Inhaltsverzeichnis für July 2019 in Octane

1888 Benz Patent-Motorwagen Karl Benz made history with this, the world’s first production car. It debuted in 1886, but this particular example achieved a literal milestone when Benz’s wife Bertha drove it for 60 miles – the first recorded long-distance journey by car. 1934 Tatra T77 Paul Jaray was the first designer to apply the principles of streamlining to a mass-produced car, and this was the result. It was influenced by his early work on Zeppelin airship design, after which he founded a car design consultancy. 1952 Firebird 1 This General Motors concept car is the first of four iterations labelled ‘Firebird’, all of which were inspired by fighter-jets of the period. And this is Firebird 1’s first trip across the Atlantic to the UK. No, it didn’t fly here…

LAMBORGHINI HAS FINALLY verified Octane’s claim that the Lamborghini Miura P400 featured in issue 143 (May 2015) is indeed the car used for the opening sequence of the 1969 film The Italian Job. Two orange Miuras were used in the film: an already-damaged rolling shell, and the car that appears in all the driving shots. Following a tip-off from Cheshire Classic Cars proprietor Iain Tyrrell, who had bought a Miura that he believed to be the ‘hero’ car, Octane’s deputy editor Mark Dixon carried out extensive research to determine whether chassis #3586 is the very car that Roger Beckerman, played by Rossano Brazzi, drove up the Grand St Bernard Pass to the tones of Matt Monro singing On Days Like These – one of the most memorable moments in movie…

Why do I suddenly like cars that I used to detest? This question occurred to me recently when, for some inexplicable reason, I bought a low-mileage two-door 1957 Imperial. To the uninitiated, Imperial was a luxury brand built by Chrysler to compete with Lincoln and Cadillac. Virgil Exner was the designer who turned Chrysler around when he joined the company in 1949. KT Keller was the president and chairman of the board at the time and, prior to Exner joining the company, Chrysler’s styling was stodgy, to say the least. For example, Keller liked a higher roofline on his cars because he believed men should always wear a hat while driving. Exner had other ideas and by 1955 he was able to introduce them, starting with the Forward Look. By…

Now that the Mayor of London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) is being enforced with charges of £12.50 per day, plus another £11.50 for London’s congestion charge, drivers are beginning to react in different ways. Many who have to drive into central London have already changed their vehicles to meet the Euro 6 emission for diesels and Euro 4 for petrol engines. It’s an expensive way of clobbering the poor motorist once again, making us pay for the previous government’s dash for diesel. Typically, the only way politicians and administrators can fix anything is by increasing taxes. Mayor Sadiq Khan is a slippery politician down to his fingertips. If he really wants to cut NOx air pollution in central London he should slap a tax on domestic gas heating, but…

1969 Geneva Motor Show 13 MARCH Vic Elford Love at first sight. Porsche told me it was to enter just one 917 at Le Mans for Rolf Stommelen and that it would break after six hours. Luckily I was maybe the only driver who got on well with [competitions boss] Ferdinand Piëch, and I persuaded him I could do well if I treated it with kid gloves. Every driver except me hated that 917. deputy] Helmut Bott said: ‘Go out. Drive slowly.’ It weaved from one side of the circuit to the other without you steering. It looked fantastic. Like a cheetah. But it was horrible. Manufacturers were concentrating on top speed even though Chaparral’s wing car of 1967 had been superior. Elford Invited to try a 917 in practice,…

Simple, tough and charismatic, the Subaru Impreza’s rally success was a perfect fit for a brand defined by its four-wheel drive heritage. The basic template of a gutsy turbocharged four-cylinder boxer engine and permanent four-wheel drive was common to all, but Subaru spun endless variations off the same theme with a bewildering array of special editions. UK cars – known as the Impreza Turbo 2000 – were less exotic than the Japanese-market WRX and STI versions and had less power but were still wildly popular. Post-1997, Subaru rallied the two-door Impreza, and roadgoing versions such as the Prodrivedeveloped P1 and extreme, wide-arched 22B are now covetable classics. WRC Driver Championships 1995 WRC Manufacturer Championships 1995, 1996, 1997 Key drivers Colin McRae, Kenneth Eriksson, Richard Burns The ones to buy now…

