Sommaire pour December 2022 de Octane

MY BIGGEST COMPLAINT about electrification is that our Government (and most others, to be fair) plunged headlong into it to the exclusion of all else. Sure, it’s a shrewd economic solution – many millions of cars to be scrapped and new ones to be built and bought in the UK alone – but it never seemed a truly environmentally conscious one. In fact, given the current fuel crisis and the dirtiness of battery and EV manufacture, the day when building, fuelling and maintaining for life (and then scrapping and replacing) an electric car is anywhere near as environmentally justifiable as continuing to run the nation’s current fleet, even on fossil fuels, never felt further off. It makes existing policy seem at best ignorantly blinkered and at worst wilfully reckless. What has…

Goodwood Revival, 16-18 September The 2022 Goodwood Revival was an astounding success. On the track the frenetic action was punctuated only by a series of wonderful parades, including 100 years of the Austin Seven, 75 years of Ferrari and 60 years since Graham Hill’s first F1 championship. Elsewhere, the new Revive & Thrive village was a triumph. Pictures, clockwise, from main: period atmosphere before the off in the blue riband race, the RAC TT Celebration; the Freddie March Memorial Trophy field pouring down the Lavant Straight towards Woodcote at dusk; ‘Mr Le Mans’ Tom Kristensen guides the Lister Jaguar coupé through the Chicane; determined youngsters underway in the Settrington Cup.…

SIR JACKIE Stewart and his son Paul, Giacomo Agostini, Craig Pollock and Claude Sage were among the honorary guests who attended the launch of the exclusive new not-for-profit Automobile Club de Villars in the Swiss Alps. The club is the brainchild of classic car specialist Jonathan Procter, who wanted to reinvigorate the village’s long motoring history. He is backed by entrepreneur Miguel Ernand, businessman and investor Ian Bagshaw, journalist Mimi Bertmark and ex-motorsport sponsorship manager Tony Pascarella. Since the 1950s this village of just 5000 people, set against a picturesque backdrop of Mont-Blanc and the Dents du Midi, has hosted the famous Ollon-Villars hillclimb (originally run to 1971, and then revived in the 1990s). It was also the site for the founding of the Club International des Anciens Pilotes de Grand…

We’re on a Shropshire hillside, late summer, awaiting three significant cars. Our muster-point is populated by dog walkers, ramblers and the odd commercial traveller enjoying the views over a coffee cup. Suddenly, heads swivel as the lightly muffled roar of a big V8 announces the arrival of an early-70s Aston Martin DBS; seconds later, one or two of the ramblers pause mid-step and stare as the impossibly long, chiselled form of a Lagonda saloon follows it in. And now everyone’s attention is laser-locked as the Earth-skimming spaceship that is the Aston Martin Bulldog appears amid a crackling cacophony of sound. The youngest of these cars is more than 40 years old, yet their power to shock and entrance is undiminished. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the world of William Towns.…

For such a shortlived marque, the power of the Monteverdi myth in the collective imagination of car enthusiasts is remarkable. Its story began in 1967 and ended in 1982, and in its day so little information about the company was available that it was almost a secret. To see one at the Geneva show, on a prominent stand near those of Maserati, Ferrari and Lamborghini, was genuinely awe-inspiring. The strong-willed and mercurial Peter Monteverdi was a high achiever, mixing a racing career with time as the Swiss importer of various marques, not to mention being the driving force behind the ultra-rare mid-engined Hai supercar. Yet it is his company’s 375 that stands out, having entered series production even if the exact number built has always been a hot topic among…

‘Modern traffic can be a bit too slow for them,’ muses Stephen Gentry. We’re standing beside a patinated blue Bugatti Type 35A, parked at the side of a country road on a scorching hot day. I’ve just had my first drive of the car and my head is still reeling with just how together, how joyful, how utterly fabulous this particular Bugatti is. There’s a very good reason for that: it’s one of the most original examples left in the world, and it’s just emerged from a painstaking recommissioning by Stephen’s company, Buckinghamshire-based Gentry Restorations. This car, chassis 4541, is special in another way, too. It’s one of the first batch of nine 35As made, and very possibly the first of a total run of 139: it still has engine…

