Author: Jamil Jafri
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Monday Money: Land Rover Defender 1990-2016
Growing up in the early 00’s in the rural backdrop of Worcestershire, I never thought I’d say that the Land Rover Defender was a cool car. It was a staple of rural life and therefore a common car. This was especially true if you spent a fair amount of time on a farm. Every Tom,…
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Petrolicious Drivers meeting
When we heard that Petrolicious was holding a driver’s meeting in the heart of the British classic car scene, we had no doubt that it would be an event to remember. The team at Petrolicious have a long-standing reputation of putting a lot of care and heartfelt attention in everything they do, and this event…
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The true heir: Jaguar F-Type or Eagle E-Type?
Photography by Tom Hains You wait 44 years for an E-Type successor and two come along at the same time! We live in nostalgic times and this is made no more apparent than the recent revival of legacy model designations, exquisite restomods and EV conversions (Lunaz Design). But what lovers of classic Jaguars have been…
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Interview: Michel Disdier – The only European NASCAR driver
The following is an interview between myself and Michel Disdier. We discuss what it takes to become a qualified NASCAR race driver, the hurdles he faced to get there. He is currently the only European race driver in the whole of NASCAR which has a known history of struggling with diversity. We also discussed how…
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A cheat so brilliant it was applauded by rule makers
Introduction The Toyota Celica derives its name from the Spanish word for heavenly which would sound like a misnomer if you’ve ever seen this monster tear up the dirt track. Its success in WRC earned it the nickname “The King of Africa” until Toyota Team Europe team was caught cheating in a way so genius…
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Rally Legends: Subaru Vs. Mitsubishi
It’s the age-old debate: Subaru WRX STI or Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. These two cars have had their respective fanbases arguing on the internet about which is superior for literal decades. Just to be clear, this piece is in now way intended to settle the dispute. Instead, we’re going to look at how these cars went…
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How does this F1 car have a 100% win rate?
In most cases you can argue that the success of a race car is down to one of two things: 1) Drivers skill 2) Engineering Every so often, a car comes along with such unrivalled success that you cannot deny that its engineering gives it such a strong advantage. The Brabham BT46B is one such…
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Electrifying classics: solution or sacrilege?
The electric revolution has begun. Whether or not you believe in climate change, the automotive industry is quickly moving to displace internal combustion engine cars in favour of electric vehicles (and apparently hydrogen fuel cell but that’s a discussion for another day). So, what does that mean for those of us with a penchant for…
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What the flip happened here?
I reckon there’s a good chance you’ve seen this infamous photo at some point: Mark Webber’s Mercedes CLR flying into the air at a 1999 24 hours of LeMans practice session. And this was no isolated case. Incidents like these were occurring more frequently among the LeMans prototype series cars in the late 90’s –…
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Retromobile 2019
I could tell you what Retromobile is about but I’m sure the name makes it apparent. What I’m here to tell you is why you should put this at the top of your car events list for 2020. If you grew up with a fascination for race cars and anything rare and quirky but never…
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Bloody Heroes: Michèle Mouton
Our Bloody heroes editorials celebrate the icons in motorsport who have, against the odds, risked their lives to display their immense skill, bravery and ( possibly) insanity behind a steering wheel. Introduction You may have heard the saying “WRC is for boys, Group B was for men.”. At The Mechanists, we beg to differ.…
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Monday Money: Citroën SM
Produced between 1970-1975 £17,200 – 54,800 evaluation by Hagerty . The Citroën SM is an evolution of the DS. It retains a lot of the innovations of its predecessor. A classic example of over-engineering that adheres to the form follows function attitude to car design. It is clear to see that the deign team at…