Genevieve doesn't like to be kept waiting. I'm perched high on her leather bench, being gently rocked to the metronomic rhythm of an idling Darracq two-cylinder engine, when steam starts to spiral from the brass radiator cap. The wait for a cloud break has proved too much for the 119-year-old veteran, and she has quite rightly, and literally, thrown a hissy-fit. But that wait is nothing compared with the 70 years it has taken to reunite this car, star of the eponymous 1953 BAFTA-winning film Genevieve, with her co-starring 1905 Spyker. In the intervening years, the Dutch veteran has been restored to its original silverscreen specification and repainted yellow, instead of the green it wore for the seven decades following the movie's release. Few automotive reunions are as poignant, and we are the first to capture the moment.
The film's significant anniversary will be marked in November, when both of these cars will be first away at the 88th running of the annual London to Brighton Veteran Car Run (see panel). That is appropriate, because the global success of the film ensured the survival of what is now the world's longest-running motoring event. Perhaps more significantly, it cast ripples across all activities involving old cars, acting as a catalyst that transformed what had previously been perceived as a slightly eccentric hobby into one with global appeal. In fact, the magazine you're reading now may well owe its existence to Genevieve and, ultimately, the cars we're driving today.
Denne historien er fra November 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
Denne historien er fra November 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