Images: Makarand Baokar & Vrutika Doshi

The world of classic automobiles mourns the loss of Ashok Shah, a collector whose passion, vision, and dedication left an indelible mark on the collector car community. Renowned for his discerning eye and commitment to preserving automotive history, Shah’s collection encompassed some of the most significant and celebrated vehicles of the pre-war and post-war eras, each chosen for its provenance, rarity, and historical importance.

For historic vehicle enthusiasts in India, the name of Ashok Shah was more than familiar. A veteran of identifying and acquiring some of the rarer automobiles in India, Shah was featured in magazines such as Indian Auto.

However, for the best part of the last two decades Shah was less ‘visible’ as he preferred retaining a lower profile than usual.

“I was brought up in a household where there were seven cars, as my grandfather was quite an enthusiast,” recalled Lonavala-based Ashok Shah.

“As a child it was usual to play in those cars. My favourite was a Morris 25 from 1938, and when that Morris was sold, I was very disappointed. I decided that I would collect old cars when I grew up.”

A promise made and a promise kept. At one point in time, Ashok Shah had more than 25 cars and over 50 motorcycles, but he then decided to rationalise and bring down the number to a more manageable dozen cars and five bikes.

The first car that Shah acquired was a Dodge Victory Six, for Rs 750, in around 1967, when he was barely 15 years old. In 1979 Shah emigrated to the US, where he drove a Saab 900 Turbo, as well as a De Lorean.

However, Shah returned to India in 1983. The first car purchased after his return to Mumbai was a Chevrolet Master Town Sedan, from 1934. That was in 1986.

Ashok Shah subsequently bought, restored, and traded scores of American beauties, including a '57 Chevrolet Belair (which remained with him), a Cadillac that used to belong to M.S. Oberoi, a '56 Chrysler Windsor Nassau, a '46 Packard Clipper, a '47 Hudson (bought from the car’s first owner in Chandernagore) and a '26 Studebaker, with which Shah participated in an Australian event, the Genevieve 500.

The Studebaker and the Chrysler were still with Shah, with both needing some refurbishing. The Chrysler Windsor Nassau is a rare two-door coupe featuring a powerful V8, mated to a three-speed automatic, operated via push buttons on the dash.

The other cars in Ashok Shah’s noteworthy collection were an impressive Lincoln Cosmopolitan from 1951 and a 1989 Mercury Marquis, both of which were in very good condition.

The Marquis was a car imported by the Oman Consulate, and would have been sold off via the State Trading Corporation (STC) as was the practice then (circa 1990s). Shah acquired it via a dealer, and the car had been his daily driver for years.

The Cosmopolitan – perhaps the only one in India from the 1951 vintage year – was in Mumbai, in a dilapidated state, when Shah acquired the car in the mid-1990s.

Apparently bought new by the Maharaja of Nawanagar, Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja, the Lincoln needed extensive restoration.

No less interesting were the other cars in the process of being restored and will surely be worth featuring when ready.

They include a '61 Ford Thunderbird (from the Tripura princely family), a '38 Buick that belonged to one of the two Cossimbazar princely families, and a Chevrolet Belair, which was a favourite of Bollywood actress Nimmi (Nawab Banoo).

The most unusual of Ashok Shah’s cars was an Auto Red Bug, an electric skateboard-style runabout which was quite a success in the 1920s.

The one owned by Shah once belonged to the Indore princely family of Holkar, and it is easy to imagine that the keen auto enthusiast Yashwantrao Holkar II may have acquired this Red Bug as a runabout for his estate.

Ashok Shah was rightfully proud of the five rare motorcycles that he retained from a collection of 50-plus. Amongst them was a Bismarck, from the 1930s. A German machine, this too deserves a separate and detailed story.

The other four include a '55 Norton, a BMW R50, an Indian from 1918 and a very rare Royal Enfield, from the 1920s.

Our heartfelt condolences to the family of Ashok Shah - may his soul rest in peace.

The name ‘Imperial’ first appeared in 1926 on Chrysler’s top-of-the-line model, the Chrysler Imperial. This flagship remained in the Chrysler line-up until 1954, when the company decided to elevate Imperial into a standalone luxury brand. The move aimed to challenge Cadillac and Lincoln – the premier marques of GM and Ford – by offering a world-class American luxury car.

The first Imperial-branded models debuted in November 1954 for the 1955 model year.

Initially, the line-up included a four-door sedan and the two-door Newport hardtop coupé, both internally designated as C-69.

At the top of the range sat the Crown Imperial, a special-order, custom-built limousine (C-70), produced in extremely limited numbers – of which the featured car is one.

Although an independent marque, the early Imperials shared much with Chrysler’s largest models, including the same box-section frame as the Chrysler New Yorker.

The wheelbase, however, was extended by 100 mm to 3.3 metres. Suspension design mirrored contemporary Chrysler, DeSoto, and Dodge models, with transverse-link front suspension and helical springs, and a leaf-sprung rigid rear axle.

A technological milestone set the 1955 Imperial apart: it was the first American production car to feature disc brakes as standard.

Under the hood, the Imperial was powered by Chrysler’s most potent engine at the time – the 331 cu in (5424cc) Firepower V8, developing 250bhp. Paired with the two-speed fully automatic PowerFlite transmission, it propelled the 2,050 kg luxury sedan to a top speed of 170 km/h.

Stylistically, the 1955 Imperial drew heavily from Virgil Exner’s Parade Phaeton show car and the Ghia-built Chrysler K310 concept.

Its signature features included an elegant two-piece grille, a distinctive C-pillar profile, and rear fender-mounted ‘gunsight’ tail lamps. Chrome trim was applied with restraint, and two-tone paintwork was limited to contrasting roof colours.

Sales exceeded 11,000 units in 1955 – a promising start, though far short of Cadillac’s and Lincoln’s figures. The sedan was the most popular variant, accounting for 7,840 units, primarily sold in the US. Today, several examples survive, appreciated as milestone cars marking the birth of an independent marque.

The rarest 1955 Imperial was the flagship eight-passenger limousine. Only 172 long-wheelbase C-70s were built in that inaugural year of Exner’s ‘Forward Look’, and just 45 of these were configured as eight-passenger sedans without a divider window.

The featured car is one of those few.

This particular Crown Imperial C-70 Limousine was imported into India a few years ago and meticulously restored to concours condition by noted restorer Viveck Goenka, with Allan Almeida.

It went on to win Best in Class in the post-War American category at the 2024 Oberoi Concours d’Elegance, and, at the 2025 21 Gun Salute Concours, the Imperial finished as runner-up for Best of Show.

Most notably, it is the sole Indian entry at this year’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance - which is today! - participating in a special class celebrating designer Virgil Exner's innovative work for the Chysler Group and others.

Owned by Delhi-based collector Rajiv Kehr, this car stands as a rare and elegant testament to mid-century American luxury at its finest.

Wishing Rajiv and his Imperial the very best for today's concours d'elegance at Pebble Beach!

When the Alfa Romeo Giulietta SZ – crafted by the Italian coachbuilder Zagato – faced competition from the new Lotus Elite, a car designed as a true road-going racer and significantly faster than the Alfa, Elio Zagato and his young engineer-designer Ercole Spada spent six months exploring aerodynamic solutions inspired by the theories of Wunibald Kamm. The result, unveiled in June 1961, was a revised SZ that sat 4 cm lower and extended 14 cm longer than its predecessor.

This reimagined model, dubbed the Coda Tronca (literally ‘truncated tail’, in contrast to the earlier Coda Tonda, or round tail), achieved a remarkable top speed of around 220 km/h – about 20 km/h faster than the original – despite retaining the same weight and 1.3-litre engine. The credit for this aerodynamic leap forward goes to the young Ercole Spada, who sadly passed away on Sunday, 3 August, leaving behind an extraordinary legacy as one of the most influential car designers of the 20th century.

During his tenure at Zagato, Spada created a distin0ctive design language that was unmistakably Zagato while still honouring the sty0listic DNA of the parent brands. The European racing scene soon came to be dominated by Spada’s designs – cars such as the Alfa Romeo TZ1 and TZ2, the Alfa 2600 SZ, the striking Giulietta SZ, and Lancia’s Flaminia Super Sport and Fulvia Sport Zagato. Alongside these production and competition models, Spada was also responsible for numerous concept cars, one-offs, and special commissions.

Born on 26 July 1937, Spada graduated in industrial engineering in 1956. He joined Zagato in 1960, and his decade-long stint as chief designer marked a golden era for the Milanese carrozzeria. In 1970, he moved to Ford Europe’s design centre in Turin, where he contributed to key models such as the Taunus, Granada, Capri, and Fiesta and also designed the ambitious but ultimately stillborn GT70 rally car.

Spada’s career continued with a move to Ghia in 1973, where he worked on several American Ford projects, including a late-1970s version of the Mustang. In 1976, he spent a year with Audi in Germany before relocating to BMW’s design studio in Munich, contributing to the 1980s 5- and 7-Series models.

