Table of contents for July 2021 in Octane

SAINT-TROPEZ POLO CLUB HOSTED BY DEREK BELL & JODIEKIDD Join Jodie Kidd and me on the first weekend in October for the inaugural Rendez-Vous Riviera, an exclusive end of summer party at the Saint-Tropez Polo Club. Over 70 of the finest and fastest cars ever built will be on display, from the rarest and most valuable classics to the very latest hypercars. But Rendez-Vous Riviera is much more than just a car show – it’s an intimate party that celebrates style, fashion and the unique ambience of Saint-Tropez. There will be fashion shows, DJs, live music, rosé and cocktails, and exquisite food served all day, with guest numbers limited to just 600.…

Apart from an extraordinary ability to remember how to open the bonnets of up to 152 cars, Luke Henshaw, who is just 17 years old, is also an apprentice to Mark Lawrence, 62-year-old workshop manager, and the two of them look after the Great British Car Journey fleet. ‘I was looking for an apprenticeship from my last year at school,’ he says. ‘They are quite difficult to find and I looked at Rolls-Royce and Bentley and Jaguar specialists, even an HGV workshop. So, when this came along, I felt really lucky.’ Henshaw does one week in four at Brooklands College in the Heritage Skills Academy and says his tutor ‘is quite jealous of my job’. And what does he think of the idea of Driving Dad’s Car? ‘It’s very era…

1. When the snow finally melts in Michigan (sometimes not until late April), I’m out on my road bike, a Specialized McLaren edition. It’s a very rare model, one of the few imported into the US. I am unworthy of its performance capabilities! 2. They give you this pin for judging at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. This year will mark my 17th year as a judge and it has been one of the great honours of my life. The cars and the atmosphere are wonderful, of course, but above all I cherish the friends I’ve made there. 3. When I was 13, I planted a 600-tree orchard behind our house and sold the Ida Red and Golden Delicious apples at the local farm market out of the back of…

We aesthetes are certainly slaves to appearances, but the very best design commentary about cars often concerns their grunt and feel, their atmospherics, as much as their prettiness. Lines I remember from my teens include a Car & Driver journalist describing the Corvette experience as ‘great gobs of steam locomotive, earth-moving torque’. Soon someone will be writing about the aesthetics of the autonomous experience. Let’s pretend it’s 2025. And we must consider the fervid ingenuities of lethal genius and what they have done to destroy character. Facial Recognition will unlock the car as you approach. The most advanced systems will recognise you even in the PPE mask and bio-hazard suit that became compulsory for outdoors activities in 2022. Gullwing doors reveal an interior bathed in soothing blue light, like the…

EVAN KLEIN Photographer • 2001 Audi TT Quattro MATTHEW HAYWARD Markets editor • 1990 Citroën BX 16v • 1994 Toyota Celica GT-Four • 1996 Saab 9000 Aero • 1997 Citroën Xantia Activa • 1997 Peugeot 306 GTI-6 • 2000 Honda Integra Type R • 2001 Audi A2 SAMANTHA SNOW Advertising account manager • 1969 Triumph Herald 13/60 Convertible • 1989 Mercedes-Benz 300SL JESSE CROSSE Contributor • 1968 Ford Mustang GT 390 • 1986 Ford Sierra RS Cosworth MARTYN GODDARD Photographer •1963 Triumph TR6SS Trophy • 1965 Austin-Healey 3000 MkIII DELWYN MALLETT Contributor • 1936 Cord 810 Beverly • 1937 Studebaker Dictator • 1946 Tatra T87 • 1950 Ford Club Coupe • 1952 Porsche 356 • 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL • 1957 Porsche Speedster • 1957 Fiat Abarth Sperimentale • 1963 Abarth-Simca…

