Spotted - 1983 Renault 5 Turbo Barn Find

The seller lists this as a Renault 5 Gordini Turbo, but he's wrong. It's a better car than that.

The Gordini was a front engined, front wheel drive version of the Renault 5 that shared the standard car's silhouette and produced 110hp from it's turbocharged 1.4 litre engine.  The Turbo was a mid-engined, rear wheel drive car with bodywork by Bertone and made 160hp.  It used the same engine block but a bigger turbocharger.

The Renault 5 Turbo was designed for rallying under Group 4 rules (the predecessor to Group B) and the first 400 were built to satisfy homologation.

Octane reckon the car is good for 0-60mph in 6.6 seconds and weighs 970kg.  Pretty spritely.  They also say one in good condition is worth roughly £14k.

This one is listed on eBay as a barn find in need of restoration and will cost £5,500.  Definitely a worthwhile project for someone although all those extra holes in the bodywork will cause a headache.

Here's the link to the ad and here's the text:

Barn Find, Renault 5 Gordini Turbo mid engine. Hill climb car also suitable for tarmac, hydraulic handbrake, full roll cage etc. This is a rare car. Cash on collection. Any enquiries please do no hesitate to get in touch on 07855537562

Not exactly over-selling it is he.

By Matt Hubbard

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Spotted - McLaren P1

I was heading back home on the A303 (again) last Friday when I spotted a yellow sports car waiting at the traffic lights at the Amesbury roundabout.  I did a double take and realised it was a McLaren P1.

Once over the roundabout I dropped my speed to 50mph, hoping the P1 would catch up.  It did.

For the next 17 miles I stuck with it.  Despite the pouring rain I even opened the window for a while to catch a blast of its glorious V8 exhaust note (obviously wasn't running on battery power at that time).

Then, to my great fortune, it pulled into the service station at Forton, just east of Andover.  I parked up and walked over to the P1, waited for the driver to get out, and asked him if he minded me taking a few photos of it.

"No problem"

I saw some marker pen on the wheels and the dodgy rear lights you can see below.

"Is it a development car?"

"Yes."

He walked off to get a sandwich and I took these photos.

I can be a bit ambivalent about supercars but the McLaren P1 looks absolutely stunning in the metal.

You can find more info about the 903bhp McLaren here.

By Matt Hubbard

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Spotted - Jaguar D-Type On The Road

I was driving in the Jaguar XF Sportbrake yesterday when I spotted this gorgeous Jaguar D-Type.

The D-Type was on the A404 near High Wycombe.  It was doing no more than 50mph and the driver, who looked a tad on the large side, wasn't wearing goggles.  Presumably 50 was all he could manage - it was about 5°C.

Later on in the day I posted this photo to Opposite Lock.  One of the commentators, McMike, found a link which shows that the D-Type is in fact a replica.  The car was built by Realm Engineering in 2000.

Earlier in the day @Jorge_orwell had said this on Twitter:

@speedmonkeycouk Oooh a Realm Engineering D Type. Lovely car to see on the road, loud?
— Jorge Orwell (@Jorge_orwell) November 26, 2013

Pretty good Jorge!

Article by Matt Hubbard

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Spotted - Rolls Royce Wraith: A Snip At £319,000

Rolls Royce launched the Wraith in March 2013, with a base price of £215,000.  I was at the UK launch - it's a damn fine looking automobile and the interior is sublime.

The Wraith has been a sales success.  It is hand built in the company's Goodwood factory alongside the Phantom II and Ghost.  The price is pretty reasonable given what goes into building a Rolls.

As such waiting lists have started to build, and have reached 7 months in some markets.

For those of us in the UK with pots of cash and a burning desire to own a Wraith an independent supercar dealer in Preston is selling one for £318,760.

It comes with just 13 miles on the clock (put on the car by Rolls Royce themselves on the test route around Goodwood) and has a ton of options including a bespoke audio system, Rolls Royce logos on the headrests, a boot that opens when you wiggle your foot under the bumper, a sunroof (that doesn't open(?)) and all sorts of posh bits and pieces that rich people like.

