Far from standard

Inspired by the countryside

Badged as a ‘daycruiser’, the 25-foot tender is constructed from lightweight aluminium (with a sprinkling of teak), making it not only extremely robust, but also ensuring usability and ease of maintenance – two of the most important aspects of modern yacht ownership. The SDC25 is offered in several guises, each with its own colour combination: modern, classic, racing or art (exclusively designed by Nora Linn Visconti).

Arosa in late summer. A place familiar to me, as it was here that – almost exactly a year ago – I introduced myself to the 76 corners of the Arosa ClassicCar hillclimb. As before, Porsche kindly invited me to tackle the event in one of its own sports cars from the museum in the Swiss canton of Graubünden but, for 2013, things have moved up a gear.

A 1934 car, the winning Dietrich Victoria was one in a small series of ‘semi-custom’ Packards, but stood apart from its brethren thanks to its cherry-picked features. Not only is it one of the rare ‘Vee-windshield’ cars, but it also has the distinctive twin-strip fenders of the LeBaron Dual Cowl Phaetons, making it unique. Enthusiasts consider 1934 to be a vintage year for Packard production: the mighty V12 had matured, and 1935 was to see a downturn in quality standards.

Without doubt, Audi wouldn’t be where it is today without the original Quattro of the 80s (and a healthy dose of capital from the Volkswagen Group, of course). At the 2010 Paris Motor Show, the firm paid homage to the car's 30th anniversary by showing a slick conceptual tribute.

Not even the most prestigious marques could ignore the cultural swing of the early 60s. With many brands (automotive or otherwise) targeting the youth of the day, changes were required not only in terms of marketing, but in styling, too.

The transition into the ‘Space Age’ was a challenge for the costumed superheroes: Flash, Green Lantern and Hawkman had to grapple with new sci-fi worlds, where technology was developing at light-speed. Taschen will soon publish the second instalment in Paul Levitz’s series exploring the history of the DC Comics characters, this time focusing on ‘The Silver Age’ of 1956 to 1970.