Cars

The old lady and the Shelby Daytona Coupé

Porsche 356 Coupé: Asleep since 1969

Porsche has attempted to capture, in one limited-edition model, some key features that have made the 911 such a mind-boggling success. The 400HP ‘anniversary’ 911 is rear-wheel drive, but it features the wide body usually reserved for the 4WD Carrera 4. It boasts a sports exhaust for the most evocative sound, and also runs on dramatic, 20-inch wheels in matte black with machine-polished centres, as “a visual tribute to the legendary ‘Fuchs’ wheels”.

Tim describes his pastime as “urban exploration or the capture of unseen, derelict places and documenting decay that many people would not have the chance to see”. Here he explains the story behind his discovery last November:

“One of the places that was definitely on my list to visit in Belgium was the ‘Lost Alfas’ – six Alfa Romeo 1960s sport cars left to rot in the bowels of an abandoned castle somewhere in Belgium.”

Originally a closed-cockpit racing car, this P4’s early race results included first place in the 1967 1000Km of Monza (driven by Bandini and Amon) and third overall at that year’s Le Mans 24 Hours, in the hands of Willy Mairesse and Jean Beurlys. After Le Mans it was lightened by 40kg, partly thanks to the removal of the roof to produce the spider version – giving it further racing success. Its third incarnation was as a CanAm car, allowing the car a new lease of racing life in America and beyond.

Tucked away behind a leafy suburban street on the outskirts of London are the premises of R.S. Williams Ltd, his eponymous company this year celebrating 45 years of specialising in Astons. The cries of those with reservations as to the suitability of the suburban setting would soon be drowned out (literally) by the calibre of cars here: the first of five DBR1s built sits outside, waiting patiently for a routine checkup having been piloted around the 'Ring by Sir Stirling Moss the previous weekend.

The convertible DB4 made its debut at the 1961 London Motor Show, exactly three years after its be-roofed sibling had been revealed to an appreciative crowd at the same venue.

This time, though, the styling had been taken care of in-house, with Touring’s design for the coupé used merely as a starting point; a very pretty one at that.

The successor to the DB2 started as a working prototype in 1954. Polish engineer Tadek Marek was responsible for Aston's first big-capacity road car engine, an all-aluminium 3.7-litre six.

Italian coachbuilder Touring was chosen to provide not only the new car's styling, but also the necessary tooling and bucks for the DB4 (with its trademark superleggera construction of light steel tubes supporting aluminium panels) to be made in Newport Pagnell.

Aston Martin DB4: The first 'DB' of Newport Pagnell

This is going to be one very quick, very special car. The outgoing model was fast in anyone’s book – a mad creation made by shoehorning the DBS’s V12 into the smaller package that is the V8 Vantage.

Having driven many miles at the wheel of various V12 Vantages, I can vouch for their outright pace and somewhat over-the-top behaviour in anything less than perfect driving conditions. Spinning the wheels at 100mph in fourth gear still lives in the memory.