Strangely, it's the early issues of Classic and Sportscar (as it was called until November 1996), before I even joined, that stick in the mind best possibly because they were the formative years of exposure to the old cars that really floated my boat. Old cars that in many cases were not really very old at all. May 1982-issue two-was the one that first captured my imagination: not because of the MGA Profile, or even Mike Taylor's story on the Monica, but a 'back-to-back' between the BMW 3.0 CSi and Fiat 130 Coupé (both less than a decade old) by launch editor Matthew Carter.
That four-pager - printed in glorious full monochrome - first inspired me to put pen to paper: my slightly irate teenage missive appeared in the Letters pages in July. More importantly, I was hooked on this new monthly formula, which comprised comparison tests, interviews with collectors and a balance of subjects from each 'classic' era.
Cars to dream about and cars you might actually be able to afford-the latter often given exposure in pithy two-page stories on subjects such as the Sunbeam Rapiers and Austin A35s that were then the meat-and-two-veg of the classic hobby.
I devoured it from back to front, although the regular Track test was not really my thing. Mike McCarthy ghost-wrote it for our tame historic racing god, Willie Green - who, by coincidence, will reappear in these pages next month. Not that you'd ever have known it wasn't the great man himself speaking, although I do recall a story on an Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 Stradale (February 1983) in which Mike admitted in the copy that the driving impressions were conducted on the end of a tow rope!
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة November 2023 من Classic & Sports Car.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة November 2023 من Classic & Sports Car.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
A Breath of Fresh Air- Alfa Romeo's exotic, V8-powered Montreal was like nothing the marque had made before, but can it compare with a Porsche masterpiece, the 911S 2.4?
The stereotype of the ItaloGermanic automotive rivalry is that the Latin car will be brilliant to drive, but poorly built and ergonomically flawed, while the Teutonic will be the opposite. Yet these 2+2 sports coupés both ran against orthodoxy. In the Montreal, Alfa Romeo created an outlandish-looking two-door more comfortable, more powerful and more refined than anything it had produced for decades. Meanwhile, Porsche continued to refine its back-to-front, austere and increasingly aged 911. Neither took a traditional development path, but both created thrilling and individual cars that have echoed through the decades.
Daring to be diminutive
AMC's Gremlin and Pacer, and Ford's much-derided Pinto, led America's response to the threat of imported European compacts
THE LONG WAY ROUND
There is a great tradition of overland trips by Land-Rover, but the tale of this 70s Aussie epic and the car itself was discovered by chance
Handsome cab
The Phantom V limousine marked the beginning of the end for coachbuilder James Young, but this Rolls-Royce represents the craft at its very best
DOING IT FOR THEMSELVES
Racing for their own F1 teams brought some drivers success and an enduring legacy. For others, it turned into a nightmare
20 30 LITRES CYLINDERS, 400BHP......AND MORE THAN A CENTURY OLD
Thunderous torque, flame-spitting stub-exhausts, white-knuckle thrills - and hopefully no spills - aboard a trio of Edwardian racing titans
ICON.
The three top-selling vehicles in the USA in 2023 were pick-ups, topped by the Ford F-Series. This is the truck that started it all
Blurred Lines
lan 'Del' Lines blended the V8 burble of Triumph's open GT with real practicality in his Stag V8 saloons and estates
Home of the brave
The innovative Silverstone proved a hit with keen amateur drivers. To mark its 75th, Healey's club racer returns to the circuit for which it is named
PLAYING ALL THE ANGLES
Alfa Romeo's wild RZ eschewed the jellymould styling of the period to offer a striking, wedge-shaped take on open-topped performance motoring