Supercar Driver Magazine Issue 37

ISSUE37

AUTUMN2020

THE SUPERCAR OWNERS MAGAZINE

UPGRADE YOUR LAP PERFORMANCE.

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Search “Michelin Track Connect”.

To find out more, contact Rob Gardner at Protyre on 07789 690681.

THE TEAM Adam Thorby Managing Director

adam@supercar-driver.com

Matt Parker Editor

editor@supercar-driver.com

Riad Ariane Photographer

riad@supercar-driver.com

In this issue, we take a look back over the summer months which saw us striving for a return to as close to normality as possible. We held our first event at the historic Shelsley Walsh Hill Climb, headed to Wales in an incredible assortment of Porsche GT cars, and then to the Alps for the tour we thought might not happen. As ever, we got behind the wheel of some very special machinery and delved into SCD members’ garages and for another 10 years of SCD story and a feature one of the ultimate cars of the moment, the Koenigsegg Regera.

Luke Earnshaw Creative Manager

luke@supercar-driver.com

Debbie Winstanley Accounts Manager

debbie@supercar-driver.com

Read our magazine online

Jonty Wydell Tour Manager

jonty@supercar-driver.com

Jake Smithard Membership Manager

jake@supercar-driver.com

Tim Crawford Videographer

Supercar Driver Ltd, Unit 1 Meadowhall Riverside, Meadowhall Road, Sheffield, S9 1BW

Dan Barnett Videographer

Supercar Driver Podcast

Did you know we have a podcast? Talking all things SCD as well as chatting to other interesting people withint the supercar industry.

Search for: Supercar Driver Podcast

Subscribe to Supercar Driver on

Make sure to subscribe to the channel and tap the bell icon so YouTube can let you know when new videos are available from us.

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IN THIS EDITION Tom Jaconelli

Director at Romans International

Tom@romansinternational.com

Molly Taylor SCD Member

Spot your car?

Take a pic and post a story tagging @supercardriver on instagram

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On the cover • 68

FEATURES 12 15 20 28 44 78 118 136

The Bounce Back? - Romans International Bespoke - Topaz Detailing

Focus on - Image Design Custom

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Ferrari vs Porsche - Carl Hartley

Focus on - Monarch Enterprises

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Ferrari F12 TDF & 458 Speciale Aperta Ford GT

Koenigsegg Regera

Lamborghini Huracan Performante & Porsche 991 GT3

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Porsche 997 Sport Classic

Sentimental Value - 10 Years of SCD

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Porsche 991 GT3

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Finishing Touch - Exclusive Registrations

Porsche 992 Turbo S

The Spice of Life - Member’s Collection

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Lap Time Smasher - Michelin

McLaren 600LT

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History Makers - Praga

DRIVEN 6

MEMBERS’ RIDES

EVENTS 24 101 139 159

BMW 850CSi

The Thrill of the Hill

Tour des Alps

Porsche GT Tour Past Events

If you would like to submit an article or photo for consideration in a future publication, please email the editor. By submitting an article to us, you are granting permission for its use in future Supercar Driver publications, promotional materials, or online.

TheSupercarDriver

supercardriver

See more at

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Copyright ÂŽ 2020 Supercar Driver Limited. All photographs, advertisements and editorial content has been used with permission of the owners and may not be copied, duplicated or reused without written permission. Magazine created and edited for and on behalf of Supercar Driver Limited. Content including words and photographs remains copyright of the original author/photographer and used with permission.

Progress?

Matt drives the new 992 generation Porsche 911 Turbo S to find out if it’s still the daddy of everyday supercars, or if the numbers game is getting a bit out of hand.

Written by: Matt Parker

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The 911 Turbo has been an icon near the top of the Porsche family tree for 45 years now, and every one of the eight generations has had blistering performance for its time — 0-62 in 5.5 was serious stuff back in the ‘70s — in a package that would be as happy nipping for a pint of milk as it would be tempting you into taking the twisty route home. They’ve always been as quick as anything you can think of from A to B, but unlike the Ferraris and Lamborghinis of the time, you could happily mooch about in a 911 Turbo every single day.

Since the original 930 model back in 1975, the 911 Turbo has gained around 400bhp over the years but also packed on 400kg along with it. Despite the weight, things are now progressing so quickly that the new car can hit 60mph as quickly as the holy trinity of hypercars from just seven years ago — madness!

So, what does a car with such obscene acceleration actually drive like in the real world?

Can you actually get anywhere near full throttle

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on British roads? Is it as usable day-to-day as a 911 needs to be or have things just gone too far in the pursuit of warp speed figures?

Before we hit our favourite roads in the Peak District and find out, I’m guessing you already recognise the car we’re fortunate enough to be testing. It was very generously loaned to us for the day by SCD member Nigel aka @supercarnigel, and I think he’s done a cracking job on the spec. It might not be for everyone, but for me, Crayon on both the exterior and interior somehow just works with the top down, and Nigel has thrown every option you can think at it, apart from one. Nigel rather controversially left the sports exhaust — a no-brainer for most Porsche buyers — unticked, because he prefers the look of the standard quad pipes rather than the twin ovals you get with the sports exhaust, just like on the Carrera models. We’ll find out what it means for the sound later, but I’m with him on the looks — it’s a stunning machine in the flesh.

Right then, how exactly do you replace one of the quickest cars in the real world? You make it quicker, obviously! Power is up from 580bhp in the 991.2 to 650bhp, and torque even trumps the mighty GT2 RS at 800Nm. Officially, 0-62 for the Cab model comes up in 2.8 seconds and it’s claimed at 2.7 in the Coupe, but I’ve seen plenty of sources hitting more like 2.5 — that’s Veyron and 918 quick off the line!

0-125mph is a full second quicker than the outgoing model which was already a stupidly quick car, and top speed is 205 mph, in a car your nan could take to the shops as easily as a Golf.

Having said that though, driving through the centre of Sheffield to get to the Peak District, it felt more like a firmed up Bentley than a Golf.

It’s a truly pleasant place to be with great seats, excellent fit and finish and almost every surface covered in leather, plus all the latest gadgets and a sublime optional Burmester sound system.

You could easily forget you’re in a 200mph supercar it’s so quiet, smooth and comfortable,

and usually I prefer my driving machines to be just that, a bit more back to basics, but given the aim of being the supercar you can drive every day, it’s a surprisingly lovely thing to cruise around in.

But what we really want to know is what it’s like when you just get out and drive it, because super quick and super usable can often add up to being a bit dull. I can immediately confirm that, on proper roads, it’s so much more than a firmed up Bentley. It’s not the lightest of sports cars at 1,710kg — that’s 70kg heavier than the Coupe and a smidge more than the outgoing model — but from behind the wheel, you’d never guess what it tips the scales at. The now-familiar four-wheel steering means it has ridiculous agility and face-bending grip levels, even when it’s damp like today, but at speed it’s as rock solid as anything I’ve ever driven. It feels simply unflappable and manages to have brutal power along with precise, delicate handling — it’s like a sledgehammer and scalpel all in one.

The steering, despite being electrically-assisted through driven front wheels, actually feels nicely natural to the point where I think we’re all over slagging off electronic assistance. The standard carbon ceramic brakes are enough to reshape your face and traction when you’re on the gas again is like witchcraft when the ground is damp so, amazingly, you can use every drop of that explosive performance. Rather predictably, the acceleration properly pins you back even if it’s not exactly dramatic. Perhaps surprisingly for a modern car, there’s noticeable lag before the turbos really get going, unlike the turbocharged Carrera models where every effort has been made to make them feel as un-turbocharged as possible, it’s like that second of spooling up is the ‘proper’ Turbo’s character trait, giving you a little moment to hold on tight.

We know the Turbo models don’t make that much noise, especially without the sports exhaust which adds a more GT2 RS kind of depth, albeit toned down, but what you do get

is this hilarious whoosh once the turbos have spooled and a nice little wastegate flutter when you lift off, and what new sports car would be complete without a few pops on the overrun? I recall saying that I could forgive the previous 991 Turbo S for its lack of a screaming soundtrack because the performance alone was so allconsuming over a road, and the same applies again.

In case I haven’t quite conveyed just how sickeningly rapid the 992 Turbo S is yet, Nigel insisted I tried launch control, and I of course obliged. Alright I obliged a few times, and almost every time I snagged the limiter in both first and second gears because the revs climb at a rate your mind can barely keep up with as it slams your head against the seat, not to mention the expletives you’ll be hearing from your passenger. The manual vs PDK argument has never been less relevant and it’s not hard to tell why no manual variant is offered — I don’t even think it’d be drivable as a manual!

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You’re probably not shocked to hear me say that Porsche have done it again with the 992 Turbo S. The performance is simply nutty, but in typical Turbo fashion, it doesn’t come at the expense of traction, usability and refinement. You really could use this car every day, and it speaks volumes that Nigel has already done 2,000 miles in this car in just a single month.

Don’t get me wrong, if you want an ear-bashing, screaming soundtrack, razor-sharp throttle response and a more playful back end, a GT3 is still the way to go. There’s more sense of excitement at a lower speed with that car and you’re slightly less likely to land yourself in jail after three seconds of full throttle, but as an overall package, you have to tip your hat at how many areas the Turbo excels in. It means you’ll actually get out and use the car more often, and you simply cannot help but be in awe of its level of performance and grip, even if keeping things anything close to legal is a nearly impossible exercise in restraint.

I know you’ve heard it a thousand times before and expected no less of it this time around, but there’s a reason for that the 911 Turbo is still the king of everyday supercars. As ever with Porsche, it’s evolution not revolution, but if it ain’t broke... With this 992 generation, Porsche haven’t just made a fast car faster, they’ve made a brilliant car even better.

A big thank you to Nigel for trusting us with his stunning Turbo for the day. Launch control in anything else will never feel quite the same again! @supercarnigel @porschecentresheffield_uk

Watch the video on youtube.com

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Jet Black Metallic, Black smooth-finish leather interior, 1,577 miles. £83,990

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Porsche Centre Sheffield 12(12) 911 Carrera Cabriolet (991) Aqua Blue, Black/Platinum Grey bi-colour leather interior, 20,389 miles. £50,790

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The Bounce Back?

Tom from Romans International explains how, against all odds, the used car market has actually been unexpectedly strong this summer.

Written by: Tom Jaconelli

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The supercar market is seemingly becoming more and more unpredictable, much like the world we live in today. Whilst many ‘experts’ including one particularly high-profile journalist suggested Coronavirus would cause a 33% drop in values of supercars, we’ve seen in many cases quite the opposite and overall a real surge in activity since the lockdown measures were lifted.

Whilst pent-up demand certainly played its part with dealerships and showrooms closed for much of the spring, there have been a number of factors that have contributed to a thriving market which has lasted throughout the summer, even in the notoriously slower month of August. The closure of factories during lockdown has caused delays and a general lack of new cars coming through, heightened by the strict new emissions laws that manufacturers have to abide by now

which are causing new challenges in production.

Meanwhile, the secondhand supercar market has become increasingly appealing. No longer does being on the VIP list for the latest brand-new limited-edition car guarantee you a premium over list, in fact you may be wiser to sit it out and wait for the depreciation to kick in and buy a second-hand example with a great saving on list price.

With staycation high on the agenda for many and more time spent at home and in the UK, there have been more chances to enjoy your cars and more time to research your next purchase.

Packed trains, commercial flights and mixing with the general public has become a risk many of us don't want to take so the solitude and safety net of driving has become ever more attractive, whether it’s commuting to work,

visiting friends and family or even going abroad.

Unfortunately, we can’t all afford a private jet so driving is proving to be the best option for all types of trips.

Combine this with the fact there just aren’t that many things to spend your money on anymore, with many summer holidays, weddings, festivals and most big events cancelled, and the diminishing allure of the city’s finest restaurants, hotels and night clubs, this has led to an increase in disposable income and so upgrading the car or adding to the fleet is a more viable option than ever.

All of this has inevitably led to a real shortage of stock on the market as cars have been flying out of the showroom doors. Many owners have been pleasantly surprised by what their car is worth, often similar to what it was worth a year or so ago and in some cases more than it was worth six to nine months ago — this is certainly the case with many of the more mainstream supercars and performance cars which are at least one or two years old.

Unfortunately, this hasn’t carried through to all the latest models and some models in particular have found it tougher going. Ferrari’s change of tack to increase their range, shorten model life cycles and appease their shareholders seems to have had a fairly disastrous knock-on effect on their values with the 812 Superfast causing particular pain for first owners. Late 488s and Portofinos have followed a similar path whilst even the limited-edition 488 Pista has started to slide under list which no one would have predicted a couple of years ago. Whilst the SF90 Stradale feels fresh and exciting and should be a highly sought-after car, I’m not convinced people are going to be queuing up to buy the Ferrari Roma.

Porsche continue to show the way, finding that near perfect balance of supply vs demand with a pricing structure that appeals to both new and used car buyers. The 992 seems to have gone down a storm with the Carrera S and 4S models being in particularly high demand in recent months which only bodes well for the Turbo, Turbo S and eventually the GT models. The allelectric Porsche Taycan has led the eco charge and given us hope that it’s not all doom and gloom ahead when the government bans sales of new petrol, diesel and hybrid cars.

McLaren and Aston Martin struggles are well documented but their used cars are looking tremendous value for money. Meanwhile, Lamborghini appear to be sailing strongly, perhaps due to the huge success of the Urus which, despite being out for the best part of two years, are still commanding premiums over list — impressive.

As the second wave of Coronavirus begins to take hold, the future remains very unpredictable and it could be a rocky road ahead with potential increased taxes on the wealthy and whispers of a capital gains tax being introduced on investment cars. Whilst it can be prudent to keep your ear close to the ground with regards to the market and the changing values, the pandemic is a stark reminder that life can be short. With so many of the things we love having been taken away from us, I think it's made us all realise more than ever the importance of enjoying life to the max, whether that be spending more time with the family or buying yourself a new supercar. @romansinternational

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To understand how and why bespoke driver coaching can help you, and see what other supercar owners have gained from their time with us, please go to www.total-car-control.co.uk

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B E S P O K E Our friends at Topaz Detailing were set the task of transforming a silver Porsche GT2 RS into the most unique example you’re ever likely to see.

Written by: Thomas Howarth - Creative Director, Topaz Detailing

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At Topaz Detailing, we have built our reputation on working on the rarest, most powerful and most beautiful cars in the world. Recently however, we have taken this one step further as we have started to not only detail and protect cars, but also customise them to our customers’ exact specification.

In previous articles, you may have read about our peelable paint, TopazSkin, and the complete cosmetic restoration we performed on a Porsche 918 hypercar. Our latest endeavour, however, was the greatest challenge faced by our spray booth team so far — a complete, permanent colour change respray on a Porsche GT2 RS. You read that correctly, not TopazSkin, but a permanent colour change, so the pressure was on for the team to achieve nothing other than perfection.

When this car arrived at our workshop, it was in the launch spec of GT Silver with a black and red Alcantara interior, however this particular customer has a reputation for not only having very good taste, but also choosing specs that stand out head and shoulders above the rest.

We were clear from the get-go what we’d be changing on the car, as the customer has a 488 Pista which he wanted to match the spec of exactly, right the way down to the floor mats and calipers!

The first step was to completely strip the interior, and we mean everything, even the boot lining, and send it off to Porsche Classic leather specialists in Germany for a complete overhaul. It was a huge task for their team, but they executed it perfectly, retrimming everything that could be leather to Ferrari ‘Cuoio’, with some lovely extra details you’ll see in the photos.

Meanwhile, our spray painters were preparing the car for its colour change. Every silver painted panel had to be sanded to create the correct surface for the new layers of paint to sit. Every panel and piece of trim that could be removed was, and even the windows were taken out.

We masked off with complete precision everything that couldn’t be removed, meaning all the way into areas like the boot space and arches would not remain silver, making this car indistinguishable from an OEM paint job.

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The exact colour used was Ferrari ‘Verde British’, which is a stunning shade of British Racing Green and compliments the tan interior perfectly. We also had the magnesium GT2 RS wheels repainted in the body colour and fitted with Michelin Cup 2 R tyres from our friends at Manthey Racing. The final touch to the colour scheme was to paint the callipers in Ferrari ‘Bronzo’ while keeping the OEM look with a perfect ‘Porsche’ stencil on top.

The car was then treated to our Level 5 Signature Detail to neutralise the peaks and troughs that occur naturally when spraying the clear coat. This allows us to achieve glass like reflections, doing the colour justice and even exceeding the quality of the OEM finish. We then fully protected the car with our bespoke paint protection film patterns for maximum coverage, the fewest possible seam lines and best possible aesthetic when on the car. Fully protecting the car is an absolute no-brainer after the hundreds of man hours spent getting it to look this good!

We are incredibly proud of the results and the owner is also over the moon with the car. There is no other one like it in the world, but our phone has been off the hook with people wanting the same done to theirs!

Have a look on our YouTube channel using the QR code below for a video of the whole process.

It’s going to be a big one! @topazdetailing

Watch their video on youtube.com

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We take a journey through the 100-year history of Praga, and find out why we should all be paying attention to them going forward.

Written by: Tom Kent

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When you think of automobile manufacturers with the richest of histories and the greatest stories to tell, your mind will wander to Detroit and the Big Three, or maybe even Modena and the supercar scions, but Prague? Bear with us, you’ll like this story.

The Praga brand is over a century old. It built its first car in 1909 in what was the AustroHungarian Empire, which then became Czechoslovakia. The company grew fast during the industrialisation of Europe and, over time, expanded its growing road car and racing car activities into truck, bus, motorcycle and aircraft manufacture as well as military and agricultural machinery. We’re not talking about smallscale production here; Praga built hundreds of thousands of vehicles and machinery and in the first half of the 20th century became a true industrial powerhouse of the European continent.

So, why don’t you know more about Praga?

Well, it can be argued that no vehicle manufacturer has faced the trauma of war, the reshaping of a continent and its resulting sociopolitical upheavals quite like Praga has. Combine this with the fact that the business operated behind the veil of the Iron Curtain for the majority of its existence, and the fact that its structure and assets were subsequently reshaped after the ‘Velvet Revolution’ of 1989 and you have, unsurprisingly, a brand of which little is known.

Today, Praga is the kind of company vehicle enthusiasts should follow. It is no longer a mass-producer, but its focus on karts, racing cars and aviation is fascinating. It is that rare thing in the modern automotive world; a company ploughing its own furrow and one which is seemingly powered by an endless supply of passion. Take a look at the Praga website and its racing car and aviation ambitions, and you’ll see what we mean. Oh, and did we mention the 1,000bhp Dakar truck? Driven by cross-country rally raid legend Aleš Loprais, the Praga V4S DKR truck heads to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia in January 2021 to compete in the two-week event.

Mark Harrison

Vincent Randall

Praga is not immune to the very latest developments in automotive either. In June this year, it dipped its toe into the sim racing waters with a collaboration with the virtual racing club, 27racers.com. In typical Praga fashion, it looked to make an impact in an area within sim racing that is underdeveloped — karting. The resulting events, using the ‘brand-neutral’ go-kart within Gran Turismo Sport, have been entertaining in the extreme but moreover have introduced the Czech company to a growing and valuable sim racing audience.

UK MD of Praga and ex-BMW and McLaren executive Mark Harrison explains, “The company is on the verge of something big. 2020 has been about laying the groundwork for our ambitious plans for 2021 and beyond, and making sure that the automotive world understands our unique history, and our unique offering”.

At the heart of Praga’s business is the R1 racing car. As flamboyant and dramatic as any modern supercar but underpinned by the most up-to-date racing car technology, the R1 is currently cleaning up in the Britcar Endurance Championship and has evolved into one of the quickest and most formidable cars of its kind in the world.

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It does so with a focus on lightweight and downforce, with a full carbon chassis and safety cell, and bodywork that is shamelessly shaped to generate negative lift. Indeed the top-spec Praga R1T Evo can generate downforce over 1.5 times its weight, which in turn means up to 3G of lateral force in the corners.

The engine? Based on a Renault-Alpine F4R Formula 2.0 unit, it has four cylinders, 16-valves and 82.7mm x 93mm bore/stroke. The turbo runs at between 0.9 and 1.2bar of boost and with a 62-litre fuel tank, the car will last between 45 and 60 minutes on track (depending on the weight of another crucial item, your right foot).

The rev limit is set at 7,000rpm and peak power arrives at 6,800rpm, but the R1T Evo doesn’t have one peak power number, it has three: 330bhp, 360bhp and 380bhp depending on the position of the cockpit-mounted calibration switch. Torque is 273lb ft, 288 lb ft, and 302lb ft respectively. “In this world of 1,000bhp megacars, sub-400bhp doesn't sound like much but we’ve had had drivers with GT4 or even GT3 race car experience try the Praga R1 and they are blown away by its performance”, says Harrison.

Speak to Praga's Engineering Director Jan Martínek, and he will tell you that at the core of the R1’s extraordinary abilities is its lack of weight. This in turn generates a feeling not unlike a go-kart.

"I know that mostly every sports car manufacturer will tell you the same, that their car feels like a go-kart, because it's kind of a holy

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Jan Martínek grail, but a few if any actually work to engineer this feeling”, says Martínek. A driver will discover this, explains the engineer, with a very direct steering response and feel and the car’s pure agility on track.

"It's definitely a go-kart feeling. The R1 is as close as you can get to this holy grail because at its core it is essentially a racing car derivative of a go-kart, and that makes me happy because a kart is the purest form of driving”.

Mark Harrison concurs, “We see this time and time again, especially this year. Drivers will climb from the car after a successful test or race with a big smile on their face because they’ve been able to compete against much bigger and more powerful cars”. For comparison, at 592kg, the Praga R1T Evo is 158kg lighter than an F1 car.

When you speak to Jan, the authenticity comes through loud and clear; in many respects it's like he and the company are on a mission to reclaim the phrase 'go-kart feel’, but then if anyone can, it's Praga. Last year they built 7,000 karts and there are over 50,000 in circulation globally, so arguably no other car company has such a close connection with the purest form of motorsport.

