Automotive
Octane
EIGHT into FIVE
This unique DB5 was created by Aston Martin's Experimental department as a test-bed for its new V8 engine. Peter Tomalin takes the wheel
10 min |
February 2023
Octane
The clear leader
This humble 1950 Fiat 1100 was coach built by Castagna with a radical panoramic windscreen. Massimo Delbò enjoys a new perspective from the driving seat
5 min |
February 2023
Octane
A NOBLE ENDEAVOUR
The Ascari Ecosse is one of the more obscure supercars of the 1990s, yet being engineered by Lee Noble suggests it could be one of the most thrilling.
7 min |
February 2023
Octane
Dishing the dirt
Ever wondered how special a totally original, unrestored Shelby Cobra would feel? This guy should know: as well as the 'Dirtbag', he's owned 50 of them. Preston Lerner finds out more
7 min |
February 2023
Octane
Doctor in the haus
IN MY LAST Carrera RS update (Octane 232), I voiced my distress at seeing most of the front end of the car in a rust-riddled and singed heap on the workshop floor.
1 min |
February 2023
Octane
WHY WE LOVE...Daily-driver classics
Yes, I'm afraid that's me in the picture on the right, with the superfluity of hair and the jeans that are too short. My excuse (for the hair, at least) is that it was 1990 and I was carrying out some lunchtime servicing on my recently acquired 1976 Plymouth Gran Fury.
1 min |
February 2023
Octane
MAN & MACHINE Going, going, and still going!
Auctioneer Duncan Kensington Moir has enjoyed his Jaguar XK120 for 21 years
3 min |
February 2023
Octane
Patrick Tambay b.1949
DESPITE RECORDING ONLY two wins in a nine-year, 123-race F1 career, the Frenchman (who died on 4 December) will be remembered as one of the most popular both on and off track.
1 min |
February 2023
Octane
BMW looks to the past for thrills
New limited edition echoes a '70s legend
1 min |
February 2023
Octane
The petrol supercar is not ready to die
Are exciting new launches a last hurrah or anew dawn for petrolheads?
2 min |
February 2023
Octane
Nigel Lempriere
Founder of Tecniq, leaders in automotive design and manufacture and classic racing and restoration, too -
3 min |
January 2023
Octane
Buick Roadmaster Wagon
This eight-seater, Corvette-engined wagon is an affordable cult classic
2 min |
January 2023
Octane
1969 Ferrari 365 GTC
$750,000 from Tom Hartley Jnr, Leicestershire, UK
1 min |
January 2023
Octane
Fresh from the museum
RM Sotheby's, Munich, Germany 26 November
1 min |
January 2023
Octane
Air of accuracy
Rare World War Two survivor seeks new owner - and there's a heroic tale behind it
3 min |
January 2023
Octane
The baseball
It's a simple, stitched, leather-covered and who has propelled it - matters a lot. So does the mud sphere, but what's inside -
3 min |
January 2023
Octane
Gone but not forgotten
Sir Roy Fedden, Celebrated aero engineer and workaholic who twice tried, and failed, to trigger a revolution in car design
4 min |
January 2023
Octane
OVERDRIVE
Other interesting cars we've been driving, Art of the estate
8 min |
January 2023
Octane
OCTANE CARS OWNING+ DRIVING + MAINTAINING
I HAVE FORM when it comes to Lotus Elans. The reason is simple. It is a sports car so good that it makes even a tepid shoe like me resemble a highly competent driver, and it’s the best of its generation by a country mile.
9 min |
January 2023
Octane
A class of its own
As insurance partner to Octane, Classic Insurance Services is delighted to be the headline sponsors of the Historic Motoring Awards, celebrating excellence throughout the classic and performance car sector.
2 min |
January 2023
Octane
FLIPPING ITS LID
The Ferrari 575M was a watershed modern-era Ferrari. But it was the Leonardo Fioravanti-developed Superamerica that really opened it up
8 min |
January 2023
Octane
Jenson Button
The 2009 Formula 1 season is the stuff of legend, and it certainly made one of Button. Time to look back at how it happened, and ahead to what's still in store
8 min |
January 2023
Octane
FLYING WITH MANTUANS
Is anything more idyllic than three days of spirited driving in Italy in a pre-war Aston Martin? That might depend on the weather, says James Elliott
9 min |
January 2023
Octane
DREAM INTO ACTION
For one entrepreneur, the lure of Italian beauty with American power was not enough: it needed German build quality, too. The result was the Bitter CD
8 min |
January 2023
Octane
DESERT RIDER
In 1986, one privateer tackled the Paris-Dakar in his own very special Range Rover Audi Quattro Proto. This is its story
7 min |
January 2023
Octane
Heat & light
The Maserati A6G/54 is a thinly disguised racer with just enough civility for the road - beautifully wrapped in ultra-lightweight Zagato bodywork. Peter Tomalin is treated to a rare thrill
9 min |
January 2023
Octane
The factor
2023 marks the 60th anniversary of the Mini Cooper S and this example is the oldest survivor. Mark Dixon tells the story of a Mini that has truly lived a life
10+ min |
January 2023
Octane
The friendlier face of Ferrari
AN OLD MATE of mine, whose parents were Worcestershire farmers in a village just a few miles from where I live, tells a wonderful story from the early 1960s. Knowing him as I do, m absolutely certain it’s true.
6 min |
January 2023
Octane
ROBERT COUCHER The Driver
The expression giant killer’ has become hackneyed these days, but back in the mid-Sixties it certainly applied to John Cooper's reimagining’ of his friend Alec Issigonis’ revolutionary small car.
3 min |
January 2023
Octane
STEPHEN BAYLEY The Aesthete
Prometheus stole fire from the gods, who punished him for his creative impertinence.
3 min |