Ford Motor Company Bring Back Group 5 Mk1 Escort & Group B RS200 With The Help Of Boreham Motorworks
Ford have granted a licence to Boreham Motorworks, a division of the DVRN Automotive Group, to produce new versions of not just the Mk1 Escort
AMG Mercedes 560 SEC 6.0 Widebody Bonhams Auction
The Mercedes 560 SEC AMG 6.0 Widebody was one of my favourite cars when I was young. Not because I’d seen one, I don’t recall seeing a standard 560 SEC, but I had a toy one and that was important. Mine was white and had AMG written on it, capturing all the 1980s excesses in the best way. The black interior and obvious body kit stood out under the plain paint colour. I thought it was amazing even thought I knew nothing about it. I thought it was better than my Ferrari 308, which I did know about.
Ok, so my toy one was small and lacked detail, certainly not as nice as this example Bonhams just sold. Mine was cheaper though.
The AMG version of the 560 SEC was launched in 1986, which is about when I got my small one. The ultimate AMG car as it was then probably still is now. It wasn’t just performance modifications; they worked the body too. The interior being quite restrained in contrast with just a smaller AMG leather steering wheel to let you know what you have.
Back then AMG were a completely independent tuning house, so they did all the work to the standard 560 they bought in. No collaboration with Mercedes until 1993 with the C36 AMG. By 1999 when they had a 51% stake in the company. By 2005 they had bought the rest and AMG went in house.
The car you see here was the top lot for the Bonhams MPH March sale made £146,250, quite a lot of money. But back in 1989 this car would have been something like £115,000. Allowing for inflation this in theory would be close to £300,000 today.
This was quite a high performance car in its time. At launch the 385hp V8 engine grand tourer could hit 60 in less than 6 seconds and top 177 mph. The styling is what really made it stand out, there is a somewhat elegant look to it, but it certainly screams performance. What you couldn’t see as easily was the modifications to the engine under the bonnet. The enlargement from 5.6 to 6 litres and with the AMG DOHC cylinder heads doubled the torque output at half the engine revs. Coupled to the Mercedes automatic transmission, which was pretty tall geared meant that the 0-60 time was very impressive. Once rolling the acceleration was much stronger than those figures suggest.
The sale example was a German supplied car from new, delivered to a Munich dealership. Imported into the UK in 2017 by the vendor and kept virtually unused in a private collection.
I would obviously love a real one, but I really wish I still had the toy from all those years ago.
The VW Golf At 50 Years Old
Europe’s number 1 selling car the VW Golf has reached 50 years old this year, starting production on the 29th of March 1974. In
Ford’s Heritage Vault Makes The Ford Times Magazine Available To The Public
Ford’s expansion through the early 20th century was something to behold, the rapid growth of the company and the success of the Model T led
The Audi 50 At 50, Germany’s First Small Car
The Audi 50 that was the basis for the VW Polo is now 50. The small car was developed ahead of the oil crisis of
The Best Things Happen In An English Shed, Especially The Tyrrell Shed At Goodwood
The Tyrrell Shed once home of the World Championship winning Tyrrell Formula 1 team has been relocated to Goodwood and is set to open for
A 1973 Ferrari 246 Dino From The Manager Of Rock Legends Led Zeppelin Sold At Auction
Something of a piece of rock and roll history went for sale with the auction of Led Zeppelin manager Peter Grant’s old Ferrari 246 Dino