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    mercredi 30 septembre 2015

    Le Tour de Corse en ébullition / Excitement builds up at the Tour de Corse!


    À quelques heures du grand départ du Tour de Corse 2015 (1-4 octobre), l’ensemble des acteurs impliqués dans le renouveau de l’épreuve s’activent. Shakedown et animations en tout genre seront au programme du jeudi 1er octobre.
    Alors que les vérifications techniques s’achèvent doucement, les pilotes engagés sur la 58e édition du Tour de Corse ont rallié leurs bases pour une bonne nuit de sommeil avant d’attaquer le Shakedown (séance d’essais) de l’épreuve dès demain matin. Situé à Poggio-di-Venaco, à quelques kilomètres seulement du Parc d’Assistance, les 3,88 kilomètres du Shakedown permettront aux concurrents d’affiner leurs réglages avant les premières épreuves spéciales du vendredi 2 octobre. Accessibles gratuitement au grand public, pas moins de sept Zones Public ont été mises en place pour accueillir les spectateurs sur cette séance d’essais grandeur nature, de 8h à 14h.
     
    Au-delà des engagés, qui prendront le départ du Tour de Corse, le Shakedown verra également la participation exceptionnelle de Luc Costermans. Un évènement pour ce pilote amateur, aveugle depuis un grave accident survenu en 2004, qui répond ici à l’invitation de David Serieys, Directeur du Tour de Corse. Après une première participation au Shakedown de la manche française du Championnat du Monde des Rallyes en 2013, Luc Costermans renouvellera donc sa performance sur l’édition 2015. Le pilote belge s’élancera en compagnie de son copilote insulaire Mario Porcel à 14h30, pour clôturer le Shakedown, au volant d’une Mégane RS de 250 chevaux.
    « C’est une belle opportunité d’être présent sur le Tour de Corse. Ce sera l’occasion de montrer au public que, bien copiloté, un non-voyant peut se déplacer aisément. Ce ne sera pas une épreuve de vitesse mais, compte tenu du parcours sinueux et très vallonné, ce sera une question d’adresse de parvenir à se mouvoir ainsi dans le noir », explique Luc Costermans.
     
    À 12h30, dans la Salle de Presse de Corte, la traditionnelle conférence FIA lancera la couverture médiatique du Tour de Corse, suivie par une séance photo rassemblant les pilotes de l’Équipe de France FFSA Rallye, Éric Camilli et Yohan Rossel, entourés par Nicolas Deschaux, le Président de la FFSA, et Sébastien Ogier, ancien pensionnaire de l’Équipe de France FFSA Rallye (sous les couleurs de laquelle il avait notamment remporté le Championnat du Monde des Rallyes Junior lors du Tour de Corse 2008). Côté Championnat de France des Rallyes, la Conférence de Presse rassemblant quelques-uns des pilotes inscrits en Catégorie Nationale se déroulera à 14h30 en Salle de Presse de Corte, suivie par le désormais traditionnel tirage au sort du Trophée Michelin à 15h.

    Le rallye prendra ensuite la direction d’Ajaccio où une séance d’autographes aura lieu sur la place du Diamant, de 17h30 à 18h45, en compagnie des meilleurs pilotes et d’une sélection de pilotes régionaux. Une photo de famille avec les pilotes principaux s’intercalera à 18h45, en amont de la Cérémonie de Départ qui se déroulera au même endroit de 19h à 21h dans le sens inverse de l’ordre de la liste des engagés.
     
    Enfin, demain, jeudi 1er octobre, sera également lancée la toute première étape du Tour de Corse – 10.000 Virages, l’épreuve de régularité réservée aux propriétaires de véhicules de prestige qui se courra en parallèle de la manche française du Championnat du Monde des Rallyes. Les deux-cents soixante-et-un premiers kilomètres – que parcourant les gentlemen drivers aux volants de Porsche, Ferrari, Aston Martin… – relieront Bastia à Ajaccio en passant par Calvi et Porto. Les 61 équipages arriveront à Ajaccio quelques minutes avant que le grand départ du WRC ne soit donné.

