1969 HONDA CB750 'El Gato' by Deranged Motorworks

By guest writer Phil Guy.

Cypriot Alexandros Hadjicostas got the itch for bikes while tinkering on his humble Honda Chaly in his early teens. It wasn’t until years later though, after he saw Henrik Hansen’s short film on Shinya Kimura, that Alexandros caught the full-blown café racer bug. One problem though: “One thing I had to deal with was that whenever I said the name 'café racer' in Cyprus nobody had the slightest idea what I was talking about” he says. Not one to be deterred, he cast around for a build candidate. It took him a year, but eventually he found the right bike. A 1969 Honda CB750. The bike that last year Motor Cyclist magazine named ‘Motor Cycle of the Century’. He didn’t exactly snag a mint example, though. “When I found the bike it was in a terrible condition after being unused for more than 10 years and missing most of its parts. I had the chassis, engine, carburettors, exhaust and wheels…and that's all I needed. I bought the bike for 500 euro and had a budget of 2000 euro to work with.”

Alexandros’ vision for the bike was realised by mechanic Adonis Syrimis at Deranged Motorworks. “He was just starting out and wanted to show off his skills using this project,” Alexandros explains. “I couldn't have found a better person to translate my ideas”. Although he spent six months prior to the build tinkering on the design, a few things he was sure of from the get-go. “The colour for the tank and the rear end was clear from the start—I wanted a silver matte paint that would match with the light brown leather of the seat and the Brooks handles.“

With Cyprus hardly being the hub of café racer culture, Alexandros had to scour the web for the right hardware. “I couldn't find parts easily in Cyprus so I sourced most of them online from about ten different countries. The parts I added to the bike came from Dime City Cycles in the US, as well as Firestone Champion Deluxe tires, Brooks grips, Motolana headlight brackets & engine covers, and a headlight with speedometer from Nostalgia Speed & Cycles. The only parts I managed to source in Cyprus were the indicators.”

“The final design has changed a lot from my initial ideas, but with my design and Adonis' mechanical skills we manage to create this gorgeous Honda CB750 café racer that we named 'El Gato'.” The sobriquet fits: It’s a poised, serene creature that’s not hard to picture purring through the narrow streets of Cyprus.

Photograghs by Alexandros Hadjicostas

via PIPEBURN

Off-track antics: James Hunt's road cars

These days, you expect to see F1 drivers on the road in supercars. James Hunt, however, was an eccentric – not to mention the fact that money was often tight, so his road cars were an eclectic bunch of oddities...

Take the Austin A35 van that the World Champion famously drove around Wandsworth in South London (he said he loved to overtake Ferraris through the Wandsworth roundabout at night, in the wet), ideal for transporting his budgerigars to shows. And while his bright yellow Porsche 911 3.0 RS was a more traditional choice for an F1 driver, his huge Mercedes 450 SEL 6.9 saloon was hardly the nimble sports car you might expect, especially when it spent most of the time raised on bricks outside Hunt’s house – the result of financial hardship.

If you fancy following in the footsteps of this unconventional motorsport hero, you might want to start by acquiring a car from our selection below. As well as the models already mentioned, we’ve thrown in a rather nice 1967 Mini in honour of Hunt’s attempts to prepare and race one himself that year – albeit not very successfully (it was turned away at Snetterton scrutineering due to the fact that it had no windscreen or side windows). And if you’re wondering why there’s a Rolls-Royce Corniche in the mix, it’s because we love the stories of the Hesketh team rolling up at race meetings in such a car, drinking champagne and generally having fun. As well as winning the 1975 Dutch Grand Prix, of course.

Photos: Getty/Rex Features

Hunt's favourites in the Classic Driver Market

Market | Cars

1974 Porsche 911 - Carrera 3.0RS

P.O.R.

SOLD

Market | Cars

1967 Austin A35 - Van, Ex-James Hunt

N/A

Market | Cars

1977 Mercedes-Benz S-Class - 450 SEL 6,9 ltr.

P.O.R.

Market | Cars

1957 Austin A35

P.O.R.

Market | Cars

1967 Austin Mini Cooper - MK I

EUR 22 000

Market | Cars

1978 Rolls-Royce Corniche I - Corniche Convertible

EUR 52 950

ISDE : Double succès pour les Français

En tête des ISDE depuis le premier jour, les équipes de France engagées dans le Trophée Mondial et Junior n’ont pas faibli, pour renouveler leur succès acquis l’an passé. Cette sixième et ultime journée n’a pas abordé de rebondissement, les positions ne changeant pas sur le podium ; Américains et Italiens accompagnent les tricolores en Mondial, alors que Italie et Grande Bretagne montent sur le podium junior.

Assurer, tel était le mot d’ordre pour les Français qui nantis d’une bonne avance devaient simplement gérer cette dernière journée et rejoindre l’arrivée pour s’imposer. Mission accomplie, le baroud d’honneur étant à mettre à l’actif d’Alex Salvini qui après des débuts difficiles termine ces ISDE en beauté tout en connaissant les joies du podium. Côté tricolore les plus véloces ont été Pierre Alexandre Renet (Husaberg Michelin) et Johnny Aubert respectivement six et septième en E2 ; la journée a logiquement été favorable aux anciens crossmen, l’Américain Zach Osborne s’imposant en E1 alors que Loic Larrieu (Husaberg Michelin) dominait les juniors.

Ces ISDE auront donc confirmé la position dominante des tricolores, l’Italie brillant également à domicile en montant sur le podium des deux catégories ; Américains et Australiens, absents des championnats du Monde d’Enduro ont été de sérieux outsiders, les Australiens perdant malheureusement toute chance de podium lors de la cinquième journée mais plaçant leurs deux équipes dans le top cinq, comme les Américains.

Côté classements individuels, Antoine Meo gagne la catégorie E3 devant Mathias Bellino (Husaberg Michelin) et remporte également le classement scratch. L’Australien Daniel Milner s’impose en E2 devant Pierre Alexandre Renet, alors qu’en E1 c’est l’Espagnol Cristobal Guerrero qui devance Thomas Oldrati (Husaberg Michelin).

Classement final Trophée Mondial : 1.France, 21:56.32.08(Pela Renet, Jeremy Joly, Johnny Aubert, Antoine Meo, Rodrig Thain, Fabien Planet);
2.USA, 22:00.23.25(Mike Brown, Kurt Caselli, Thaddeus Duvall, Charlie Mullins, Zach Osborne, Robert Taylor);
3.Italie, 22:10.05.98(Albergoni, Oldrati, Salvini, Monni. Philippaerts, Balletti);
4.Australie, 22:15.03.63(Joshua Green, Chris Hollis, Glenn Kearney, Matthew Phillips, Joshua Strang, Daniel Milner);
5.Espagne, 22:18.15.14(Lorenzo Santolino, Cristobal Guerrero, Ivan Cervantes, Victor Guerrero, Mario Roman, Oriol Mena) ; etc….

Classement final Trophée Junior : 
1.France, 13:20.44.89(Swan Servajean, Kevin Rohmer, Loic Larrieu, Mathias Bellino);
2.Italie, 13:25.45.81(Rudy Moroni, Giacomo Redondi, Nicolo Mori, Gianluca Martini);
3.Grande Bretagne 13:29.23.26(Steve Holcombe, Jack Rowland, Jamie McCanney, Daniel McCanney);
4.USA, 13:37.09.08(Grant Baylor, Kailub Russell, Andrew Delong, Jessie Groemm);
5.Australie, 13:39.56.43(Ben Burrell, Lachlan Stanford, Scott Keegan, Thomas McCormick) ; etc…

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