The man with the mahogany suntan and pastel-hued Lycra cannot get enough of us the international language of hand signals speaks volumes. It helps that the word 'turbo' is universal, mind, as is the whooshing sound. And this is the third such tête-à-tête in the past five minutes. Sorry, it's time to leave for one more panning shot, time to enter a Vaseline-overthe-lens, soft-focus dreamscape. Driving along Estrada do Guincho, the road alongside the beach that appeared in the opening scene of James Bond movie On Her Majesty's Secret Service, makes it hard not to romanticise.
Portugal's Estoril Coast is a thing of wonder, as is the carnival of exotica that accompanies it. None, though, have quite the gravitational pull of a 1974 BMW 2002 turbo. This is the trailblazer that got burned, a non-homologation special that nevertheless had competition ancestry. It also looks achingly hip, in a screwed-on spats, lairy stripes sort of way. Looks-wise, nothing about this car is in the realms of the subtle. However, approach the turbo expecting all hell to break loose with each exploratory prod of the accelerator, and prepare to be disabused. There's brimstone in here for sure, but it's kept in check.
What impresses people is generational, and the turbocharger is a case in point. There was a time, say, four to five decades ago, when forced induction was the new big thing. And by 'new', we of course mean 'old', because the technology had been around for aeons. It's just that in the 1970s, and particularly the '80s, a car bearing the legend 'turbo' somewhere in its nomenclature suddenly represented bragging rights. It equated to a certain kind of cachet that went way beyond mere performance; it represented cutting-edge cool. Heck, there was even an aftershave called Turbo.
Denne historien er fra August 2023-utgaven av Classic & Sports Car.
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Denne historien er fra August 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