showings in rounds of the World Championship, but the works drive he desperately craved never materialised.

At a time when Grand Prix drivers also competed in sports cars and saloon cars, it seems remarkable in retrospect that Anderson wasn’t among their number. Doug Nye interviewed him for Motor Racing in 1967, and Anderson openly wondered why he was overlooked for a drive of any kind. It could be argued that he didn’t mingle with the right people. After all, he was working on his cars when his rivals were socialising. It has also been posited that he was too reserved for his own good, that he could be a mite abrasive, but he was hardly alone in that.

He was in his mid-30s, a father of two, and clearly his face didn’t fit.

He was considering walking away when, in August 1967, he was testing at a sodden Silverstone and it all went horribly wrong. His car aquaplaned at Woodcote and hit a marshal’s post. He was conscious when help finally arrived, but suffering from serious chest trauma.

There wasn’t any on-track medical support. Instead, he was cut out of his Brabham and bundled into a WW2-era pseudo-ambulance.

There was no siren, nor suspension to speak of. Halfway to hospital, the driver and Anderson’s pals encountered a proper ambulance. The crew reasoned that it was too dangerous to transfer the stricken driver, so they continued in convoy to Northampton General. Anderson died a few hours later. He was 36. The irony is that the big-time drive he coveted finally may have been in the offing. At his funeral, BRM’s Louis Stanley told Anderson’s friends that he had been under consideration for a works seat for 1968. Fate had other ideas.

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Gearbox

Paul Howse Car designer behind the McLaren P1 and Lanzante’s Project 95-59. Also an artist…

1. I won this Interior Motives student design award when I was in my second year at Northumbria University. It was the first time I really believed that I had what it took to succeed in design.

2. I try to get out on my mountain bike once a week to clear the mind. I bought this Cotic Jeht about four years ago, designed and built in Britain from Reynolds cro-moly. It weighs about the same as a carbon bike but is much prettier.

The geometry and materials make it so much fun, it rails corners and pops off every root in sight, yet soaks up the big stuff, too.

3. I’ve been collecting model cars since I was a boy and now have a wonderful office to display them in. They’re basically anything I’m into, and if you know me, you’ll know that’s quite a diverse range of cars!

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4. This is a prototype P1 model that had my original design of bonnet on it before Ron made us change it. It’s probably the only evidence that still exists of it.

5. When I started at McLaren, I was obsessed with Bruce’s heritage and the Michael Turner Kiwi logo; I’d hide it in my design renderings so Ron wouldn’t see it. I ordered a keyring from the Bruce McLaren Trust and then Mark Roberts designed and made me a carbon one for my wedding, engraved with the P1 rear lights two years before it came out.

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6. My dad is a master mechanic and engineer and the reason I’m so obsessed with cars. He built this six-cylinder M20 engine for my 1971 BMW 2000 Touring that I’m restoring with him.

It’s been stroked to 2.8 litres, with a fast road cam, and he’s done loads of old school enginebuilding tricks to it. It’ll run on triple Weber 40s.

I’ll keep it forever.

7. These ticket stubs and VIP passes are from important events during my 11-year McLaren career. The P1 launch in Paris and the 720S first drives in Rome provide great memories for me.

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8. I first watched The Speed Merchants on VHS as a teenager and it’s been my favourite movie ever since. It kick-started my love for the Targa Florio and late ’60s/early ’70s Sportscar racing.

If you haven’t watched it, go and do so now.

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9. These Nikon M5 8x42mm binoculars are fantastic and were a massive part of my recovery from the work-related breakdown that I suffered in 2020. During the time that followed, getting out birdwatching and being in nature was something I really leaned on to help my mental state. I still do.

10. I recently treated myself to one of my dream cars, a 1977 Citroën CX. The design and engineering thinking behind it are quite unlike anything seen since (in regular cars, anyway).

The aerodynamics, the details such as the door handles and binnacle, the sculpture in the bodyside and the dashboard… And all of that is before you experience the otherworldly ride quality and those squishy seats. Can you tell that I’m quite taken by it?

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FE LLO W E S FI N E CA R S

1954 ASTON MARTIN DB2/4 MK1 - SPORTS SALOON EX-NOEL CUNNINGHAM-REID / ‘WORKS PREPARED’

Supplied new to burgeoning British racing driver & future Aston Martin ‘Works’ driver, Noel Cunningham-Reid Modified by Aston Martin ‘Works’ for competition use at the instruction of Cunningham-Reid & campaigned from 1954 to 1966 Restored in the current ownership to original specification of Moonbeam Grey with Red interior Eligible for the Goodwood Revival Fordwater Trophy, Mille Miglia & numerous historic race series

+44 (0)1206 355098

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info@fellowesfinecars.com

11/03/2025 09:03

Icon Words by Delwyn Mallett

ALAMY

Left This 1934 ‘Guinness for Strength’ poster was one of the best-known ads dreamed up by the SH Benson agency.

Selling Guinness Some might say that the Marmite of beers needed ingenious advertising to tempt anyone to try it; others needed no persuasion WHEN I WAS a nipper in the mid-1950s, my mother, after suffering a debilitating illness, was prescribed a pint of iron-rich Guinness a day as a ‘pick me up’. Coming from a strict Welsh Chapel background and, to the best of my knowledge, in her eventual 96 years on Earth never having committed the ‘sin’ of entering a public house, even the notion of frequenting an off-licence was anathema to her. So her young son deputised and I was dispatched every few days on the Guinness run, rattling home with a couple of pint bottles clunking in an oilskin shopping bag.

At first the bitter black stuff was as unpleasant to Mum’s palette as real medicine but it wasn’t too long before she acquired the taste, upped the dosage and my off-licence runs got more frequent, my burden considerably heavier, and Mum started to put on weight. Eventually Dad decided enough was enough, but Guinness had done the trick.

Odd though prescribing alcohol as a tonic might sound today, the notion that Guinness was good for you had for many years been a widely held belief. Irish doctors in particular had recommended it to new mothers after childbirth, but it was not until 1929 that it was publicly endorsed by Guinness.

After 170 years of eschewing the vulgar world of self-promotion, Rupert Guinness, then chairman of the board, appointed the SH Benson agency to create an advertising campaign. The first all-text whole page newspaper ad read like a quack medicine pitch, claiming that ‘Guinness builds strong muscles. Feeds exhausted nerves. Enriches the Blood. Doctors affirm that it is a valuable restorative after Influenza and other weakening illnesses and is a valuable natural aid in cases of insomnia.’ On this last point it neglected to state how many pints one had to down before peacefully passing out. The ad also introduced the ‘Guinness Is Good For You’ slogan. All the above claims would now be prohibited in advertising, of course.

Guinness advertising soon became much more colourful and dynamic, capturing the public’s attention and affection with longrunning poster campaigns amusingly illustrated by commercial artist (and Benson’s art director) John Gilroy. ‘Guinness For Strength’ featured a workman striding forth balancing a massive girder on his head.

Gilroy also originated the ‘My Goodness My Guinness’ posters, both an exclamation and endorsement of the ‘good’ theme, in

which a whole menagerie of zoo animals absconded with a keeper’s pint, including the endearing and enduring Toucan balancing a pint or two of Guinness on his beak.

Eye-catching but sublimely irrelevant to anything remotely connected to the act of drinking beer in any state other than acute inebriation, the Toucan became a favourite with the public both young and old, drinkers and non-drinkers, and continued into the ’50s.

Commercial television arrived in the UK in 1955 and Guinness was there on the first night with a somewhat conventional pub-set commercial that encouraged the viewer to ‘Try a Guinness a day… and enjoy proving that Guinness Is Good For You.’ After taking a sales dip in recent years, it seems that the black stuff has found an enthusiastic new following in the younger generation. Boosted by social media, sales are soaring among Millennials, including a big upsurge with women.

Much of the attraction lies in Guinness’s perceived ‘authenticity’, making it the ‘vinyl’ of beers perhaps. That image is enhanced and reinforced by the two-pours ritual required to achieve a perfect creamy head. Although many pint-pullers say it’s not absolutely necessary, the Guinness marketeers encourage bar staff to adhere to the two-pull performance. They even have a prescribed formula for pouring the perfect pint: hold the glass at 45% and fill to three-quarters before standing the glass for 1min 32.5sec – hard to imagine any bartender hitting the point-five! – then top-up slowly, so creating that creamy topping.

A number of eminent physicists, and presumably also Guinness connoisseurs, have written papers on the forces at work in a glass of Guinness as the nitrogen bubbles in a freshly poured pint migrate around the container – some seeming to defy expectation by floating downwards – before finally rising to the surface to form the creamy head.

The wait between pours has become such an important part of the Guinness experience that in recent years it has formed the basis of the Guinness advertising strategy, producing a slew of award-winning commercials, including condensing the entire evolution of humankind into 60 seconds as three Guinness-supping chums in reverse motion travel backwards in time from bar-room to pond life.

For fans of drinking games, ‘Splitting the G’ involves seeing who can, in a single gulp, lower the line dividing the black from the creamy froth so that it coincides with the crossbar on the G in Guinness. Nearest gets a pint from his or her mates. Time to start practising.

