This week’s highlights from the Classic Driver Market

This week, a slew of exceptional Ferraris has been added to the Market, but it’s this stunning Alfa Romeo 1900 Super Sprint Zagato – a 1955 Mille Miglia veteran – that we’ve fallen for. After 50 years locked in a collection, the recently restored car is now on sale publicly for the first time ever…

Market | Cars

1995 Aston Martin Virage

P.O.R.

Market | Cars

1955 Alfa Romeo 1900 - Super Sprint Zagato

P.O.R.

Market | Cars

1979 Shadow Formula 1 - DN9

P.O.R.

Market | Cars

1964 Ferrari 250 GT Lusso

P.O.R.

Market | Cars

1989 Porsche 911 "G" - Speedster

P.O.R.

Market | Cars

1965 Mercedes-Benz 600 - Landaulet

P.O.R.

Market | Cars

1968 Bizzarrini 5300 Strada - 100 % Concours

P.O.R.

Market | Cars

1928 Bentley 4 1/2 Litre

P.O.R.

Auctions | Cars

1963 Shelby Cobra - 289 Cobra

P.O.R.

Market | Cars

1982 Ferrari 512 BB - iniection

EUR 300 000

Legend Boucles : les Escort Rally Legends fin prêtes !

Ils figurent tous les trois parmi les concurrents qu’il faudra tenir à l’œil ces vendredi et samedi aux Legend Boucles. Point commun entre les duos François De Spa-Arnaud Carabin, Geoffrey Leyon-Raphaël Deposson et Johnny Delhez-Eddy Gully : ils tenteront de briller au volant de Ford Escort des première et deuxième générations ! Trois bolides qui feront cause commune sous une bannière inédite : Rally Legends !

« On avait dans l’idée de se réunir, parce qu’il est bien connu qu’ensemble, on est plus forts, expliquent les trois pilotes concernés. Et puis, il s’agissait surtout de mettre en place une structure nous permettant de profiter des bienfaits d’une assistance commune, qui sera d’ailleurs assurée par la réputée équipe Andes Motorsport, spécialiste des Escort. » Une idée d’autant plus judicieuse qu’avec l’Escort MK1 de François De Spa bénéficiant d’un numéro dans le top 20, l’Escort MK2 de Johnny Delhez d’un dossard dans le top 30 et l’Escort MK1 de Geoffrey Leyon d’un matricule dans le top 40, côté organisation, cela frise la perfection… jusqu’à présent ! 

Reste bien sûr à prendre connaissance des ambitions de chacun à partir de vendredi soir, moment du départ d’un Prologue que chacun redoute. « En ce qui me concerne, comme chaque fois que je suis au départ d’un rallye, je veux gagner, sourit François De Spa. Mais bon, je ne vous apprendrai rien en disant que la concurrence sera rude, et toujours mieux armée. Le fait que les Legend Boucles se déroulent sur un parcours inédit dans sa grande majorité me plait beaucoup. J’espère que chacun aura joué le jeu comme je l’ai fait, car cela pourrait valoir quelques surprises… » Avouez qu’un De Spa gagnant à Bastogne, cela constituerait un sacré clin d’œil à Pierre Delettre…

N’ayant disputé que la Montée Historique du Maquisard et le Rallye de Jalhay en mode historique avec sa ‘nouvelle’ Ford Escort MK1, Geoffrey Leyon revendique de son côté un top 10 absolu, après avoir créé la bonne surprise aux Boucles l’an dernier au volant de son habituelle Porsche… « L’avantage de l’Escort de la première génération, c’est son coefficient, mais aussi une certaine aisance dans le technique, explique le garagiste de Louveigné. Par contre, dans le vite, la MK2 est plus stable. Mon expérience au volant de l’Escort est encore trop limitée, mais si je suis épargné par la malchance et les aléas mécaniques, je pense qu’un top 10 est effectivement jouable… »

