Then we found a couple of loose spokes in one wheel, and Turrino supremo Will Tomkins reckoned it wouldn't be a bad thing to respoke all four. A couple of weeks later they were back on the car, looking superb in the correct white with the outer rims polished. In my next blast up the motorway, then crossing the finish line at Shelsley Walsh at 94mph, they performed perfectly, with no vibration.
My season usually ends at Kop, the historic hill near Princes Risborough where an accident in 1925 spelt the end of speed events on the public roads of mainland Britain. But the excellently organised festival run there since 1999 is untimed. It attracts everything from a 1905 16-litre Isotta-Fiat to a McLaren Speedtail, and raises large sums for local charities.
I was on my way on the morning of 25 September when a large pigeon flashed across my field of vision, evidently on a suicide mission. It hit the Stovebolt square on the nose, and sundry feathers, bones and blood were blown into my face. It was just as well the bird hit the car and not me, because it would likely have stunned me and I might have had a big accident.
I couldn't see from the cockpit what happened to the unfortunate bird, and guessed it had landed in the road. I waited for the water temperature to rise, but the gauge stayed steady on 175°F. So I kept going until Kop - wrong call - and then surveyed the damage.
Denne historien er fra January 2023-utgaven av Classic & Sports Car.
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Denne historien er fra January 2023-utgaven av Classic & Sports Car.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
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