Editorial

Rétromobile was an undoubted success, and for those with a couple of days free this weekend there’s just time to hop over (or under probably, on the Eurostar) the Channel to have a great weekend in Paris with a little classic motoring action too. Pick of the show for me was on the Porsche Classic Clubs’ stand; the Le Mans car to end all, Martini International Racing’s silver Porsche 917 longtail.

Immaculately presented, the car looked as modern now as it did 36 years ago, and in one of the most evocative colour schemes out there oozed style, power and cutting-edge design. And the one to buy would be the ex-Le Mans Ferrari Daytona Competizione, a car at the other end of the spectrum from the 917 with its simple front-engine/rear-wheel-drive set-up but something that could be driven back to Paris on the road, having won its class a few hundred kilometres away at the Circuit de la Sarthe.

And if you can’t make the trip this weekend, there’s always the start of the Tour Auto Lissac 2007 that will be kicking off from the magnificently restored Grand Palais, right by the Seine and the Champs Elysées on 23 - 24 April.

We’ve brief news of Maserati’s all-new GranTurismo, the car that will replace the company’s Coupé and be a genuine rival for the Aston Martin V8 Vantage and quite possibly, with its rear seats, the DB9. It looks great and we can’t wait to see it ‘in the metal’ at Geneva in 10 days or so.

Steve Wakefield Managing Editor sw@classicdriver.com