Sommaire pour November 2015 de Octane

THERE WAS A TIME when concours was a dirty word. Even 15 years ago, there were very few such events that didn’t feel slightly repellent. The scene had stagnated, with the jokes about toilet water in the cooling systems and cars that couldn’t be driven, and the obsession with spotless detail, regardless of how good or bad the car might be. It’s probably fair to say that it was Pebble Beach that rescued the concours scene from disappearing up its own backside – and only just in time. The introduction of the concours tour, to cajole participants into driving their cars, and the brave decision to include a more varied selection of classes, such as hot rods and ‘preservation’ cars, were the first steps towards losing the stuffiness of traditional…

NEW FILM ON ENZO FERRARI Batman actor Christian Bale has been chosen to portray Enzo Ferrari in the forthcoming movie Enzo Ferrari: The Man, the Cars, the Races. The film will be set in 1957 – the year Enzo’s son Alfredo died, and the same year his F1 driver Alfonso de Portago lost his life on the Mille Miglia. The motion picture is based on Brock Yates’ novel, which takes an in-depth look into the life of Ferrari himself. COLIN MCRAE CELEBRATION The 20th anniversary of Colin McRae’s world rally title will be celebrated at this year’s Wales Rally GB on 12-15 Povember. A series of displays will take place at the event, with Colin’s father, Jimmy McRae, taking part in the Petwork Q WRGB Pational Rally that shadows the…

Looking for that elusive spare part for your classic, or want to stock up on workshop essentials? Perhaps you want to track down the latest restoration tools or seek out the very best professional renovation specialists? Then the Classic Vehicle Restoration Show is for you. The Footman James-sponsored event takes place at the Bath & West Showground in Shepton Pallet, Somerset. It features numerous trade and autojumble stands, as well as the impressively diverse array of vehicles on club stands and privately owned displays. Advance ticket sales of £8 per adult end on Tuesday 3 November via the website; on-the-day prices are £10 per day. Gates are open 9.30am-4pm on both Saturday and Sunday. The second day will also see the usual Charterhouse Auction, boasting cars and automotive-related lots. www.carsandevents.com…

THE WEEK PASSED BY in a blur. I touched down in California on the Wednesday before the Pebble Beach concours, and then pointed the borrowed Bentley Continental GT in the direction of Spanish Bay. It’s such a beautiful spot to stay, not that there would be much time for savouring the view. There is simply too much to take in during Monterey Car Week, especially when you’re on media duties and have been entered in a couple of races at Laguna Seca Raceway. I spent five days buzzing around like a demented bluebottle and – you know what? – I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Still red bunny-eyed from flying in from the UK, I began the Wednesday night with a special event at which invitees got to…

DOCTOR OF LAW Adolfo Orsi is the son of Omer, and grandson of the Adolfo who bought Maserati from the Maserati brothers in 1937. He grew up in Modena, Italy – a city where cars and racers are revered – in a family where Maserati’s strategy and future would be discussed over dinner. Although too young to be involved, being still a teenager when the firm was sold to Citroën in the late 1960s, Adolfo soon caught the bug (he came up with the name ‘Indy’ for Maserati’s 1969 GT car to celebrate the marque’s 1939 Indianapolis 500 victory). Today, he’s a highly respected motoring historian and is among the classic car world’s leading proponents of originality and preservation. He was instrumental in the creation of Pebble Beach’s Preservation Class…

PEACE BROKE OUT in 1945 as World War Two ended in Europe, following the unconditional surrender of Germany on 8 May. Yet, only a day later, the factories of Škoda in Mladá Boleslav were bombed as Soviet warplanes chased the retreating Wermacht back to home territory. Czechoslovakia was no longer theirs. Remarkable, then, that the first Škoda 256 trucks of the post-war era began to dribble out of the factory gates less than seven weeks later on 24 June. While the aftermath of World War One had led to the creation of Czechoslovakia following the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian empire, and the Munich Agreement had seen the country annexed – in accord with the UK, France and Italy – by Hitler’s regime in 1938, it’s perhaps little wonder that its…

