Octane March 2017

WE LOVE IT when a plan comes together. Back in August last year, deputy editor Mark Dixon and I latched onto two fantastic but very different cars that we just had to feature in the pages of Octane – but we’ve had to wait this long to be able to do so. At The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering, we saw the just-about-finished Lola GT and knew immediately that we’d found the winner of the Octane Editor’s Choice award. The car looks amazing, as you’ll see on pages 104-114, but it’s the human side – the former Shelby factory race driver waiting 30 years to start the restoration – that really makes the story. Our photoshoot took place at the very first test-run of the completed car. At the McCall’s Motorworks…

MASSIMO DILBÒ ‘In 1977 I was eight years old, playing with an Alitalia-livered Lancia Stratos model. To celebrate the 40th anniversary I brought together the 1977 Monte Carlo Rally-winning Stratos, the team that worked on it – and driver Sandro Munari himself. It’s a childhood fantasy come true.’ Turn to pages 64-80 for the full story. IVAN KLIIN ‘I truly felt privileged to be photographing the Lola; it played such an important part in history, as well as being a beautiful machine. It was a warm desert day, we had the track to ourselves and, when the owner fired it up for the first time, the thing roared and my camera clicked away. Perfect.’ The Lola GT is featured on pages 104-114 . GIRARD BROWN ‘When I’m covering an…

1. TOYOTA CELICA (FIRST GENERATION) £8000-20,000 Select lumps of J-tin are now hot property, and the first-gen Celica is getting there. Handsome (if you steer clear of the mid-period US plastic-bumper cars), lively (for the day) and well-built (no qualifier needed; it was a Toyota), it deserved its ‘Baby Mustang’ nickname. CB 2. CITROËN TRACTION AVANT £10,000-20,000 Convertibles fetch six-figure sums these days, but a plain-Jeanne saloon – every bit the same masterpiece of engineering – can still be had for Ford Fiesta money. Cars this influential, this easy to live with and this good to drive are rarely this cheap. Forget future values, because you’ll probably never want to sell. CB 3. BMW Z4M COUPÉ £15,000-30,000 Many have tipped the E46-generation M3 as the place to put your modern(ish)…

Donington Park bought by MotorSport Vision Dr Jonathan Palmer’s company MotorSport Vision has added Donington circuit – whose GP history goes back to the ‘Silver Arrows’ of the 1930s – to a portfolio that already includes Brands Hatch, Snetterton, Oulton Park and Cadwell Park. The lease is initially for 21 years and Palmer is promising ‘some exciting new events… and even better value.’ Jet cars to thrust their stuff at Santa Pod’s Easter festival Jet engines are to join pistons for the Pod’s season-opening Festival of Power. Entries include Martin Hill’s FireForce 3 and 4 Funny Cars and his five-second FireForce 5 dragster, Gerd Habermann’s jet-powered yellow school bus from Germany, and Hervé Franquin’s Peugeot 205 jetting in from France. Streamlining celebrated at the Zeppelin Museum Set in Friedrichshafen, the…

Goodwood Motor Circuit is full of history. It’s also one of the UK’s fastest circuits, and getting the lines right is a real thrill. Our trackdays give you the time and space to explore your classic car’s dynamics and hone your skills, as part of a great social event with like-minded enthusiasts. The days run from 8am to 5pm, and to ensure plenty of track time for all we’re restricting them to 30 cars. EFG Private Bank’s support has pegged prices at £299 for one car and driver and £60 for an extra driver. Bacon rolls, hot and cold refreshments and a two-course lunch in the control tower are included, and are available for spectators at £35. Book on octanetrackdaymay.eventbrite.co.uk or octanetrackdayoctober.eventbrite.co.uk. Fees apply.…

‘Can you check under Alec’s vehicle and see if there’s an oil leak?’ Forensic officer on BBC1’s Silent Witness, on discovering an oil-stained driveway, calling his colleague about a suspect’s Series III Land Rover. Cue mirth from Landy-owning viewers… ‘We plan a great new era for Donington, with much enhanced quality of experience’ Ex-F1 driver Jonathan Palmer, announcing the acquisition of Donington circuit by his company MotorSport Vision. ‘I put the passenger window down and now it won’t come back up’ New owner of Mark Dixon’s Lamborghini Espada, five minutes after taking delivery. ‘‘‘Tingling testicles!” is all I’m allowed to say after this experience’ Motor sport broadcaster Henry Hope-Frost on Twitter, after viewing a Porsche 917 that’s under restoration. ‘It hasn’t been a terrible life – I just lost out…