    À noter que, pour le grand public, un Village Exposants de 3000m² ouvrira ses portes dès demain, à côté du Parc d’Assistance de Corte, dans lequel une vingtaine de partenaires seront représentés.
    With only a few hours to go to the start of the Tour de Corse (1-4 October), all those involved in the revival of the event are working flat out. The Shakedown and all kinds of entertainment will be part of Thursday’s programme (1st October).
    As scrutineering comes to an end, the drivers entered for the 58th Tour de Corse have all returned to their base for a good night’s sleep before they tackle the Shakedown (test session) for the event tomorrow morning. It will take place in Poggio-di-Venaco, just a few kilometers away from the Service Park, and the 3.88 km Shakedown will give the drivers a chance to fine-tune their settings before the first special stages on Friday 2nd October. The Shakedown is accessible to the public, free of charge, and no fewer than seven public zones have been created for spectators attending the test session between 08h00 and 14h00.
     
    In addition to the entrants who will start the Tour de Corse, Luc Costermans will take part in the event on an exceptional basis. It’s a big moment for this amateur driver, specially invited by David Serieys, the Tour de Corse Director, who has been blind since a serious accident in 2004. After his first participation in the Shakedown for the French round of the World Rally Championship in 2013, Luc Costermans will repeat the experience in the 2015 event. The Belgian driver will set off with his Corsican co-driver, Mario Porcel, at 14h30 to close the Shakedown at the wheel of a Mégane RS putting out 250 horsepower.
    ”It’s a great opportunity to be here in the Tour de Corse. It’ll also the right moment to show that with a good co-driver a blind person can get around easily. Speed won’t come into it, but taking into account the twisty up-and-down route it’ll be a question of skill to be able to orient myself in the dark”, explains LucCostermans.

    The traditional FIA Press Conference in the press room at 12h30 in Corte will launch the media coverage of the Tour de Corse, followed by a photo session for the drivers in the FFSA French Rally Team, Éric Camilli and Yohan Rossel, surrounded by Nicolas Deschaux, the FFSA President, and Sébastien Ogier, a former member of the FFSA French Rally Team (in whose colours he won the Junior World Rally Championship during the 2008 Tour de Corse). Some of the drivers entered in the National category in the French Rally Championship will be present at the Press Conference taking place at 14h30 in the Corte press room; it will be followed by the now-traditional drawing of lots for the Michelin Trophy at 15h00.
     
    The rally will then head for Ajaccio for an autograph session with the best drivers and a selection of regional drivers on the Place du Diamant between 17h30 and 18h45. A family photo with the main drivers will take place at 18h45 before the starting ceremony, which will be in the same place from 19h to 21h in the reverse order of the entry list.
     
    Tomorrow, Thursday, the first leg of the Tour de Corse – 10 000 Turns, the regularity event reserved for owners of prestigious cars, which will run in parallel to the French round of the World Rally Championship, will begin. The 261 km that the gentleman drivers will cover in Porsches, Ferraris, Aston Martins, etc. will link Bastia to Ajaccio by way of Calvi and Porto. The 61 crews will arrive in Ajaccio a few minutes before the start of the WRC is given.

    For the public, a 3000m² Exhibitors’ Village will open tomorrow beside the Service Park in Corte in which around 20 partners will be represented.

     
    Programme du Jeudi 1er octobre
    8h-14h : Shakedown (clôture par Luc Costermans à 14h30) – Corte-Poggio-di-Venaco
    12h30 : Conférence de Presse FIA d’avant Rallye – Media Center Corte
    13h : Photo de l’Équipe de France FFSA Rallye, composé d’Éric Camilli et Yohan Rossel, en compagnie de Nicolas Deschaux et Sébastien Ogier – Media Center Corte
    14h30 : Conférence de Presse catégorie Nationale – Media Center Corte
    15h : Tirage au sort du Trophée Michelin – Media Center Corte
    17h30-18h45 : Séance d’autographes – Place du Diamant à Ajaccio
    18h45 : Séance Photo pour pilotes prioritaires – Place du Diamant à Ajaccio
    19h-21h : Cérémonie de Départ –  Place du Diamant à Ajaccio

    avant Magny Cours : L’histoire du WorldSBK en France / France in WorldSBK History


    Magny-Cours a déjà accueilli de nombreuses épreuves de fin de saison mais n’est pas le seul circuit français où soit venu le WorldSBK.