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EM G SEE B E O O D YO RS W U A M OOD T EE TI NG M

Central London’s Largest Classic Car Showrooms A selection of our 75+ cars currently for sale

1969 Wood & Pickett Mini Cooper S

2015 Range Rover Vogue Autobiography LWB 20.000 Miles

1977 Rolls-Royce Cornice DHC 25.000 Miles only

1966 WSM Sprite GT Race Car

1957 Jaguar XK150 SE Restored condition

1962 Bentley S2 Continental by HJ Mulliner Restored condition

www.graemehunt.com

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

Graeme Hunt Ltd, The Garages, 1A Coppock Close, Battersea, London, SW11 2LE

Chrono

by Mark McArthur-Christie

A masterpiece fit for a queen Breguet’s Marie Antoinette is not only the greatest watch ever, it is the most storied, too WATCHWORLD IS RATHER given to hyperbole, so one eventually learns to translate. ‘Innovative new dial’ means ‘Look – we’ve made a blue one!’ ‘In-house movement’ is often ‘We got La Joux-Perret to gussy the rotor up with our logo and a bit of engine turning’. But when it comes to Breguet No.160, there’s no need. Every aspect of its story is remarkable, from its original commission and creation as a gift for Marie Antoinette in 1783 to its theft 200 years later from the Institute for Islamic Art in Jerusalem, to its almost casual re-emergence in 2007. There isn’t a more important, or storied, watch in the world.

The Breguet archives don’t record who commissioned the watch, but their instructions were clear. Breguet was to make the best watch he could and not be bothered by bourgeois concerns such as budget or time. There aren’t many more dangerous things one can say to an obsessive, perfectionist, creative genius.

It took Breguet 44 years to finish No.160. And that’s Breguet the firm; alongside Abraham Louis, an entire team of watchmakers worked on the project and, after he died in September 1823, his son, Louis-Antoine, took over to complete it. In that time, France got through four kings, an emperor, Maximilien Robespierre and a whole revolutionary committee.

Breguet threw every complication he knew at the watch. It’s self-winding, an innovation he’d nicked and perfected from fellow watchmaker Perrelet’s work. It has a minute repeater mechanism, so one can tell the time without even removing one’s watch from a pocket (the very height of rudeness at Louis XVI’s court). There is a perpetual calendar that accounts for leap years, a stopwatch, a running second hand, a power reserve, a thermometer and a nifty ‘equation of time’ display. That’s a handy feature to deal with the difference between sidereal and solar time. Rather than brass, the movement plates, bridges and wheels are gold. It uses sapphire bearings, has 823 components and runs a 48-hour power reserve.

Although his innovation and design thinking are clear, watchmaker George Daniels always argued that Breguet himself probably delegated making the movement to a colleague, an M Prudhomme. There is certainly a Prudhomme listed in the firm’s archives. Whoever made it, they were a master. In the early years of the 19th Century, No.160 must have felt as though it had been beamed in from the future.

Glyn Morgan, the fortunate curator of the Science Museum’s Versailles exhibition, home to No.160 until April, explains: ‘It’s a bit of a facile comparison, but this was the smartwatch of its day. People who could afford something like this would obsess over the new features of

a Breguet watch in the same way tech journalists would obsess over the release of the latest iPhone.’

Sadly, the events of 1789 meant Marie Antoinete never took delivery of her watch. Instead, its first owner was the Marquis de la Groye, who had been the Queen’s Page in his youth. No.106 eventually passed into the collection of Sir David Salomons in 1896 and finally to the Mayer Institute for Islamic Art, from which the watch was stolen and left in a cardboard box. It was rescued and returned only in 2007, almost by chance, after the thief ’s death.

Glyn Morgan sums up: ‘It’s not just about value or materials or its beauty or its aesthetics. It’s about story as well, and this watch has had such a great story throughout its life.’ There’s not a watch with a better one – it’d make one hell of a film.

ONE TO WATCH

Asterix watch – Chronofixe An accessible work from Romaric André. By Toutatis!

UNTIL RECENTLY, IF you’d wanted to get your hands on iconoclastic watch modifier and artist Romaric André’s work, it wasn’t easy. Now, thanks to a collaboration with Chronofixe, just a few clicks will do it in the form of the Swiss firm’s Asterix watch. Powered by a cooking Seiko NH35 movement, the real interest is in the dial and caseback. Both feature Asterix, with him giving 8 o’clock (in Roman numerals, of course) a hard enough Gaulish belting to knock it across the dial. Even the date and dive bezel are, appropriately, in Roman numerals, too. Résister encore et toujours! Expect to pay €395.

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Books Reviewed by Mark Dixon

When Wedge had the Edge

GAUTAM SEN, Dalton Watson, £130.50 inc p&p to USA and UK, ISBN 978 1 956309 18 8

Let’s get something out of the way first: this book’s cover is rather misleading. From the title and the sexy image of Marcello Gandini’s Alfa Romeo Carabo concept, you might assume that all of its 480 pages (this is a weighty tome) are packed with wedgy goodness. In fact, the author doesn’t get into proper wedginess until page 184, with the aforementioned Carabo. Judge this book by its cover, and you may be slightly disappointed.

Any such mild sense of let-down will quickly dissipate once you start to take a closer look, however. Even allowing for a late start, there are still almost 300 pages devoted to wedge-styled cars throughout the decades from the 1960s to the present day. So, no shortage of wedges.

The preceding third of this hefty hardback is, in effect, a discussion of how car design evolved from its very earliest days, starting with the distinctly

unstyled Cugnot steam wagon of 1770. Logically enough, since a wedge-styled car by definition has the minimum possible frontal area, there is a focus on how aerodynamics influenced automobiles: Camille Jenatzy’s 1899 La Jamais Contente record-breaker, with its streamlined cigar-shaped body, was a remarkable pioneer.

Author Gautam Sen covers a vast selection of diverse styling trends from then on – everything from 1920s slab-sided ‘pontoons’ to spaceship ’50s Americana – before ending up with the dramatic mid/rear-engined supercars of the 1960s, such as the De Tomaso Mangusta pictured above.

Beautiful colour images are a hallmark of this book, incidentally, since publisher Dalton Watson’s productions are always handsome works.

Then we get into the meat of the subject. The late 1960s and early ’70s saw an astonishing number of wedge concepts and they all appear to receive an outing here. Pininfarina’s Ferrari-based Modulo is singled out for in-depth coverage – author Sen co-wrote its creator Paolo Martin’s autobiography, which helps – but it’s good to find less commonly fêted designs discussed, too, such as Tom Tjaarda’s Isuzu Bellett MX 1600 and Giacobbi Sinthesis, the forerunners of his De Tomaso Pantera.

Talking of Tjaarda, he and many other notable proponents of the wedge – including Brits William Towns and Oliver Winterbottom – are profiled in a chapter dedicated to the designers, which rounds off a book packed with fascinating facts about unforgettable cars (did you know that the Bertone Stratos Zero concept of 1970 was officially apostrophised – and badged – as the Strato’s?). Sen concludes by asking whether Tesla’s Cybertruck marks a possible revival of a wedge approach to vehicle design. It will certainly be interesting to see how history regards that particular machine.

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Wheelbase

Tracks in the Sand

Alfa Romeo Sprint Speciale

Thrillers based around the world of classic cars are rare – and usually pretty awful.

This one, however, gains credibility from its author’s status as a respected high-end classic car specialist and finder, and anyone involved in the business will have a lot of fun trying to spot the inspirations behind some of the characters. The pacy plot, in which a trader is pitted against organised crime while trying to secure a collection of exotic classics, is nicely developed, full of authentic detail, and thoroughly engaging.

The Vintage Hot Rod Association’s beach races at Pendine Sands, South Wales, were an instant success when first run in 2013, winning Motoring Event of the Year at the International Historic Motoring Awards.

This high-quality softback art book by retired dental professor Philip Newsome is a gorgeous album of images that really capture the atmosphere of a hugely popular event. If you’re a regular, you’ll want a copy, and if you’ve never been, then it will show you exactly what you’re missing.

Patrick Dasse and Dingwort Verlag created instant sensory overload back in 2018 when they simultaneously released six fantastic hardbacks devoted to archive factory images of the Alfa 105-series cars. More books have followed, and now we have a two-volume set focusing on the Sprint Speciale: book one covers the model’s evolution, book two details chassis-by-chassis competition histories. Packed with rare images, and with text in German and English, they fully live up to the high standard previously set.

MICHAEL KLIEBENSTEIN, Porter Press International, £13.99, ISBN 978 1 913089 51 1

PHILIP NEWSOME, Blue Flag Press, £25, ISBN 978 1 7397061 2 8

PATRICK DASSE, Dingwort Verlag, £169, ISBN 978 3 87166 055 9

LFA The Roar of an Angel

Ultimate Ford GT40 The Definitive History Volume 1 The gloriously named Ronnie Spain – a moniker that any Essex gangster would (perhaps literally) kill for, although he’s actually Scottish – has been a lorry driver by profession but a GT40 obsessive by inclination, and this incredible piece of research is the distillation of nearly 50 years of gathering data about the cars. Such are the quirks of individual chassis that, should all the GT40s ever made be gathered together and stripped to bare metal, he reckons he could identify about 50% without even having to reference his photo library.

As the prominent ‘racing numeral’ on the cover suggests, this mammoth, 576-page large-format hardback is just the first of four volumes about the GT40 that publisher Porter Press International has planned: the next three will cover its development and racing history, written by a team of GT40 experts. Volume 1, however, is Spain’s territory, an in-depth chassis-by-chassis catalogue raisonné of every GT40 built. That includes prototypes, roadsters, all the Mks I-III production cars, plus the Alan Mann cars, Mirages, J-cars and Mark IVs, illustrated with over 1300 photos.

Spain has frequently been called upon by owners to verify the identities of their cars, but the flipside is that he’s also been subject to threats both legal and physical. All credit to him, then, that he’s not only resisted pressure to authenticate fakes but called them out as such. He’s produced an amazing book despite, as he cheerfully admits, being too large to fit inside his chosen subjects!

