'Metal underwear': A glance into Peter Sellers' garage

Cars played a major role in the life of Peter Sellers. Classic Driver takes a look into his garage – with the help of the man who managed his collection while the limelight shone brightest…

That man is Richard Williams, who subsequently set up Classic Driver dealer R.S. Williams. “I got to know Peter when I was doing my Aston apprenticeship at Feltham; I then finished my apprenticeship at Newport Pagnell and was offered a job looking after his cars,” says Richard. 

Being a celebrity in the 60s, it’s little surprise that Sellers had a thing for Ferraris. Among his collection was a 500 Superfast, a 275 GTB and a 250 GT/E, the latter making a cameo appearance in ‘The Wrong Arm of the Law’ – a film which saw another of Sellers’ cars, an Aston Martin DB4 GT, put to work as a getaway vehicle.

Everything English

Sellers also had a taste for Bentleys and Rolls-Royces, owning a Park Ward S1 Continental, a ‘Chinese Eye’ S3 and several Silver Clouds. But his love for traditional British machinery didn’t end there: “Peter was a huge Bristol fan, and also had several Radford Minis,” says Williams. In fact, some credit Sellers with creating the market for customised Minis, having commissioned Hooper to build him a bespoke version in 1963 – the final cost amounting to almost four times that of the standard car.

“It’s pretty strange that out of all these cars, a 1930 Austin nicknamed ‘Old Min’ was his favourite,” says Richard. “He called me one day to ask me to deliver Old Min to Spike Milligan’s house as a present – the two were great friends. About a week later, he called me again: ‘I want you to collect Old Min from Spike’s house, I’m having it back. He’s left it out in the rain, and replaced the temperature gauge [mounted where a Spirit of Ecstasy would usually sit] with a coffee percolator’."

From Austins to Rivas

Williams has less fond memories of Peter’s Riva Junior boat: “I was flung off it in the bay of St Tropez,” he remembers. “It had just been put on the water, and his chauffeur was moving it clear of the mooring. Seeing me standing up, Peter took the controls and opened the throttle.” Peter was known for his pranks, having previously asked Spike Milligan to climb into the boot of his 500 Superfast with a torch to look for a non-existent squeak – perhaps as payback for the mistreatment of ‘Old Min’.

Photos: Getty Images

Bad and Bold Biker's Fashion Lookbook Herbst/Winter 2013

RM to auction extraordinary racing car collection in Paris

RM has announced some significant entries to its inaugural Paris sale – taking place during Rétromobile week 2014 – including a bevy of competition cars from the famous Harburg collection…

Described by the Canadian auction house as including “some of the most desirable and iconic racing cars ever made”, the Harburg collection boasts no fewer than five Porsche competition cars. Among them are not only a pair of sports-racing prototypes in the form of a 917/30 (estimate: 2.2m euros plus) and a 956 (estimate: 2.2m euros plus), but also a 1964 904 Carrera GTS (estimate: 1.1m euros plus).

Also from the collection comes Jaguar D-type chassis XKD 520 (estimate: in excess of 4.1m euros), and an ex-Phil Hill Ferrari 750 Monza Spider (estimate: in excess of 1.8m euros) which was delivered new to Luigi Chinetti Motors in 1955.

Photos: Simon Clay for RM Auctions

The auction will take place on 5 February 2014 at Place Vauban in Paris. For further information, please visit www.rmauctions.com.

cocooning

The coolest snowmobiles of all time: Let it snow!

The desire for ​​motorised transport on snow and ice has seen the creation of some incredible snowmobiles - be it for the conquest of the polar ice caps or simply for stylish sliding in snow-covered North America in the 1970s. We present the coolest companions of all time...

1939 Antarctic Snow Cruiser: Much did little

The failed Snow Cruiser was abandoned in Antarctica

At more than 15 metres long and nearly 4.5 metres high, the Antarctic Snow Cruiser was huge, but its performance never matched its size. It suffered technical problems even on its maiden trip from Chicago to Boston in 1940. But on arriving in Antarctica, things got very much worse for the 37-tonne behemoth. It hadn't sufficient traction to cope with snow and ice and the failed Snow Cruiser was abandoned in Antarctica.

1937 Bombardier B7, B12 and C18 Snowmobile: Before the Airbus came the snow bus

Inventor and designer Joseph-Armand Bombardier, founder of the Canadian aerospace and transportation company which bears his name, created his first snowmobile in 1937. The B7, as it was called, was followed by the 12-seater B12 and the 18-seater C18, which brought the hoped-for financial success in the decades to come.

Sno Coupe (1970 - 1973): Gliding like a gentleman

In the early 1970s, the Innovar Corporation of Dunnell in Minnesota recognised the potential for ​​an elegant, gentleman's snowmobile with side-by-side seating, rollover protection, plenty of luggage space and much more besides. A great idea, yet only 200 units of the fashionable Sno Coupe were ever built.

1955 Tucker Sno-Cat Type 743 Double Drive: Blame the nut

Even if the Tucker Sno-Cat actually made it across the gorge in the end (video), the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition (CTAE) from 1955 to 1958 made very little use of it. According to rumour, the engine never ran right after a nut fell into it during assembly.

