Scotched bonnet

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

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)

Here’s a motor we all should have bought: this 1976 Ford Escort RS 1800, priced at a bit over £3000 when new, has just sold at a Historics auction in Berkshire for £279,000. Apparently this was Ford’s

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

As he’s a designer with six decades of experience, mostly at the pinnacle of road and race cars, you might expect Gordon Murray’s car collection to include big-ticket Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Marti

The mercury is climbing steadily into the high twenties, and above us the blue sky is dotted with only a smattering of little fluffy clouds. At last, summer is here. Better still, we’ve got the scener