History/driving impressions originally published August 13, 1984 There is no better way to pave one’s own road to the automotive scrapheap of history than to become known as purveyor of obsolescent crocks. Even in eras of high demand and sellers’ market, such as existed after World War II, it ill behooves a manufacturer to become […]
Lotus 47: Hard to get in, easy to go fast
History/driving impressions originally published in AutoWeek November 12, 1984 Down the hill and out of the right-hand turn, down the straight. Building revs and shift. A glance at the pits to my right, and then the chartreuse letters spelling “Lime Rock” on the pavement flash underneath. For all that I, with eyeballs a yard high […]
Kermit the Bentley: It’s not easy being green
History originally published in AutoWeek December 10, 1984 “Back in the mid-1950s a young man in England named Collin Hiley was apprenticed to Rolls-Royce Aero as an apprentice aero engineer,” Phil Brooks spoke with the practiced ease of one who has told the story before. “On his weekends,” Brooks continued, “he was working for a […]
Lotus 23: Choice of Champions
Originally published in AutoWeek September 17, 1984 Spectators at the 1962 Nurburgring 1000 could scarcely believe their eyes. A little Lotus from the under-two-liter class was leading the race, literally running away from the field on a rain-dampened track. Bruce McLaren, in an old Aston Martin DBR1/300, had been the only other leader in the […]
Pure and potent: Two Nash-Healeys
History originally published in AutoWeek July 21, 1986 “We usually start it in second gear. There is a chatter in first that you can adjust out but it only comes back in a month or two,” said F. Winston Johns, my guide for the day for a pair of Nash-Healeys. His was a perfectly restored […]
1993 Jaguar XJR-S: Delicious decadence
Contemporary review originally published in Road & Track Sport and GT Cars 1993 The six-cylinder XJS makes sense, but I have to admit I was relieved by Jaguar’s announcement of a special limited-edition, powered by a bigger, more powerful version of the V-12. It sounded like my kind of decadence. The XJR-S is the product […]
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