But there’s another card up Praga’s sleeve, and that’s a focus on low running costs. “There’s a lot of focus on this in the track and race car world at the moment, for obvious reasons, but for Praga it has always been a goal to create a racing car that could compete with the fastest exotica at a fraction of the cost”, explains Harrison. “Brake pads, tyres, suspension components, they all last significantly longer on the R1 because the car isn’t moving any unnecessary mass around”.

This year, Praga has been racing three cars in the UK: two turbocharged R1T Evos and one naturally-aspirated R1S. Prepared and run

by VR Motorsport, the squad is looking to repeat their 2019 Britcar Class 1 title win with the R1T Evo and take a few more scalps from the more recognisable manufacturers in the championship.

The R1’s size and relatively small-capacity engine would have you believe it cannot compete with bigger, multi-cylinder exotica, but compete it does, and win, and not just in the UK either. The R1 has been successful in recent seasons in US and Dutch challenge series and took a record 30 race wins and podiums in the US and in the UK in 2019.

But what makes the car not only great to drive, but great to race? Jan Martínek identifies the

exceptional aerodynamic performance of the car, “Drivers can really feel this when they are in the heat of the battle. The R1’s aerodynamics make it possible for drivers to brake really late and deep into corners, which gives them real confidence in traffic or overtaking situations”.

“This year we’ve got a great squad of drivers and a nice mix of experience, youth and enthusiasm.

They’re competitive but they also have a really strong work ethic”, says Mark Harrison.

Aspiring teenage drivers Jem Hepworth and Danny Harrison feature in one of the VR Motorsport-run Pragas, with ex-servicemen Warren McKinlay and Martyn Compton in a second. The third car is raced by Jack Fabby and Garry Townsend, a more traditional ’Pro-Am’ set up.

There haven’t been many good news stories in motoring circles recently, but Praga is one of them, with more to follow.

Vincent Randall has another take on it, an angle that’s perhaps unsurprising given his role as team boss, “Drivers are encased in a really strong carbon fibre structure, which gives a high level of safety and confidence”.

Praga is a brand that’s going places, that’s for sure. As we go to press they have just announced more details of their ambitious expansion programme, which includes a new R1, plus an all-Praga racing category created to run within Britcar in 2021, with the aim to take a one-make class international in 2022.

@praga_cars

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SCD member Molly recalls her experience of SCD’s first event at the historic Shelsley Walsh Hill Climb Written by: Molly Taylor Photos by: William Nattrass & Jacob Wimberley

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The morning of Sunday 27th September dawned clear and bright, and cold! It was a perfect day for a road trip to our favourite motorsport venue.

Set in the wonderful Worcestershire countryside, the Shelsley Walsh Hill Climb course sits shadowed by trees. Take a drive to the top and you will be rewarded with fabulous farreaching views. Take that 1,000-yard drive in less than 22.58 seconds and you would break the outright record for the course, but even at twice

that time you can still feel the thrill of the hill and start to understand what drives a hillclimber to keep challenging themselves.

Shelsley Walsh is proud to be known as the oldest motorsport venue still using its original course. The start line, the corners and the views are essentially the same as when it was first used in August 1905. You can feel the history!

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Our first run of the day was a careful one. Temperatures were still in single figures and this was no time for heroics! Besides, this was just for fun, there was no official timing and for most of the SCD members attending, this was their first time. I think it’s fair to say that as the day went on, the tarmac temperature eventually rose, our tyres warmed and we all picked up the pace from our initial tentative drive.

The essence of this experience starts in the paddock with that magical feeling you get from just being around revving petrolpowered engines followed by the challenge of finding your own limit on the hill and then the camaraderie in the collecting area at the top of the hill as you watch your friends arrive at full pelt over the finish line.

Back down in the paddock, we had some very special company to show us how it should be done; Group A, B and WRC rally cars, a variety of single-seaters and a special appearance by two Praga R1 cars. SCD members’ cars were quite varied too, from A for Alfa to P for Porsche and everything in between, all the usual suspects plus a lovely vintage Delahaye!

I think it was a unanimous decision that the loudest member’s car of the day (unofficial) award had to go to Ryan for his Aventador SVJ. The sound of that coming up the hill when we were waiting at the top felt like there was something wild and untamed coming to rip up the tarmac, the grass and anything else in its path. I think we all got a version of that video to take home!

I’m sure I speak for everyone who was there in saying a big thank you to the Supercar Driver team for organising this special event and to First Point Insurance for providing us with breakfast rolls and coffee to start the day right. It was SCD’s first time at Shelsley Walsh but I sincerely hope it won’t be the last. When this event goes live next year, Rob and I will be the first to sign up, and we hope to see you there next time for the thrill of the hill! @mollygt3

Watch the video on youtube.com

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MICHELIN PILOT SPORT CUP 2 R

Lap Time Smasher

Michelin put the new Pilot Sport Cup 2 R to the test to see just how much time you can make up with tyres alone.

Written by: Mark Higginson

2.48 seconds is roughly the time gap between the front and back of an F1 race grid. It’s also the difference the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R tyres make around Brands Hatch GP circuit in a Porsche GT3 RS.

When pro racing driver Jonny Cocker stepped out of the JCR modified GT3 RS, having completed five blistering laps on the muchloved Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres, he proudly stated, “I can’t get any quicker than that, those laps were perfect, the car felt awesome!”.

Swapping the wheels over to a set of Cup 2 Rs, he headed straight back out again. Another five laps later he was back in, glowing with sweat (it was 33°c) and pride at the blistering pace he just set — A peak lap improvement of 2.48 seconds!

Jonny said, “The confidence on the turn-in is incredible. That slight bit earlier on the power on the way out of the corner really hits and you can feel the difference instantly. We’ve been using

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the Pilot Sport Cup 2 as our reference tyre for some time now so I’m genuinely impressed by the performance improvement in the Cup 2 R.”

He went on, “The bite on braking is impressive too, inspiring you to keep pushing harder without fear of any drop-off”.

JCR DEVELOPMENTS MODIFICATIONS TO THE GT3 RS: • JCR Titanium Race Pipe

• JCR Titanium Superlight Exhaust Tips • Ohlins TTX Damper Kit • JCR Race Setup

• Surface Transforms Carbon Ceramic Brake Kit • Pagid RS29 Brake Pads

• Manthey Racing brake lines

FITMENTS:

From launch, the Cup 2 R tyres come available for the Porsche GT3 RS, GT2 RS and the Ferrari 488 Pista. Through 2020 and 21, more fitments will become available.

A MOTORSPORT HERITAGE DESIGNED TO LAST

Michelin has long been at the forefront of endurance racing, with the recently completed Le Mans 24hr being their 23rd consecutive win in the top category. For Michelin, endurance racing is the ultimate test laboratory. There’s no better way to design and develop tyres that deliver ultimate grip for the longest possible time.

In addition to the work carried out at its Technology Centre in Ladoux, near ClermontFerrand, France, motorsport serves as a valuable additional laboratory for Michelin to test, innovate and develop new solutions in extreme conditions for the vehicles people will drive in the future.

In car and motorbike racing, drivers and riders need to have total confidence in their tyres which are the only point of contact between them and the race track while they are being pushed to their limits.

Jonathan Benson of TyreReviews.co.uk recently tested the Cup 2 R against the top track-biased tyres at the Michelin Ladoux R&D facility commenting, “The Cup 2 R is the closest thing to a road-legal slick available in Europe. Initially it doesn't feel hugely different at road speeds, with the steering feel and compliance of the carcass broadly similar to the regular Cup 2, but once out on track and up to pressure and temperature, the speed at which you can corner and the G force you can create when braking redefines what you thought was possible in a road car”.

He added, “The compound of the Cup 2 R is incredibly special, and something every hardcore track enthusiast should experience at least once.

Naturally, with the higher dry grip comes shorter tread life and a lower wet performance, making the Cup 2 R a very special treat, but confirming the Cup 2 as the better tyre for the majority of scenarios”.

PILOT SPORT CUP 2 VS CUP 2 R:

On a stunningly hot August day, Michelin headed to Brands Hatch GP Circuit for some seriously fast track action. With just three cars, three pro racing drivers and an entirely open circuit, the challenge was to see how much of a difference the Cup 2 R tyres can make.

Tuned for dry track performance, the Cup 2 R tyres deliver extreme levels of lateral grip thanks to exclusive compounds derived from our experience in endurance motorsport.

Thanks to the specific outer shoulder tread pattern increasing tread contact area by 10% over the Cup 2, Michelin’s Pilot Sport Cup 2 R tyre is more focussed towards dry running, meaning that it’s not pitched as a replacement for the Cup 2, more as the ultimate in semi-slick dry-running road-legal track tyre.

The technology developed for motorsport makes its way directly into the road tyres, and the Pilot Sport Cup 2 R tyres are the latest testament to that approach, sharing the same compounds as those seen taking the chequered flag at Le Mans.

MICHELIN R&D FACTS AND FIGURES: • €687 million in the R&D budget (2019) • 6,000 R&D employees

• 350 domains of expertise • 247 patents filed in 2019

• 10,000 active patents worldwide

• 700 qualified measurement methods, from Nm to km • 400 simulation applications for total performance control • 40,000 on-vehicle tests every year

• Close to two million kilometres of endurance testing on vehicles. That’s one lap around the world every 12 minutes.

KEY CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CUP 2 AND CUP 2 R TYRES

PI LOT S P O R T CU P 2

Introduced in 2014 Dual compound Cup 2 Connect launched in 2020

PI LOT S P O R T CU P 2 R

Launched in 2018 Revised dual compound Revised tread pattern Architecture redesigned to exploit tread compound & pattern changes

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We have a 20,000 sq ft tarmac yard making unloading and loading extremely easy for car carriers to normal 1 car trailers.

STORAGE

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SECURITY

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We don’t have any fixed contracts in place allowing you to be in charge of when you want your car back home on the drive.

DETAILING

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LOGISTICS

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HEAD TURNER

We chat with SCD member Ash about his beautifully specced 600LT, and how he blames SCD for the purchase!

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When did you first hear about the 600LT?

I first heard about the 600LT on Instagram and it just looked amazing. It certainly peaked my interest, but at that time I wasn’t actually super interested — McLaren, to me, was mainly about Formula 1!

This story of how I became interested is actually SCD’s fault. At the time I had a Porsche Cayman GT4 and I went down on an SCD visit to the McLaren Technology Centre in October 2019.

The day was absolutely amazing and I became a bit of a McLaren fanboy from that point on.

I was speaking to McLaren about options then I saw fellow SCD member Tony’s new 600LT Spider on Instagram in December. We had a bit of a chat about it and at that point, I knew I had to have one. It’s so aggressive with the top exit exhaust, it just looks amazing.

I went over to McLaren Manchester between Christmas and New Year as they had a car in but I wasn’t sure on the colour. In person though, wow! I was blown away and I collected the car a couple of weeks later at the start of January.

Tell us about the spec of your car.

The best part about the spec of the car has to be the colour. It’s Lantana Purple and it really pops, especially in the sun. My GT4 was black so it wasn’t very shouty, this is very different.

It’s absolutely great to see how many comments and thumbs up you get driving around.

The car has some of the carbon packs but not the front splitter, which I think on reflection is a good thing as It does get some hammer on UK roads!

I’m really glad I went with a car that has the Senna seats; they not only look amazing but are actually really comfortable too. They don’t look like they would be but once you’re in, they are great for long drives.

I had PPF applied on the car with Reep which was a no brainer — it’s already saved my bacon when I moved a cone out of the way at Blyton Park!

What is it like to drive?

Driving the 600LT is just mind-blowing, the shear acceleration and the way it sticks to the road. It is obviously a big change from the GT4 going from manual to paddles but I wouldn’t look back. I know it’s not cool to say but I’m one of those people that didn’t really get on with the manual in the GT4 as you spent most of the time in third gear!

I read a lot of reviews about the turbo lag before I bought the 600LT and it is noticeable, but as soon as you’re used to it, it’s easy to account for. It sounds amazing and when you’ve got the engine hot, the exhaust starts flaming out of the back window, that’s just really special.

What is it like to own?

McLaren get a really bad time on the reliability front, but I’ve had no problems (touch wood).

The car has been flawless from day one. It is a bit thirsty when you put your foot down but that’s the point isn’t it? The biggest surprise for me was the jump in my insurance from the GT4 but that still wasn’t too bad at about £2k per year to insure.

The 600LT certainly isn’t an everyday car, you do need to think about where you’re going and I can’t get into the car parks at work without catching the splitter, even with the lift up! The public reaction has blown me away though. I used to get comments on the GT4 but nothing compared to the 600LT. I think the combination of the colour, the fact it’s a McLaren and the doors just make it really special.

After the recent SCD Yorkshire TDF drive that ended at Brymor Ice Cream, I had a long chat with a family who were parked next to me.

Their little kids came round the corner and their mouths dropped; the first words out of their mouths were, “Is it fast?”. Then, when I opened the door, there was a squeal from the two little lads, they loved it. That sums up most interactions with the public!

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What have you done with the car so far?

COVID-19 has killed some of my plans with the 600LT but I’ve still managed just over 2,000 miles so far this year. My first run out was for a hoon in the Peaks at the start of January in the snow and ice — really enjoyable but probably wasn’t the best idea!

I’ve been on a fair few SCD drives with the car and I am going on the North Wales tour which has been rescheduled to October. Back before COVID-19, I did manage a track day at Blyton Park which was a great first proper outing in the car. I absolutely loved it, although it took me a while to get my confidence in the car on a cold wet day!

I’m planning on more track days and more SCD events if I can and I’m really looking forward to the Shelsley Walsh Hill Climb event, that should be a mega day out.

Is it a keeper?

I’d love the 600LT to be a long-term keeper, but I don’t think the finances would stack up on that.

The 765LT looks amazing and is seriously on my radar for the future. Garage space limits my options, so it’s definitely a one in, one out policy.

Tell us about your SCD membership experience.

I joined SCD back in April 2019 when I first got the GT4 as a way of experiencing the car with other supercar owners.

The most memorable event for me so far has to be the evening Peaks run a few months ago.

It was a perfect summer evening just after lockdown ended, everyone was in great spirits and the weather was amazing. I even managed to get my wife to come along, and she loved it too, which I wasn’t sure she would! We did get horribly lost, but we still made it to the end!

Without SCD, I don’t think I’d get out as much in the car, which really would make the ownership a little pointless. I’m not one to buy a car just to look at it. @webmonkeyash

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We catch up with long-standing SCD member Lee and the varied collection of cars he never thought he would actually own.

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Where did your passion for cars come from?

I don’t really know where my passion for cars came from! My dad had cars but nothing trick, but I was just always into cars, not football or anything else, and all I ever wanted was to have a Ferrari. I didn’t want kids, I didn’t want a big house, I just wanted to have a Ferrari at one point because I love Ferraris.

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My old boss had a 911 which I used to go and clean for him at weekends just so I could go in a supercar if you like back in the day, then just worked hard until I got my break and could afford these cars myself.

One thing that was quite interesting is that, when I left school, I had no idea what I was going to do, I didn’t have any qualifications and I went to a careers advisor who pretty much told me I

would never get a job. Several years later, I pulled up at the traffic lights at the side of that same careers teacher in my Ferrari, so that was always quite a highlight in my life!

Tell us about your car history.

My first car was a Fiesta 1.1 Popular Plus which I then changed to an Astra GTE. I then had a BMW Z3 M Coupe, and they’ve become very cool and

valuable now, then I had a 911 Carrera 4 and then basically did the range of Porsche until my first Ferrari which was an F430 Spider.

Since then, I’ve basically just gone from there, adding to a little collection of cars, and I still can’t get my head around it today that I own them. It was a dream to go in a Ferrari, then to own one was something else, then to where we are now is something else again. I know a lot of SCD

members have uber cars and loads of them, but it’s a bit surreal for me — it never gets boring.

Tell us about the cars you own today

but I like the fact that I can go out in a different marque. To go out in the morning in the GT3 RS, take that home and then go out in the Challenge Stradale is just really cool to have a totally different dynamic.

For me, I like the diversity of cars. I know SCD member James has all the Ferraris, and don't get me wrong, I am quite envious he’s got them all,

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PORSCHE CAYENNE TURBO S E-HYBRID

The Cayenne was a car I bought through the business for my wife to use, purely and simply because of the hybrid technology and the tax saving, however, it’s a savage car! It’s so quick and so capable it’s frightening. I’ll be honest, it hasn’t been used all that much in the last few months, but for me there’s no nicer place to be driving down the motorway.

It’s so safe, so quick, sounds good, looks nice, it’s got everything on it, it just ticks every box.

I’ve never been a massive fan of the front of the Cayenne even though I’ve had a few, but I think what they’ve done with the back of the new model is really nice. The wife takes the kids to school and back in electric mode every day, you can get the dogs in, it does what it says on the tin!

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RADICAL SR8

A few years ago, I wanted to do some track days and a friend of mine convinced me to buy a Radical SR3 which blew my mind and scared me to death when I first went out. After five laps, you’re overtaking Porsches and Ferraris wondering why they’re all going so slow, because you can carry so much more speed through corners without even trying.

I kept that for three or four years then an SR8, the V8 version came up for sale with a friend of mine at Performance Time who sells most of the Radicals in the UK. I jumped into the SR8 and it was just different gravy. The acceleration is crazy, it’s a 700kg car with over 400bhp and it absolutely mullers anything. Unless you’re in some sort of prototype, you ain’t living with it, it’s just the ultimate track day toy. It’s savage, it really is.

ALPINA D3 BITURBO

I bought my first Alpina D3 in 2011 and I loved it. I gave that one to my dad for his birthday a few years later because I’d ordered the newer version. The beauty of the D3 is that it gives you M3 performance in a car that does 40mpg and isn’t offensive to your clients. I’m a big BMW fan and love the M cars, but if you pull up in an M3 or M4 you might look a bit like a boy racer, a bit brash, the Alpina is the opposite.

It’s a terrific day-to-day car to sit on the motorway in. It’s my office and most of my work is done in that car but it’s still rapid, 350bhp and loads of torque, it looks really nice and it’s pretty unique as they don’t bring many into the country but it’s a bit of a Q car, people don’t really know how quick it is until they pull up at the lights beside it! It’s a fabulous car which I’ve had for five years, and they’ve literally just launched the new model, so I’m wondering whether to change to the next generation, but they go up in price a lot each time and it’s a lot of money for a 3 Series.

FERRARI 360 CHALLENGE STRADALE

FORD ESCORT RS COSWORTH

Driving it hard is fairly frightening, it feels incredibly light, and it feels like a go-kart. It’s one of those cars where you’re not going that quick, but it sounds and feels like you are. It just feels like it should live on a circuit, and it’s everything a modern supercar wants to be, but can’t be because of regulations. I’ve been invited to all sorts of new Ferrari launches and I haven’t been to any of them. I think that tells you something about how special the Stradale is, I just don’t look at the new cars and drool over them like I do this.

It gets way more attention than anything else. If you drive an Escort Cosworth through a densely occupied place, people are giving you high fives out of the window, beeping their horns.

It’s a car people wanted in the day, but it’s more of an affordable dream for the average man than a £200,000 Ferrari. Everyone asks how fast it is and thinks it’s rapid, well, no not really, your BMW 320d will probably keep up with it nowadays, but it’s the theatre of driving that car — it’s a poster car for a young kid.

I bought the Challenge Stradale because it’s just raw. It’s raw, limited, hopefully an investment.

It’s quite unusable, but that’s something that I quite like; it’s completely impractical, but every time you even open the door the theatre of such a ridiculous car is amazing. I’ve had it for nearly two years and it’s just cool, you can have the latest F8 Tributo but it’s not as cool as a Stradale.

Ownership is one of the biggest parts of the Stradale. Because it’s quite impractical, it doesn’t get used all that often on normal days, but knowing it’s there in the garage is a massive thing, and I think if I was to ever get rid of it, it would definitely leave a hole. In fact, I was talking to another SCD member Mark who said he knows the guy who ordered my car originally, and he still misses it today!

The Escort Cosworth came about by being 18 and standing at the window of a Ford dealership with an Escort Cosworth in there and thinking oh my god! When one came up for sale five years ago in Imperial Blue, which is the colour I always wanted, it was something I just had to have. It was something I could never afford in the day and never thought I’d have, but it was a childhood dream to have one.

To actually drive, it’s disappointing because you’re so used to driving modern, much quicker stuff, but it has a short wheelbase, corners really well and makes a good noise. It has a really long gear shift like you’re driving a Transit van but it’s just a happy car. You get in it and it just makes you smile, driving down the road with people looking at you and looking at that ridiculous car.

It’s just a cool car and I defy anybody that doesn’t like an Escort Cosworth.

PORSCHE 991.2 GT3 RS

With the RS, I went through all the Porsche rigmarole to get one and specced it from a ski lift in Austria because we only had 48 hours to spec it before I went to Geneva to have a look at it.

It’s just the best car I’ve ever owned. I absolutely love it; it ticks every single box, sounds good looks good, alright it looks a bit silly with the stickers on it but I’ve been on SCD tours and there were a few other Lizard Green cars, so I decided to sticker it up and make it a bit different.

People either love it or hate it, but I like it and they’re only stickers so you can always take them off.

The GT3 RS is the ultimate sports car if you ask me. I don’t know of anything I’d rather have than that car. It’s fast enough, incredibly capable, it won’t let you down, it’s reliable, it’s built really well. It’s a brilliant, brilliant car and it just gets better and sounds better — the more you use it, the better it gets.

I’m not precious over the mileage with it, I’m just going to keep it and use it. I don’t even really want the next one! If I did get offered the next one, I’d probably be silly to turn it down, but at the moment it’s going nowhere. I absolutely love it and I see myself keeping that car forever, I really do. I want to do 80,000 miles in it, one owner, that’s my plan!

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Tell us about your SCD membership experience.

I originally joined SCD in year one when we used to meet in a car park near Sheffield, have a drive, take some pictures and go home. I was a member for a few years and then purely for work I wasn’t involved for a few years because I was all over the place, then a few years ago, I rang Adam and joined up again looking for more things to do.

For me, it has come on a hell of a lot since I was originally a member. I’ve met some great people, I’ve made a lot of new friends out of SCD and I love the fact that everybody is likeminded and everybody is happy. There are too many miserable people in the world right now, but you go to these events and everyone is chatting, having a good time and they all have something in common.

