CATEGORIES

Marcus Breitschwerdt
Octane

Marcus Breitschwerdt

Meet the Mercedes-Benz executive with a fondness for history and a unique take on how it can help shape the company's future

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7 mins  |
September 2023
THE BOSSES' WHEELS
Octane

THE BOSSES' WHEELS

60 years ago Mercedes-Benz defined a new era of luxury cars with its behemoth 600. Glen Waddington drives the choice of celebs and despots

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9 mins  |
September 2023
KING FOR A DAY
Octane

KING FOR A DAY

There's cool, and then there's driving Steve McQueen's dune buggy on a California beach cool. Mark Dixon does his best to live up to the legend

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6 mins  |
September 2023
Patination state
Octane

Patination state

A 'weathered' 1960s Italian hybrid GT might not be most people's choice as an everyday family classic, but engineer Peter Fareham is not most people

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8 mins  |
September 2023
ONE LAST TIME
Octane

ONE LAST TIME

As Le Mans celebrates its centenary, Matthew Hayward heads to La Sarthe and joins the Corvette Racing team for its swansong race

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9 mins  |
September 2023
A GHOSTLY PRESENCE
Octane

A GHOSTLY PRESENCE

Rolls-Royce's Phantom II defined luxury car supremacy in the early 1930s. Richard Heseltine drives a special Weymann-bodied example that escaped a premature death

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8 mins  |
September 2023
A yen for a sports car
Octane

A yen for a sports car

Rare, stylish and exquisitely engineered, the Toyota 2000GT revolutionised Japan's motor industry and charmed

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7 mins  |
September 2023
No time to dive
Octane

No time to dive

For most the cost of an unreliable watch is being late; for a few it could be life or death

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3 mins  |
August 2023
Fire up the March
Octane

Fire up the March

South Africa's Charles Arton had to bring his March 79B back from the dead

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2 mins  |
August 2023
Concours clash off the calendar
Octane

Concours clash off the calendar

Leading UK event date tweak could be a boon for enthusiasts and collectors

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3 mins  |
August 2023
Sanjay Seetanah
Octane

Sanjay Seetanah

One of the four founders of Octane back in 2003, and still running the advertising department 20 years on

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4 mins  |
August 2023
Chanel No.5
Octane

Chanel No.5

Plain presentation belies the sophistication of the world's most famous perfume

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3 mins  |
August 2023
Luis Fontés
Octane

Luis Fontés

A skilled driver fuelled by a ruinous cocktail of wealth and extreme recklessness

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4 mins  |
August 2023
IT MIGHT BE GIANT
Octane

IT MIGHT BE GIANT

The AMC Mighty Mite was developed for US Marines to transport by helicopter. Massimo Delbò drives a tiny unsung hero of tactical warfare

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7 mins  |
August 2023
Patrick Watts
Octane

Patrick Watts

From the British Touring Car Championship to historic endurance rallying in a 400bhp Sunbeam Tiger

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8 mins  |
August 2023
ROUTE EV6
Octane

ROUTE EV6

Charging an electric car can be fraught in the UK - but how about in the deserts of the USA? Mark Dixon takes Kia's new EV6 GT on a Route 66 road trip to find out

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9 mins  |
August 2023
WORKS FORCE
Octane

WORKS FORCE

Abarth's 124 Spider is often overlooked as a rally hero. Richard Heseltine reckons it's time to set the record straight

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8 mins  |
August 2023
GOLDIE'S GOLDEN YEARS
Octane

GOLDIE'S GOLDEN YEARS

John Mayhead discovered a treasure trove of candid shots from Goldie Gardner’s lifetime of recordbreaking while researching his biography

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4 mins  |
August 2023
GOLDIE OPPORTUNITY
Octane

GOLDIE OPPORTUNITY

Purely by chance, one man became obsessed with record-breaker Goldie Gardner. Then his MG TC came up for sale...

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8 mins  |
August 2023
HOW TO WIN LE MANS
Octane

HOW TO WIN LE MANS

The 956 was Porsche's object lesson to the world on continued domination of the fabled 24 Hours with a brand new design. Matthew Hayward uncovers the secrets of chassis one

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8 mins  |
August 2023
TWICE SMITTEN
Octane

TWICE SMITTEN

To own an Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato is a privilege. To own two, well... Octane takes the opportunity to compare surprisingly different examples of this rarefied breed

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10+ mins  |
August 2023
Dr Rebecca Struthers, a modern-day polymath
Octane

Dr Rebecca Struthers, a modern-day polymath

There's no stopping this multi-talented watchmaker

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3 mins  |
July 2023
Bowler hat
Octane

Bowler hat

From Chaplin to Churchill, the reinforced titfer has moved well beyond The City

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4 mins  |
July 2023
Betty Haig
Octane

Betty Haig

Few women have lived a life as fast as this life-long racer

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3 mins  |
July 2023
INSPIRED BY ISLAY
Octane

INSPIRED BY ISLAY

Fancy a very fast, very exclusive yet understated Defender that's built by Land Rover? Step this way

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2 mins  |
July 2023
HIS LAST LANDY
Octane

HIS LAST LANDY

This Series IIA was the last Land Rover owned by the company's former chairman, Spencer Wilks, the man who steered Rover into a golden age. Mark Dixon drives it

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6 mins  |
July 2023
Matthew Humphries
Octane

Matthew Humphries

He made his name at Morgan while still a student, and is now the design force behind his own watch firm

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8 mins  |
July 2023
THE ITALIAN JOB
Octane

THE ITALIAN JOB

Henry Ford II himself commissioned Cisitalia to build the 808. Ford's first sports car? Time to lay bare a real rarity

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7 mins  |
July 2023
COOL RUNNINGS
Octane

COOL RUNNINGS

A frozen lake in St Moritz and Mercedes Benz's own homage to the long lost Paul O'Shea 300 SLS racer? Sounds like the perfect job for Massimo Delbo

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7 mins  |
July 2023
LAUGH RIOT
Octane

LAUGH RIOT

Nothing funny about the Zagato-bodied Lancia Hyena, though few cars will make you grin more broadly, Glen Waddington takes the wheel

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8 mins  |
July 2023