Octane

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

The Sant’Agata conundrum

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IGNITION • EVENTS + NEWS + OPINION

COMING UP… • A look ahead to the first shows, concours, tours and rallies of what promises to be a very busy year

GET OUT THERE! • There are dozens of tours and rallies on the calendar for 2024. We’ve done the easy bit by listing some here; you have the much trickier task of choosing between them all

FURTHER AHEAD… • Intrepid adventurers, start prepping your cars now for these long-distance challenges in 2025

Awards records tumble • Royal patronage and a packed Dorchester ballroom make for the biggest-ever HMAs

NEWS FEED

Rosemary Smith b.1937 • Mark Dixon remembers the celebrated Irish rally driver

Mike Loasby b.1938

A Ghost in the family • Katie Forrest-Towers grew up with this 1912 Rolls-Royce

Overseas car shows

Tom Kerridge • Michelin-starred chef, pub owner and TV presenter with a penchant for fast cars

JAY LENO • The Collector

DEREK BELL • The Legend

STEPHEN BAYLEY • The Aesthete

ROBERT COUCHER • The Driver

Putting a Works V8 to work

TAKING THE BULL BY THE HORNS • With the SE30, Lamborghini’s Diablo began to come good. Ben Barry gets the inside story from a key Lamborghini exec – and tests the result with an exhilarating drive

THE SPY’S ASTON • It looks like a regular Aston Martin Ulster – but this car and its previous long-term owner both had an unusually colourful past

WOOD-BE WINNER • Tiny in stature, much bigger in reputation and ability, the timber-structured Cost in-Nathan GT defied convention to be a giant-killing racer

Streets ahead • Lancia gained early success in Group B rallying with the sublime 037. Richard Heseltine gets to grips with the roadgoing Stradale version

BMW’S HIDDEN GEMS • In this exclusive extract from his new book on BMW design, Steve Saxty guides us through the sensational artwork of its 1970s styling chief Paul Bracq

HERO MIDDLE CLASS • Tom Walkinshaw Racing turned RenaultSport’s Clio V6 from mad mid-engined concept into production reality. And this one belonged to the man himself

Ray Mallock • Engineer turned racer turned team manager, and founder of the RML empire – never happier than when he’s behind the wheel

HISTORY TODAY • This 1904 Mercedes Simplex has – uniquely and remarkably – been in the same family from new. Jim Holder meets its current custodian

Plastic fantastic • 1973 LOTUS ELAN & 2022 LOTUS EMIRA

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

Sealing the deal • 1973 PORSCHE 911 2.7RS

Friends reunited • 2000 HONDA INTEGRA TYPE R

Boxster re-booted • 1999 PORSCHE BOXSTER

Service please! • 1955 JAGUAR XK140

OTHER NEWS

All in the breeding • MERCEDES-BENZ SL AT 70

A fine celebration • 2023 FRONTLINE MGB LE60

A wing and a prayer • 2023 FERRARI SF90 XX STRADALE

Tony Pond • Charismatic Londoner whose perfectionist attitude kept him out of the rallying limelight

Hoover Building • A monument to industrialism, now a listed building you can live in

The unexpected spoils of war • While serving in Iraq, one US soldier received a military-issue watch in return for kindness

Seiko Sports Quartz • Worth a lifetime’s search to fulfil a teenage dream of bragging rights

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