Middie class act

It takes a certain confidence to challenge genius. Francesco del Giocondo, aka Mr Mona Lisa, may have been sublimely wealthy, but there’s no record of him asking Leonardo da Vinci to level up the hori

Price new: £265,937 Price now: £800,000 Engine: 6.5-litre V12 Transmission: Six-speed manual, four-wheel drive Power/torque: 661bhp/660Nm 0-62mph: 3.2 seconds Top speed: 212mph (209mph with aero kit)

IN MORE THAN 20 years of writing for Octane, one of the cars I remember most covetously was not a Ferrari, a Lamborghini or even a Jaguar (although a D-type is a good contender). No, it was a comparat

No matter what the onslaught of incredible stats, it’s the gearknob I remember most. Sure, when the McLaren F1 was launched in 1994 it cost £540,000 (plus taxes) and there was talk of a 6.0-litre V12

The classics you love, drive and restore

n 1948, Harley Earl, Detroit’s influential wizard of kitsch, put tail-fins on a Cadillac and set General Motors on the road to becoming the world’s largest and most profitable corporation. Earl’s magi