WITH THE DELAGE away having its Dynastart overhauled, there’s an unaccustomed void in the motor house. But in compensation a recent fine day brought the opportunity of an experience that the Delage’s first known owner, James Esme Glenny, the Cornet of Hawick in the Scottish Borders, would have enjoyed when he learnt to fly in the late 1920s. A Cornet, I should mention, is an unmarried man of good character chosen each year to lead the town’s celebration of its history, and ‘Jimmy’ Glenny’s exuberant lifestyle earned him the soubriquet of ‘Champagne Cornet’. That exuberance was perhaps never more aptly demonstrated than in 1929 when Jimmy added a 1925 de Havilland Cirrus Moth biplane, G-EBLV, to his ownership of the Delage. The Champagne stopped flowing in 1931, when marriage and…

THERE’S A CLUE in the name. ‘Oshe’ is the African god of thunder, and the moniker has been applied by David Lane, owner of Workshop Seventy7 and a native of that continent. His back-story is quite important: not an engineer or a car salesman but a former management consultant whose car fanaticism drove him to commission a bespoke Porsche 911. His car – a 1970’shell, modified to take a 993 engine and rear suspension, finished in retro colours with an RS duck-tail – now sits outside the Workshop Seventy7 premises. But when work was part-way through, the company doing the job folded. And so Lane rented a workshop (no.77 as it turned out) in a neighbouring building and hired the guys who’d been working on his Porsche. They literally wheeled…

SHE WAS A NEW CO-WORKER at my wife’s company, and one of my fellow Americans, so of course we invited her to share a meal on her first Thanksgiving here amongst the heathens. Possessing the healthy ego of any brilliant automotive writer, I also prepared a few witty tales should the subject of my profession inevitably arise, many centred around the British sports car every American, auto enthusiast or not, is sure to know, a brand close to my own heart and experiences: dear old MG. The conversation, however, didn’t go according to script. ‘So, I hear you write about cars,’ she said, suitably early in the dinner conversation, and I nodded modestly, Tale Number One cued and ready. ‘Have you done any TR3 stories? I’d love to have a…

HEUER HAD a huge success with the Autavia, despite its beginnings as an unpromising dashboard timer, running through three generations of diving watches, sailing timers, GMTs and, of course, racing chronographs. If you read Octane 216, you’ll already know about the Viceroy Autavia, one of the third generation of Heuers to carry the name. But the Siffert Autavia ref. 1163 T stands out with its white (rather than black) dial, blue minute markers and blue chrono seconds hand. Fittingly, it also uses the racing tachymeter bezel scale that marked the Autavia out in the 1960s. Inside is the ‘Chronomatic’ cal.11, 17-jewel automatic, micro-rotor movement. Jo ‘Seppi’ Siffert was a massive advocate for Heuer, long before the idea of the ‘brand ambassador’ had even been thought about. He’d buy Heuers wholesale and…

1965 Aston Martin DB5 Artcurial, Monaco 19 July, artcurial.com France has a habit of unearthing some fantastic ‘hidden’ cars, and this DB5 will be offered after a mere 42 years of being left in storage. It was put away after the owner’s wedding in 1980, and will likely need a lot of work. Desirable for being painted in Silver Birch, this is one of few DB5s fitted with an automatic transmission at the factory, and it’s said to be in very original condition. Artcurial reckons it’ll sell for ¤400,000-600,000. 2003 Ferrari 575M Maranello F1 Silverstone Auctions, Northamptonshire, UK 5 June, silverstoneauctions.com Bought new by Eric Clapton, and subsequently owned by Radio DJ Chris Evans, this UK-supplied right-handdrive Giallo Fly 575M is simply a beautiful example of the breed. Fitted with…

WHAT TO PAY Drivable cars can be picked up from about £2000, with tidy and very usable cars costing about £4500. A mint example could be bought for about £7000. Rebuilt and concours cars are potentially upwards of £10k; nicely modified and track-prepared examples £15k-plus. Rarer Countryman estate models and vans carry a premium of around 15%. WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR Something that could be up to 70 years old will have been repaired, patched up and most likely bodged at some point. A thorough inspection of the car’s underside is vital. Standard brakes work well if in good order, but a front disc set-up from the MG Midget is a popular mod. The A-series is reliable and easy to repair or replace, with countless upgrades such as electronic…