I love the diversity too as I don’t like everyone wanting the same thing, the fact that there’s a guy in a Noble, a guy in a McLaren, a guy in a

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Ferrari, it’s great. It’s nice to be part of something that enables you to experience things you wouldn’t be able to if you weren’t in the club.

What are your most memorable moments with the cars?

I loved the Porsche GT drive out to North Wales last year, that was ace, and doing the Alps tour with my brother last year was brilliant as well.

To drive those roads in the GT3 RS was a pinch yourself moment. It’s not something you can do without a club like SCD and they were my two highlights for sure. My plan is to do the Dolomites tour and the Tartan Florio to Scotland, I want to tick them all off.

I went over to Spa and Zolder this year. The Radical went over with the race team and I drove the GT3 RS. For a motorsport fan, to have your racing car driven to a different country and driving past in your GT3 RS is a bit weird!

My friend was behind and took a photo of me in the RS going past the race lorry, so that

was probably one of the best ‘is this really happening?’ moments.

Honestly, there have been so many times I’ve been out in the cars and had a great time, I like all the runs, the breakfast meets, the evening meets and I like introducing people to SCD too so they can enjoy their cars.

Any plans with the cars going forward?

I’m doing the SCD Porsche GT tour to Germany which was meant to be this year but will now be next year for obvious reasons. If SCD go ahead with an all Ferrari tour, that would be great to do.

I was meant to be doing Heveningham this year but that got cancelled so hopefully I’ll do that next year and just keep my eye out for new things.

I’d like to do more track days, more SCD meets and I’m of course looking forward to the Secret Meet where I’m hoping to do hot laps in the Radical.

Are they keepers?

Out of all the cars, it’s the GT3 RS I just can’t see going. I don’t even know what I’d replace it with I like it that much. If you said change the GT3 RS today and you can have a 918 Spyder, I know it sounds crazy but I’m not sure I would. I can take it out, give it a good razzing down the country lanes, it’s not too wide, and for me it’s just the ultimate sports car you can buy today.

The Stradale, I just don’t know because of how much money it is and I just don’t use it enough. I don’t need to sell it but you start to think what’s the point? Because I don’t have enough money to have a collection of cars I don’t use. Similarly, the Cosworth has sat in storage for much of the five year’s I’ve owned it and you think what’s the point?

The thing is though, I’m not good at selling things! I get attached so it’s hard to sell them, but if a car came up that was something I really fancied, I’d probably change the Stradale for something as much as I wouldn’t want to, but at the moment I’m quite happy with what I’ve got.

What’s next?

The car I would like to own more than anything is an F40. That’s the car I’ve always wanted to own but with the prices of them, I’m not sure I’ll ever get there. I’m always going to want one, I’m always going to aspire to having one and I’m always going to try and get one, even if I’m not sure that’s really realistic for me.

I’m still looking at more motorbikes as I collect them as well and I’m trying to up that collection — they’re a lot cheaper than cars! At this moment in time and with the current climate, I’m just sitting tight and seeing what happens with the cars. It’s a weird place to be, going from wanting all these cars to actually opening your garage at home and seeing the Stradale and the GT3, so I’m honestly in awe of the ones I’ve got still. @ljacko911

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Say hello to Image Design Custom, the UK’s leading custom paint and design house. We take a journey through their history and what makes them the best in the business.

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Image Design Custom have been facilitating their customers lifestyles and passions with stunning custom paint and design work from the small town of Camberley, Surrey since 2007. There’s an ingrained sense of passion and pride in everything you see that goes out of the workshop at Image Design Custom, and the excitement you’ll see from their customers and fans shows exactly why they’re known as the best in their field.

Between their team, they have decades of experience and they aren't content with just being good, they’re all about being the best. From conception all the way through to execution, there is an almost obsessive and meticulous eye for detail that you'd be hardpressed to find anywhere else. Image Design Custom have built a dextrously talented creative team specialising in areas such as airbrushing, pinstriping, bespoke paint design and everything in between. They very rarely say no; no matter

how crazy you think it is, they’re always keen to take on a challenge!

It all started back in 2007 when two mates with over 20 years of experience between them in the custom paint world decided to tread their own path and formed Image Design Custom. After only 12 months, the company already started gaining a reputation for the high quality of work being produced.

The mouth-watering paintwork continued to gain prestige and transcended standard bike builds when contemporary artist Grayson Perry commissioned Image Design Custom to paint his first of four bikes, a striking build from Battistinis. When you’re creating custom work for a world-renowned artist, it hardly goes unnoticed, and Image Design Custom were then commissioned by the likes of Bell & Ross watches, comedian Adam Hills, Paralympian Jody Cundy and UK mountain bike legend Steve Peat.

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This forward momentum continued to build the reputation of the brand and the next big name to get the Image Design Custom treatment was 2009 F1 World Champion, Jenson Button. Warr’s Harley-Davidson created a custom build for Jenson with paintwork inspired by the cockpit of Ayrton Senna’s McLaren MP4/6 F1 World Championship winning car.

Image Design Custom steadily continued to build from strength to strength with their work being featured around the world and gained a notable appearance on Jay Leno’s Garage which showcased a bespoke BMW R nineT built by famed motorcycle customiser, Roland Sands.

With coverage around the world, the work continued to gain popularity and soon caught the eye of Hollywood stars and world-famous musicians. These fresh commissions included two custom Triumph motorcycles for Green Day drummer Tré Cool and a DC comic inspired helmet for none other than Superman himself, Henry Cavill.

Fast forward to 2020 and Image Design Custom are now a world-renowned paint shop, still working out of their original workshop in Camberley. They now work with the likes of Red Bull, Monster Energy, Triumph, Harley-Davidson and a whole plethora of other well-known brands. They’ve also got some of the world’s top athletes sporting custom paint, like 2014 European Le Mans Series champion Oli Webb, whose helmet is emblazed with the Bykolles team colours and the iconic Circuit de la Sarthe.

Then there’s WRC legend Petter Solberg who received a bespoke design as a tribute to his final year racing and as a celebration of his illustrious career. They’ve also painted for BTCC champion Andrew Jordan, England cricketing superstar Ben Stokes and half of the starting line up for the Mountain Bike World Cup.

You’d think they’d be content with world-famous brands and athletes showcasing their work, but you’ll also find their logo on the bodywork of a Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo Evo. Owned

by Image Design Custom director and SCD member Iain Campbell, you’ll hopefully see this car at an SCD event. It’s not the most practical of billboards, but it sure does draw some attention!

For any custom work, no matter how big, small or even weird, they’ll always be happy to chat and you can find plenty of info as well as a ton of beautiful imagery on their website which is very easy to get lost in. They’re all over social media too, regularly posting beautiful work that is sure to inspire and, in a lot of instances, make you very jealous! With plenty of incredible work to showcase, you can feel rest assured that they can turn your dream into a reality with their years of experience and vast knowledge in the world of custom paint.

Keep your eyes peeled for the Image Design Custom guys at upcoming SCD events and for plenty of custom paint over the coming year. @imagedesigncustom

+44(0)1276 503866 www.imagedesigncustom.co.uk

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A HANDPICKED SELECTION OF OUR CURRENT STOCK

1996 MCLAREN F1 GTR LONGTAIL • • • • • • •

The first of only 10 Longtail examples ever produced Utilised as the factory prototype/development car The last McLaren F1 GTR to have an outright victory at a major championship race Original colour and livery Restored and road converted by Lanzante and Gordon Murray Design UK registered with EU Taxes paid Complete with an extensive spares package including all items to return it to full track spec

£POA

2013 MCLAREN P1 XP A UK supplied P1 with great provenance & only 353 miles from new, fitted with a host of MSO special features..........................£1,350,000

2018 MCLAREN SENNA A UK supplied, RHD example that benefits from a huge specification.

Cost over £820,000 new, only 1,568 miles.....................£585,000+VAT

Telephone: +44 (0)1283 761119

2015 FERRARI LAFERRARI • •

•

A UK supplied example with only 1,380 miles from new Many optional extras including but not limited to; exterior carbon fibre lower front & rear, wing mirrors & fog lamp. Sport tail pipes plus special features from the atelier programme Totally as new throughout

£2,150,000

2000 ASTON MARTIN VANTAGE LE MANS V600 Only 1,665 miles from new and fresh from a major service at R.S.Williams.......................................£495,000

1973 PORSCHE 911 2.4S A matching number example that benefits from a fantastic restoration by model experts.

Finished in its original colour.........£175,000

1974 LANCIA STRATOS HF STRADALE An incredibly original example with only 6,585km & 3 owners from new, never taken apart or restored..............................£485,000

2011 LAND ROVER DEFENDER 110 SVX ‘SPECTRE’ 1 of only 10 made for the 24th James Bond film, Spectre.

The ultimate Defender....................£265,000

2015 LAND ROVER DEFENDER 90 SOFT-TOP ‘OVERFINCH’ A UK supplied example with only 2,104 miles from new, recently serviced by Overfinch......£159,500

2016 LAND ROVER DEFENDER 110 ADVENTURE 1 of only 600 examples, a UK supplied car with only 2,479 miles from new..............................................£54,500

RESTORATION | SALES | SERVICE www.bellsportandclassic.co.uk

Official Sponsor of Supercar Driver 50

B E S T

O F

T H E

B R E E D

We head to the Peak District with two of Ferrari’s most hardcore, naturally-aspirated road cars to see how they compare back-to-back.

Written by: Matt Parker

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2015 was a pretty good year for the high-revving, naturally-aspirated supercar. The screaming flat six Porsche 991 GT3 RS and barking V10 Lamborghini Huracan were fresh-faced kids on the block, and Maranello really spoiled us with the highly-strung V8 458 Speciale Aperta and ballistic V12-powered F12 TDF. Amongst a very enviable stable of other Ferraris, our friend Pete aka 2manycars happens to own both. This is one of those days where you all tell me to go and get a real job, because Pete is a special mix of generous and brave, and he offered us the keys to drive both back-to-back.

Sounds like a recipe for a pretty memorable day, right? And believe it or not, the British summer played along and gave us a full day of glorious sunshine, so let’s start with the drop-top.

Weather aside, the Aperta seemed like the sensible place to start to ease myself in before the notoriously insane TDF. Yes, I just called nigh on 600bhp sensible, what a time to be alive!

So, about the Speciale Aperta. Despite the English translation of ‘special open’ not sounding quite so exotic, it most certainly is special with just 499 units produced worldwide, and this is one of just 49 right-hand drive. It’s mechanically the same as the fixed-top Speciale, so we have a 4.5-litre V8 with a hair under 600bhp and a hair-raising redline of 9,000rpm.

Part of what makes this car so special is that it is Ferrari’s last ever naturally-aspirated V8, and it’s one of the all-time great engines. If you were one of the very few who could actually get one new, the asking price was just under £230,000.

Now, you’re looking at between £550,000 and £600,000; that’s some premium, and over £400,000 more than a ‘regular’ 458 Spider!

Today isn’t about value though, it’s about celebrating these machines and their magnificent engines, so we headed out of Alderley Edge in convoy past a crowd of car spotters and into the sun-soaked Peak District.

I can’t tell you what it’s like with the roof up or in anything less than Race mode, and I don’t think you care. This car is all about days like these, wind on your burnt head, noise in your ears, and what a noise it is. Engines just don’t come this hard-edged anymore; the sound is raw and the response is almost telepathic.

Earlier, I called 600bhp sensible, and I’m about to call it usable. Really, it is. On such a dry, sunny day, you really can use full throttle and every one of those 9,000 revs and it doesn’t feel at all like it’s looking for the nearest kerb to send you into.

Traction is amazing with the Michelin Cup 2s, and the linear power band lends its hand to that too. Don’t get me wrong, it has torque, but in a turbocharged car, it all comes at once in a fashion the rear wheels just can’t keep up with. Here, it builds, and builds, and builds some more, but in the dry, it’s never overwhelming.

The steering is typical modern Ferrari with its hyper-alert response off centre, and it’s such a sweet, balanced thing to take down a winding road. The ride is even perfectly comfortable in Bumpy Road Mode and takes undulating roads in its stride, so whilst you might not expect the hardcore, stripped-out model to be the one you’d choose for a weeklong driving tour, I imagine it would be perfectly pleasant if you don’t mind a bit of road noise.

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The whole experience in the Aperta is balanced.

It flows down a road, it’s not skittish and it’s not scary. It gives you confidence to push it hard, but it also rewards you with a raw experience and soundtrack you don’t get from many other modern cars. It’s a pussycat; a very fast, very noisy pussycat.

If there’s ever a car you won’t hear referred to as a pussycat, it’s our next subject for today, the F12 TDF. I mean, just look at the thing, it’s like it wants you dead before you turn the key, and Pete’s little man-to-man suggested its looks aren’t deceiving. Usually, he just throws us the keys and tells us to drive them hard; the TDF required a little chat. He asked if I’d driven one before, to which I replied that I’d driven a standard F12 in the wet. “Nope”, he replied, suggesting the TDF was on another level of psycho — yikes!

If there was one thing the F12 didn’t need, it was more power. Even Clarkson said it had too much power, but Ferrari gave it more anyway! The 6.3-litre V12 now has 769bhp and 110kg has been shaved from the standard car, so despite being a big thing, it’s not that heavy at just over 1,500kg.

Everything else is turned up to 11 too, including the aforementioned styling.

It’s not quite as rare as the Aperta with 799 units produced, but to me, it seems like the even more special machine. Like the Aperta, you had to be a rather regular and well-liked customer to be offered the chance to cough up £340,000 for a TDF, and if you did, you’d have now doubled that investment. TDFs are fetching around half a million more than regular F12s, and like the Aperta, your head could never justify that difference, but these cars are all about the heart.

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...as razor-sharp as the latest and greatest, but these atmospheric engines retain that old-school emotion that means these cars will be forever iconic.

The TDF is immediately more intimidating than the Aperta with that huge bonnet stretching out in front of you. It’s wide too, meaning it’s not the most pleasant experience when a Honda Jazz comes towards you on a narrow road, especially when the value flashes up in your mind. Once on some more open roads though, the TDF makes sense. Like the Aperta, the ride is surprisingly supple and the steering is just as alert, but it feels very different with that old-school, over-therear-wheels driving position.

With Pete’s strong message of, “Be careful!”, ringing in my ears, it was time to gingerly ease onto full throttle for the first time. I’ve driven a few things that I’m sure wouldn’t be far behind in a straight line, but nothing that feels quite as ballistic and savage as the TDF. It’s ferocious and it follows every little camber in the road. You have to be properly on the ball if you’re going to drive this thing quick, but oh my is it rewarding.

It’s a car with a real learning curve that would take some time to master, and it’d probably be wise to have plenty of space when practising, should it decide to bite. I can’t even imagine it in the wet!

That said, if you’re smooth with it and accept that full throttle is to be used very sparingly, you can actually get into a decent rhythm and enjoy using the sharpest paddle-shift gearbox I’ve ever used like it’s a musical instrument controlling the V12 symphony, it’s just one of those cars where you get out after a drive panting and sweating, thankful to still be in one piece. If you have a screw loose, I think you’ll rather like it, and for that sort of experience, not a lot comes close.

Having survived the TDF, it’s time to have a think about my hard day at work and provide some sort of insight for you. Days like this do not come around very often, a full day of blazing sunshine in England for a start, but seriously, driving these two in this weather on these roads was an unreal experience — the attention they get, the noise they make, the thrill they give. They’re as razor-sharp as the latest and greatest, but these atmospheric engines retain that old-school emotion that means these cars will be forever iconic. The engines are the reasons owners like Pete always seem to say that the Pista is great, but the Speciale is the one.

These two cars are like chalk and cheese. The Aperta is beautifully balanced and a total joy to thread down a road with the noise in your ears and wind in your hair, or sunburned head in my case. The TDF, wow, it’s the wildest car I’ve ever driven with the most savage engine I’ve ever experienced, it’s a total animal. To put it in one sentence, the Aperta is the one I’d take for a week in the Alps, the TDF is the one I’ll remember for the rest of my life. @2manycars_official

Watch the video on youtube.com

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The Best Kept Secret

James Cottingham from DK Engineering talks to us about his Ford GT, the buying experience, what it’s been like to live with for two years and why there’s so much more to it than you might think.

What makes the original GT40 so special?

In the world of automotive racing, the Ford GT40 is a legend. Everyone knows about the Ford vs Ferrari battle of the mid-60s when Ford was famously going to buy Ferrari from Enzo Ferrari until he changed his mind at the last minute, so Henry Ford decided he was going to go and beat Ferrari at Le Mans, which he did with the GT40. The original Mk1 GT40 was actually built in England and not many people acknowledge that.

I’ve owned a GT40 with a great friend of mine, Andrew Smith, for nearly 10 years. I’ve always had GT40s around me my whole life. Despite us being Ferrari specialists, there’s always seemed to have been one in stock or in one of the collections we look after. I’ve always loved them, always wanted to race one and when the opportunity came along to buy one with Andrew, I jumped at the opportunity. Well, I say jumped, it took him a few times of getting me drunk to convince me, but we’ve had so much fun with that car.

Our car is chassis 1029 which was the Scuderia Bear car. It was owned by Bill McKelvy when it was new and raced at Sebring and Le Mans in 1966, although it didn’t start the race at Le Mans because it had a big accident in qualifying and the original tub was written off, Andrew and I then restored the car about 10 years ago.

We’ve raced it all over the world; Goodwood Revival numerous times, Le Mans Classic a number of times and most famously on the Tour Auto in France which is the modern interpretation of the Tour de France. It’s a fiveday rally, 3,000km over 11 special stages which are flat out on closed roads and circuits. We won overall in 2017, and we would have won by seven minutes in 2018 but we broke the gearbox on the very last special stage which was a real shame.

We would have won the event overall, so not just in the pre-66 category but in the pre-73 category as well which is a real achievement for a GT40.

It’s a very well-known car and it has a great livery, it’s silver with a Tricolore stripe, the number plate 1 MUF which everyone seems to remember for some reason, and when you take it to Le Mans, that’s the place where you realise what a GT40 is all about. As soon as you go down the Mulsanne straight for the first time, you absolutely feel at home in that car — it’s what it was built to do, to win that race. A couple of years ago, I remember racing down the Mulsanne straight in the middle of the night, four in the morning, pitch black, looking down at the digital speedo and it was reading just under 300km/h — it’s a real pinch yourself moment when you have the opportunity to do that. So yeah, it’s a very special car for me.

What is it like to drive?

It’s a pure race car, but actually, the first time we went to do our first special stage on the Tour Auto, everyone always said to us it’s such a big car, it’s so low, it’s going to be a real handful, but it’s such a strong, robust chassis and tub, it feels like whatever you throw at it, whether you hit speed bumps flat out or big undulations in the road, it just eats the road and absorbs it.

It drives so well and you’ve got that amazing 289 V8 which these days are built to produce somewhere between 400 and 450bhp. As it goes up through that five-speed ‘box, you just can’t believe how much it continues to accelerate — there’s no easing off. If you’re going down the Hangar straight at Silverstone, you go into fifth gear and think the rate at which it accelerates is going to slow down slightly, but it just keeps pulling and pulling.

It’s a tough, strong race car built to last 24 hours so it’s a bit heavy and not everyone gets on with them, but once you grab it by the scruff of the neck and really own the car, it’s an incredibly rewarding car to drive. It’s a real race car so you sit very low, almost horizontal, you’ve got this big steering wheel, the gear lever on the sill, it’s very different to other racing cars, but then on the road it is quite usable in a weird way. I mean it’s noisy and it’s very hot, but once you’re going along it is a usable thing. I’ve gone on different events where I’ve driven it 100 miles in a day and 100 miles back and I can’t hear anything by the end of it even though I’ve had ear defenders on the whole day, but it works.

They were always supposed to be 40 inches tall and these days I think they’re probably a bit lower than 40 inches with the way we have them set up, and you’re so low compared to everyone else on the road. Everyone hears it coming first and then they see it coming and they want to have a look, and I think that’s probably why, alongside the Cobra, it’s one of the most replicated cars ever. It’s just that iconic, pure, perfect race car design. It was Eric Broadley’s best, the guy behind Lola, it was his design originally and it’s probably his all-time best design.

Have you ever owned a 2005 Ford GT?

I’ve had them in stock but never had one of my own, but all my friends who have had them have always raved about them, and when they’ve sold them they’re always one of those cars they miss.

The 2005 V8 interpretation of the GT40 was a great car. It was a very similar in design to the original, almost like a modern-day update.

When it comes to bang for buck, they are such good value for money for what they give you and it still has a sense of occasion when you pull up in a 2005 Ford GT, it’s a great car.

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What attracted you to the new Ford GT?

When this Ford GT was released, what I loved about it is that it went racing first. It was a race car that they were going to build road cars of and had to for homologation purposes, but they went to Le Mans to win Le Mans. I was there that year and clearly all season they were sandbagging, and even in qualifying they were sandbagging, then when it came to the race, they were streets ahead of everyone else.

It is an out-and-out race car with a proper carbon tub. Everything is very special and when you look at the way it’s designed, the cockpit is absolutely tiny for aero. If you have two people in there, it’s really small, but that’s because it’s a race car, and then they built the road car.

There are two ways of going about it and quite often manufacturers sit in the middle. A 458 or 488, for me, as a road car is very much in the middle. It’s a car they built to appeal to all markets and then they built a race car which was very successful, and you have your softer version and your hardcore version. The GT was built as a race car and then turned into a road car and it has no storage, it has a tiny fuel tank, all the stuff people like Clarkson complain about but that’s what makes it so great, that’s why I love that car.

When they announced they were going to build the road cars, it was clear they were going to be very exclusive, and actually Andrew and I were on the Tour Auto and we got talking about it, then when we got back we sent in a video of ourselves doing the special stage in our original car. I think it was about six months later it came through that we had got a car — we were really lucky!

Little did we know how special it was going to be, that in 2018 they delivered just 80 cars to Europe, only 12 of those were UK cars and they haven’t delivered a single car in 2019 or 2020.

They say there’s a second batch coming but I’m fairly sceptical that there actually is, because as I understand it, they’re having lots of emissions problems, so I think we’ve got ourselves a very rare and special car.