WE HAVE BEEN eagerly awaiting the arrival of this 445-page hardback, not least because Ganley’s contribution to motor sport hasn’t been celebrated perhaps as loudly as it might have been. As a driver, the Kiwi was good enough to race at Grand Prix level, and the story of how he made the leap from spannerman to F1 driver is never less than readable. We were particularly intrigued to learn more about his time with Falcon Shells, the kit car giant that tried to break into the mainstream in the early ’60s with the stylish 515 coupé. His memories of the Chequered Flag team are also entertaining, and we greatly enjoyed reading about his later spell building Tiga racing cars with fellow F1 old boy Tim Schenken. A beautifully written and…

THIS LONGO VERDUE autobiography of an automotive design great surprised us by being more than just a book of pretty pictures with a few adjectival phrases thrown in. There’s real substance here. Former Pininfarina styling chief and latter-day studio owner Fioravanti is at his best recalling how he came to be a designer, and the inclusion of his childhood sketches is a masterstroke. It’s also a pleasure to read about his interaction with other design silverbacks, not least Pr ‘Pinin’ Farina himself. There are one or two revelations here, not least on who was responsible for what (it’s amazing how designers always claim credit for a successful car but disown the stinkers...). Aside from the entertaining narrative, it’s worth having for the many renderings and behind-the-scenes photos of assorted prototypes.…

DOES THE WORLD really need another book on supercars, not least a glossy coffee-table special? Well, this one is infinitely better than most, not least because the contributors have first-hand experience of driving the cars mentioned herein. It shows. Aside from the high production values and o en lovely imagery, what we really appreciate is the wide variety of machines included in its 220 pages. So, aside from the obligatory Ferraris and PcLarens, you also get, say, the de Tomaso Pangusta (albeit a modified one), SSC Ultimate Aero, Bristol Fighter and Ruf CTR3. Don’t approach it expecting a blow-by-blow masterwork, but, as an introduction to the subject, it is far better than it needs to be.…

HERE’S A model that was way ahead of its time when it appeared in the early ’50s. In an era when a Dinky Toy was nothing more than an empty bodyshell on four wheels and Corgi hadn’t even been thought of, the Tekno model of a 1949 American Mercury sedan had interior fittings, separate ‘chromed’ parts and even a retractable radio aerial. Yet, amazingly, this toy was made by a small Danish company with no experience of diecast models. The company’s founder, a man called Siegumfeldt, started out with a plumbing business before branching into toys made of tinplate and wood in 1928. It was the shortage of tin and the ready availability of zinc that led Tekno to turn to diecasting in the 1940s – even though it lacked…

IN THIS PICTURE Historic Monaco trip PLASHES FARM HSCC TRIAL, Hertfordshire, UK 22 August Historic Sporting Trial Association organiser Martyn Halliday couldn’t quite decide who should win ‘Spirit of the Event’. There were several first-timers having a go – but his nomination was for HSCC racer Grant Tromans, who flew in from Monaco at 8.30am, hired a car to get to the event, then drove in his first-ever trial in a TMS, with Michael Purse bouncing. Together they accrued the second-highest number of penalties of the day (oops!) before Tromans flew home again.…

TRIBUTE TO AUSSIE PLUCK Theodore Bruce, Melbourne, Australia 24 October The inventiveness and competitiveness of the home-built special is well known, and an example from Down Under underlines the point. The MM Holden special was a post-war Australian racer with the looks of a junior Allard. It was built around a home-made chassis and powered by a Holden 2.3-litre engine, and proved a plucky competitor, coming fiGh in the 1953 Australian Grand Prix. Luck didn’t hold for the 1954 New Zealand GP though, where it failed to finish. The original was destroyed in a fire and this recreation – with an estimate of AUS $140,00-180,000 and offered by Theodore Bruce – pleasingly brings the original car to life. www.theodorebruceauctions.com.au SMALLER ATTRACTIONS DVCA, Dorchester, UK 15 October DVCA’s final sale of…

ANYONE ON THE hunt for a classic during the ten-day period between 29 August and 7 September could have done worse than to head to the south of England – they’d have been spoilt for choice, with six auctions offering more than 500 cars ranging from rotten wrecks to racers. During the weekend of 29 August, Historics at Brooklands clashed with the two-day Classic Car Auctions (CCA) sale at CarFest South, with the former house fielding 123 cars and causing gasps of amazement when it hammered down a 1988 Porsche 911 Carrera Sport Targa for what must be a record £115,360. It’s well known that 911 prices have risen across the board, and that the previously more affordable variants such as the SC and Carrera Targas have started to be…

