Índex per January 2019 a Octane

A HISTORICALLY IMPORTANT collection of sketches, drawings and photographs has been given to the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu by the widow of Lotus design legend Ron Hickman. Helen Hickman’s generous decision to donate the collection comes seven years after the death of the designer and inventor (pictured above) at the age of 78. The items span his career in vehicle design, unsurprisingly with a strong emphasis on his time at Lotus. Most of the 100 sketches and drawings are originals, along with numerous reference photographs, documents and copies of sketches. On top of that there are around 60 box files packed with correspondence about his autobiography and other matters, as well as a complete project showing his proposed redesign of the Caterham Seven. Having started with Ford in 1954…

Our interesting old cars often consume a hefty chunk of our disposable income. Sometimes this means there’s less left over to fund the daily driver. The on-trend way to lowish-cost motoring is the reinvention of hire purchase that is the PCP, but it locks you into unavoidably regular payments and you never have the frisson of pleasure that comes from actually owning the car that you use the most. Modern cars, which to us means anything under 20 years old, can be amazingly reliable and durable. Most manufacturers had beaten the rust curse by the century’s turn, and modern materials and oils have ensured that engines stay fit far beyond 100,000 miles. Such cars die not because they are time-expired but because people want something newer. So there are fantastic…

What I’m about to tell you is a good example of why you should never give up on a project. Back in the early ’80s a friend of mine had a sports car he wanted to get rid of. It was a 1967 Lamborghini Miura. It had been pretty well thrashed and the engine needed a bit of work. Fortunately it had never been crashed, just used hard and put away wet. It was an extremely early car with wind-up windows and a wooden steering wheel. The car also had a fascinating provenance. It had been bought new by the famous singer Dean Martin. The story goes that Martin bought it for his teenage son to drive to school. To the boy’s credit he never hit anything, but apparently he…

Every Anglophile classic car enthusiast loves a Jaguar. I know I do after 10 wonderful years with my XK140 fixed-head coupé. It has been a ‘rolling restoration’ but throughout I have loved its looks, that stonking engine and the way it performs. The big six-cylinder motor is quiet and refined and produces more than enough easy power to grab the attention of the period-correct 185x16 Michelin tyres. Since the inception of his Swallow Sidecar Company in 1921, William Lyons always produced eye-catching vehicles. The first to be called ‘Jaguar’, a 2.5-litre saloon, was introduced in 1935; arguably, though, his most important was the XK120, launched at the Earls Court Motor Show in 1948. The XK’s coachwork was intended just to show off the new XK engine, but with its stunning…

So, how do you replace a Lamborghini Espada? Having gone halves with Octane’s own Mark Dixon on my all-time dream car, and having not lost my shirt and the rest of my wardrobe during the two years that we owned it, I struggled to think of something to spend the proceeds on after we sold it. Eventually, I whittled my already short wish-list down to just three cars: Moretti Sportiva, Alfa Romeo Junior Zagato and Abarth Scorpione 1300SS. So, naturally, I bought a 1971 Honda Z600 – or, rather, half of one. It began with a visit to Turin’s Automotoretrò back in February with my mate Chris Rees. Four days were spent window-shopping but little was in my price range – or even close. On the final day, with feet…

It’s been a while since I mentioned my ex-Targa Florio Fiat Abarth Vignale Sperimentale (aka ‘Push-Me-Pull-You’ or ‘Goccia’) in these pages because it’s been out of action. For reasons I was unable to diagnose, it was suffering from intermittently locking front brakes, despite all components including the master cylinder being new. Irritatingly, like most problems of the intermittent kind, it didn’t manifest itself when I was at base with jack and tools handy but only when I was out and usually in a location guaranteed to embarrass. Having found myself brake-locked on the forecourt of my local petrol station, I decided to park the car at home until I could sort it properly. The brakes would release themselves after standing for anything up to an hour, which led me to…

LONGT ERM Octane readers might recognise this 240Z. It first appeared in issue 99, back in 2011, and it’s one that I’ve had a particular desire to drive ever since. It belongs to Nissan UK’s heritage fleet, and I recently found myself in possession of the keys for an evening. Excellent. As an affordable 1970s sports car, the 240Z re-wrote the rulebook and changed the world’s view on Japanese cars forever. Although no longer cheap as such, a good Zed is still relatively affordable, and I’m intrigued to see just how much fun it actually is. First impressions are everything, and one of the things that has always attracted me to the 240Z is the way it looks. You can see where some of the inspiration has come from,…

