Tag: ModernClassic
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Monday Money: The Lotus Elise S1
When the Lotus Elan ended production in 1995 the company was facing a rather unique issue: they didn’t have a single car in their lineup that fit their founder, Colin Chapman’s philosophy, ‘simplify, then add lightness’. Sure, there was the 1300kg Esprit, but compared to the Elan’s curb-weight of 997kg, it was a bit of…
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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…
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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…
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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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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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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…
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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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Alfa Romeo’s Monsters – Part 1
Since its inception, Alfa Romeo has built up a back catalogue with more beautiful cars than perhaps any other car company in history. Stunners like the T33/2 Stradale Prototipo, Duetto Spider, and Disco Volante immediately spring to mind. However, there are a few cars that, visually at least, don’t line up with the pure works…
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Honda’s Greatest Experiment
From what started out as little more than a Honda Civic with some fancy styling in 1983, to the VTEC-enhanced chariot of innovation that it became with the release of the SiR model in 1989, the Honda CR-X is one of the company’s automotive highlights. What’s more, it’s a car that is eager to strip…
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The Dark Horse of the Audi 80 Range
The Porsche-assembled Audi RS2 is to many the ultimate evolution of the Audi 80, and with good reason. However, its popularity means that the more obscure, and therefore more affordable, yet still fantastic Audi S2 is often overlooked in the search for a classic fast Audi. Released 1991, the S2 featured a longitudinally-mounted turbocharged inline-five…
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The GT that could have been a Supercar!
Another grand tourer in the modern classic era. Our readers might start thinking we have a clear bias towards fancy British or Italian GT cars, and I think we might do… However, how can we not discuss these modern classics that are now “almost” affordable and still have tons of charisma? We just can’t! Today…