That isn’t the reason I haven’t done enough miles in it, it’s more because last year I was just so busy racing and going to concours events and auctions and all the stuff we do with work, whereas this year I’ve done so many more miles because I haven’t had anything to do at the weekend, and I’ve gone to a couple of events in the car so it’s been nice to get some mileage under its belt.

Tell us about the spec.

In terms of specification, Ford adopted something quite interesting and quite revolutionary, and I actually think it’s the future of ordering new cars. I don’t necessarily see the future in brand-new car showrooms. I think with CGI and VR, people will perhaps go into a booth somewhere and they’ll spec the car that way; they’ll put the goggles on, look around and say no I don’t want that I want this, and it is happening within dealerships, so at some point people are going to ask why we need these new car dealerships, they’re just a facility to deliver cars, and that’s how Ford delivered these cars in the UK. A lot of the bits are built here in the UK; the interior is made in the UK, the lights are

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made in the UK. Some of the people who own these various businesses making parts happen to be customers of mine, and just coincidentally, I’ve gone to their businesses and realised they’re making all these bits, and they’re shipped out to Multimatic in Canada where the cars are built.

Multimatic also have a facility here to service the car but there is no dealership, so we actually did the ordering of the car online, and you’re only given a very limited number of specifications.

You had four interior options, five exterior options and then there were caliper choices, sports exhaust and stuff like that, so you couldn’t personalise the cars massively, which for us was a bit of a problem because we couldn’t have the stripe to match our GT40.

So, we went for the modern grey which I think is Liquid Grey, we went for the Light Speed interior which is the higher spec interior with the blue Alcantara and leather seats, and originally we went for red calipers to match the original car which had red spinners, but we decided in the end to go for blue calipers because it just wasn’t going to look right. I’m really pleased with the way it came out, and then when it came to the UK, we put the stripe on with vinyl and PPF’d over it which you can do these days, and obviously it can come off if ever we want it to.

The spec is very much a modern interpretation of chassis 1029, the original GT40 we have, and it works really well. Having them as a pair, when people see them, they get it, and how often can you do that? I’m always surprised with F12 TDFs that people didn’t copy the original liveries of Tour de Frances, apart from the car we had, the 0585 homage; everyone loved that and I can’t understand why people didn’t do it more, but each to their own I guess.

What was the buying process like?

Once we’d ordered the GT, the buying process was pretty straightforward in terms of deposit, then when the car was about to arrive we had to pay the balance of course, but they delivered the car to us with a Ford concierge service, which I think is the future. Quite often I will sell cars and never meet the guy I’ve sold it to, we’ll just deliver the car to them in our truck. If it’s a firsttime purchase or a more complicated car, I’ll go along and do the handover.

That’s exactly what Ford did, because I guess they see their clients as being busy, plus they don’t have anywhere salubrious to hand it over, they don’t have anywhere like Maranello to hand the car over, no one wants to go to Ford Dagenham to go and pick up their Ford GT. So, they delivered it to us and handed the car over properly with someone who knew the car inside out, talked us through all the controls and all the stuff that came with it and it was very useful, because I never read the instruction manual for anything, so I actually knew right from the start how everything works, and it was a good way to do it.

They have this concierge system so when it came to servicing the car, they picked it up and it went to Multimatic, was serviced there then came back and they dealt with all the little niggly things like our number plate falling off, which was our fault for not fitting it properly. It’s been a very easy process, and you definitely feel exclusive. You realise there are only 12 cars in the UK and they’re looking after them in this tiny sort of bubble, it’s very good.

Credit: Luke Gilbertson Credit: Luke Gilbertson

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It’s in a bracket at about £600,000 new if you were lucky enough to get one, between £700,000 and £800,000 today if you buy one second-hand, and I’ve had a lot of people really surprised at how much the car is, but then when you work from the other end and compare it to other cars that are out there, it’s actually quite good value. Don’t forget that the 2005 car was just an updated version of a 40-year-old design with a supercharger, they didn’t do much more to it, whereas this is a proper carbon tub, very very special, very very trick.

It really is a special occasion car, partly because it’s slightly compromised in its usability because it’s big and it doesn’t have a long-range fuel tank or a big boot and cubby holes. It’s got to be the right occasion for the car so you do tend to use it a bit less than you would. When I had a 599 GTO, I’d jump in it any time, rain, snow, whatever, loads of bags in the boot, race kit and it would do everything so well.

How long have you owned it?

As of October 2020, we’ve had the car for two years. We’ve used it mainly on the road to just go to and from race meetings and things like that although it’s proved a little bit impractical because it basically has no boot.

We’ve been to a few events but I’d love to get it on track at some point; I don’t usually do track days because of all the racing I do, but the next time I’m invited to a track day I’ll definitely take someone up on that opportunity and take the GT. The design of it is very much a raw racing car for the road and everyone says it’s pretty good on the road but take it to the track and it’s incredible.

What is it like to drive and own?

To summarise the drive, it’s very firm and it’s very planted. You have your different modes, Sport and Track, and you obviously want to have it in Track because it looks lower and you’ve got the big wing up but it becomes a bit unwieldy in that situation whenever you go over bumps.

In Sport though, because of that complicated suspension, it’s incredibly compliant, it just rides B roads really well.

It has a very clever gearbox; it’s a seven-speed double-clutch, it’s fast through the gears but it’s always thinking for you and always has the right gears selected. It’s almost like a seamless singleclutch system, and what I mean by that is it’s not too seamless like a double-clutch system usually is; it still has a slight rawness to it but it always knows what you’re about to do.

For long journeys on the motorway, it’s super comfortable. It’s got all the Ford navigation, radio, all that sort of stuff, even if it doesn’t have cubby holes and things to put your sunglasses in.

Despite the comfort, it comes alive when you throw it around country roads. It’s got such amazing traction, steering input is a little on the heavy side but I quite like that from a racing style car, tremendously good brakes and also

the seating position is just fantastic. You’re sitting in it like a race car and you barely have any adjustment on the seat at all bar a bit of recline, and you move the pedals to get to where you want.

It’s a really narrow cockpit but it has these really big mirrors which don’t look big from the outside, but once you’re in it you have really good visibility, and it’s got a reversing camera, so it’s an easy car to get on with. It does do A to B, no matter what the road very well, and ground clearance isn’t necessarily an issue because it has the different suspension heights depending on what mode you’re in.

I’d say the biggest criticism of it is that you can’t leave it in track mode while it’s turned off. I hate that! You go to turn it off and it just pops up, which is a bit of a party trick, but then when it’s parked there you want it to look mean and cool, and instead, it doesn’t look as good as it could do. It kind of annoys me but it’s a silly little thing.

What I think is surprising about the Ford GT is that it sits in a bracket that doesn’t really exist at the moment for other car manufacturers. It’s not a hypercar, but it’s way above a supercar. Maybe the new SF90 Stradale is going to fill that bracket as well and obviously they’ll do incredibly well but they’ll build a million of them.

It’s the sort of thing where, if you turn up to something like an SCD event, there won’t be another one there. It has heritage behind it, it’s a Le Mans winning chassis and it was built as a race car to be a road car, and it’s the third generation of a great series of cars, probably one of the most iconic race cars ever. I think even people who don’t necessarily know a lot about racing know what a GT40 is.

It’s got so much going for it. It’s already built into that brand, and yes it has a Ford badge, but that’s kind of part of the attraction of it. It’s not your obvious Italian, it’s not over-styled, it’s very much form follows function, and that’s why it looks like it does and why it looks so good, because it was developed from such a great racing car.

The Ford isn’t that car, it’s not a grand tourer that’s been made a bit more sporty, it’s a race car for the road, so it’s always special when you get in it and it’s always surprising. It’s never quite what you expect or what you remember, especially because it’s got the V6 which a lot of people say is a shame, but it’s such a clever engine and it was part of the reason they did so well at Le Mans.

I think they were actually quite ahead of their time in the way they designed the car, the way they put the bits together and the spec sheet of it. It’s the way things are going — lightweight cars with small-capacity turbocharged engines, and it’s really clever. If you look at those venturi ducts on the back, they’re doing something, the rear wings and the massive haunches, and they’re not buttresses like on a 599 that just look cool, they’ve got the radiators in them so they have to be there, and they give the car support, rigidity and strength. Even the brake lights, they’re hollow in the centre because they let air out, they do something — the car is so well designed.

Are there cars available for sale and are they worth it?

Is it possible to find one? Yes, of course there are cars out there that people will sell for a premium. Do I think it’s worth it? Absolutely. I think the Ford GT, like the F40, is an iconic car, and what’s always held the F40 back is that there are a few too many of them, until you try and find a really good car. The difference with the Ford GT is that it’s an extremely rare car and they’ve got so much behind them heritage-wise and technology-wise. It’s compromised in its usability but it’s always a special occasion, much like an F40.

So you can buy a car out there and they’re a really good thing to have. Rather than the millions people are paying for certain other cars from other manufacturers, I’d have a Ford GT and an F40 and something else any day of the week. @dkengineering

Watch the video on youtube.com

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One of a Kind

We take a trip to The Lewis Motor Collection aka Zach’s Garage to spend the day with SCD member Zach and his spectacular bespoke Koenigsegg Regera.

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When did you first hear about the Regera?

The timeline is a bit odd because we ordered a Regera before we even thought about buying an Agera. The Agera came about in one afternoon when someone said there was a car in Japan and asked if we wanted it. With the Regera, me and my dad went to Geneva and we wanted to buy something more on the modern side as a spectacle of the car collection. I told my dad I had been around Koenigsegg and met a few Koenigsegg owners, so we should have a look at Koenigsegg.

So, we had a look at Koenigsegg, and we also had a look at Bugatti and Pagani, but the fact that, as soon as you walk onto the Koenigsegg stand, you’ve got Christian saying nice to meet you, here’s a drink, you’re chatting with everyone and instantly, before you’ve even thought about buying a car, you feel so welcome, and that was such an overwhelming thing. It was like wow, this is a company that really is fixated on making relationships so important.

I think we ordered about seven cars that day, the Regera and some smaller level cars, and in the morning, we woke up and went, god we’ve got to cancel some orders! The one car we didn’t cancel was the Koenigsegg because, for some reason, on a drunk evening it sounded like a sensible idea, and here it is.

What attracted you to Koenigsegg over other brands?

It was more the fact of the family aspect of it.

We’ve been around Bugattis, friends have had Bugattis, friends have had Paganis, but it was very much like buying from a company. The brief experience we had before we bought the Regera was most definitely that this is a family and you’re investing into a relationship as well as a car.

With these sort of cars, you want to have a relationship with the owner, but also the people who make them. To be able to call the factory whenever and have a nice conversation, and even call Christian, I don’t know any other company like that. You can’t exactly call Bugatti and speak to the owner of the company and have a good relationship with them, so that was a big factor in choosing Koenigsegg.

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How long did you own the Agera R for?

We owned the Agera for about two years. We bought it in December 2017 because we had the Regera coming and we wanted to be a part of the Koenigsegg family, so it was more to be invested into the social side of it.

Vmax was quite an interesting one with the Agera because I had never done top speed events, none of our family had and we didn’t have anything truly fast before the Agera.

Supervettura approached us and asked if we wanted to go along, and we were a little cautious, but we went along to it and it slowly turned into a competition between Koenigsegg owners of who could get the fastest top speed.

The One:1 held the record and, at that point, I was 18 years old and I didn’t think I’d be even driving it, let alone trying to set a record. I had Adam from SCD in the car with me at 230mph and that was pretty outrageous, that was something I’ll never forget.

What is the Koenigsegg buying experience like?

I would say surreal. It’s a long process; it doesn’t take a day to build these things, and they’re very open about that. There are going to be 80 cars, so it’s not like if you go over to Ferrari and they’re building a thousand of them, and there are even 500 Chirons. So, they tell you the wait is two years and there’s a good chance it’s going to be more because of R&D and multiple things, and that’s before you even spec the car.

So, depending on your options, it could take two years or it could take seven years, because everything is bespoke.

Our car took around three years, partially because of the level we went to on the spec. We went over to Sweden a couple of times to try and refine every nut and bolt, literally. We had colour samples of bolts to try and get them the right gold, the wheels took a month or two to make perfect in terms of getting the right sample and the blue took forever. To get it all as one took a long time, but it was 100% worth it.

When did you first drive the Regera?

It was the last time we went to finalise the spec of the car. The car was built and they wanted us to go over, tick it all off and make sure everything was fine. You’re met at the factory by Halldora and Christian, and when Halldora von Koenigsegg comes up to you and says, “I cannot wait for you to see your car”, that’s a moment I was like wow, this is going to be something, it sort of clicked that this is the car we’ve waited a long time for.

We went downstairs into the workshop and there it was, and I think it took me about an hour to get over it. I’ve never been speechless before but seeing that for the first time, I was genuinely blown away. I had no intention of driving the car, then Christian turned around to me and said, “Do you want to drive it?”, and of course I’m not going to turn that down! He hopped in the car with me and we went on a 45 minute trip driving the Regera for the first time.

I idolised Christian before we had anything to do with Koenigsegg, so to be sitting in your Regera with Christian von Koenigsegg, telling jokes and having a laugh, it was a moment I’ll never ever forget, it was so surreal.

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Tell us about the car and the spec.

The car is a custom bespoke blue carbon with diamond in the lacquer accented by 24-carat gold lines which are hand applied and it has the bespoke blue Alcantara interior. It’s the first Regera to have the drift stitch pattern on the seats, gold stitching, gold bolts, and everything that was chrome or dark chrome is gold bar the centre console which is now grey. It’s the first Koenigsegg to have gold wheels.

It’s pretty crazy!

The car is producing around 1,800bhp. The hybrid battery gives about 700bhp and the internal combustion engine is 1,100, and once it’s trickled down all the way to the wheels, it’s running 1,500bhp. 0-60 is I think 2.8 and top speed is over 250mph and it’s the fastest car to do zero to 250mph and back to zero in around 31.5 seconds. The thing to wrap your head around is that’s back to zero, so 0-250mph is something like 21 seconds, and we will be doing it at Vmax.

One of the nicest things about Koenigseggs that they’ve always featured is that you can take the roof off. They say it takes one person but realistically, to be safe when you’re wielding a massive piece of carbon fibre with gold in it, you’re going to have two people doing it, but you can take it off easily, put it in the front and you’ve instantly got a targa which is really nice. The one problem is there’s no storage in the car, so if you take the roof off and put it in the front you instantly lose all storage. We always joke saying that if you see a Koenigsegg, generally you’ll see a Rolls Royce behind it following with the luggage, because you can’t put anything in it bar a tiny little travel bag.

What is it like to drive?

It’s great, but to have people around you is a pain. What happens is, people who don’t know what it is want to know what it is and people who do know what it is are even worse. So, you’re driving along on the motorway and you have vans cutting you up, driving really aggressively just to get photos, and obviously you don’t want to just say go away because they’re passionate about the cars.

One thing that’s nice about it though is the visibility. It takes a lot of getting used to because it’s like a fighter jet, but once you get used to it, it’s an experience and personally I love it. One thing that’s strange if you hop out of that and into something like a Pista, the cabin feels huge in the Pista even though the actual volume of space is bigger in the Koenigsegg, so you feel confined but you have a lot of space.

In terms of noise at 70mph, it’s minimal as you’re probably only doing 2,000rpm so that’s quite strange, but it’s lovely because if you go on a long journey, it’s really pleasant when you cruise along, but when you put your foot down, the revs peak.

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When did you first go full throttle?

The first time we properly went for it in the car, it was quite strange because it wasn’t what I was expecting. It was much more than I was expecting. I was expecting something like the Agera which is instantly aggressive, pause for gearshift, then aggressive again, so it gives you that split-second break. Because this is so much faster and there is no gear change, you’re almost begging for a gear change because you’re being pushed so hard into your seat, and the faster you go, it’s not like it peters off, it keeps accelerating harder and harder and harder. It’s the only car I’ve been in where you get thrown into your seat and then pushed harder. The gearshift in a normal car gives you some relief, but in this it is relentless.

What are your future plans with the car?

In terms of trips and top speed runs, we want to do stuff with SCD, because we’ve never been able to do a proper tour with you guys, so we 100% want to do that and go from there really.

We’re very relaxed. Generally, if someone says they’ve got an event on next Sunday, we’ll go,

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as long as it’s not in Sweden or Switzerland or somewhere really far, we’re pretty open. That’s why people who organise events get annoyed with us because they ask if we can come to this event in six months’ time and I say ask me the day before and there’s a good chance I’ll come!

Is it a keeper?

It is definitely a keeper for the time being. We bought this car to keep and enjoy. Luckily it isn’t mileage-dependent; I think we did 8,000 miles in two years in the Agera, so this one we’re probably going to do more.

There’s always going to be something prettier and faster, so you find something you love and you stick with it, and I can’t see anything being more enjoyable than the Regera.

What has your SCD experience been like?

We’ve been members now for two or three years now. I’ve always been sceptical of car clubs; we’ve hosted hundreds of car clubs at the museum, all for charity, and they’re all the same,

but when I was approached by Adam, it was very interesting because it was once again, referring back to the Koenigsegg thing, more of a familybased thing.

I was calling Adam at 11 o’clock some nights chatting about events and things like that, and so we were debating joining and we thought, we’ve got the collection, they host amazing events, and when they’re not hosting them, they’re turning up to all the events we were at!

It means we can go to events with a whole new group of friends and people who are like-minded and it means that we get access to stuff that we wouldn’t normally; even with a Koenigsegg you don’t get access to certain things, and SCD have always been spot on every time — there’s genuinely no other club like it. @zachs_garage

Watch the video on youtube.com

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ferrari Porsche Ferrari vs Porsche is a hotly debated topic and both are masters of supply and demand. We catch up with Carl Hartley to discuss the market and the brand’s hottest models.

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Ferrari vs Porsche, where do you stand?

I’m predominantly a Ferrari man. I’ve always loved the brand, loved the models, loved the drive. Porsche seem to make cars that are too good, if that makes sense. If it says it does 0-60 in 3.2, it does it in 3.2, I could do it in 3.2, my wife could do it in 3.2, Lewis Hamilton could do it in 3.2.

With a Ferrari, it’s always been if you’re a better driver, you’ll get more out of the car. I don’t feel like that has been the case with Porsche, so for that reason and for the flair, Italian looks, less sensible, less conservative nature, I like Ferrari.

What are your favourite Ferraris and Porsches you’ve sold?

One of my favourite cars of all time which we’re lucky enough to have sold recently is a Ferrari F50; I love an F50 and I’m going to say that’s my favourite Ferrari personally. A cool story about an F50 we sold once; a guy called up from Germany and he had a car but had it in storage in the UK. It was literally just the car, it didn’t come with a soft top, driving boots, all the add ons that an F50 comes with, so we bought it quite cheap knowing these bits had to be bought for the car.

As you can imagine, trying to find an F50 soft top or the driving boots is nigh on impossible and you have to pay through the nose.

After we’d had the car in stock for about two weeks, the previous owner called me and said I’ve seen the chassis number, I think I used to own that car, and by the way, I’ve still got the original soft top, the original driving boots and the original handbooks if you want to come and collect them, so that was a result! I didn’t have to pay for them although I did, but I didn’t pay what I would have paid!

A Carrera GT is the best Porsche I’ve ever driven but not necessarily my favourite Porsche. I would say a 993 Turbo S is my favourite.

Let’s talk about the used values of both brands in general.

Over the years, Ferrari have dominated the supply vs demand sector of the car market.

There’s always more demand than there is supply. Porsche have always taken sort of a back seat in that scenario. Values have never held up as well as Ferraris, in fact no manufacturer has held up as well as Ferrari, but in recent years, the tide has changed slightly. Ferrari’s model cycles are becoming shorter and faster, where Porsche are prolonging them a bit longer and making more special models.

A rear-engine V8 Ferrari has always been the king of holding its value. You could have a 360 for one or two years and not to lose any money selling it back to the dealer you bought it from.

That was when numbers were kept a lot lower than they are now.

Porsche have always been very good with residuals but they always lost money. The Carrera 4S and Turbos would go over list to start with, but then they’d fall out of bed and be quite heavily discounted.

Now Ferrari have upped their business model to where they want to make 10 to 12 thousand cars per year, and there are a few special models in there that aren’t really that special anymore.

A special model Ferrari used to be 350 to 500 pieces, now it’s 1,500 to 2,000 pieces. Porsche

have caught them up in that sense and residual values on Ferraris are still good, but not as good as they were.

How do the manufacturers work supply vs demand?

The strategy was to have every new Ferrari and you have to sell it back to the dealer you bought it from in order to get on the list for the next new Ferrari that’s going to be over list, so in the meantime, you have to take a GTC4 Lusso that’s going to lose 40% of it’s value in the first year, to be able to drive a Pista that wouldn’t cost you any money. That worked for a while for these manufacturers, but I think everyone has woken up to the fact that they’re losing more money now than they’re actually gaining or saving.

I also think it ruins the experience. I’ve got customers who are long-term Ferrari customers driving cars they don’t want. They’re being forced to have them, it’s like blackmail; if you don’t have this, then you won't get the next car. So, people would prefer to come to us, for example, and say I didn’t get a Pista new, I cut my ties a bit with Ferrari, I didn’t take a California T, I didn’t take a GTC4 Lusso, so I didn’t get a Pista, so I’ll pay you £40,000 over list for your Pista, because in my own head, I’m saving £40,000 or £50,000 because I’d have lost £50,000 on the Lusso and I’d have lost £40,000 on the California just to get a Pista at list to my own spec, which is probably only Rosso Corsa with a NART stripe anyway.

Ferrari is a business and they need to make as much money as possible, and if that’s part of their business strategy then they’ve been very good at it. Not a lot of people have complained over the years, but they’re starting to complain now. I’m not going to say I don’t blame them, but business is business. Do they care how Joe Bloggs feels on his way home in his GTC4 Lusso he doesn’t want? No, but that model type is starting to change a bit.

That ship has sailed. People are becoming less and less bothered now what manufacturers think they do with their cars. They’re waking up and saying you know what, it’s my car, it’s my money I worked hard for, if I want to sell it and earn some money, then I will. If I don’t want to take this car that I know I’m going to lose 25, 35, 40% on in the first year, then I won’t and you can’t tell me that I have to.

