Octane

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

And the winner is…

FEATURING

EPIC LOTUS 26R • Jackie Oliver and the spectacular Elan that shaped his career

Octane

Cavallino Classic, 20-24 January

COMING UP… • Barring any further bad news from the world’s virologists, classic enthusiasts are about to get wonderfully busy again

The Royal Logistics Corps Museum • Two hundred years of Army support remembered – mostly on wheels

Back on track! • A return to splendour is on the cards for the 2022 classic season

NEWS FEED • Murray motors on; rally awards night; new Morgan harks back; Brooklands returns to the telly; auction/events link-up; Yorkshire’s pudding; platform extension; appointments galore

Obituaries

The handmade tale • Boat-builder Steve Mills transferred his skills to this Packard

Estate cars

Paul Michaels • Having watched his first motor race in 1953, in 1974 he entered his iconic Hexagon Garage into F1. He also created the Lotus Elanbulance!

JAY LENO • The Collector

DEREK BELL • The Legend

STEPHEN BAYLEY • The Aesthete

ROBERT COUCHER • The Driver

On watch in Gaddafi’s Libya

DIVINE by DESIGN • Whether the Citroën DS took celestial inspiration or landed from another planet, it is one of the car world’s greatest aesthetic achievements – and more. Car designer Peter Stevens, aesthete and commentator Stephen Bayley and Octane’s own Glen Waddington discuss

THE GUVNOR’S DB3S • This extremely rare and special Aston Martin belonged to Aston boss David Brown. And as Stephen Archer finds, you can remove a car from its past, but you can’t remove the past from a car

FASTER THAN FAST • In the chase to establish the first 200mph road car, this special Porsche laid some extremely impressive foundations. Meet RUF’s BTR-1

FAMILY JEWEL • The Duke of Richmond’s grandfather styled the bodywork of this Lancia Augusta, the type of which won the inaugural Goodwood Hillclimb in 1936. John Simister introduces the two

Dick Crosthwaite • Having started when there was no real classic car hobby, Dick was fettling the Napier-Railton aged 20, went on to build Silver Arrows and became a renowned Bugatti authority

AIR’S COOL • Porsche’s air-cooled flat-six didn’t power only the 911: it was also developed as an aircraft engine for luxury travel in the hedonistic 1980s

CREWE’S MISSILE BASE • For the launch of its new Continental GT Speed, Bentley chose a unique test track – an abandoned USAF nuclear missile base in Sicily

RED & GOLD STANDARD • Alan Mann Racing was responsible for some of the most successful racing Lotus-Cortinas. Richard Meaden reunites this winning pair for the first time since 1966

Won’t be fuelled twice • 1978 JAGUAR XJ5.3C

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

OCTANE’S FLEET

Screen time • 1927 FORD MODEL T

Best Christmas present ever • 1982 MERCEDES-BENZ 500 SL

Screaming with frustration • 1982 MORGAN 4/4

Toploader trials • 1968 FORD MUSTANG GT 390

OTHER NEWS

Turns tarmac to gravel • 2021 TOYOTA GR YARIS

Worth the weight • 2021 PORSCHE MACAN GTS

Roy Richter • A pioneer hot rodder whose Bell helmets have protected motor racers for decades

Colman’s English Mustard • Mustard was enjoyed by ancient Egyptians, popularised by the Romans, but perfected in Norwich

The missing watch of U-534 • It spent much of its life under the sea. Now it’s deemed missing in action

Seiko pocket watch • A little lateral thinking can land you with a more...