Octane May 2023

CREATING DEMAND – or frenzied desperation – by telling people they can’t have something is not the modern sales technique that it is often portrayed as. Sure, watch, yacht and ‘luxury goods’ companies have perfected the technique of Obscene Pricing Demand Creation post-millennium, but anyone who has ever raised kids will tell you that the basic psychology behind it is as old as the hills. Guess what: it works in reverse, too. Even in the business world, it goes back to the invention of conspicuous wealth and with it the emergence of enterprising souls who would generously provide succour for those who had so much money that they didn’t know what to do with it. Enzo Ferrari was the master of that. Just as Mike Salmon’s famously snobby dismissiveness of…

TOM SHAXSON ‘The Ferrari 400 Superamerica could well be up there with the prettiest of cars I’ve ever photographed. The proportions are almost perfect in my opinion; its fabulous swooping tail is certainly a personal favourite part.’ Tom’s fantastic photography accompanies Matthew Hayward’s feature on pages 60-70. KEITH SEUME ‘Things don’t get much better than getting up early and spending the day hammering a high-revving 911 along empty Devon roads. It’s a visceral experience that leaves your ears ringing, your pulse racing and the biggest smile on your face this side of Christmas morning. Life is good.’ Porsche 911 S/ST: pages 102-110. STEPHEN DOBIE ‘I owned a Ford Puma in my early 20s but sold it when shinier new cars stole my gaze while I was staff writer at Octane’s…

MCLAREN F1 Greatest car ever? So say those who were there – and remember it best PLUS Special-bodied 2.6-litre MG WA Bentley and Aston designer John Heffernan shares his secrets Mark Dixon tackles the legendary Pomeroy Trophy in a Frazer Nash Performance icon of the Noughties: the incredible Subaru Impreza P1 (Contents may be subject to change) Get 3 issues of Octane for just £5! To take advantage of this month’s special offer and get three issues of Octane for £5, either visit octane.co.uk/subscribe or call +44 (0)330 333 9491 and quote code DMAR23 Buying your issue of Octane – new and old PRINT ISSUE Octane is available at the usual branches of UK shops, such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and independents, as well as WH Smith High Street and…

7-8 April Masters Historic Race Weekend Masters’ Easter meeting at Donington Park will include grids for pre-1966 Touring Cars and Le Mans prototypes of the 1990s and Noughties. mastershistoricracing.com 8 April Brooklands Easter Gathering Added to the calendar last year to make up for the cancellation of another event, the Easter Classic Gathering proved so popular that it’s back, with all pre-31 July 1993 cars invited to park on site. brooklandsmuseum.com 11 April Gaydon Gathering The British Motor Museum hosts its first evening gathering of the year – open to vehicles of all types, and free to attend, though you’ll need to book a ticket in advance. britishmotormuseum.co.uk 12-16 April Techno-Classica Essen The daddy of indoor classic car shows will again test the stamina of visitors, who will find some…

THE GLOBAL CONCOURS season got off to a flying start on opposite sides of the world on the same weekend earlier this month. While Amelia Island in Florida, USA, and Sydney in Australia are 10,000 miles apart, both resonated to the sights and sounds of spectacular selections of classic cars on the first weekend in March. And both had winners from Maranello. Sydney is the younger event by a significant distance but has got into its stride very quickly. It has found an excellent home at Hyde Park Barracks, a UNESCO World Heritage site, this year bathed in sunshine rather than floodwater… for the most part. One tropical storm on the Friday did give the 50 cars and thousands of visitors an impromptu shower. As well as modern hypercars and…

A spectacular array of Le Mans cars is promised for the 2023 Heveningham Concours, which takes place at the Grade 1 listed Palladian mansion Heveningham Hall in Suffolk on 8-9 July. With 100 years of Le Mans as the event’s primary theme, early entries pledged to attend include the ex-factory ‘Works’ 1997 Porsche 911 GT1 Evo (GT1-004) and famous ‘#35’ 1998 Mercedes-Benz CLK LM. Just 50 handpicked cars are traditionally displayed on the famous stepped lawn behind the Hall – designed by Kim Wilkie but based on an abandoned 200-year old Capability Brown plan for the garden – but there is a wealth of other activity, motoring and otherwise, on site during the weekend. As well as a traditional country fair, there are a huge vintage aircraft fly-in, aviation concours…