Octane March 2022

I HAVEN’T DRIVEN the ‘new’ Ford GT. I was due to, but when the tour dates changed I couldn’t, so Mark Dixon got the gig. I was pretty jealous as a result, though as nothing compared with when, at Thruxton, he got to drive a GT40 and three generations of GT, the last of which I haven’t yet driven, though I was meant to – did I mention? I have driven a few GT40s before, so the one that intrigues me from our cover story is that troublesome middle child, the difficult second album, that disappointing movie sequel rushed out a bit too quick to try and capitalise on a hit. Not that there was anything rushed about the 2004 GT, which came 40 years after the original, but it was a…

JOHN BARKER ‘I’ve driven a few E30 M3s over the years but never got up close with its racing equivalent. BMW Motorsport created the most successful Touring Car of all time from what today seem to be quite simple ingredients; as with the brilliant road car, it’s all in the execution.’ BMW M3, road vs track: pages 84-94. EVAN KLEIN ‘I felt just like James Dean racing around Hollywood with the Dean Jeffries Porsche, run and gun shooting in iconic locations. A rebel without a cause, imagining what 1950s Los Angeles would have been like. Living the dream!’ Evan’s spectacular photography illustrates our custom 356 quad-cam story on pages 96-104. MARK McARTHUR-CHRISTIE ‘Watches tell you stories. Sometimes they’re from the people who’ve worn them before, but it’s even better when you get to write your own. Tracking…

In what is widely recognised as Britain’s most gruelling endurance rally anyway, the 2021 event turned out to be especially testing, with high winds, hailstones and many other weather challenges to overcome. Only 54 of the 70 Land’s End starters made it to the John O’Groats finish and just 11 crews came home with a medal, three of them gold, confirming it as the toughest Le Jog for a decade. Gold awards went to Kurt Vanderspinnen and Bjorn Vanoverschelde (1959 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint), Dick and Mark Appleton (Mini-Cooper S) and Amy Henchoz and Niall Frost (Volvo 142). Pictured are a clearly undaunted Peter Barker and Rolf Pellini in their 1968 Triumph 2000.…

28-30 January Motorcar Cavalcade A new concours for 2022, held at the Miami Turnberry resort in Florida, USA. Classic and modern cars will contest a range of classes innovatively themed by design features – so there’s one class dedicated to cars with unusual doors, another for vehicles with extraordinary dashboards and so on. motorcarcavalcade.com 12 February Concours in the Hills Held in aid of a local children’s hospital, this relaxed gathering in Fountain Hills, Arizona, draws a wide variety of classics. concoursinthehills.org 12 February Exmoor Trial The VSCC’s slate of trials begins with a visit to the forests and muddy fields of Exmoor. vscc.co.uk 13-16 February Rallye Neige et Glace Based in the French village of Malbuisson, this one very much does what it says on the tin, serving up wintry fun for 80 crews and their cars. zaniroli.com 25-27 February Boca Raton Concours d’Elegance Pre-war Chryslers and…

THERE CAN BE FEW things more British than driving a Morgan three-wheeler around the historic byways of Kent, the Garden of England. If you find yourself doing so, however, be mindful of the historic potholes: straddling them is no option with that central rear wheel! Appropriately, one of the most attractive villages in Kent is Rolvenden and, for the likes of us, the primary lure is Falstaff Antiques. The sign outside includes the words ‘Motor Museum’ and in an adjoining building there are about a dozen Morgan three-wheelers, plus rather more wonderful motoring history crammed into a small space, with colourful and historical artefacts all over the place. That space, the CM Booth Morgan Museum, was started 50 years ago and, as with most good museums, every effort is made to…

CLASSIC CAR ENTHUSIASTS rode and drove confidently and optimistically into 2022, determined to put behind them two years of severe disruption since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite the late cancellation of the UK’s biggest annual New Year’s Day meet – the mammoth gathering at Brooklands Museum in Weybridge, Surrey – scores of organised and impromptu meets of all sizes still took place across the country. Although barely more than a decade old, one of the busiest and now most established is the Vintage Stony meet in Stony Stratford, near Milton Keynes. Despite the name, it is open to all manner of classics, which completely take over the picturesque town. As in all recent years since the event’s popularity ballooned, in 2022 the first-footers arrived in an eclectic range of…