The rare necessities

It all started with Jean Rédélé razzing around in his Renault 4CV. The youngest Renault dealer in France following WW2, Rédélé cut his teeth – metaphorically, but perhaps also those of the transmissio

THE ALPINE A110 S dances over the train linkages as I enter LeShuttle, its burbling exhaust note flamboyantly ricocheting off the carriage’s steel walls. Once parked, the 1.8-litre turbocharged engine

‘They’re actually the same rear tyres as a Lamborghini Countach’s.’ A fun fact dispensed by this car’s eager owner, Dominic Taylor-Lane, as I’m hunched down behind it. It measures two full metres acro

THE COOPER S WAS A SOGGY effort and this isn’t any better. You can forgive a hot hatch appalling ride but when it’s on top of a transmission that’s hard to gel with, an uninspiring soundtrack and impr

Power/engine size: 118bhp/1.8 litre Engine/gearbox: V6/four-speed manual 0-60/top speed: 11.5 seconds/115mph Price new: £3,173 price now: from £750,000-£1m I'VE had a model of the Lancia Aurelia for m

1939 Alvis 12/70 Special, 1958 Austin-Healey Sprite, 1972 Porsche 911T Berthold Dörrich WHEN MY BRITISH colleagues approached me as the publisher of Octane’s German edition to contribute to this secti