    La France accueillit le Championnat du Monde Superbike dès sa première saison, en 1988. Fabrizio Pirovano s’imposa alors sur Yamaha, au Mans, lors de ce qui fut l’unique course du week-end. En 1989, les courses furent organisées au Paul Ricard, qui n’accueillit le WorldSBK que cette année-là, et furent remportées par Stephane Mertens et Giancarlo Falappa. L’épreuve revint au Mans en 1990, année d’un superbe doublé à domicile pour Raymond Roche. Ce dernier devint un peu plus tard dans la saison le premier Champion du Monde Superbike français.
    En 1991, le tout nouveau circuit de Magny-Cours fut le théâtre d’un double de l’Américain Doug Polen, qui devança Roche à chacune des deux courses. Dans la seconde épreuve, Polen s’imposa avec 27,54 secondes d’avance, un chiffre qui reste aujourd’hui parmi les plus grandes avances d’un vainqueur en WorldSBK. 
    Après plus de deux décennies d’absence, Magny-Cours retrouva sa place sur le calendrier pour accueillir la dernière manche de la saison 2003. À la fin d’une année dominée par Ducati, le Champion Neil Hodgson s’imposa sur Ruben Xaus et Chris Walker dans la première course. Il chuta ensuite à deux tours de l’arrivée dans la deuxième épreuve et laissa Xaus s’imposer devant James Toseland et Walker pour un autre podium 100% Ducati.
    En 2004, la manche française fut un tournant du championnat. Régis Laconi et James Toseland, coéquipiers chez Ducati, étaient arrivés avec seulement quatre points de différence tandis que Chris Vermeulen n’était que 13 points derrière. Toseland remporta la première course, Laconi finit troisième et Vermeulen abandonné. Le Britannique contrôla ensuite la seconde course pour remporter le titre mondial avec neuf points d’avance sur Laconi. À 23 ans, Toseland était et demeure le plus jeune Champion du Monde Superbike.
    En 2005, Troy Corser s’était déjà emparé du titre à Imola lorsque le Championnat du Monde prit la direction de Magny-Cours pour la dernière manche de la saison. Chris Vermeulen décrocha la pole position avec une demi-seconde d’avance sur Lorenzo Lanzi et remporta ensuite la première course avec huit secondes d’avance. Lanzi finit par s’imposer dans la deuxième course, la dernière de l’année.
    En 2006, les courses de Magny-Cours furent beaucoup plus disputées, avec au moins quatre ou cinq pilotes en lice pour la victoire. Dans la première épreuve, Toseland, parti 11e, s’imposa dans un groupe comprenant Haga, Corser et Bayliss. Ce dernier, qui avait déjà remporté le titre de cette année-là, s’offrit une douzième victoire face à Haga, Toseland, Corser et Muggeridge.
    La finale de 2007 fut mémorable et eut de nouveau lieu à Magny-Cours. Toseland visait un second titre mondial face à Biaggi et Haga mais Lanzi tombé peu après le départ, faisan perdre du terrain à Biaggi et Toseland, qui se retrouvait en queue de peloton. Haga s’imposa tandis que Biaggi et Toseland finirent sixième et septième. Toseland n’avait plus que vingt points d’avance avant la dernière course, au cours de laquelle il commit plusieurs erreurs avant de terminer sixième. Le pilote anglais décrocha cependant le titre, avec deux points d’avance sur Haga, qui avait aussi remporté la seconde course.
    En 2008, Magny-Cours devint l’avant-dernière manche de la saison plutôt que la dernière. Bayliss n’avait besoin que de quatre points pour décrocher son troisième titre mondial et le fit avec aisance dès la première course. Afin de ne pas prendre de risques, il laissa passer Fonsi Nieto et se contenta d’une troisième place pour confirmer son sacre. Il put prendre davantage de risques lors de la deuxième épreuve et s’imposa sur Haga.
    En 2009, Ben Spies mena la première course du départ jusqu’à l’arrivée mais commit une erreur dont Haga aurait pu profiter. L’Américain reprit cependant la première place pour passer en tête du classement général avec 2 points d’avance sur le Japonais. Spies, qui avait rattrapé 88 points de retard au long de l’année, eut un problème tehcnique dans la deuxième course et finit quatrième alors que Haga s’imposa pour reprendre la tête du championnat. Spies allait ensuite décrocher le titre à Portimao à la fin de son unique saison en WorldSBK.
    Magny-Cours reprit le rôle de dernière manche en 2010. Cal Crutchlow s’échappé dans la première course et Max Biaggi enmpêché en suite le doublé du Britannique tout en s’assurant le titre mondial.
    2011 fut l’année de Carlos Checa. En France, l’Espagnol signa un superbe doublé avec Althea Ducati mais Magny-Cours n’était plus la manche de clôture cette année-là.
    Magny-Cours accueillit la dernière manche du Championnat du Monde Superbike pour la dernière fois en 2012. Biaggi, alors leader, tomba dans l’épingle d’Adelaïde lors d’une première course remportée par Sylvain Guintoli devant Marco Melandri et Tom Sykes. Il s’agissait de la dernière victoire de Ducati jusqu’à celle qu’a remportée Chaz Davies cette année au MotorLand Aragón.
    Sykes se rattrapa en 2013 avec un doublé qui lui allait plus tard lui permettre de remporter le titre mondial à Jerez.
    Aprilia remporta ensuite les deux courses de Magny-Cours en 2014, lorsqu’il s’agissait de l’avant-dernière manche. Guintoli partit en tête dans la première course, sous la pluie, mais fut rattrapé et doublé par son coéquipier Marco Melandri, qui allait cependant laisser la victoire à son coéquipier en fin de course. Dans la seconde épreuve, Sykes connut des difficiultés et Guintoli aura pu faire un énorme pas en avant avec une seconde victoire mais Melandri décidé cette fois-ci de garder la première place, ayant déjà bien aidé le Français et souhaitant faire plaisir à ses sponsors. Une décision sans conséquence pour Guintoli, qui finit la saison avec un splendide doublé au Qatar, son seul doublé en date, pour décrocher le titre mondial.
    Michele Merlino

