Tag: ClassicCars
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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…
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Porsches in the Rain at Luftgekühlt
On Sunday morning I met up with Head Mechanist in Charge, Hedi Sersoub, to head to this year’s British Luftgekühlt, which is arguably the coolest and most confusingly named Porsche meet in the world. However, unfortunately, our chariot for the day was not the coolest thing in the world; a black Fiat 500. No, it…
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A Day at Silverstone Classic
It was a bright and early start to Sunday as I headed to meet photographer and fellow Mechanist, Tom Hains at the Mile End tube station. From there we would be headed to this year’s Silverstone Classic, one of the best automotive events in the UK. Tom had hinted at the possibility of our ride…
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Permanent Ludicrous Mode: The V550
The 90s was a wild time; Tim Berners-Lee had just invented the World Wide Web, Will Smith was still The Fresh Prince, and Aston Martin decided to hand build what would become the most powerful production car in the world, the V8 Vantage V550. During the 90s, Ford had their Budweiser-drinking, burger-munching, American flag-saluting hands…
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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…
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Alfa Romeo’s Monsters – Part 2
Last week I asked you to endure the appearance of the polarising Alfa SZ. This week I ask you once again to don the ugly-protection goggles as we take a look at the SZ’s equally eyeball-upsetting cousin, the Alfa Romeo 75 Quadrifoglio Verde. The name is about as elegant as the car’s appearance is, so…
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Forward thinking at Prodrive
Making your way through the revolving door and into the laboratory-clean reception area to be greeted by Colin McRae’s 1995 Championship winning Impreza, and an Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3, you can only be in one place; Prodrive’s headquarters in Banbury, Oxfordshire. This team of geniuses, founded by former Aston Martin chairman David Richards CBE,…
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The “Knobbly” before the Storm
Lister was founded in 1954 in Cambridge by Brian Lister. He started off building his first sports cars using tubular chassis and MG engine which was inspired by John Cooper. The race car in question started at the British Empire Trophy in Oulton Park the same year, but because of a few outdated bits, Brian…
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“The Spy Who Loved Me” Spirit
The project began in the early 70s when Colin Chapman started to work with Giugiaro to work on a new sports car based on his Maserati Boomerang concept. After some initial work and scale prototypes, Chapman was not satisfied and put the project on hold until a second more successful try based on a modified…