RONNIE SPAIN, Porter Press International, £325, ISBN 978 1 913089 71 9

The text and many of the photos in this lavishly produced hardback, sponsored by an enthusiastic Lexus LFA owner, are by the engineer who masterminded the supercar, Tanahashi Haruhiko. He took care to document every stage of its development – and the result is a magnificent tribute.

Tanahashi-san had been at Toyota for about 20 years when his proposal for a small RWD sports coupé, codenamed 928T, was turned down. As compensation, he was allowed a free hand to come up with a new design. So began the LFA project, which evolved into a no-compromise V10-engined supercar limited to just 500 examples.

Besides telling the LFA story in depth, the author adds some intriguing asides, such as Toyota’s attempt to place an LFA concept in a James Bond movie (Aston won the bid, in Casino Royale). Meanwhile, his own life story gives fascinating insights into Japanese culture and its interaction with the West.

For anyone interested in Toyota, Lexus or Japanese cars generally, this is a must-have.

TANAHASHI HARUHIKO, Nana Agency Ltd, £50, ISBN 978 1 3999 8170 5 153

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Gear Compiled by Chris Bietzk and Sophie Kochan

Bell Bullitt GT motorcycle helmet It was neither aerodynamic enough nor quiet enough to be the ideal choice for long rides, and it wasn’t a great fit for everybody, either, but the original Bullitt helmet stands as one of the coolest bits of industrial design of the 21st Century. No wonder Bell’s Kyle Westmoreland called the task of updating it ‘nerve-wracking’.

Happily, the Bullitt GT is a worthy successor, retaining the fabulous retro look and wide field of view of the Bullitt while offering a number of improvements such as sliding top vents, a better-sealing visor, and a more universal fit.

A carbonfibre version is available as well, costing a couple of hundred quid more than the regular Bullitt GT and weighing 100g less.

From £434.99. bellhelmets.com

Runwell Canvas backpack by Shinola

Hot Wheels 1:64-scale Premium Formula 1 models

Shinola, based in the Argonaut Building in Detroit that once housed GM’s design department, is now making a pleasingly knockabout canvas version of its Runwell bag – which was previously available only in leather.

In addition to a few kid-friendly approximations of current Formula 1 cars, Hot Wheels has just released 16 more-detailed collectable models. Missing from the collection at present are the Ferrari and Aston Martin cars; fingers crossed the men in suits can hammer out a deal that allows the grid to be completed.

£480. shinola.com

£10.99 each. mattel.com

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Tudor Black Bay Chrono Blue Boutique Edition You’ll have to travel to get your hands on this new iteration of the Black Bay Chrono, which is available only in Tudor stores (there are currently ten in the UK), but the watch is worth the effort. It’s powered by the same chronometer-certified MT5813 movement as its forebears, but the usual Oyster-style bracelet is replaced by a more flexible and slightly dressier Jubileetype bracelet, which together with the blue, sunray-brushed dial makes this the most sophisticated-looking Black Bay Chrono yet.

£5020. tudorwatch.com

Lotus 97T T-shirt by Goodwood Among the attractions at the 82nd Goodwood Members’ Meeting in April will be a demonstration of the Lotus F1 car in which Ayrton Senna won his first Grand Prix 40 years ago, and ahead of the occasion Goodwood has produced this T-shirt featuring man and machine.

£40. shop.goodwood.com

C Seed N1 TV A seriously impressive feat of engineering, this: a home-theatre-sized TV that folds down, Transformers-style, into a neat and vaguely Art Deco sideboard that can be finished in any number of colours and materials. The screen – which can be rotated through 180º left or right to ensure the perfect viewing angle – is made up of five separate micro-LED panels, yet there is no visible border betwen them at all when the TV is in use.

£POA. cseed.com

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Gear

Fairlight Strael 4.0 Good stuff just keeps on rolling out of the London HQ of Fairlight, the company’s latest offering being a substantially updated version of the steel-framed Strael all-road bike. The 4.0 is at once stronger and a little lighter than its predecessor thanks to the use of a new variation of Reynolds 853 DZB tubing, developed especially for Fairlight and for all-road cycling. ‘DZB’ stands for ‘double zonal butting’, the practice of reinforcing areas placed under particular stress, which allows other parts of the tubing to be made thinner than usual.

Frameset only from £1499; complete from £2649. fairlightcycles.com

Patek Philippe Cubitus 5821/1A

BMW Isetta 250 1:18-scale model by Revell Released to mark the 70th birthday of the BMW Isetta, this model comes as a 94-piece kit and features a nicely executed opening door and a likeness of the car’s tiny, single-cylinder engine.

£69.30. grandprixmodels.com

Yep, the stainless steel version of Patek’s new Cubitus has much in common (movement, construction, bracelet, basic dial design) with the farewell edition of the hugely popular Nautilus reference 5711/1A. But with its angular case and Cubitus-collection-only rotor decoration, it’s an altogether more arresting watch. At 45mm across it’s quite a presence on the wrist – but because of the case shape and the integrated bracelet it’s no larger than that lug-to-lug, and it’s only 8.3mm thick, meaning it will disappear under a shirt cuff quite happily.

£35,330. patek.com

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

Gear

Fisher AG7 ‘Space Pen’ Sixty years ago, Paul Fisher filed the patent paperwork for an ‘anti-gravity’ pen – one that could write at any angle because of a pressurised cartridge and yet resistant to leaking thanks to the use of a new, thixotropic ink.

Fisher had poured $1m into the development of the ink, but his investment paid off after NASA adopted the pen, and the AG7 design used by astronauts on the historic Apollo 7 mission of 1969 remains in production today.

£97.95 fisherspacepen.co.uk

Original 1973-74 International Race of Champions poster As eye-popping as the grid for the inaugural IROC series, which was made up of a dozen Porsche 911 Carrera RSR 3.0 cars, each mechanically identical but finished in a different colour. Of the 12 famous drivers invited to compete, it was Can-Am champion Mark Donohue – pictured leading and far left – who came out on top. $965. vintageautoposters.com

Lamborghini Revuelto cufflinks by Tateossian Part of a new range of Lamborghiniinspired accessories from London jeweller Tateossian, these sterling silver cufflinks capture the wild lines of the 1001bhp Revuelto hypercar.

£695. tateossian.com

Porsche x Puma Club II Era trainers The familiar ‘Turbo’ wordmark on the tongue (not quite visible from this angle) tells you which anniversary prompted the latest collaboration between Porsche and Puma: it was 50 years ago, in the spring of 1975, that the original 911 Turbo hit the streets, thrilling drivers who could manage its power, turbo-lag and tendency to oversteer, and terrifying the many who could not…

£70. shop.porsche.com 158

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P0002549-GraysonPace-Lotus-Octane-126x96-Sep24-v1.indd 1

08/10/2024 10:29

TURRINO WHEELS LTD

ALL types of wire wheels, hubs and wheel nuts designed, made, restored.

info@turrinowheels.com

+44 (0)1780 470460

www.turrinowheels.com 159

159

Edited by Matthew Hayward

The Market B U Y I N G + S E L L I N G + A N A LY S I S

TOP 10 PRICES FEBRUA RY 202 5

£12,697,928 ($13,205,000) 1966 Ford GT40 MkII RM Sotheby’s, Coral Gables, Florida, USA, 27 February £7,938,008 ($8,255,000) 1908 Mercedes 17.3-litre 150HP Brooklands-Semmering Rennwagen RM Sotheby’s, Coral Gables, Florida, USA, 27 February

RM SOTHEBY’S

£7,409,128 ($7,705,000) 1957 Chevrolet Corvette SS Project XP-64 RM Sotheby’s, Coral Gables, Florida, USA, 27 February

Amelia and ModaMiami auctions total over $200m $13.2m Ford GT40 at RM Sotheby’s sale leads healthy Spring Florida auction figures THE RIVALRY BETWEEN RM Sotheby’s and Hagerty-owned Broad Arrow – and Hagerty’s take-over of the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance – may have been the trigger for the creation of the ModaMiami and RM’s associated auction, but, with the two events a week apart this year, they really seemed to work rather well in tandem. Many are now referring to the trio of associated sales – which brought in a combined total of $203.7million – as the ‘Spring Florida auctions’.

RM Sotheby’s took the top spot in the sales totals, reporting a $74.5million figure after the post-sale deals were done, with an 83% sell-through rate.

Headlined by the final selection of cars from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, the big hitter was a 1966 Ford GT40 MkII (pictured above) for $13,205,000 – a new auction record for the model. Other museum cars excelled, including the fascinating 1957 Chevrolet Corvette SS Project XP-64 at $7,705,000 and 1908 Mercedes 17.3-litre 150HP racer for $8,255,000. At the head of the non-museum cars was a 1996 Ferrari F50, proving

continued enthusiasm for the model at $5,532,500 – another auction benchmark price.

Gooding & Company had a great sale, ending up with a figure of $67.4million and a 93% sale rate.

Top-seller was a 1955 Ferrari 375MM Berlinetta at $9,465,000. Gooding also set a new world record auction price for a Ruf, with the exquisite 1989 CTR ‘Yellowbird’ (previewed in Octane 262) causing quite a stir as it hit a final price of $6,055,000. Other sales of note include a 1964 Porsche 904 Carrera GTS, at an above-estimate $2,205,000, and the 1953 Siata 208CS Coupé for $1,407,500.

With a few cars not quite getting over the line on the day, Broad Arrow worked incredibly hard on its post-sale deals to achieve a $61.7million, 88% sale result. Leading The Amelia’s official auction was a 1959 Ferrari 250GT LWB California Spider Competizione at $9,465,000. Significant, as it’s Broad Arrow’s most valuable sale to date, even at just below the $10-14m estimate – which was already some way shy of the same car’s previous $17,990,000 result by RM in 2017.