    Having hosted many season-ending races, Magny-Cours has seen plenty of drama…

    France staged its first World Superbike event in the first ever season, 1988. Fabrizio Pirovano won aboard his Yamaha at Le Mans, in what turned out to be the only race to take place that weekend. In 1989, the races were staged for the only time at Paul Ricard on the south coast, as Stephane Mertens and Giancarlo Falappa picked up the victories. The historic Le Mans circuit reappeared on the calendar in 1990, when local hero Raymond Roche achieved a superb double. Later that season, he would become the first French World Champion in WorldSBK.
    In 1991, the all-new Magny-Cours circuit opened its doors. It was a year synonymous with Doug Polen; sure enough, the American did the double as he won from Roche in both races. In Race 2, Polen’s margin of victory was 27.54 seconds which remains one of the largest winning margins in World Superbike history.
    After more than two decades of absence, Magny-Cours was back on the calendar as the final round of 2003. In the year of the dominant Ducati, that year’s title winner Neil Hodgson won the first race from Ruben Xaus and Chris Walker. In Race 2 - just as another Fila Ducati double was on the cards - Hodgson lost the front end with two laps to go, handing victory to Xaus. James Toseland and the aforementioned Walker completed the podium, so it was another 100% Ducati rostrum after all.
    In 2004, the French Round proved pivotal in deciding the championship outcome. Ducati team-mates Regis Laconi and James Toseland entered proceedings separated by just four points in favour of the Frenchman, while Chris Vermeulen on a Honda was only a further 13 points in arrears. Things got off well for Toseland, who won Race 1, with Laconi third and Vermeulen out of the race. The British rider remained in control in Race 2 and would go on to win his first title, nine points ahead of Laconi; at the age of 23, Toseland became the youngest Champion. The record still stands.
    With the 2005 title having been won by Troy Corser at Imola, the World Championship moved onto its final round at Magny-Cours with Chris Vermeulen looking to make amends by going out on a high. He grabbed pole from Lorenzo Lanzi by a massive half-second gap, then went on to win Race 1 by more than eight seconds. Lanzi had the last laugh in Race 2, winning the final race of the campaign.
    In 2006, the Magny-Cours races threw up real treats. In both encounters, groups of four or five riders contended for the win in typical World Superbike fashion, with continuous changes of position. In Race 1, the protagonists were Haga, Corser, Toseland and Bayliss. Victory went to Toseland, who had fought up from 11th place. Later in the afternoon it was Bayliss, Haga, Toseland, Corser and Muggeridge who went to battle. Australian Bayliss had already wrapped up the championship for the second time, ending the year in superb fashion with his 12th victory of the season.
    The finale of 2007 was truly memorable, once again being staged at Magny-Cours. Toseland was pushing for a second title as he looked to see off the challenges of Biaggi and Haga, but Race 1 featured high drama; Lanzi fell shortly after the start, delaying Biaggi and Toseland and meaning the English rider was now fighting from the back of the field. Haga won, with Biaggi sixth and Toseland seventh. Heading into the final race, the margin between the leading riders was down to 20 points; a seemingly reassuring advantage, but not when considering what happened in the second race. En route to the title, Toseland made several mistakes. He finished sixth, eventually just two points ahead of Haga who also won the second race.