BONHAMS, QUAIL LODGE. 14 AUGUST This ‘barn-find’ 1967 Maserati Mistral 4000 Coupe went for $143,000, but it could easily have the buyer’s remaining money gone with the wind too. In green with black leather and vinyl trim, it had visible rust beneath the paint, and much of the chrome and stainless needed restoration. The original leather was dry and even the redone vinyl seats required attention. One can only guess what remains to be seen. GOODING & COMPANY, PEBBLE BEACH. 15-16 AUGUST Made in very limited quantities, the 1955 Hudson Italia is now a collector favourite. This car was said to have been supported on axle stands for 40 years. Sold for $154,000 in its still dusty, neglected condition as a non-runner, it was missing a few vital pieces –…

dON’T wOrry – you are not alone. On this fair isle there are relatively few, we’d wager, who are familiar with Aviator, but the dial name is already well known to the wider world, and this summer it finally arrived on our shores courtesy of Peter Jackson the Jeweller, which at the time of writing is the UK’s only retailer of the brand’s (you guessed it) aviation-themed watches. Though it came into being just 14 years ago, in Russia, Aviator frequently looks back much further for inspiration; its ‘Vintage’ collection is stuffed with tributes to the pioneers of air travel and the machines that carried them skywards. Our favourite is the Douglas ref V.3.09.0.027.4, which honours the DC-3, the passenger plane that made mass air travel a reality in the…

WHILE THE GROWTH of the classic car market in recent years has happily made it ‘financially viable’ to restore cars that would otherwise have been left to rot, there are still plenty of old cars out there destined only for the scrapheap. Some of those jalopies, however are now meeting with a happier end thanks to the creators of REC Watches, Jonathan Kamstrup and Christian Mygh. The brand first appeared on our radar last year with its watches made from salvaged Mini parts, and following the success of that project it has announced the automatic Miyota-powered P-51-01, which incorporates material taken from a far-gone Mk1 Ford Mustang. That metal forms the face of the watch, into which a pair of displays are set. The main dial echoes the speedo of…

IN OUR LITTLE corner of the universe there have been few cheerier stories over the past couple of years than that of Pequignet. The Morteau-based manufacture succeeded where so many other companies failed, hauling itself back from the brink following the global financial crisis, and has since won deserved acclaim for its impeccably tasteful collection. Among the most recent additions to that collection is the Royale 300, Pequignet’s first foray into the realm of dive watches. Those familiar with the brand will twig from the name that the 43mm stainless steel case houses the famous Calibre Royal automatic movement (see below), a mechanical delight consisting of 318 components. Happily, the face of the Royale 300 is as clean and simple as the movement is complicated, with a small power-reserve indicator…

It was an undeniably sticky moment for Roger Moore’s 007 when he was le tethered to a gantry above a pool full of sharks in the 1973 film Live and Let Die. But it was a situation easily rectified: the ever-cool British agent simply sliced through the ropes with the buzzsaw bezel of his Rolex Submariner. Also equipped with a ‘hyper-intensified magnetic field powerful enough to deflect the path of a bullet at long range’, (Bond used that feature to unzip the dress of a woman called Miss Caruso), the watch really was quite something – despite having had its movement removed to enable its modification by the props department of production company Eon. It was among the lots at a James Bond auction in 1998, when it fetched £21,850.…

Anyone who recently attended the second edition of the Arts and Elegance concours held at the magnificent Château de Chantilly outside Paris will undoubtedly have noticed the presence of high-end watch brand Richard Mille as the show’s main sponsor. Indeed, it was Richard Mille and classic car impresario Patrick Peter who dreamed up the event last year. Mille, pictured right, is a car guy of the first order. It was his longstanding fascination with automotive engineering that led him along the path to create his now-celebrated ‘racing machines for the wrist’. And these in turn can be fairly credited with bringing the concept of the ‘car watch’ right into the 21st century. Since the first Richard Mille watches went on sale in 2001, they’ve always been rich in aerospace-worthy materials.…

WINSTON GOODFELLOW ‘I’ve driven several Ferrari Cal Spiders over the years, so when the opportunity arises to drive another you take it! They’re special, restored or not.’ Find out more about the ‘barnfind’ Baillon Ferrari in Pctane’s exclusive feature, starting on page 56 – and what happened to some of the other Baillon cars too, on pages 70-71. MICHAEL WARE ‘Working as I did with the late Lord Montagu for 38 years, I was able to see the immense amount of work he did behind the scenes for heritage, the National Motor Museum and the old-vehicle movement. He was a wonderful frontman for the museum.’ Read Michael’s homage to Lord Montagu of Beaulieu on pages 94-96. DAVID BURGESS-WISE ‘Writing about the Pebble Beach-winning Isotta Fraschini was a trip down memory…