From 1983 to 1993, Spada headed the I.DE.A Institute, where he helped shape the pioneering Tata Indica with the late Justyn Norek working under him, and led the innovative Tipo Quattro platform project. This groundbreaking effort predated Ferdinand Piëch’s famed platform-sharing strategy at VW and resulted in seven distinct models – including the Fiat Tipo, Tempra, Lancia Dedra, Delta II, and Alfa Romeo 155 – all sharing the same core platform and door pressings. The variations in front and rear design were so effective that only insiders realised these models were mechanical siblings.

During his time at I.DE.A, Spada even worked on a monocoque autorickshaw concept for Bajaj and visited Pune, India. However, the project was ultimately shelved in favour of continuing production of the traditional RE three-wheeler.

Since 1993, Spada operated independently, contributing to design proposals for numerous global marques including Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Fiat, Mercedes, Nissan, Toyota, Isuzu, BMW, GM, and Kia. Among his independent highlights were the FZ93 Zagato proposal for Ferrari and the O.S.C.A. Dromos, a mid-engined, retro-inspired sports car prototype that unfortunately remained a one-off.

In 2004, together with his son Paolo Spada, manager Domiziano Boschi, and designer Wojtek Sokolowski, Spada co-founded Spadaconcept, a modern design studio. Their first major project was the TS Codatronca, a 21st-century spiritual successor to the Alfa TZ1 and TZ2. Based on Chevrolet Corvette underpinnings, the Codatronca revived the Kamm-tail principle with sharp, aggressive styling and a powerful presence that paid homage to Spada’s original design ethos.

Ercole Spada was not just a visionary designer but also a kind, warm-hearted man and a true gentleman. And it has been my good luck that I have known him well for the better part of the last three decades. I will miss him deeply.

Arrivederci, Ercole Spada.

Images: Makarand Baokar

When we heard at Chantilly Arts & Elegance that Sylviane and Patrick Peter were officially stepping back from running Peter Auto and their renowned events – and that the reins were being handed over to the Tour de France organisers – we couldn’t help but feel a twinge of concern for the future of our favourite historic motorsport gathering.

But by the end of Sunday, 6^th July, any doubts had been put to rest. Under the guidance of Marc Ouayoun, Peter Auto and its ever-passionate team (made up of Marie-Laure Cannaméla, Solène Bouchut, Charlotte Ranson, Amandine Desruelle, Zoé André, amongst others) showed that the legacy is not only intact but thriving. The 2025 edition of Le Mans Classic proved to be every bit as spectacular – if not more so – than previous editions.

Over 700 historic racing cars returned to the legendary 14-kilometre Circuit de la Sarthe, while more than 9,000 classic vehicles packed the infield, offering a feast for the eyes of every kind of enthusiast. Despite a rainy Sunday, the weekend was packed with thrilling racing action that spanned the entire history of endurance racing.

Held biennially, Le Mans Classic has become a cornerstone of the global historic motorsport calendar. The 2025 event showcased iconic endurance cars divided into era-specific grids, ranging from 1920s prototypes to machines of the early 2000s.

This year's competition was fierce across all classes and drew a record-breaking 238,000 spectators – up from 235,000 in 2023.

The racing grids provide a journey through time. The event featured six primary grids based on historic periods of the 24 Hours of Le Mans:

·       Grid 1 (1923–1939): Pre-war legends, where Fritz Burkard won the first race in a 1931 Alfa Romeo 8C. Ultimately, Martin Halusa and Alexander Ames claimed overall victory in a 1932 Alfa 8C Zagato.

·       Grid 2 (1949–1956): Nigel Webb and Chris Ward dominated in a 1952 Jaguar C-Type, winning all three races.

·       Grid 3 (1957–1961): Featured tight battles, with wins from a 1959 Lister Jaguar Costin (driven by Hans Hugenholtz and Emanuele Pirro) and a Ferrari 250 GT SWB (driven by Meier/Lips).

·       Grid 4 (1962–1965): Delivered some of the weekend’s most thrilling action. Emile Breittmayer’s Ford GT40 won the first race, Richard Meins took the second under rainy night conditions, and Alex van der Lof/Yelmer Buurman won the third in a Ferrari 250 LM – marking 60 years since the model's original Le Mans triumph. Breittmayer’s GT40 clinched the overall grid victory.

Notably, Grid 4 included eight Ford GT40 Mk1s, alongside four Ferraris – two 275 GTBs and two 250 LMs. A standout moment was the photo-finish in race one, with Breittmayer narrowly beating Max Lynn’s #83 GT40 by just four-tenths of a second.

·       Grid 5 (1966–1971): Dominated by Ferrari, with the 512M (Halusa & co.) winning two races and the 312P (Lips/Stippler) taking the third.

·       Grid 6 (1972–1981): Maxime Guenat secured both race wins in a Lola T286.

Additional excitement came from the Endurance Racing Legends grid, Group C demonstrations, and a thrilling Porsche Classic Race. The latter saw a 1969 Porsche 917K triumph over a strong field of 935s.

The event was not just about racing. The weekend featured live music, car exhibitions, luxury hospitality areas (like the VIP Légende and Heritage packages), and vibrant community zones, ensuring there was something for every kind of visitor.

Following its resounding success, Le Mans Classic will transition to an annual format from 2026, alternating between ‘Classic’ and ‘Legend’ themes each year – a move that promises even more momentum and celebration for fans of historic motorsport.

The top three finishers in each class are listed below, along with results from the Group C Sprint and Endurance Racing Legends support races.

Grid 1

1. Martin Halusa / Alexander Ames – Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 MM Spider Zagato (1932) – 1: 29: 39.465 – 7 laps

2. Fritz Burkard – Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 LM (1931) – 1: 29: 50.693 – 7 laps

3. Alex Van Der Lof / Shirley Van Der Lof – Delahaye 135 S (1935) – 1: 29: 53.176 – 7 laps

Grid 2

1. Nigel Webb / Chris Ward – Jaguar C-Type (1952) – 2: 17: 14.973 – 8 laps

2. Felix Godard / Christian Godard – Cooper T39 (1955) – 2: 18: 48.628 – 8 laps

3. Hans Kleissl / Yevgen Sokolovskiy – Mercedes-Benz 300 SL (1956) – 2: 20: 11.342 – 8 laps

Grid 3

1. Diego Meier / Remo Lips – Ferrari 250 GT SWB (1961) – 2: 19: 50.360 – 8 laps

2. Guillermo Fierro Eleta – Maserati Tipo 61 Birdcage (1960) – 2: 19: 56.849 – 8 laps

3. Thomas Alexander / James Alexander – Aston Martin DB4 GT (1961) – 2: 19: 59.349 – 8 laps

Grid 4

1. Emile Breittmayer – Ford GT40 (1965) – 2: 05: 03.550 – 10 laps

2. Benjamin Monnay – Shelby Cobra 289 (1964) – 2: 10: 24.896 – 10 laps

3. Alex Van Der Lof / Yelmer Buurman – Ferrari 250 LM (1965) – 2: 10: 46.373 – 10 laps

Grid 5

1. Niklas Halusa – Ferrari 512 M (1971) – 1: 26: 36.748 – 9 laps

2. Jan Magnussen / Chris Ward – Lola T70 Mk.3B GT (1969) – 1: 26: 39.215 – 9 laps

3. Charlie Hyett – Chevron B19 (1971) – 1: 27: 41.618 – 9 laps

Grid 6

1. Maxime Guenat – Lola T286 (1979) – 1: 32: 03.483 – 11 laps

2. Ross Hyett / Charlie Hyett – Chevron B31 (1975) – 1: 36: 20.279 – 11 laps

3. Tony Sinclair / Nick Padmore – Lola T292 (1973) – 1: 36: 34.277 – 11 laps

Groupe C Racing – Race 1

1. Maxime Guenat – Peugeot 905 Evo 1 Bis (1993) – 45: 25.842 – 11 laps

2. David Hart / Olivier Hart – Lola T92/10 (1992) – 45: 33.453 – 11 laps

3. Ivan Vercoutere / Ralf Kelleners – Porsche 962 C (1990) – 45: 37.879 – 11 laps

Groupe C Racing – Sprint (30 min)

1. Ivan Vercoutere / Ralf Kelleners – Porsche 962 C (1990) – 16: 19.162 – 3 laps

2. Philip Kadoorie – Porsche 962 C (1990) – 16: 21.769 – 3 laps

3. Lukas Halusa – Porsche 962 C (1992) – 16: 56.539 – 3 laps

Endurance Racing Legends – Race 1

1. Maxwell Lynn – Bentley Speed 8 (2003) – 48: 22.153 – 9 laps

2. Emmanuel Collard – Pescarolo C60 (2005) – 49: 13.668 – 9 laps

3. Niklas Halusa – Audi R8 LMP (2000) – 49: 23.836 – 9 laps

Endurance Racing Legends – Sprint (30 min)

1. Max Chilton – Zytek 04S (2004) – 35: 25.627 – 7 laps

2. Emmanuel Collard – Pescarolo C60 (2005) – 35: 31.024 – 7 laps

3. Ivan Vercoutere / Alex Müller – Dome S101 (2001) – 35: 51.688 – 7 laps

Images: Hajer al Sayed @_artisqa, Gautam Sen

The National Automobile Museum of Italy – MAUTO – is paying a tribute to the visionary genius of Marcello Gandini with the exhibition Ultraleggera, A Design Journey with Marcello Gandini between Italy and Qatar.