Quant à Johnny Delhez, concessionnaire Ford à Trooz, il veut avant tout se faire plaisir, rester sur la route, et le cas échéant revendiquer un bon classement… « On peut viser une place dans les 15 premiers avec la MK2, analyse Johnny. Ce sera néanmoins la première fois que je disputerai un rallye avec cette Escort, et je n’ai pas l’intention de tenter le diable et de rouler à l’arrachée. On va déjà voir comment cela se présente du côté de la météo. Les températures restent froides, et on annonce de nouveau de la neige pour samedi. Je rentre du Rallye Neige & Glace, où mon copilote Eddy Gully a d’ailleurs remporté la victoire. Autant dire que si c’est le grand blanc, on pourrait en tirer profit… »

Rendez-vous sur le parcours des Legend Boucles à Bastogne cette fin de semaine pour apprécier la prestation de ces Fordistes battant pavillon Rally Legends… (com)

via http://turbomagazine.be

5 strange Porsche classics that we almost forgot

In its success-peppered history, Porsche has not only created some of the world’s greatest cars, but also its fair share of oddities. We’ve chosen our five favourites – and looked at why they didn’t make it to market…

Panamericana - A gift for the good doctor

In 1989, Porsche employees created an extravagant present for Dr. Ferry’s 80th birthday. Christened the Panamericana, it also doubled up as a technological showcase of the company’s ever-forward thinking, and stole the show during its surprise reveal at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Semi-open wheels, a wraparound glasshouse and chunky styling meant it was never destined to go into production, but Porsche insisted it might “indicate the potential of future developments for the 911”. A favourite detail of ours is the simplified Porsche shield etched into the tread of the largely exposed tyres.

Hispano Alemán Vizcaya 914/6 by Frua

When it was introduced in 1970, the Porsche 914/6 opened Stuttgart sports car ownership to a wider audience – but its styling wasn’t met with appreciation from all. One nonplussed marque enthusiast was Porsche’s importer to Spain, Werner Bernhard Heiderich. A few years prior, he had begun producing buggy-bodied VW Beetles under the name Hispano Alemán, and he soon set to work on the 914/6. Enlisting the styling services of Italian coachbuilder Frua, he produced a showcar in time for the 1971 Geneva Motor Show, complete with a wedge-shaped design akin to concepts of the era, as well as louvred buttresses. Porsche was supposedly interested in producing a limited run, but it was not to be: Heiderich and Frua became embroiled in a legal battle that wasn’t resolved until 1976, by which time the 914/6 had gone out of production.

Porsche T7 - The original 911

The 1959 T7, also known as 754 in Stuttgart-speak, was one of the original prototypes of the 911 (or at the time, the 901). Penned by F.A. ‘Butzi’ Porsche, its front-end styling was largely carried forward into production. However, Butzi’s father Ferry was unconvinced by the styling from the A-pillar backwards, preferring the fastback roofline of the Porsche 356 Coupé. Butzi literally went back to the drawing board, and created the classic Porsche 911 we all know and (mostly) love. It was this same period of gestation that saw the 911 gain its trademark boxer-six, in place of the T7’s 1.9-litre four-pot.

Porsche 984 'Junior'

Also given a four-cylinder in prototype form before being blessed with a boxer-six in production trim was the 984, otherwise known as the ‘Junior’. Developed in the mid-80s, it was a precursor to the first-generation Porsche Boxster and was also a mid-engined roadster. Unlike its eventual production successor, though, it had a novel folding hardtop roof, which flipped back and away in the same manner as a Ferrari 575 Superamerica. Only one 984 was built, and it currently resides in the Porsche Museum along with the Panamericana and the T7.