So, if you can't wait for a new Rolls Royce Wraith head up to Lancashire and pay £103,000 more than the list price for the privilege of owning a rather handsome slice of British (and some German) engineering.

You can find the advert here.

Article by Matt Hubbard

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Spotted - £30k-odd sportscars, which would you buy?

Graham King needs some theoretical car buying advice.

In a parallel universe somewhere, I have £30k-£40k to spend on a daily-driver sportscar. I want a manual gearbox, a 0-60mph time of five seconds or less and powerslides on demand. The choice is mind-boggling. Where would your money go?

Aston Martin V8 Vantage One for sale

Engine: 4282cc V8 Power: 380bhp 0-60mph: 4.9secs Top speed: 175mph

Pros

Gorgeous outside and in.

Sublime handling.

Surprisingly practical.

It’s an Aston.

Cons
Doesn’t feel all that fast.
Very wide.
Bit of a WAG’s car.
Useless sat nav.

Audi R8 4.2 V8 One for sale

Engine: 4163cc V8 Power: 414bhp 0-60mph: 4.5secs Top speed: 187mph

Pros

Four-wheel-drive security.

Very comfortable and refined.

It’ll never break.
Open-gated gearlever.

Cons
A lot of tastelessly modified ones about.
Spec can be a bit stingy.
Gigantic blind spots.
Do you really want an Audi?

BMW M3 4.0 V8 One for sale

Engine: 3999cc V8 Power: 414bhp 0-60mph: 4.6secs Top speed: 155mph

Pros

Gloriously driftable chassis.

Searing engine and slick gearbox.

Your mates can come along.

With their luggage.

Cons
Limited top speed.
Rather plain styling and interior.
Can be hard work on long journeys.
Would cost a lot in rear tyres.

Honda NSX One for sale

Engine: 3179cc V6 Power: 276bhp 0-60mph: 5.5secs Top speed: 170mph

Pros

Masterpiece of an engine.

Senna-tuned handling.

Unburstable reliability.  
Telling people you drive a Honda.

Cons
Least quick of this group.
Terrible interior.
20-odd year-old design.
Ride quality.

Lotus Evora One for sale

Engine: 3456cc V6 Power: 276bhp 0-60mph: 4.8secs Top speed: 163mph

Pros

Trademark epic handling.

Great ride.

Toyota engine should be reliable.

It might do 30mpg.

Cons
Not much space.
Questionable build quality.
Nasty aftermarket entertainment system.
Styling not all that exciting.

Morgan Aero 8 One for sale

Engine: 4398cc V8 Power: 333bhp 0-60mph: 4.4secs Top speed: 160mph

Pros

Seriously quick.

Wonderful craftsmanship.

Massive charisma.

You’ll feel like Biggles.

Cons
Challenging styling.
Ludicrously hard ride.
Tiny boot.
You’ll spend a lot of time defending yourself.

Noble M12 GTO-3R One for sale

Engine: 2967cc V6 Power: 352bhp 0-60mph: 3.7secs Top speed: 170mph

Pros

Extremely quick.

Telepathic handling.

Surprisingly comfortable.

Wastegate woosh.

Cons
Not even slightly practical.
Where would you get parts?
“Doesn’t it have a Mondeo engine?”
Perhaps too racy for everyday use.

Porsche 911 Carrera S One for sale

Engine: 3824cc F6 Power: 350bhp 0-60mph: 4.6secs Top speed: 182mph

Pros

It’s a 911.

Fantastic ride, handling, performance.

Everyday usability.  
The best all-rounder of this group?

Cons
It’s a 911.
Do you really trust the handling?
Spec-sensitive.
Too much bullshit spouted about it.

So that’s the choice. Personally, it would be a toss-up between Aston, Audi and Honda. But which would you buy? Comment or tweet to let us know your thoughts.