    In 2008, Magny-Cours was no longer the final venue on the calendar, but the penultimate round. Bayliss took control of the situation. He required only four points to seal his third world title in Race 1, which he did with ease. Avoiding any issues, he gave up a place to Fonsi Nieto which saw the Australian clinch the crown by finishing third. With the championship in his pocket, Bayliss was not so cautious in Race 2; he sat in the wheel tracks of Haga until passing with six laps to go, thus taking the win.
    Magny-Cours 2009 saw Ben Spies lead from start to finish in Race 1, apart from a mistake on the last lap. It looked as though Haga would win, but American Spies grabbed back the top spot to ensure he retook the championship lead from the Japanese rider with a two-point advantage; this was part of the remarkable recovery which saw Spies claw back 88 points over Haga during the season. However, luck abandoned Spies in Race 2; he slowed due to technical problems and could only manage fourth place as Haga won and headed the standings again. Spies would go on to win the world title in Portimao at the end of his only season of World Superbike.
    After two years off the finale date, Magny-Cours was again the last round on the calendar in 2010. Cal Crutchlow pulled away to win Race 1, while there was a challenge in Race 2 from Max Biaggi who prevented an English double. The Roman had already picked up the title that year, making this a perfect 2010 swansong.
    2011 was the year of Carlos Checa. France was no exception, as the Spaniard achieved a mighty double on his Althea Ducati. However, on this occasion Magny-Cours was not the final round on the schedule.
    For the last time to date, Magny-Cours hosted the last races of the World Championship season in 2012, and witnessed a truly dramatic ending. Championship leader Biaggi fell at the Adelaide hairpin in Race 1 before Jonathan Rea’s race also ended on the sidelines. Sylvain Guintoli won (this was the last Ducati victory before Chaz Davies triumphed at Aragon in 2015) from Marco Melandri and Tom Sykes. Amid high tension, Race 2 commenced on a damp track. Sykes headed for victory as Biaggi was running ninth; this would have been enough to seal the title for Sykes, but problems for riders ahead meant Biaggi rose to sixth which gave him the title over Sykes by the narrowest margin ever seen: half a point.
    Sykes made amends in the best possible fashion in 2013, doing the double at Magny-Cours before going on to seal the title in the Jerez season-closing round.
    Magny-Cours was also the penultimate round of the season in 2014. Aprilia won both races, but not without some tense moments. In the rain of Race 1, Guintoli took the lead but was caught and passed by team-mate Melandri. Over the final laps, Melandri was shown a ‘sad smiley’ sign on his pit board; he duly slowed and waved Guintoli through for victory. The same was expected in Race 2. Sykes hit trouble and a Guintoli double would have greatly helped the Frenchman’s title ambitions. However, on this occasion Melandri decided that yielding for two races in a row would be ‘Too much for my personal sponsor’. Nevertheless, Guintoli would go on to do the double in Qatar (his only double thus far) to emphatically clinch the world title.
    Michele Merlino



