Octane February 2019

One Of the greatest pleasures of classic and performance cars is that ever-present sense of adventure, a frisson of excitement whether it is just a local trip or driving the length of a continent. I adore the gung-ho approach passionate motorists take in confounding the doubters or proving a point with a bit of militant derring-do. And there are three prime examples of that in this issue of Octane. First up is our cover story, a Porsche so extreme that even its creators labelled it ‘Not for street use, for racing only.’ But, predictably, that was a red rag to a bull. The more determined automobilists don’t like to be told what they can and can’t drive on the road so (just as predictably) a very small number of 911…

dean smith ‘The 3am alarm. Gilets jaunes setting fire to anything flammable at every roundabout. The lack of sunlight and short days. All worth it for just two minutes of hearing the Alpine A110 sing as it danced along the snaking roads in the French countryside. Wonderful.’ And just enough light for great photos of the Dieppe road trip: pages 114-126. john barker ‘Despite the tough ride and deafening noise levels, there’s something incredibly cool about driving a race car on the road. Yet at the same time it’s a little sad to reflect that the last time this 911 3.8 RSR was driven as intended was at Weissach in 1994, when Jurgen Barth signed it off for delivery.’ Porsche 964 RSR, driven on pages 62-72. antony ingram ‘Driving the…

VSCC Cotswold Trial 17 NOVEMBER For the 13th consecutive year, the Vintage Sports-Car Club based itself at Prescott Hill Climb for the 12-section Cotswold Trial. The event ran at capacity – 110 pre-war cars – and attracted more than 1000 spectators. It is the only event on the VSCC’s trials calendar that has a special class for first-timers and it was won by Dave Wall in his 1929 Austin Seven saloon. The main image shows ‘Beast of Turin’ owner Duncan Pittaway at the helm of Ben Collings’ Mercedes 60hp. South AfricAn hiStoric GrAnd Prix 25 november – 2 december this 10-day tour and festival culminated in a 150-car gathering at the Val de Vie estate. Earlier, 24 pre-war cars ran at the East london gp/prince george circuit, including two Eras,…

The surviving CArs from the era-defining car flick The Italian Job are set to be reunited to mark the 50th anniversary of the movie. The gathering is to take place at the London Classic Car Show at ExCeL on 14-17 February, in a special display promoted by Octane. Organisers say they have already secured the attendance of one of the film’s two Jaguar E-types, plus the Aston Martin DB4 Convertible that was supposedly tipped over a cliff by a bulldozer – a Caterpillar 944A, no less – but substituted for a Lancia Flaminia at the key moment. As Octane went to press, negotiations were at an advanced stage to try to bring the Lamborghini Miura over from its current home in Switzerland. While the red, white and blue Minis from…

Early 356s top the Brussels bill A superb selection of Porsches rounding off the Stuttgart marque’s 70th anniversary was the highlight of the fourth Interclassics Brussels, which took place in the Belgian capital during 16-18 November. The display included one of the oldest 356 Gmünd coupés from Porsche’s own museum, a 550 Spyder, a rare 1961 356 Roadster D’Ieteren and a 1960 Carrera Abarth (one of only 21 built). The star car, however, was the rarely seen Swedish 1949 Gmünd coupe in which Cecilia Koskull won the Midnattssols Rally, one of the first-ever Porsche victories. Yoney to lend and mend Cambridge & Counties Bank, which offers finance for classic car purchases, is to become official ‘Finance Partner’ to the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs (FBHVC). The bank, which launched…

PETER MULLIN’S PLANS to bring a major car museum and motoring destination to Oxfordshire are back on track after the American philanthropist’s vision was reinterpreted by world-famous architect and classic car aficionado Lord Foster. Initial plans for a £150-million complex on the 160-acre Enstone airfield site hit the buffers after it prompted protests from local residents that centred around likely traffic levels and a proposed development of 28 upmarket motor lodges on adjacent fields. As a result, Mullin’s team called in Foster + Partners, who radically changed the plans and submitted them to West Oxfordshire District Council at the end of November. The scale of the development has been reduced by 15% and more than half of the motor lodges have been moved onto the brownfield site as ‘mews’ garages…