CROSSWORD / NEXT MONTH

Clues across: 4. French carmaker, its main claim to fame came from very successful 1920s sports and racing 1100cc voiturettes (7) 8. Lotus mid- engine sports car of the mid ’60s with its initial power unit being the lightweight Renault 16 engine (6) 9. Popular US racing series that gave its name to a successful Pontiac Firebird V8 coupé (5,2) 10. Honda’s prestige saloon, sold in four generations from 1985 on — never a huge seller but a good car nonetheless (6) 11. Horsepower rating (RAC style) for 3.0- to 3.5-litre cars of the 1920s and ’30s (6) 12. Prestigious US truckmaker, still a leader of the pack after 100 years of success (8) 18. Daimler saloon, its selling price of £1066 in Britain gave it its model name (8) 20. Australian racing driver and constructor, very successful in Aussie racing in the ’60s and ’70s (6) 21. Ford’s 1982–’93 ‘jelly-mould’ saloon — classic variants from the range are the top- end GT, turbo, and competition cars (6) 22. The longbonneted variant of the Mini range, with over half a million sold from 1969 to 1980 (7) 23. Italian version of the Christian name Hector — best known for a certain Monsieur Bugatti (6) 24. The Beach Boys’ Little Deuce Coupe was “ported and relieved, and she’s ------- and bored” (7)

Clues down: 1. British tuning expert (1897–1978), best known for tuning expertise, cylinder-head and engine design from the 1920s through to 1978 (7) 2. V8 coupé built by the UK GT car– specialist Bristol from 1982 to 1994, which ceased production in 2011 after some 63 years of low volume success (7) 3. Italian adjective from the musical world but has been applied to tuned touring cars such as the faster version of the classic Isotta Fraschini in the 1920s (6) 5. This famous Belgian rally starting and finishing at Liége was known as “-------- De La Route” (8) 6. This successful small-to-midsize model range for Mitsubishi included some classic sports saloons (6) 7. Italian performance car and tuning-gear specialist, for many years closely allied with Fiat (6) 13. British kit- car builder, its best-remembered car was the Olympic GT with glass-fibre monocoque body (8) 14. Major part of a vehicle transmission, operating under driver control or automatically to match engine speed and torque to road conditions (7) 15. One of the more successful early alternatives to the gasoline engine automobile was the Stanley ------- (7) 16. French maker of fine sporting and touring cars, active from just after World War I through to 1932, with a successful early ’20s racing history (6) 17. Lamborghini’s super car successor (1990– 2001) to the Countach — just as awesome! (6) 19. Surname of the noted humorous column writer for Wheels magazine in the 1960s to early ’80s (6)

Answers to last month’s crossword Across: 4. Mclaren 8. Naudin 9. Miramas 10. Ardita 11. Estate 12. Diplomat 18. Sting Ray 20. Delage 21. Wraith 22. Mistral 23. Toledo 24. Khamsin Down: 1. Ansaldo 2. Zundapp 3. Diatto 5. Chinetti 6. Abarth 7. Evante 13. Maserati 14. Cruiser 15. Typhoon 16. Zenith 17. Bantam 19. Norton