Performance and Maserati go hand-in-hand, kicking off with Maserati brothers Alfieri, Bindo and Ernesto building Grand Prix cars for Diatto in the early 20th century. When Diatto stopped its racing programme in 1926 the trio upped the ante, highlighted by Alfieri driving one of their…
Over the years, BMW has produced some really handsome and striking coupés, with the E9 Series setting a standard that has evolved substantially since the Karmann-built model was introduced in 1965 as the ‘New Class’ 2000 C and CS. It used the 2000 saloon’s running…
You can enter any car, so long as it doesn’t have factory-fitted cupholders. And aircon, although not strictly illegal, is frowned upon. These are the only rules that apply to the Targa Ramponi, a two-day dash through Mpumalanga – home to arguably the best roads…
As a kid, I once took a ride in a Mercedes-Benz that belonged to the parents of a friend (as recent immigrants to South Africa my family could never have afforded such opulence). The one thing that stood out in my mind, apart from the…
Accelerating away from the line the surge forward is immense and the monstrous machine gathers momentum at a serious rate of knots, pulling and pulling with seemingly no intention of ever giving up. The guttural sound reverberating off the blurred trees lining the road is…
The motoring world woke up to Japan’s automotive talent when Datsun created the 240Z back in 1969. Famed for being inspired by the best of Europe and aimed squarely at the sports car-mad US market, it was a game changer that put the Far East…
Despite a long and proud history, the 1960s saw Lancia haemorrhaging large sums of cash to stay afloat, and it was left up to Fiat to put things right. In October 1969, the Italian automaker made a successful bid to take over Lancia and thankfully…
Borgward that belies its short but interesting history. Based in Bremen, Germany, the company was founded by Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Borgward (1890-1963) and the name was first applied to a car in 1939. Prior to this, Carl’s first car was the Goliath Blitzkarren (lightning cart),…
A pillarless coupé that was not the sales success it deserved to be. Did the American public miss the boat?
“There are three secret organisations in South Africa: The Free Masons, The Broederbond and the AA Motorsport committee.” This was Johnny Johnson’s regular opening statement at Total Rally post-mortem meetings at the PMC clubhouse, which would be followed by a slew of detailed gripes about…