THE TRENCH has become the defining image of the First World War. It’s hardly surprising; the new science of photography showed families back home their first stark sight of a new type of warfare: pictures of men slogging through mud, building dug-outs and going over the top. Time had more than a passing importance for the men who called the trenches ‘home’. It governed their lives and their fate: when to stand to and stand down, when to attack, and when to wait for an artillery barrage to pass over before the whistle went again. Watches you could strap to your wrist rather than keep in a pocket were already popular by the start of WW1. They’d been a feature of military life – at least for officers – since the…

BUGATTI TYPE 13 SLOT CAR BY VELASOR At the 1920 Coupe des Voiturettes at Le Mans, an overexcited Ettore Bugatti unwittingly sabotaged a 1-2 finish for his cars when he provided illegal assistance to the Type 13 of Pierre de Vizcaya by checking the water level. He didn’t have to wait too much longer, though, for a result that properly reflected the superiority of the Type 13: at the 1921 Gran Premio delle Vetturette in Brescia, Bugattis took the first four places, and those four famous Type 13s have now been painstakingly recreated in 1:32-scale slot-car form by the brilliant modelmakers at Velasor. From €660. velasor.com ASTON MARTIN A3 PRINT BY ADAM GOMPERTZ Adam Gompertz tackles the oldest surviving Aston Martin in the world, the 1921 A3, in his signature…

Built on a shortened, square-tube-style chassis, the Maserati Mistral (Tipo AM109) was built from 1963 until 1970. The body was designed by Frua, though built by Maggiora of Turin. Numbers vary, but, depending on who you ask, either 950 or 953 were manufactured – made up of about 827 coupés and 123 Spyders. It was officially offered with three different engines (a 3.5-, 3.7- and 4.0-litre) but, as with all things Maserati in the 1960s, rumours abound about cars being built with smaller-displacement motors to meet Italian tax regulations, which were then replaced after delivery – though some say it was only the paperwork that was changed. The Mistral was also the last car to be fitted new with the Maserati six-cylinder engine, which had been in many of its…

THE LATE Sir Stirling Moss was well-known for his interesting yet practical choice of city cars. This 1957 BMW Isetta 600 was bought by Moss at a classic auction in the early 1990s, although it wasn’t in the best shape initially. He sent it to an Isetta specialist immediately, and instructed them to fit it with an uprated BMW 700 engine. This larger flat-twin unit was actually supplied by BMW, whose people had apparently been sweet-talked by Moss! And once it was finished, he used it extensively: the BMW became the vehicle of choice when Moss taught his son Elliot to drive. As of 2021, the current owner has just completed an extensive restoration – understood to have cost somewhere in the region of £30,000. It has since appeared in…

THIS YEAR, again, we took our mobile lab to Silverstone Classic and the Goodwood Revival to offer our oil analysis service – for free – to competitors and invited car club members. It’s in an old Renault school bus restored in the Motul livery. It reminds people that Motul has a great heritage. It’s one of the oldest oil brands in the world, registered in 1853. When owners come to see me it’s like visiting the doctor. And if you go to the doctor because you’re not feeling good, you often have to give a blood sample. In our case, of course, it’s an oil sample, and instead of revealing the condition of your liver, here we can discover the state of your engine without having to open it up!…

28-30 October Las Vegas Concours d’Elegance Jay Leno will serve as grand marshal at this year’s event, which is set to include a special celebration of the Ferrari F40. lasvegasconcours.com 2-6 November Classic Daytona A wonderful opportunity to see some of the old monsters of motorsport thundering around the famous Florida circuit. hsrrace.com 3-6 November RAC Rally of the Tests For the 20th edition of the rally, organiser HERO has chosen a route that runs from Blackpool to Torquay and features 30 tests for the 70-plus entries. It is open to vehicles of a type available before 1991, but only pre-’68 cars will be eligible for the overall results. heroevents.eu 5-12 November TransMaroc It begins and ends in Marrakesh, but this rally takes entrants far from big-city tarmac, through mountains…

