"See if you can hit 3600 in third." If that gauntlet had been laid in the car park earlier, I wouldn't have flinched, but this Vauxhall 30-98's tachometer is only showing '28' and it already feels as if we should be triggering DEFCON 1. The exhaust noise is savage, only just drowning out that of the gears, and, gripping the gently flexing wheel rim for all I'm worth, our speed is building unabated. There's a bend fast approaching, and I just manage to clip '36' on the Jaeger dial - which must be 70mph before lifting. But it's a close thing and, of all 30-98s, this is not the one I'd want to bend.
As a prelude to driving the other four, visually contrasting 'Thirsties' with us today at Luton Hoo hotel, it takes some beating. We have gathered them because all are OE-type models, which started production barely a mile from here a century ago in 1923. There's another reason why we're at this particular venue, too: in the late 1940s the Vintage Sports-Car Club ran a series of speed trials on the Hoo's access roads (see panel), and, because the 30-98 was linked closely with the VSCC's founding, it seems only fitting that we should reunite model with location today.
Denne historien er fra June 2023-utgaven av Classic & Sports Car.
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Denne historien er fra June 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
