Octane September 2020

THE WIDTH OF the Atlantic is also about the size of the gulf between the US and the rest of the world when it comes to cars, especially in the era of metal that we tend to deal with. Sure, other factors are at play – it’s a big country and fuel is cheap – but you cannot get away from the fact that what the bulk of US customers expect from an automobile is significantly different from what’s sought by Europeans. Whether this disparity has become culturally ingrained simply because that is what buyers have always been told they want (and that is what they have got used to) is another discussion, but there is no question that US cars evolved completely differently from their European counterparts and at…

JEREMY TAYLOR ‘My return from testing the Rodin FZED in New Zealand was on one of the last flights back before lockdown. Was it worth it? Well, I’ve driven an F1 car before and this was more memorable: it makes you appreciate what F1 drivers experience. I just need a few hundred thousand pounds to buy one.’ To find out more, turn to pages 66-74. PETER ROBINSON ‘Researching the late automotive historian Griffith Borgeson confirmed my opinion that he sits at the top of my motoring journalism heroes. Nobody better understood original research. Spending days talking about him was a joy and reminded me that Griff’s inspiration led to me living in Europe.’  Remembering Griff Borgeson: pages 92-98. FIONA RICHARDSON ‘Having been involved in historic cars all my life, bringing the two…

IN ASSOCIATION WITH Rather than suspend this section due to the classic car calendar being obliterated, we threw it open to readers and were swamped with thousands of superb pictures capturing the pre-Coronavirus classic motoring dream and the frustrations of ‘lockdown’ in equal measure. Here are just a few more of our favourites… Famous Belgians Julien Mahiels started taking photos for Jean-François Devillers’ Belgian rally set-up Trajectoire (liege-rome-liege.org) a decade ago and since then has seen it boom from arranging a few local events to planning gruelling full-on endurance rallies such as Liège-Rome-Liège. The Christian Crucifix and Yves Noelanders Ford Anglia was photographed on a Nikon D800 with 16-35mm F4 lens during the 2017 Liège-Rome-Liège on a stage from Cuneo to Chambéry. The main image shows the same crew but…

BOWLING GREEN, Kentucky, is a genteel old city, the home of Western Kentucky University, but just outside town there lives an unruly neighbour – the Chevrolet Corvette Museum and the nearby Assembly Plant. Let’s say at the outset: it isn’t necessary to be a Corvette enthusiast to enjoy a day at the Corvette Museum. Like so many American automobile museums, it is brash, colourful, wonderfully well lit and lovingly laid out. The first batch of Corvettes was built in Flint, Michigan, before full-time production went to St Louis and on to Bowling Green in 1981. That original year saw the 2000-odd employees build 8995 cars. It couldn’t be called an instant hit. For instance, in 1955 sales were still numbered in the hundreds, while Ford sold more than 16,000 Thunderbirds.…

UNDAUNTED BY THE disruption caused by Covid-19, one of the highlights of the classic motoring calendar is to go ahead, but with a new format. The Historic Motoring Awards ceremony was originally scheduled to take place at the swish Rosewood Hotel in London on 22 October, but will now take place live online and will be available for all enthusiasts to ‘attend’. There will be a celebrity host, live feeds, video messages from nominees, sponsors and the globally respected panel of judges, as well as a live people’s vote for the Car of the Year, which will be revealed at the end of the show. The Car of the Year has always been decided by Octane readers but, with voting still happening during the event this year, it will come…

WITH LOCKDOWNS starting to ease across the globe, motoring enthusiasts can start to look forward to getting out and about again for formal events. Unless the world situation changes dramatically (again), Octane will reintroduce its event calendar in the next issue but, to whet your appetite, here is our guide to the key events between now and the end of the year, correct at time of printing. Please note that with the Covid-19 situation and subsequent limitations on movement and gatherings still changing daily, it is more important than ever that you confirm events are going ahead before booking or setting out. July 18-19 Masters Historic Formula 1 Weekend mastershistoricracing.com 25-26 Dix Mille Tours du Castellet peterauto.peter.fr August 1-2 Vintage Prescott vscc.co.uk 1-2 Legend Boucles Rally Show racspa.be 7-9 Oldtimer…