6 september Domain Chantilly, France THE HISTORY of concours d’élégance events dates back to the 17th Century, when the French aristocracy would parade horse-drawn carriages in Parisian parks during the summer. Chantilly Arts & Elegance Richard Mille has adopted that spirit with aplomb. It won ‘Best Motoring Event’ at the International Historic Motoring Awards on its first outing last year, and this year’s concours set the bar even higher. The château, built by the son of the last King of France, was the perfect backdrop to the collection of cars curated by organiser Patrick Peter and his team. The selection of classes in the Concours d’État delivered an amazing variety of cars, from untouched open cars of the interwar period, through European Chassis and American Engines, to Formula 1 cars…

At the end of October, historics return to the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve – a Formula 1-homologated circuit on the Iberian peninsula of Portugal which, thanks to its challenging fast corners, is lauded by many drivers as one of the best in the world. This will be the seventh consecutive staging of the Algarve Classic Festival, widely considered to be the largest and most important event for classic cars in southern Europe. Last year, around 300 race machines and 500 drivers travelled there from 23 countries – and this year’s event should prove equally well supported and diverse. The event features a broad spread of classes, eras and types of vehicle, and is staged in a relaxed atmosphere: and with luck the autumn weather will co-operate. Book your flights now.…

I HAVE JUST FINISHED writing my new book about car crashes. It’s not a macabre, mawkish or ambulance-chasing exploitation of bloody motorway calamities, more a view of how the car became one of the most powerful symbols in our culture. of desire, menace and… disaster. I have 20 case studies of extraordinary individuals who died – violently – in their cars. What interests me is not the gruesome goriness of the impact, but the circumstances that led up to and followed the actual crash. There is often curious irony and disturbing paradox. And in so many cases, rather as people say owners get to look like their dogs, there is a strong affinity between the personality and the automobile: the one transferring his character to the other. Did the car…

MY GOOD friend Bill Krzastek’s ardour for the correctness of his car is absolute. He owns and cherishes one of the actual Volvo P1800Ss used during the making of The Saint TV series in the 1960s, and he’s very exacting about historical accuracy. Bill recently told his email followers that he’d bought a set of Pirelli Cinturato tyres for the car, because that’s what it rode on in period, but he was intending to keep them mainly for display purposes, while using modern Vredesteins for long-distance driving at sustained speed. Until recently, that would have been a wise strategy. The original Cinturato, the world’s first wraparound radial tyre with textile cord bracing and designed specifically for sports cars, had been obsolete for a very long time. Survivors would have been…

THE PROLIFIC Long has latterly cornered the market in books on Japanese classics, and his latest offering is typically well researched and informative. There’s much to like, not least the chapters covering the genesis of the car that effectively revived the concept of a mainstream production roadster. There are some superb renderings and studio pics, too. There is also a wealth of gen on the differences between the PX-5, the Piata and the Eunos editions, and also the many small-series specials and racing models. This is very much a history book, though, so if you’re a er buying advice, you will want Veloce’s Essential Buyers’ Guide on the model as a companion volume.…

THE 1970s witnessed a raH of Drive It! books on all manner of motor sport disciplines, from rallying to short-track oval racing. This instalment, covering hillclimbing and sprinting, is typical of the breed in giving detailed breakdowns of how to go about competing, whether it’s how to get a licence, preparation work or how to safely tow your race car. Of course, much of the information is now out of date, but it’s a wonderful period piece. Great images, too.…

Passionate about a pick-up 1955 LAND ROVER 107 MARK DIXON @OctaneMark I BLAME MY FRIENDS. After returning late on a Saturday night from driving Land Povers in Scotland – as featured in the last issue of Octane–the very next day I was at Chateau Impney hillclimb, where I ran into best mate Matthew Parkin. He’s a consultant for Brightwells Auctioneers and, having patiently listened to me raving about how much I enjoyed driving a Series I 107in pick-up, he let slip that a very original example was about to go through Brightwells’ next sale in three days’ time. ‘But I’ve no money!’ I wailed. That’s when another good friend chipped in. Duncan Pittaway – who is a little embarrassed about his current superstar status as the rebuilder and fearless driver…