Created in collaboration with the Qatar Auto Museum (QAM) and VCUarts Qatar (Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar), this exhibition offers a dynamic and contemporary interpretation of Gandini’s enduring creative legacy.

It fosters intergenerational dialogue that bridges the past, present, and future of design.

Curated by Marzia Gandini and Simone Carena, a VCUarts Qatar professor and project co-creator, with content contributions by Gautam Sen, the exhibition runs from June 19 to August 31, 2025, in the Museum’s Project Room.

It presents a curated selection of Gandini’s original drawings, sketches, and models, alongside works by students exploring the concept of movement in physical, cultural, and creative dimensions.

The exhibition aims to spark new perspectives and link tradition with innovation.

A four-day Summer School complemented the exhibition, emphasizing Gandini’s educational impact and influence on future generations of designers and creatives.

To mark the opening, a special outdoor showcase featured eleven of Gandini’s most iconic cars, sourced from private collections. These included a Lamborghini Miura, an Alfa Romeo Montreal, a Lamborghini Urraco, a Fiat X1/9, a Maserati Khamsin, as well as a pair of Lancia Stratos HFs.

Additionally, there was also a Ferrari Dino 308 GT4, a Mini De Tomaso, a Maserati Shamal, a Lamborghini Diablo, and a very early Lamborghini Countach LP400 Periscopio, which remains on display with the Gandini drawings.

These cars drove to the famous Lingotto Track (above what used to be the Fiat factory for most of the last century), the site of the second Summer School day, and then drove to the nearby Museo Nazionale dell’Automobile, better known, as MAUTO.

Some of these models, such as the Lancia Stratos, the Ferrari Dino GT4, the Alfa Romeo Montreal, and the Lamborghini Diablo, may remain on display through June 29.

The exhibition also includes rare and personal items from Gandini’s archive, such as a training sailboat designed for his nephew Pietro and a life-sized ‘flying carpet’ drawing of the Lamborghini Countach, printed on recycled sail fabric.

Also on display are the ‘Ultraleggera’ table, crafted at VCUarts Qatar from repurposed boat construction panels and a prototype of Gandini’s innovative folding bicycle with full-sized wheels.

An exhibition unlike most others, if you happen to be in the vicinity of the Turin area make it a point to visit the museum, which is arguably, one of the finest automobile museums in the world.

Images: Archivio centrale dello Stato/Stile Bertone, Makarand Baokar

With the intention of attracting the attention of Suzuki Motors and the rapidly expanding Japanese automobile industry the Italian coachbuilding and design house of Bertone decided to develop the concept of a highly innovative amphibious vehicle.

“I was inspired by the increasingly popular rubber inflatable dinghy boats,” Marcello Gandini, the late design chief at Bertone then, mentioned to the author in 2015.

Gandini came up with the design for a two-seat vehicle, featuring a fairly long and flat load bay on which anything from a snow scooter to a dirt bike could be loaded—with the help of a ramp, which doubled as the tailgate—that could be lowered by using pulleys driven by the steering wheel.

Powering the vehicle was a three-cylinder 67bhp Suzuki 750 motorcycle engine, with drive going to the rear wheels via a chain and a five-speed differential-inverter gearbox developed by Bertone themselves that gave the vehicle five forward as well as five reverse speeds!

The compact motor was located on the wing behind the driver, with the radiator and a luggage box snuggling into the wing aft of the passenger.

Painted a bright green the Go (as in go-anywhere) was a delightful back-to-basic design, sans doors, windows, windscreen, nothing. The seats consisted of strips of padding that allowed for water or snow to drip through.

If one needed to take to water, the Go was designed to float and for propulsion all that was needed was to clamp an outboard motor to the tailgate. Chunky off-road tyres along with a very pronounced ground clearance and a light weight helped tackle dirt roads and snow.

A most interesting design feature was the asymmetrical air intake/extractor vents on the flanks—the ones on the left of the vehicle, where the engine was located, numbered more than the ones on the right.

It was with the Go (and the Maserati Khamsin that followed) that Marcello Gandini began experimenting with asymmetrical detail motifs. “The Suzuki Go was a really fun project,” Gandini had told the author, “I really enjoyed working on developing the vehicle.”

Unveiled in January 1972, at the Brussels Motor Show on the 12^th of January, the Suzuki Go was one of those concept curiosities that remain interesting technological footnotes in the history of the automobile.

After a very long hiatus, the Suzuki Go is being exhibited at the Auto e Moto d'Epoca in Bologna, from today (24th October) until the end of the exhibition on 27th October, at the FIVA stand in Hall 21, booth B6. If you are in Italy, make it a point to drop by and check out this fascinating bolide.  

Images: Courtesy Peter Bradfield

The Invicta Car Company was established in 1925 by Captain Albert Noel Campbell Macklin, a well-regarded English motoring enthusiast. Drawing on lessons from his earlier automotive ventures, Macklin aimed to create vehicles that offered "effortless performance"—a blend of immense pulling power and excellent handling.

Macklin initially developed a prototype powered by a 2.0-litre Coventry Climax before progressing to a 3-litre model and ultimately a car with a 4 ½-litre Meadows engine. The A Type Invicta came with options for either a short (3.0 metre) or long (3.2 metre) wheelbase. Then in 1930, a high-performance low chassis was unveiled with under-slung rear suspension.

The S-Type delivered such impressive torque that drivers could engage top gear (fourth) at just 10 kph and accelerate smoothly up to its top speed. The S-Type really gained fame as the first British car to reach 100mph (160 kph), earning it the nickname 'S100'.

Despite its engineering prowess and numerous racing successes—including victories by Violet Cordery, Macklin’s sister-in-law, and a class win by the renowned Donald Healey at the Monte Carlo Rally in 1930, followed by a first-place finish in 1931—Invicta faced declining fortunes. The economic downturn following the Great Depression led to diminished demand, and in 1935, following in the tyre tracks of Bentley and Lagonda, the company ceased trading.

Only 77 S-Type ‘Low Chassis’ models were built between 1931 and 1935, with an astonishing 68 examples still in existence today. Significantly, two of these were imported into India. The featured car, S 165, was the first to arrive, the only to be brought in new, and was delivered in 1934.

The celebrated second car which remains is part of the late Pranlal Bhogilal collection and was imported in the early 1960s. It has a documented history from 1966 when Roni Khan, a passionate collector, acquired the vehicle. Khan used the Invicta extensively as a daily driver until 1978, covering thousands of miles and participating in historic vehicle rallies. He often demonstrated the car's remarkable torque by ascending the steep slopes of Bombay’s Malabar Hill in fourth gear from a standstill. This Invicta held special significance for Khan, as he even proposed to his wife, Sherena, in the car while navigating a curve at speed. Since 1978, the vehicle has been preserved as part of the Pranlal Bhogilal collection.

The car we are featuring  is the one that arrived in 1934, delivered new to an enigmatic and unresearched wealthy Indian. It later passed through the hands of a British Army Officer, was raced in Calcutta during the 1950s and was  exported again in 1966. Although it has been said that the car was smuggled out, it shouldn’t have been as the ban on export of cars came through only in 1972.

This car is still alive and well, and was auctioned by Bonhams, in December 2015. Since then, it has been owned by Invicta enthusiast and expert, Peter Bradfield, who has meticulously traced the history of the car.

“Chassis S 165 was ordered by its first owner, Nizam Uddin Valuddin Jillani of Naunada on 6th March 1934,” explained Bradfield. “He has been described as a Maharaja although this has yet to be confirmed. He must have been wealthy and if not a maharaja, then one of the great zamindars, or millionaire merchants. We know he was impatient to get his new car from the account of Albert Deavin, one of the fitters from 1934 who built the car in the London works, and who was re-united with the car in 1992 and told how the new owner had telephoned the works to hear about the progress. Being told that the car was practically finished he demanded to hear the horns, so the car was pushed as near as possible to the open office window and Deavin sounded the horns while the new owner listened appreciatively. The car was shipped to India either later that year or early in 1935.”

The history file contains an original Registration Book from 1937 issued by the Calcutta Police to Nasir Kurishi Esq who may have been the car’s second owner. This wonderfully preserved historic document confirms its chassis and engine number along with its Calcutta registration number 49668 that appears in several period photographs.

The next owner in 1940 was Jimmy Braid, a Scot living and working in Calcutta. He in turn sold the car to a new owner, who seems to have raced the Invicta at the Alipore Mint racing circuit during the 1950s.

In May 1965 Swedish engineer and car enthusiast, Lars de Jounge discovered the car near Bombay with the help of his friend Roni Khan. When he returned to Europe soon after, he took his Indian Invicta with him. Bradfield resumed: “The car came back in poor condition, and he entrusted the engine rebuild to the esteemed mechanic Maurice Leo. Rather than restore the original unit, Leo provided De Jounge with an upgraded one – a W.O. Bentley-improved motor sourced from a Lagonda LG 45 that used the same 4½-litre Meadows powerplant. At that time, it was common practice to replace engines without concern for preserving original parts due to matching numbers. The original engine stayed with Leo in Beaconsfield while the car, in 1970, travelled to California, where De Jounge had relocated.”

