Octane

Octane is the authoritative guide to the best classic cars in the world.

EDITOR’S WELCOME • Building the unattainable

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IGNITION • EVENTS + NEWS + OPINION

COMING UP… • Historic racing championships are decided, and there’s a last flurry of outdoor shows to enjoy before chillier weather arrives

Alfa 33 tops summer launches • Concours season is always packed with debuts to interest classic fans, but this year a factory reveal outdid them all

NEWS FEED • Royal Reliant added to museum

Delage crowned Best of the Best • Pearl Collection beauty adds to its silverware with the ultimate honour

Harris Mann b.1938

Biagio Morreale • The Uffizi Hair Gallery proprietor’s Range Rover and Ferrari

‘Unexceptional’ cars

GEARBOX Drew Gibson • A pro photographer for more than a decade, known for his endurance racing images… and Octane 196’s Ferrari 166 cover feature

JAY LENO • The Collector

DEREK BELL • The Legend

STEPHEN BAYLEY • The Aesthete

ROBERT COUCHER • The Driver

Livin’ the dream

THE GREATEST • Join us as we celebrate six decades of Lamborghini with time behind the wheel of the sublimely sensational Miura SV

60 YEARS OF LAMBORGHINI V12 POWER • LAMBORGHINI’S ORIGIN STORY is well-known; and if Ferruccio was to stand a chance of being taken seriously in the world of Italian exotics, he had to have an engine to rival the very best from Ferrari. So he approached Giotto Bizzarrini to design for him a world-beating (or at least Ferrari-beating) 12-cylinder. Even the earliest 3.5-litre incarnation of his quad-cam 60º V12 was an impressive powerplant, and it would live on for almost 50 years before a replacement arrived. The V12 became crucial to Lamborghini’s DNA and, even though there have been notable deviations – the Urraco’s V8, later the brilliant V10 of the Gallardo and Huracán – the V12 is a legend. Here’s a rundown of its six-decade history.

ROUGH DIAMOND • Homologation specials were nothing new in 1980, but few had turned a shopping car into such a beast, or transformed it so thoroughly in the process

THE ACCIDENTAL HERO • This 1950 Aston Martin DB2 was built for Le Mans – but missed the race. Yet that fact sells short a storied car with celebrity connections and enormous driver appeal

WHO NEEDS TARMAC? • This off-road adventure features some very special V8-engined Defenders. Matthew Hayward endures the Land Rover Classic Trophy

the LOCOMOTIVE • Tony Hunter had always wanted a Bond car – so he designed and built his own, based on the descriptions in Ian Fleming’s books

Mark Grinnall • From V8-engined Trumph TR7s via the three-wheeled Grinnall Scorpion to being an official dealer for Indian motorcycles – and there might be another surprise in store yet

COALS TO NEWCASTLE • A Cadillac V-16 restored on a Mediterranean isle may seem an unlikely California concours star, but Jeremy Jackson-Sytner (aka Mr Concours) was there to witness it

Rekindling childhood memories

OCTANE’S FLEET • These are the cars – and motorbikes – run by the magazine’s staff and contributors

The naked truth

A2 times two

Ridiculous to the sublime

A rumble of drums

OVERDRIVE • Other interesting cars we’ve been driving

A tiny world of adventure

End of an era

Eddie Rickenbacker • War hero, racer, motor manufacturer and more

CHRISTMAS WRAPPED UP EARLY • WITH EXTRA SAVINGS TOO!

Rickenbacker electric guitar • The original electric guitar and the Fab Four’s favourite

What became of Bravingtons? • Our man’s horological...