Octane

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

Four wheels good

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Octane

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IGNITION • EVENTS + NEWS + OPINION

Dates for your diary

BOOK NOW! • Some of these events may seem a long way off, but you’ll need to secure your place now if you want to take part

WILL CHINA CHANGE EVERYTHING? • China is tearing up modern motor manufacture but is yet to make more than a ripple in the classic car world. That could be about to change – dramatically

Senna celebration • Silverstone Festival goes big on the late, great Brazilian F1 star

Ferrari greats for Salon Privé

Hampton Court hero

3 ISSUES FOR JUST £5*

JAY LENO • The Collector

DEREK BELL • The Legend

STEPHEN BAYLEY • The Aesthete

ROBERT COUCHER • The Driver

Debt of gratitude

THE SECOND COMING • It’s 40 years since Audi launched the Sport quattro, with which it prolonged its dominance of Group B rallying. Glen Waddington celebrates with legendary driver Stig Blomqvist

FULL HOUSE • This collection of five vintage Bentleys covers every iteration of the WO era. Robert Coucher drives £17m of pure desire

SHAPE SHIFTER • Only three genuine Lotus 26Rs were given the Shapecraft aerodynamic treatment. This little beauty is one of them

Shooting an epic • Photographer Will Broadhead followed every metre of HERO-ERA’s Peking to Paris Motor Challenge. These are his favourite images

McKeel Hagerty • 40 years ago, the Hagerty family started a hobby-focused specialist insurance company from its basement. It’s grown a bit

The winged warrior • This 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona has been in one family since 1970. Octane charts its history and discovers a highway hero steeped in dirt tracks and ovals

BRIDGING THE GAP • From the 1700s to 1984, the only way across Scotland’s Loch a’ Chàirn Bhàin was by ferry. Then came the beautiful Kylesku Bridge – and a boom in North Coast 500 drivers

RIGHT FIRST TIME • With this long-hidden prototype, Marcello Gandini defined the shape of the seminal Maserati Khamsin. Marc Sonnery explores its history – and uncovers the detail differences that establish its provenance

Octane Cars • OWNING + DRIVING + MAINTAINING

Overdrive • Other interesting cars we’ve been driving

Ian Burgess • This Formula 1 driver claimed shadowy connections were responsible for his big block of heroin. No one believed him

Peter Wallman • Former ad man who chairs RM Sotheby’s in the UK, Europe and Middle East

Beanbag chair • Water was unyielding, ping-pong balls too expensive, but expanded polystyrene pellets were just right for Gatti’s ‘big sack’

Origin of the species? • First out of the blocks is not always first to market, as the Swiss learned to their cost with quartz

Books

Gear

Artcurial hosts €11m ‘garden party’ • Steady result though few stand-outs at auction house’s first Saint-Tropez sale

There are values… and values • John Mayhead examines why relying on one dataset when trying to value a single model might not yield the most accurate results

Star of the show • RM Sotheby’s, Monterey, California, USA 15-17 August

Zagato trio • Gooding & Company 16-17 August

Hidden in plain sight • Ferrari’s fantastic F355 is an underrated modern classic, and prices are starting to rise

Porsche 911 R (991)

1996 Gemballa GTR 600 • £245,000 from Hexagon Classics, London, UK

Citroën Mehari • The no-frills open 2CV-based car that’s surprisingly...