BLANCPAIN GT SERIES 24H Spa : Une livrée Michel Vaillant pour la BMW Z4 GT3 du ROAL Motorsport

Deux des BMW Z4 GT3 alignées aux Total 24 Heures de Spa auront une livrée bien particulière afin de se démarquer de la concurrence. On connaissait déjà celle qui roulera pour la lutte contre le cancer sous l’entité BMW Racing Against Cancer pour Pascal Witmeur, Jean-Michel Martin, Marc Duez et Eric van de Poele. Le ROAL Motorsport qui fera rouler Alessandro Zanardi, Timo Glock et Bruno Spengler fera quant à lui un clin d’œil à Michel Vaillant.

par Laurent Mercier (Endurance-Info)

 « Notre priorité lors de chaque course est d’attirer l’œil grâce à notre succès sportif, et nous sommes confiants sur le fait d’être bien positionnés pour les 24 Heures de Spa » a confié Jens Marquardt, responsable de BMW Motorsport. « Cependant, si nous avons la possibilité de faire plaisir aux fans avec une livrée particulière, nous sommes heureux de le faire. Les histoires des héros de la bande dessinée Michel Vaillant sont connues bien au-delà de la frontière belge. Je pense que cette livrée est parfaitement adaptée à notre projet extraordinaire avec Alex Zanardi, Timo Glock et Bruno Spengler. Je suis également ravi que BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS ait également mis en place un design spécial pour la bonne cause. »

 Le capot avant de la Z4 GT3 reprend le célèbre « Vrooaaw » cher à Michel Vaillant. « Je pense qu’il y a très peu de pilotes de course qui ne lisaient pas les histoires de Michel Vaillant lorsqu’ils étaient jeunes en rêvant de leur propre carrière en tant que pilote de course » a déclaré Timo Glock. « Etant enfant, vous avez besoin de héros et Michel Vaillant était un de ces héros » a ajouté Bruno Spengler. « Je suis vraiment fier de cette livrée. »

Stones’ Bentley from Moroccan drug trip is about to get hammered

At its Goodwood Revival sale, Bonhams will offer ‘Blue Lena’, the Bentley S3 Continental Flying Spur that famously took Rolling Stone Keith Richards and his friends on a drug-fuelled trip to Marrakech…

  

A few years after purchasing the Bentley brand new in 1965, Richards became embroiled in a drug scandal following a police raid on a party at his country home. In order to escape the resulting media attention, he decided to take the car he affectionately christened ‘Blue Lena’ – complete with a retro-fitted secret compartment for the band’s stash – on an 1,800-mile road trip to Marrakech. Drugs were more readily available (and less frowned-upon) in the Moroccan city so, as you might imagine, plenty of wild stories from the trip would later emerge.

The acid express

Now, with only three more owners since Richards sold the car in 1978, the recently restored car is heading to auction at Bonhams’ Goodwood Revival sale – which, incidentally, is just a stone(r)’s throw away from the Richards house that was famously raided. The Bentley is estimated to fetch £400,000-600,000 but, considering the premium some will pay for ‘a car with a story’ (and ‘Blue Lena’ obviously has those in abundance), it wouldn’t surprise us if bidding went as high as the Stones in their heyday. Just be aware, that secret compartment isn’t so much of a ‘secret’ any more.

To be joined by musical Mercs...

Blue Lena isn’t the only luxury car with ‘sound’ provenance being sent to auction in the coming months: at its inaugural Chantilly sale in September, Bonhams will offer the 1977 Mercedes 450 SEL 6.9 in which French pop star Claude François survived an assassination attempt. Meanwhile, Silverstone Auctions will sell a Mercedes S600L formerly owned by Sir Elton John at theSilverstone Classic sale on 25 July.

Photos: Bonhams

Wheels meet wings at the inaugural Flywheel Festival

On 20 and 21 June, the inaugural Flywheel Festival took place at Bicester Heritage – the UK’s best-preserved WWII bomber station, now repurposed as a base for classic car and aircraft enthusiasts…

You’d be hard-pushed to find a more fitting location for a meeting of wings and wheels. The former RAF base, located in Oxfordshire, England, has been under restoration for several years, and is now occupied by a growing number of classic car businesses. However, in a previous life, it played home to the Bristol Blenheim – so sights don’t come much more poignant than the sole remaining example returning to base for the first time since 1945, with many of its former air and ground crew standing by to welcome it.