Incidentally, though I buy into the ‘many worlds’ theory that suggests there’s an infinite number of universes with an infinite number of Grahams, living an infinite number of different lives, it brings up one crucial question. If it’s true, why am I stuck in this universe, not the one where I have an eleven figure bank balance and I’m married to Mila Kunis?

Article by Graham King

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Five blue-chip 21st Century luxury cars for under £5k

Graham King takes a look at some seriously luxurious motors for five grand.

A while back I showed you four luxury cars you had probably forgotten about that could be bought on the cheap. While researching it I noticed just how cheap proper, blue-chip, 21st Century luxury cars have become.

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Spotted - Porsche Boxster For £3,500

Not just one but lots of Porsche Boxsters are on the market for at or around the £3,500 mark.  The Boxster might be a full-blooded Porsche with fantastic handling and a mid-mounted engine but depreciation has finally made it a cheap car.

Cheap to buy that is.  £3,500 buys a 1997 or 1998 Boxster with service history and upwards of 100,000 miles, but there are plenty of grotters out there being offloaded by unscrupulous dealers getting ready to put on their 'innocent face' when you bring it back with a multitude of problems.

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2016 BMW 5-Series Spy Shots

These are some of the first spy shots of the 2016 BMW 5-Series, as captured by Bild.de

Bild has captured the 2016 BMW 5-Series Touring in all its camouflaged finery.  The chassis is all new and apparently much lighter than the current 5-Series, although the exposed sills appear to be steel.  Jaguar may be stealing a march on it's competitors by using exclusively aluminium chassis'.

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Spotted - Ford Fairlane racing car

Graham King finds a little gem in the classifieds - this week a unique American touring car

Car: Ford Fairlane 427 racer Price: EUR185,000 Where: RMD See it here
Engine: 6997cc (427ci) V8 Power: A lot 0-60mph: Quickly Top speed: Terrifying

European saloon car racing went through a bit of a revolution during the early Sixties. The big-capacity classes were usually dominated by the 3.8-litre Jaguar Mk.2. But in 1961 the British Saloon Car Championship adopted the FIA’s Group 2 rules (as did the European championship when it formed in 1963), which allowed cars with engines over 4000cc to compete. That opened the door to Yank tank V8s.

Ford led this new wave of American muscle. That wave came in the unlikely form of the gargantuan, 17-and-a-bit-foot long Galaxie. These 7-litre behemoths were obviously immensely fast, but getting them to handle properly was a big challenge, but with the likes of John Wilment and Alan Mann working on the problem it was soon solved. It turned out the fairly simple answer was to use two shock absorbers on each wheel.

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Jaguar F-Type Coupe Production Ready Spy Shots - Exclusive

Exclusive Jaguar F-Type Coupe spy shots show the car up close and in detail

These Jaguar F-Type Coupe spy shots are a Speedmonkey exclusive having been spotted by Tash French and photographed by Leah Rebeccah Sadler.

The F-Type Coupe is due to launch on 20 November and so far only a single image has been issued - which you can see here.

This car is a supercharged 5-litre V8 and is registered as being orange, which in Jaguar-speak is Firesand; just like the F-Type convertible we recently tested.

You can see from the rear shots how the waistline of the F-Type looks slimmer due to way the narrowing rear hatch meets the boot.

Stay tuned for the official photos on 20 November.

Article by Matt Hubbard

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Four bargain-basement luxury cars you've probably forgotten about

Graham King finds four luxury cars going cheap, because when they were new they were unfashionable

At the top-end of the market, British car buyers are notorious badge-snobs. The Vauxhall Omega, for instance was a perfectly good car. But it died because the people who traditionally bought big Vauxhalls turned to the Mercedes C-Class, or something similar. Sure the Merc was smaller but it cost about about the same and, crucially, had that three-pointed star on its nose.