ROBERT COUCHER International editor • 1955 Jaguar XK140• 1988 Mercedes-Benz 560 SEC ANDREW ENGLISH Contributor • 1960 Triumph TR3A• 1962 Norton Dominator• 1965 Aston Martin DB5 SANJAY SEETANAH Advertising director • 1981 BMW 323i Top Cabrio• 1998 Aston Martin DB7 Volante MARK DIXON Deputy editor • 1955 Land Rover Series I 107in• 1966 Ford Mustang 289• 1994 Range Rover 4.0 JAMES ELLIOTT Editor-in-chief • 1965 Triumph 2.5PI• 1968 Jensen Interceptor SAMANTHA SNOW Advertising account manager • 1969 Triumph Herald 13/60 Convertible• 1989 Mercedes-Benz 300SL GLEN WADDINGTON Associate editor • 1983 Porsche 944• 1989 BMW 320i Convertible JOHN SIMISTER Contributor • 1934 Singer Nine Le Mans• 1961 Saab 96• 1989 Mazda MX-5 Eunos RICHARD HESELTINE Contributor • 1966 Moretti Sportiva• 1971 Honda Z600…

It’s straightforward to fit automatic seatbelts to these Triumphs, but four-point belts are to be recommended. Often, three-point belts are fitted, where the retractor is mounted to the side of the rear wheelarch and the belt taken directly over the shoulder, as MG did with the B roadster. They don’t work! Instead, the retractor should be fitted at the bottom of the rear wheelarch and a top anchor point at the top of the arch. This allows the seatbelt to work effectively and it won’t keep falling off your shoulder. A rally car like Andrew English’s will need three- or four-point static harnesses. If lower seatbelt mounting points already exist, these can normally be used. For the top anchor point(s), the rule of thumb is that it should be level…

MY CHUM JAMES, who had a bit part in my Ford ‘Shoebox’ report two issues back, phoned to say he’d volunteered me to display the Abarth at a meeting at Fiat’s UK HQ in Slough. It involved an early Sunday start and a trip around the M25, so on Saturday I made a pre-breakfast visit to my local petrol station for a top-up. On the way back it seemed prudent to try a quick blast for a mile or two: down to the Barley Mow, once around Tilford village green and back for breakfast. Five minutes at the most. Halfway there, the Abarth developed a slight weaving sensation at the rear. ‘Oh no! A flat tyre!’ Pulling over at the green, a walk-round determined that all tyres seemed to be…

‘WHAT HANDLES like a Porsche, costs only £4200 and is more fun than a GTI?’ An intriguing question posed on the cover of Autocar & Motor back in September 1988. It might sound like hyperbolic praise, but Skoda’s 135 Rapid coupé had all the makings of a budget drivers’ car. Rear-engined, five-speed manual gearbox, zingy four-cylinder engine and, of course, low weight. After years of slightly scary on-the-limit handling, it was this heavily revised version of the rear-engined 110 – offered in 130, 135 and 136 configurations – that brought all-new semi-trailing arm rear suspension, replacing the old swing axles. It transformed the handling and, thanks to a much-improved interior and appealing sticker price, it went on to sell quite well in the UK from 1987. Ever since reading that…

HONDA NSX-R & TYPE R BH Auction, Tokyo, Japan 8-9 June, bhauction.com Much of the engineering that makes up any Honda NSX is stunning, but the hardcore R versions took weight-saving and attention to detail to a different level. Sub-1000km examples of the 1995 NSX-R and 2005 Type R will be offered by BH Auction and, since production of each was very low, the estimates are ¥35-40m (c£245,000-280,000) for the NSX-R and ¥38-48m (c£266,000-336,000) for the rarer Type R. AUSTIN-HEALEY 100/6 Dorset Vintage& Classic Auctions, UK 11 July, dvca.co.uk Vastly improved performance and usability often comes at the expense of a car’s original character, but the extensive modifications carried out to this Austin-Healey are respectful. The owner specified a number of significant upgrades including a tuned engine, modern electrical system,…

