I think you could be looking at an engine rebuild.” That wasn’t what I wanted to hear while sitting by the roadside, 2500 miles into a 6000-mile expedition to the Syrian border and back. My sixth sense, finely honed after 20 years of marriage, told me it wasn't the sort of news that would be entirely welcomed by my wife, either.
“What was that?” she asked suspiciously.
“Nothing serious, darling,” I replied. We'll just keep an eye on the spark plugs.”
Welcome to the Bristol Owners’ Club Turkey Tour 2022, an innocent-sounding expedition that, halfway in, we had already renamed the Bristol Endurance Rally. Our route, designed by Geoffrey and Hilary Herdman marque trailblazers and owners of a 1956 405 drophead that has driven around the world took us across Europe to Istanbul, then south-east to Cappadocia and on across the broiling Anatolian plain to Gaziantep, close to the boundary with wartorn Syria. From there, if we made it that far, it was back down the Antalyan coast, north along the Aegean shore and thena different route through Europe, retracing some of the footsteps of Paddy Leigh Fermor, the war hero, travel writer and bon viveur.
Our convoy consisted of eight Bristols and one Bristol-powered AC Greyhound. All the Bristols, bar a 1969 Chrysler V8-powered 410, were 2-litre, six-cylinder cars: a 1954 403, three 406s, the Herdman drophead and a couple of 1956 405 saloons, including Frieda’, our car. Technical know-how and ability ranged from extremely high a couple of the team were accomplished spanner-wielders, one of whom has rebuilt Bristol engines) to non-existent in 13 years of ownership and a few forays on the Continent, I had yet to change a spark plug).
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Esta historia es de la edición March 2023 de Classic & Sports Car.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
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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.
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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
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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
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ICON.
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Blurred Lines
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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