Octane

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

Why it’s always time to buy

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NEXT MONTH • ISSUE 262, ON SALE 26 FEBRUARY

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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 need to secure your place and travel plans now to take part

Behold the £300k Ford Escort Mk1 • A new breed of manufacturer-endorsed continuation cars is kicking off with an old Dagenham favourite

BEST OF THE BEST FINALISTS REVEALED

Concours team’s top choice

Rome gears up for new concours • Exclusively Italian cars of the highest quality and desirability will be battling for the silverware in the Eternal City this spring

Jay Leno • Why cars and watches go so well together

Derek Bell • Even heroes have their heroes

Stephen Bayley • Car design has gone the same way as popular music

Robert Coucher • There’s never been a better time to treat yourself

Boxster blast

HOT BUYS FOR 2025 • There hasn’t been a better time to snap up a classic car for nearly a decade. Here are the top bargains, from sub-£20k to £1m-plus

TOP CHOICE Under £20,000 • RENAULT CLIO SPORT 182

TOP CHOICE £20,000-50,000 • SUNBEAM TIGER

TOP CHOICE £50,000-200,000 • BMW E39 M 5

TOP CHOICE £200,000-500,000 • ASTON MARTIN DB6

TOP CHOICE Over £500,000 • FERRARI 250 TOUR DE FRANCE

More top-value classics

SAFETY FAST • This Lamborghini Countach LP400S played the ‘safety car’ role at the Monaco Grand Prix in 1981 and 1982 – but that’s not all that makes it special

BELLA MACCHINA • Not for this Maserati 3500 GT by Touring Superleggera any ordinary restoration. Instead, it went back to the coachbuilder itself

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Touring mapbook • Nearly a century has passed since Touring was founded – and two decades since it was revived

QUI N’AVANCE PAS, RECULE • French leaders have always taken their cars seriously, as have the ‘big three’ who vied for their endorsement

PERFECTION PLUS • Ever longed for a big straight-six to power the otherwise sublime BMW E30 M3? Alpina did, and Octane drives the rare result

ALPINA’S MAGIC NUMBER 3 • The B6 3.5 S is far from the only brilliant Alpina take on BMW’s mainstay saloon

TAKING THE HIGH ROAD • It’s a Mini adventure: driving to the top of the world’s tallest volcano after crossing the driest place on Earth

Steve Saxty • Forty years into a high-flying business career, Steve Saxty took some time out to write a motoring book – and he’s never looked back

SPECIAL ORDER • It was the sideways scourge of American raceways until it was no more. And then one enthusiast built a perfect copy of Dave MacDonald’s 7/8-scale Corvette 00 Special. Julian Balme tells all

Good to be green • 1974 Alfa Romeo Spider

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

A Zed and no noughts • 2004 BMW Z4 3.0i

Still charming • 1965 Triumph 2.5PI

Seat time • 1968 Ford Mustang GT390

OTHER NEWS

Go your own way • Alpina B3/B4 GT

Change for the good • KiaEV3

Generation Z • 2024 Nissan Z Nismo

Peter Monteverdi • Remembering Switzerland’s own Mr Supercar – and F1 entrant

Max Büsser • Revolutionary watchmaker, founder of Maximilian Büsser & Friends

Voigtländer Bessa • This camera revolutionised travel photography, by being both highly portable and high in...