WIN PARISV IENNA ENTRY Rally Round is offering a free entry to the 2016 Paris-Vienna Rally (13-18 June), worth £5500. The prize includes welcome reception at Fontainebleau, hotels, meals, gala dinner in Vienna, rally plates, road book, emergency mechanical and medical assistance, medals and trophies – you just need to get your own car there. To enter, send a postcard with your full name, email and postal address, plus make and model of your vintage or classic car, to Paris-Vienna Competition, Rally Round, The Studio, Coachman’s Lodge, Frensham Lane, Churt, Surrey, GU10 2QQ by 15 February 2016. Or deliver your entry by hand at the 2016 London Classic Car Show at exCeL before 1pm on 21 February. The prize draw will take place later that a ernoon.www.rallyround.co.uk BIGGER WHEELS ALLOWED…

THE JURY’S BEEN out on replicas, re-creations, evocations – call them what you will – for as long as the classic movement’s been in existence, but quality and likeness to the real thing fluctuate wildly from the depressingly dodgy to the barely distinguishable. Several cars have spawned copies, with the Cobra perhaps the most replicated, and the Jaguar D-type not far behind. There are fewer C-type replicas and this one is, according to H&H (which is selling it in its Duxford sale), the best one the auctioneer has seen. More enthusiasts now accept replicas as the only way to afford the car they always hankered after. And when they’re built to the exceptional standard of this C-type, there’s little to get worried about. It was scratch-built by Emeryson restorer Cyril…

CCA, LAVERSTOKE PARK FARM 29 AUGUST What was claimed to have been the ‘world’s biggest Scalextric circuit’ raised £11,220 for the BBC Children in Need appeal when it was offered at Chris evans’ CarFest South. The giant track, designed by racing driver and Sky Sports F1 commentator Martin Brundle, was donated for the sale by its maker, Hornby. It’s 45 metres long and is based on some of the best bits of the circuits used during the 2015 F1 season. BONHAMS, BEAULIEU 5 SEPTEMBER Considering the rarity of the Triumph TR5 (fewer than 3000 built), it’s surprising that there are still some lying around in barns. This 1968 example, in tatty but complete and original condition and fitted with a stage three cylinder head, sold for £18,400 against an £8000…

As someone who makes a habit of writing about watches, I’m often asked by people who aren’t interested just what there is to say about them. After all, they invariably opine, a watch is a watch is a watch, right? But it should only take a flick through this latest issue of Chrono – the biggest yet, incidentally – to discover that, while the basic function of keeping time is the common denominator that makes every watch similar, it’s the inspiration behind them that makes them all very different. Within these pages alone, you’ll find watches that pay homage to the late, great Carroll Shelby; one that exists thanks to the vision of a pioneering aviator; another that honours a man who makes it his life’s business to save sharks;…

IT IS HARDLY surprising that those who coo over whirring old motors and well-worn leather seats and engine-turned dashboards should also be enthusiastic about collectable watches, but it has taken until now for Bonhams to acknowledge our dual interests by offering a large selection of fine timepieces at one of its classic car auctions. At its Goodwood Revival sale on 12 September – just days away as we put Chrono to bed – bids will be invited on lots ranging from a 1905 pocket watch by Stauffer, Son & Co, provider of chronographs to the Gordon Bennett Racing Cup (estimate: £1000-1500), to a smart 2006 Girard-Perregaux chronograph made to mark 30 years since the Lancia Stratos romped to a famous victory in the 1976 Monte Carlo Rally (£1500-2000). It is…

Mention the name ‘Breguet’, and most watch buffs think of exquisite gold pocket watches made for the likes of the Duke of Wellington, Napoleon Bonaparte and Sir Winston Churchill. But many might be surprised to learn that Breguet also has strong links with aviation and the manufacture of pilot’s chronographs. After Abraham-Louis Breguet died in 1823, his son Louis-Antoine ran the firm. The business remained in the family until the death of ALB’s great-grandson in 1882, after which it was taken over by the English watchmaker Edward Brown, who had previously been manager of the Paris factory. His sons subsequently ran Breguet until it was sold to Chaumet in 1970. During the early years of the Brown era, Abraham-Louis’s great-great-grandson Louis-Charles established himself as a pioneer aviator, creating the helicopter-like…