1970 Rupp Super Sno-Sport: 150mph on snow and ice

Did you know that by the end of the 60s, quarter-mile races on frozen lakes had become popular? And since there were virtually no rules, Mickey Rupp, founder of Rupp Manufacturing, built a dragster with chain-drive and runners. Equipped with an approximately 500HP Ford V8, the Rupp Super Sno-Sport of 1970 reached a staggering 150mph on snow and ice. The following video shows the dragster at start-up.

1958 Cuthbertson Land Rover: Long legs

In 1958, Scotsman James A Cuthbertson presented this Land Rover tracked vehicle. It had great benefits on swampy ground, but the height did make it rather unstable. Ultimately, only 15 were built.

1966 VW T1 'Snowmachine': VW bus for après-ski

Bored with the usual après-ski party? The tech-savvy owner of this 1966 T1 has done a great job: not only is the microbus a chain-drive, it also has a 1,600-Watt sound system. An après-ski party in the slopes-grade T1 is truly hard to beat.

Tundra Buggy: Polar bear safari

The ten-tonne Tundra Buggy, now produced in Churchill, a small community in the Canadian province of Manitoba, can accommodate a whole school class - and return them safely across the snow. Why? To explore the life of endangered polar bears up close.

In the Classic Driver Market you can find not just snowmobiles, but numerous off-roaders and other classics ideal for conversion. Just think creatively!

For inspiration we recommend the following websites:

www.unusuallocomotion.com

www.snowmobilehistory.ca/motoneiges.php

www.snowmobilemuseum.com

1939 ALFA ROMEO 6C 2500

This 1939 Alfa Romeo 6C with coachwork by Carrozzeria Touring is a car I haven’t come across before, it’s a visually stunning piece of design, largely due to the fact that it was formed with the aid of an early, pre-war wind tunnel.

The 6C 2500 was to be the last of the 6Cs, WWII was fast approaching and the model had been in non-stop production since 1925, making it one of the longest production runs of any Alfa. The 2500 was to be the ultimate iteration of the car, it was offered in 3 three wheelbase lengths – 3250mm/128.0 inches on the Turismo model, 3000mm/118.1 inches on the Sport model and 2700mm/106.3 inches on the Super Sport model (pictured here). The Super Sport was also fitted with a triple carburettor set up and higher compression pistons than the more touring oriented, longer wheelbase models.

As with many cars of the era, the name was direct reference to the car’s engine. The “6C” meant 6 cylinder and 2500 was a reference to the engine’s capacity of 2443cc. This was the highest performing road specification engine that the car was ever fitted with, it could produce a maximum output of 120hp at 4750RPM, making it quite a sprightly performer.

The immaculate 1939 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 you see here is being offered for sale by its current owner, he’s an Italian collector who’s owned the car for decades. Interestingly, the car has never had (or needed) a restoration, making it the most original surviving 6C 2500 and doing absolutely no harm to its resale value.

If you’d like to read more about the car, or enquire after it as a potential purchase, you can click here to visit Classic Driver.

via SILODROME

Child of the revolution: Testing the Alpine A220 prototype, April 1968

When the FIA demanded a rule change to limit the speed of race cars at Le Mans, it instantly consigned some of the most successful competition cars to history. But for others, it seemed to provide an unprecedented opportunity... or did it?

The year is 1968 and France is in turmoil. With more than 11 million people on strike and refusing to work, the country looks set to grind to a halt -  and, in the month of May, further chaos ensues in Paris when 20,000 marchers are incited to riot by heavy-handed police.

But the true seriousness of the situation is only revealed with the announcement that the traditional June running of the 24 Heures du Mans is to be postponed indefinitely, with the distinct possibility that this year's event will have to be cancelled altogether due to the labour strikes.

Does the FIA never sleep?

Among the people still working, however, are the pen-pushers at the FIA who decree that the cars are getting too quick and too dangerous, meaning the rules must be changed in order to slow them down. The answer? Introduce a three-litre capacity limit for engines in the 'prototype' class and a five-litre limit for 'sports cars.'

The result? Enzo Ferrari is furious and, when a new Le Mans date is fixed for September 28 and 29, he refuses to field any Scuderia cars because his P4's four-litre engine is now obsolete in the prototype category. Also out are the Chevrolet-powered Chaparrals and the GT40-derived, 5.7-litre Mirage M1 – but for some teams, the capacity decrease looks like an opportunity.

Step forward Jean Rédélé and Amédée Gordini, respectively the founders of Alpine and Gordini. Inspired by the rule change (and with continued financial backing from Renault) they had already got to work combining a pair of blocks and cylinder heads from the latest 1.5-litre Gordini race engine with a single crankcase, to create a conventional V8 with four chain-driven overhead cams and a capacity just inside the new three-litre limit.

Hopes run high... at first

The engine is fitted to a heavily modified version of the Alpine A210 chassis, called the A211 and nicknamed the Grandmother. And then, for the 1968 season, a completely new car is designed by a team from Alpine led by Richard Bouleau – and christened the Alpine A220 – but it struggles to make much more than 300 horsepower.