This week I got to drive a couple of game-changers: GM’s new all-electric Hummer and the new Mercedes-Benz EQS. Let’s start with the Hummer. When first introduced in 1992 it was big, loud and intimidating. In fact, the very first one off the assembly line was bought by none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger, who loved it and drove it everywhere, even to his movie premieres. I remember joking with him about it when he appeared on my TV show. Once Arnold became Governor of California, the Hummer faded into the background. Consumer groups clamoured for more fuel-efficient vehicles and environmentalists made it the poster-boy for bad behaviour. By February 2010, General Motors had had enough and pulled the plug. Now it’s back. One thing about Americans is we don’t change…

This month we feature on the cover three of the most extreme sports cars ever to wear numberplates. Full-on Le Mans sports racing cars just about legal for ordinary motorists to drive… if not quite with impunity. The trio has a combined value of over £30,000,000 so the ordinary motorist who aspires to own one needs to have very deep pockets and extreme levels of driving skill. Writer Henry Catchpole is an experienced wheelman, and even he uses the word ‘intimidating’ more than once… My skills are nowhere near his but I have had the good fortune to drive many road miles across Europe seated amidships in a McLaren F1 – an exercise in deep concentration and restraint. With that mighty 618bhp BMW V12 behind you and no driver aids…

Cruising the streets of Los Angeles in a classic car with Jay Leno at the wheel, windows down and the sun setting over the Pacific, is a pretty cool experience. When the car that Jay’s driving is a 1963 Chrysler Turbine, the metaphorical temperature drops to what a well-known BBC TV car show would have described as ‘sub-zero’. Yet that’s the enviable position I found myself in during an Octane trip to California a few years ago. Oddly enough, I don’t remember us attracting much attention at the time. Normally, ride with Jay and you’ll find every stop-light initiates a conversation with the driver next to you, or a guy on the sidewalk; besides possessing one of the most recognisable faces in America, he’s happy to chat with strangers. So…

LIKE MANY BRITS, I enjoy visiting the German discount supermarket chains Aldi and Lidl to see what off-the-wall stuff is on special offer at any particular moment. The random nature of these products, which are invariably in the central aisles of the stores, has even given rise to a catchphrase: ‘The Middle of Lidl’. But it was in rival store Aldi that I spotted some four-wheeled dollies on sale for just £9.99 each and experienced a genuine light-bulb moment. The imminent arrival of a 1942 Fordson tractor to the Dixon workshop meant that I would need to shunt my Model T pick-up sideways to get the tractor through the workshop door. Could these be a cheap solution? Each of the Aldi dollies is rated to 250kg and I doubt my…

WHEN I ARRIVE at specialist Twyford Moors in Waterlooville (jagxk.com), my gleaming Jaguar XK is parked on the forecourt, looking very smart and ready to go. So I hand over the requisite ‘readies’ and am also ready to go! As reported previously, I primarily took the car down to the Twyford Moors workshops because I was becoming tired of the XK’s very heavy clutch, opting instead for a later diaphragm job. The engine had been suffering from a lazy hydraulic chain tensioner so an improved one was installed while the engine was out. Then numerous other bits’n’ pieces were dealt with, the upshot being that some 130 hours were eventually spent on getting it all fettled! Yes, quite a few ‘readies’ were handed over… I love collecting my old XK…

‘YOU’RE NOT LIKE everyone else’ is the tagline on Maserati’s webpage for the Ghibli, which pretty much nails the appeal of what has always been a niche brand in the UK. You don’t buy a Maserati with your head; it’s entirely the responsibility of your heart. There’s something intensely evocative about the trident badge and those 50s-style vents on the front wings. Last time I drove a Ghibli was back in 2014 and I liked it a lot. Back then, a diesel V6 was the big news for Maserati but it’s a sign of how quickly the world has changed that the diesel has now been ditched in favour of a petrol-electric hybrid motor. Not only that, but it’s a fourcylinder engine, too – the first time one has been…