DEAN SMITH ‘As if suffering from hereditary high blood pressure weren’t bad enough, this month Octane demanded that I dangle my camera 50ft above a vehicle insured for £28m for the cover photo. Scary, unnerving, ludicrous – and so, so worth it.’ Dean’s superb pictures accompany our Porsche 917 STORY ON PAGES 60-70 . PAUL FEARNLEY ‘Drivers of Porsche’s iconic 917 were a breed apart. Just ask Jo Ramírez, mechanic to Jo Siffert during the 1971 World Sportscar Championship. I did. But, to be certain, I also spoke with seven of the magnificent men who ran 240mph at Le Mans. Lap after lap. At night. And in the rain.’ Heroic stuff, all revealed on PAGES 72-78 . JONATHAN FLEETWOOD ‘Being on the water has held a special joy for me…

What is perhaps the human race’s greatest achievement, the Apollo 11 moon landing, happened 50 years ago this month. The complexity of the Saturn V spacecraft and the creativity of the human mind seemed to know no bounds, enabling Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin actually to walk on the surface of the moon. Just two years later, their successors could drive on the moon in a vehicle created to cope with the surface: the Lunar Rover. This was not merely an exercise in Cold War dominance; it was vital for assisting subsequent lunar visitors in their experiments and data collection. Boeing got the contract to develop the all-electric vehicle, which had to be lightweight, collapsible so it could fit into the tight confines of the lunar module, capable of carrying…

The recent Azerbaijan Grand Prix saw another round of the Formula 1 world championship played out before largely empty grandstands. I am all for introducing the sport to new markets, but not at the expense of countries with a rich motor-racing heritage. It did get me thinking, though, about some of the more out-of-the-way places in which I competed during my frontline career. Perhaps the most unlikely venue was Ashkelon, which once played host to the grandiosely named Grand Prix of Israel. That was back in November 1970. That said, I didn’t actually race , as such. Nor did anyone else. That season, in which I was dovetailing single-seaters with sporadic outings in sports cars run by Ecurie Francorchamps and Scuderia Ferrari, I finished second in the European Formula 2…

‘OUR MARRIAGE WAS ONLY A FEW MINUTES OLD, BUT ALREADY IT WAS TO BE TESTED AS BOTH FLAVIEN AND I MADE A DASH FOR THE DRIVER’S SEAT’ OUR GUESTS REALISED something was up about ten minutes before the end of the wedding when, during a very serious part of the ceremony, the stained glass windows in the church started to rattle. A family member was warming up our wedding car – these things need to be done properly – and it was filling the church with a fearsome rumble, leaving guests to wonder what was causing such a commotion. Mind you, being an occasion that drew together all corners of the classic car community, many of them probably recognised the flat-12’s distinctive, unsilenced bark. When myself and Flavien exited the…

Engine 1985cc four-cylinder, gear-driven DOHC, twin plugs per cylinder, dry-sump, two Weber 50 DCOA3 carburettors Power 170bhp @ 7000rpm Transmission Four-speed manual transaxle, rear-wheel drive, limited-slip differential Steering Worm and sector Suspension Front: double wishbones, transverse leaf spring, Houdaille adjustable dampers. Rear: de Dion axle, transverse leaf spring, Houdaille adjustable dampers Brakes Drums Weight 725kg Top speed 147mph…

By some measure the most extreme of all the ’90s Japanese rally reps, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution combined huge power with wild-looking aero to dominate late-90s WRC. Its compact layout with a transverse 2.0-litre engine, twin-scroll turbo and high-tech Active Yaw Control rear diff gave it unprecedented agility and true throttle-steerability unique for a four-wheel-drive car, though the rally cars used a simpler mechanical set-up. Unlike Toyota and Subaru, the Evo remained a Japanese Domestic Market rarity, Mitsubishi eventually bowing to demand and bringing limited numbers of the Evo VI into the UK through its Ralliart operation. The Tommi Mäkinen Edition of the same is regarded as the ultimate and values are skyrocketing. WRC Driver Championships 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 WRC Manufacturer Championships 1998 Key drivers Tommi Mäkinen, Richard Burns…

