Octane May 2017

WE’RE SADDENED TO HEAR of the death of John Surtees, CBE, as this issue goes to press. A towering talent on four wheels and two, he claimed the Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship in 1964, driving for Ferrari, having already won seven World Championships in motorcycle racing between 1956 and 1960. He was generous with his time and appeared in Octane often, most memorably in issue 116, when he shared with Mark Dixon his 1957 BMW 507, a car he owned and cherished for 60 years. It was paid for in part by MV Agusta boss Count Domenico Agusta, who offered to chip in as a reward for John’s triumph in the 1956 500cc Word Championship. In 2010, he was interviewed by the historian Doug Nye. ‘Right – let’s talk,’ he…

MICHAIL OLIVIR ‘I’ve spent 15 years seeking photographic evidence to identify conclusively the “hidden” Lotus 72. Finally being able to examine it in person was thrilling – yet all the detail I needed was there in glorious Technicolor rather than hidden in a grainy period image.’ See the world’s most original Lotus 72 for yourself on pages 86-98. RÉMI DARGIGIN ‘I’ve always loved old and rare Porsches. I also enjoy meeting legendary people. And I’m French. So spending time with Gérard Larrousse was a dream come true for me: a French racing legend driving his iconic 911 from the Tour de France, all photographed by me.’ See Rémi’s extraordinary pictures of the Tour de France 911 on pages 114-124. DILWYN MALLITT ‘I’ve been mad on cars for as long as…

ON 29 MARCH 1927, Sir Henry Segrave and his Sunbeam 1000hp averaged 203.79mph over two opposite runs at Daytona Beach, setting a new Land Speed Record in the process. Now, 90 years later, work has begun to rebuild one of its two 22.5-litre V12 Sunbeam Matabele aero engines. It’s all happening in the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu, where the Sunbeam has been on display since 1958. Doug Hill, the museum’s manager and chief engineer, is masterminding the scheme. He and his colleagues hope to run the engine, the rear one of the two and currently mounted in a test rig, as a celebration of the 90th anniversary. If they succeed, it will be the engine’s first firing-up since it last ran in 1939. For Hill, this has been a…

Long-lost second Bullitt Mustang found in Mexico That car-chase film, starring Steve McQueen as Detective Frank Bullitt, used two Shelby Mustang GT390s in Highland Green. They were toughened-up for their stressful role and adapted to carry cinematic lighting and cameras, and, after filming, the less-wrecked one was sold by Ford to the Warner Brothers studio. The other has long been presumed crushed, as reported at the time, but the white-painted, heavily battered Mustang recently discovered in a Mexico yard has just been identified as that car. It was about to be made into a replica of ‘Eleanor’, the Mustang featured in Gone In 60 Seconds, but the bodyshop checked the chassis number through a US Mustang records authority, The Marti Report, and discovered its significance. All…

No motor sport venue in the world has staged events continuously for longer than the Shelsley Walsh Speed Hill Climb in Worcestershire. Its 1000 yards (914m) of steep, narrow and challenging track date back to 1907 (plus two years more in slightly shorter original form). Now Octane and Evo are holding exclusive sessions (35 spaces on each) on 23 September, from 9am to midday, and 1-4pm, so you can attempt the famous hill in your own car. And we’re even laying on refreshments. The price per session is £150 (plus booking fee). Visit either: https://shelsleywalshhillclimbmorningsession.eventbrite.co.uk or https://shelsleywalshhillclimbafternoonsession.eventbrite.co.uk.…

‘Lord Stokes was a horrible little man. He said: “If you girls get as far as Dover, I’ll be happy.” I thought: “You ******”’ Rosemary Smith recalling the 1970 London-Mexico rally on which she drove an Austin Maxi with Alice Watson and Ginette Derolland. They finished tenth… ‘Up until now, we’ve not exactly had the best name’ Aston Martin boss on re-naming the AM-RB001 (as was) as the rather more dramatic ‘Valkyrie’. ‘You’re sounding a bit hoarse, m’dear… I think you need me to rub a bit of Vicks on your chest’ Barrie ‘Whizzo’ Williams at the start of his interview with (decidedly attractive) presenter Gemma Scott during Race Retro. ‘Are you watching Top of the Pops up there or something?’ Land Rover design director Gerry McGovern, getting understandably tetchy…