Octane June 2024

McLAREN MAY HAVE been swathed in some negative headlines and unwelcome speculation for quite a few years now, but it’s easy to forget that there was a time not so long ago when the company was not only unimpeachable but untouchable. Its utter dominance of Formula 1 may have drawn to a close in 1990, but there were still spurts of brilliance, seemingly coming towards the end of each decade. And even when it wasn’t winning, McLaren was still always a contender, still a very big fish in the paddock. Then, after the turn of the millennium, design – especially British design – suddenly became a big deal, as the world’s purchasing ethos shifted from people only wanting everything as cheaply as possible to swathes of people being prepared to…

BEN BARRY ‘Ron Dennis talked me round the McLaren 12C 15 years ago and I refereed an early group test, so revisiting the mid-engined supercar brought home just how much McLaren achieved with this clean-sheet design – not to mention the astonishing value 12Cs represent today at £65k or so.’ Find out more on pages 46-56. RICHARD PEARCE ‘Doing our best to dodge the springtime showers, we rolled out the almost century-old Mercedes-Benz 36/220 and positioned it in the crisp sunlight. At this point, the beauty of the car did all the hard work – it was almost impossible to take a bad photo.’ Richard’s superb photography accompanies Mark Dixon’s feature on pages 70-78. JOHAN DILLEN ‘I felt the Viper GTS-R before I first laid eyes on one. The deep…

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 DAPR24 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 You can find superb offers on print (order…

Per Ardua Ad Infinitum, 10-11 February HERO-ERA’s mid-Wales season-opening rally was treated to unseasonal sunshine and an entry bursting at the seams, with 45 cars ranging from 1957 Austin-Healey to 1991 Mazda MX-5. After a first day that was in essence all tests and a second devoted principally but not wholly to regularities, the winners were the relentless equipe of Dan Willan and Niall Frost in their 1962 Volvo PV544. They were 2min 38sec ahead of Kurt Vanderspinnen and Iain Tullie (1964 Ford Lotus Cortina), with Jon Dunning and Henry Carr (1980 Ford Escort RS2000) rounding off the podium. The coveted Test Pilot award went to Escort driver Mick Valentine. RALLY NORTH WALES, 16 MARCH Matthew Robinson chased hard in his Escort but went out with diff problems. VSCC HEREFORDSHIRE…

25 April – 4 May London to Lisbon A 2800km regularity rally for crews in pre-1991 cars, finishing in Portugal’s delightful capital. hero-era.com 27-28 April Classic Car Boot Sale Classic vehicles and sellers of all sorts of vintage goodies roll into King’s Cross in London. classiccarbootsale.co.uk 28 April Audrain Veteran Car Tour Pre-1908 cars from across the USA meet at the Audrain Automobile Museum before setting off on a 50-mile drive around Rhode Island. audrainmotorsport.com 28 April VSCC Wiltshire Tour Open to pre-1956 cars, this is the first of 13 tours the VSCC has arranged for its members in 2024. vscc.co.uk 2-5 May Simola Hillclimb Furious hillclimbing action in Knysna in South Africa. speedfestival.co.za 3-5 May The Greenbrier Concours d’Elegance Concours classes at the Greenbrier resort in West Virginia will…

NEW GUIDELINES FOR those converting heritage vehicles to electrical propulsion have been issued by the Historic and Classic Vehicles Alliance. The aim of the document – HCVA MPS for Electric Conversion v1.6 – is to advise both affiliates of the trade body and enthusiast members alike of best practice in the changes involved during the process. In releasing these guidelines, the HCVA is keen to not take sides one way or the other regarding the ‘should classic cars be converted?’ debate. Instead, it is seeking to bring a unified set of professional standards that will ensure that all classic cars converted will be safely built, able to be used without harm, and feature the kinds of inbuilt safeguards to ensure First Responders and other road users are not injured when…