JESSE CROSSE Contributor • 1968 Ford Mustang GT 390• 1986 Ford Sierra RS Cosworth DAVID BURGESS-WISE Contributor • 1903 De Dion-Bouton• 1911 Pilain 16/20• 1926 Delage DISS MARTYN GODDARD Photographer • 1963 Triumph TR6SS Trophy• 1965 Austin-Healey 3000 MkIII DELWYN MALLETT Contributor • 1936 Cord 810 Beverly• 1946 Tatra T87• 1950 Ford Club Coupe• 1952 Porsche 356• 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL• 1957 Porsche Speedster• 1957 Fiat Abarth Sperimentale• 1963 Abarth-Simca• 1963 Tatra T603• 1992 Alfa Romeo SZ TONY DRON Contributor • 1932 Austin Seven SARAH BRADLEY Contributor • 1929 Ford Model A hot rod• 1952 Studebaker Champion• 1956 Chevrolet 3100 pick-up• 1969 Plymouth Roadrunner• Various motorbikes MASSIMO DELBÒ Contributor • 1967 Mercedes-Benz 230• 1972 Fiat 500L• 1979/80 Range Rovers• 1982 Mercedes-Benz 500SL• 1985 Mercedes-Benz 240TD EVAN KLEIN Photographer • 1966 Alfa…

AMAZINGLY, not everyone views the P38A Range Rover as a classic vehicle yet, the poor misguided souls. That means loads are being broken, so spares are freely available – and cheap. Some months ago I snapped up a complete mid-90s leather interior for £50 just so I could put a better driver’s seat into my ex-press launch vehicle, M238 CVC. Most of M238’s seats are in good condition, but the driver’s seat cushion had torn at the bolster side seam where it takes all the weight of a driver climbing up into it. It wouldn’t be an easy repair, so 50 quid for a set of seats and doorcards advertised on a Facebook group seemed like a reasonable gamble. However, my replacement driver’s seat turned out to be not quite…

‘Progress on the Subaru engine swap into the Beetle has been slow – I need to order the engine adaptor and send the Scooby’s loom away for modification’ Matthew Howell ‘While the Giulia Spider was at my mechanic’s shop, a customer saw it, took it for a test drive, and within 24 hours I had his money and he had the car’ Evan Klein ‘I have discovered that the front of the Singer’s engine had been resting on the chassis. It’s now raised via extra rubber under the mount, so refinement should be much improved’ John Simister ‘My Triumph’s “new” loom (which means it’s possibly less than five years old) seems to be having a few teething problems, such as the car stalling when I turn on the headlights! Investigations…

I KNEW I WAS being suckered, but for once I didn’t mind. ‘We don’t have anything left in the class you requested, but for an extra $20 a day I can give you a brand new Dodge Challenger V8,’ said the clerk at the car rental counter in Miami. ‘It’s either that or a mini-van.’ The Challenger turned out to be the R/T model, so new that it still carried the factory’s wax markings on the side glass and alloy wheels. It packed the 375bhp Hemi option and when I hit the starter, it woofled into life with a surprisingly mellifluous burble – although 375bhp seems almost poverty-spec when you can order a Challenger SRT Hellcat with 717bhp. Whatever, this would do very well for our trip to the REVS…

Switzerland is home to some of the world’s finest classic cars, and the few vehicles that have been built there, such as the Monteverdi, have also been decidedly exclusive. However, the Matchbox Swiss Collection was designed for a much wider market. Launched in 1989, the idea was to issue existing Matchbox models in different packaging and finishes that had a local connection, and sell these in outlets such as supermarkets. Matchbox had already built up a good distribution system in Switzerland through a trading company called Joker SA, which distributed the Swiss Collection in special packaging with a red check design on the front and dual German and French text on the reverse. According to this, there were 14 regular-sized models, though one of the liveries listed never appeared, perhaps…