This story was conceived on one of the world’s premier concours lawns and played out on another. Issue 221 of Octane came out in September 2021 and included a feature by Italian correspondent Massimo Delbò on being a judge at the Pebble Beach Concours. Almost immediately after, at the Concours of Elegance, an idle discussion between myself and Tom King of Bell Sport & Classic led to a year-long plan for Octane to feel what it is like to experience the other side of the coin, by ‘presenting’ a car at a top-tier concours – Salon Privé – the following year. The conversation was prompted by the presence on the Bell Sport & Classic stand at Hampton Court of a nearnaked Ferrari 330GTC bodyshell. All it wore was its bewitching…

LET ME INTRODUCE you to Doris the Daimler. More precisely, a 1954 Daimler Conquest. Gloss black, with gold, hand-painted coachlines added to relieve the boredom. We met via a nearby dealer’s website in the spring of 2019, dated, and have been going out together ever since. Legend has it that the Conquest, fitted as standard with a six-cylinder engine and pre-selector gearbox, was so-named because of its £1066 ex-factory price tag. The directors then extended their unique brand of humour by promoting the Conquest as a regular-sized family saloon. Hmm. OK, so it’s no ocean liner, as were its regal predecessors, but take it from me, any car that can comfortably seat five grown-ups wearing hats and overcoats can never truthfully be thought of as modestly proportioned. I know what…

IF IT WASN’T FOR the inconvenience of Germany losing World War Two, Fritz Todt now might be celebrated as the greatest civil engineer and road builder since the Romans. He was born into an upper-middle class family in Pforzheim in 1891, where his father Emil owned a small ring factory. His engineering studies at Munich’s Technische Hochschule were interrupted by World War One, during which he earned the Iron Cross as an air force reconnaissance observer. He resumed his studies in Karlsruhe after the war, graduating with a degree in construction engineering in 1921 and joining Sager & Woerner, a major construction company involved in road building. By 1925 he was technical director of the company. Todt joined the recently formed National Socialist German Worker’s Party – the Nazis –…

Book of the month Ultimate Works Porsche 962 SERGE VANBOCKRYCK, Porter Press International, £850, ISBN 978 1 907085 92 5 Spending the thick end of a thousand pounds on a book – even three books, as with this slipcased set – might seem hard to justify but, if you’re a Porsche racing enthusiast, this definitive history would surely become a cherished heirloom. Make sure your knees and/or reading desk are in good shape, though, because each one of the three volumes is a monster. Stacked in their slipcase, they could be a danger to small children and pets. Size and price aren’t automatic guarantees of quality, of course, but author Vanbockryck has already made his mark with a companion work on the 962’s predecessor, the 956, also from Porter Press.…

IT HAS BEEN a busy month for Bonhams, which has hosted major sales in the US, mainland Europe and the UK. Most recent was its successful Zoute auction in Belgium, with a 1957 BMW 507 Series 1 Roadster (above) leading the way at €2,093,000. This was followed by a fully restored 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing at €1,380,000, as well as a very pleasing-looking blue 1968 Lamborghini Miura P400 – in need of a mechanical restoration – at €1,115,500. After a few post-sale deals, the event totalled €25m with a very impressive 95% sell-through rate. By strange coincidence, the Bonhams Audrain Concours auction was also led by a BMW 507, this time a 1957 Series 2 Roadster at $2,315,000. This ‘garage find’ had remained largely unused since 1979, and accounted for…