Matthew Hayward

£5,331,117 ($5,532,500) 1996 Ferrari F50 RM Sotheby’s, Coral Gables, Florida, USA, 28 February £3,449,688 ($3,580,000) 1991 Ferrari F40 RM Sotheby’s, Coral Gables, Florida, USA, 28 February £2,952,205 (€3,548,750) 2015 Ferrari LaFerrari RM Sotheby’s, Paris, France, 5 February £2,813,712 ($2,920,000) 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K Cabriolet A by Sindelfingen RM Sotheby’s, Coral Gables, Florida, USA, 28 February £2,760,714 ($2,865,000) 1988 Porsche 959SC Reimagined by Canepa RM Sotheby’s, Coral Gables, Florida, USA, 28 February £2,531,056 (€3,042,500) 2022 Pagani Huayra R RM Sotheby’s, Paris, France, 5 February £2,352,894 (€2,817,500) 1950 Ferrari 166MM Touring Barchetta Bonhams, Paris, France, 6 February The top ten data is supplied courtesy of HAGERTY

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Spring 2025: whither the market?

We expected last year’s big elections to bring economic certainty and stability, but instead we seem to be in a phase of global financial chaos – how is the classic car market coping?

LAST SUMMER, IN Octane 257, I looked at the general performance of various areas of the UK market. I reported that the UK Hagerty indices had generally flattened over the previous few months, and suggested a lack of worldwide economic certainty was to blame thanks to the bank of elections taking place in various countries that power the classic and collector car market.

In many ways, we now have more understanding of the economic outlook than we did six months ago, with both new British and US governments in place and the German election decided. Former Bank of England chief Mark Carney is Canada’s Prime Minister elect and an Australian election is expected to be imminent. In other ways, the economic situation is rapidly changing and steadfastly unpredictable, with tariffs, increased defence spending and cuts to public services being announced almost daily.

In the current edition of our sister publication, Magneto, I use my page to analyse whether some of the most wealthy may be seeing blue-chip collector cars as a sensible place to put their money at such a time, and whether this is reflected in the 5% upward bounce in Hagerty’s Gold Index (which tracks such models) over the past few months. I won’t tread on my own toes by writing about that here but rather focus on what may be happening in the world of the general enthusiast, like you and me, who may not have millions to spend but remains totally invested in driving, events and their cars.

‘The economic situation is rapidly changing and steadfastly unpredictable, with tariffs, increased defence spending and cuts to public services announced daily’

Looking at Hagerty’s latest index charts, it appears there has indeed been a rally, with Hot Hatch and RADwood indices showing rises similar to the Gold Index this quarter, and the Festival of the Unexceptional (FOTU) Index remaining flat. Only the Classic Index, designed to track the UK general enthusiast market, is down by 1%.

But look behind the jagged line, and it seems the growth is focused in specific areas. The Hot Hatch index was most consistent, with no models reducing in value and notably the Clio Williams 1 rising by £3350 to £22,075, an increase of 18%. RADwood, tracking ‘turbo era’ cars, also showed increases, with twice as many cars adding value as dropped and the Vauxhall Lotus Carlton increasing by £2500 to £69,000 (4%). In the Classic Index, the big percentage riser was the Rover SD1 Vitesse, up by 20% or £2025 to £12,225.

The common link between these models is that they are all what a few years ago we’d have called ‘modern classics’, having been built from the 1980s onwards. That reinforces what we’ve seen more widely: that younger classics are still where the money is being spent.

On the whole, the majority (64%) of all cars listed in Hagerty indices didn’t change in value this quarter, and that’s not really surprising given the external factors. It is too early to see if economic variables are impacting whether people buy classic cars, as this time of year is traditionally quiet.

In a few months, we should know more.

John Mayhead Hagerty Price Guide editor, market commentator and concours judge

AV E R A G E VA L U E C H A N G E P E R C E N T A G E O V E R T I M E ( F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 I S 1 0 0 % )

125% GOLD 120%

HOT HATCH

115%

RADWOOD

110%

CLASSIC

105% 100% 95% FOTU 90%

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

2025

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The Market Auction Previews

Short and sweet Broad Arrow Auctions, Lake Como, Italy

BROAD ARROW

25 May

DESCENDED DIRECTLY from the legendary pre-war T150C-SS, the Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport was to be Anthony Lago’s swansong. It sported a 4.5-litre twin-cam engine, generating 190bhp and fitted into a short, sporting chassis that was shipped off to the coachbuilder of your choice.

The car offered here is chassis 110102, which is the sole surviving (of two produced) coupé-bodied cars built by Dubos Frères. It’s a simpler, less extravagant design than many of the other coachbuilt cars of the time, but an incredibly cohesive one. Making its debut at the 1949 Concours d’Élégance du Bois de Boulogne, it quickly found a buyer and was exported to the USA. While there it passed

through the hands of racing driver and exotic car dealer Otto Zipper.

It’s an extensively documented car that lived an interesting life before languishing in a partially rebuilt state. Garage owner Jerome Sauls then bought it and completed the work in time to enter the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in August 1998.

Returning to Europe in 2006, the Talbot was shown at Rétromobile, followed by the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este in 2010, which, fittingly, is where it will now be offered for sale by Broad Arrow. A true French grand routière, the T26 stands as a compelling sports car, which is offered with an estimate of €1.2-1.5million. broadarrowauctions.com

One of a kind H&H, Duxford, UK 9 April THE FERRARI MARKET can be very sniffy about modified cars and, while this wide-body 512BB is definitely not one for the purists, it is a rather special example. It was delivered to its first owner in August 1977, who sent it back to the supplying dealer – Maranello Concessionaires – shortly after, and there it received a number of modifications. Inspired by the competition cars, a custom wide body was fabricated, underpinned by a set of 9and 11in-wide alloy wheels. Retained by the owner’s family until now, it’s covered only 6000 miles and, although now in need of some mechanical recommissioning, it presents in beautiful condition. It is expected to sell for £150,000-170,000. handh.co.uk 162

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1973 Ford Capri 3.0 GXL Bonhams, Goodwood, UK 13 April, cars.bonhams.com This Group 1 Capri is one of three original works cars built by Ford to take part in the 1973 Avon Tour of Britain. This one was driven by HRH Prince Michael of Kent, who finished a respectable 16th overall.

The car went on to race around Europe, with names such as Niki Lauda, Tom Walkinshaw and even Barry Sheene taking a stint behind the wheel. Now fully restored, it’s estimated at £80,000-120,000.

1981 Land Rover Stage 1 V8

1991 BMW 535i Sport

1993 Honda CR-X del Sol

RM Sotheby’s, Paris, France 23-28 April, rmsothebys.com

MPC, Runcorn, UK 5 April, manorparkclassics.com

H&H, Duxford, UK

In effect a Series III Land Rover with V8 Range Rover running gear, you could say that the ‘Stage 1’ is the great grandfather of the OCTA Defender in Overdrive (page 142).

This one was originally a fire engine, used for getting to inaccessible areas of the Swiss Alps. Treated to a nut-and-bolt rebuild between 2017 and 2020, it’s expected to fetch €25,000-50,000.

One of the most handsome BMW saloons ever made, and a scarce car on UK roads today. This one looks to be an honest and cared for example, with 114,525 miles and including the all-important toolkit and BMW torch. Although it’s wearing a set of more modern tyre-friendly wheels, the original metric TRX set is included. It’s guided at £5000-6000.

If you have an appreciation for a clever electric folding hardtop mechanism, then this del Sol Transtop should appeal. Based on the front-wheel-drive Civic, it’s powered by a 1.6-litre SOHC 16-valve engine, with VTEC, producing 125bhp. It comes with a huge wad of maintenance history, and could be a lot of summer fun for the £2000-3000 estimate.

9 April, handh.co.uk

Also Look Out For… Among the lots in the next RM Sotheby’s online auction, which closes on 28 April, is one of Ayrton Senna’s race helmets. A customised, lighter-thanstandard Shoei X4, it was worn by Senna during the 1992 Formula 1 season – and in particular for one of his most heroic performances…

By the time of the 1992 Belgian Grand Prix, the Drivers’ title had already been wrapped up by Nigel Mansell, who had won eight of the first 11 races of the year. Senna had suffered some bad luck at times, and his McLaren MP4/7A could be a treacherous beast, but he’d still picked up wins in Monaco and in Hungary.

He had high hopes when he pulled away at Spa for the first practice session of the Belgian GP, but any thoughts of race day,

or indeed of self-preservation, were immediately ejected from his mind when he followed Érik Comas into Blanchimont to find that the Frenchman had slammed into the barriers at almost 200mph and bounced back into the middle of the track.

Comas had been struck by the front right wheel of his wrecked Ligier and was sitting unconscious in the cockpit, his foot still pinning the accelerator to the floor. Senna pulled up, leapt from his car and sprinted across traffic to kill the howling engine of the Ligier before it could burst into flames. Comas credits Senna with saving his life that day, so perhaps he’ll be among the bidders for the great man’s X4. The competition will be fierce: the helmet is expected to fetch £100,000-150,000.