£1,943,500 ( € 2,255,000) 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540 K Cabriolet A by Sindelfingen RM Sotheby’s, Essen, Germany. 11-12 April £1,535,000 ($1,985,000) 1948 Tucker 48 Bonhams, Tupelo, USA. 26-27 April £896,500 ( € 1,040,000) 1985 Lancia Delta S4 Stradale RM Sotheby’s, Essen, Germany. 11-12 April £770,500 ( € 893,750) 1959 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster RM Sotheby’s, Essen, Germany. 11-12 April £663,500 ( € 770,000) 1982 Lancia 037 Stradale RM Sotheby’s, Essen, Germany. 11-12 April £636,600 1964 Aston Martin DB5 to Vantage spec Bonhams, Goodwood, UK. 7 April £547,500 ( € 635,000) 1970 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona RM Sotheby’s, Essen, Germany. 11-12 April £525,000 1929 Bentley 4½ Litre Tourer by Vanden Plas Bonhams, Goodwood, UK. 7 April £469,500 ( € 545,000) 1975 Lancia Stratos HF Stradale RM Sotheby’s, Essen, Germany. 11-12 April £373,000…

If you have attempted to drive through Paris in a vaguely interesting car in the past few years, you will know that big internal-combustion engines are about as welcome to the authorities as the gilets jaunes. It was not always so; in the years before pollution targets, racing was even permitted in the city centre, albeit on the water. From 1955 until 1988, Paris hosted one of the maddest motorsport events ever conceived, the 6 Heures Motonautiques de Paris. Competitors blasted around a three-kilometre course on the Seine, in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower. In addition to avoiding one another, racers had to dodge stone bridges and all manner of floating debris (a boat once struck a dead donkey). Plus, authorities chose to close the course to barges and…

1967 FIAT DINO SPIDER €129,500 One of the first 100 cars off the production line, this giallo Spider was originally sold to the USA. The rust-free example was fully restored after it returned to Italy in 2014. albionmotorcars.com (BE) 1930 AC MAGNA SIX BOAT TAILED SPORTS, £26,500 After moving to Zimbabwe in 1936, this AC lived a very interesting life. It was given this boat-tail body during extensive restoration in the early 1980s, and returned to the UK in 2000. brooklandscarsltd.com (UK) 1985 HOLDEN COMMODORE VK GROUP A, $229,990 AUD Very rare homologation version of the VK Commodore, with a 263bhp 4.9-litre V8 and four-speed manual transmission. A pure slice of 1980s Australian Touring Car nostalgia. duttongarage.com (AUS) 1960 PLYMOUTH FURY HARDTOP $69,500 Ex-Studebaker stylist Virgil Exner gave the Fury…

WHAT TO PAY Good solid runners start from around £3000-4000, with cars in great mechanical and bodily condition running up to £8000-10,000. You won’t pay any more for a 304 over the less powerful 204, but unless you are married to the earlier car’s styling it’s the one to go for. There’s a healthy supply of cars in Holland and France, but they will always fetch higher prices in mainland Europe. LOOK OUT FOR... One of the big problems that comes with any rare and relatively low-value car is the sourcing of spare parts. The 204’s mechanicals are robust, and, although new parts are hard to come by, secondhand spares are out there. A grasp of French will help you find parts on Leboncoin and eBay. Importantly, check the condition…

Well, not exclusively ’50s movies – we love pretty much any old film in which you can spot some interesting cars – but that decade is a particularly rich seam. The London-to-Brighton comedy Genevieve (1953) is now as absorbing for its scenes of everyday traffic as for its veteran cars. Remember the Allard K1 that is press-ganged into giving the eponymous 1904 Darracq a tow? Watching these old films is also a reminder of how varied the British automotive landscape could be. American cars appear surprisingly often; even that most Ealing of Ealing Studios comedies, The Ladykillers, made in 1955, featured a 1939 Packard Super Eight as the thieves’ getaway vehicle. But, of course, homegrown tin is by far the most popular, and never more so than when being driven…

Abrasive particles quickly ruin an engine. That’s why, usually, the air it ingests and the oil that circulates within it are filtered. But we’ve all seen racing engines with open trumpets on their carburettors or fuel injection systems, to give unrestricted airflow and more power. More noise, too; unsilenced intakes add a racy aural edge. This is fine for a racing engine, driven on a clean, fairly dust-free track and not intended to have a long life. It’s not so clever for a road engine, more likely to suck in dust and grit to the detriment of bores and piston rings. Putting metal mesh over the trumpets isn’t much help, either. Fine particles still get through, and the mesh itself, close to the throttle, restricts airflow at least as much…