The next custodian of the car was Don Williams, of Blackhawk Museum fame (The Legend of Don Williams). He acquired S 165 in 1972 and held onto it for 18 years. The car achieved significant recognition, placing third overall at the Pebble Beach Concours in 1975 and later being featured in the Automobile Quarterly, Vol. 15, No. 3, in 1977.

“S 165 remained in the United States until 1990, when Derek Green of Cedar Classic Cars Ltd. purchased it,” believes Bradfield. “It appeared at a Sotheby’s auction in London on March 16, 1991, where it was acquired by Nigel Dawes, a respected dealer. After undergoing some cosmetic enhancements, the car was auctioned again at a Brooks event in Olympia in October 1992. Here it found a proper new owner with Christopher Jacques, known for his world-famous croquet set company. Jacques recognised the increasing value of matching engine and chassis numbers and embarked on a search to recover the original. Remarkably, he traced the engine back to Maurice Leo and after parting with £5,000 was able to reunite it with the car following a 28-year separation!”

In 1995, Jacques sold S 165 through London dealer Gregor Fisken to Peter Livanos, in a transaction facilitated by Livanos' business associate and Aston Martin partner, Victor Gauntlet. Both Livanos and Gauntlet were avid participants in historic motorsport events, and S 165 was notably entered in the 1997 Mille Miglia. However, since Livanos already owned another S-Type, he put S 165 up for sale at a Brooks auction in Olympia on April 14, 1999.

The car was bought by Midlands-based collector Gordon Willey, who owned it for 16 years until 2015 when Peter Bradfield acquired it. Since then, S 165 has been maintained by marque expert Paul Kitcher and has competed in numerous prestigious events. These include the 2016 VSCC Pomeroy Trophy, the Prescott Hillclimb, the Mille Miglia, the Silverstone Classic in 2017 and 2019, the Goodwood Revival in 2017 and 2021, and the Flying Scotsman Rally in 2018. The car has also been showcased at numerous shows and concours events, winning the 'Spirit of Motoring' award at the 2016 Blenheim Concours and placing second at the 2022 Levitt Concours at Hampton Court.

One of only 77 Low Chassis Invictas ever built and among fewer than 30 featuring the coveted Carbodies Tourer coachwork, S 165 stands out as a highly original and historically significant vehicle with a captivating international history that traces back to India, particularly Calcutta.

In August 2025, Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance will have a class dedicated to the Invicta S Type – this very special marque deserves the recognition it will get, especially as a brace of these cars have links with India. Can we expect to see both on the field next year?

Images: Ambre Clément, Anne Castagnos-Sen

If you’re a longtime reader of this magazine, you’ve likely encountered past features on Dinard Élégance – France’s most distinctive concours d’élégance.

This celebrated event has played a pivotal role in reviving the tradition of the concours à la française, reintroducing the elegance and flair that defined the French flair for concours d’élégance during the early 20th century.

Located on France’s western coast, the seaside resort of Dinard was home to one of the first French-style concours d’élégance. Its modern revival has breathed new life into the concept, updating pre-war traditions with fresh class and elegance.

Instead of the now conventional static displays where judges circulate among parked cars, Dinard Élégance features a dynamic format: vehicles drive up a ramp, parading before an audience and a jury seated on opposite sides.

Participants – whether couples, friends, or families, often with a dog or child in tow – dress in period-appropriate costumes carefully coordinated with their vehicles.

The second modern edition, held on 4th September 2021, marked the centennial of Dinard’s original 1921 concours.

It was a memorable spectacle, with cars parading under evening floodlights, casting a magical glow over the event.

Most recently, on Saturday, 14 September, Dinard celebrated the fourth edition of its revived concours, a project brought to life by the passionate duo Juliette and Denis Cohignac.

With a small but capable team – among them, former FIVA President and Rallye du Pays de Fougères organizer Patrick Rollet – the event has flourished.

Emmanuel Bacquet, former Director of the Musée National de l’Automobile - Collection Schlumpf, adds his curatorial expertise, ensuring an outstanding selection of entries year after year.

A unique energy infuses the event thanks to the enthusiastic involvement of young volunteers, many from the extended Cohignac family – Marie, Justine, Paul, Gabin, and Lucie – as well as devoted supporter Aurélie Saillard. Their contribution gives Dinard Élégance a youthful and vibrant appeal.

Spanning three days, from Friday’s arrivals to Sunday’s motorcycle concours, the event offers a seamless blend of spectacle and charm.

Anticipation peaks as transporters unload rare and prestigious cars. The air fills with the sound of revving engines and the unmistakable scent of oil and exhaust – an intoxicating preview of what’s to come.

Saturday kicks off with the Tour d’Élégance, which assembles near the beach by Avenue du Prieuré. Volunteers welcome participants from across the globe – this year’s edition featured entries from twelve nations and three continents.

The tour offers a striking contrast of vehicles, such as a 1931 Buccialli TAV 12 Saoutchik cruising alongside a Corvette, or a Maybach Zeppelin DS8 sharing the road with a Lancia Flaminia Zagato… that of Darab Khan, all the way from London, where it has been since it left India (see: The Only Lancia Flaminia Sport Zagato India Ever Had).

Incidentally, the Lancia went on to become the runner-up in the class of cars from the 1950s.

The procession travelled along scenic coastal roads to the elegant Domaine de Montmarin, where guests enjoyed a garden luncheon on the peaceful banks of the Rance River.

Afterward, the convoy returned to Dinard, with concours cars displayed along the town’s beachfront esplanade.

This year’s entries ranged from a 1907 International Auto Buggy to the futuristic Lancia Sibilo concept. The Auto Buggy captured the early days of motoring with its simple, rugged design.

Imported from Canada and restored for the event, it features a modest 8bhp, air-cooled twin engine and a top speed akin to a moped. It earned First Prize in the Vintage/Veteran category (1907-1931).

One of the most eye-catching participants was the Buccialli TAV 12. With its vast wheels, elongated hood, and slit-like windshield, this vehicle is a recreation of the original 1931 convertible.

Built on a Cord L29 chassis and powered by a Lycoming inline-eight, it’s the only replica authorized by the Buccialli company.

Another standout was the SIATA Diana Berlinetta by Bertone – an all-aluminium beauty powered by Fiat 1400 mechanics, presented by Raoul San Giorgi.

Its lightweight body and Abarth-tuned engine made it a standout in both rallying and classic events like the Mille Miglia.

Barely 200 were produced, making it highly coveted. It claimed both the Design Award and the Most Beautiful Italian Car Award.

Dinard Élégance also highlights design innovation through its prototype and concept car class. Leading the segment was the 1976 Ferrari Rainbow, a bold Marcello Gandini creation for Bertone.

Based on a shortened Ferrari 308 GT4 and featuring a revolutionary retractable roof, it defied the Ferrari aesthetic of its time – and won the public vote for its ingenuity and style.

This car was presented courtesy of the ASI (Automotoclub Storica Italiano), guardian of the Bertone Collection.

Even more radical was the 1978 Lancia Sibilo, Gandini’s farewell to the Stratos era. With its sculptural form and Perspex-integrated steel bodywork, the Sibilo evoked science fiction – and indeed served as inspiration for the 1990 film Total Recall.

Powered by the same 2.4L V6 as the Lancia Stratos and Ferrari Dino, the Sibilo won First Prize in the Post-Classic category (post-1960).

The concours’ seven-member jury, drawn from both the automotive world and other creative fields, judges vehicles on more than just condition. Attire, accessories, and the presentation of the vehicle as a whole are also considered, making for a multi-dimensional evaluation.

The setting of Dinard Élégance adds to its magic. The Port Breton Gardens provide a naturally elegant stage, made even more enchanting by a live jazz orchestra playing period tunes.

Commentary from the ever-engaging Patrick Rollet, though delivered only in English, added wit and insight throughout the evening.

Spectators could participate by voting for their favourites, adding an interactive element to the festivities.

The final day, Sunday, closed the event with a relaxed yet festive atmosphere. Held in the shaded grounds of Port Breton Park, the static awards ceremony honoured winners across both car and motorcycle categories.

From centenarian vehicles to futuristic concepts, Dinard Élégance continues to affirm its place as a uniquely stylish and spirited celebration of automotive heritage.

Results:

Post Classic (post 1960):

• 1 Lancia Sibilo Bertone - 1978
• 2 Aston Martin DB4 GT - 1963
• 3 Maserati 3500 GT Vignale Spyder – 1961

Classic (1941 – 1960):

• 1 Delahaye 135M Cabriolet Chapron - 1948
• 2 Lancia Flaminia Sport Zagato - 1960
• 3 Imperial Crown Coupé – 1969

Post Vintage (1931 – 1940):

• 1 Alvis Speed 25 Offord & Sons - 1937
• 2 Packard Eight Coupé Chauffeur Franay - 1938
• 3 Bugatti Type 49 Roadster Gangloff – 1933

Vintage/Veteran (1907 – 1930):

• 1 International Auto Buggy - 1907
• 2 Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A SS Castagna - 1930
• 3 Rolls Royce 20/25 HP – 1930

Grand Prix d’Excellence FFVE:

• Rolls-Royce Phantom II Open Tourer Hooper – 1931

Public Prize:

• Ferrari Rainbow Bertone - 1976

Dinard City Prize:

• Lamborghini Miura P 400 S - 1970

Jury Price Historic:

• Cadillac Série 62 Coupé Sedan - 1959

Best Design:

• Siata Daina Berlinetta Bertone - 1953

Spirit of FIVA:

• Peugeot 202 Cabriolet - 1939

Prix de l’élégance:

• Aston Martin DB4 GT - 1963

Images: Marcello Gandini, Piero Rivolta/Flavio Campetti, Hugues Vanhoolandt

The late 1980s was a period of renewed optimism for the automobile industry, specifically for the top end of the market as several venerable marques from the past were resurrected.