Lamborghinis have always been popular subjects in model form, perhaps because few people can aspire to owning a real one. One of the leading Italian brands, Politoys (later known as Polistil), made a particularly wide range of supercars from Lamborghini, including the 350GT, Miura, Jarama, Urraco and Espada, as well as the Marzal concept car, complete with opening gullwing doors – which was quite an achievement in 1:43 scale. Politoys made simple plastic toy cars in the early ’60s but raised its game in 1965 with the metal ‘M’ series. These were much more realistic looking and, just as importantly, loaded with operating features such as opening boots, bonnets and doors. Soon, Politoys were regarded as being among the best-quality diecast models but they only lasted a few years, until…

£601,500 (€690,000) 1991 Isdera Imperator 108i ‘Series 2’ Coupé Bonhams, Monte Carlo, Monaco. 23 April £471,000 (€540,500) 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera 2.7 RS Touring Bonhams, Monte Carlo, Monaco. 23 April £401,000 (€460,000) 1968 Aston Martin DB6 Volante Bonhams, Monte Carlo, Monaco. 23 April £362,000 ($500,000) 2006 Ford GT Heritage Edition Bring a Trailer, online. 2 April £336,000 (€385,250) 1934 Bugatti Type 57 Ventoux Coupé Bonhams, Monte Carlo, Monaco. 23 April £320,500 (€368,000) 1958 Aston Martin DB MkIII DHC Bonhams, Monte Carlo, Monaco. 23 April £307,000 2018 Porsche 911 GT2 RS Weissach Collecting Cars, online. 15 April £305,640 1992 Jaguar XJ220 Historics, Ascot, UK. 18 April £294,000 ($410,000) 1927 Bugatti Type 38A Grand Sport Bring a Trailer, online. 29 April £270,500 (€310,500) 1971 Mercedes-Benz 280 SE 3.5 Cabriolet Bonhams, Monte Carlo,…

Like Oscar Wilde, Stuart Weitzman has the simplest tastes: he is always satisfied with the best. Weitzman became famous as a shoe designer, but is better known to many as the world’s most discerning collector of stamps and coins. As a boy he dreamed of hunting down ‘the greatest rarities’, and eventually the success of his company allowed him to do just that. In 2005 he paid $7.59m for the 1933 Double Eagle, a $20 gold coin struck but never issued thanks to President Roosevelt’s decision to ditch the gold standard. A single example slipped through the US Government’s net and wound up in the collection of King Farouk of Egypt, and it is the only ’33 Double Eagle that may legally be privately owned. In 2014, at a cost…

1949 LANCIA APRILIA £42,000 A technical marvel, the Aprilia is a car for those that appreciate clever engineering. This later 1.5-litre Series II benefits from a little more performance. Early and interesting history in Italy. jonathan-wood.co.uk (UK) 1971 MASERATI INDY 4700 $70,000 One of 364 4.7-litre Indys built, this Verde Gemma car has been repainted and retrimmed recently. It’s currently in need of a full engine rebuild, which explains the somewhat tempting price. tominiclassics.com (US) 1964 BMW 3200 CS ¤119,000 The lesser-spotted and gorgeous V8-powered BMW coupé was styled and bodied by Bertone in Turin. This one is offered in restored condition with a mere 33,389km on the clock. carola-daimler.de (CH) 1960 ROLLS-ROYCE SILVER CLOUD II, $139,950 AUS Sold new by York Motors in Sydney, this Cloud has fantastic Australian…

