Dry Martinis and a one-page contract… the birth of the Gulf legend

...he plied the hard-nosed team manager with cocktails.

The contract outlined a partnership that was to last until 1975: the Gulf Oil Racing Team was born. And the Dry Martinis? Wyer was offered the use of the company’s Sabreliner for his transfer from New York to Pittsburgh. With the co-pilot doubling as “a most efficient steward”, he plied the hard-nosed team manager (ex-Aston Martin, and the man who started the GT40 programme) with cocktails.

Original Le Mans-spec ‘Blower’ Bentley to star at Bonhams’ 2013 Quail Lodge sale

No estimate has been advised; however, given its provenance (owned by arch-enthusiast, British ex-pat Charles R.J. Noble or his family for more than 55 years) and the fact that as one of the 50 original ‘Blowers’, and one of just three supplied as Le Mans-specification chassis, we are expecting it to change hands for an impressively high figure.

Can the new Fiat Grande Panda 4x4 live up to the legend?

There are few cars that manage to look just as much at home scaling an Alpine pass in the Engadin as they do parked in front of a Milanese espresso bar. The original Fiat Panda 4x4, inspired by utilitarian helicopter designs and penned by the maestro Giorgetto Giugiaro in the early 1980s, was one of them. With its boxy, unpretentious silhouette and ingenious packaging, it wasn’t just a car – it was a companion for architects in the Swiss alps, aristocrats in corduroy, and students on Roman side streets.

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