A selection of icons from BMW M's 50 years of sporting excellence took to the Goodwood hillclimb for the Festival of Speed from 23-26 June, including 3.0 CSL 'Batmobiles', a DTM E30 M3 and a brace of M1s. 'M' projects from other marques also took part, including two 'Longtail' McLaren F1 GTRs and the Brabham-BMW BT52 Formula One car.
The link continued elsewhere, not only with the global premier of the first M3 Touring, but also in the Cartier Style et Luxe concourse. Here, the 30th anniversary of the McLaren F1 was commemorated with its own class, including the first road-legal F1 GTR Longtail - originally prepared for road use by engineering firm Lanzante and Gordon Murray Design.
The centenary of the Austin Seven, which was BMW's first car when built under licence as the Dixi, also featured as a class: 10 variants of the little car included one of two examples bodied by Maythorn & Son. Built in the Biggleswade coachworks, both were sent to America, with the car n display having covered just 6000 miles since 1927, used primarily to drive around the owner's estate. The other was delivered to Joseph Pulitzer, of Pulitzer Prize fame.
This story is from the September 2022 edition of Classic & Sports Car.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the September 2022 edition of Classic & Sports Car.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
DOWN MEMORY LANE
As C&SC hits 500 not out, our most prolific and popular wordsmith turns Jackanory to tell the story of his lifelong link to the magazine
Locked & loaded
Land-Rover's SAS prototype and Minerva's Blindé vehicle were built to lend agility reconnaisance and versatility to Europe's special forces
SHOCK THERAPY
Testing an electric Fiat 500, and the idea of EV-converted classics, with a drive across the capital
Fire in the hole
The Huayra Pronello Ford combined advanced aerodynamic ideas with brutal V8 power for a long-lost Argentinian sports-prototype series
Brighton belles
This pair of pioneer machines found fame in the 1953 caper Genevieve, a film that helped give old-car ownership global appeal
FORTUNE 500
It was less famous than the Indy and Daytona 500s, shorter-lived than the Brooklands 500, but memories of the BOAC 500 live long
To be continued...
After the fabulous C2, the best of the rest convene from seven decades of America's original sports car dynasty
AMERICAN BEAUTY
For eight generations and 70 years, the Chevy Corvette has been the backbone of the US sports car industry. As it turns 60, the C2 remains the most desirable of all
THE LAST TEMPTATION
This, the final Ferrari 500 Superfast marks the end of a line of GTs conceived for the mega-rich, not just the merely wealthy
Martin BUCKLEY
'I was enthralled by the lavish feel, tarnished only by an anti-corrosion warranty sticker added as an afterthought'