Porsche Tapiro by Italdesign

Spain’s Porsche importer wasn’t the only notable figure unimpressed with the styling of the 914/6. Giorgetto Giugiaro, who had recently founded Italdesign, was another – and for the 1970 Turin Motor Show, he presented his vision of a modern, mid-engined Porsche. The Tapiro used a 914/6 platform but was otherwise outwardly unrecognisable, and was named as such due to its resemblance to the pig-like tapir mammal; both shared a long, pointy nose and a high tail. Though never destined for production, it would influence countless other designs (particularly Giugiaro’s own): the Maserati Boomerang, Maserati Bora and Delorean DMC-12 all had obvious traces of the wedgy Porsche, while the butterfly engine covers were realised in production form on the De Tomaso Mangusta.

You can find hundreds of modern and classic Porsches for sale in the Classic Driver Market.

‘94 Honda XR600R – Ozz Customs

Written by Martin Hodgson.

With the world of small custom bikes booming globally and being far more affordable than the outlandish choppers that were so popular 10 years ago, it’s no wonder small companies are using custom bikes as promotional tools. When you’re a surf store that focuses on the vintage look, a tough street tracker is the perfect choice. One 1994 Honda XR600 with extra black and bad ass please!

Just the second custom build by Jeroen Potters of Ozz Customs he was commissioned to have the tracker done in just 7 months. Normally you wonder who would commission a new builder and place a time limit on them, but Jeroen (Ozzy to his friends) is no stranger to speed. He lost a leg many years ago in a serious motorcycle accident, so rather than sit on the couch he built a trike and then for more than a decade has been a champion kite buggy racer and designer. And with the sort of behaviour that gets your friends branding you Ozzy of the Osbourne variety, the design for a blacked out, bad ass, urban assault, street tracker starts to seem like it was always in Jeroen’s head!

There are plenty of reasons to pick a Honda XR600 as the basis for a Street Tracker build – one of the most successful Baja competition bikes of all time – a thumping single cylinder that’ll go all day and a dry weight of just 136kg. But dominating the Mexican dessert is not the same as being a successful urban assault vehicle and to take to the tarmac requires a drastic rethink of the suspension. Ozzy knew the perfect solution, swapping out the pogo stick like factory Showa’s for a set of different Showa items. Front forks from one of the great middle weight road warriors the Ducati 748 that instantly transform the bikes handling and appearance.

But with such an impressive set of front forks Ozzy couldn’t leave his customer under braked with the tiny factor single disc, so putting his fabrication skills to work a set of adaptors was made to allow Suzuki GSX twin disc fronts to work with the Ducati Shocks. Having done this it made perfect sense to then use the same model Suzuki front rim. On many other bikes the logical next step would be to then use the Suzuki rear wheel as well, but a 160plus tyre on a tracker is just never going to fly. So believing in his skills Ozzy took another Suzuki front wheel and made it work at the rear of the Honda. Making stainless adaptors to not only run the Honda brakes but then doing the same so that a Honda sprocket could be run on the wheel as well, it’s brilliantly done and by no means an easy feat!

With the Honda Tracker now having its function sorted Ozzy turned his attention to the looks and you can’t have a Street Tracker with a plastic factor tank. Back to the Honda parts bin and a CB tank was made to work with the XR frame before being sprayed in black and cleared in a matte finish. To get the proportions right Ozzy made the decision that there was simply nothing that could be done with the XR subframe, so he cut it off and started again.

But rather than going tubular like most builders the subframe is in fact plate steel that not only acts as the seat support but gives the bike the look of solid body work while maintaining that all important negative space. This too was painted in the same black paint while the engine was given the wrinkle effect and then dried in a home oven. The loan contrast comes in the tan leather seat that sits perfectly into the new plate rear with only a tail light fitted for an ultra-minimalistic look.

Now the bike is ready as a promotional tool and with the big knobby tyres taking pride of place it’s as visually drastic standing still as it is ripping up Dutch streets. With another bike under his belt and many more ideas floating around his brain, get set for the next Ozz Customs build as the Crazy Train rolls on, ALL ABOARD!!

via PIPEBURN