Over the years, many manufacturers beyond the German/British/Swedish luxury car mainstream have tried to sell their top-of-the-range wares in the UK and failed miserably. They presented cars that, on paper at least, were perfectly good rivals to the 5-/7-Series. But the lack of an aspirational badge on the boot meant they were doomed to failure even before the start.

There is a side benefit to the snobbery, though. Anyone who was foolish to actually buy one of these own-brand cars saw it depreciate off a cliff. That continues throughout its life and within a relatively short space of time, they can be bought for beer money.

So here are four luxury cars that were new within the last decade and can now be bought for less than £4,000.

Car: 2005 Cadillac CTS 2.8 V6 Sports Luxury Price: £3999 See it here
Engine: 2792cc V6 Power: 215bhp 0-60mph: 8.4secs Top speed: 140mph

The CTS turned Cadillac’s declining sales around in the USA, and led a push back into the European market, UK included. The styling certainly stands out in the mid-size German crowd, and the interior isn’t the cheap, hideous mess you might expect. At the time, the big news was its Nurburgring-honed, RWD chassis. The handling is perfectly acceptable but lacks the polish of a European car. The ride is particularly firm, too.

The UK did get a RHD drive version, but if there was any brand recognition at all, it was probably bad. As a result, it sold in penny numbers. This one has just 29,500 miles, comes loaded with kit and looks properly gangsta in black. It needs 20’s though.

Car: 2008 Hyundai Grandeur 3.3 V6 Price: £3484 See it here
Engine: 3342cc V6 Power: 232mph 0-60mph: 7.6secs Top speed: 147mph

It’s understandable if you’ve never heard of the Grandeur. It was only ever available on special order, and I suspect most went to Hyundai’s own dealers and UK execs. It’s certainly a handsome thing, in an inoffensive kinda way, and the interior isn’t the plasticy button-fest you might expect. Though it is rather dark in there. Apparently it’s a decent steer too, despite the Sonata-based, FWD chassis. It turns on command, the body control’s good and the ride’s pleasant.

This one is a little scruffy, but at this price who cares? Maintenance could be tricky, but the engine was sold here in other cars and it’s unlikely to go seriously wrong, anyway. Given the long list of kit, it’s well worth a punt.

Car: Rover 75 2.5 V6 Contemporary SE Price: £3493 See it here
Engine: 2497cc V6 Power: 174bhp 0-60mph: 8.9secs Top speed: 134mph

You’ve probably not forgotten about the 75 and it did sell reasonably well, but it’s a bit maligned these days. Unfairly. I actually had one and rather liked it. It was utterly boring to drive, but it steered accurately and the fairly considerable body roll was well controlled. Much more importantly though, it was supremely comfortable. And the interior was very pleasant. Build quality was more than up to scratch, too - it always did well in the JD Power survey - though the 1.8 engine’s head gasket is notoriously fragile.

This one is a late, post-facelift model with all the bells and whistles. With only 39,000 miles it shouldn’t present any particular problems. Electrical gremlins can crop up, though. I rather like it.

Car: Toyota Camry 3.0 V6 CDX Price: £3995 See it here
Engine: 2995cc V6 Power: 184bhp 0-60mph: 8.8secs Top speed: 140mph

The Camry is best known in the UK these days as the car that donates its engine to the Lotus Exige and Evora. It still sells in vast quantities in America, but you probably didn’t know it was still on sale here as recently as 2004. Not that anyone was buying it. It is very comfortable, superbly refined and unimpeachably reliable. But it’s as dull as plain porridge. And to prove the point, I have literally nothing else to say about it.

This one has 72,000 miles, it’s blue and the interior’s grey. Erm, I refer you to my previous point.

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Spotted - Mitsubishi Evo 6 & Lancia Delta Integrale

Graham King finds a little gem in the classifieds - this week a double feature with two icons of Nineties rallying

The Lancia Integrale and Mitsubishi Evo both dominated the World Rally Championship at different ends of the Nineties. The Lancia took three Manufacturers’ titles between 1990 and ‘92, while Juha Kankunen won the Drivers’ crown in ‘91. Various versions of the Mitsubishi powered Tommi Makinen to four consecutive Drivers’ titles from ‘96 to ‘99, with a Makes’ award in ‘98. Both are now bona-fide modern classics. Here’s an exceptional example of each, both at 4Star Classics.