I’m the lInk between the people who fly and everyone else. The role is like that of an RAF squadron commander. I try to make sure we have the right pilots, ready for display flying, and to advise in the appointment of new ones. Pilot team planning and training are my responsibilities. Hardly anyone, of course, comes to us with an in-built knowledge of how to fly a World War One fighter, but our typical pilot has changed a lot. When I started here in 1990 they were all ex-military and most were test pilots, very adaptable chaps who were expected to know how to fly lots of different aircraft. Now they come from all sorts of flying backgrounds, including civil general aviation. We provide a very slow training process…

mark dixon ‘While I’ve been privileged to drive several McLarens this year, there was one car I couldn’t get my backside into – the F1 GTR Long Tail that’s on our cover. But having followed its restoration for the last two years and seen the incredible job that McLaren has done, I can quite understand why!’ john simister ‘Two red cars this month, both uniquely special, each a universe away from the other. The one-off Siata semi-racer was Bertone’s very own car, but today lacks surfaces touched by the great man. The unrestored, 15,500-mile 1937 Bentley, in contrast, is an unbelievable piece of tactile time travel.’ martin gurdon ‘Colleen thetractionenginewasthefirst steam-driven vehicle I’d had any control over since trundling a Mamod toy steam-roller up and down the pavement in the…

A seven-time Formula 1World Champion. That’s the title that Michael Schumacher can still claim, and a title that might never be broken. He was born in Hürth, Germany, on 3 January 1969: 50 years ago this month. That his father Rolf ran a karting track is probably why young ‘Schumi’ started karting at just four years old. He proved rather good at it, too. As with some other elite drivers, his experience of karting stood him in good stead for his future F1 career. By 1984 he was German karting champion, by 1987 European champion. Winning the German F3 championship in 1990 saw him ready for F1 with the Jordan team in 1991. He was seventh-quickest in qualifying on his debut; after just one race he was tempted away by…

This column is being lovingly put together on my birthday. It serves as a distraction from ‘celebrating’ being another year older. That said, friends and colleagues seem to be enjoying themselves immensely, informing me that I share the same date in history with great naval disasters and suchlike. One went so far as to tell me that my birthday coincides with the inauguration of Mount Rushmore; something about me being old enough to remember when folk first started chiselling out the four Presidents. Yeah, thanks very much for that. Celebrating birthdays is great when you’re a child, rather less so when you’re not. I don’t want to be reminded, largely because I am still fit, (hyper)active and doing most of the things I have done most of my life, such…

1. My most important business tools are my mobile phone and my notebook. I dread to think what I would do if I ever lost either of them. 2. For five years in the early 2000s I organised the logistics for Marlboro in paddock hospitality ‘motorhomes’ for Ferrari in F1 and Ducati in Moto GP. Most signs like this were destroyed, but I was given one as a memento of those days. 3. This photo was taken in Nottingham in 1945. My grandfather bought all these Army radio cars as a job lot during petrol rationing straight after the war, and parked them up. The radios took up the entire passenger seat area. When rationing ended he took them out, sold them, fitted seats and sold the vehicles. Look how…

I’VE NEVER BEEN that good at buying and selling cars in the past, but maybe I’m getting better, because the notchback Mustang that I acquired back in February has turned out to be a real honey. Sure, it has a snagging list that’s pages long, but it’s all stuff that can be done as-and-when and there’s nothing preventing the car from being used – as I proved by driving it 3500 miles over the summer. The ‘when’ bit has become a bit more urgent for some jobs. When I took the car to the Welsh Borders for the Craswall Classic (Octane 184), we got caught out by a massively heavy shower of rain during an otherwise beautiful weekend. Water cascaded down from the front and rear windscreen seals, proving that…

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 RICHARD HESELTINE Contributor • 1971 Honda Z600 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 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…