1. Most important to me of all is my family and I am blessed they share my love for all things automotive. My wife, Rose, runs Exports International, connecting US automotive aftermarket manufacturers with global distributors. My son, Tim, manages our wheel manufacturing company, Wheel Vintiques, and you may have seen my daughter, Alyssa, in one of her Ford Focus TV commercials. 2. My uncle, Lt Col Tom Shingaki, was my personal hero. He taught me the lessons of discipline, service and being a lifelong learner. He was shot down in his F4 Phantom over North Vietnam and received many medals for his service. These mementos keep his legacy alive. 3. One Chinese New Year tradition is giving money in a red envelope to your child. Rose and I received…

The atrocious sight of the Notre-Dame inferno put me in mind of a central philosophical question in the classic car movement. Namely, in matters of restoration, how far do you go? We need expert witnesses. So let me introduce Viollet-le-Duc and Gilbert Simondon. The one an over-busy 19th Century architect, the other a baffling 20th Century Parisian intello, each representing a subtly different view of how to repair or revive the past. In a restoration project, Viollet was always confident that he could do better than his medieval predecessors because he had better technology and a better education, so did not scruple to design a fever-dream spire of Victorian kitsch for Notre-Dame while he was planning an ambitious and unsentimental overhaul of the cathedral’s interior. So, calls by conservatives that…

The Canoe? There’s a story behind this car’s nickname. On website PistonHeads there is a section called You Know You Want To, which features tempting items from the classifieds. On 1 August 2011 the item was a Porsche 917 bodyshell that had been moulded from David Piper’s chassis number 10. Piper made several sets of body clips and this surplus one was bought by Graham Turner who sold it to finance an engine build on his LMK replica. As the advert stated: ‘This is the first and only complete 917 bodywork ever to be offered for sale.’ Well quite, a lovely and desirable thing, but as PistonHeads said: ‘There must be something you could do with it – turn it upside down and make a canoe, perhaps?’ A canoe indeed.…

The first true challenger to Lancia’s early dominance of Group A, the Celica led the charge of Japanese manufacturers into the WRC. All three versions – ST165, ST185 and ST205 – shared the same format of a transverse turbocharged 2.0-litre engine, MacPherson strut suspension and permanent four-wheel drive with a viscous centre coupling. Homologation versions of the ST205 seen here included hardware for the rally car’s anti-lag system and intercooler spray, plus bolt-in blocks to raise the rear wing. Costing £29,235 at launch in 1994, it was expensive and less powerful than rivals but the only one to be sold officially in the UK. WRC Driver Championships 1990 (ST165), 1992, 1993, 1994 (ST185) WRC Manufacturer Championships 1993, 1994 (ST185) Key drivers Carlos Sainz, Juha Kankkunen, Didier Auriol Signature technology ‘Super…

HAVING WRITTEN a book about car chases in the movies and got to know the director of Bullitt , the late Peter Yates, in the process, I’d had the idea of restoring a 1968 Mustang Fastback on the bucket list for a while. At first I thought I’d settle for the usual cosmetic clone rather than build an exact replica of McQueen’s machine, a genuine GT 390. You know the sort of thing: find a V8 fastback, swap the auto slushbox for a manual, paint it Highland Green, make some noise. Trouble is, I’ve never liked half-measures, and eventually I found a genuine 1968 factory four-speed and factory Highland Green GT for sale in the US. With the help of folks at Alan Mann Racing who had connections there, I…

CONFOUNDED by the inability of ‘Yoo Hoo’s gearbox to hold overdrive in fourth, I removed it and sent it to maestro Pete Cox for a rebuild. He immediately identified it as a TR6 unit, which gives more synchromeshed gears and a stronger casing but still has inherent weaknesses such as a tendency to jump out of third gear on overrun and a weak layshaft. He put in fixes for all that, plus a grippier overdrive clutch and uprated pressure, and turned the unit round in just a week. Putting it back is simple but hard work. You need to support the input shaft end while a second person lifts the back with a looped rope, simultaneously sliding the whole gearbox forward and downwards while your assistant turns the output flange…

