On 15 March, during their annual Spring Sale at the Espace Champerret in Paris, our friends at Aguttes will, with a heavy heart, offer the Jean Brandenburg Collection, spearheaded by three very special historic racing cars: a 1962 Alfa Romeo Giulietta SZ Coda Tronca, 1963 Jaguar E-type 3.8 ‘Semi-Lightweight’ and 1968 Chevron B8.
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Upon hearing the news late on Thursday afternoon that The International Concours of Elegance had been cancelled due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, our good friend Pascal Stephan from the Classic Driver dealer Mechatronik near Stuttgart was undeterred.
Kent. It’s known as the ‘Garden of England’, and for good reason. The county’s gently rolling hills, fertile farmland, fairy tale forests and breath-taking coastline form an oasis of tranquillity. But not today.
Founded by the Frenchman Laurent Blomet, Happy Few Racing staged its first event eight years ago. The Rallye Père-Fils was exclusively for fathers and their sons and encompassed superb driving roads, fantastic food and a mild element of competition in the form of a regularity race.
Among the greatest footballers of his generation, Andrea Pirlo’s professional career spanned 22 years, from 1995–2017, and was crowned by his World Cup victory in 2006. A lesser-known fact about him, however, is his longstanding love of watchmaking. “I started collecting watches very early on,” he explains, “and through time and different timepieces, I’ve learned to value and recognise the knowhow and craftsmanship that stand behind a watch.”
An inkling that the affluent town of Lausanne on the so-called Swiss Riviera was a prime hub for the brutish British beauties prompted Jonathan Hartop to establish Aston Riviera Cars in 2008. A lifelong Aston Martin enthusiast, Hartop has earned a fantastic reputation for his old-school manner and fantastic customer service, attributes that are facilitated by the company’s relatively small scale.
We appreciate that it’s almost November and that for many of you, winter’s chill has already begun to tighten its grasp but close your eyes and picture this scene for a moment if you will. It’s a searing summer’s day in 1969 and in the fashionable Sardinian seaside resort of Porto Cervo, the M.Y. Zuricana is gently bobbing in pride of place at the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda.
Lake Blausee is one of Swizerland’s hidden gems. Nestled in the heart of a 22-acre nature park in the Kander valley above Kandergrund, the beautiful lake is, as its name suggests, an intense shade of blue that’s so bold it can be seen from a great distance through the forest. The water is also crystal clear, which means you can appreciate the beauty of the lake from a glass-bottomed rowing boat.
It’s a glorious late-summer day in the heart of the Cotswolds, the soft, amber sunlight miraculously managing to make the sprawling countryside and quaint chocolate-box villages even more beautiful than they already are. It’s the kind of day classic motoring was made for, which is why we’ve paid a visit to William I’Anson, the long-time classic and competition car specialist and dyed-in-the-wool motorsport devotee.