AUC T ION DI A RY 26 March H&H, Solihull, UK (motorcycles) 27 March Charterhouse, Sparkford, UK 28 March – 6 April Hampson Marketplace, online 29 March Dore & Rees, Bradford-on-Avon, UK 2 April Brightwells, online 3-5 April Mecum, Houston, USA 4-5 April Manor Park Classics, Runcorn, UK 5-6 April ACA, King’s Lynn, UK 7 April Aguttes, Paris, France 9 April H&H, Duxford, UK 11-12 April Branson Auction, Branson, USA 12 April Barons, Southampton, UK 13 April Bonhams, Goodwood, UK Osenat, Fontainebleau (motorcycles) 16-18 April Mathewsons, online 23-28 April RM Sotheby’s, online 24 April SWVA, Poole, UK 25-26 April Worldwide Auctioneers, Auburn, USA 25-27 April Barrett-Jackson, Palm Beach, USA 26 April Broad Arrow Auctions, Costa Messa, USA Cheffins, Cambridge, UK WB & Sons, Killingworth, UK 26-27 April Bonhams, Stafford, UK (motorcycles) 27 April Osenat, Paris, France 30 April Manor Park Classics, Runcorn, UK 3 May Bonhams, Miami, USA Historics, Farnborough, UK 4 May Iconic Auctioneers, Old Warden Park, UK (motorcycles) IN ASSOCIATION WITH

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The Market Data Mining

Lancia Stratos HF Stradale

LANCIA STRATOS

What price a rally-winner that started as a show-car and resulted in a road-going rarity?

WITH THE STRATOS, Lancia brought together three extraordinary elements in a way that hasn’t been bettered. First was its wedge styling by Marcello Gandini for Bertone, whose 1968 Alfa Romeo Carabo and 1969 Autobianchi A112 Runabout had evolved into the Stratos Zero concept, seen at the 1970 Turin Auto Show. When production began in July 1972, it still seemed like something from the future.

Second, the Stratos used one of the most sonorous small engines ever built, the 2.4-litre Ferrari Dino V6, which delivered 190bhp and 166lb ft in the road-going version, and up to 320bhp in the Rally version. Power was delivered to the rear wheels via a five-speed manual transaxle.

The final element was the body and drivetrain. It was developed as a rally car so that the 500 Stradale (street) versions would pass Group 4 homologation requirements. A stamped steel cockpit and spaceframe were clad in glassfibre front and rear, braking was by discs all round, and suspension was via double wishbones and coil springs.

The weight – or lack of it – was extraordinary: 980kg for the Stradale version and just 879kg for the Rally. In the end, only 492 were completed, the FIA accepting that there were enough parts and body tubs completed to create that number. The car dominated rallying, winning three consecutive WRC championships from 1974 to

1976 and successful privateers still competing with the car into the early 1980s.

Today, the Stratos HF still punches above its weight. Of the 3000 cars Hagerty tracks with its Collectability Algorithm, it sits in the 99th percentile overall. In fact, it’s in the top 20 of the most collectable cars despite having the smallest engine capacity of any model in the top 100.

Demographically, it’s an older-owner car, with 68% of owners born before 1965. Values rose significantly between 2010 and 2015, Hagerty’s ‘Excellent’ price increasing from £316,000 to £505,000 in that time, but it’s been almost flat since then, with a current value of £507,000.

John Mayhead

HAGI Value Tracker

911 displayed strong postmillennium momentum, with prices in the decade to 2014 increasing four-fold to around £350,000 for first-class examples, which out-performed the E-type considerably, but couldn’t match the pace of the Aston DB5.

This was particularly notable as, prior to that surge, the 1964-65 911 had broadly tracked both the HAGI Top index overall market measure for collectorgrade classics and the HAGI Porsche index. The sustained out-performance that followed to 2014 also brought values to a peak, but since then focus has shifted elsewhere and today prices for the first-iteration models have subsided to around the £250,000 mark.

That represents significant underperformance compared with HAGI indices and wider markets over the past 11 years, and over the last five years. As displayed on the chart, the early 911 has posted a negative 5.5% average annualised return, while the HAGI Top is positive at 4.9%

over that same timeframe. To put it in a nutshell, the once high-flying 911 got ahead of itself and has now undergone a rather stern correction, and is attainable at around 70% of peak pricing. As to whether that represents an attractive value proposition, that’s a matter of individual judgement for those who appreciate first-of-line purity.

That said, the 1964-65 911 market is fragmented: some have been converted to race cars and have lost originality. The number

Porsche 911, 1964-65 The 911 is at once many things and unique: no other model in production today is still recognisable as a direct linear evolution of the landmark 1964 original. For those wishing to connect with that moment in time the good news is that the pared-back purity of the first of line is, in comparative terms, a far better price proposition than it was a decade ago.

Barring the very few 1963 pre-production models, 232 units were produced in 1964, and about 1000 in the first half of 1965. All were left-hand-drive, and priced new at approximately £2500, depending on market, pitching it above the £2000 Jaguar E-type and at a little over half the price of a £4500 Aston Martin DB5 in the UK. In classic after-life the 1964-65

£353,000 – 564,000

Hagerty value range

492 MADE

190bhp 2148cc

68%

M (86 AL BOD

owners born before 1965

of uncompromised cars with conclusive and well-documented history is probably just a few hundred. Very early chassisnumber cars will always be a focus of particular interest.

The reward of ownership is a car that feels so much younger than its age and more agile than its contemporaries.

HistoricAutoGroup.com

5 -Y E A R % AV E R A G E A N N U A L I S E D R E T U R N S 20 15

13.34

10 4.9

5 0 -5 -10

-5.5 1965 PORSCHE

HAGI Top Index

S&P 500 Index

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PRIVATE COLLECTION

FOR SALE

1983 RANGE ROVER WOOD AND PICKETT ‘HARRODS EDITION’

HONDA NCZ50 MOTOCOMPO BIKE

2005 SMART CROSSBLADE ROADSTER*

1981 LOTUS ESPRIT TURBO DRY SUMP FYEO ESSEX SPEC

1976 ZAGATO ZELE 2000

1986 JAGUAR XJS JUBILEE EDITION

1979 MERCEDES BENZ 450 SEL 6.9 AMG

SINCLAIR C5

1989 METRO 6R4 RALLYSPORT

1989 JAGUAR XJS 3.6 LYNX PERFORMER

1998 MITSUBISHI PAJERO EVOLUTIO

1999 BENTLEY CONTINENTAL TURBO R (VERY SPECIAL)

*Gifted by MB to former World Champion BOXER ‚‘Prince’ Naseem Hamed

SERIOUS ENQUIRIES ONLY / EMAIL AD4CARZ@GMAIL.COM

The Market Dealer News

SHOWROOM BRIEFS

1957 Hillman Minx £20,000 A tried-and-tested historic racer with a difference, this Minx has an uprated 1.6-litre with Holbay cylinder head and twin Weber carbs. A one-of-a-kind that has raced in the HRDC since 2006. dmhistorics.com (UK)

1973 Porsche 911 2.7 MFI £275,000 from Ranmore Fine Motor Cars, Redhill, Surrey, UK IN THE WORLD of very special Porsche 911s, it’s rare to find a model that has gone, relatively speaking, under the radar for as long as the mid1970s 2.7 MFI. Values may not quite be the bargain they once were, but they’re still compelling given that this is, in effect, a continuation of the legendary 2.7 RS Touring with a more modern G-Series body.

The 2.7-litre, 210 bhp ‘mechanical fuel injection’ engine is the same as the RS’s, and an earlier example like this even gets an RS-style ducktail spoiler.

Around 50 right-hand-drive cars were sold in the UK between 1973 and 1975, but this example was originally bought in Germany by a British Army officer. Specified with no sunroof, manual windows

and a limited-slip differential, it’s a real drivers’ specification. Other options include Z272 metallic silver (without the black Carrera script), black anodised window trim, tinted glass, and a midnight blue leather interior. Exported to Hong Kong in 1976, where it was eventually sold to its next owner, it came to the UK for the first time in 1991, and has since led a sheltered life in the South West.

Bought by the current owner in 2010, it has been restored to a high standard by UK specialists and comes with an extensive history file and photographic record of the work. Ranmore describes it as being ‘pretty much perfect and probably better than new’, with a price to match. ranmorefmc.co.uk

The Insider HOW’S BUSINESS? Since the US election, buyers and sellers have returned.

What’s the secret of your success? I operate with complete transparency so buyer pays seller directly and I invoice the seller post-sale for 5%. I also only take on cars at realistic prices and on the basis that I can disclose the price – no one likes POA. Is the market strong? There are good buyers, but it is not as frothy as it was.

Are pre-war cars doomed? No, I don’t think so – VSCC trialling seems to be more popular than ever and top brands like Bentley have a constant following.

What should people buy right now? The best F1 cars look cheap when compared to top recent Le Mans cars. With the US focus in current F1 I think America is a big growth market. Also, ’70s and early-’80s Ferraris and Astons feel good value.

What should people avoid? Modern supercars: you can’t use them on the road due to speed limits and potholes and they are falling like a stone in price.

What cars are great value? 1950s British sports cars are out of vogue, but people will surely wake up and realise an XK120 at £70-80k is a stonkingly good buy!

Simon Drabble Former banker who turned his love of classic cars into a job in 2015.

See simondrabblecars. co.uk.

1978 Maserati Kyalami €84,500 Just 200 of these Maserati V8-engined (and badged) takes on the De Tomaso Longchamps were built, and this Dutch car is in excellent original condition with a superb leather interior. gallery-aaldering.com (NL)

1977 Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9 $69,500 The ultimate Mercedes saloon?

Laden with tech and a monster 6.8-litre 285bhp V8, this US-market example has been fitted with Euro-spec headlights and larger 15-inch wheels. hymanltd.com (US)

1985 Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV6 $52,900 AUD Well-maintained Australiandelivered example, which has benefitted from a recent respray and mechanical refresh – including a top-end engine and gearbox rebuild. richmonds.com.au (AUS)

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PETER BRADFIELD LTD PETER BRADFIELD BRADFIELD LTD LTD PETER

1964 Works Healey 3000 Lightweight “767 KNX” is an important historic racing car. It was hand built by the Healey Motor Company Competition Department with a 1934 Invicta S Type lightweight chassis and an all-aluminium body. It was the only ‘Works’ entry for the 1964 “Sebring 12 Hour” driven by Paddy Hopkirk Chassis 165 is one of only 77 S Types built and was fitted from new with the desirable coachwork by Carbodies. The legendary style of and then campaigned by Ted Worswick in the 1966Works Targa Florio with Alan Minshaw and in 1968 with Richard Bond. The current owner Healey the car stems from the underslung chassis 1964 but is enhanced by exposed3000 chromeLightweight exhausts, 270 polished bonnet rivets and the regiment of 1964 Works Healey acquired it in is2015 and Jeremyhistoric Welch racing thoroughly race prepared it. 3000 KNX isLightweight very fastMotor and handles well.

