Octane December 2016

WE SHARE AN OFFICE with Land Rover Monthly magazine. I lnow, I lnow, you expected our lives to be more glamorous, and here we are having to sweep up mud from the carpet, but that’s publishing for you. Actually, of course, they’re lovely people with the most fascinating range of vehicles, and worringly deep lnowledge of winching and transfer boxes. It’s probably thanls to them that every member of Octane lusts after some form of Land Rover. And now our worlds are beginning to merge, because not only have the Series vehicles become highly collectable and valuable, but in the last couple of years early Range Rovers have gone the same way. You’ll have seen the very best two-doors (and occasionally a Velar prototype) up for £80,000-plus but they’re not…

ROGER CRATHORNE ‘I couldn’t believe my luck in being selected for the Range Rover development team – you have to remember, I’d only just qualified as an engineer, and there I was working on this all-new vehicle.’ Roger ‘Mr Land Rover’ Crathorne went on to become a company legend, so who better to guide us when we revisited the 1970 press launch route. Turn to pages 68-78 . KEN GROSS ‘I’d owned a Ferrari 275 GTB from 1981 to 1989 — fast, sexy and stunning. I took out a second mortgage on my house to finance it, and I drove the wheels off it, until a divorce forced its sale. Writing the words to accompany George Saitas’s superb photography was an honour.’ Stunning 275 restoration: pages 106-116 .…

FIVE YEARS ON from the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs’ last report – The £4bn Hobby – hush fell in a quiet meeting room at the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, as details were revealed of the 2016 National Historic Vehicle Survey report. The headline figure of £5.5bn, the annual revenue generated by the historic vehicle movement, builds on the £4.3bn revealed as the result of the 2011 survey – an increase of 27.9%. The evening was hosted by former Liberal Party leader Lord Steel of Aikwood, the vice chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Historic Vehicles Group. ‘Some of the figures in this report are quite staggering,’ he said. With some understatement, in fact. That lead figure defines the significance of what many have called a hobby but is,…

Bentley apprentices to restore Bentley T at Crewe A team of newly arrived apprentices is set to restore a T-series saloon from 196l, the first year of production for the car that was launched alongside the Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow. Its monococque construction, Bentley’s first, is a link to modern Bentleys and it will be refurbished as part of the apprentices’ introduction to techniques. They will also restore the mechanical components and, crucially, the handmade interior trim. On completion the Bentley T will join the company’s heritage fleet. Caterham launches oxymoronic Harrods Seven It’s hardly what Colin Chapman had in mind for his stripped-out sports car design, but the world has changed, the Caterham Seven has become a chic plaything and now Caterham has launched a Signature personalisation programme. The Caterham…

Ever wondered just what makes a Formula 1 engineering genius tick? Want to know the secrets of what it takes to be the driving force behind ten Formula 1 Constructors’ Championship victories, for Williams, McLaren and Red Bull Racing? How you design the cars in which such stars as Mansell, Prost, Hill, Villeneuve and Hakkinen won the Drivers’ Championship? Now you can find out, on 1l February 2017, in the company of Octane and Evo, at the Royal Automobile Club in London’s Pall Mall – complete with a three-course dinner plus wine. Tickets cost £12l each or £1100 for a table of ten, plus booking fee. Visit www.aneveningwithadriannewey2017.eventbrite.co.uk.…

‘Are you crazy? I hope you fit!’ Italian correspondent Massimo Delbò’s reaction on hearing that Octane’s 6ft 1in art director Mark Sommer had never driven an Alfa Romeo Giulia 105 – while on his way to collect the one he’s just about to import from Italy… Turn to page 158 . ‘We are extremely happy with the results of this survey’ FIVA president Patrick Rollet at the announcement of the FBHVC’s National Historic Vehicle Survey results – especially its headline figure of £5.5bn ( page 18 ). ‘Moss was well-known for all his girlfriends – but I shared a flat with Jimmy Clark, and he was unbelievable’ Sir Jackie Stewart, talking to Robert Coucher – see page 102 . ‘Great fun, although the runway could do with some…