Following Bugatti’s revival and the unveiling of the Cizeta-Moroder V16T, Piero Rivolta too believed that it was a good moment to resuscitate the Iso brand, lying dormant since the late 1970s.

With the values of the 413 Iso Grifos made on the rise, Rivolta decided that the first model that the new venture would launch would be a Grifo for the 1990s.

Collaborating with Piero Sala, the managing director of the old Iso company, and the industrialist brothers, Vinella, who brought in most of the capital, IsoRivolta S.r.L. was incorporated in 1989, with a head office in an old villa near Modena.

With the bodies to be made by Golden Car in Turin, the final assembly of the car was to be at the Isobus facilities at Conversano, near Bari, where buses on Mercedes-Benz bases were already being constructed.

With happy memories of the beautiful facelift for the Grifo II by Marcello Gandini in 1970 and his handsome coupe design for the Rivolta Lele from the year earlier, in 1969, Piero Rivolta approached Mr. Supercar Designer for the shape of the new Grifo.

Marcello Gandini, well versed in the marque’s culture and perfectly in sync with Piero Rivolta’s thinking, accepted the project.

For the engineering of the chassis, the logical complement to Gandini’s design savoir faire, the brilliant Giampaolo Dallara, was roped in.

For motive power, retaining the Grifo’s Corvette connection from the 1960s, Rivolta narrowed down to GM’s 5.7-litre V8 engine for the C4 Corvette, but turbocharged by American specialist Reeves Callaway for a 440 bhp output, which would give the car a theoretical top speed of over 300 km/h.

With the powertrain decided and the configuration agreed upon as a classical front-engine rear-wheel-driver, like the good ole Grifo (for better passenger volume as Dallara justified), Gandini went about working on the design of the car.

Given the freedom of a clean-sheet design, Gandini decided to increase the wheelbase of the new Grifo, to 2.55 meters as compared to the contemporary (C4) Corvette’s 2.44 meters (2.5 for the first gen Grifo, incidentally), keeping the overall length somewhat similar (4.5 meters for the new Grifo versus 4.48 for the Corvette and 4.43 for the old Grifo).

But to encompass the significantly wider rubbers, and for the sake of more space, the new Grifo became two meters wide, making it markedly wider than the C4 Corvette’s 1.8 (1.77 for the older Grifo).

The full-size styling buck of the car that Gandini designed was unveiled to the press in June 1991. The bright yellow resin model on display was acknowledged by all as muscular, stylish, and very handsome.

Fulvio Cinti of Auto & Design commented in the magazine: “A form free of provocative design elements, but of powerful visual impact, reflecting all the prerequisites outlined by Piero Rivolta: sweetness of line, aggressive (but not provocative), harmonious volumes and proportions, top-level interior comfort and easy handling.”

At the front the bumper incorporated the twin-nostrils of the first series Grifo, with a slim slatted grille above that hinted at the slats of the ‘penthouse’ power bulge of the 7 Litri. From the side the flowing undulating beltline of the older Grifo appeared once again, but somewhat wedgier for a more modern profile.

The shallow greenhouse was a 1990s take on the older Grifo’s, but with blacked out pillars, the glasses bonded on to the frames, slim and delicate, offsetting superbly the heavier, chunkier lower section of the body.

Underpinned with Dallara’s tubular space frame chassis and racing style suspension, powered by the Corvette V8 breathed upon by Callaway, and with that elegantly svelte styling, the IsoRivolta Grifo 90 (as it was badged) could have been more than a worthy descendent of the legendary Grifo, a fabulous supercar for the 1990s, a car that could have been a serious and desirable alternative to the supercars from Maranello, Sant’Agata and Campogalliano.

But fate deemed otherwise…

With the market for expensive cars collapsing and with the promise of government funding disappearing, Piero Rivolta and Co. quietly dropped the project and the yellow IsoRivolta Grifo 90 mock-up remained the only memory of a project that might-have-been.

And for all purposes the story would have ended there.

Quite a few Iso Grifo enthusiasts were very excited by the Gandini-designed Grifo 90.

One of them, Federico Bonomelli, who also owns an outfit called Mako-Shark Designs in Dolzago, Italy, located the Grifo 90 styling buck, scanned it, and with the permission of Piero Rivolta, made a few replicas of the Grifo 90 based on the newer Corvette C5 platform.

But in the transition from the original Gandini masterpiece to the replicas, which have been stretched and narrowed to fit the C5 Corvette’s chassis-mechanicals, not surprisingly, a lot of the styling finesse of the original was lost.

Images: Museo Alfa Romeo, Nicholas Delpierre (Photos: Inedites Alfa Romeo, Berlines, Coupés et Cabriolets de 1958 à 1998), Gaetano Derosa (La Vetture Che Hanno Fatto La Storia: Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider) & Ameya Vikram Mishra

Launched at the 1954 Turin Motor Show, this year marks the 71st anniversary of the Alfa Romeo Giulietta, a car that transformed Alfa Romeo into a major manufacturer.

Born to replace the aging 1900 model, various solutions for a smaller car were considered, ranging from a 350cc two-stroke and a 750cc front-wheel drive. However, by 1952, it was clear that Alfa Romeo would stick to a traditional layout, with a front engine and rear-wheel drive.

The choice of a female name, ‘Giulietta’, was quite a novelty for Alfa Romeo, which until then had named its cars after technical details and design codes. Interestingly, the rumoured story behind the name has a connection with Paris. Legend has it that it stemmed from an exchange of jokes between a “Russian prince in exile who entertained customers by improvising poems and jokes” in a restaurant at Boulevard de Capucines and Giorgia de Cousandier, wife of the ‘poet engineer’ Leonardo Sinisgalli who was there along with a team of technicians to present the 1900 at Salon de l’Auto. The group appreciated the joke to such an extent that it was decided that their next product would be named after the romantic girl from Verona.

More practically, Alfa Romeo wanted to address a post-war society in flux, in which technical data and performance figures were not enough to make their product sellable. The market was increasingly attracted by the fashionable, fresh, and flamboyant image that the Giulietta sought to embody.

Two weeks before its official launch, a preview took place in the Portello courtyard for industry insiders and officials, featuring two actors emerging from a helicopter dressed in Shakespearean costumes as Romeo and…Juliet!

The car launched at the Turin Motor Show was the Giulietta Sprint, the progenitor and icon of the Giulietta family, with a 1290cc four-pot dual camshaft engine producing 65bhp. The saloon followed a year later in 1955.

It’s safe to say that the Giulietta was an immediate commercial success, so much so that orders had to be suspended due to factory overload. The massive demand led to the opening of the plant in Arese, just outside Milan, where the Museo Alfa Romeo is also presently located. The reason for the success lay in its sporty and attractive styling, which was complemented by its class-leading performance.

At the time, Alfa Romeo was also mindful of the very attractive market for sports cars across the Atlantic. At the suggestion of Max Hoffman for an ‘open’ Giulietta, Alfa Romeo responded by involving Bertone and Pininfarina in the design of the Giulietta Spider to capture the imagination of affluent Americans. Bertone’s proposal had unusual and futuristic lines. Conversely, Pininfarina presented a sober and elegant body that would turn the Spider into one of the most popular and iconic cars of its period.

However, all this did not mean Alfa Romeo had forgotten its rich racing heritage. Hot on the heels of the Giulietta Sprint came the Sprint Veloce.

Though the Sprint was not originally conceived as a racing car, it was technically advanced for its time, with a high-revving dual camshaft aluminium block. And with some magic from the great Giuseppe Busso, power was up by 14 horses to 79bhp for the Sprint Veloce. Mighty, considering it weighed just 780 kg (for the 750 series) thanks to the lightened bodyweight: Perspex windows and rear window, aluminium moving body parts and bumpers. The Sprint Veloce brought racing glory back to Milan by winning its 1300 Gran Turismo category at the 1956 Mille Miglia.

However, the story of the Giulietta would be incomplete without Zagato, specifically the Sprint Veloce Zagato or the SVZ. Commissioned by gentleman driver Dore Leto in 1956, Zagato focussed on maximum lightness complemented by a coach-built aerodynamic shape. The chassis was made of lightweight steel tubing fitted with an aluminium body. With the weight reduced by 145 kg, the car was an immediate success, attracting many other orders from Zagato.