Because of that, Ferrari have become more relaxed because they have to be. They’re no longer telling their best customers they have to take a front-engine V12 Ferrari at new list price because they’re thinking he won’t, he’s going to go to Tom Hartley and sell them his car at whatever price, so let’s try and meet in the middle somewhere.

Why do you think some Ferrari customers are getting more frustrated with the brand?

1,978, that’s not special, that’s not rare, there are nearly 2,000 of these cars! Back in the day, there were less than 10 or 15 of some of the special 964s, and 993s were the same. We’ve got a 997 GT2 Clubsport and there are very few hundreds of them; in right-hand drive, I think there were 18 or 20. You tell me how many 911 Speedsters are UK-supplied. It’s normally 10% but the UK is a big market for Porsche so it might be more, so there could be over 200 Speedsters just in the UK, and these people expect premiums.

Is the Pista truly special with so many units produced?

Let’s focus on the Pista Coupe for a minute because the Spider is a different kettle of fish, there are a lot less of them and hardly any for sale on the market so once again supply and demand kicks in and you go into premium mode, which is what the car is doing.

Pista Coupes have been out longer and you do see them for sale at under list. It’s a special car as far as cars go. It’s super quick, looks great, handles great, I don’t know what more you could want it to do. It’s a very special car, but is it a special edition car? No, it’s not. It’s not a car that should be looked upon as a special edition because of the numbers made. There are more Pistas made than Speciales, and a Speciale wasn’t exactly the rarest car in the world. I think a special car has to be less than 1,000 units in total, so if they make a Spider and a Coupe, that means 500 of each. If there’s any more than that, it’s not a special car.

Compared to a GT2 RS which is making a premium still, the difference is that there was a gap in prices to begin with, the Pista was quite a bit more expensive than a GT2 RS, about £70,000 more. There are rumours that there are 1,000 cars worldwide, so if you go on 10% into the UK again, there’s 100 so now you’re getting into lower numbers.

I heard through the grapevine, nothing confirmed because they’ll never tell you, but apparently there are 2,500 Pista Coupes and 1,200 Spiders being delivered, so there are half as many Spiders and obviously they will always maintain better residual values than the Coupe.

We also have a Pista Piloti which is a very rare car. Numbers are getting thrown around all over but apparently there was supposed to be 51 made but then that was only 51 for Europe and then another 50-odd for the US. No one really knows, but they’re rare.

As far as your run-of-the-mill Pista goes, what’s also not helping the value of them is the F8, because the F8 does everything the Pista does a little bit better, and it’s a hell of a lot less money, and it’s a production car that I’m pretty sure, in a month or two, Joe Bloggs who’s never bought a Ferrari before could go into Ferrari and buy.

I’ve heard a few people tell me they’re not happy about not having their Pista yet and being invited to the launch of the F8. They’re wondering where their previous model is while Ferrari are wanting them to order the next one. They’re just churning out more cars. Most manufacturers are guilty of it, Porsche are guilty of it too.

If you look back not long ago, when Porsche did a special car, they were proper limited numbers, now a special car like a 911 Speedster is one of

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How have COVID production delays affected the market?

I think the delay in manufacturing and delivering new cars has happened across all brands.

Not on the Ferrari and Porsche subject, but the Lamborghini Urus did really well, then completely fell out of bed, you could go into Lamborghini and they had them all over the shop, you could even get a discount on them.

Now, once again, you can’t get them until next June or July. It’s the same with the Mercedes G-Wagon. Before, you could go into a Mercedes dealer and they’d probably get you one in a few weeks. Now, it’s more like nine months.

The demand for new cars is there but they can’t deliver them so used cars have sustained a high value because they can’t keep dropping when there’s nothing to push them back.

With plenty of 812s hitting the market, tell us about used values.

Residual values on V12 Ferraris have never been very good. They cost a lot of money to start of with and depreciate a hell of a lot more than the V8 Ferraris. If you look at the 599 and the F12, the 812 has only done the same thing. It’s a great car and it’s great value for money, for instance I’ve got one in that cost £365,000 new 10 months ago, it’s done 800 miles and it’s now £260,000, so that’s £105,000 depreciation, but that’s just what you get with the front-engine V12s.

We were the first to set the market on 812s and tell people to forget the price they’re advertised

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at, this is the real price. It was simple trial and error but we’d seen that 812s were struggling in the market, and they were struggling at nearly-new price, nearly £350,000, so I wonder if they’ll struggle at £300,000, so we’d buy one, put it on at £299,950 and see what happens. It’d take a bit longer to sell and we’d sell it for say £285,000, so the next time we buy an 812, we know £285,000 is about the price for that car. I’d have to be guessing, but since then I think we’ve sold around 30 of them.

So from there, that’s how it happens and we make it easy for every other dealer I suppose, because once somebody sees a car we have advertised for £279,950 or whatever, if a customer thinks his 812 is still worth £310,000 because a main Ferrari dealer has one up at £340,000, another dealership can just say look, there’s another one retail there at £279,950 at Tom Hartley, how can your car be worth £30,000 more in the trade? So, you’re welcome to all the used car dealers out there!

The 812 GTS is a risky car for me as a dealer. It looks unbelievable and it’s the first time Ferrari have done a V12 front-engine convertible that isn’t a special series car. With the 599 they did the SA Aperta but they only made 80, that was a limited car. With the 812 GTS, there’s no limited number, but I have heard also that numbers will be nothing like the 812 coupe, so until Ferrari confirm the number they’re making of these, even if it’s not the truth, then we’ll know what sort of area we’re looking at. What I know for sure is that the first batch of 812 GTS will sell for a premium. Where will they be in 12 months? I don’t know.

If someone called me with an 812 GTS for sale tomorrow, I would use the same technique we’ve used here for 47 years which is to go on gut instinct, and there’s always someone out there who will pay a premium for a new model Ferrari no one else has yet. For that reason I’d pay over list, I’d give substantially over list, but it’s a pure risk. Sometimes I’ve given over list for the first cars and they haven’t turned out to be over list cars because, a week later, everyone in the country has one. Sometimes I’ve paid over list for a car and thought I’d paid top money to have the first one, then had to pay twice as much to have the second one, so it’s a gamble.

What about long-term values of the 599 GTO and F12 TDF?

Two great cars. The GTO is slightly older and more of a limited car, one of 599. We sold a lefthand-drive example last week that I sort of wish we didn’t sell because I feel like we undersold it, but it had sat in stock for a while and I like to keep things moving. It was the first time I looked at a 599 GTO and thought that’s good value.

They’ve never been good value! For the car, for the engine, for the limited number, for the drive, for the looks and for the price.

Compare it to something. We sold it for £375,000 and that’s a lot of money for a car, don’t get me wrong, but it’s one of 599, it carries the GTO badge which only two other cars ever have for Ferrari, and they’re doing pretty good value-wise, and it’s the same price as a new 812 GTS or whatever it may be. Bare in mind I’ve sold right-hand drive GTOs at £600,000, £700,000,

£800,000, they were never good value, and now at say £475,000 if you add £100,000 for righthand drive, they are showing better value for a proper limited car that carries the GTO badge — I think they’re a good buy.

The F12 TDF is going down the same path. They were up for a million quid at one point and now they are £600,000 to £650,000. People get scared and think no one wants them because of how they’re plummeting in value, but every car needs to find it’s true value once they’ve all been made and delivered. Once all the customers around the world have their cars and they’ve stopped making them, they need to settle down.

When they’re still being made, demand is high, people want one and can’t get one from Ferrari, so the cars are worth more, they’re exchanging more and selling for over list. I think F12 TDFs have found their place, as I think 599 GTOs have.

We currently have a stunning one-owner-fromnew, UK-supplied F12 TDF, Tailor Made so the spec is just immense. It’s Blu Pozzi with a TDF stripe, all the extras ticked and I look at that and think it shows good value at £649,950.

What are your thoughts on the 991.1 against the 991.2 GT3 RS?

I’m going to throw another one in there as well, the 991.2 Weissach. There isn’t a massive difference in price between a Gen 1 and Gen 2 non-Weissach, because there can’t be, it’s a slightly tweaked version of the same car.

The Weissach though is different, it’s a bit lighter, it does drive differently and it’s a bit quicker around a track.

If I’m going to spend my money on a 991 GT3 RS, the best value is the 991.2 non-Weissach because it isn’t much more than a 991.1, but a lot less than a 991.2 Weissach, so if you’ve got £160,000 - £180,000 you should buy a 991.2 GT3 RS non-Weissach.

What about the Speedster and GT2 RS?

I don’t think you can really compare a Speedster to a GT2 RS in terms of residual values because a GT2 RS will forever be an in-demand car. There are a lot less of them than there are Speedsters and there’s a reason people do backflips to get one, it’s because, to drive, there really is nothing like them.

A Speedster is a cool car because it’s basically a GT3 convertible and it goes through the whole line of Speedsters but they made 1,948 of them.

The last model Speedster, the 997, they made 356 worldwide, 31 came to the UK. The 993 Speedster was so rare, a lot of people don’t even know they made one, they made less than 50.

If they took the same approach and let’s say they made 500 Speedsters, people who collect Speedsters, and I have customers who do collect Speedsters from the 356 all the way up, they would be so pleased if they continued such a rare variation of Porsche, but the 991 Speedster isn’t a rare car.

Holy Trinity values have settled but the LaFerrari is holding strong.

Why?

They’ve all dropped down in value recently as has everything in the world, but the LaFerrrari is still maintaining a higher level of price than the other two. Why is that? Because it’s a Ferrari.

The McLaren P1 is a better value car; 375 made, incredible car by an incredible brand and they should be a lot more money. The Porsche 918 Spyder is one of 918 so they made nearly three times as many as a P1.

The LaFerrari sits bang in the middle as one of 500 cars, but it’s a Ferrari, it’s got that prancing horse badge. As soon as you put that on a car, the whole value changes. If you put a Ferrari badge on a McLaren 720S, it’d be a £300,000 car, used.

I don’t think a 918 Spyder will ever get down to list because they were just shy of £500,000 if you got the Euro exchange right, so they weren’t as expensive compared to a P1 and LaFerrari. I have a P1 at the minute at basically list price. It’s an MSO P1 and it’s probably less than list to tell the truth. The LaFerrari was £1.2 million list and they’re never going to come down to that, and that’s why I think a P1 is a great buy. Take my advice, anyone out there who has £1 million to £1.2 million, go buy yourself a P1 and thank me later.

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What about Lamborghini?

I love Lamborghini. I think it’s a great brand and anyone who knows me knows that my go-to personal car, when I have a driving licence, is some kind of Lamborghini, predominantly the Aventador. I ran an Aventador from 2012 to 2017, not the same car but I always had an Aventador in those years.

One thing that really does my head in with Lamborghini is the gearbox in the Aventador. If they could get the Performante gearbox in an Aventador, it’d be game over. I’d feel sorry for every other manufacturer who would have to compete with this spaceship looking car that drives like a dream. But for every upside, there’s a downside. The upside of an Aventador is the looks; it looks unbelievable, the doors are so dramatic, the sound is great. The downside is it’s a pig to drive, an absolute pig, but if you went to dinner in an Aventador without a Mrs, you’d definitely come back with one!

Once again I’m going to touch on a very good value car which is a Huracan Performante, especially a Spyder, because numbers of Spyders were low, a lot less than a Speciale. A good used 2012, low-mile Ferrari 458 Italia is £150,000, and I can sell them all day at that kind of money. How is a five-year younger car which drives like chalk and cheese, a Performante Coupe, the same price? With the Spyder, there are three Huracan Performante Spyders for sale in the country right now, and that will always help values.

At the moment, SVs show good value for money compared to an SVJ, but I’ve changed that this week. I put up for sale a 2019 Aventador SVJ for £315,000. Compare that to a 2016 no-warranty, patchy service history SV coupe at £275,000, where are you going? If SVJs were £350,000, I’d say the SV is the better car, but at £315,000 it’s an absolute no-brainer. It costs you £6,000 for a warranty on an SV through Lamborghini. so by the time you put two years warranty on which the cars have now, you’re at £295,000, or for £20,000 more, you can have a whole different car.

SVJ compared to Pista and GT2 RS is a difficult question. They’re all so different and I want all three! GT2 RS doesn’t suit my lifestyle; obviously not at the minute because I don’t have a driving licence, but if I have a car, I use it every day. You couldn’t use a GT2 RS every day. Imagine telling your wife we’re going out for dinner, get your dress on, get your heels on, get your hair done, strap yourself in a GT2 RS with the roll cage, the harnesses and the sports seats and let’s have a quick flying lap around the Nurburgring.

The Pista is a great car, but compared to the other two is a little bit boring if I’m honest. SVJ, come on now, the Pista and GT2 RS do not look like an SVJ, it just looks insane. It doesn’t have a very good gearbox, but I’m going to go SVJ because I’m really shallow.

What are your thoughts on upcoming models from the brands?

There’s a lot of talk talk about with the SF90, there’s an 812 lightweight and rumours of an 812 lighweight GTS, and the other one is the 992 GT3, GT3 RS etc. I don’t like how Porsche are making so many RS versions of cars. I think, and I think Porsche enthusiasts would agree with me,

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they should have made a 997 GT3 RS, a 991 GT3 RS, a 992 GT3 RS, but they’re not, there’s a Gen 1, a Gen 2, a Weissach, then something else, so it no longer feels that special. Recently I bought a 993 Carrera RS and that was a special, special car. There were just 18 cars with the Clubsport package brought to the UK, and I just wish Porsche would stay more on those lines. Let’s make cars special again and use these badges for special cars — there’ll be a Boxster RS in a minute! It’s like Ferrari bringing out an F8 GTO, 812 GTO, something else GTO, how many cars can they call a GTO? There’s a lot of talk about the SF90; what it’s going to be, how special it’s going to be. I don’t know if I’m just being incredibly slow here, but I don’t understand where it fits in Ferrari’s model range, and I don’t see how it can be hyped up as what it is. It’s not that much quicker than an F8 Tributo, it doesn’t look that much different than an F8 Tributo, it costs at least twice as much but half the price or less compared to a LaFerrari

successor. Ferrari would usually do something like that with a V12, but they’ve done it for the first time with a rear-engine V8, so I don’t really know how I feel about the SF90 at the moment, but I’m going to say that I don’t really get it.

Finally, can we drive the F50?

No you can’t drive the F50 for three reasons. It’s pouring down with rain today and the roof is off.

Number two, it’s sold, and number three, it’s an F50. You guys can pretty much come and drive anything you want here, but not an F50, unless you send Jonty, I want Jonty to drive the F50. @carlhartley1

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We spend the day with SCD member and mountain biking champion Matt Jones in his backyard playground to talk about his career so far and his journey to buying his first supercar.

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The first day of lockdown, we put shovels in the ground and started building this. It’s kept me occupied and busy making YouTube videos and trying out new tricks and things, but mostly it’s just been a distraction from not travelling and not competing, and channelling all my attention into something I think is pretty cool.

Where did your passion for four wheels as well as two come from?

My whole life growing up, it was all about two wheels. It was just bikes, getting up in the air, doing tricks, and I don’t really know what happened to transition over to four wheels and having an interest in cars, because I’ve never been exposed to cars, I’ve never been to races, none of my friends had cars, but I just started watching YouTube videos and learning more, and it was the education process that made me so much more interested in them. As I found out more about engines and technology, I was way more fascinated with the actual product, and then somewhere along the lines, I guess I kind of qualified to buy the cars.

I saved up and got a C63 which was my absolute dream car. I never imagined I’d have a V8 car, let alone a proper German, what I considered a supercar. Now, a few years on, that’s still my dream car, I can’t say that these are because the C63 was it, but it’s gone into a whole different realm in the last few months, and I have some pretty special cars that I love.

At what point did you get a break to allow to you to buy your first supercar?

When did you start your career in mountain biking?

I started mountain biking when me and my twin brother discovered some jumps in the woods, but as a career, it was when I left school and chose not to go to university and go to mountain biking events all over the world, and it kind of played out alright, so I’m still doing it today, seven years down the line!

How long have you been with Red Bull?

Red Bull sponsored me when I was just coming up for turning 18 which was a dream come true.

In mountain biking, extreme sports and action sports, Red Bull is like the pinnacle; they’re a properly prestigious sponsor, I never thought that would happen, and when it did, it literally changed my life. They’re still supporting me now seven years later and we do awesome projects and events together.

What are your career highlights?

Over my career, I’ve been ranked number one in the UK quite a few times and ninth in the world, which is pretty good but I always wanted a bit more than that! The main thing is I’ve learnt quite a few tricks that no one has ever brought to competitions, like 720 no-handers and did a

backflip where I landed stood on this big log up in the air which was quite cool. I’ve won events in Colorado in America, France, Switzerland and quite a few different countries, but I’ve also had quite a few big crashes and smashed myself to bits, so you take the rough with the smooth!

What have you got planned for this year?

So far this year, it’s been cancellation after cancellation. I was supposed to be travelling loads and visiting new places but it’s a bit of a waiting game to be honest. There’s a big event in America called Red Bull Rampage which is coming around in October so hopefully we’ll be back in business then, and Innsbruck Austria in September, so there are a few events which are going to be cool but yeah, it’s been a weird old year being sat at home, which kind of led to this playground.

Tell us about the track you’ve built here.

This is my lockdown back yard setup. It was just a grass field in a nice location and I’ve absolutely dug it up and churned it into a mountain bike freestyle area where there are jumps everywhere, pump tracks and stuff, and that was all because I was stuck at home in lockdown, and I’d have gone mad within two days!

I won a few competitions and you literally win cash at these events, so you fly home, turn it into pounds and I saved every penny for a car, to the point where I drove down south to buy my first C63 Estate when I was 19, bought it but didn’t have enough money left over to insure it, so I had to go back with insurance because I didn’t even consider that at the time!

I sold that to buy a house because all my savings were tied up in this depreciating car, then saved up again to buy another C63, this time a Coupe which I still had a year ago. I drove around with my bike on the roof and took it everywhere. It was so loud, it was a ridiculous thing and I wouldn’t be able to have it now, I’d be embarrassed!

Then, in the last 12 months, stuff has really progressed and I’ve fallen in a position where on AutoTrader you’re not looking at the £30k mark, suddenly you’re looking at over £100k mark, which is ridiculous. I had to learn quick and figure out what cars fit into that category and it turned out the GT3 was the ultimate. It’s been a daily driver and I’ve also taken it on track, and then the Perf is a step up again.

I had never had a four-wheel-drive car, but I was stoked that it’s naturally-aspirated as all the cars I’ve owned have been. Just for how much drama and theatre there is and what the thing looks like, to own something like that is a step beyond the GT3 for me, but they complement each other I think — they’re a right pair!

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When did you buy the GT3?

I bought the GT3 at the end of November 2019.

I had never sat in one, never driven one, and had to pay a pretty big deposit just to take it on a test drive, so that was my little insight into driving one and I loved it. The gravelly engine and everything was so different to anything I had experienced before.

I did want a Gen 2 but I went with a Gen 1, just with all the options on it. I wanted ceramic brakes, I don’t know why, I needed front lift otherwise I wouldn’t have got into this field today, so options were pretty important. As a car, no one can fault it. Everyone on YouTube, everyone I’ve met who’s driven them just say they’re the best, so in that category and price range, I thought I at least had to give it a try and see what all the fuss is about.

What is it like to drive?

The GT3 is so involving for me. Taking it on a track, every lap I go around and get faster, I can’t believe I just trumped the last lap. The experience of the grip, how it turns in, how early you can get on the power out of a corner is unbelievable, insane. Having had a C63 which I span off the road into a ditch, ever since I’ve been so careful of rear-wheel-drive cars, the GT3 just looks after me —it’s the best, honestly the best.

The brakes are astonishing, and you’ve got to think that I don’t have people around me with supercars, so every time I brake harder, that’s

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the first time I’ve experienced those forces, and it’s the same with cornering, so it’s been really cool learning. I might be a bit early to the GT3, I probably should have come up through the ranks a bit more, I might not have earned my place in one, but maybe in a few months or few years, I’ll be able to do the lap times to do it proud.

When did you add the Performante to the garage?

I’ve only had the Perf for about a month. I got it from Romans, from Bonnie, one of the salesladies there and she was the best. She made it so easy to buy that car because I was pretty nervous. Having only got the GT3 six months before, having another car like it in the line-up was obviously a big outgoing and quite nerve-racking, but she, I guess as salespeople do, made it very convincing and I love it.

It’s so different to the GT3. To own two cars, I think they have to have elements that complement each other, but also be quite different. The four-wheel drive feels amazing, the launches in it are ridiculous, but the sound and the looks of it I think are what steered me towards it. Weirdly, the normal Huracan never interested me, but when I saw the Performante, found out about the Nurburgring time, the active aero system and all that, just all that tech in a road-legal product got me really excited about it, so I was on the hunt straight away and Romans had the best deal.

What is it like to drive?

To be honest, I haven’t driven the Perf how I really want to yet. That’s the one I took on the SCD South Downs drive, but I want to take it on a track and I want to go abroad and hit some proper passes, so I’m not in a position to say how epic it drives yet, but the sound of it is ludicrous and you can even see the pipes glowing when you’re behind it. It’s a crazy bit of kit, and bronze wheels are a must — to have a car with bronze wheels feels pretty sick!

It is insanely fast and handles so good, but I need to really push it and get someone to show me the ropes maybe to tell you what it’s capable of as I’m not there yet.

Could you pick a favourite?

To compare the two cars is difficult and it would be even harder to say which one I would keep.

I’m yet to really discover how epic the Huracan is and what it can really do for me, but if you told me someone had broken into my house and stolen one, I think I’d go out and hope the GT3 was still there because I’m pretty attached to it as my first supercar, having taken it on tracks and had an ear-to-ear grin in it, so I wouldn’t want to lose that.

In a few months’ time, maybe I’ll be saying that about the Perf and I’d keep that forever, but I’ve got two for a reason because they are different, they’re not two of the same thing, but right now it’s the GT3 that’s number one for me — I love the thing.

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When and why did you join SCD?

