Innholdsfortegnelse for Volume 12 i RETROMOTIVE

The scarcity principle of social psychology says that consumers place a greater value on goods that are in limited supply: the rarer a car is – whether an homologation special, final edition, or even just from a low production run – the more we want it. We judge a product as high quality if it’s rare, and we want it even more when we find out that we can’t have it. Nevertheless, there are occasional anomalies. Some rare cars are uncherished. Some common ones are highly sought after! Call the BMW 2002 one such anomaly of the latter type. Approximately 400,000 units displaying the famous palindromic model designation made their way around the world over the years, and the model’s cultural and financial value have increased. Whether it be the…

Everyone tells us that print is dead. That still imagery is dead. But we are in a renaissance. A time of appreciation. Appreciation for high-quality meticulous innovative art. Alex Bernstein – photographer and director – explained to me that if you want to survive in the art world, you must keep evolving creativity. If you want to keep working, ‘you have to just stay creative.’ Born and raised in New York, Alex always loved cars. But he never really knew what career path he wanted. He tried psychology – pulled the brakes. Mechanical engineering – pulled the brakes. It wasn’t until he got his wisdom teeth removed that he finally decided what 9-5 job was right for him. His dad handed him a copy of 0-60 magazine. Flipping through the…

North of Scotland and surrounded by sea, the Faroe Islands is one of the most remote locations in Europe. Volcanic vistas dominate the 18-island archipelago, and its 1400 square kilometres are populated by just over 50,000 residents. The gravel and tarmac that ribbon between each barely-seen sight are literally the road less travelled, which is exactly what German adventurers Jonathan Steinhoff and Alena Reinecke wanted for their 2020 adventure. The path to their self-reliant odyssey started years before, when the pair asked each other two simple questions: ‘where should they go when they graduated university?’ ‘and how would they get there?’ Boats, planes and intercontinental itineraries were all appealing, but Jonathan and Alena wanted something more personal. A European road trip gave them liberty to explore at their own pace.…

The Lamborghini Miura is one of the most exceptional designs in automotive history. It has been discussed in countless magazines and books ad infinitum. We all know the Miura is the grandfather of the modern supercar. It’s mid-engine layout and Bertone styling became the archetype from which a super car can still be judged. So, is there anything left to learn about the Miura? Have we seen it all? For Jeff Meier of Los Angeles California the answer is 'no'. Jeff has found a new way to appreciate the Miura’s form, at least for the time being. They say lightning never strikes twice. You’d think that discovering a preserved and unrestored Lamborghini Miura hiding in a garage for multiple decades was a rare occurrence, but as luck would have it,…

A message from beyond sent the London lad to US. And that led to storied work with racers Ken Miles, Carroll Shelby and a roster of notables from Mario Andretti to Sir Jack Brabham at circuits from Sebring to Le Mans. It led to workshop firecrackers, pranks and road racing workmates, even his own race teams. Plus, an unwelcome visit from the FBI, a US Army stint and work as a consultant to movie-makers. ‘I’ve had the time of my life,’ the urbane Charlie admits on a Saturday afternoon off from his Rolls and Bentley business on LA’s West Pico Boulevarde. ‘And I’m fortunate I still don’t act my age.’ A young Agapiou left school at 15 and started an apprenticeship working on trucks. He didn’t quite finish that, got…

Today, we’re used to the news that the Daytona 500 is the biggest event in stock car racing, but it hasn’t always been so. In the early days of NASCAR races, the greatest prize was the Southern 500 – a gruelling, rough-house 500-mile slog around a 2.19km speedway that kick-started stock car racing’s love of high-speed circuits. Built on 70 acres of cotton and peanut farmland in Darlington, South Carolina, the egg-shaped raceway opened in 1950. It soon gained the nickname ‘the track too tough to tame,’ thanks to the incredible difficulty in setting cars up to handle both the tight banked turn and the flatter, wider high-speed corner at the opposite end. Still, despite its coarse racing surface and challenging layout, more than 80 competitors turned up for their…

In 1955, Italy was only just beginning to recover from the devastation of World War II. Some companies were not in a position to resume manufacture. Some looked to form new partnerships to ensure their continuing viability. One such company was Bianchi, best known today for its high-end bicycles, but once also a manufacturer of cars and motorcycles. Bianchi management reached out to Fiat and Pirelli, with the view to creating a joint venture. Autobianchi was formed and part of Bianchi’s plan was to resume automotive manufacture – but this ambition was never fulfilled. Fiat’s role was to provide the technical base and components for the cars. The company was hoping to push further into the premium small-car market and had already reached agreement with Carrozzeria – Moretti, Vignale –…

A Porsche will always be something special for us,’ Tahmid confessed as he glances over his shoulder towards the garage. ‘We had a 944 when I was 3 years old. I’d make mum sit in the back, as I had to be up the front of that thing, even though I couldn’t even see over the dash! It’s a memory from my youth that hasn’t faded with time.’ Fittingly, Tahmid and his father Korin, started their collection with a Porsche 944 in 2018 – very similar to the one a young Tahmid fell in love with as a child. It was an obvious choice to kick start the collection, given the family’s history with the 944. Prior to that, Korin bought himself a 996 in 2005 – a silver Carrera…

The Chevrolet Testudo (‘turtle’) was the very first car Giorgetto Giugiaro was given a free hand to design. It was in 1962, two years after he began working for Nuccio Bertone. Late that year, a 1962 Chevrolet Corvair Monza arrived at Bertone. This car (vehicle identification number 20927W207657, built in Chevrolet’s Willow Bank plant) was not the first Corvair shipped to one of the Italian Carrozzeria – Battista Pininfarina having shown his Corvair Speciale in 1960. General Motors’ still-new chief designer Bill Mitchell saw sales potential for the radical Corvair in Europe. Evidently, he believed that custom examples at the glittering European motor shows would advance its cause. Mitchell, of course, was a great lover of Europe and its cars. He owned a Jaguar E-Type and just months before Corvair…