Articles from the archive

Back in June 1980 I interviewed Patrick Depailler at Brands Hatch. He was a lovely fellow, a man out of his time, I always felt, very much a throwback to…

Sir, I have unearthed an engine which baffles me. It is a four-cylinder of about 2-litres capacity, with an aluminium plate on the side bearing the name Rover. The valves…

• Brooklands Books of Cobham, Survey, have two more Gold Portfolios in their enormous range of one-make books. which must now constitute the most complete historical source of reference available,…

One make or many? Having been almost all my life a motoring journalist or, as I prefer to consider myself, a motoring enthusiast who writes (a word arranger, in less…

board the Bank of Bangkok's former Royal Barge which glided up and down the river while the drivers polished off a substantial feast. The air force transported the cars the…

Fuel vapour lock is a minor motoring bogey. But it can be a very tedious one. What happens? Take a highish climb, with lots of low-gear work. Engine gets hot. Vaporisation starts in…

By D.S.J Towards the end of November, as the winter evenings became settled, I found I had a tendency to fall asleep as soon as I sat in a comfortable…

Albi We arrived at Albi, for the Grand Prix, in a Lancia Aprilia at about. 8 p.m. It could have been earlier but we spent quite a part of the…

Group Five race, Mainz-Finthen Airfield, 1978 Of course there have been a lot of memorable races over the years, especially in the days of the Porsche 962. I particularly remember…

Renault started work on the Fuego (it means fire, by the way) at the beginning of 1976, with a design team of specialists led by stylist Robert Opron. The resulting…

The world motor sport council has mandated movable rear wings on Formula 1 cars in 2011 in an attempt to boost overtaking. Drivers will be able to operate them throughout…

A 250-kilometre drive across the barren, rocky deserts of Southern Morocco on the edge of the Sahara, where the track is defined only vaguely and sometimes disappears altogether in a…