HISTORIC MOTORING AWARDS The International Historic Motoring Awards are back! Run in association with EFG, the venue is the Renaissance St Pancras, London, on 19 November. See www.historic motoringawards.com. BUY OR SELL CLASSICS ONLINE Want to buy a classic car? Got a classic car to sell? Just fancy browsing classic cars for sale in your lunch hour? Satisfy all your cravings at www.classicand performancecar.com. OCTANE TRACKDAY Join Pctane for the next exclusive Goodwood trackday (1 Pctober) for £299 per car with driver. Lunch and afternoon tea included. Numbers strictly limited. Book now at www.octane-magazine.com. SUBSCRIBE TO OCTANE Have octane delivered hot off the press – or read the digital edition on your iPad, PC or laptop. See our special offer (pages 170-171) or search for ‘Pctanemagazine’ in your app store.…

FORMER WORKS ASTON MARTIN driver and sometime single-seater driver Eric Thompson died on 22 August. He was 95. Perpetually jovial and self-deprecating, he epitomised the gentleman racing driver from an era before the term became a slur. Remarkably, he was made a member of the invitation-only British Racing Drivers’ Club before his maiden race. ‘Robin Richards – whom I’d met in Italy during the war – had bought an HRG 1100,’ he recalled. ‘The French AGACI drivers’ club challenged the BRDC to do the Paris 12 Hour race at Montlhéry. Peter Clark produced four HRGs: two 1100s and two 1500s. Robin needed a co-driver so he asked me. That’s how I became a racing driver.’ The 28-year-old subsequently spotted an ad for a ‘shop-soiled and obsolete HRG 1500 chassis’. He…

SOMETHING I’VE SAID many times in this column is that, for new technology to succeed, it can’t be equal to the existing technology. It’s got to be better. Or people will stick with what they have. And I never thought I would buy an electric vehicle until they reached parity with the German sedan, in terms of power and range and speed. I think that day has finally come. I recently purchased a Tesla Model S P90D, which has the ‘Ludicrous Mode’ that makes it go zero to 60 in 2.8 seconds – it’s the fastest-accelerating four-door sedan you can buy! And it really makes you re-think all the valves and camshas and all of that when something so simplistic can be so powerful and fast. I’ve always been a…

PRESERVE OR RESTORE? That’s the question being asked more regularly in the historic car world. Things used to be simpler, decades ago, when young men (usually men – most women are too sensible to get caught up in automotive money pits) bought exciting veteran, vintage or classic sports cars, where the idea was to pick them up for a song, enjoy them until they broke, then buy another one. If an old car really twanged the heartstrings, then it would be restored. This usually entailed a good dollop of body filler and chicken wire, a cheap spray paint, some Connolly’s Hide Food on the leather, maybe some fresher tyres and possibly a de-coke, if the housekeeping allowed. The vintage car movement started a er World War Two when old bangers…

THE EDITOR’S description in Octane147 of the Jaguar XJ-S as the ‘Peter Stringfellow of the automotive world’ reminded me of the following story. In 1975, my father John Williamson ordered an XJ-S from the main Jaguar dealer in Oldham, Lancs. In no time at all a bright primrose XJ-S materialised, the same colour as the one on your front cover, registered WCK 750R. A couple of months later John was off to his villa in Majorca and gave me the keys to the XJ-S. I was, as one would expect, wildly excited at the prospect of driving this; it was an enormous change from my rally-spec Saab 96. On the Saturday night a friend and I decided to hit the highlife of Manchester and visit the Millionaire Club, which was…

THE PLANE LANDS in Prague and it’s an hour or so’s drive to Mladá Boleslav, in what was once the Kingdom of Bohemia and an outpost of the Austro-Hungarian empire. Since the days of the Velvet Revolution, back in the late 1980s, the country has been known as the Czech Republic. In this part, there is little of the romantic architecture that makes historic Prague so attractive to travellers, yet there’s an obvious civic pride in the tidiness of the town, the blocky residential buildings are well-kept, and there’s equal pride in the local product. ›kodas dominate these roads. Utterly. They’re mostly new ones too, which is fair enough as workers in the ›koda factory get to lease them on very attractive terms. Edging through the outskirts we pass company…