When Alfa Romeo realised the SVZ was outclassing its Sprint Veloce, it responded in 1957 by launching the Scaglione-designed Sprint Speciale with power increased to 97bhp and gearbox upgraded to a 5-speed unit. Despite its aerodynamic ‘low nose’ design capable of reaching upwards of 200 kph, the SS remained more suited to social circles than the racetrack.

In 1959, things came to a head, and Zagato finally started officially producing the Sprint Zagato instead of converting privately owned Giulietta Sprints.

The story of this Italian legend is too long to be comprehensively covered in this short article which is just a homage from a sincere fan. The Giulietta marked a turning point in Alfa Romeo’s history. Production, in its various forms, continued for 11 years and a total of 177,513 examples were produced.

In 2010, Alfa Romeo decided to continue its legacy by naming the replacement of the 147, in the 5-door compact segment, after it. In its hatchback form, this new Giulietta was indirectly replaced by the small SUV, Tonale, in 2020, which marked the end of the legendary name.

Images: Artcurial

Taking over the running of Maserati from Citroën and with ambitions to offer the brand to a significantly wider audience, Alejandro de Tomaso decided to develop a family of cars that would rival and hopefully emulate the runaway success of the BMW 3 Series.

Unveiled in December 1981, the Maserati Biturbo went on to spawn a range of two-door coupes with a variety of engine sizes from an 180bhp twin-turbo 2.0-litre V6 to a 285bhp 2.8-litre version of the same unit.

In time they were followed by a four-door sedan, and a shorter-wheelbase spider version, from which, a two-seater fixed head coupe, the Karif, was developed. But the bewilderingly wide range, the (initial) reliability issues, along with the underwhelming styling of the cars put off most Maserati fans and kept away newer buyers.

With sales far short of expectations, Maserati was deep in the red by 1988, when Alejandro de Tomaso had no choice but to agree to a deal with Fiat, who took a 49 percent stake in the carmaker.

At the same time, the decision was taken to take Maserati back to the prestige end of the market. As an all-new car would take time to develop, the first step planned was to rework one of the existing models in the range to something special.

The Karif, being the lightest, but with the most powerful engine, had the potential to be developed into a very exclusive halo machine.

The first important move was to prepare a new engine, a 3.2-litre (195 cu in) V8 with four valves per cylinder, plus twin turbocharging, for a maximum power of 326bhp at 6,000rpm, mate it to a six-speed gearbox and shoehorn all that into the Karif’s tight body.

Then re-skin the Karif at minimum investment, to give the ‘new’ car a new look.

So, de Tomaso turned to Marcello Gandini. If the all-square and rather predictable Karif had to look like the supercar that its new powerpack promised, then it needed considerable jazzing up, but Gandini had to work with one hand literally tied behind his back.

The door and all the inner skins, the roof and all structural parts had to be retained, and only the outer skin panels of the fenders, the bonnet, the boot, and front and rear end could be changed. And he had very little time: commissioned in spring 1989, the car had to be ready for launch later that year.

To channel the huge increase in power to the road, the new car needed chunkier 16-inch tyres: 225/45 at the front and even fatter 245/45 at the rear. That gave Gandini the opportunity to flare the fenders out, reshape the wheel arches to be slightly square at the front and his trademark asymmetric curves at the rear.

A clamshell boot lid not only improved luggage space but gave the profile a more wedge-shaped look. As well as side skirts and bumper spoilers front and rear, the car received new smoked tail lamps and small ellipsoidal headlamps.

To counter high-speed lift of the wipers, Gandini devised an aerodynamic appendage at the base of the windscreen that managed to ‘mask’ the wipers too and provided an interesting design touch as a counterpoint to the thick black central pillar that contrasted with the rest of the body.

Called the Shamal after a warm southerly wind blowing over Mesopotamia, in the classic Maserati tradition of naming its cars after a wind, the 270km/h supercar was unveiled on 14^th December 1989. With sales commencing the following year, just 369 Shamals were made until production ended in 1996. Now they are highly prized historic vehicles.

Images: Makarand Baokar

This Alfa Romeo GT Sprint Junior is the perfect example of a car that captures the spirit of affordable Italian sports cars from the 1960s and 1970s.

With more than 164,000 Alfa Romeo Giulietta sold over an 11-year period, the specialist carmaker from Milan needed a replacement for the extremely successful car. And that was the Giulia. It was first introduced in the form of the Ti saloon in June 1962, and then a coupe designed by a very young Giorgetto Giugiaro for Bertone in September 1963. Fans refer to this coupe as the “Bertone Coupé”.

Even though Giugiaro began his career at Fiat, he joined Carrozzeria Bertone as its one and only designer in December 1959. He replaced the legendary Franco Scaglione, who decided to cease his exclusive consultancy arrangement with the coachbuilder.

Into 1960, the young Italian designer had to meet his military obligations, however, with the intervention of his boss Nuccio Bertone, a special arrangement was worked out with the military authorities. In exchange for making portraits for officers during the day, in the evening, Giugiaro could devote himself to his new job as an automobile designer in the hotel room made available to him.

One of the first cars that Giugiaro designed was the 2000 Sprint, which was the coupe version of Alfa Romeo 2000 saloon. A very handsome and beautifully proportioned car, the 2000 Sprint provided the inspiration for the smaller car on the base of the Giulia, and the drawings were presented by Giugiaro to Alfa Romeo in May 1960. Alfa’s management loved the design, giving Bertone the go-ahead to develop the car.

The Giulia Sprint GT coupe, when launched in September 1963, made an impact with its clean, simple, and balanced lines. These characteristics made the 2+2 coupe an instant classic. A few complained about the excessive height of the beltline, yet that was what gave the car a different stance and proportion, clearly distinguishing it from its competitors. The success of the design could be seen in the simple fact that the coupe had an exceptionally long career—some 13 years!

The 1570cc, 106hp Giulia Sprint GT was unveiled to the press on 9 September 1963 at the brand-new Alfa Romeo factory in Arese, near Milan. A few days later, the car-buying public got to see the car for the first time at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

As the Giulia Sprint GT set the sales charts afire, Alfa Romeo unveiled the GTA at the Amsterdam Motor Show in February 1965. The Giulia Sprint GTA was a sportier version developing 115bhp, with a lighter body. The A stood for Alleggerita, or “light” in Italian, and to shave off 200kg from the weight of the car, the GTA received lightweight bucket seats, and the carpet, cigarette lighter, armrests were removed. The body was in light alloy, and the grille featured a simple wire mesh.

A month later, at the 1965 Geneva Motor Show, the GTC, a convertible version of the GT, was launched to complete the range. The production of the GTC was by Carrozzeria Touring (with the coupe bodies exclusively produced by Carrozzeria Bertone). After about a thousand of the GTCs were made, the model was dropped in 1967, the lack of rigidity being one of several issues.

At the Geneva Motor Show in March 1966, the Sprint GT Veloce, the 109bhp GTV, replaced the Sprint GT. But to make the Bertone coupe accessible to as many people as possible, Alfa Romeo launched the less powerful GT 1300 Junior in 1966, with the maximum power a modest 89bhp. The drop in power though did not prevent the GT 1300 Junior from being a fun car.

The car featured here is a GT 1300 Junior, from 1967. To be more exact, the car rolled out of the Alfa factory on 9 January 1967. Who was, or were, its first owners in Italy, is not known, but we do know that this GT 1300 Junior was imported into India in February 1968. The Maharani of Morvi subsequently acquired it and gifted the car to her son-in-law Adi Dubash (of ABC Dubash Shipping fame) as a wedding gift. Dubash, a serious sports car enthusiast had the car until 1976, when he sold it to his cousin’s husband Russa Ginwalla.

Eleven years later, in 1987, Ginwalla gifted the car to his son-in-law Behram Ardeshir. The latter, a true-blue (red?) Alfista—the Italian word for Alfa Romeo fans—had the car worked upon over a protracted period. Originally white in colour, this GT 1300 Junior was repainted red many moons ago. When the car was redone in 2016, Ardeshir had it resprayed in a more-appropriate Rosso Alfa, the one shade that has remained intimately associated with Alfa Romeos since the marque went racing very successfully in the 1920s.

Images: Alexander Schaufler & Gautam Sen

“Since 1911 cars, besides becoming materially bigger, had become disproportionately heavier,” believed Rolls-Royce’s in-house designer Harold Ivan Frederick Evernden, as explained in an article in the ‘Early and Late’ bulletin of Rolls-Royce section of the Vintage Sports Car Club (England).

“This fact, together with tyres of large sections and lower pressure, caused an increase in road rolling resistance. Even more was the fact that the wind drag of the car had increased enormously due chiefly to the increase in the frontal projected area. The front wings had grown to envelop the wheels, headlamps had risen to add to the frontal area of the taller radiator and the higher bonnet and scuttle. Also, there was little improvement in the aerodynamic form.”

Armed with this conclusion, Evernden set about redesigning 10EX. Working with balsa wood and aluminium sheets, Evernden made a one-eighth scale model of the new shape and gave that to the Barker craftsmen as a reference.

By chopping off the bodywork aft of the front seats, the tinsmiths remade the rear into a tapered tail that reflected the trend for an Art Deco understanding of aerodynamics, the wings were redesigned into lightweight appendages and the windshield changed to a V-shape. The seats and steering wheel were lowered by about 10cm.

