Cheap thrills
One thing to come from Citroën’s acquisition of Maserati in the 1970s was a new flagship model for the quirky French marque. The SM combined Citroën’s cutting-edge, self-levelling, hydro-pneumatic suspension with a Maserati V6 and futuristic styling. In fact, its drag coefficient of 0.26 would place it in the top 10 of all production cars, even today. This blue example from 1971 has been used on a regular basis by its current owner and proven to be nothing but a joy. It’s poised to cross the auction block this weekend.
The complete package
One of just five Alfa Romeo Giulietta SZ2s extensively modified for endurance racing by the Turin-based motorsport specialist Conrero, this ‘Coda Tronca’ from 1962 was raced in period at Le Mans, Spa, the Nürburgring, Rouen, Pau, Solitude and in the gruelling Tour de France Automobile, all under the legendary Swiss Scuderia Filipinetti banner. Arguably more significant is that, today, it remains in time-warp condition, free of any rust or accident damage and accompanied by an exhaustive record of documents and photographs outlining its entire history and a large haul of spare parts. We’re usually hesitant when the word ‘unrepeatable’ is used to describe an old car for sale, but in the case of this magical Alfa, we reckon it’s entirely justified.
Honey, I broke the Rolls-Royce
Remember the Rolls-Royce Wraith shooting brake we recently featured here on Classic Driver? Well, the ultra-luxurious leviathan designed by Niels van Roij in the Netherlands and built by the famous Belgian coachbuilder Carat Duchatelet will be distributed via the Dutch Classic Driver dealer Classic Youngtimers Consultancy. Only seven Silver Spectre Shooting Brakes will be produced, each to the exacting specifications of their owners to be. The possibilities are endless…
Gran Turismo Omologato
“I know that often people refer to the Lamborghini Miura as the original supercar, but the GTO was the first model of that type to be launched specifically for a VIP client, and I think that’s part of what a supercar is all about.” That’s what DK Engineering’s James Cottingham told us about Ferrari’s hallowed 288 GTO when we gathered all of the prancing horse’s ‘halo’ models for an especially memorable photo shoot. Incidentally, DK has just added this superbly presented 1985 example to the Classic Driver Market – it shows just 36,570km on the clock and is accompanied by the all-important red book Ferrari Classiche certification.
The name’s Bond…
Daniel Craig will make his final appearance as James Bond in No Time to Die, which is poised to hit the silver screen in November. Of the four 007 films he’s already starred in, our – and no doubt a lot of other people’s – favourite is Casino Royale, not least for that breathtaking scene when Bond’s Aston Martin DBS barrel rolls a staggering seven times after swerving to avoid Vesper Lynd in the dark. Happily, this two-owner Casino Royale-spec DBS from 2008 is in much better shape.
Photos: Classic Youngtimers Consultancy, DK Engineering, House of Cars Belgium, Symbolic International, Historics Auctioneers