SIR JOHN EGAN peers closely at the driver’s door handle of the 1980 Jaguar XJ-S that I have brought along to our interview. ‘Aha, see that?’ he exclaims. ‘That’s an early handle. The black paint in the recess always got scraped by fingernails and ended up looking unsightly. I got the supplier to change them to black chrome, which was much more durable.’ It’s a telling example of the kind of quality-control problems that Egan faced when he was appointed chief executive of Jaguar in April 1980, at a time when there was a very real possibility of closure by its British Leyland overlords. Yet, according to Egan, changing to the higher-quality handles added just four pence to the cost of a car. Jaguar was in a state of real…

MY MUM WAS a demon seamstress. As a child in the 1950s, I was mesmerised by the whirring and clattering of her already-old Singer, a 1920 model inherited from her mother (it survives to this day as a side table). I remember mum’s legs pumping away at the treadle as if practising for a marathon on a bizarre running machine as she deftly produced another dress. Born in 1811 in Pittstown, New York, Isaac Merritt Singer grew into a 6ft 5in, red-haired, charismatic rough diamond, possessed of magnificent facial topiary and with a libido to match. A prolific seducer, he fathered at least 24 children, shared between four not always legal ‘wives’ and various mistresses. Between breeding, he was a sometime touring actor who dabbled with inventions, with modest success…

LAUNCHED TO coincide with the recent revival of the Pidlands’ speed event, this 72-page hardback celebrates the sprint’s heyday in potted form. It recounts how it came into being and what prompted its downfall, all supported by first-hand reminiscences from competitors. There are also more photos than we expected, including one of the mysterious ‘Gitane’, although not every image is captioned. There is certainly more to read here than you might imagine, and the accompanying DVD is well worth a watch. That said, the text could have done with a more thorough edit and the overuse of hyphens for everything from ‘super-charged’ to ‘hill-climbing’ does rather grate a er a while.…

GIVEN THAT he started only one Grand Prix, you might feel inclined to write-off Williams as just another tail-end Charlie. He was nothing of the sort, this bald statistic belying a record that included wins in a variety of cars on umpteen classic circuits. It’s just that he did much of his racing on the Continent in the ’60s and, as such, his exploits slipped under the radar at home. Williams, who died last year, had a wonderful writing style. His description of the Enna circuit in Sicily (and the snakes that inhabited it) is particularly amusing. The same goes for his reminiscences on working on the film Le Pansand his post-racing exploits, of which there were many. Highly recommended.…

DAVID LILLYWHITE Editor 1971 MGB GT 1971 Saab 96 1973 Citroën SM 1976 Zip Shadow Kart 1996 Subaru Prodrive Impreza ROBERT COUCHER International editor 1937 Bentley 4¼ 1955 Jaguar XK140 1973 Porsche 911S 2.4 Targa 1991 Range Rover Vogue GEOFF LOVE Publishing director 1989 Maserati Biturbo MARK DIXON Deputy editor 1955 Land Rover Series I 107in 1963 Ford Galaxie Country Sedan 1964 Chevrolet Greenbrier 1970 Lamborghini Espada 1989/’91 Land Rover Discoverys 2001 Honda Insight SANJAY SEETANAH Advertising director 1998 Aston Martin DB7 Volante GLEN WADDINGTON Associate editor 1983 Porsche 944 1989 BMW 320i Convertible TONY DRON Test driver 1932 Austin Seven ANDREW ENGLISH Contributor 1960 Triumph TR3A 1965 Aston Martin DB5 JOHN SIMISTER Contributor 1934 Singer Pine Le Mans 1961 Saab 96 1987 Peugeot 205 GTI 1.9 DAVID BURGESS-WISE Contributor…

The list of notable musicians who have notshared a stage or a studio with the late Jack Bruce is a short one. The ridiculously gifted bassist, best known for his work with Cream, played with everyone from Eric Clapton to Courtney Pine in his long, freewheeling career, objects from which will be auctioned by Sotheby’s in London on 29 September. Among the lots is this well-used Warwick Thumb bass, an example of the fretless model created with input from Bruce. Estimated at £10,000-12,000, it will be sold with its long-suffering flight case, which is covered in stickers from various tours.…

