German

Until 1928 BMW’s main line of business was aero engines and it did not make cars until it bought the Dixi company which made Austin Sevens under license. Although BMW was late on the scene, it established a towering reputation in a very few years. A six cylinder engine was made in 1933 and from…

Having made a stunning rally debut in October 1980 by running their as-yet unhomologated Quattro as a “course car” in the Algarve Rally, when Hannu Mikkola set fastest time on 24 out of 30 stages, Audi quickly came to dominate the rallying scene with their four-wheel driven flyer. And when the rally classes were changed…

The name of Mercedes-Benz is synonymous with the heritage of the motorcar, and the company has over the decades produced some of the finest examples of sporting machinery. Early forays into the competition world led to the production of some of the fastest touring cars of their day and an involvement with technical development that…

The Carrera RS is one of the most famous Porsche models ever built, and has come over the years to be regarded as one of the top sports cars to emerge from the 1970s. It was designed and built with ambivalence very much in mind: Porsche’s engineers wanted a car that could be successfully used…

Cruise It or Bruise It  

“The 1959 Sebring 12-Hours provided the Americans Sesslar/Holbert and their RSK with victory in the 1,500 cc class from the works RSK driven by Barth/John Fitch.and fourth overall behind two three-liter Ferraris and the larger works RSK of Trips/Bonnier.” – Richard von Frankenberg, “Porsche: The Man and His Cars.” Of all Porsche competition sports cars…

Drivers Are Invited by Glenn Herz The great charm of the stick shift 530i is that it not only invites but also rewards driver participation and skill. Never common in sedans, this trait is fast disappearing in sports cars as well. With Rover in the net, BMW becomes almost twice the size of Mercedes-Benz. It…

The 910 is an exceptionally rare and important part of Porsches racing history, and should be of great interest to any serious collector, as it was a direct ancestor for the 908 with which Porsche won its first World Championship in 1968. The 910 was one of the second generation of Porsche sports racers; it…

The Camera RSR has a special place in Porsche history because it was the first time that the company ever built an ‘homologation special’ version of a production car. As has often happened over the years, the sports controlling body then began to talk about a replacement formula; the championship would be run with production-based…

When Mercedes-Benz made their welcome return to motor racing in 1952, they did so with a stunning looking space-framed Gullwing 300SL sports racing Coupe. The results achieved that year were noteworthy, including winning both the 24 Hours Le Mans race and the grueling Carrera Panamericana, and coming in 2nd, 3rd and 4th in the Mille…