    Building Your Dream Ferrari Is A Beautiful Thing

    “I wanted to experience what they experienced, and I didn’t know any other way to do it except by trying to build a car like they had,” says Peter Giacobbi, builder and owner of this incredible 1959 Ferrari 250 TR recreation.

    That’s right: recreation. A master fabricator, engineer, and builder, Giacobbi made this car in order to understand what his boyhood heroes like Juan Manuel Fangio and Graham Hill experienced when driving cars like the Ferrari 250 TR. 

    His favorite design on any car ever, the project swung into high gear after finding a handmade aluminum body for a ’59 TR that had been sitting for decades. From there, Giacobbi began to figure out what he needed in order to complete the car.

    “I made everything look as close as possible…I copied the chassis, found the correct tail lights, had the instruments made…” “There are some things that are different from the original. It was impossible to find a good 3 litre motor, so I used a 4.4 and modified the aesthetics to look like the 250…” he says.

    He says that the car is very exciting, especially considering that it weighs 2,300 lbs and has 400 horsepower. “These cars are very hard to drive…It’s pure seat of the pants,” Giacobbi says.

    “I drive it as much as I can, I drive it down to the local coffee shop usually once or twice a week,” he says. But on any road—headed to any destination—his respect for racing greats is apparent, saying, “They’re not only heroes, they’re supermen to have driven at the high speeds for the distances they did is an absolute miracle.”

    Drive Tastefully®



    Expedition Overland: Central America Ep12

    The FINAL episode of the season brings the team some major geographic and personal challenges. Things get tense as the Darien Gap becomes the focus, and end of the expedition. No one will leave unchanged.