The high performance 3with litre a “767 KNX” an important car.

It was hand built by the Healey Company Competition Department louvres on its flanks. The 4½ Litre straight six engine with twin carbs, twin ignition and twin fuel delivery systems all add substance to “767 KNX” is an important historic racing car. was hand built by the Healey Motor Company Competition Department with engine with three 45DCOE Webers and all round disc brakes give it a very nice edge.

It has a fuel cell, fire system and safety cage anda lightweight chassis and an all-aluminium body.

It was the only ‘Works’ entry for the 1964 “Sebring 12 Hour” driven by Paddy Hopkirk the style. S 165 is the only Invicta delivered new to India and has significant paperwork and photographs from its earliest days testifying lightweight chassis anyears all-aluminium body.

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Comes setsnice of wheels, cabinet. over four years has filled a trophy cabinet. Comes with sets of wheels, spares etc, buy your own cabinet.

1925 Bentley 3-4½ Litre YK 1360 is a Short Chassis Speed Model still fitted with its original Vanden Plas coachwork. It has been uprated with a perky 1925 3-4½ 4½ litre engine giving it a good turn of speed and Bentley mechanically feels goodLitre on the road. The talented Mr. Getley at Kings1939 Frazer Nash BMW 328 1925 Bentley 3-4½ Litre bury Racing has was maintained it. However, aBentley number of3-4½ previous owners have taken aondogged delight in Nash willfully ignoring the 1925 Litre Speed Model The BMW the best sportscar built before the war.

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Its bears its and witness marks when they saw one and did a deal to be the importers.

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However, a number of previous owners have taken a dogged delight in willfully the 1925 Bentley 3-4½ Litre Speed Model developed a depth of patina you could drown in.

It bears its battle-scars as badges of honour and appeared on at least three Flying Chassis 1066 was delivered with the desirable Vanden Plas coachwork and both chassis and body numbers are stamped in the right serious end of historic rallying with good reason, but they are equally capable on track.

This is one of the best.

Complete with under-trays, paintwork and it has accordingly developed a depth of patina you could drown in. Its bears its battle-scars and witness marks Chassis 1066 was delivered with the desirable Vanden Plas coachwork and both chassis and body numbers are stamped in the right Scotsman Rallies and raced at Goodwood.

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Flying Scotsman Rallies and raced at Goodwood.

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The Market Buying Guide

THE LOWDOWN

WHAT TO PAY

Dodge Viper The ‘modern-day Cobra’ is powered by an 8.0-litre V10, and is still surprising value THE VIPER HAS always had a reputation for being a handful to drive, somewhat crudely built and extremely powerful – thanks to an 8.0-litre V10 crammed under the bonnet. It’s a recipe for excitement, and one that became a real poster car during the 1990s, yet for such a powerful car it remains relatively affordable in today’s market.

During the late 1980s, Chrysler’s president Bob Lutz wanted the company to build a sports car that would be something of an extreme and up-to-date interpretation of the Shelby Cobra. A concept car, designed by Tom Gale, was first shown at the Detroit show in 1989, with the production version following at the same location in 1992.

Power would be provided by a new V10 engine, similar in size and concept to the Ram pick-up truck’s V10, but with significantly better breeding.

This mammoth power unit was a development of the Chrysler LA V8, so a fairly basic pushrod design, but it was given an aluminium cylinder block designed

by Chrysler-owned Lamborghini, whch also helped to refine the intakes and fuel injection system to push power output to 400bhp.

This monster engine was housed in the front of a tubular steel chassis, connected to a heavy-duty six-speed manual gearbox and underpinned by independent suspension. It was clothed in a lightweight glassfibre body, with the whole thing weighing in at a not-insignificant 1542kg.

When the first-generation car (known as the SR I) went on sale, it was an overwhelmingly raw experience, lacking any driver aids or creature comforts – with no side windows, roof or even external doorhandles. For those brave enough

to push it to the limit, however, it would do 0-60mph in 4.4 seconds and go on to 165mph. Although grip levels were high, the overall handling balance made this a tricky car to master.

Due to customer demand, optional air conditioning was added in 1994, along with a hardtop roof panel. The much-improved SR II generation was introduced in 1996, bringing with it new wheels, a less compromised rear-exit exhaust – replacing the cool but inconveniently located side-pipes – and a 15bhp increase in power. Under the skin, the chassis was stiffened and several suspension components were lightened.

As the same time, the considerably more user-friendly GTS coupe (pictured above) was launched, with luxuries such as electric windows and even doorhandles! Airbags were fitted, too, perhaps a necessary step considering that the GTS received an even more powerful 450bhp engine. All of these features, including the engine, made it into the roadster the following year.

Dodge celebrated the Viper’s Le Mans class victory in 1998 with a special-edition GT2 model.

100 were built, featuring BBS wheels and a huge rear spoiler with revised aero. This made way for a similar lightweight ACR model in subsequent years.

Uprated front brakes arrived in 2001, along with ABS and generally improved safety, while the engines were tuned for slightly better emissions – though they lost the forged internals at the same time. A total of 360 Final Edition models, all painted red with white stripes, rounded out production in 2002, ushering in the substantially revised thirdgeneration car in 2003.

Matthew Hayward

Early cars remain the most affordable, with prices for a tidy but well-used SR I starting from around $23,000 in the USA. Lower-mileage and tidy examples range from $35,000 to $45,000. The best collector-grade first-year cars (the most desirable for collectors) can fetch in excess of $100k.

Post-1996 SR II roadster models are about 20% more than these on average, though colour and spec can make a significant difference.

The GTS has remained slightly more valuable, starting at around $35,000, with smarter examples ranging from $55,000 to $70,000, and the very best attracting upwards of $100,000. Add 20% for an ACR model, and double for a GT2.

LOOK OUT FOR Parts availability for the Viper can be a bit of a mixed bag.

Many mechanical components are readily available, but if you need trim, body panels or anything unique to the Viper it’s a different story. The SR II’s huge front clamshell, for example, is painfully expensive to replace.

Sagging door hinges are a relatively common issue due to the extra weight of window mechanisms on later cars.

These can easily be adjusted.

Engines are robust, but the cooling system must be well maintained in order to keep that huge V10 cool. Many owners have replaced the standard catalytic converters to free up extra power and help with heat management in the cabin.

The gearbox is bulletproof, and difficulty shifting could be down to a weak clutch.

Obtaining the correct tyres can be difficult, even impossible, so bear this in mind if you’re looking at a car with a worn set. Buying later or aftermarket wheels is often the simplest solution.

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A C

H E R I T A G E

1969 AC 428 Frua Fastback This is 1 of only 51 coupes ever produced, featuring a 7-litre Ford V8 engine paired with an automatic transmission. It has had three previous owners, with the most recent having owned it for the past two decades. The car is a left-hand drive model and is currently registered in the European Union.

It has been meticulously maintained and is accompanied by a comprehensive history file, including detailed documentation of its restoration. £149,995

1990 AC Cobra MKIV Lightweight It was ordered by Drambuie Liqueur Company in the corporate colours, 16,300 miles from new. Retains full factory specification. One of the finest examples of the AC MKIV Lightweight available. £199,995

1964 AC COBRA 289 Fully matching numbers, recent cosmetic restoration by AC Heritage. Extensive hillclimb history by Paul Channon. Continuous history from new. One of the finest examples of the marque. POA

2000 AC Cobra CRS 212SC Two owners from new, 4500 miles from new. 1 of 2 AC Cobras fitted with a Lotus twin turbo V8. It also includes all-weather gear, a spare wheel, a toolkit and a tonneau cover. £89,995

1963 AC MA-200 Prototype Unique factory prototype, used daily by AC’s managing director between 1963-68. It has a 289 Ford V8, fully independent AC design. Fully restored.

Significant history file, with magazine features and factory drawings. POA

AC HERITAGE

For more information about any of these vehicles, please contact our sales team.

AC Heritage · International Broker of Historic & Classic Motorcars · Brooklands Motor Circuit, Surrey, UK Telephone +44(0)1932 828545 · Mobile +44(0)7557 878123 · www.acheritage.com

2020 FERRARI 812 SUPERFAST Canna di Fucile with nero leather and alcantara interior. A 1 owner car from new with full Ferrari service history

by HR Owen London. Equipped with front axel lift, full electric daytona style seats, Scuderia shields, passenger display, parking camera, carbon fibre driving zone with LED’s, matt silver alloys with Alluminio brake callipers plus much more. 9,770 miles.

2016 FERRARI F12 BERLINETTA Rosso corsa with nero leather, A fantastic spec on this car includes extensive carbon fibre throughout the interior and exterior including exterior door handles and fuel filler flap, front and rear parking cameras, suspension lifter, 20” forged alloys, Scuderia shields, full Ferrari service, 1,840 miles.

2017 FERRARI 488 SPIDER ‘TAILOR MADE’ Bianco Lagos with nero interior, ordered through Ferrari’s special Tailor Made department and is possibly the highest specification available in the UK. This includes F12 TDF style seats, extensive red carbon throughout the interior and exterior of the car, front and rear parking cameras, suspension lifter and full PPF protection over the entire car, FFSH, 5,800 miles.