Car: Lancia Delta HF Integrale Evolution Verde York Edition Price: £22,995

Engine: 1995cc, 4-cylinder, turbocharged Power: 210bhp 0-60mph: 5.5secs Top speed: 137mph

You probably don’t need me to tell you how the Lancia Delta Integrale came to be, but here’s a re-cap just in case. When the FIA banned the monstrous Group B cars from the World Rally Championship at the end of the 1986 season, most manufacturers were caught on the back foot for the upcoming Group A rules.

The new regulations stipulated a 2-litre, turbocharged engine and four-wheel-drive. Lancia already had such a car in development - the HF 4WD. It was a bit crude and had some pretty fundamental limitations - they couldn’t fit big brakes, for one. But continuous development (the Integrale was introduced in 1988) and a lack of serious rivals meant Lancia achieved an as-yet unbeaten run of six Manufacturers’ championships from 1987 to 1992.

By the start of the Nineties though, Lancia was facing increasingly stiff competition from Toyota with the much more up-to-date Celica GT-Four. Lancia’s fightback came in the form of the Integrale Evolution, with its huge, boxy wheelarches, increased power and more advanced technology.

The great thing about the Group A rules was that manufacturers had to produce a closely-related road-going version of the rally car. All the Integrale road cars had been fantastic, but the Evolution was arguably one of the greatest driver’s cars of the Nineties. With its four-square stance and sub-four meter length, the Evo had incredibly keen, agile handling. And although 210bhp doesn’t sound much now, it was more than enough leave supercars for dead on a twisting country road.


4Star Classics’ Integrale is one of 200 Verde York edition cars built. I generally prefer Italian cars in dark colours and this shade of York green (geddit?) is just stunning. As are the gigantic, beige leather bucket seats (we’ll ignore the properly crap dashboard). And let’s not forget those iconic, 17-inch Compomotive wheels. It’s got a fair few miles, but the history looks cast-iron. 23 grand seems fair money for a hugely desirable car.

Car: Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI Price: £14,995

Engine: 1997cc, 4-cylinder, turbocharged Power: 276bhp 0-60mph: 4.4secs Top speed: 150mph

Mitsubishi had been active in rallying since the Seventies. Its cars were never really in contention for WRC wins, but had success in Africa, including a single WRC-level Safari Rally victory. The Eighties brought an unsuccessful attempt at Group B with the Starion, but things started to get serious with Group A and the Galant VR-4.

The Galant was too big and heavy to be a serious threat, but it still picked up a handful of victories. By ‘93 Mitsubishi needed a new car and the smaller, lighter, more advanced Lancer Evolution was it. By ‘96 it became a championship-winner in its third generation and the Evo 4, 5 and 6 followed suit. Incidentally, it’s worth pointing out that from ‘97 the production-based, Group A Evos beat the new prototype-formula WRC-spec cars.

As ever with Group A cars, a road-going version of the rally car had to be produced. And as with the Integrale Evo, the Lancer Evos were some of the greatest driver’s cars ever. Of the ten generations that have been produced however, the Evo 6 is widely regarded as the best.

It’s easy to see why. With its active centre diff and active yaw control, the Evo 6 had simply staggering levels of grip. And fantastic handling to go with it. Power was officially given as 276bhp as per Japanese rules, but it was probably more - a 0-60mph time of just 4.4 seconds testifies to that. Even more impressive was the 0-100mph time of 11.2 seconds. But if anything the brakes were even better - it could do 0-100-0 in little more than 15 seconds. Fortunately the forces it produced were just about strong enough to make you forget the ugliness of the exterior and the nastiness of the interior.