Out on the test track 10EX immediately proved that the modified aerodynamics had made the car not only quicker but had also improved the dynamics of the vehicle with roadholding that was noticeably better.

With the cutout open, 10EX managed 89.11mph (143.34 km/h) against the stock car’s 78.26mph (125.92 km/h) at the Brooklands circuit, despite retaining the standard final drive ratio.

As the engine was peaking before the top speed was reached, it was clear that with a taller final drive gearing 10EX would have been quicker.

But that could only have been achieved if the 2.35 tonne car had managed to shed some weight, with Evernden pointing out in the same article: “weight would be reduced by 324 lbs (147kgs) thus making possible the use of 17 tooth rear axle pinion, without loss of acceleration.”

Unfortunately, Basil Johnson was not that impressed by the 10EX (or the ‘CJ sports car’ as in the Claude Johnson special that the boffins in Rolls-Royce had nicknamed it), believing that the styling needed to be improved!

Despite Johnson’s misgivings, Henry Royce gave the green light for three more experimental Sports Phantoms to be made.

These were 15EX, 16EX and 17EX and three different coachbuilders—the prestigious coachbuilding house of Hooper and Barker, who were both ‘official’ coachbuilders to Rolls-Royce, and Jarvis of Wimbledon respectively—were tasked to body the cars to Evernden’s design, which other than the styling, also recommended aircraft construction thinking in the use of sheet metal gussets instead of wrought iron brackets, plywood and metal sandwich for the vertical panels and so on.

15EX, which was completed by Hooper in early 1928, was sent off to Europe for extensive high-speed testing, but it met with a catastrophic accident in France and the car was eventually rebuilt by Barker as an open tourer body with the chassis renumbered 29CL and sold off in September 1928.

16EX, readied in the same month, was shown to Edward, Prince of Wales, but he didn’t express any interest in the car. The car was instead sold to a Mr Fuller, who in turn sold the car to an enthusiast, Captain J.F.C. Kruse. After changing hands several times in the UK and spending decades there, 16EX eventually found its way to the US, where after some years in the Blackhawk Collection, it is with an individual collector now.

It was 17EX that had in store a more fabulous destiny.

To begin with, 17EX had a most unusual coachbuilder, Jarvis of Wimbledon. Not really known for their work on Rolls-Royce chassis, although a handful of the ‘World’s Best Cars’ had been bodied at their facilities, Jarvis & Sons Ltd of Wimbledon, in South-West London, had built up their reputation as specialist coachbuilders who made some of the finest of lightweight sporting and racing car bodies in the UK.

Making bodies for sporting chassis from Aston Martin, Bentley, Bugatti, Darracq, Itala, OM and Talbot, Jarvis were renowned for their skiff-type bodies and boat-tailed designs, which had recently come into vogue in Europe by the mid-1920s.

It was not that Jarvis were not capable of making non-sporting luxury bodies (they did construct some on Bentley, Daimler, and Rolls-Royce chassis), their specialization was clearly that for lightweight sports coachwork, with the ultimate example of that being the world land speed record-breaking Blue Bird that Jarvis had built for the legendary Malcolm Campbell in 1926.

Most importantly, the experience that Jarvis had gained in the construction of Malcolm Campbell’s record-breaking Blue Bird, was used by Evernden when Rolls-Royce decided to commission Jarvis to body 17EX.

Even the choice of colour, the blue of 17EX, may have been inspired by the land speed record-breaker, which in turn had been painted the trademark Campbell blue that the superstitious Englishman had been using since he rechristened his Darracq Blue Bird, after seeing Maurice Maeterlinck’s play of the same name.

In all fairness, all the three experimental cars—15EX, 16EX and 17EX—were painted blue, with the 15EX an ‘Evernden Pale Blue’ and 16EX a ‘Curzon Peacock Blue’. 17EX chassis card reads ‘colour: blue, wheels: black, leather: blue’.

Most importantly, 17EX was markedly quicker than 10EX, and other than the lighter Jarvis body which must have contributed significantly, 17EX developed 92.6bhp at the dynamometer when bench-tested at the Rolls-Royce works at Derby, with the maximum power going up to 99.5bhp with the cutout open.

Moreover, it was perhaps the first Rolls-Royce to top the magical figure (then) of 100 mph (160 km/h).

The significantly superior performance of 17EX over the earlier experimental cars prompted Rolls-Royce to put 17EX through extensive testing, some 4,400 miles (7,080km) it seems, of which half was without the body (17EX was running by end of January 1928, with the Jarvis body arriving in July 1928).

By April 1928 though, all efforts at Rolls-Royce Limited were directed to the next generation Phantom, the Phantom II and the sportier Continental, which was to appear by September 1929. So, by late October 1928, the decision was taken to sell off 17EX, to find a client for Rolls-Royce’s fastest car until then.

A customer was found in India. Though Rolls-Royce followed the practice of putting back its experimental cars to ‘standard’ trim—sometimes even re-bodying the car back to conventional body styles, the customer in India wanted the car sent to him as it was, with its special lightweight body, similar in design and style to that of 10EX.

The story of 17EX after it was sent off to India is another story, which we have already recounted in this magazine (The fabulous life of the Rolls-Royce Phantom I 17EX (derivaz-ives.com).

But managing to get 10EX and 17EX together—thanks to the cooperation of BMW’s Helmut Kas—after almost a century at Villa Erba, in Italy, is a story by itself. Do you agree?

Images: Alexander Schaufler & Gautam Sen

At last year's Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este (held on 21^st of May 2023), with the excitement of the astounding ex-Maharaja of Holkar Duesenberg SJ with J Gurney Nutting body winning the Best of Show, people may have missed out the huge significance of this image above.

Yes, these two amazing Rolls-Royces, with almost identical bodies, were being re-united after almost a century!

To explain better let’s delve into some history.

When the Silver Ghost was replaced by the New Phantom (which retrospectively was referred to as the Phantom I, after the introduction of the Phantom II in 1929), Sir Henry Royce developed an all-new overhead valve six-cylinder with valve lifters for the new model, a motor that was remarkable for its incredible refinement and the total absence of vibration.

The new engine was built in three blocks of two-cylinders each, with detachable (cast iron, later aluminium) heads and the 7668cc engine (with 107.9mm bore and 139.7mm stroke) developed 92.6bhp.

“The latest model is a very worthy successor to the line of vehicles which have borne the name of Rolls-Royce,” said The Autocar magazine of May 22, 1925, when reviewing the Phantom, adding, “Its chief attribute is its extraordinary smoothness, coupled with considerably more power than hitherto, while it is difficult to believe that any other car could be quite so silent.”

The magazine also added: “Technically speaking, the Rolls-Royce is not meant to be, and is not, a very fast car considering its engine size, yet it will run quite comfortably at 70 m.p.h. without giving the slightest suggestion that any part of the chassis is working hard, and its maximum is claimed to be in the neighbourhood of 80 m.p.h.”

For Henry Royce though the maximum speed of 80mph (128 km/h) was not good enough, especially when compared to the standard Bentley 3 Litre (with an engine size less than half of that of the Phantom), which could get to 80mph despite not being a real lightweight either (what with Ettore Bugatti calling the Bentleys lorries!), the 3 Litre Speed model maxing out at 90mph (144 km/h) and the Super Sport version topping the ton, or 100mph (160 km/h).

And when Bentley launched the all-new 6 ½ Litre as a high-performance luxury car to take on Rolls-Royce’s new Phantom in 1926, Henry Royce really saw red.

Here was a car that was not only significantly more powerful (with maximum power at 144bhp), and that too from a markedly smaller engine, but was also noticeably quicker, even if Rolls-Royce-like refinement wasn’t quite one of the Bentley’s many virtues.

Needing to counter the gaining popularity of Bentley, Henry Royce proposed the development of a sportier version of the Phantom.

Supporting Royce on his product thinking was Rolls-Royce’s commercial genius and founding managing director Claude Johnson, who had been with the carmaker since its inception and was usually described as the hyphen in the carmaker’s moniker of Rolls-Royce.

But Johnson died suddenly in 1926 and was succeeded by his more cautious brother Basil, who didn’t see much merit in Royce’s idea of developing a ‘rough and noisy car’ that would be contrary to the very tenet of Rolls-Royce’s exemplary sense of refined elegance.

Yet Henry Royce persisted and wrote to Basil Johnson saying: “The object of preparing this chassis is that, if speed merchants in the form of English peers or Indian Rajahs or others doubt the capacity of the Rolls-Royce Phantom, this specimen, which we should be able to repeat, can be tried by them… We have not thought of making a freak machine or depart from the smooth and silent model, but we do think that the owners of the smooth and silent models within their large bodies capable of 80mph will be pleased to know that the same chassis and engine when fitted to a touring car will be capable of 95-100mph.”

The materialization of Royce’s vision of the 100mph Rolls-Royce, incidentally, was already under way.

It was in late 1925 that Henry Royce had already given the go-ahead for a special lightweight, sportier prototype to be developed and this car was to be given the nomenclature of 10EX, a numbering system that followed from Rolls-Royce’s first post-war experimental car, the 1EX from 1919.

