Davids versus Goliath
As the season dawns, what chance do the independents have against Toyota? Toyota now stands alone as the only manufacturer competing for outright honours in the World Endurance Championship, in…
• For some, the Lotus Carlton is as ’90s as watching The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air while slurping a Hooch. It first appeared in 1990 with a price as stiff as its suspension – £48,000 (that’s £115,000 today). Visit Corby’s Auto Union and you’ll fall in love with this Diablo-baiting saloon all over again. It has a 1991 model, above, in Imperial Green – the only colour ever offered – for £89,995.
• While the hard-of-earning planned bank jobs to afford a Lotus Carlton, in 1992 the Ford Escort RS Cosworth came along and jaws hit the ground once again. Just over 7000 were made. In Radiant Red, a late-production 1996 (P) ‘whale-tail’ recently sold for £150,000 at KGF Classics, Peterborough. It had two sedentary owners – covering a mere 217 miles from new.
• Dick Lovett’s Mini and BMW showroom in Bath is shifting to a nearby state-of-the-art site in Portal Road, Melksham later this year. The company is looking for staff. Vacancies: careers.dicklovett.co.uk.
• And now for something really special… A 1967 Lamborghini Miura P400 on the books at Simon Furlonger in Ashford, Kent has the distinction of being the first guida destra (right-hand drive) Miura ever built. It was exhibited at the 1967 London Motor Show and first owned by Norwich-based Thomas Cook of the travel company family. It’s priced just shy of £1.4m.
• An abandoned BMW dealership in Tarragona, Spain that closed its doors 10 years ago is the subject of a YouTube video, above, by German BMW enthusiast M539 Restorations. Within the space are E30s, an M5 E28, a V12 750i E32, a 1970s Alfa Romeo Alfetta, an NSU Ro 80 and more – in case you were looking for a new project. Lee Gale