The Battle of Bicester

Other aircraft to conduct displays at Flywheel included a Supermarine Spitfire and a troupe of Tiger Moths, supplemented by numerous military ground vehicles and more than 60 historic and classic racing cars slithering around the airstrip-turned-racetrack.

Photos: Amy Shore for Historic Promotions / Bicester Heritage

First Love - An owner’s reunion with his Ferrari after 37 years

Almost 50 years ago, an Englishman named Deryk Haithwaite purchased a brand-new Ferrari 275 GTB/4 at the age of just 26. Recently, he was reunited with the rare right-hand-drive beauty after 37 years – and Classic Driver was on hand to witness the emotional rendezvous…

Most could only dream of owning a Prancing Horse at such a tender age, but ordering a brand-new four-cam Ferrari 275 GTB was not to be Deryk Haithwaite’s first experience of Ferrari ownership. He had previously owned a shortnose two-cam 275 and, after finding himself in the fortunate financial position of being able to afford the more powerful variant, he placed the order through the UK Ferrari concessionaire, Colonel Ronnie Hoare.

There’s always time for a picture...

Once the car had been built, Haithwaite travelled from his home in the Channel Islands to Maranello to collect it – ordered in right-hand drive, as the Isle of Jersey, where he lived, drives on the left. After a factory tour and final inspection, Deryk set off on the long journey home, the car wearing the same export plates it sports during today’s reunion (a nice touch from DK Engineering, who organised the rendezvous). “Back in those days, there were no speed limits,” Deryk reminisces, “so a large part of the journey was completed at a 150mph cruise.” Such rapid progress allowed him time to stop and take pictures of his new mount at rest stops. 

The other first love

After arriving home (and enjoying some memorable journeys along the quiet, picturesque roads of Jersey), Deryk drove to a party where he met a young lady named Diana. Shortly after they were introduced, Diana remembered a tale her brother had told her earlier that week, about a friendly young man who had given him a lift back from his marshalling post to the start line at the 5 Mile Road, where Deryk was stretching the legs of his new machine. Impressed by Deryk’s kindheartedness, Diana accepted his offer of a lift home from the party, and the pair began dating. Almost 48 years on, the two are still together and have been happily married for decades – and today, Diana has accompanied Deryk to be reunited with his other first love.

A big heart, but a body of steel

After becoming an item, the pair completed many road trips across Europe in the Ferrari during Deryk’s 11-year ownership: “We went to an Italian ski resort in the car, much to the bemusement of the locals,” the couple recalls. “It did surprisingly well in the snow.” Deryk also regularly parked the car in central London overnight, where his decision to specify a steel body (rather than the now sought-after aluminium option) was soon vindicated. “I specified the steel body as it was more resistant to dings and dents than the aluminium body, and I never intended to race it,” he says. Indeed, during a weekend spent in London visiting Diana at university, Deryk awoke to find a Mini had ploughed into his sleeping steed – and though the impact had collapsed the little Brit’s suspension, the steel-bodied Ferrari escaped without a scratch.

A timely offer

After enjoying the car for 11 years, the time came for Deryk to part ways with his beloved four-cam. On his son’s 8th birthday, antique dealer Keith Banham offered Deryk a package deal, which included £20,000 cash, a Breguet wristwatch, and a carriage clock worth £4,000. The offer was too good to turn down on a car for which he had paid around £6,000 brand-new; in those days, classic Ferraris were still considered to be depreciating assets, and making such a profit was unheard-of. Deryk used the cash to become a partner in a stockbroking firm, a move that ultimately proved lucrative and he went on to own a string of other iconic cars, including several Porsche 911s, a pre-War Alfa, a Renault Gordini and the Bugatti Type 37 he still owns today. Meanwhile, of course, the four-cam Ferrari has enjoyed its own good fortunes, too.

Capturing the moment

So, there’s the background of the story – now watch the moment DK Engineering’s James Cottingham reunited Deryk with ‘his’ Ferrari. Second first-drives don’t come any more poignant.

Photos: Peter Aylward for Classic Driver © 2015

Video: Grid Stars for DK Engineering

You can find several Ferrari 275 GTB/4s for sale in the Classic Driver Market.