Octane November 2015

THERE WAS A TIME when concours was a dirty word. Even 15 years ago, there were very few such events that didn’t feel slightly repellent. The scene had stagnated, with the jokes about toilet water in the cooling systems and cars that couldn’t be driven, and the obsession with spotless detail, regardless of how good or bad the car might be. It’s probably fair to say that it was Pebble Beach that rescued the concours scene from disappearing up its own backside – and only just in time. The introduction of the concours tour, to cajole participants into driving their cars, and the brave decision to include a more varied selection of classes, such as hot rods and ‘preservation’ cars, were the first steps towards losing the stuffiness of traditional…

WINSTON GOODFELLOW ‘I’ve driven several Ferrari Cal Spiders over the years, so when the opportunity arises to drive another you take it! They’re special, restored or not.’ Find out more about the ‘barnfind’ Baillon Ferrari in Pctane’s exclusive feature, starting on page 56 – and what happened to some of the other Baillon cars too, on pages 70-71. MICHAEL WARE ‘Working as I did with the late Lord Montagu for 38 years, I was able to see the immense amount of work he did behind the scenes for heritage, the National Motor Museum and the old-vehicle movement. He was a wonderful frontman for the museum.’ Read Michael’s homage to Lord Montagu of Beaulieu on pages 94-96. DAVID BURGESS-WISE ‘Writing about the Pebble Beach-winning Isotta Fraschini was a trip down memory…

HISTORIC MOTORING AWARDS The International Historic Motoring Awards are back! Run in association with EFG, the venue is the Renaissance St Pancras, London, on 19 November. See www.historic motoringawards.com. BUY OR SELL CLASSICS ONLINE Want to buy a classic car? Got a classic car to sell? Just fancy browsing classic cars for sale in your lunch hour? Satisfy all your cravings at www.classicand performancecar.com. OCTANE TRACKDAY Join Pctane for the next exclusive Goodwood trackday (1 Pctober) for £299 per car with driver. Lunch and afternoon tea included. Numbers strictly limited. Book now at www.octane-magazine.com. SUBSCRIBE TO OCTANE Have octane delivered hot off the press – or read the digital edition on your iPad, PC or laptop. See our special offer (pages 170-171) or search for ‘Pctanemagazine’ in your app store.…

1969 will go down as a special year for Mercedes-Benz. Rumours had been circulating for a long time that the inventor of the motor car was working on a sensation. At the International Motor Show in Frankfurt the secret was finally revealed – and it really is a sensation: the C 111, a super sports car with gullwing doors and a Wankel rotary engine. The industry was dumbstruck, the press couldn’t get enough of it and the public were bowled over. Not long after, in the spring of 1970, the even more attractive and even more powerful variant of the C 111 experimental vehicle was unveiled – and it quickly became the unrivalled dream car of an entire generation. *Source: ‘DAZ’, issue 20, 1969 Until November 15 th  2015…

YEARS OF WORK by a small but dedicated team of volunteers paid off on 19 August when their replica of an experimental aircraft part-designed by Ettore Bugatti – which never flew, due to the outbreak of World War Two – finally took to the air. Former USAF fighter pilot Scotty Wilson was at the controls when the Bugatti 100p replica lifted smoothly from the tarmac in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was a key moment in a project that began with $30,000 of crowd funding in 2009, and which was fully detailed in Octane 131. ‘We intended this flight to be limited to a short hop down the runway to check power required/power available and to check control responsiveness in all three axes,’ said Wilson afterwards. ‘Take-off was normal and at a…

IN A SAD END to what was once a revered and globally successful carrozzeria, Bertone’s 79-strong museum collection – including many prototypes and styling bucks, as well as legendary production models such as the Lamborghini Miura and Lancia Stratos – was due to be sold in an online auction as Pctane went to press. The company’s name and trademark were also going under the hammer. Bertone had already disposed of six cars from its collection in 2011, in an ultimately forlorn bid to stave off bankruptcy and pay off some of its creditors. Back then the RM-hosted auction at Villa d’Este raised about £3 million through the sale of some of Bertone’s most iconic creations: the Lamborghini Marzal, Lancia Stratos Zero, Lamborghini Bravo, Lancia Sibilo, Lamborghini Athon and Chevrolet Testudo.…