‘The E30 3-series arrived in the early 1980s and came, like its E21 predecessor, with two factory-fitted, lap-and-diagonal rear belts. A centre rear lap-and-diagonal belt can be fitted to all these cars, including the Touring estate. The previous models, the ‘02’ cars including the popular 2002, would most likely not have had rear belts when new. They can be retro-fitted, either static or automatic lap-and-diagonal. The reels for the automatic units can be mounted on top of the rear parcel shelf or inside the boot, as required.’ Monthly advice from Stuart Quick of Quickfit Safety Belts, one of the UK’s foremost providers of classic and vintage seatbelts and racing safety harnesses. Contact +44 (0)20 8206 0101 www.quickfitsbs.cominfo@quickfitsbs.com…

‘Cross fingers – I have finally cured the Jensen’s running problems by stripping the fuel system, tuning the carb… and removing a blocked fuel filter that shouldn’t have been there anyway’ James Elliott ‘There’s an empty space in my garage now that the Alfa Giulia has been sold. I only hope it won’t be too long before I can fill the space with another Italian classic’ Mark Sommer ‘For the first time ever I own again a car I have owned before, a 1989 Eunos Roadster (aka MX-5). It’s as if the intervening four years never happened’ John Simister ‘The Derby Bentley that has been part of our family since 1964 has gone to a new custodian who is a real Bentley enthusiast. More about this soon’ Robert Coucher…

stealth paint aside, these two are poles apart, despite being pricey new Mercs with powerful engines. And that’s an insight into what you need to drive in order to stand out from the crowd these days, if that’s what you want to do. In 20 years of doing this for a living, I’ve driven no other car that commands attention quite like the G63 does. The perpendicularity of its body gives it presence like little else, and the rumble of its V8 (4.0 litres, twin turbos, 577bhp…) means it couldn’t possibly be a shrinking violet. And absolutely everyone I know who likes cars really loved this one. As for those who don’t, well… Not all the attention it received was welcome. Never have I seen so many rolled eyes and…

By BBR Price £368.20 Material Resin & metal handbuilt It might be traditional for Ferraris to be painted in Rosso Corsa (which, if you’re of a cynical disposition, may be translated as ‘Retail Red’), but there’s no argument that certain Ferraris – the larger grand tourers – look much better in darker shades. BBR’s kerbside model of the 1962 Superamerica proves the point: it is in fact also available in red, but why would you, when a rich metallic blue complements its elegant shape so perfectly? Instead, Rosso isreservedfortheinterior,whereit brilliantly illuminates a superbly realised cabin. The ‘leather’ seats are particularly convincing, and the cockpit generally is modelled with a lightness of touch. That is true of the exterior trim, too, which includes delicately framed quarterlights and, of course, intricate spoked…

STRONG-ARMED LUXURY DVCA, Dorchester, Dorset, UK 29 November When all others were diving headlong into seductive curves, the straight-edged grille defined the very spirit of the upstanding and upright, probably uptight, Armstrong-Siddeley owner in period. But they are sheer class now, as then. We’re very taken with this 1959 Star Sapphire, the subject of ‘an extensive, costly and painstaking restoration’. At £38,000-40,000 it seems almost cheap. dvca.co.uk SAY CHEESE Bonhams, Olympia, London, UK 3 December This Rolls-Royce Phantom II, resplendent in a Cream Cracker-esque livery, is magnificently attention-seeking. Its ridiculous opulence includes a full-sized radiogram for the rear passengers. Estimated by Coys at £75,000-90,000 in 2014, the Gurney Nutting-bodied Sedanca de Ville is now slated to reach £140,000-180,000. Quintessentially English, yet curiously American. bonhams.com CONVERTIBLE CURRENCY Classic Car Auctions, Leamington…

29 November DVCA, Dorchester, UK 1 December Bonhams, London, UK Classic Car Auctions, Leamington Spa, UK Dorotheum, Vienna, Austria 3 December Bonhams, London, UK 4 December Coys, London, UK 6-8 December Mecum, Kansas City, USA 8 December Classicbid, Nuremberg, Germany RM Sotheby’s, Los Angeles, USA Silver Auctions, Mount Vernon, USA 9 December Aguttes, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France 11 December Barons, Sandown Park, UK 15 December Mathewsons, Thornton-le-Dale, UK 29 December Oldtimer Galerie, Gstaad, Switzerland 3-13 January Mecum, Kissimmee, USA 12 January Coys, Maastricht, The Netherlands Silverstone Auctions, Birmingham, UK 13-20 January Barrett-Jackson, Scottsdale, USA 16 January Worldwide Auctioneers, Scottsdale, USA 17 January Bonhams, Scottsdale, USA 17-18 January RM Sotheby’s, Phoenix, USA 17-20 January Russo & Steele, Scottsdale, USA 18-19 January Gooding & Co, Scottsdale, USA 22-27 January Mecum, Las Vegas, USA (motorcycles)…