I wasn’t really aware of SCD and what you guys do, or that there were even clubs like that out there where members could meet up and join in the same drive, but my mate Ed who has been a member for a few years and has some cool cars, he was a friend of a friend, saw that I had some cool cars and got in touch to say I should get involved and become a member.

None of my friends have cars where we’re going to go on drives together and I prefer to stick to bikes with the friendship circle I’ve built through bikes, and I’m looking for that access to people who have a passion for cars and have cool cars, so the fact that that exists as an opportunity is great.

It seemed like a no-brainer, but I joined during lockdown, so there were no events on the calendar, so I’ve been checking it all the time and finally went out on a drive in august around the South Downs which was honestly the best day I’ve had in a car in my entire life. There were three other Perfs there, and until that point, I had only ever seen one in real life, there were GT3s, going through these insane roads and to have a lead driver who knew the way with walkie talkies, I’ve told that story to everyone I know, and I can’t wait for more.

The big factor for me is like-minded petrolheads, all in one place, literally on the same road following each other, so you get to talk about an experience that’s just happened and then get back on the road, so that’s super new for me and a real buzz.

The way you can plan your year around driving events is great, they’re just all there in a long list of dates and venues ready for the taking.

Like I say I’ve only done the one, but I’m going to do a lot more and they’re all there. I travel the world for mountain biking and now there’s an opportunity to travel the world with cars — what more could you want? @mattjonesmtb

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SCD member and Porsche fan Spencer tells us about the often misunderstood 911 Sport Classic, why values are so high and why it deserves its place in his garage.

Written by: Matt Parker

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Much like Ferrari, Porsche is one of those brands which ignites a real passion and loyalty in so many people, and as you can see from the Riad’s images throughout this article, SCD member Spencer is one of those people. His love of Porsches started in 2010 when the Carrera GTS was launched at the end of the 997 run, and one of those was the first brand-new 911 he purchased.

Now, 10 Porsches later, Spencer has a very enviable trio of limited-run Porsches, the rarest of which is the 997 Sport Classic. Some love it, some don’t really understand it, so we catch up with Spencer about what the Sport Classic means to him.

“I remember walking into the dealership I used back in 2010 when the Sport Classic was first launched, and there was one sitting in the showroom”, Spencer tells us, “At first glance, I looked at it and couldn’t quite work out what it was, why they’d done it, what the paint colour was, why it was so much money, and I just stood there and thought I’m not sure I really get that car”, he admits.

“Most of the allocation of the UK cars was already determined before the cars came so no one really got the chance to buy one, a bit like the 991 Turbo S Exclusive Series. There are only 26 in the UK anyway, and all of a sudden, because they’re so rare, everybody wanted one and prices skyrocketed”.

So when did Spencer change his mind on the Sport Classic and decide he had to have one?

“Since I first saw the Sport Classic, I didn’t see one again for maybe three years. It was in a car park in London and I thought oh wow, that’s that car I saw, how cool is that?”, he remembers, “From that point on, I started researching and understanding, thinking that car is so cool, I need to find one of them and I’d love to buy one someday.

“In 2010, I wouldn’t have been able to buy one anyway, but you work harder, progress through life, you set yourself a target and think that’s the car I’d love to have, and that’s how my chase with the Sport Classic began”.

Spencer finally bought the Sport Classic you see here in 2017, so three years ownership should be plenty for Spencer to tell us about what makes a Sport Classic different to any other 997. “All Sport Classics came in the same spec, you couldn’t change it from factory. Exclusive Manufaktur decided on the spec, so you’ve got Exclusive Sport Classic grey exterior and the Chocolate leather interior with the woven door cards which is a nice touch. All of the bits and pieces on the car from the handbrake to the gear lever, the glove box and the seat inserts, everything is unique to this car. With only 250 ever being made, it’s a very special car.

“It sits in a widebody shell from the Carrera 4S and the ducktail spoiler is something not many people understood when it was launched, now though, everyone is mad for them. It was the first car Porsche designed with the indentation in the roof and now it’s on all the RS cars. It has Fuchs alloys, carbon-ceramic brakes, Exclusive Powerkit, but it’s a standard Carrera S really underneath with the Powerkit.

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So how does it drive compared to other Porsches? “It’s softer than a 997 GTS, but the Powerkit takes it to the same power. The GTS I had, being PDK, felt quicker than this, but this being manual is what makes all the difference”, Spencer tells us. And how does it stack up against the more hardcore models he’s owned?

“It’s very subtle. It’s not the fastest or loudest, but sometimes when you just want to go out for a nice drive, do you need all the drama, excitement and stiff suspension? Sometimes you just don’t, sometimes you just want to go on a nice drive and this car delivers every time I take it out.

“It doesn’t sit in the garage but I don’t use it as much as I should, and out of all the Porsches I’ve owned, this is the car that, to me, is the most pleasurable to drive. Like I said, it’s not the loudest, it’s not the quickest, but to me it’s very special. Every time you get in it, it’s an occasion, it’s a very nice car to be in and it’s a very nice car to drive, but people don’t really know what it is, so it’s not like a Ferrari where everyone is going wow look at that car. Unless you know what you’re looking at, it’s like oh there’s a Porsche there, that’s nice, and that to me is why it’s just so cool”.

It’s not just the driving either, Spencer is understandably smitten with the retro styling of the Sport Classic too, “Every time you look at it, you find something different, it’s that sort of car and it’s so unique in what it is, you could sit and look at it all day long. Through lockdown, I’ve made two of the garages into a gym and there’s space for one car to sit there, so whilst we’re training we’ve always got a car to look at, and more often than not, this one gets parked there for everyone to look at”.

It must be a keeper then, surely? “Out of all the cars I’ve owned on and off, Porsche is definitely under my skin and my children definitely have a big say in which cars stay and go. I have three boys and each one of them say they don’t really care what I do with any car I have at the moment, but this one has to stay. It’s got under the whole family’s skin. Even my wife who hates GT3s and doesn’t enjoy getting in them with me, she will actually enjoy coming in this car for a drive. A few weeks ago, we took it to London and it was a very nice day out in a very nice car, so if it gets her seal of approval, it’s definitely staying”, Spencer laughs.

Now, we couldn’t endure a five-hour drive to Kent without touching on the two other special Porsches which share a stable with the Sport Classic, so let’s start with the one of the same generation, the 997.2 GT3 RS, to find out why it has a place in Spencer’s garage. “The GT3 RS is Grey Black with Champagne decals and Champagne wheels. It was the launch colour but most people went with white and red. I’m not sure why but Grey Black is the colour to have.

Porsche GB still have theirs on their press fleet; they don’t usually keep them but they have and you’ll regularly see that car in the press, and they all speak highly of it.

“The 997 seems to be the range for me, I just get on with them. I’ve had older cars but I want to grow older with cars; I don’t want to buy an older car I don’t know a lot about and then find I’m dealing with problems. If I can get the right car and it can grow old with me then that’s good for me”.

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So how did Spencer come to own this particular car? “I was looking at them for about two years wondering when the right one was going to come along. TOP 555 sold this car to the previous owner and, fortunately for me, he didn’t keep it that long and they got it back. As soon as it appeared I thought that’s it, there’s no question, that’s the one I’ve got to have because it’s the right car, the right colour, the right spec, the right mileage. Prior to that, it did sit in a collection for five years with no history so that’s maybe the only downside to it because there’s a gap, but that being said, it’s still the perfect car for me”.

And what about the 911R? “When they came out, allocations were already done and dusted before anyone could get near one. I think the majority of 918 buyers got asked and that was it. All of a sudden, they came out when Porsche was never doing another manual. Everything was PDK only then everybody kicked off and they retaliated with probably the best car they’ve ever made.

“It was one for the purists and it’s an amazing car. It’s another one I had to wait and wait for because they did get to half a million pounds which takes it into silly money. You can probably get a nice one for half that now”, Spencer explains.

“I bought it more as an investment, I just think as a collectors car, one of 991 is a low number. The 997 GT3 RS is one of 1,500 and the Sport Classic is one of 250 so they’re all low numbers. If you look at what the factories are chucking out now, it’s just thousands of everything. The rarity factor

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for all the manufacturers including Porsche is disappearing fast, so anything that’s a limited production run car I think is a sound investment whether it’s now or in 10 or 20 years time. I think they’re all good cars to have, and they’re great fun to drive too”.

Quite a trio of special Porsches, I’m sure you’ll agree, but is the stable complete or is Spencer still on the lookout for more or is he content with what he has? “I look at all of the Porsches that are considered special, but the Sport Classic being one of only 250, it’s the rarest modernday Porsche out there. A lot of people still don’t understand it so that’s good enough for me, it’s one of those cars you need to know and need to love”, he explains.

“With regards to looking for anything else, I’m always looking, but it’s becoming increasingly difficult to get an allocation. To succeed in getting an allocation is sometimes more aggro than it’s worth if you don’t buy the right cars or speak to the right people. I narrowly missed out on a 991 Speedster allocation to someone who didn’t even know what he was buying, and that to me sums up the whole allocation process.

“It’s very difficult now to decide what you want to buy, the manufacturers sell their cars and if you’re lucky enough to get one then that’s fantastic, but if you’re not, in time everything becomes available at the right price, so sometimes you just have to be patient and wait.

It’s nice to get a new car, but it’s not always your chance, and as I found out with the Speedster, I couldn’t lose too much sleep over it because

that’s the way the cookie crumbled, and I’ll wait until the next one or something else turns up, so it’s a waiting game for me really”.

Before we wrap up, we wanted to ask Spencer about his SCD membership experience.

When did he get involved? “I’ve been an SCD member for four years. I spent the first part of my membership missing allocations (like a car!) for events. I’d see the calendar and think I fancy going on that one then I’d go on a week later and think oh my god I’ve missed it, damn it. I worked out I had to be fast and got secured on a couple of trips which were great. I met some fantastic people and the guys who run it are passionate about their job.

“I went away on the Alps tour last summer which was an absolutely amazing few days away. It was a fantastic trip, lots of fun, I met lots of people and also did Heveningham before that which was amazing too. Because I live so far south, it’s very hard to get so far north for a lot of the events, but some of the people I’ve met so far have become lifelong friends in a very short space of time. It’s a great thing to be involved in”. @lizardgt3rs

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Tour des Alps

Seasoned SCD tour veteran Mick recalls the 2020 Tour des Alps, taking in some of Europe’s best roads in a Porsche 718 Spyder.

Written by: Mick Holmes

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With a two-and-a-half-year-old little girl and a heavily pregnant fiancé at home, the hardest part of the 2020 Tour des Alps came before it even started — convincing the Mrs to let me go!

I somehow managed to blag myself a place by promising to get up early and allow her a lie in every morning prior to the tour without fail.

The next hurdle was if the tour was even going to go ahead. With so much uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 situation, rumoured lockdowns, travel restrictions and quarantining, there were times in the weeks running up to the tour where no one knew if it would be able to run at all.

Thankfully, the rumoured travel restrictions stayed as rumours and we were good to go.

Part of the aforementioned deal with my Mrs also entailed not setting off from home until Sunday morning, with the tour starting that very evening 800 miles away. One of my good friends picked me up at 6:30 am from Sunny Sheffield and we made our way down south, hopped on the Eurotunnel and headed towards Lake Annecy, our picturesque starting point south of Geneva.

We arrived at our hotel, Abbaye de Talloires at around 8 pm to a fantastic welcome; first, a big ‘socially-distanced’ hug with the SCD crew who went out of their way to socialise with all the members on arrival and to ensure everything so far was up to satisfaction. A stunning meal followed, giving an opportunity to speak with friends from previous events and be introduced to newcomers to the SCD tours. Then came the briefing, where Jonty appeared to have picked up a more cultured accent — the Rotherham twang is a thing of the past!

Itching with excitement for the week ahead, we wasted no time on the first morning and headed straight out into the mountains from Lake Annecy. It was a glorious morning drive followed by a cultured, local lunch stop and an obligatory photo stop at the most unbelievable dam in the afternoon — it even made the Ladybower Reservoir in the Peak District look like a pond.

After our photo stop, we spent the rest of the afternoon in the mountains on some of the most glorious roads I’ve ever experienced before heading to our hotel for the second night, Gran Baita Hotel & Wellness Resort — a stunning hotel overlooking Mont Blanc.

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On the second morning, Jonty mentioned over Breakfast that we would be driving the Col de la Madeleine that day. Just by the way it was pronounced, I knew it was going to be special, and it did not disappoint. It’s a pass full of twists, turns, hairpins and the most dramatic Alpine scenery. Early on in the week, I was part of the group led by Jimmy in a 488 Spider. Jimmy leads very well and was supported by Buzz on the radio commentary, clearly and consistently informing the remainder of the group of any hazards ahead of us — it was amazing attacking those roads with such a great group.

After lunch, we had a choice of two routes; a longer drive if you wanted as much time on the roads as possible, or a shorter, more direct route to the hotel if you fancied a jump in the spa

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before dinner. Our group chose option one!

Day three, and another well planned out route saw us enjoying time on the highest paved road in the Alps, Col de l'Iseran. I spent day three in Jonty’s group chasing Al in his GT2 RS and I really had to get the corners right to stand any chance of keeping up in our 718 Spyder! The Col de l'Iseran was amazing; a fast-paced, quiet mountain pass with 30 degrees of glorious sunshine — what more could you want? The SCD crew even planned ahead and set up their cameras to get some dramatic footage of all the cars on the mountain. I should add that, on this pass, I had the very special privilege of having a 918 Spyder darting about in my wing mirrors — no pressure! Today was a slightly shorter driving day at the midway point of the tour, enabling

us to use the fantastic spa at the hotel before enjoying our evening meal.

Before we even set off on day four, this was the day I was looking forward to most, with my two favourite mountain passes in store. First up, Col de la Bonette. The two-kilometre-long teardrop-shaped loop from either side of the pass around the Cime de la Bonette peak is the highest point reached by the Tour de France at 9,193 ft. It feels special to drive; with the roof down in the Spyder, you can actually feel the air thinning out as you climb up the mountain, and the views are nothing short of spectacular.

At any point up the road, you can see for miles and miles. At the summit, we parked up and a small group of us took the 10-minute walk to the highest viewpoint.

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If the walk up at this altitude didn’t take your breath away, the views certainly did, with countless mountains on each side of you and blazing sunshine. As typical Brits abroad, we fit in with the culture and there was only one thing to do at that point, play “Step On” by Happy Mondays, shouting “You’re twisting my melon man” at the top of our voices, while I wore a bucket hat to protect my pink skin from the sun.

We danced and laughed, and Jonty climbed up to the highest point to join in — his ‘90s Manchester dancing was a sight to see. Driving aside, this was the highlight of my week, a memory to last a lifetime.

Following this, as if the day couldn’t get any better, we headed onwards to the famous ‘Red Rock Road’, aka D2202 which runs through the spectacular Gorges de Daluis — a deep, narrow gorge on the river Var between Guillaumes and Daluis with red rocks reminiscent of Mars, hence the nickname Red Rock Road. This road is one of the most famous so-called 'balcony roads' in the country — a hair-raising lane cut into the sides of sheer cliffs. With 17 tunnels along the pass, the noise of some of the V12 engines was indescribable on this incredible route towards our final stop, the famous Hotel de Paris in Monaco.

Unfortunately, due to my previously mentioned negotiation with my better half to be able to attend the tour, this is where my week finished and I was whisked off to Nice airport for flight back to Sunny Sheffield, leaving the rest of the group to enjoy their evening in sumptuous surroundings followed by another day of driving in the surrounding hills.

The SCD tours are always the best part of the year for me. On each European tour, they continue to surpass expectations. Clearly, driving supercars around some of the most scenic, iconic and exhilarating roads in the world is nothing short of incredible, but anyone can Google the roads, hop on the tunnel and away you go. The big (and I mean big) difference is that each day is meticulously planned out with to ensure the maximum is made out of the time on the mountains. The lead car is essential, not only do they need to be driven quick to set the pace but their communication is key to ensure safety whilst having as much fun as possible in the following pack.

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The hotels and restaurants are all tried and tested, guaranteeing good quality food and a good night’s sleep after a busy day driving.

Finally, and this is the most important thing for me, the social side. A lot of people may pre-judge that a supercar trip abroad will be full of ‘toffs’ drinking fine wine and eating caviar.

This could not be further from the truth. Each tour I have been on, I have met like-minded petrolheads and have spent many hours not only discussing cars but building friendships, some of which have turned out to be long-lasting friendships.

The SCD crew are outstanding, going well above and beyond to ensure everyone is comfortable both on and off the road. Of course the driving is important, that is what we are all there to do, but the majority of time is spent off the road, so spending good quality time with like-minded, down-to-earth people is what really makes the SCD tours what they are.

All that is left now is to get booked on for next year. I’ve already had the conversation with the Mrs that, if I book Centre Parcs for her and the kids whilst I’m away, I’m on the tour again next year!

Watch the video on youtube.com

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Thanks to Car-Iconics Jonty gets behind the wheel of another ‘90s icon, the V12-powered BMW 850CSi. Written by: Jonty Wydell

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O Picture this, its the ‘90s and you want to stand out from the crowd with a car which encompasses all the looks of the latest supercars, with iconic features like pop-up headlights and some impressive headline figures, but you need four seats and a big boot.

Well, BMW saw a niche in the market and the 8 Series was born, with sleek supercar looks, a V8 engine and practicality similar to the 3 Series of the time.

Thanks to Car-Iconics, a place I’ve come to love for their eclectic mix of cars from all eras, I’m

N finally getting behind the wheel of an 8 Series, and this one didn’t just come with a V8. No, this is an 850CSi which packs a V12, and a rather special V12 too, but we’ll get onto that later.

The 850CSi still has to be one of the coolest cars ever built in my book, I mean it’s got pop-up headlights for a start! It’s just such a classic; it has supercar looks with GT car capabilities and not many others cars have ever really pulled that off.

It’s incredibly comfortable and has everything you could possibly want, even from a modern luxury car.

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Rather than the standard 850i’s 5.0, the CSi has a 5.6-litre V12, and the reason it’s rather a special engine? I’m sure BMW powered another car with a big V12 engine back in the ‘90s.

Yes, that’s right, the block in the 850CSi is the same as the one used in the McLaren F1. Here, it pushes out 375bhp and 550Nm torque, and that’s quite a bit, but it does weigh quite a bit because everything you could want to be electric is electric, even a lot of things you wouldn’t necessarily expect to find on cars these days. It is a GT car though, so it provides everything you need and it’s a superb all-rounder.

Being an 850CSi means it has a six-speed manual gearbox as standard unlike most 8 Series which had a four or five-speed automatic, and it was actually the first road car to mate a V12 engine to a six-speed manual.

The CSi also came with slightly tweaked styling; the front and rear bumpers were redesigned for better aerodynamics and it was quite advanced for its day. If you think you’re fancy in your AMG GT R or 812 or SVJ with your four-wheel steering, this had it back in 1992. It also came with stiffer springs and dampers with a lower ride height

as well as a quicker steering rack for improved handling. Really though, this car is a full-on cruiser. It’s not made to be thrown around tight country lanes, but for a big heavy car, it does handle rather well.

The car was actually tuned by BMW’s M division and it’s as close as you’ll ever get to an ‘M8’ because of course, they never actually built such a thing. Apparently it was on the cards but was pulled last minute, which is a massive shame really.

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If you ever see one of these things out on the road, any 8 Series in fact, it probably looks like it’s going faster than it actually is just because of the styling, but it’s one of those cars that makes you do the bottom lip nod. It’s a car that I think all petrolheads have a unanimous respect for. It still looks great and it’s so striking. On some of the earlier cars, the wheels look a bit small but this one has the bigger Alpina wheels which really add to it beautifully — they’re a must-have.

Another must-have is this manual gearbox. It still feels like a proper BMW gearbox. I remember my dad had an E30 323i when I was young, and this has that same feel to the gearbox. it’s quite a long throw but it just feels sturdy. The entire car feels sturdy; it’s got that solid BMW build quality you’d expect. There are no squeaks or rattles in a car that’s knocking on for 30 years old.

It’s quite difficult to actually find an 850CSi because only 1,500 were made worldwide, of which only 58 were UK right-hand-drive cars.

Because of that, prices have started skyrocketing if you can find a good one like this which has just 39,000 miles on the clock rather than the moonmileage examples you’re likely to find in the classifieds. I actually think values are still a lot lower than they should be. It’s quite a special car and even sort of resembles the BMW M1 which is just an untouchable car now — you really can’t find those anywhere.

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I’ve been dying to drive an 8 Series for ages, so to get behind the wheel of an 850CSi is pretty special. I honestly think it’s one of the most underrated and overlooked cars from this period.

It has looks to die for, it’s usable and reliable, so I think long-term, it’s a really safe place to put your money. I can’t see them dropping in value, and they’re only going to get cooler.

Thanks again to Car-Iconics for allowing me to drive what was another one of the cars I remember growing up longing for. With practicality like this and supercar looks, this has to be one of the best all-round cars you can get from the era, and with its solid BMW build quality, one which is still usable today. It’s a car which I don’t think has ever been repeated, not even by BMW themselves with the new 8 Series and honestly, I’m very tempted, not by this one because it’s way out of my price range, but I would love an 8 Series. @cariconics

Watch the video on youtube.com

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Ferrari F430 Manual; 2008, manual gearbox, Ferrari wing shields, carbon brakes, crema interior, carbon driving zone, Daytona seats, FFSH, 11750miles. £119,995

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BMW Z3M; 1999, Titan silver, glass sunroof, black & red Nappa leather, limited slip diff, air con, Harmon Kardon HiFi, 4 owners from new, 25,000 miles. £39,995

Ducati 1199 Superleggera; 2014, 1 Owner, No.96/500 worldwide. Magnesium frame & wheels, carbon fibre bodywork. Stunning condition. 470 miles. £46,950

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We meet up with David Thompson, founder of new SCD sponsors Monarch Enterprises, to learn more about how the business has grown and what makes them different to other supercar specialists.

Written by: Daisy Cartlidge Brown

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What’s the story behind Monarch Enterprises?