HENRY CATCHPOLE I still can’t quite believe that it happened. That the rain held off. That I fitted into the CLK GTR. That we managed to insure them. That they were all in silver. Not just a red-letter day, but a full-on crimson alphabet of a day if ever there was one.’ For Henry’s story and Andy Morgan’s stunning photography, turn to pages 56-68. BARRY HAYDEN ‘It’s not often you see one Zagato on the road, let alone two. So the opportunity to shoot Bentley and Aston together was a real novelty, especially seeing the open mouths of onlookers as we headed out in our unique little convoy. Double head-turners indeed.’ Aston Martin DB7 Zagato and Bentley Continental GTZ: pages 124-132. MARTIN PORT ‘I’ve always had a penchant for utilitarian…

Estate agents are, we are told, widely distrusted as a breed by the general public. The only professionals who rank lower on the approval rating are, ahem, journalists. But whenever any of us moves house, we generally choose to employ an estate agent. Why, then, are so many of them so utterly terrible at it? In particular, why do they never show decent photos of the garage or workshop that is the prime concern of any self-respecting petrolhead? My partner and I would like to buy a small cottage with a big garage – or enough land to build one. We (OK, I) don’t need a house with more than two or three bedrooms, but I’m adamant that I need at least a three-car garage. And preferably four. From talking…

The charm of video games is lost on many, but driving games in particular were a great source of inspiration during my formative years. While I try to keep up with the extremely fast-paced modern video game universe (Forza Horizon keeps me entertained while I wait for the next instalment of Gran Turismo…), I’ve always enjoyed collecting and playing older games. Pole Position on the Atari 800 is about as old as you can get, but early titles such as Super Monaco GP II and Hard Drivin’ on the Sega MegaDrive are genuinely still enjoyable. Original PlayStation games such as Colin McRae Rally and Gran Turismo are already deemed all-time greats. The video gaming industry has always evolved and moved quickly, leaving many interesting games behind. Some hidden gems such…

It came as a relief, I don’t mind telling you. In April, I was on councours-judging duty during the 30th running of the Cavallino Classic. It was staged at The Breakers in West Palm Beach, which is a wonderful venue. While a more intimate event than in previous years, it proved hugely popular with attendees. I loved being out of the house; doing something that involved cars for the first time in 18 months. Others clearly felt the same way, as folk talked themselves hoarse while playing catch-up with friends and acquaintances. I had spent way too much time holed up at home, so I craved something approaching normality. Hopefully, there will be more of the same in the months to come. My diary for the rest of 2021 is…

Part car, part motorcycle, part aeroplane. This 1926 Lafitte Trèfle (a three-seater in cloverleaf formation) can claim genes from all three engine-powered species. Maybe a bit of boat, too. Back then, ‘conventional’ was still far from a fully formed concept. Not that any notion of conventionality influenced the mind of Theodore Lafitte, an engineer noted also for his hand grenades. He saw no reason not to power his flyweight motor car, so spindly that it fell happily into the ‘cyclecar’ category of minimal 1920s family transport, with a three-cylinder, air-cooled, radial engine with a small propeller on the front, and to give it a range of gear ratios not by coupling it to a gearbox but by making the whole engine tilt on a transverse axis. Why? Because it’s part…

IN 1802 THE third Duke of Richmond created a racecourse on top of the hill above his home. Over the last two centuries millions have flocked to this country estate to enjoy not only horse racing but also motor racing, which started in 1948. Situated between the sea and the South Downs, Goodwood has been a magnet for those who love their sport and the stylish entertainment for which the place has become famous around the world. Until now. Not since the Revival Meeting in September 2019 has Goodwood welcomed spectators to either racecourse or motor circuit. In common with so many event and hospitality businesses, it has been hit hard by the pandemic and consequent lockdowns. Normally a hive of activity, the estate has been eerily quiet, sheep grazing…