    Honda CB750 – Charlie James Customs


    24_09_2015_Honda_CB750_mono_11
    Written by Marlon Slack.
    Though primarily a bike wrecker, Jason Reihing has built his fair share of customs out of his small one man workshop, Charlie James Customs, in Williston, Ohio. ‘Every old car, ATV and motorcycle I’ve restored, rebuilt or modified, I’ve felt them wanting to come back to life,’ Jason explains. ‘But this bike was the opposite. I’ve named it ‘Micky’ after the boxing great Micky Ward as, like him, this bike is a fighter. Throughout the build I had a feeling it would have been happier sitting out the back of someone’s barn and rotting away.’ Thankfully Jason has the tenacity and skill to roll out something as pretty as this CB after just about everything went wrong during the build process.
    24_09_2015_Honda_CB750_mono_07
    As the CB came to Jason as a non-runner in boxes, one of the first things he did was remove the engine and place it on a stand for inspection. ‘The motor was strapped to this stand I made years back,’ Jason says. ‘I use it to power wash engines, pull apart top ends, side covers and that kind of thing. I get to the shop one morning, slide open the door and see the engine laying on the concrete floor.’ Jason was grateful for the lack of damage. ‘Everything was fine and it only left a chip in the floor but it was like the bike was telling me – Don’t Waste Your Time.’
    24_09_2015_Honda_CB750_mono_06
    And he might have been right. When the engine was strapped back in the stand Jason pulled the top end and inspected it for damage. One of the previous owners sheared a bolt that holds the camshaft retaining caps in place. ‘Now at first I thought I’d drill and use an Easyout to remove it, but it wouldn’t even drill. I grabbed a light, looked down the recessed hole and found a broken extractor in the core of the broken bolt.’ Jason worried it would have to be burnt out and re-tapped, or he’d have to scour the second-hand market for a used head. ‘But then I had an idea! Extractors are made of very hard steel. They’re almost impossible to drill but they’re fragile with impact. I sharpened a punch and struck the backside of the extractor which fractured it. I then removed the splinters one by one and then started the process again. Bam! Crisis overcome.
    24_09_2015_Honda_CB750_mono_01
    But more trials awaited. He had a CB650 tank hanging on the wall of his shop that he planned on mounting to the 750, and he’d lavished no small amount of attention on it, with knee dents in the side and a recessed pattern across the top. It hung, primed and was ready for paint when out of nowhere it fell hard on the shop floor. The damage to the front of the tank was extensive, so instead he mounted a ’78 GS550 gas tank. New frame mounts had to be fabbed up and the tunnel ‘massaged’ into place but it now sits perfectly on the frame.
    24_09_2015_Honda_CB750_mono_03
    And the frame? Well, that seems to have gone smoothly, but with Jason lacking a tube bender he cut and welded individual lengths of steel together to form the back-end, a time-consuming task. The rear wheel, swing arm and monoshock are all from a CBR F3 and helps push the bike into the beautifully blurred line between a café racer and a street fighter. It all works perfectly but I shudder to think of the amount of time spent getting the frame just right like that using nothing but hand tools.
    24_09_2015_Honda_CB750_mono_02
    Despite the frame going well, even the parts that you think would be simple managed to put up a fight. KTM bar mounts on the triple tree required reinforcement, a torx bit became stuck in the throttle linkage which required disassembly of the carburettors after the bike had already been assembled as well as a myriad of other little problems.
    24_09_2015_Honda_CB750_mono_10
    24_09_2015_Honda_CB750_mono_054
    Hell, even the front suspension conspired against him. The forks were taken from another Honda, an early 90’s CBR F2. Jason put new seals and fluid in them, mounted them up to the bike but when he tested them they let go a metallic ‘clunk’ on the upstroke. ‘After they were drained, torn apart and inspected I finally had the nerve to disassemble the dampening rod inside. I couldn’t find any schematics on how to pull them apart or put them back together but I finally found the cause. A 40c wave washer.’
    But with all that hard work, problem solving and trouble-shooting Jason has a bike he can be really proud of. Damn thing didn’t want to rot out the back of someone’s barn after all.
    24_09_2015_Honda_CB750_mono_12
    [Photos by Tim Whitaker] via PIPEBURN

    Is it really okay to customise classic cars?


    It’s a debate that’s been gaining momentum in recent years – but is there a general consensus on which we can collectively agree? Simon de Burton gives us his viewpoint, before the Classic Driver team rallies round to evaluate the most recent examples of the growing phenomenon of ‘resto-modding’…
    Exactly how it happened I can't recall, but back in 1983 I somehow became the owner of a 1972 Jaguar XJ6 which, as a 19-year-old, I couldn't afford to run. It was a lovely car, in Regency Red with a nicely worn interior trimmed in biscuit leather – but a complete white elephant nonetheless. So I reluctantly swapped it for a 250cc Kawasaki with racy Ian Dyson bodywork.
    A few weeks later the car's new owner called me up and excitedly invited me to drop by to take a look at what he'd done to it. As he slowly raised the garage door for maximum drama, I was prepared to feel envious at the sight of sparkling chrome and bodywork polished to perfection. But the reality was different.
    A car that had been entirely original the last time I had seen it was now wearing a badly applied coat of Racing Green paint and sported vast, Broadspeed racer-style wheelarches enshrining a set of inappropriate alloy rims.
    "Recognise it? It's John Steed's car from the New Avengers!" said the owner, gleefully. It was an abomination. A travesty. Sacrilege. I was saddened.

    So when is it justified?