David has had a passion for cars since as early as he can remember, and with his parents working in the motor trade, it was clear that it was the industry for him. After leaving school, he went straight into the world of work and started working for Audi, however eight years later he was ready for a new challenge. “I thought if I don’t do it now, I’ll never do it”, David tells us, “I hadn’t started a family yet so had more time on my hands and knew it was the right time to take the leap”.

At the age of 24, in 2014 he launched Monarch Enterprises and set up on his own with an office and a small unit which was big enough for about

six cars. “I was selling around four cars a month in the early days but in 2016, the business really took off”. At this point, David had been focusing on prestige cars such as BMW and Mercedes but the big goal was to be involved with his real passion — luxury and supercars from the likes of Ferrari and Lamborghini.

“Investing heavily in elevating and promoting the brand was a real turning point for Monarch Enterprises”, David explains, “We launched a new website and made sure that all of our stock photos were of the highest quality. This made a huge difference and is something we still pride ourselves on”. Six years later, the business has grown to a team of five with 30 to 40 cars being stocked.

What makes Monarch Enterprises different?

“For us, it’s all about a truly personal and bespoke service. We have great relationships with our clients and our biggest priority is looking after them and making sure that the car is right for their needs”. It’s clear to see why their customers will deal with them once and then stay loyal for years. Their small, tight-knit team also means that you’re dealing with the same people, something that is key for developing those relationships. “We’re like a family, and because our team is so small, you know that when you call, you’ll either be speaking to myself, Clio or Matthew”.

Something not many people know about Monarch Enterprises is that they sell cars literally all over the world with a customer base not only in the UK but worldwide, with many clients in Europe and the Far East.

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What sort of cars do Monarch Enterprises tend to stock?

The business stocks a huge range of cars from Ferrari, Lamborghini and Rolls Royce to Mercedes, Land Rover and Porsche. “We also source and supply cars that we don’t have in stock so if our client is looking for something specific, we can help”. Monarch Enterprises are a real one-stop-shop and can help with everything from sourcing a car to arranging the finance for it.

David has stocked and sold many memorable cars over the years. “A few weeks ago we sold an Enzo which was a pinnacle moment. We’ve also recently sold a Ferrari F12 TDF and are currently stocking a Porsche 911R which is pretty special — one of 991 in the world with very few being right-hand-drive UK examples”.

What are your plans for the business going forward?

David is really happy with their current setup at Cedar Parc and plans to stay there for the long term. There are expansion plans in the works for over the winter in preparation for the next season. “We’re planning to incorporate wider showroom space with glass frontage so that we can really hero the cars we have on offer”, David tells us, “Aside from that, we’re keen to hold more events and keep doing what we’re doing”.

How did the partnership with SCD come about?

David was first introduced to SCD at a big Father’s Day event at Belvoir Castle. “I then met Adam over the summer and we got on really well. A partnership seemed like a great fit”.

In August 2020, Monarch Enterprises held their first SCD event and it was a great success. “We met so many like-minded supercar enthusiasts and it was a fantastic start to the partnership.

We’re looking forward to holding more in the future so watch this space”.

It’s definitely worth mentioning that Monarch Enterprises is always open for SCD members to pop in and take a look around the showroom. @monarch.ent

monarchenterprises.co.uk

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Sentimental Value

We catch up with long-standing SCD member Mike about 10 years of SCD membership and realising the childhood dream of owning his dream garage.

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When did you join SCD?

I officially joined in 2011 when I had just bought the 360 Spider but I had been to a few of the very first meets in 2010 with just a few cars.

My first big meet in 2011 or 2012 was called the Madchester meet. We all met at Trafford Park Costco and drove into Manchester city centre on a 'treasure hunt' to find and picture certain spots on the city. When I arrived at Costco, it was a huge car park and there must have been at least 60 supercars there. There was a 458 which had pretty much just come out and a Murcielago SV as well, they were the standout cars on the day.

I was in my 360 and, no joke, there must have been 12 there in total — it was easily the most popular Ferrari at the meets back then.

How have you seen SCD evolve over the years?

From the early days when Rich and Adam founded the club, it grew at a very fast pace In just one or two years. They were getting access

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to all the main dealers like Graypaul Nottingham for events and Adam started the tours up to Scotland. Rich left in 2013 from memory and Adam has since taken it on from being a decent car club mainly based in the north west region to being the best-known and most exclusive supercar club in the country.

I’ve made some great friends from the club and it has genuinely changed my group of friends to like-minded people into all the exotic car brands.

I am still great friends with Rich and see him regularly and I am also good friends with Dave Baker who, like myself, has been a member from the very early days when SCD first started. Dave, Adam and myself went to the filming of Top Gear at Dunsfold around 2013 which was a great day out to meet Clarkson, May and Hammond.

What have been your standout events?

The Secret Meet at Donington last year was a truly epic event with all the hypercars and racing cars on track, and also the annual Tom Hartley

summer BBQ is always a great one which I take the wife to and she really enjoys it, although I think it’s more for the champagne and lovely food than the supercars on display for her!

I feel like these are money can’t buy kind of events, and without the club, stuff like this just wouldn’t be accessible. When you think that, when I first started going to SCD meets, it was literally a few like-minded supercar owners meeting in a car park and going somewhere for a drive, it’s pretty outstanding to see where the club is now.

Where does your love of Ferrari come from?

I always wanted a Ferrari since I was old enough to be into cars. My dad had Jaguars and an MGB Roadster when I was growing up and we regularly drove to Wilmslow to check out the Ferrari and Porsche showroom which was nicknamed the glasshouse. I remember sitting in what was probably a 348 and being so nervous to even sit in it.

My dad said only very rich people can afford cars like these so it was a dream I didn’t really think would ever happen if I’m really honest. It was so rare to see a supercar on the road when I was growing up in the ‘80s and ‘90s, it was either at a showroom or car show like the one at Tatton Park where I used to see them.

Why the 360?

The 360 seemed the best value for money Ferrari at the time against the likes of the 355, 348, 550 or 456. Most said the pre-360 era cars are a bit heavy maintenance-wise and the V12 Ferraris again are expensive to run and service. From my research, the 360 was the sweet spot, modern enough to not break but old enough at the time I could stretch my budget to one.

I was also looking at most of the usual suspects which, at the time, were nearly the same purchase cost. The Bentley Continental GT was slightly cheaper but I was worried the bills on the W12 engine would be too much, you could get a 997 generation Porsche 911 around a similar price

to the 360 and it was the more sensible choice with two year service intervals but deep down, it didn’t excite me like the Ferrari did. The V8 Audi R8 was slightly more than the Ferrari to buy and, believe it or not, at the time it was three times the price to insure than the Ferrari.

In the end, I purchased my 360 from well-known Ferrari specialist Tim Walker in Oswestry. He was the 360 man at the time, dealing in lots of them; he was a very easy-going chap and gave me lots of advice via emails and phone calls.

Looking back at it now, there were some leggy and sketchy cheaper cars about and I am so glad I waited and paid slightly more to get a nice example from Tim. The car is a Spider in metallic Blu Tour de France with navy seats and cream lower dash and door cards. It has the F1 gearbox and I’ve since changed the exhaust to a standard F430 exhaust. For some reason it makes it sound so good — it’s loud and more like the Challenge Stradale.

What has it been like to own?

Honestly, it hasn’t missed a beat bar the very odd limp mode type fault, but that’s only happened twice in nearly 10 years of ownership.

I remember reading an article about the 360, possibly on PistonHeads as that was the main source of information back then, which said the first year is £1k, second is £2k, third is £3k then you start again, and I would say that is pretty spot on.

It's the belt service every three years which is the main jump in cost from approx £700 for the minor service to £1700 for the major belt service, and there are always other bits that need sorting that add on top.

It's done 42,000 miles now. I really did some miles in the early SCD years but, more recently, children have taken over and I don't use it as much.

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Any memorable events in the car?

So many it's hard to say. My dad used to come on quite a few meets with me and he passed away five years ago now, so I would say the second Madchester meet we did. We dressed as Batman and Robin for it and a few of the other members did it in fancy dress also just for the hell of it. It was so funny driving around Manchester city centre on a Sunday morning, in a Ferrari, with the roof off, dressed as Batman and Robin — it was like the Only Fools and Horses episode!

What has made you keep it all this time?

When I bought the car all those years ago, I was 28 at the time, my wife was six months pregnant and all my friends and family kept saying, when you have kids all your money will be gone and to forget about any luxuries for a while.

I had made some shrewd car purchases over the years leading up to it and saved like mad, then I decided to spend nearly all my money on the Ferrari, much to the annoyance of everyone apart from my very understanding wife, and my dad found it hilarious as it's the exact same bonkers thing he would have done — the apple doesn't fall far from the tree as the saying goes.

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After all this, I felt if I sold it after a year or two of ownership, I would never be able to make buying another happen. It's easy to spend that cash in the bank on a few nice things for the house or that extra special holiday, plus they kept steadily going up in value over the years so it helped me in my man maths head to justify keeping it.

When did the Superleggera join the garage?

I only purchased it in February this year. It was always a Lamborghini I wanted for my next car and I was originally searching for a standard Mk1 Gallardo until this one came up for sale local to me at Vanrooyen, so I had to take a look to see what it was all about.

I did toy with idea of selling the 360 and getting a newer model like a 458 or a Huracan and even doing some man maths for an early Aventador, but there was still that kid in me who thought it’d be super cool to have a double garage with a Ferrari and Lamborghini sat side by side. Plus, with all the great memories with my dad and kids growing up with the 360, I couldn’t sell it.

I love watching the car shows like Gas Monkey Garage or Wayne Carini on Chasing Classic Cars and have this cool idea that one day my kids

inherit the cars and it's up to them if they want to keep or not. Either way, it's a cool story to tell and so I ended up buying the Superleggera from Vanrooyen with the help of previous owner and SCD member Kyle.

Being the Mk1 model, it's a very raw V10 sound and setup. The carbon fibre seats, centre console, door cards, side skirts, rear diffuser, rear spoiler and deck lid plus the lightweight alloys all add to the drama of the Gallardo. The exhaust setup is different compared to the standard Gallardo so it sounds a lot louder, even stock.

It’s black with black alloys and black Alcantara seats, dash and steering wheel plus tons of carbon fibre everywhere. It has the E-Gear gearbox as they all do but with tiny paddles compared with the Ferrari. It’s standard at the moment and it’s much faster than the 360, so for the time being it’s staying factory spec.

It’s on just over 40,000 now, which for 12 years old isn’t that crazy, although in the supercar world it’s higher than most Superleggeras out there, but I didn’t want a garage queen I couldn't use, so one that was more sensibly priced suited me without fear of devaluing it from putting some more miles on.

What has it been like to own?

Reliability has been great on the fair amount of miles I’ve done since I bought it. Plenty of trips to the supermarket during lockdown!

It’s needed a few bits; new brake pads, starter motor and battery to be on safe side, but as it’s from the VW Group, it's amazing how many crossover parts there are which are way cheaper for the same part. The starter motor is a Bosch one; from the Lamborghini dealer it’s around £1,000 but it’s the same as the one used in a Mk4 Golf and that’s £150 brand new.

My biggest bill was the pre-purchase inspection as I had an engine compression test and bore scope carried out plus clutch readout. It all came back all tip top so I asked for annual service while there to make sure it was all ready to go with no issues.

Any memorable events with the car yet?

The best trip yet was to the SCD Tom Hartley summer BBQ. It's around two hours from Manchester and mainly motorway but the final part included some twisty country roads so it was nice to feel the handling more than I had previously.

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How do the two compare to drive?

They’re very different cars and both have their pros and cons. The Ferrari has 400bhp compared to the Lamborghini’s 520bhp so it’s definitely quicker. The Ferrari’s V8 is more F1 high-pitch scream, not quite as sweet as the 355 but not far off. The V10 is just so loud and raw.

The 360 feels more on its toes when pushing on around the bends. I’ve always felt its rear does want to let go and you need keep your wits about you in the rain. The Superleggera is fourwheel drive and feels way more planted.

I read an article saying that Ferrari deliberately make their cars handle a bit more on the limit to feel more exciting. I would agree and it's still a great experience even today.

Both gearboxes have similar shift times; they’re both usable but not super quick changes by today’s standards, but that's the charm with

these older single-clutch cars. You learn to love it, not hate it, and it’s nice to actually hear the changes happening. I think, long term, there will be a romance with very early paddle-shift ‘boxes and their quirks.

Ultimately, both feel like very special cars. The Ferrari with the roof down, wind in your hair and that added drama of a screaming V8 behind you. The Lamborghini is the poster car with the optional carbon fibre spoiler on the rear and in all black, it does look like a menacing motor.

It’s noticeably lower than the Ferrari as well so I think this adds to that drama and look when driving down the road — people do stare more at it compared with the Ferrari.

At the moment, being the newer car to the garage, the Lamborghini is getting used that bit more, but on a sunny day I still get the Ferrari out; roof down, it’s just perfect.

Are they both keepers?

I hope so, it's a nice combination of cars to own.

It was my ultimate dream as a child growing up to own a Ferrari one day, and once I ticked that box, the next step was a Lamborghini. I am glad I waited a bit longer so I could keep the Ferrari and add the Lamborghini.

I just bought a Porsche Panamera literally last week as my new daily driver so I feel two new car purchases in what has turned out to be a bit of a poor year is me done for a while, but then again I said that back in February when the Lambo arrived!

I don’t mind owning older cars as, generally, they don’t lose money, you just have more maintenance costs involved, so long-term they should serve me well and hold their value, which again using man maths, isn't much of a drag on net worth so to speak. Well, that's what I tell my wife! @nero_superleggera

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After six 911s, SCD member Paul tells us about making the jump to a uniquely specified GT3 and how he never looked back.

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Tell us about your passion for cars.

I don’t remember having a passion for cars while I was growing up, so it probably started, like many, when I bought my first car at the age of 17.

I left school at 16 and started work, so from then on, I was always trying to save as much money as I could to add bits to the car I had as well as saving enough to buy my next.

My dad always taught me to work hard and only to buy what you could afford with the cash you could save, so that’s what I’ve done for the last 40 years and I’ve managed to change my cars on a regular basis without any finance. According to my accountant, it’s not the best way of buying cars but it does make you feel good when you’re driving away from a showroom knowing that it’s all yours.

I’ve always loved the shape of the 911s but never really thought of buying one or that I could even afford one until I was in my 40s as I would still only buy cars with my own money so was limited to what I could save. After I bought my first 911 in 2004 though, I was immediately hooked on the way they drove, looked and how practical they were, which was proved as my first four 911s were all used as my main daily car.

Tell us about your car history.

My first car in 1980 was a 1974 Ford Escort 1.3 two door in blue, although after someone ran into the back of me, I had it repaired and resprayed in two-tone blue and silver. Like a lot of people in the ‘80s, my first five cars were all Fords, working my way up from the Escort to a Capri 2.0 Ghia, Cortina 2.0 Ghia-S, Escort XR3 and finally an Escort RS Turbo. I loved them all, and looking at what they fetch now, I wish I still had them.

The RS Turbo might not be what everyone would call a proper car, but in my opinion and at the time, I think it was. It was an amazing car with the whistle of turbo getting you excited as you accelerated. I saw one go at an auction last year for £65,000, so should have definitely kept it!

I then went on to buy my first brand new car which was a 1989 Toyota Celica, then a Maxda MX6, a BMW 330ci, an Audi 3.0 Quattro Convertible and then the first of my seven Porsches with a Mercedes C63 Coupe (the 6.2 V8 version) thrown in the middle of them.

My first Porsche was a 2003 996 C2 in silver which I bought in 2004. It was a car that I could have fun in but still put my then one-year-old son in and use as a family car. That pretty much started my love affair with Porsche, or more specifically, the 911, so much so that every time I’ve changed what I call my fun car since then, even after looking at all the other makes, I’ve ended up with a 911. I slowly worked way from a 996 to two 997s and onto three 991s. Now with the GT3, I’m on my seventh 911.

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Why the GT3?

After owning six different 911s with one of the advantages being that my son could get in the back, he then became too tall to fit in, and with the fact that I’m now in the lucky position to have more than one car, that now was no longer a factor. This obviously meant that I could start looking at two-seater cars, so like before, I looked at many different models but ended up back at Porsche with the GT3.

At the time I was originally looking, the 991.2 GT3 had just come out, so I tried to get one of those but I obviously wasn’t as good a Porsche customer as I thought to get one from new, and not wanting to pay over list price, I decided to do something different. So, I started looking at Gen 1 GT3s, and after I managed to get a drive in both the Gen 1 and the Gen 2, for me I didn’t notice enough to justify the big price difference there was back then — Gen 2s were going for £30,000 over list.

I looked at quite a few at both main Porsche dealers and independent dealers over a few months and came across two that were both at Premier GT in West Sussex. One was newer with a higher spec but I went for this one as it was a bit different from the norm without being too over the top. The colour of both the body and the wheels attracted me, and whenever I go into the garage and pull back the cover, I’m always wowed and have never regretted my decision.

Tell us about the spec.

The exterior colour is Anthracite Brown with Weiss Gold (white gold) wheels, yellow calipers with the carbon-ceramic brakes, Porsche text in black on the spoiler and GT3 decals in black down the side. The interior doesn’t have the Clubsport pack as I wanted the more comfortable electrically-adjustable sport seats as well as not wanting the roll cage so my wife and I can go away for weekends with luggage and then still have fun on the roads getting there.

All the seats and trim are in black except for the yellow seat belts which tie in with the Yellow calipers.

It’s a PDK as all the Gen 1s are, which having owned a few, I personally prefer and find that I can drive it harder, especially on the SCD drives.

I appreciate that, for some, it’s not what a GT3 should be with the buckets, roll cage and manual gearbox, but for me, it’s exactly what I wanted and I wouldn’t change anything.

I haven’t had anything negative about the colour combo and it generally seems to get pretty positive comments, especially when the sun is out as the Anthracite Brown has a real bronze tint to it and the combo with the Weiss Gold wheels with the yellow calipers seems to get people looking.

I haven’t made any mods to it myself but have thought about changing the side Decals to the typical Porsche text with the lines, possibly in the gold of the wheels or the yellow of the calipers, but haven’t been brave enough to do it yet. I’ve also thought about an aftermarket rear box for the exhaust but have the typical Porsche warranty dilemma.

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Do you use the car a lot?

...the Anthracite Brown has a real bronze tint to it and the combo with the Weiss Gold wheels with the yellow calipers seems to get people looking.

I’ve now owned it for 18 months and have done 8,000 miles over a lot of drives and events in that time. Without sounding corny, every drive and every event I’ve been to has been a special memory and the car itself has opened a lot of doors to things that I probably wouldn’t have done otherwise. As a result of buying the GT3, I managed to become a member of Supercar Driver and I’ve done as many events and drives as I have been able to with them since.

Probably the best thing I’ve done was the Salon Privé GT Tour last year which was an unbelievable two days with 60 cars including two Sennas, a Koenigsegg and a multitude of Ferraris, Lambos and obviously Porsches. We started at Brooklands with a drive to Goodwood, then drove up the iconic Goodwood Hill, back to Brooklands for dinner and an overnight stay before heading off in convoy to Blenheim, all finishing off with a procession of all 60 cars into Blenheim itself, awesome.

What is it like to own?

The GT3 along with all the Porsches are always ultra-reliable and I’ve had zero issues with mine, which is one of the huge plus points along with the two-year or 12,000-mile service intervals, so running costs are lower than other similar makes.

More importantly, I just love the way it drives, especially around the twisties as the harder you go around the tight bends, the harder it hankers down to the road. The noise you get up above 7,000rpm through to 9,000rpm is amazing, but when you slow down, it’s comfortable and useable, which in my mind makes it the perfect supercar. Having owned quite a few so-called ‘normal’ 911s, although they’re all great, the GT3 has something extra which I really love, and that puts a smile on my face every time I drive it.

Any plans going forward?

I intend to do as many events as I can and did have a lot booked for this year, but with the current situation, most of those have been cancelled. I hope to reset for a busy 2021 as I’m a big believer that cars are here to be used and enjoyed, so I don’t really worry about mileage.

I hope to do a long trip in it either in the UK or in Europe depending on what comes along. I don’t really plan way into the future, but just tend to do whatever comes my way.

I would say the GT3 is here to stay but I do tend to get restless coming up to the two-year point and, like most car fans, I spend a lot of my spare time on AutoTrader. I have looked at the GT3 Touring, so who knows, but my ultimate goal would be to keep it add something else alongside it as I’m super happy with the GT3, especially this one in this colour combo, and I don’t really know what could do everything as well as the GT3. @pj63

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Finishing Touch

Former SCD member and founder of Exclusive Registrations, Majid, walks us through the story behind some of the priciest plates and their investment potential.

Written by: Matt Parker

Those of us with a passion for cars often have a bit of a thing for the piece of plastic they wear on the back (and sometimes the front if you’re good!). Look around at any SCD event and you’ll see so many different number plates. Every car enthusiast knows the value of what they drive, all that is left is to crown it.

“I specialise in buying and selling private number plates. My job is to get the perfect plate for the perfect car, always”, Majid tells us, “We’re called Exclusive Registrations because I like to buy the plates that are perfectly suited to the supercars, such as 918 P for the Porsche 918, or 72O for the McLaren 720S, BUG471Y for a Bugatti, 735LA for a Tesla and 8ULL as the ultimate plate for any Lamborghini.

“You could have the most exclusive car in the world, but someone else will have the same car as you, a handful in fact, however the perfect registration really differentiates you and truly adds that finishing touch”.

So how does one end up dealing in the most exclusive number plates, where did it all begin?

“I always had a passion for good number plates

136

when I saw them on cars, and I bought my first when I left high school by saving up whatever I could with a summer job”, Majid laughs, “I think it was B1GYY. I saw potential in it and got an offer on it, sold it and used that money to reinvest in my second plate and it went from there”.

As we all know, good plates don’t come cheap, and someone who has bought and sold as many as Majid must have seen some eye-watering prices, so I can’t help but ask what the most expensive plate he’s sold is. “It was 70Y. This is going back about eight years ago and it sold for £150,000. It did cost me a lot and it was a lot of money to have tied up in it”, Majid explains.