ROBERT COUCHER International editor • 1955 Jaguar XK140 ANDREW ENGLISH Contributor • 1960 Triumph TR3A • 1962 Norton Dominator • 1965 Aston Martin DB5 GLEN WADDINGTON Associate editor • 1989 BMW 320i Convertible SANJAY SEETANAH Advertising director • 1981 BMW 323i Top Cabrio • 1998 Aston Martin DB7 Volante MARK DIXON Deputy editor • 1927 Alvis 12/50 • 1927 Ford Model T pick-up • 1942 Fordson Model N tractor • 1955 Land Rover Series I 107in • 1966 Ford Mustang 289 • 1994 Range Rover 4.0 JAMES ELLIOTT Editor-in-chief • 1965 Triumph 2.5 PI • 1968 Jensen Interceptor JOHN SIMISTER Contributor • 1961 Saab 96 • 1972 Rover 2000 TC • 1989 Mazda MX-5 Eunos RICHARD HESELTINE Contributor • 1966 Moretti 850 Sportiva • 1971 Honda Z600 MASSIMO DELBÒ Contributor…

‘After the distractions of a baby, a house move and a lot of renovations, it was time to show my Mercedes 500SL some love. Full story next month’ Massimo Delbò ‘New tyres, a couple of new bushes, rear brakes, a full service and a secondhand catalytic converter for the Integra were some of its pre-MoT jobs. Now I just need to take it for the test’ Matthew Hayward ‘Enjoyed a pleasing round trip to deepest Kent in the BMW with the roof off. Sunny but cold, which seems to have been the theme for this spring’ Glen Waddington ‘A 20-year-old bodge to bypass the Triumph’s weeping heater valve gave way when a hose split right under its clip. Thankfully it was easily diagnosed and rapidly re-bodged with new hose. Good…

YES, THE IRONY of another electric car in a magazine called ‘Octane’ doesn’t escape me, but while the last one we featured cost upwards of £100,000 (the rather excellent Porsche Taycan), this one kicks off at barely more than a quarter of that. Even the rangetopper here is just over 30 grand. So, the Mazda is very much a real-world option, priced close to a nicely spec’d Golf – second car territory for many, or perfect for commuting while keeping green guilt at bay. Then you can enjoy something juicy at the weekends. I mention all of that because, with a claimed range of 124 miles, this isn’t really a ‘do everything’ car. It doesn’t aim to compete with the aforementioned Taycan; nor is it remotely a Tesla 3 alternative.…

The AMX was the sportier two-seat brother of the Javelin. Despite constantly low build numbers in comparison to competitors like Ford’s Mustang or Chevrolet’s Camaro, AMC was often seen as an innovator. American Motors Corporation was number four of the ‘Big’ manufacturers, and was almost always struggling to stay afloat, despite owning the Jeep brand. After French automaker Renault took a partial ownership in AMC, it eventually became part of Chrysler. In Big Bad Green over a tan vinyl interior, this car is powered by a 315bhp 390ci V8, mated to a ‘Shift Command’ automatic transmission. Air-conditioned with power steering and brakes, it was sold new at Ben Carco’s Bonanza AMC in North Hollywood, California; one of a reported 32 California 500 specials built for the 1969 model year, all…

Due to cancellations and moves online, it is essential to confirm details with auction houses 19-26 May RM Sotheby’s, online, global 26 May H&H, Duxford, UK 4-5 June Mathewsons, online, UK Vicari, Orlando, USA 5 June Silverstone Auctions, Sywell, UK Tennants, Leyburn, UK 8 June Barons, Sandown Park, UK 8-15 June Shannons, online, Australia 9 June H&H, Bickenhill, UK (motorcycles) 11-12 June Mecum, Tulsa, USA 11-18 June Gooding & Company, online, USA 12 June Silver Auctions, Missoula, USA 12-13 June Lucky Collector Car Auctions, Tacoma, USA 15 June RM Sotheby’s, Milan, Italy 17-19 June Barrett-Jackson, Las Vegas, USA 19 June RM Sotheby’s, Eschen, Liechtenstein Silver Auctions, Coeur d’Alene, USA 20 June Aguttes, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France Bonhams, Chéserex, Switzerland 21 June Osenat, Fontainebleau, France 23-30 June RM Sotheby’s, online, global 24 June…