AC introduced the Bristol-engined Ace in 1956, offering an increase in performance over the original AC-powered cars. A successful competitor in sports car racing in Europe and the US, its numerous honours included a class win and seventh overall at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1959. RM Sotheby’s set the benchmark in 2016, achieving $495,000 (£443,000) at Amelia Island for a matching-numbers car (pictured) that had been restored over a five-year period by marque-expert Jim Feldman. Rétromobile provided Artcurial with two sales for chassis BEX 211, initially changing hands in 2014 for €280,120 (£245,500), before being sold on three years later at €321,840 (£282,500). Among the notable sales for low-mileage cars in a preserved original state, Artcurial’s two-owner left-hand-drive example with a documented 18,000km from new fetched €369,520…

IT’S AMAZING that any prototype cars ever survive the development process, let alone escape the factory when their job is complete. It very rarely happens today because the majority are crushed, but it was far more common in the 1970s. This Porsche 911 is one such car, and all the more special because it is one of seven prototype Carrera RS 2.7 models built. On offer from Canepa in California, chassis 0781 was originally assigned to Dr Ernst Fuhrmann, the chairman of Porsche. It was the first of the prototypes to get the RS-spec wide rear wheelarches, suspension upgrades and rear ducktail spoiler. Originally fitted with the 2.7-litre engine, it was also running an early version of the Bosch K-Jetronic fuel injection system. Unique features? The Fuhrmann car got an…

THE LIST OF affordable mid-engined sports cars has always been disappointingly sparse, but arguably Toyota has had the best stab at democratising the layout that is usually reserved for exotic machinery. Over three generations the MR2 has offered a sporty, practical package that appealed to casual sports car drivers and die-hard enthusiasts alike. Launched in 1984, the MR2 – Midship Runabout Two-seater – was actually a result of the early-1970s fuel crisis. Manufacturers were spurred on to develop small, lightweight and efficient cars, but some Toyota engineers saw the potential for fun at the same time. The result was the mid-engined SA-X concept, complete with a transverse-mounted four-cylinder engine and wedgy styling. As the crisis deepened the project was put on ice, but towards the end of the decade it…

To take advantage of this month’s special offer and get three issues of Octane for £5, either visit subscribe.octane-magazine.com or call +44 (0)330 333 9491 and quote code DOCT2 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 Travel. You can order the latest magazine or a back issue, delivered direct to your door, by visiting magsdirect.co.uk and searching for ‘Octane’. DIGITAL ISSUES Download the Octane Magazine app on Android or Apple and you will be able to enjoy the new issue. Alternatively you can source the digital edition via either Zinio or Readly. SUBSCRIBE Superb offers on print (starting with issue 235…

PUMP-READY environmentally friendly fuels that can be used in internal combustion engines with little or no adjustment are the silver bullet solution that enthusiasts have been praying for. Once the stuff of science fiction, the actual fuels now seem to be a workable reality, but they still face a raft of obstacles: not least price, scaling up of production, and huge tax and legislative hurdles. However, the carbon-neutral fuel manufacturer, P1 Performance Fuels, says the cost of its fossil-free, carbon-neutral fuels could become significantly more affordable from next year. Its sales and partnerships representative, Benjamin Cuyt, says prices of the fuel could fall from the current €5-€6 per litre (£4.39-5.27) to between €2.50-3.50 per litre when it ramps up. The Berlin-based firm currently produces three million litres of synthetic fuel…

Medcalf wins at Audrain A British-owned Bentley Speed Six won Best of Show at the Audrain Newport Concours. The matching-numbers 1930 Martin Walter Sports Saloon, dubbed a Folkestone close-coupled saloon by the coachbuilder, was first bought by Viscount Mandeville, tenth Duke of Manchester, and was the second of only two built. GJ 755 has led an intrepid life, being in the family of top restorer and specialist William Medcalf for almost 40 years, during which time it has been driven across the globe, including the US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Japan and Europe. At some point it had been separated from its original body, but was reunited with that coachwork after a three-year restoration several years ago. Other winners were Michael Schudroff’s 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Rondine Coupe (the Design Award),…