Earlier Evos weren’t as sophisticated, and later ones became a bit bloated and over-complicated. And the 6 was the first to be officially imported to the UK, which will always lend it a certain cachet. The example at 4Star Classics is an original UK-supplied car, of which there are relatively few. Even rarer is the rather lovely Reims Blue colour.

15 grand is a lot for an Evo 6, until you realise that this one has just 20,000 miles. Which means it’s still brand new. So that’s £15k for a brand new car that can probably embarrass even recent Ferraris on a Welsh mountain road. That’s the bargain of the century, surely.

Article by Graham King

Check out Graham's Facebook page, Headboltz, here.

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Spotted - Citroen DS ‘Le Dandy’ by Henri Chapron

Graham King finds a little gem in the classifieds - this week, a unique and rather beautiful Citroen DS coupe.

Car: Citroen DS21 ‘Le Dandy’ Coupe by Chapron, Price: EUR129,500, Where: The Gallery Brummen

Engine: 2175cc, 4-cylinder, Power: 109bhp, Torque: 121lb/ft, Top speed: 109mph (DS21 saloon)
In the classic car world ‘rare’ is a relative term. A Jaguar E-Type is rare to most people as it is hardly an everyday sight. But there are several thousand of them in the UK alone, which is a lot in classic car terms. Even the Ferrari 250 GTO is actually quite common, $50 million price tag or not, since 39 of those were built and many are still in regular use.

To qualify as properly rare, a classic car has to exist in numbers you can count on your fingers. On that basis, this Citroen DS ‘Le Dandy’ is the rarest of the rare because it is literally unique. It is the only one of its kind and you will never find another. We’ll come back to why that’s the case, but first some context.

We all know how much of a stir the Citroen DS caused when it was launched in 1955. It was so advanced in engineering and styling that it may as well have arrived from another planet. It is still astonishingly beautiful and some of its innovations have only recently become widespread - headlamps that swivel with the steering, for instance.

Henri Chapron was one of France’s best coachbuilders during the middle part of the 20th Century. He rose to prominence during the Twenties, bodying French luxury cars from the likes of Talbot and Delage. His creations were always undeniably beautiful and relatively restrained - the work of his contemporaries Figoni & Falaschi was operatically flamboyant in comparison.

Most of France’s luxury car makers didn’t survive World War II, taking the coachbuilders that relied on them with them. But Chapron survived, at least in part thanks to the Citroen DS. Despite having a monocoque chassis its body panels and roof were unstressed, so making radical changes to its styling didn’t require any complicated structural work.

Chapron’s best known interpretation of the DS is the coveted ‘Decapotable’ convertible. He built nearly 400, many unique in their detailing, before Citroen contracted him to produce an official version. He also built various DS-based limousines for French presidents and several coupes, of which the ‘Le Dandy’ was one variation.

Chapron built around 50 Le Dandys. The Gallery Brummen’s is one of only two that were built in 1966 and, as with so many of Chapron’s creations, it is unique in its detailing. The main difference is a higher roofline, which frees up more interior space and apparently makes it a genuine four-seater. But given the lack of any rear quarter glass, it’s probably rather claustrophobic in the back anyway.

This particular Le Dandy isn’t quite as pretty as some others I’ve seen, though it is still a hugely desirable object. And a very usable object at that. With its 109bhp, 2175cc four-pot engine, it should be more than capable of keeping up with modern traffic while you luxuriate in its smoother-than-silk ride, thanks to the trademark hydropneumatic suspension.

You would need to be a very particular type of character to drive this Le Dandy. Glamorously louche, with a hint of flash, I think. Just the thing for a run down to Cannes. Or maybe Biarritz. With an impossibly pretty girl in the passenger seat. And Prada luggage in the boot. I’m getting carried away, but you get the point…

The DS Le Dandy is slice of French glamour and luxury that transports you back to a time of effortless cool and easy elegance that doesn’t really exist anymore. It is really rather wonderful and I want it. Badly.

