Tag: Classic
-
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…
-
Monday Money: The C36 AMG
It was the nineties and Mercedes was growing a little tired of watching BMW dominate the small sports sedan market with their M3, and as 1995 approached, the lederhosen in Merc HQ were beginning to get so bunched up that they were at risk of breaking. If only there was someone who had experience making…
-
Monday Money: The Porsche 914
Never before had a manufacturer dared to make a car’s front and rear ends looked so similar, until in 1969 Porsche and Volkswagen teamed up to produce the delightfully symmetrical Porsche 914. However, by the looks of things, both companies seemed to think they were designing the front. Or back? Hard to tell, but that’s…
-
Monday Money: The Z3 M Coupe
1998 saw the introduction of the Z3 M Coupe; also known as the bread van, the clown shoe, or my personal favourite, the smurf hearse. It started life as an engineering study to work more structural rigidity into BMW’s Z3 M, but today it has been elevated beyond a mere mechanic’s experiment and has earned…
-
A Little Insane: The Renault 5 Turbo
As the 70s came to a close, the Lancia had been absolutely CRUSHING it on the world rally stage for the better part of a decade, and this was starting to upset the French, Renault being no exception. Lancia had stolen the WRC crown from Renault’s Alpine A110 in 1974 with the introduction of the…
-
Perfectly Ridiculous: The Lagonda
Retrofuturism is defined as ‘the use of a style or aesthetic considered futuristic in an earlier era’. The wedge-shaped Lagonda, festooned with touch-sensitive buttons and CRT screens instead of speedometers, perfectly fits this description. The two tonne, 5.2-metre long behemoth was, in many ways, ridiculous when it was released in 1976, but in others, it…
-
The OG WRC Champ: Alpine’s A110
Launched in 1961, the rear-engined, air-cooled, rear-wheel drive Alpine A110 shared many similarities with the iconic Porsche 911, which would be unveiled two years later. However, the A110 is by no means “just a French 911”, as this sexy little coupe would go on to become a legend in its own right. The A110 was…
-
Pure 80s Joy: Porsche’s 944 S2
Rear-wheel drive? Check. Manual transmission? Check. Coupé? Check. Naturally Aspirated? Check. Near-perfect 50-50 weight distribution? Check. The Porsche 944 S2 ticks a lot of the boxes on the petrolhead’s wish list and yet, for the most part, it hasn’t been hit by the massive appreciation that seemingly every other Porsche has. Maybe it’s time to…
-
The Concorde for the Road: Alpina’s B10 Bi-Turbo
Described as “the best 4-door in the world” by Road & Track, the Alpina B10 Bi-Turbo was also the fastest saloon ever when it was unveiled in 1989. Priced at nearly twice the value of a standard E34 M5, it became the best selling model in Alpina’s history up until that point. However, despite its…
-
Alfa’s Forgotten Flagship
If you were to ask someone who doesn’t spend every waking moment thinking about cars to name a couple of 60s Alfas, the Spider and Giulia Sprint would probably be the first they would mention. However, arguably far more desirable is the Alfa Romeo 2600 Sprint; the gorgeous six-cylinder flagship of the 60s Alfa range.…