+44 (0) 1772 613 114

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sales@williamloughran.co.uk

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www.williamloughran.co.uk

11/03/2025 15:52

THE UK’S OLDEST INDEPENDENT FERRARI SPECIALIST | EST. 1968 1973 Ferrari Dino 246 GT

1988 Ferrari 328 GTB

1974 Ferrari 365 GT4 Berlinetta Boxer

1972 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona

1989 Ferrari Testarossa

1984 Ferrari 308 GTS QV

£324,995

£POA

£82,995

£147,995

£POA

£90,995

D ELIVERING U NRIVALLED F ERR ARI S ALES , S ER VICE & R ESTOR ATION FOR OVER 50 YEARS

FOSKERS.COM E M A I L : i n fo @fo s ke r s.co m | S A L E S :+4 +4 4 (0 )1 4 7 4 8 7 4 5 5 5 B R A N D S H AT C H P A R K , K E N T , DA 3 8 P U

£149k

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A SELECTION OF OUR CURRENT STOCK

1967 ASTON MARTIN DB6 VOLANTE

£595,000

Built in 1967 and one of 140 examples built, we are delighted to offer this superb DB6 Volante. Manufactured with optional power assisted steering, automatic transmission, power operated roof and chrome wire wheels. The convenience of automatic transmission and power assisted steering, combine to provide the owner a pleasurable and stress-free, top-down motoring experience.

Recent recipient of considerable restorative works, carried out by renowned Aston Martin specialists and Aston Martin Works, bringing the car to its current first class condition.

With matching engine and chassis numbers this elegant and highly useable DB6 Volante, displays just 48,680 miles, evidenced by the cars history file. Roof up or down, the car is superbly presented and would be equally at home in any car collection, on any driving event or in being shown at any classic car concours.

1953 Aston Martin DB2 £POA

Aston Martin DBZ Centenary Collection £POA

1960 Aston Martin DB4 Series II £425,000

1988 Aston Martin V8 Vantage Volante ‘X-pack’ £350,000

1986 Aston Martin V8 Efi Volante £185,000

2002 Ferrari 575M Maranello £106,950

Nicholas Mee & Co Ltd, Essendonbury Farm, Hatfield Park Estate, Hertfordshire, AL9 6AF 0208 741 8822 info@nicholasmee.co.uk

nicholasmee.co.uk

CAR SALES & PURCHASES • SERVICING & MAINTENANCE • RESTORATION • PARTS & MERCHANDISE TRIM & UPHOLSTERY • TRANSPORTATION & STORAGE

Ferrari F rrari

1963 Ferrari 250 GTE Euro 385.000,-

1954 Ferrari 250 GT Europa Classiche certified Acquisition Consultancy assisting sourcing your next car

1994 Ferrari 348 Spider Euro 94.500,-

Consignment Sales taking care of finding the right buyer Restoration Management Let us manage your restoration

Call us u at +31 + 252 218980 or visit www.vsoc.nl

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Le Mans

Worldwide Collector Car Sales

1929 Bentley 4.5 Litre HB 3405

A stunningly handsome Vintage Bentley ideal for serious international tours and events. Matching numbers, with original coachwork by Martin Walter. Full history

1924 Bentley 3 Litre Speed Model Rare original 2 seater. Full history

1938 BMW 327/28. One of the rare 327 cars fitted from new with the race-bred 328 engine.

We are always eager to buy important collectors cars.

All cars can be seen tried and tested at Quin Hay Farm Petersfield Hampshire GU321BZ or in central London.

Please see our website for full stock photos videos and details. Valuations always available.

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

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ity y 7th ar Da il 2 Chpen pr O ay A nd Su

ASMotorsport Motorsport ltd AS ltd

Poplar Farm, Bressingham, Diss, Norfolk, IP22 2AP Tel: 01379688356 Mob: 07909531816 Web: www.asmotorsport.co.uk Email: info@asmotorsport.co.uk

ASM hand build bespoke versions of the R1 roadster, inspired by the Aston Martin race cars that won Le Mans and the world Sportscar championship in 1959.

Contact us for details of commission builds and stock.

Poplar Farm, Bressingham, Diss, Norfolk, IP22 2AP

Tel: 01379688356 • Mob: 07909531816 Web: www.asmotorsport.co.uk Email: info@asmotorsport.co.uk I-307295.indd 1

12/11/2019 12:30

ASM R1 Stirling Moss tribute car enjoying track time at Goodwood.

ASM hand build bespoke versions of the R1 roadster, inspired by the Aston Martin race cars that won Le Mans and the world Sportscar championship in 1959.

R AW L E S M O T O R S P O R T Contact us for details of commission builds and stock.

LT D

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

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Austin Healey 3000 MkIII | Original Healey Gold, Beautiful Red Interior, New Restoration Fresh from full body off, bare metal nut and bolt restoration including all mechanicals refurbished. Sumptuous custom interior trimmed in Germany. Immaculate throughout. £94,950.

Austin Healey 100 BN2 | UK RHD, 145HP, LSD & More For sale an absolute stunner with a very exciting powerplant. 2022 Rawles Motorsport paint, ultimate road engine far in excess of 100M spec. LSD, straight cut road gearbox. 1 of just 165 RHD cars. A top pick. £85,000.

1967 Austin Healey 3000 MkIII, Fast Road, UK RHD Fantastic looking very late car nished in Colorado Red with Ivory duotone, engine rebuilt 5,000 miles ago. 2025 paintworks. Just a few owners from new including one from 1967-2014. £59,500.

1955 Austin Healey 100 BN2, New Body Restoration Fresh from a full tub and outer body repaint/ refurb this late 4-speed BN2 model car is in terriic shape and ready to enjoy. We have just overhauled the carburettors and brakes and will freshly MOT the car. £49,900.

1963 Austin Healey 3000 MkIIA, Healey Blue Metallic with Navy interior, 20,000 miles since restoration. An excellent enthusiast car with great upgrades designed for regular use, enjoyment and touring inc. high torque starter, USB power, upgraded cooling and more. £46,500.

1961 Austin Healey 3000 MKII UK RHD Centre Change in Stunning Primrose Yellow. John Chatham built engine with great performance, extremely smooth gearbox, brightwork refurbishment works by us. Very original with some great history. £46,500.

1963 Austin Healey 3000 MKIIA Restoration Project, Original RHD, Original Healey Blue! For sale an excellent opporunity to restore a brilliant specification 3000 well optioned from new in the most desirable colourway the factory offered. £POA, varies.

Austin Healey 3000 MkIII Original RHD Project!

1965 Phase II MkIII ready for restoration totally complete and numbers matching. Well speciied from the factory with a 3.5 rear axle available completed to your speciication of colours and mechanicals. £POA, varies.

Rawles Motorsport Ltd, Alton, Hampshire, GU34 4JR

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Enquiries@RawlesMotorsport.com

www.RawlesMotorsport.com

1951 Ferrari 212 Inter: Vignale / Drogo, Mille Miglia 1952, 1954. Ground up restoration.

Race and Rally ready. Unique one of a kind, matching numbers. Piero Drogo, a subcontractor to Ferrari Factory; wins well-known.

1970 Porsche 917:5 liter, flat 12. Total comprehensive rebuild by ex-factory 917 specialist. Driven by Derek Bell, Vic Elford, Jo Siffert; used in the making of Steve McQueen’s movie “Le Mans”.

WE WILL BUY AND CONSIGN ALL FERRARI AND ALL VINTAGE SPORTS RACING & GT CARS PARTIAL TRADES CONSIDERED - FINANCING AVAILABLE

1968 Fiat Dino Spider: Rare. Frame-up resto; bare metal repaint. Driveline & suspension rebuild; new interior top & chrome. With photo docs. Stunning!

1974 Jaguar XKE V12 Roadster: One of a kind, uniquely built. Bare metal repaint, new interior, 5-sp, Webers, SS headers, Alloy radiator, Two tops.

2011 Hennessey Venom mid-engine GT: 3rd one built out of 13; 725hp; as new condition; single owner from new with only 2100 miles.

1996 Porsche 911 Twin Turbo, Arena 1965 Austin-Healey 3000 BJ8, red/tan, 1986 Ferrari Mondial: Just out of 20 year 1965 Porsche 356SC Cabriolet: MatchRed/Tan, 55k miles, clean CarFax, ing #s, 1 of 533. 3-owner, full docs, COA. frame-up resto., 4sp OD, Webers, comp ownership, always serviced / excellent cosmetic/mechanical condition, 67k miles. One repaint. Euro version. wheels, headers, electronic ignition. well-maintained. Excellent paint. service records from new. A beauty.

Outstanding original throughout.

Performs better than it ever did.

All systems in excellent working order.

www.MotorClassiCCorp.CoM 350 ADAMS STREET, BEDFORD HILLS NEW YORK 10507 914-997-9133 • SALES@MOTORCLASSICCORP.COM MtrClassicApr25octaneHalf.indd 1

2/11/25 10:25 AM

2005 PORSCHE 911 GT3 CLUBSPORT 996 | 33K Miles The file contains a Porsche Certificate of authenticity, letter from the previous owner Chris Craft – Porsche GB Managing Director and service receipts as well as recent inspection reports. The service record contains 11 visits to either Porsche Centres, Group Operations Reading or recognised Independents. The inside has the correct smell (if you know you know) and the underside can be evidenced as never having been tracked, abused or messed with in any way. The number plate will stay with the vehicle. There are 2 keys and a tracker is fitted.