Article by Graham King

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Spotted - Sunbeam Venezia by Touring Superleggera

Graham King finds a little gem in the classifieds - this week, a rare Anglo/Italian hybrid you have probably never heard of.

Car: Sunbeam Venezia by Touring Superleggera Price: £25,950 Seller: http://www.sussexsportscars.co.uk

Built: 1963-1966 Engine: 1592cc, 4-cyliner Power: 94bhp (claimed) Top speed: 105mph (claimed) Transmission: 4-speed manual Weight: 1074kg

British motoring history is littered with strange collaborations and missed opportunities. The Sunbeam Venezia was the product of the former and victim of the latter.

The very British Rootes Group didn’t produce the most exciting of cars as the Fifties became the Sixties. The Group built cars under the Hillman, Humber, Singer and Sunbeam marques, all respectably middle-class, but all frankly rather dull.

Enter Italian coachbuilder Touring of Milan. Rootes contracted them to carry out some restyling work for the Sunbeam Alpine sportscar. Around this time Rootes Italia’s boss George Carless (no, really) hit upon the idea of producing a small, two-door sports saloon for the Italian market. He took the idea to Touring and despite some resistance from the UK, the project got going.

The Venezia, as it was eventually called, was classic early-Sixties Touring. The clean lines and wrap-around windscreen were the carrozzeria’s hallmarks and from some angles the Venezia bore a striking resemblance to Touring’s Lancia Flaminia coupe. But at the front, the radiator grille and quad headlamps were clearly related to the Humber Sceptre on which the Venezia was based. The end result was certainly very attractive, but maybe a couple of shades away from being truly pretty.

Naturally the Venezia was built using Touring’s signature Superleggera system of a tubular steel frame clothed in aluminium panels. With its Sceptre underpinnings the chassis wasn’t particularly advanced - independent coil-spring suspension at the front, live-axle on semi-elliptic leaf springs at the rear - but it was least tough and dependable. Mechanically it was unchanged too, which makes the claims about its power and top speed suspect - the Sceptre was rated at 80bhp and around 90mph flat out. The Venezia was at least about 50kg lighter, so acceleration might have been a bit keener.

The Venezia was unveiled in Venice in September 1963, becoming the first car to enter St Mark’s Square in the process. It had been floated there on gondolas but almost didn’t make it as the handbrake had been left off, then it started rolling forward when someone leant on the back.

The press at least liked what they saw, but the Italian public was less keen when the price was announced. It was only slightly less expensive than the V8-engined Sunbeam Tiger and more than a 2.4-litre Jaguar. So it only sold in penny numbers. It later went on sale in the rest of Europe (though not the UK), but it didn’t help matters.

By the middle of the Sixties, both Rootes and Touring were in deep trouble. Mounting losses saw Touring go partly into receivership in 1963, before it finally closed its doors at the end of 1966. Rootes was bought-out by Chrysler in 1969.

Through all this, the Venezia was largely forgotten. It never received the 1725cc engine that became standard across the Rootes range in 1965, so it started to look a bit old-hat. Expensive old-hat at that. Perhaps if it had been cheaper and better developed, it could have taken on the best European sports saloons, but we’ll never know. By the time production ended, around 200 had been built. Only 26 are still known to exist.

The example Sussex Sports Cars is selling looks gorgeous with its blue exterior and blue leather interior. Apparently it sat in a Rootes warehouse in Belgium until it was bought in 1969 and imported to Britain. It is completely original with just 16,000 miles and a huge history file.

Twenty-six grand might sound like a lot for a car no-one has heard of, but for something so rare and genuinely different in such good condition, I’d say it’s something of a bargain.

Article by Graham King

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Spotted - 12 seat LLWB Land Rover Defender

Do you live down a farm track and struggle to get your 10 kids to school in one vehicle? If so Land Rover have built the perfect vehicle for you

On a recent visit to Land Rover's Off-Road Experience in Solihull I spotted these two very special very long wheelbase Defenders