‘MBP 2J’ WAS ORIGINALLY a silver Jaguar XJ6 with grey trim, had a manual overdrive gearbox and was first registered to a lady in Sussex. The Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust certificate shows that Chichester Automobiles waved it off their forecourt on 5 January 1971, and it remained local for most of its life. The silver coat was replaced with a red one in the early ’90s and then the dark blue that it’s currently wearing about ten years ago. It appears on an archived page for a vehicle auction in 2018, after which it underwent a bit of a transformation. I found it on Facebook and bought it in June this year. The chap I got it from is a hot-rod guy who, while building this, realised that old Jaguars and…

I WAS FASCINATED to read about the late Tony Dron and his marvellous Austin Seven [above] in Octane 233. When I was an Austin apprentice at Longbridge, I owned a Seven that was the same model and year. Someone had named it Charlie – perhaps I should have found out why before buying it! One Saturday, with an important date later, I found that my Seven couldn’t climb the nearest hill and boiled whilst trying. Off came the head, and I was amazed to be able to see past each valve into the manifolds. What to do? I caught the bus into Birmingham and bought four valves, grinding paste and a head gasket from a motor factor, and then spent a very wet afternoon putting it all back together. I don’t…

AVW camper with a surfboard on the roof used to be the height of beach cool, but in Portugal it’s starting to lose its appeal. Here in Europe’s waveriding mecca, resentment is growing towards the ‘van life’ crowd – hipsters who live and travel in specially converted vehicles. These ever-bigger machines block the narrow coastal paths and hog the best parking spots. During Covid lockdowns, things reached a peak and an influx of foreigners rained down on this small country, leaving the local police no alternative but to crack down on people sleeping in their vans outside official spots. As a result, a growing community of local surfers is choosing to distance itself from this traditional surfing stereotype by driving different classic cars to the waves. Popular beach car parks…

LA POSTE, the French post office, has controversially announced that it is axing its next-day delivery service, to be replaced by a virtual e-letter service. With it will go the much loved ‘Red Marianne’ postage stamp that has adorned letters for the last 75 years or so. So far no postal vans have been burned on the streets, but the natives are not happy. In June 1940 Charles de Gaulle, promoted to Brigadier-General only weeks earlier, refused to accept his government’s armistice with the German invaders and escaped to England, from where he broadcast to France and exhorted his countrymen to continue the fight. His former mentor, French WW1 hero the 83-year-old Marshal Pétain, was made head of a new collaborative government based in Vichy in the unoccupied, so-called free-zone of…

Unusually, the 1952 and ’53 Formula 1 Grands Prix were run to Formula 2 regulations, to encourage a bigger grid after Alfa Romeo withdrew from the sport. Only Ferrari had a purpose-made car ready for the new regs, however, and the two-litre, four-cylinder 500 proved the ideal weapon, Alberto Ascari using it to win the World Championship for Ferrari in both years. For a modest 85 quid, this Chinese-made diecast is a very acceptable representation of Ascari’s winning car at the 1953 British Grand Prix. The suspension detail is a little simplified and the blank tyre sidewalls suggest an unwillingness to engage with Pirelli’s licensing department, but it’s still a handsome and pleasingly heavy display piece. Incidentally, you can view a brief Pathé News film of the race on YouTube.…

WATCHING MICHAEL Schumacher on his way to a Championship victory had become fairly routine by 2003, but this was the season in which he finally eclipsed Fangio’s long-held five-time record. Unlike the previous season, though, 2003 was particularly close, with Kimi Räikkönen just two points behind by the end of the tense final Japanese round. This era of F1 was one that represented a high point for the Scuderia Ferrari race team, and the F2003-GA (‘GA’ marking respect for recently passed Fiat boss Gianni Agnelli) was in effect a revised version of the previous F2002. With the design headed up by Rory Byrne – not to mention plenty of input from technical director Ross Brawn – it was introduced mid-season. Developments to the car included a slightly longer wheelbase, aerodynamic…