Author: Jamil Jafri
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For Sale: Rover Mini Sprite
This 1993 Rover Mini Sprite has had a full nut and bolt rebuild and themed as a tribute to Monte Carlo Rallye winning Cooper 33EJB. If you’ve not heard of the legend of the 33EJB Mini Cooper you should 1) get out from under whichever rock you’re under and 2) go read this quick explainer…
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Wife takes a Joyride. Popularises the motorcar – Bertha Benz
Authors note: When the founder of The Mechanists, Hedi Sersoub, tasked me with writing a piece on an influential woman in automotive design and engineering, my mind drew a blank. I had barely heard of such a figure and, yet, it never occurred to me that there might be one. Most, if not all, influential…
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Where are the coach builders now?
A brief look at the life, death and rebirth of coachbuilding As with the watch industry, the art of coachbuilding has had its ‘quartz crisis’ moment. Bespoke, luxury and labour-intensive bodywork were phased out for similar reasons. However, there is hope yet for the coachbuilders evolve in the new era of automobiles. Where it all…
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Bloody Heroes: Jean Ragnotti
Having announced his retirement at 74, we look back at the accomplished life and history of Jean Ragnotti. Known as “The Acrobat”, Jean Ragnotti is the fearless driver with wins at Group B and WRC, among other racing disciplines. He even had a career as an accomplished stunt driver. The success of Renault’s famous sporty…
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Monday Money: BMW E39 540i
PRICE: £5,000 -£11,000 This could be the ideal candidate for your daily classics itch. Heralded as the last great analogue BMW performance sedan, the E39 M5 has become a collectable that fetched for a record-breaking $176,000 (£143,000) at Pebble Beach auction last year. But not all hope is lost… If you were waiting it out…
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Is #MakeWagonsGreatAgain working?
Unless you’ve been living under a rock you might have noticed that our roads have been invaded by compact crossover SUVs. Whatever your opinions of them are (and I know you lot have plenty), they have mostly displaced the estate body style. But it seems the estates aren’t going out without a fight. Note…
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2020 Defender: A masterclass of homage design
Land Rover has had the ginormous task of modernising a car that has grown its own cultural identity. We investigate how they went about it… Ever since car brands figured out that petrol heads are very nostalgic, we’ve seen a slew of new cars and concepts made in homage to the iconic vehicles of the…
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911 Turbo Twins
It is not often you get to drive two 911 Turbos back to back. We set out to see what the 911 Turbo has evolved into since its inception 45 years ago. Back when it launched in 1975, the 911 (930) Turbo was Porsche’s flagship performance car. It was the supercar killer that just so…
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The unexpected rise of Resto-mods
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years you will have noticed resto-mod companies garnering a lot of popularity recently. How has this become possible in the purist dominated classic car scene? One of the most attractive traits of classic cars is that they were designed and engineered without having to…
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Shelsley Walsh Hill climb – A time capsule of motor racing
Long-running motorsport events tend to evolve and change over the years for a multitude of reasons ranging from boosting competitiveness, improving safety to just keeping up with the times. With these changes comes the risk of chipping away at the soul or essence of the events that made the original so engaging. There is, however,…
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Mini but mighty: The Monte Carlo Winning Mini
Whether you associate it with The Italian Job, Mr Bean or the Swingin’ 60s – the Mini is undoubtedly a British icon. It’s a car that has stayed mostly unchanged for 40 years (much like the Land Rover Defender and its predecessors). For fans of Motorsport the Mini, namely the 33EJB, holds a special place…
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Bloody Heroes: Niki Lauda 1949 – 2019
I bring you this edition of Bloody Heroes with a heavy heart. It was recently announced that Niki Lauda has died peacefully on the 20th of May 2019 at the age of 70. We write this obituary as a celebration of his life and contribution to motorsport. Niki Lauda was an accomplished entrepreneur and Formula…