1986 LANCIA PRISMA 4X4 £7500 Not one of Lancia’s most memorable efforts, but here is one of the finest specimens. This immaculate 2.0 4x4 spent most of its life garaged in a French holiday cottage. rtcc.co.uk (UK) 1978 INTERNATIONAL SCOUT II $79,500 This Scout has been restored to an extremely high standard and upgraded to groovy SS II spec. Designed to rival the Jeep CJ, this model got plastic arch flares, soft top and soft doors. hymanltd.com (US) 1991 MINI COOPER ¤25,000 John Coombs used this Mini as his Monaco runaround after retirement. Now with just 27,000km, it wears a Belgian registration and remains in excellent unrestored condition. albionmotorcars.com (B) 1935 RILEY TT SPRITE £495,000 A 1000-hour rebuild has seen this TT Sprite return to original works form after 80…

Most of us have an urge to collect things, even if we don’t admit it. Given the opportunity – the low-cost use of a barn or a hangar, for example – we might all accumulate a variety of pleasing classics for as long as funds allowed. But in reality there may be pressures to limit the accumulation of wheeled metal. Your life partner might point out that time is even more precious than money, and that every extra car soaks up more of it. The classic car that ‘needs nothing done to it’ is a myth; even the highest-end cars from dealers and auction houses usually have something that needs improving. Arguing otherwise is futile, and inventiveness becomes necessary. If a domestic limit to car numbers is imposed, one way…

One of the characteristics of our historical moment is inflation. For a long time, everything seemed to be getting simpler. Now everything is getting grander. In 1959 the smartest appliance you could own was a Sony television with an 8in screen. Now you are not even in the game unless you are staring contentedly at an idiot’s lantern six feet across. It is the same with job titles. Once there were ‘commercial artists’. There were Abram Games and Saul Bass and Cedric Morris. The last set up The East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing and taught Lucien Freud, but was not too proud to do magnificent posters for BP. Then professional inflation forced commercial artists to evolve into ‘graphic designers’, who in turn ceded to ‘branding consultants’. Did this…

This elegant, classically styled men’s timepiece features a quartz movement inside a stainless steel 42mm case, and a stunning blue galvanic dial with appliqué indexes and date window, protected by a sapphire crystal. It is water resistant to 5atm and supplied on a black calf leather strap with an alligator grain finish. Raymond Weil is one of a handful of Swiss watchmakers that remain in family hands. The Toccata name reflects the Weil family’s interest in music, which has led to many of the watch collections bearing musically themed names. RAYMOND-WEIL.COM…

ROBERT COUCHER International editor • 1955 Jaguar XK140 • 1988 Mercedes-Benz 560 SEC TONY DRON Contributor • 1932 Austin Seven 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 MARK SOMMER Art Director • 1969 Alfa Romeo Giulia 1300 Saloon JOHN SIMISTER Contributor • 1934 Singer Nine…

I have only myself to blame. In Italy, cars that are more than four years old have to pass the Revisione – our version of the MoT – every two years. Last winter, I forgot to have my cars tested and so they were all left languishing in the garage until my schedule allowed me a day to do it. When that day arrived, only one car failed its Revisione: the Fiat 500L. Its brakes were too weak to pass, no matter how hard I tried to stamp on the pedal. I’d already noticed that to manage even a reasonable stop I really had to push the pedal to the very end of its travel, but I hadn’t realised how bad the situation was. At my friend Alessandro’s shop we…

I got ahead of the game the other day. I received a genuine, cast-iron windfall and thought I’d buy the Norton a treat. TAB II Classics is in the back of beyond in Wales, where they create the most fabulous aluminium fuel tanks and seat units for classic motorcycles. On the English Wheeling machine is Aline Phelps, whose father, Terry, used to hand-roll racing and café racer tanks under the TAB name. When he died she took up a sheet of half-hard ally and found she’d got that knack of seeing things in 3D. ‘It’s a gift,’ she admits. ‘I don’t have it,’ pipes up husband Richard, but his work on the linisher creates a mirror-like polish. Add in the gas-welding speed and accuracy of Mark Purslow and they’re an…