23 SEPTEMBER Brightwells Leominster, UK 25-27 SEPTEMBER Barrett-Jackson Las Vegas, USA 26 SEPTEMBER Coys Frankfurt, Germany 26 SEPTEMBER Auctionata Berlin, Germany 26 SEPTEMBER Matthewsons Thornton-le-Dale, UK 26 SEPTEMBER Bonhams Ebelto, Denmark 5 OCTOBER Bonhams Philadelphia, USA 6 OCTOBER Artcurial Hong Kong 8-9 OCTOBER RM Sotheby’s Hershey, USA 8-10 OCTOBER Vicari Biloxi, USA 8-10 OCTOBER Mecum Chicago, USA 9 OCTOBER Bonhams Knokke-Heist, Belgium 10 OCTOBER Anglia Car Auctions King’s Lynn, UK 10 OCTOBER Coys Ascot, UK 13-14 OCTOBER H&H Duxford, UK 15 OCTOBER DVCA Dorchester, UK 16-17 OCTOBER Branson Auction Branson, USA 17 OCTOBER Dragone Auctions Westport, USA 17-18 OCTOBER Bonhams Stafford, UK 22-24 OCTOBER Richard edmonds Allington, UK 23-24 OCTOBER Worldwide Auctioneers Fredericksburg, USA 24 OCTOBER Theodore Bruce Melbourne, Australia 24 OCTOBER Matthewsons Thornton-le-Dale, UK 25 OCTOBER Silverstone Silverstone, UK…

IT LOOKS LIKE in 2015 for the North American market, it all came down to Monterey. Again. With an ever-expanding number of sales and, indeed, a seemingly ever-expanding market, it’s the one event that matters – whether you are looking at the top end of the market or the huge ‘middle’ segment where the big boys play. More than just the place where everyone goes to meet, greet and socialise, Monterey has become a launchpad for concepts and ideas. Not just ideas from major car manufacturers, either; increasingly, it’s every company that has something to offer the collector car marketplace. Let’s do a quick review of the numbers from all the auction houses that play on the Monterey Peninsula, before we get to what it could all possibly mean. Keep…

LIKE THE OLympICs and the Le mans Classic, Only Watch comes around far too infrequently for our liking. The biennial charity auction of one-off timepieces is among the watch world’s most reliably exciting events, and the 2015 sale looks set to live up to our lofty expectations. As Chrono goes to press, 44 unique creations from the likes of patek philippe, Vacheron Constantin, Fp Journe and Urwerk are beginning a world tour that will see them displayed in monaco, hong kong, Beijing, New york, London and finally Geneva, where they will go under the hammer on 7 November to raise money for research into muscular dystrophy. When we call these pieces ‘unique’, we mean it: 2015’s donations include a robot-shaped table clock from mB&F, a diamond-set Chanel watch with hand-embroidered…

IF YOU HAVE navigated life successfully enough to own a Type 57 or a Veyron, or perhaps even both, then you will no doubt already be familiar with Bugatti’s lifestyle products, all of which are made with the same maniacal devotion to quality as those fabulous machines. The complete range of clothes and accessories is available at the brand’s London boutique, on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, one of only a handful of such stores worldwide (Monte Carlo hosts another, and boutiques are set to open soon in Munich and Tokyo), but on a recent visit we had eyes only for the collection of Bugatti watches by Parmigiani. We’re nothing if not predictable. Some ten years have passed since the two companies began to collaborate, and the fruits of the relationship…

gIVEN ThAT the brand’s current ambassadors include a man known for breaking 150mph on a pair of skis (John hembel), one famous for diving to 125m on a single breath (guillaume Néry), and another who scales sheer faces quicker than everybody but Peter Parker, and without ropes (Alex honnold), it is amusing to remember that Ball was founded by a man obsessed with safety. Webb C Ball, a jeweller in Cleveland, Ohio, was the first in the city to use time signals from the US Naval Observatory following the adoption of Standard Time in 1883. A collision between two trains at nearby Kipton in 1891 caused by a stopped watch prompted local rail bosses to install Ball as Chief Time Inspector, and in the years after his appointment he introduced…

So wrote Ian Fleming in the opening to his 1957 James Bond novel From Russia With Love, regarded by many as the greatest of all the 007 adventures. That Girard-Perregaux wristwatch, so carefully described, was the property of one Donovan Grant, aka ‘Red’ Grant, code name Granit. He was the bastard son of a German weightlifter and an Irish waitress, who, having joined the communists in Cold War Russia, worked his way up through the ranks to become the ruthless chief executioner of SMERSH, the Soviet assassination agency. Like Bond, Fleming had been a naval commander, and, like Bond, he appreciated the finer things in life. Among these he counted prestigious motor cars – such as the bespoke Bentley he gave Bond for ‘everyday use’ and the Aston Martin DBIII…