The plate seemed familiar to me from when I had seen Majid at a few SCD events some time ago, so I asked if I’d have seen it on his car, “Back in the day I attended some SCD events with 77OY on my own car, because what I like to do is buy the plates that go with the other plates, so I tried to get the whole toy collection. People who might not have the budget for 70Y might be interested in 77OY which is second best, or they might even want both”.

The plate sphere is a world of pick and mix and there’s always an avid buyer or onlooker gawping at your choice. The most expensive isn’t necessarily the best in any field, so value aside, what if Majid had to pick a favourite plate he’s sold? “Recently I just sold CY4 which is pretty self-explanatory! After it had sold I actually got offered £20,000 more so I told the customer in case he was interested in selling it, but it’s not for sale. It’s not actually gone on a supercar but it’s on a Mercedes C43 Estate that gets driven with hand controls, and it’s definitely a fun plate”.

The price of number plates is a big talking point. Some might think you’re nuts for paying hundreds of thousands for a plate, some say they’re a valuable asset for life, but Majid says the opportunity and security of investment is promising. “Regardless of recessions, prices have only ever gone up, and they haven’t even climbed slowly, they’ve rocketed”, Majid explains, “Making money and investing money in plates is something of security. I’ve done this for years and I honestly haven’t seen a better place to invest your money in a fun way”.

“Obviously short plates generally demand a lot more, three characters or less, and back in 2005 I was probably buying them at £3,500 - £4,000, now I’m struggling to get a similar plate for £25,000! If it spells a word or if it’s a single-letter three-character plate, then the minimum price would be £60,000 minimum compared to less than £10,000 back in 2005. Three-character plates with a single letter are definitely the most sought after. Even though CY4 spells cya, it doesn’t have the same demand or value as a single-letter plate like M18 for example”.

So let’s wind the clock back a little and talk about how Majid found out about SCD back in the day.

“I came across you guys on social media a few years ago and attended a few events. I remember speaking to a few of the guys like Adam and yourself and the memories of the events have stuck with me until this day”, Majid remembers, “It was a down to earth, friendly bunch of people all sharing the same passion and it was such a nice thing to be part of.”

“Unfortunately, a series of circumstances through my life at that time led to a bit of a downturn. I lost a lot of money, had a house fire and I wasn’t part of SCD for a few years. At one time I pretty much had to sell everything just to cash in, get back on my feet and start from scratch. Once I’d built up some money, I carried on with the number plates and it took a while to get back up there, but now I thought who better to team up with than SCD?”.

And what does the future hold for Majid and Exclusive Registrations? “I’m always looking to do new things and push things forward more” Number plates have always been a hobby and a passion, so anything to do with number plates, I’m always open to ideas”, Majid tells us, “I’ll also 100% be attending some SCD events in the near future, so I’m looking forward to seeing plenty of both new and familiar faces”.

If you see Majid at an event, do go over and say hello if he hasn’t already come over to chat about your number plate, and the good news is that, as an SCD member, you’re entitled to 10% off all number plates from Exclusive Registrations. @Exclusive_Registrations

137

10% off for all SCD members - mention SCD10 when buying.

11OMES 72O 1 GUV USA1D 34 x 735LA 1 UMH 5HAA 101 GB 70 EK 14KKY ASH214F 111 DX NO1 8EST NO1 8OYY

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8UL X EG6 AHM44D 8EG

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Exclusive Registrations are proud to sponsor SCD and have some of the most exclusive number plates money can buy available.

w w w. e x c l u s i v e r e g i s t r a t i o n s . c o m

PORSCHE

SCD members Rob and Molly Taylor joined our Porsche GT Tour for a second year. Here’s Molly review of the tour from the co-pilot’s seat.

Written by: Molly Taylor

139

If you think the Ponderosa Cafe at the top of the Horseshoe Pass sounds like the most Wild West setting in the UK, then imagine the scene with a new bunch of cowboys in town — enter the Porsche GT drivers led by Sheriff Adam and Deputy Jonty. I really hope the other lucky cafe customers appreciated the spectacular sight and sound of 15 Porsche GT cars pulling out of the car park led by the SCD V8 BMW M3.

Our route initially took us north on the fine Welsh roads to Ruthin before seeking out the B road routes to Bala. From there to Lake

140

Vyrnwy, the road is very narrow in places but it’s worth the close encounters for the photo opportunities! Here, and throughout the tour, the media team, Riad and Dan, did an amazing job racing ahead in the Golf R whenever possible to be waiting to photograph and film the pack as we passed.

Lake Vyrnwy was already packed with tourists, this being August and British breaks being more popular than usual, so from the lakeside we headed up to the lovely Lake Vyrnwy Hotel. Fortunately, an outside bar and facilities

had recently been installed there for nonresidents and we managed to squeeze into the busy car park. Incidentally it’s a great place to stay for a room with a view and some fabulous B roads to get there.

Once rested and refreshed, we took a different route back to Bala and onto a further tour of Snowdonia National Park. Mere words cannot do justice to North Wales’ spectacular scenery so I’ll let the photos do the talking! Our next stop was at the Riverside Chocolate House at Pentrefoelas for a little energy boost before the

last leg of day one of the tour. I recognised some familiar Evo road test routes on this section and probably wasn’t the only one to wonder if the pair of new Aston Martin Vantages travelling at speed in the opposite direction might have been on test in the hands of someone interesting (and whether they thought the same of us!).

The SCD exclusive-use residence for the night (as on last year’s tour) was the lovely Penmaenuchaf Hall Hotel, a Victorian country house located above the Mawddach Estuary, hidden away at the top of a narrow winding

drive. I imagine there’s an air of calm serenity there under normal circumstances but not quite so much so once the GT Tour arrived! We had a beautiful room with tasteful soft furnishings and a fabulous view, not just because of the rainbow of Porsches below our windows. This was our time to slow down and enjoy the company of old friends and new over a couple of drinks and a sumptuous dinner. Cheers!

Boxster Spyders. One cheeky GT owner (and son) turned up in their 992 Turbo S Cabriolet with some lame excuse for not bringing a GT car — they’ve been getting through a lot of tyres recently apparently! The cheeky one then proceeded to demonstrate just how fast the Turbo S is by whooshing past most of us!

You will see from the photographs that both 997 and 991 GT3s and RSs were well represented, along with a Cayman GT4 and a couple of

141

Conrad and Royd were both in their Viper Green 991 GT3 RSs and there was Luke in an Ultraviolet example of the same generation. Max had replaced his Aston Martin with a GT4 just in time to make it back into the ‘club’. There were three Weissach Pack GT3 RSs; ours, Nigel’s in PTS Jet Green Metallic and a Lizard Green example — what a great first SCD trip for that owner to take!

I had to tell Nigel that his beautifully specced Jet Green Metallic RS WP was the inspiration behind ours changing colour! Since appearing in the last issue of SCD magazine, our GT Silver car has had a liquid wrap done by Litchfield Motors and is now looking beautiful with its curves enhanced in Blu Corsa — a Ferrari colour so apologies to the Porsche purists!

A car we were particularly excited to see in the metal was Myles’ 997 GT3 RS, the 4.0 version with the last of the Mezger engines. Have a look at Chris Harris on Cars’ video, “Last Drive Before Hibernation”. Rob and I have watched it many, many times and it is that exact car he owned,

142

the one that Mr Harris let slip through his fingers long before he made it big at Top Gear. It was fantastic to see it being used properly, to chase it and be chased by it!

The forecast on the second morning was awful — high winds and loads of rain. Everyone debated over breakfast what was best to do and I’m happy to report that most elected to carry on.

One lovely thing about a visit to Wales is appreciating the effort they put into keeping the tarmac in great condition. Unfortunately on this occasion, most of it looked more like a lake, a stream or a river, but high-speed testing was carried out nonetheless and it turns out that Cup 2 tyres aren’t so bad in the wet after all! Also it’s fair to say that moody weather makes for the most dramatic photographs. I’m so glad we didn’t opt out. It’s always nice to find previously unexplored routes and the Caerwen Reservoir viewpoint was a new destination for us that morning. Nice one SCD. Did you organise that rainbow over the route down the other side too?!

With a plan slightly altered from the original, we had a great morning’s drive ending at Norbar near Barmouth — top notch pizzas and burgers with a view of the coast. There was plenty to talk about over lunch and a lot more banter than the previous day, but that’s how it is when you’ve lived through an adventure together!

The planned afternoon trip to the seaside for ice cream and doughnuts was eventually cancelled on account of the rubbish weather, but fingers crossed for returning again for that particular pleasure next year. @mollygt3

Watch the video on youtube.com

LEEDS

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astonmartin.com Aston Martin Leeds, Ring Road, Lower Wortley, Leeds LS12 6AA | 0113 389 0777 | leeds.astonmartindealers.com Indicative fuel consumption figures in litres/100km (mpg) for the 2020 MY Aston Martin DBX: urban 12.2 (23.1); extra urban 13.5 (20.8); combined 14.3 (19.7). CO2 emissions 269g/ km. The mpg/fuel economy figures quoted are sourced from regulated test results obtained through laboratory testing. These figures are strictly indicative and preliminary and are for early comparability purposes only and may not reflect your real driving experience, which may vary depending on factors including road conditions, weather, vehicle load and driving style. These early prototype figures are intended for indicative comparability purposes. This vehicle is not yet for sale and this information is based on a prototype. The fuel consumption you may achieve under real life driving conditions and CO2 produced will depend upon a number of factors including the accessories fitted after registration, variations in driving styles, weather conditions and vehicle load. The official figures for this vehicle will be released prior to and accompanying this vehicle being made for sale to the public. This information will be updated as testing continues.

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1997 FERRARI F50 (LHD) ONLY 7,700F50 MILES 1997 FERRARI (LHD) ONLY £POA 7,700 MILES £POA

2006 ASTON MARTIN VANQUISH S (LHD) SUPERB EXAMPLE, ONLY 25,000 MILES 2006 ASTON MARTIN VANQUISH S (LHD) £89,950 SUPERB EXAMPLE, ONLY 25,000 MILES £89,950

2018 DODGE CHALLENGER SRT DEMON (LHD) ONLY 157 MILES 2018 DODGE CHALLENGER SRT DEMON (LHD) £129,950 ONLY 157 MILES £129,950

2006 PORSCHE CARRERA GT (LHD) SUPERB EXAMPE, 13,175 MILES 2006 PORSCHE CARRERA GT (LHD) £595,000 SUPERB EXAMPE, 13,175 MILES £595,000

2018 ASTON MARTIN DB11 (RHD) ONLYMARTIN 2000 MILES 2018 ASTON DB11 (RHD) ONLY£99,950 2000 MILES £99,950

1970 NISSAN SKYLINE GTR (RHD) HAKOSUKA, MEGA GTR RARE(RHD) 1970 NISSAN SKYLINE £199,995 HAKOSUKA, MEGA RARE £199,995

2012 AUDI A1 QUATTRO (LHD) 1 0F2012 19 UKAUDI SUPPLIED CARS, 38,000 MILES A1 QUATTRO (LHD) £39,999 1 0F 19 UK SUPPLIED CARS, 38,000 MILES £39,999

2005 MERCEDES BENZ SLR MCLAREN (LHD) ONLY 5,750SLR MILES 2005 MERCEDES BENZ MCLAREN (LHD) £235,000 ONLY 5,750 MILES £235,000

2010 FERRARI 599 GTO (RHD) 1 OF ONLY 60 RHD, MILES 2010 FERRARI 5996,800 GTO (RHD) 1 OF ONLY£385,000 60 RHD, 6,800 MILES £385,000

2011 MERCEDES BENZ SL63 AMG (RHD) SUPERB EXAMPLE, MILES(RHD) 2011 MERCEDES BENZ10,500 SL63 AMG £39,999 SUPERB EXAMPLE, 10,500 MILES £39,999

2011 FERRARI 599 GTO (RHD) 1 OF 60 FERRARI RHD EXAMPLES, 5,400 MILES 2011 599 GTO (RHD) £410,000 5,400 MILES 1 OF 60 RHD EXAMPLES, £410,000

2007 FERRARI F430 F1 (RHD) GREAT SERVICE HISTORY, MILES 2007 FERRARI F430 31,000 F1 (RHD) GREAT SERVICE£69,950 HISTORY, 31,000 MILES £69,950

2016 MCLAREN 650S SPIDER (RHD) ONLY 1,600 2016 MCLAREN 650SMILES SPIDER (RHD) ONLY£99,950 1,600 MILES £99,950

2005 ASTON MARTIN VANQUISH S (RHD) 34,600 MILES FROM NEW S (RHD) 2005 ASTON MARTIN VANQUISH £84,950 34,600 MILES FROM NEW £84,950

West Cross Business Park, Unit 3 Shield Drive, Brentford, Middlesex, TW8 9EX +44 (0)7850 888 880 +44 (0)20 8878 3355 info@ddclassics.com ddclassics.com West Cross Business Park, Unit 3 Shield Drive, Brentford, Middlesex, TW8 9EX +44 (0)7850 888 880 +44 (0)20 8878 3355 info@ddclassics.com ddclassics.com

QUALITY PRESTIGE & PERFORMANCE FERRARI 458 APERTA £499,950 / 2015 / 885 miles

LAMBORGHINI SV ROADSTER £309,950 / 2016 / 1,041 miles

LAMBORGHINI AVENTADOR SV £259,950 / 2016 / 1,450 miles

HURACON PERFORMANTE £181,950 / 2018 / 2,150 miles

MERCEDES AMG GT R PRO £185,950 / 2019 / 331 miles

BENTLEY GT FIRST EDITION £139,950 / 2018 / 7,400 miles

SELLING YOUR CAR? For prompt decision and payment

info@motion8cars.com @motion8cars

/motion8cars

www.motion8cars.com @motion8cars

Aston Martin

DB4 Sports Coupe Mileage: 38,424 mi

£499,990 Year: 1963 (N)

Ferrari

£169,990

Audi

£127,900

458 Spider Dct, Ferrari Warranty Mileage: 8,917 mi Year: 2013 (13)

R8 V10 Performance Carbon Black Quattro Mileage: 6,187 mi Year: 2020 (69)

Mercedes-Benz

AMG GT R, Bucket Seats Mileage: 11,222 mi

£97,990 Year: 2017 (17)

Tel: 01332 345987 /BaytreePerformance

@baytreecars

Ferrari

£189,900

Porsche

£174,990

Ferrari

£169,990

Ferrari

£146,900

Bentley

£119,900

Audi

£97,990

Jaguar

£42,990

599 F1 GTB Fiorano, Handling GTE Pack Mileage: 700 mi Year: 2012 (62)

F430 Scuderia, Full Ferrari History Mileage: 16,400 mi Year: 2008 (08)

Continental Supersports, Premier Spec Mileage: 5,367 mi Year: 2018 (18)

BMW

M4 Series M4 CS Coupe Mileage: 2,950 mi

£61,990 Year: 2018 (68)

Email: info@baytreecars.com @BaytreeCarsLtd

911 GT3 RS, Ceramics, Front Lift, Full PPF Mileage: 2,938 mi Year: 2018 (18)

F12 Berlinetta 6.2, Full Ferrari History Mileage: 22,182 mi Year: 2015 (15)

R8 Plus, Carbon Engine, Sport Exhaust Mileage: 11,500 mi Year: 2017 (67)

F-Type R, Panoramic Roof Mileage: 28,140 mi

Year: 2015 (15)

www.baytreecars.com

Baytree Cars Ltd, 31 Chequers Lane, Derby, DE21 6AW

Aston Martin DB5 Vantage Spec

Jaguar XJ220

Ferrari 550 Barchetta

1965 | 69,700 miles | £POA

1993 | 4200 Klms | £349,850

2001 | 6,400 miles | £294,850

Aston Martin Vanquish 8 Speed

Aston Martin V8 Vantage ‘S’

Aston Martin DB9

2015 | 23,800 miles | £89,850

2017 | 7,500 miles | £64,850

2012 | 26,800 miles | £59,850

We want to buy your car - go to mcgurk.com/sell-your-car to find out more.

Experts in Aston Martin Servicing Your car is in the best possible hands with our factory trained technicians.

We only use Genuine Parts supplied from Aston Martin complete with a 12 month warranty. We are located next to the Aston Martin factory at Gaydon

J.P McGurk Ltd 6 Brook Business Park, Brookhampton Lane, Kineton, CV35 0JA

Tel: 01926 691 000 Email: sales@mcgurk.com

Continental GT Speed £52,990

34,126

2013 (13)

Urban Range Rover Vogue £84,990

4,400

2019 (19)

Porsche 930 Turbo £99,990

68,400

1981

Ferrari 458 Italia £117,990

18,100

01224 905 111

2011 (11)

Aston Martin V12 Vantage S £119,990

500

2017 (17)

Porsche 991.1 GT3RS £144,990

11,500

2016 (16)

Ferrari GTC4 Lusso £159,990

13,600

2017 (17)

Aston Martin V12 AMR £149,990

3,100

2018 (18)

McLaren 600LT Spider £159,990

6,850

2019 (19)

Aston Martin DB7 GT Manual £59,990

16,994

2003 (03)

TVR T440R (1 of 1 worldwide) £209,990

25,200

2003 (53)

Ferrari 430 Scuderia £169,990

14,532

2008 (08)

info@theautolounge.co.uk

A pre-owned Ferrari: when Approved, it stands out.

MORE THAN 190 POINT-CHECK

WARRANTY EXTENDED UP TO 2 YEARS

ORIGINAL CERTIFICATION PROGRAMME ISSUED AND APPROVED

BY FERRARI

Ferrari 812 Superfast Coupe Year: 2018 Miles: 2,300 External colour: Rosso Corsa Internal colour: Nero Leather £229,000

Ferrari GTC4 Lusso Coupe Year: 2019 Miles: 6,300 External colour: Nero Daytona Internal colour: Tortora Leather £185,000

Ferrari 488 GTB Coupe Year: 2016 Miles: 7,671 External colour: Rosso Corsa Internal colour: Nero Leather £157,000

Ferrari Portofino Year: 2019 Miles: 1,990 External colour: Grigio Silverstone Internal colour: Cuoio Leather £157,000

Ferrari 458 Coupe Year: 2012 Miles: 4,500 External colour: Rosso Corsa Internal colour: Crema Leather £149,000

Ferrari California Convertible Year: 2012 Miles: 12,471 External colour: Grigio Silverstone Internal colour: Sabbia Leather £89,000

All listings accurate at time of publication.

OFFICIAL FERRARI DEALER

Graypaul Nottingham

Graypaul Nottingham Lenton Lane Nottingham, NG7 2NR Telephone: 0115 837 7508 nottingham.ferraridealers.com

ferrariapproved.com

To find out how our sponsors can benefit your ownership experience, visit supercar-driver.com/sponsors or if you would like to become a sponsor email info@supercar-driver.com

157

The Tyre Specialists Tyre Point is a passionate local tyre centre in Maidstone and we strive to offer exceptional quality in the products and services that we offer. We stock a huge range of popular tyre brands at our centre and are able to offer them at trade prices.

Winter Tyre Offer

Claim up to £100* when you purchase two or more Michelin Tyres.

Claim up to £100 on either a prepaid Mastercard or via a direct bank transfer. Terms and conditions apply

Our Services Tyres

Batteries

Brakes

Exhausts

Call: 01622 414141

Shock Absorbers

Visit: tyre-point.co.uk

Find Us: Maidstone Exchange, Unit 4 Cuxton Road, Parkwood, Maidstone, Kent, ME15 9HF Opening Times: Mon 8:30 - 17:30 | Tue 8:30 - 17:30 | Wed 8:30 - 17:30 | Thur 8:30 - 17:30 | Fri 8:30 - 17:30 | Sat 8:30 - 16:00 | Sun Closed

*The ‘Michelin On The Road Again Car Promotion’ (the ‘Promotion’) is open to all consumers who are UK residents aged 18 and over, except Michelin Tyre PLC’s (the ‘Promoter’) employees, its agencies or anyone else connected with the creation and administration of this Promotion, or trade customers including tyre dealer’s employees. This offer is open to retail customers only (excludes company vehicle drivers). By participating in this Promotion, claimants agree to be bound by these terms and conditions and by any other requirements set out in the promotional material. Completion of the mandatory fields is necessary to carry out identity checks and to validate your claim. There is a purchase requirement. Claimants must purchase two or more MICHELIN car, van or 4x4 tyres in a single transaction for a single vehicle between 1 October and 30 November 2020. The Promotion will issue a prepaid Mastercard or a direct bank transfer to the value of £10 for two or £25 for four 14” and 15” MICHELIN car, van or 4x4 tyres purchased, £15 for two or £40 for four 16” MICHELIN car, van or 4x4 tyres purchased, £20 for two or £50 for four 17” and 18” MICHELIN car, van or 4x4 tyres purchased and £40 for two or £100 for four 19” and above MICHELIN car, van or 4x4 tyres purchased. Closing date and time for receipt of claims is midnight 31 December 2020. For full terms and condidtions visit https://marketing.michelin.co.uk/promo-autumn-2020-uk/

A selection of recent events for SCD members

Zach’s Garage Meet

Sunday 19th July South East

159

SCD at the Priory

160

Sunday 26th July East Midlands

DK Engineering Supper

Tuesday 28th July South East

161

Tom Hartley BBQ

162

Sunday 30th August East Midlands

MOTOR

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HOME

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LIFE

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BUSINESS

P ROTECTIN G your PA S S I ON Extraordinary protection from people who care.

For your cars, home, lifestyle and business.

All with exclusive SCD members’ pricing and benefits, call us on 01604 498880 to discover more.

First Point Insurance Management Ltd is registered in England No. 3521771, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority No. 310158.

The Financial Conduct Authority’s register is available at register.fca.org.uk. First Point Financial Management Ltd is registered in England No. 9444714.

First Point Financial Management is a trading style of Lifetime Financial Management Ltd, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Register number 448415. Lifetime Financial Management Ltd is registered in England and Wales No. 3652194.

Holy Moses!

The Bentley Benteyga embodies biblical power and otherworldly refinement to make waves and part crowds wherever you go.

XL is the UK’s foremost provider of 6-24 month leasing options on luxury and supercars, giving you the flexibility to stay on the move through hell and high-water.

Call today

0800 001 66 66 www.xlltd.com info@xlltd.com