10EX followed from the 7EX, 8EX and 9EX—all developmental Phantoms from 1925 and 1926 but was different in receiving a specially-tuned version of the 7668cc overhead valve engine that the standard Phantom had.

Yet the battleship grey (a favourite colour of Henry Royce, incidentally) 10EX was hardly any quicker than the stock Phantom as the open tourer body by ‘official’ coachbuilder Barker was just too heavy.

Increasing the power wasn’t the answer either—opening the exhaust cutout (which was illegal in most countries anyway), though resulting in a power hike of 11bhp, translated to a barely 2mph (3.22 km/h) increase in the top speed.

Whereas when the wings were removed and 10EX was tested on the Brooklands banked circuit by W A Robotham (the assistant of Rolls-Royce’s Derby factory manager, Ernest Hives) top speed went up by a significant 6.4mph (10.3 km/h).

With the progressive removal of the windshield, the side mount and the underhood ventilation, the overall maximum speed went up by 11.4mph (18.35 km/h).

No doubt, the body design needed to be investigated closely.

So, Henry Royce tasked Rolls-Royce’s in-house designer Harold Ivan Frederick Evernden to design a special body for Rolls-Royce’s sports Phantom.

For the rest of the story, you will need to tune in tomorrow…

Images: Jerome Cadoret, Louis Monnier, Gautam Sen

With this year's edition of the Dinard Elegance scehduled for tomorrow the 14th of June, we are re-running this report on the brilliant concours d'élégance at Dinard two years ago, where Rajiv Kehr's Packard stole the show

The opening sentence of Western France’s leading daily Ouest France extolled that there were as many as ten nations ‘represented among the participants, including India, the United States, Georgia…’ and so on for this year’s (the 2023 edition of the) Dinard Elegance where the Packard of Nisha and Rajiv Kehr stole the show over the weekend of 17th-18th last.

India’s first and only entry to Dinard Elegance—the concours d’elegance that evokes the very first concours ever held over a hundred years ago, on 4th September 1921, and which has been at the forefront of reviving the concept of a concours d’élegance a la française—was the cynosure of all eyes as the Packard 1101 Straight Eight Tourer toured the countryside and then made the presentation on the ramp in front of the historic Manoir de Port Breton, in the famous resort town on the Western coast of France.

Even though the competition was tough, the 1934 Packard was at the centre of most of the attention amongst the thousands of spectators who had thronged the route as well as had a close look at the cars when they were lined up for display on the digue, which is the esplanade over the croissant-shaped beach of the town, the same seafront that had hosted the very first concours way back in 1921, and then every year until WWII put a temporary halt to this annual celebration of the automobile, design and haute couture.

As the president of the organising committee of Dinard Elegance, Denis Cohignac points out, the early years of the concours d’élegance was all about three Cs—the cars, coachbuilders, and couturiers—whereby carmakers worked in tandem with the famous coachbuilders, as well as well-known haute couture houses, to launch new models or special designs, combining fashion and styling into a festival of the bold and the beautiful.

In fact, it was at Dinard during the very first concours d’élegance where Georgina Citroën, the wife of carmaker André Citroën, presented the Citroën 5HP Type C Trèfle for the first time, a month or so ahead of the official launch of the model at the Paris Motor Show. To commemorate that, a rare Trèfle from 1924 was one of the 32 cars carefully selected for the concours d’élegance.

Broadly divided into four classes—pre-1930 vintages, post-vintage cars from 1931 to 1940, classics from ‘41 to ‘60, and a final class of the post-1960 cars termed ‘post classics’—the cars ranged from the relatively ordinary (yet rare) such as the cute Citroën C Trèfle and the amusingly ‘cylindrical’ Zagato Zele to astounding one-offs including the Alfa Romeo 6C Aprile and the Best of Show-winning Delage D8-120 bodied by de Villars.

The Fritz Burkhard-owned Delage D8-120 has been winning Best of Shows elsewhere given that stunning roadster bodywork by de Villars in its striking two-tones of blue and silver, and so has Corrado Lopresto’s one-off Alfa Romeo, designed to a Mario Revelli de Beaumont drawing, giving the car an almost hot-rod look decades before it became fashionable.

Yet the car that walked away with the popularity award was the astounding Avion Voisin C25 Aérodyne, from 1935. The audience, which numbered several hundred, voted for that distinctive art deco car in significant numbers, with the Marcello Gandini-designed Autobianchi Runabout concept car (presented by Sabina S and Giuseppe Dell’Aversano, a vice president with the Italian federation ASI) a close second.

But the Runabout, which incidentally, is now 54 years old, did corner the trophy for the Prix Design for its distinctive barchetta design (explained in: The Autobianchi A112 Runabout That Was Inspired By Speedboats (derivaz-ives.com)

For yours truly, the best part of being there at Dinard, was the opportunity that Dell’Aversano gave me—to drive one of my teenage dream cars, the sublimely beautiful Runabout, for a couple of kilometres. The dropped jaw looks from the pedestrians and other motorists… priceless!

It wasn’t only fun and games for yours truly—I was also there for being useful. Part of the seven-member jury (along with Pascaline Mascitti of Autosur; Karine Blanchard, the marketing director of Longchamp and regular racer at Le Mans Classic; Thierry Cohet, the editor of classic car magazine LVA; Gilbert Marchini from the French federation FFVE; the mayor of Dinard, Arnaud Salmon; and Sylviane Peter, the wife of Patrick Peter, and between them they organise Chantilly Arts & Elegance, Le Mans Classic and some six other major events!), I also had to decide which car captured the essence of FIVA.

And that was the amusing little runabout, the Zagato Zele, a long-before-its-time electric two-seater that the Italian coachbuilder built between 1974 and 1976, soon after the first oil price shock. With barely 500 made, very few survive.

David Whale’s (who also happens to be the president of the British federation FBVHC) Zele is even more remarkable in being an extremely low mileage car which is beautifully well preserved. Not only is it a great case of superb conservation, but also makes a very fine case for being an electric historic vehicle—yes, FIVA isn’t against electric vehicles if they are more than 30 years old!

What makes Dinard Elegance very different from the Villa d'Estes and the Pebble Beaches is the emphasis on presentation. Instead of bothering too much with the sparkle of the chrome and the gloss of the paint finish and the merits of the (over!) restoration, the Dinard Elegance scoring system is simplified to a max 20 points for the quality/state of the vehicle, another 20 for the design/form of the car, and the last 20 for the clothes and presentation of the two presenting the vehicle, whether they are in appropriate period costumes, or if their ‘storytelling’ is consistent with the car or the time or place.

Which was why Nisha and Rajiv Kehr dressed in traditional Indian outfits, he in a gold brocade achkan with ruby-studded buttons, Nisha in a red saree, with beautiful gold necklaces and a gorgeous emerald-encrusted maang tikka on the forehead. Dressed like a maharaja and a maharani!

Of course, the most outlandish of these ‘fancy dresses’ was the 1970s look that Barbara and David Whale chose to match with their red Zagato Zele. Most of the others though went for the classic 1920s and 1930s look, with fancy wide brimmed hats, or dressed in typical Charleston attire, the men all looking like Great Gatsby.

The organisation was excellent, what with the full involvement of the Cohignac family (Denis, Juliette, Marie, and Justine), Patrick Le Guen, Aurelie Saillard, Emmanuel Bacquet and the bike-mad Frank Huard, and his biking gang who managed the traffic brilliantly well. Former FIVA President Patrick Rollet was, as always, a brilliant master of ceremonies, explaining and providing the background to each of the participating cars.

The scoring was difficult and extremely tight, with decimal points separating the winners and the also rans. The car that received the highest amongst all was the astounding Delage D8-120 de Villars, which was given the Grand Prix d’Excellence, or what the Americans will term the Best of Show.

For the rest of the classes, the results were:

Results:

Grand Prix d’Excellence (Best of Show)

     Delage D8 de Villars (Fritz Burkard)

The Vintage Class (pre-1930)

     Winner: Stutz Vertical 8 Boattail (the Dolléans) 

     Runners-up: Packard 740 Roadmaster (the Bassez)

The Post-Vintage Class (1931 – 1940)

     Winner: Buick 50 coupe chauffeur Fernandez et Darrin (the Houdayer)

     Runners-up: Bentley 4 ¼ Litre James Young (the Schröter)

The Classics (1941 – 1960)

     Delahaye 135M Chapron (the Bauchet)

     Alfa Romeo 6C 2500SS Touring (the San Giorgi)

Post Classics (post- 1960)

     Alvis T21 S1 DHC (the Fischling)

     Aston Martin DB4 Volante (the Bellier)

Prix de l’Élégance 2023

     Packard Eight Series 1101 (Nisha & Rajiv Kehr)

Prix Ville de Dinard

     Alfa Romeo 6C Aprile (Chatuna Bacquet & Anthony Missounis)

Prix du Public

     Avion Voisin C25 Aérodyne (Mr Rey & Mrs Thsibola)

Prix FIVA

     Zagato Zele (the Whale)

Prix Design

     Autobianchi Runabout (Sabina Spaziani & Giuseppe Dell’Aversano)

Prix ACF

     Avions Voisin C25 Aérodyne (Mr. Rey & Mrs. Thsibola)