It was one of those planets-falling-into-alignment things. An email came from Visit Cascais, the tourist authority trying to make up the visitor shortfall in this beautiful Portuguese region north of Lisbon since F1 and Moto GP left the now-state-owned Estoril circuit. (I love Estoril. It has a wonderful atmosphere, perfect for classics; give me half-an-hour and a Lotus Elan…) Anyway, with three classic events on the calendar – an impressive concours in Cascais organised by Adelino Dinis, an historic rally and the historic racing festival at Estoril including historic F1 – all parties were persuaded to combine and create Estoril Classic Week. Catchy. And they wanted me to come and see what it is all about. As well as those three core activities, they were laying on a half-day drive…

Austin 1800 BY TRI-ANG MINIX The makers said they were ‘ The Greatest Little Cars in The World’ yet they only cost one shilling [5p] each and, even in 1964, that wasn’t a lot of money. No wonder Lines Brothers churned out millions of them. The Minix range of plastic vehicles was designed to be used with Tri-ang’s OO Gauge model railways; for example, in the ‘Car-a-belle’ set, which contained transporter wagons of the type used to take cars from factories to delivery yards or docks for export. For that reason, the subjects chosen were not at all exotic but were typical of the family cars running about British roads at the time – Ford Anglia and Corsair, Austin A60 and 1800 (pictured above), Triumph 2000, Morris 1100, Vauxhall HA…

£4,635,000 ($5,945,000) 1985 Porsche 959 Paris-Dakar RM Sotheby’s, Atlanta, USA. 27 October £2,662,500 ($3,415,000) 2018 Porsche 911 Turbo Classic Series ‘Project Gold’ RM Sotheby’s, Atlanta, USA. 27 October £1,097,500 ($1,407,500) 2015 Porsche 918 Spyder RM Sotheby’s, Atlanta, USA. 27 October £1,033,000 ($1,325,000) 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7 Prototype RM Sotheby’s, Atlanta, USA. 27 October £1,016,000 ($1,320,000) 2017 Ford GT Mecum, Dallas, USA. 3-6 October £984,000 (€1,121,250) 1962 Aston Martin DB4 Series V Vantage Bonhams, Knokke-Heist, Belgium. 5 October £868,000 (€989,000) 1960 Ferrari 250GT Series II Pinin Farina Coupé Bonhams, Knokke-Heist, Belgium. 5 October £855,000 1929 Bentley 4.5 Litre Le Mans-style Tourer H&H, Duxford, UK. 17 October £797,000 ($1,022,500) 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7 Lightweight RM Sotheby’s, Atlanta, USA. 27 October £779,500 ($1,000,000) 1985 Porsche 959 Prototype RM Sotheby’s,…

We tend to think that by 1928 the automobile had become commonplace, yet in many well-populated parts of the world there weren’t even any roads to speak of, let alone cars. Kweichow (now Guizhou) province in south-central China was one such spot, but the complete absence of asphalt did not deter local warlord Zhou Xicheng from buying a runabout. Said car arrived from Canton, Ohio, before being taken to bits, carried on foot through the mountainous terrain of Kweichow, and reassembled – quite possibly by men who had never even laid eyes on a car before. Predictably, our warlord was not content to merely admire his new toy, and promptly ordered the construction of the Kweichow Provincial Highway, the completion of which was marked by the striking of this coin,…

WHAT TO PAY Mass-produced 1973-on and post-77 facelift cars are much easier to find than the 1968-73 examples, although it’s still no easy task in the UK. If you do find one here, expect to pay from around £5000 to £8500 for a solid example, up to and above £15,000 for a clean low-mileage example. Prices in Japan vary significantly depending on age and condition, as well as spec, but searching there opens up a much larger pool of cars. You could potentially find a relatively clean facelift for around £5000, up to and above £15,000 for one of the best. Double this for an early car. lOOk OuT fOr… If buying from Japan, watch out for rust, as well as poorly modified cars. Don’t forget to factor in the…