CAFÉ RACER 76

Oh Lord won’t you buy me a… Porsche 356?

Peer pressure clearly got the better of Janis Joplin, as she joined her friends and bought this Porsche 356C, famously painting it in a psychedelic livery as distinctive as her music…

Counter culture

Joplin bought the pre-owned Porsche 356C 1600 Cabriolet in Beverly Hills in September of 1968, following a recent split from her band, Big Brother and the Holding Company, which had burst onto the music scene the previous year. Not content with its comparatively bland Oyster White colour scheme, she gave the car to band roadie and close friend David Richards, who was entrusted with transforming it into something a little more flamboyant.

The History of the Universe

The resulting, hand-painted kaleidoscopic (mobile) mural, dubbed ‘The History of the Universe’, allegedly went down very well with the blues singer, who is said to have driven the car everywhere, ‘top down and feathers flying’. Indeed, Joplin was regularly photographed around San Francisco with the car, often joined by other celebrities – it became an icon of the psychedelic era, just as she did.

Heirloom

Joplin owned the car until her untimely death in 1970, after which it passed through the hands of her manager, before being returned to her family, with whom it has remained since. It’s been subject to numerous restoration jobs through the years – the paint was carefully re-done for the secondtime in the 1990s, having been stolen while under Joplin’s custody, re-sprayed in grey, and repainted again – and the canvas top has also been replaced.

A star is born

The star of the Cleveland Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame (of which Joplin is an inductee) for the past two decades, it’s finally time for this air-cooled slice of popular culture to find a rebellious new owner. RM Sotheby’s will offer the car at its ‘Driven by Disruption’ sale in New York on 10 December 2015. Joplin might not have made amends, but she did make history. This striking Porsche was party to that – expect hippie hysteria on the day.

Photos courtesy of RM Sotheby’s / Getty Images (historic picture)

This one-year-old Triumph was treated to a Turkish transformation

Invariably, it’s the tired examples of machines from the latter half of last century that are used as donors for café racer-style makeover projects. However, Bunker Custom Cycles of Istanbul used a 2014-model Triumph Bonneville as the basis for its latest build…

Bonnie goes to Istanbul

Although it’s the stunning grey-and-gold paint scheme that initially seduces the eye, cosmetics were only a secondary priority for Bunker Custom Cycles when overhauling the year-old Triumph. The first was to unleash the Bonneville’s performance potential, with function defining the form: the suspension was re-worked to be lower at the front and higher at the rear for a more aggressive stance, and the cumbersome original tail was replaced with a sleek hand-made aluminium unit. Overall, the subtle modifications applied to the tuned-up Triumph are so well thought out that the Bunker Bonneville could easily be mistaken for a factory-issued special edition – a true testament to the quality of work performed by the Turkish workshop.

At JD Classics’ showroom in Maldon, Essex, in the UK, a very special Bentley awaits a new owner. In single-family ownership since 1968, the lavishly equipped R Type Continental is sure to beguile its new custodian with a layer of dust, a few dents – and some specially commissioned one-off features…

Quite a story…

Naturally, the majority of R Type Continentals were purchased new by prominent figures – and indeed, the battered Bentley currently offered by JD Classics was ordered new in 1954 on behalf of Philip. F. Scrutton, a world-class amateur golfer and pilot. He specified every conceivable option, along with a number of special requests, such as flared rear wings and cutaway spats, on the H.J. Mulliner body. But just a year later, custody was passed to another sportsman: motorcyclist Stanley Hailwood, father of future World Champion bike racer Mike ‘The Bike’. During this time, the elegant ‘Rover Grey’ coupé was put to work along the French Riviera, and entered in the Cannes Concours of Elegance. In 1968, another aviation enthusiast, Frank Cavanagh, bought the car while on business in London, and promptly shipped the Bentley back home to Australia. It remained there for 47 years, during which time it shared space in an aircraft hangar alongside a Bentley S1, a Ferrari 330 GTC, and a Cessna, all owned by Cavanagh.

Do not wash!

To us, the idea of leaving the unique Bentley in its current state seems more attractive than a costly restoration – after all, as the saying goes, ‘they’re only original once’. With such fascinating provenance, dust and dents that relay a fascinating ownership story are preferable to polished lacquer and immaculate leather. Nowadays, the ‘preservation classes’ are becoming more and more popular at world-class concours events, for which we’d tip this Bentley as a future star…

Photos: JD Classics

WRC Tour de Corse : Les grands chelems de 2005... et 1970 ! / stage-victory grand slams in 2005... and 1970!

Il y a dix ans, Sébastien Loeb a établi un nouveau record en WRC en remportant toutes les spéciales du Rallye de France-Tour de Corse. Cet exploit avait déjà été réalisé en 1970 (avant la création du WRC) par Bernard Darniche.