    But is there ever a case where 'customising' a classic design is justified? A peek at the accompanying images tells us that there certainly is. Singer 911s not only look great, but go brilliantly, too; Jaguar design boss Ian Callum's personal take on the MKII both enhances the car's appearance and makes it more practical for modern life; the wild Equus Bass Mustang, meanwhile, brings the character of the original '60s pony car into the 21st Century and provides it with the sort of performance that even Carroll Shelby might have admired.
    Likewise, the proposal for the BMW E30 M3 ‘Leichtbau’ by UK-based Redux promises to make a great car greater. “For us, it’s all about the attention to detail,” says founder Simon Lord, “and complementing what BMW achieved in period by making sure our design is cohesive, while striving to surpass OEM levels of craftsmanship and performance in each area of modification.”
    However – a Ferrari 412 which has been chopped about to make a builder's wagon? Or a Pantera that's been pimped in a bid to to make it look modern? Not for me, I'm afraid. But, as the man who relieved me of my XJ6 so ably demonstrated, there's no accounting for automotive taste. Or as John Steed once said: "I never did believe in rules."
    Now for the Classic Driver resto-mod run-down...

    Type 1 - Better than the original?

    Alongside established names such as SingerEmoryEagleTwisted and Icon, there’s another set of burgeoning companies that rate overall design coherence and attention to detail just as highly. The aforementioned Redux Leichtbau aims to build the E30 M3 that might have been, had BMW continued its evolution, while Pure Vision Design’s ‘Martini Mustang’ was faithful to the self-concocted story of a fantasy meeting between Ford and Martini execs in 1965.
    You could always play it safe, leaving the all-important aesthetics just the way they are, and only changing the running gear. Mechatronik has done just that to a number of classic Mercedes – hiding modern AMG V8s beneath unmolested bodywork, while ensuring it’s all fully reversible should the novelty wear off.

    Type 2 - It's a thin line...

    There’s a thin line between a nail-on-the-head resto-mod, and a customised classic that fails at the final hurdle – the De Tomaso Pantera transformed by the Ringbrothers certainly had promise, but was let down by a poorly executed interior. Don’t assume the professionals always get it right, either: Ian Callum’s Jag suffered from the same affliction (just look at that DVD player!), and AMG’s decision to impart modern wheels – both inside and out – to a gaggle of original Gullwings was nothing short of a travesty. Still, one sold at auction last year for €812,000, proving just how subjective the topic of customisation can be.

    Type 3: Icons, re-imagined

    Rather than merely updating a classic, some companies instead choose to go with a clean-sheet design inspired by the past. As well as the Equus Bass, there’s the Willys AW380 Berlineta – a neo-Alpine A108 said to use Porsche power – as well as the David Brown Automotive Speedback and the long-proposed but yet to materialise Lyonheart K. Both the latter are inspired by well-known designs (a little too closely, perhaps…), and their Jaguar XKR underpinnings could be considered a little humble, considering the required outlay.

    Type 4 - Electrified elderlies

    If you’re going to update a classic, why not go all the way and make it future-proof? A few years back, we were promised a run of fully electric DeLoreans. Shockingly, they never materialised. However, Renovo’s take on the concept appears to be a little more promising, not least for the use of a genuine CSX9000 chassis.

    Type 5 - To pimp a butterfly

    There have also been some unorthodox modifications to current (or future) classics that re-assign them a new primary purpose: as well as the Ferrari 412 pickup Simon mentioned earlier, there was aRolls-Royce Phantom genuinely converted into a hearse. Or, for those looking for practicality with more personal reasons in mind, how about a Jaguar E-type with a stretched wheelbase and a matching trailer?
    At a level beyond that, there was the ‘Lady of Luxury’ Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow converted into a luxurious champagne-bar-cum-DJ booth that appeared for sale on Classic Driver last year. And, if you’ve completely lost any sense of financial prosperity (or your marbles), why not take an angle-grinder and create a ‘Mad Max’ Maybach?
    Photos: Manfacturers, Classic Driver, GF Williams, Drew Phillips
    You can find thousands of blank canvases ripe for customisation in the Classic Driver Market.