All the same, and more in hope than expectation, the team enters four A220s for Le Mans. They prove as underpowered and unreliable as everyone expected, with the only one managing to finish being that driven by André de Cortanze and Jean Vinatier who bring it home in a creditable eighth place in front of three A210s.

It will be another decade before Renault Sport, using the the two-litre, V6 turbo Alpine A442B engine, finally takes the laurels at Le Mans. But that, as they say, is a whole other story...

Photos: Paris Match / Getty Images

Plenty of Alpines can be found by browsing either the Alpine or Renault sections of the Classic Driver Market.

A book on Alpine's 1960s sports prototypes by Roy Smith can be ordered online atwww.veloce.com.

devinez ...

HAPPY CHRISTMAS

Maserati Quattroporte SQ4: Going off piste…

Maserati has taken a leaf from German books by offering a four-wheel-drive ‘SQ4’ version of its Quattroporte saloon – allowing all that Italian luxury to venture further than previously possible…

The first-generation Quattroporte might be remembered for its unconventional body – which carried plenty of passengers and their luggage in the type of sporting luxury for which Maseratis have become famous. However, if the party’s destination was a ski slope, they would be out of luck: the rear-wheel-drive luxury liner would be consigned to the roadside, its occupants forced to watch better-equipped groups head to the summit.

First full-time 4WD Maserati

That’s remained the case up until now – but that’ll soon change with the introduction of the SQ4 and its namesake four-wheel-drive system. The newest Italian diva uses the familiar 8-speed auto mated to the also-familiar 3.0-litre V6 biturbo found in its RWD siblings. Producing 404bhp, the SQ4 should be able to keep up with all but the most potent xDrives and Quattros, with 0-62mph dispatched in 4.9 seconds. And while the engine might not be as symphonic as a naturally aspirated V8, the characterful snorts and crackles make it easy to accept the loss of those extra cylinders.

Italian elegance inside

Inside the SQ4, occupants remain untroubled by the V6’s under-bonnet activities. Cosseted by a silky ride, they’ll soon settle into the wide, well-bolstered seats, taking in the atmospheric appeal of the leather, wood and touches of chrome. In fact, you could find that once you do get to the summit, your passengers might be quite happy staying exactly where they are.

When you finally manage to usher all occupants into the lodge, return to the car park and you might find the Quattroporte has an admirer or two. Among the usual German machinery found at these heights, the Italian certainly makes a bold statement with not only its extrovert design, but also its up-to-date technology. It’s certainly no off-the-shelf saloon; rather, it's the automotive equivalent of practical haute couture.

Photos: Maserati

Modern and classic Maserati Quattroportes can be found in the Classic Driver Market.

S 1000 RR "Mad Max" by wunderlich

When two sides do the same thing – something fascinating arises. Wunderlich, the BMW motorcycle accessories specialist from Sinzig, created in close cooperation with the tire manufacturer Continental a unique motorbike – a BMW S 1000 RR with MAD MAX – outfit. This supersports bike contains many technical refinements from the extensive Wunderlich product portfolio – alone the special coatings in various Matt - colours attract attentive glances.
But the absolute highlight of this offroad capable supersports bike are definitely the unusual tires.
This brutal bike has studded tires TKC 80 in the new dimensions 120/70 B17 M/C 58 Q and 180/55 B17 M/C 73 Q.

The first ideas for this macho – bike ripened last October. The tire – specialists from Hannover had one wish: to create something special and extraordinary. The purpose of this challenge was a stylish presentation of this unusual offroad tire, with it's not enduro typical sizes.

You can tell that this task has succeeded. From the pen of the french designer Nicolas Petit arose a radical conversion on the base of a BMW S 1000 RR, which unifies many high – quality products from several Wunderlich – partners.

Beside an Öhlins undercarriage you will find exclusive Moto – Master brake discs, drive technology fromWieres, a handlebar from Magura and finally a special stainless IDM – Superbike exhaust system from Remus.

Wunderlich contributed from it's huge S 1000 RR repertoire a complete superbike conversion, a modified rearset, a new designed seat as well as crash pads, oil radiator grid and adjustable VarioLever clutch and brake levers.

1956 AUSTIN-HEALEY 100M LE MANS ROADSTER

This beautiful 1956 Austin-Healey 100M Le Mans Roadster is one of just 640 factory built examples from 1956, it was originally designed to commemorate a particularly good year at Le Mans forAustin-Healey however the model has gone on to be considered by many to be the most beautiful car the factory every produced.

There’s a little bit of contention nowadays about what constitutes a 100M Le Mans Roadster, the factory made 640 of them but also offered a kit for dealers and 100M owners to convert their own cars, the kit contained high-compression pistons, a modified camshaft, a louvered bonnet, a leather bonnet strap and a glorious low profile windshield. Only 170 official Le Mans Roadsters still exist today, although there are said to be many hundreds, even potentially thousands of modified 100Ms running in the same spec.

I don’t know about you but this is one of the few British roadsters that I’d choose over an E-Type, given the opportunity. Read more about the history of the Austin-Healy 100 here.

via SILODROME

la magie de Noël !

bougies de Noel