Octane magazine is celebrating its third birthday. The anniversary issue no. 18/2015 is now available from newsagents and contains the best of all 18 issues, as well as many new and interesting articles.
Let There Be Rock
How do you transform a production car into a racer that shows everyone the exhaust pipe on the racetrack? Quite simple: reduce weight, increase performance - and of course improve every detail. The report compares the Ford Capri with the BMW 3.5 CSL.
An eerie story from another time
Tatra is actually known as a manufacturer of military and commercial vehicles that stop at nothing. But chief designer Hans Ledwinka always went his own way and in 1934 he created his masterpiece with the T87.
Targa Florio
It couldn't go on forever: The 72-kilometer circuit was tough and dangerous. For men without nerves. In the cockpits as well as among the spectators who lined the track instead of the crash barriers. The article tells the story of the mother of all Italian road races until the final end of the race on public roads.
There is also an interview with Helmut Marko, who set the lap record at the Targa Florio one year after his Le Mans victory and still holds it today.
Man, Mountain & Machine
The surrounding mountains of the Grossglöckner massif tremble as soon as the 5.6-litre engine in the Mercedes Silver Arrow warms up. Austria's first international hill climb started in 1939 and a revival will take place there in September 2015 to celebrate the road's 80th birthday. The article looks back at the entire history since the start of the hill climb.
Big Black Mäc
"Be cool. Be brave. Die young." is the surefire recipe for turning a car into a hero. Ferrari and Maserati have shown the way. With the M6B customer racer, Bruce McLaren also laid the foundations for the production of exceptional sports cars at the end of the 1960s.
Rod Stewart
"The feeling of owning your first car is like nothing else." You can think what you like about Rod Stewart - but when a working-class boy gets to the point where he can choose his models, he must be clever or smart. Or both. In the Stopover report, you get the chance to see his side of things.
The miracle of Spaninen
Shortly after the Second World War, the Spanish government-backed commercial vehicle manufacturer ENASA presented a genuine super sports car - the Pegaso Z-102. Today, no one knows exactly how many of these were built. But whether there were 80, 90 or over 100 - it is not all that often that you see an example of the Spanish sports car. The brand was and still is a mystery, exotic and in any case undervalued.
Japan Special
In 1964, Japan was the talk of the town. It was the year of the Summer Olympics in Tokyo and on this occasion Japan wanted to offer the world a festival of technical creativity. The book "Car Design Asia" describes exactly what it was like when the car industry in the Far East systematically revved up and got going.
Hans-in-luck
The portrait of Hans Herrmann begins a journey through the life of "Hans-in-luck". Hans Herrmann has had both luck and success in his life on the racetrack. The statistics of his racing career are too extensive to be listed, but the now almost 90-year-old also has a lot to tell.
In the footsteps of Goethe
Even more than 200 years after Goethe's trip to Italy, it is still the most popular vacation destination of all. The Auszeit special takes up the theme of traveling & racing. This proved to be a particularly charming combination and the many pictures put us in a vacation mood. Recommended for imitation!