Tout juste auréolé d’un deuxième titre mondial décroché au Rallye du Japon, Sébastien Loeb s’était présenté au départ du Rallye de France-Tour de Corse 2005 sans aucune pression, sinon celle de remporter cette épreuve mythique qui manquait à son palmarès.

Seulement douze spéciales étaient au programme de cette 49^e édition tracée autour d’Ajaccio. Le plateau était copieux avec quelques spécialistes de l’asphalte comme Gilles Panizzi, François Duval, Stéphane Sarrazin, Nicolas Bernardi, Alexandre Bengué ou encore Dani Sola armés de WRC.

Sur ce véritable rallye-sprint, il fallait partir vite. C’est la tactique qu’a choisie Sébastien Loeb, vainqueur des quatre premières spéciales au volant de sa Citroën Xsara WRC chaussée de pneumatiques Michelin. Avec 41s3 d’avance sur son équipier Duval à l’issue de la première journée, Loeb était déjà pratiquement assuré de la victoire.

Mais le néo-double champion du monde n’a pas baissé de rythme le lendemain, remportant les quatre spéciales du jour devant Gardemeister et Duval. Dimanche matin, Seb Loeb a gagné l’ES9 pour 1s7, qui sera le plus petit écart en spéciales. Les trois dernières ES sont inévitablement tombées dans l’escarcelle de l’Alsacien qui a réalisé un véritable exploit pour remporter sa 9^evictoire de la saison, un autre record à l’époque.

Cet exploit avait déjà été réalisé 35 ans plus tôt - mais hors WRC - par Bernard Darniche. Au volant de sa Renault-Alpine A110-1600, elle aussi chaussée de pneumatiques Michelin, le Français avait remporté les douze spéciales au programme de ce Tour de Corse 1970 organisé début octobre entre Bastia, Ajaccio et Porto Vecchio (359,70 km chronométrés).

Darniche s’était imposé avec près de quatre minutes d’avance sur Jean-Claude Andruet pour qui la 2^e place était suffisante pour décrocher le titre de Champion de France. Le Corse Jean-Pierre Manzagol avait complété un podium 100 % Alpine/Michelin.

Cette année-là, Bernard Darniche avait remporté le premier de ses six Tour de Corse, un record qu’il partage avec son compatriote Didier Auriol.

Sébastien Ogier sera-t-il le troisième pilote français à réaliser le grand chelem au Tour de Corse ? Cette 58^e édition ne compte que 9 spéciales...

It was 10 years ago that Sébastien Loeb established a new WRC record by winning every stage of the 2005 Tour de Corse. A similar grand slam was achieved by fellow Frenchman Bernard Darniche in 1970, prior to the world championship’s creation.

Still fresh from celebrating his second world crown in Japan, Sébastien Loeb was under no pressure in Corsica in 2005, with the exception of his desire to add a first win on his home round to his personal score.

The programme of the event’s 49^th edition featured just 12 stages, all near Ajaccio, while the entry list featured several asphalt experts behind the wheel of World Rally Cars, namely Gilles Panizzi, François Duval, Stéphane Sarrazin, Nicolas Bernardi, Alexandre Bengué and Dani Sola.

The event’s compact format meant it was vital to hit the ground running and Loeb adopted the tactic to claim Day 1’s four stages in his Michelin-equipped Citroën Xsara WRC. The run earned him a 41.3s lead over team-mate Duval and laid the foundations for a near-certain victory.

Instead of managing his capital, however, the fast-burgeoning star kept up a fast pace to post all of Leg 2’s fastest times, ahead of Gardemeister and Duval. He then kicked off Sunday by winning SS9 (by 1.7s, the week’s narrowest margin) before securing the rally’s last three tests. It was a unique achievement that made sure of his ninth victory of the season, another WRC record at the time.

Three-and-a-half decades previously, but prior to the world championship’s creation, another driver – Bernard Darniche – succeeded in monopolising the Corsican timesheets. The Frenchman won all the 1970 event’s dozen stages (359.70km) in his Michelin-shod Renault-Alpine A110-1600. Interestingly, that year’s Tour de Corse was organised at the beginning of October and visited Bastia, Ajaccio and Porto Vecchio…

Darniche won by almost four minutes, ahead of Jean-Claude Andruet whose second place sufficed to clinch the French title. Corsica’s Jean-Pierre Manzagol made it an all-Alpine/Michelin podium.

It was the first of Darniche’s six Tour de Corse triumphs, a record that was later equalled by compatriot Didier Auriol.

Can Sébastien Ogier become the third Frenchman to score a grand slam in Corsica on this year’s edition which features just nine stages?