FOR SALE

Contact SLSHOP.com 01789 337070 for more details

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1992 Caterham 7 Super Sprint

1997 Porsche Boxster 2.5 litre

Bob Yarwood 1,903 175 bhp Crossflow, Five speed manual, A/C, 53,000 miles, very special................................£23,995 early car .......................................£9,995

1991 BMW Z1

1975 Lancia Fulvia 1.3S

UK supplied, 69,000 miles, original and LHD, Ex-Italy, fully restored, beautiful.... unmolested......... .......................£36,995 ...................................................£24,995

1969 MGC GT

1959 Austin Healey 3000 Mk1

Overdrive, black leather, nut and bolt BT7, black interior, fully restored some restoration, beautiful.. ................£28,995 years ago, fantastic....................£42,995

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26/02/2025 15:30

DRIVE & OWN ONE OF THESE JAGUARS TODAY 1961 E-TYPE O.B.L. OTS

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Chassis No. 875360 / 3.8l

1965 E-TYPE OTS

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Chassis No. 1E10734 / 4.2L

1966 E-TYPE FHC

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Chassis No. 1E32211 / 4.2L

1967 E-TYPE FHC

Restored; Show-Driver level Numbers-matching, Orig. Colors

Chassis No. 1E33453 / 4.2L

• Jaguar Specialists California, USA • Restoration: +1 760-758-6119 • Showroom: +1 760-758-6100 sales@classicshowcase.com

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PORSCHE 911 (930) TURBO G50, 1989 10,015 miles, Minerva Blue Metallic (PTS) with Pearl White Leather Piped 1 Keeper from New, 5-Speed G50 Manual Gearbox, Electirc Sunroof, Heated Sports Seats. Unrepeatable.

CELEBRATING

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1964

181

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Ferrari 612 Scaglietti F1 Rosso Corsa 44,513 Miles

Stock Number - 22751

Ferrari F430 Spider F1 Rosso Corsa 37,060 Miles

£52,495

£77,995

Stock Number - 23057

Ferrari 355 Spider Manual Rosso Corsa 36,981 Miles

£84,995

Stock Number - 22783

Ferrari 328 GTS Pre-ABS Rosso Corsa 37,317 Miles

Ferrari 599 GTB F1 Grigio Silverstone 25,809 Miles

£84,995

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Ferrari 458 Spider DCT Nero Daytona 21,700 Miles

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182

£136,995

Stock Number - 23058

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1959 Elva Mark III

1936 Talbot Alpine Team Car Replica

1934 Bentley 3½-Litre Tourer

1937 Talbot BD105 Tourer

Landline: +44 (0) 1440 841 447

Mobile: +44 (0) 7493 897 975

john@polsonmotorco.com

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speedsport gallery

An extensive variety of original motor racing paintings, photographs and autographed items for sale.

Bernd Rosemeyer Auto Union 1936

By Walkden Fisher A lovely illustration by Walkden Fisher of the pre-war rear-engined Auto Union being driven to victory by young German driver Bernd Rosemeyer in the 1936 Eifelrennen.

Illustration prepared for a publication during the 1960’s, it comes with a cover sheet with information about the image. This is one of a large series which can be viewed upon request.

Charcoal and Watercolour on Board 26.5CM X 30.5CM PRICE: £395.00

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2018 Aston Martin DB11 V8 Volante in Magnetic Silver with two tone Obsidian Black and Mocha hide interior. High specification including Touchtronic transmission, high spec premium audio system with blue tooth, high spec cobra tracking, electric heated seats, fully adjustable electric steering column and 20” Diamond cut alloys. One owner and a mere 11,700 miles from new and in “As New” condition. Now offered for sale at a huge saving on list at £89,950

2008 model year Aston Martin DB9 Volante in Onyx Black with Cream Truffle hide interior. This is a beautiful example that has covered only 52,300 miles with a fully stamped up service history. It is in fabulous condition reflecting just how well it has been kept. The spec includes satellite navigation, climate control, electric heated seats, cruise control, front and rear heated screens and a fully adjustable steering column. Fully serviced and ready to be enjoyed at £32,950.

2005 Aston Martin DB9 in Meteorite Silver with Obsidian Black hide interior with Piano Black centre console.

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193

Autobiography Interview by Stephen Dobie

TOURING SUPERLEGGERA

Left He may still be relatively early in his career, but the man now shaping Touring Superleggera’s look has had spells at Lotus, Lamborghini and Bugatti.

Matteo Gentile The head of design at Touring Superleggera, whose path to Milanese coachbuilding started with a Brit supercar THE JAGUAR XJ220 inspired me to pick up a pencil and start sketching. My father was working as a lawyer at Jaguar when I was six.

I saw one in the showroom and it amazed me, and I also loved the Ferrari F50 and 456. I was born in 1985 so cars of the 1990s really thrill me and it’s good we’ve done a restomod on a ’90s car with our Veloce12.

The habit certainly stuck and I studied at La Sapienza Disegno Industriale in Rome before moving to Spain for a masters in Automotive Design at Elisava School of Design in Barcelona. My father helped me learn to drive

and my first car was my mother’s Fiat Seicento, though I went on to own a Mk1 Volkswagen Scirocco, Mk1 Audi TT, first-gen Dacia Duster and original 2001 Mini Cooper. I hope to soon purchase a Jaguar XJ-S – clearly that Jaguar influence from my father still lingers.

I’ve always been an exterior designer, working on body or components. I’ve collaborated on many cars in both of those fields, creating proposals for both and winning or losing, but always participating. The design process is too complex to be attributed to just one person. It’s a credit to any head of design to mix all the ingredients of each designer. To create this milkshake. Nobody can say ‘it’s my car’ in a design studio.

After studying I worked at IBO Group, a third-party company supplying Seat, working on production cars as well as show cars and concepts. I then moved to a Chinese company, Qoros, before Bugatti, where I was involved in a number of projects. Then it was off to Lamborghini, where I stayed for around three years working on Urus, Revuelto and multiple versions of the Huracán.

I joined Touring Superleggera in 2019, reporting to my predecessor on the Aero 3, where I worked on the rear of the car, and Arese, where I designed and modelled the

exterior including the components. In 2022 I accepted an offer to join the Lotus Advanced Tech Centre in Coventry. After a year in the UK, I was called back to Touring under our new CEO Markus Tellenbach.

As a coachbuilder we are sketching a face and a personality rather than just transport.

The Veloce12 is my first car as head of design but it’s car number 13 or 14 in my career. It’s a spin-off of the Ferrari 550 Maranello rather than an original piece of Touring DNA, but I think it’s something different for the restomod market. We’ve designed everything from scratch. The only original components are the windscreen and a little piece on the mirror.

That is a complex component to change; it’s a baptism of fire to design a new mirror or headlight, where most restomods use existing modules behind a bespoke bezel.

Veloce12 may use the 550 Maranello as its donor but the mask and armour is new. People loved it at The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering when it was revealed. The green grass, blue sky and white show stand provided the perfect backdrop to present our matt grey car. I remember the first time I saw a Maranello. It had a big impact on me as a child. Our target customers are my age, maybe ten years older. It responds to their nostalgia for manual, analogue driving. Nobody wants batteries. It’s the right product in the right moment – all the stars aligned. My dream is to do an F40, but we’ll never do it. We are not hooligans! I’d love to do a Porsche 959, too.

When other kids my age were playing on a PlayStation, I was on CoralDraw or Photoshop. I’ve been using the latter for 25 years now. We have access to everything from CGI to 3D modelling and 2D rendering, but Photoshop is every designer’s best friend.

I’ve never stopped sketching, of course.

Every project starts with a rough sketch by hand. It’s simply to give a quick impression of what you have in mind. It’s an act, a gesture, even if you only sketch two shapes.

Sometimes the result is awful and I won’t show it to anyone. Most of a designer’s time is now spent 3D modelling. It allows us to work fast, correcting imperfections and mistakes on the go. But a piece of paper remains my safe place; perhaps it’s my own piece of analogue nostalgia. Even when I’m modelling, I still have a piece of paper and pen nearby, like a child who needs a blanket to sleep.

Octane (ISSN 1740-0023, USPS 024-187) is published monthly by Hothouse Publishing Ltd, UK. Airfreight and mailing in the USA by agent named World Container INC 150-15, 183rd St, Jamaica, NY 11413, USA. Periodicals postage paid at Brooklyn, NY 11256.

US Postmaster: send address changes to Octane, WORLD CONTAINER INC 150-15, 183rd St, Jamaica, NY 11413, USA.

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T H E

H A I R P I N

C O M P A N Y

1990 PORSCHE 964 C2 MANUAL C16 UK RHD. A supreme example in superlative condition. 38,000 miles with a great history. Comes with everything.

1977 MG MGB ROADSTER BY FRONTLINE A very high specification example from the gurus at Frontline who transform the MG in every respect. Beautiful build and detail finish and goes like no other MGB.

1973 LANCIA FULVIA 1.6HF ZAGATO A rare UK RHD example well-known to the Lancia Club. An excellent older restoration.

A 2024 London Concours entrant. Very well sorted and drives beautifully.

2000 TVR GRIFFITH 500 Immaculate, 15,000 miles with full history from new. Power steering, rare split removable roof and custom-made exhaust. Hard to find like this.

1973 CITROËN SM European supplied and surely one of the best SMs remaining. A manual example with full black leather interior. Great history, restored to the highest standards.

1989 PORSCHE 911 CARRERA 3.2 CABRIOLET An exceptional example from the last year of production. Just 36,000 miles with all books, tools and keys.

T E L : 0124 9 76 0 6 8 6 • T H E H A I R P I N C O M PA N Y. C O . U K T H E H A I R P I N C O M PA N Y C O M P T O N B A S S E T T W I LT S H I R E S N11 8 R H

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