Octane October 2021

IT FEELS LIKE I have written this column before – and that is almost certainly the case, maybe five years ago, definitely ten, possibly 15 and more than likely 20, too. Which leaves me wondering why we keep celebrating the Jaguar E-type and what that says about the car. After all, how many models rather than marques get the same treatment, not just on a big birthday like a 50th, but every ten years? Not many. Obviously, E-types generally help shift decent numbers of magazines, but there is more to it than that. Even the fact that it is the darling of empty-nesters and casual enthusiasts in a world where cognoscenti snobbery is king does little to detract from its appeal. All the best collectors keep E-types alongside their Short Wheelbases…

RICHARD MEADEN ‘Over the years I’ve been fortunate to drive pretty much every kind of 911 there is, but I’d never been near an SC RS. To get behind the wheel of this car – one that Henri Toivonen rallied – was something very special. Few competition 911s look, sound or drive better.’ The other Rothmans Porsche: pages 102-110. PAUL HARMER ‘Robert Coucher and I live locally, so know how not to get arrested, bogged down in traffic or draw too much attention to ourselves shooting in London at 7am on a Sunday – only this time everyone wanted to look at these majestic cars. They just looked so right wafting through town.’ Lagonda versus Bentley: pages 128-136. MARC SONNERY ‘Though I am more Swedish than French, the Ligier JS2 makes me…

Silverstone Classic One of the things that is hard to take on board about this event that, over decades and via different owners and organisers, grew out of the 1990 Christie’s International Historic Festival, is its scale. As well as the musical distractions of The Brand New Heavies and more, there was an auction, fields full of exhibitors and club displays, a sky full of hot-air balloons, plus countless other activities for all the family. Then there was the track action, from anniversary parades for everything from Triumph Stag (375 examples on track) to DeLorean DMC-12 – as well as Countach and E-type, obviously – plus all-out racing in all weathers from blistering sunshine to monsoon rain. There was a huge number of grids and entries, 21 of the former…

27-29 August Concours d’Elegance Paleis Soestdijk The Paleis Soestdijk, a former royal residence half an hour outside Amsterdam, opens its gates to cars new, old and ancient, and recounting the 125-year history of motoring in The Netherlands. concourselegance.com 27-29 August CarFest South The second leg of CarFest 2021 is at Laverstoke Park Farm, where Chris Evans, Jody Scheckter and Pudsey Bear will be joined by acts including All Saints and Texas. carfest.org 30 August – 4 September Tour Auto Optic 2000 The modern-day Tour de France is one of the world’s great driving events, mixing fabulous roads with competition on a selection of circuits located between Paris and the finish in the sunny south. peterauto.fr 1-4 September The Three Castles Trial A very civilised sort of trial, this, held on…

IT’S APPROPRIATE that the Helicopter Museum found itself a permanent home on the former airport at Weston-super-Mare. The Bristol Aeroplane Company’s helicopter division made the Sycamore helicopter there between 1955 and 1959, and the first flight of the tandem-rotor Belvedere took off from there on 5 July 1958. From small acorns – documentation and artefacts, all collected by the current chairman of the museum’s trustees, Elfan Ap Rees – grew the forerunner of the museum, the British Rotorcraft Museum and Avon Air Collection. That evolved into the current Helicopter Museum, which opened in 1989 and has been gathering pace ever since. It’s the largest museum in the world that’s dedicated solely to the preservation of rotorcraft. There are over 80 exhibits, which range from diminutive single-seat autogyros to the giant…

TWO RADICAL state-of-the-art launches from highly traditional British names have lit up the classic world. The first was the official reveal of the initial offering from the resuscitated Radford company. The new outfit is ‘inspired’ by London coachbuilder Harold Radford & Co (which shone in the 1960s with its bespoke Minis and Aston shooting brakes), and is fronted by Mark Stubbs, Ant Anstead, Jenson Button and Roger Behle. What is perhaps surprising is that, despite the new car being built in partnership with Lotus, it is an evocation of the little-known Lotus 62 racer. Lotus only ever made two of these 1969 Group 6 prototypes that evolved from the Europa and Type 47 racer, though notably with a tubular spaceframe chassis rather than the usual Lotus backbone. The factory shelved the…