MY 2019 hot-rodding calendar got off to a wonderful start in April, when I joined like-minded mates for our annual Roadster Reliability Run. This year our adventures took us to Dorset, in a convoy which comprised four rods – three Model As and one Model B – and a freshly renovated 1950 Chevy truck. As is traditional, we’d booked fabulously sunny weather for our spring jaunt, even if the clear blue sky belied the Arctic temperatures. I was the only driver mad enough to truly brave the cold, lowering my 1929 Model A’s roof for the duration while all the other rodders sensibly kept their soft-tops raised. My other half gamely donned his gloves and beanie, and settled in for the ride. I’m very grateful for his support of all…

IT SEEMED LIKE such a fantasy title for an email that I could easily have dismissed it as spam, along with all those ones from the drop-dead gorgeous Svetlana who is desperate to marry me, the cheap plentiful Viagra on offer (and that I will need if Svetlana ever turns up), and saving 30% of the business rates that I don’t have. The exact words were ‘Driving a P1 at Goodwood’. The source – McLaren global communications and PR director Wayne Bruce – was trusted, though, so I opened it. To my relief, he hadn’t been hacked and nor was he offering me the story of someone else driving a P1. It was actually a dream invitation to have a go in one of my most lusted-after cars at my…

YOU MIGHT THINK that slotting a 542bhp supercharged V8 into Jaguar’s F-Pace would result in an absolute hooligan of an SUV. After all, JLR’s Special Vehicle Operations treatment of the Range Rover Sport SVR did exactly that, but the result here is considerably more sophisticated. It’s not exactly a state-of-the-art drivetrain, though; the V8 is delightfully old-school in its character and delivery. It’s the first time it’s been fitted into the F-Pace, but it feels right at home. The F-Pace was a decent starting point for SVO because it was already well regarded in standard form. A key part of the mission was not to take away from the standard car’s refinement, comfort and usability. This £74,835 SUV is likely to be a daily car for most buyers, after all.…

25 May Classic Car Auctions, Leamington Spa, UK Morris Leslie, Errol, UK Oldtimer Galerie, Lucerne, Switzerland RM Sotheby’s, Como, Italy 29 May – 1 June RM Auctions, Auburn, USA 1 June Charterhouse, Stockton, UK (motorcycles) Mathewsons, Thornton-le-Dale, UK 1-2 June Lucky Collector Car Auctions, Tacoma, USA 2 June Bonhams, Greenwich, USA 4 June Barons, Sandown Park, UK 7-9 June Leake Auction, Tulsa, USA 15 June Anglia Car Auctions, Norfolk, UK Dorotheum, Vösendorf, Austria Osenat, Fontainebleau, France Richard Edmonds, Allington, UK Silver Auctions, Coeur d’Alene, USA 17 June Artcurial, Paris, France 19 June H&H, Duxford, UK 21-22 June Mecum, Portland, USA 23 June Aguttes, Paris, France Charterhouse, Shepton Mallet, UK 26-29 June Barrett-Jackson, Uncasville, USA 28-29 June Vicari, Atlanta, USA 29 June Coys, Woodstock, UK 30 June Bonhams, Chantilly, France 3…

A unique opportunity to own Historic Motorsport History, a multiple Goodwood Invitee, ready to run with fresh FIA Appendix K paperwork, in the 60th year of the MINI. Built and owned by Two-Time British Touring Car champion Richard Longman to compete in the European Historic Touring Car championship - also named on V5 Log book. The car was owned by Richard from 1994 until 2006. Driven by Richard Longman, The late Barrie “Whizzo” Williams, Finnish Rally Legend Rauno Aaltonen, TV personality / Celebrity Chef James Martin, Red Bull F1 Team Principal Christian Horner, F1 pundit Tony Jardine and BTCC / GT racer Sam Tordoff. 2009 Goodwood Revival - St Mary’s Trophy – All-MINI race to celebrate 50 years of the MINI with Christian Horner 2011 Goodwood Revival - St Mary’s…