Classic crossword

Clues across: 7. Abbreviated form of the name of the UK engine builder that supplied Cooper, Lotus, Lola, and others with successful Formula 1, Formula 2 and sports car racing engines (6) 8. Model name for Ford’s MKI Escort performance model commemorating the 1970 World Cup Rally winner (6) 10. To give too much throttle to an engine and make it turn too fast (4-3) 11. Upmarket version of Citroën’s 2CV, using some design input from Panhard after Citroën absorbed that company (5) 12. Brand name used by Standard Oil, discontinued in 1973 in favour of Exxon and Exxon-mobil (4) 13. Successful upmarket model for Toyota, first introduced in 1955 and still in production after 13 distinct series (5) 17. Mid-engined supercar from Lamborghini, with 764 built from 1966 to 1972 (5) 18. Transversely mounted bar or tube on which wheels are mounted (4) 22. When allied with 18 across, this term describes a primitive form of independent suspension, usually applied to the rear of a car but occasionally seen as front suspension 23. In Australasia, a successful brand name for Chrysler Corporation cars through the 1960s and 1970s (7) 24/ 25. Successful Scottish sports car racing team that took Jaguars to successive 24 Hours of Le Mans race wins in 1956 and 1957 (6,6)

Clues down: 1. Basic small-wheeled two-wheeler for mainly round-town use, popularized in Italy by Piaggio and Innocenti (7) 2. Model name for Triumph’s sixcylinder version of the Triumph Herald — nearly but not quite a very good car (7) 3. French engineering company, active and successful in many fields — its classic cars include the Bagheera and Murena (5) 4. British specialist engineering company, its engines powered several classic UK sports cars such as Frazer Nash, Lagonda, Invicta, and Lea-francis (7) 5. British kit car of distant Mini Marcos descent, which, with Gordon Murray’s design input, was an interesting Mini- or Metro-powered sports coupé option (5) 6. Descriptive word for the horizontally opposed cylinder layout used with success by VW, Subaru, and Ferrari, plus many others (5) 9. Extra transmission gear in the drivetrain, offering higher gearing — lower rpm — for a given road speed (9) 14. Vertical or inclined shaft about which a steered front wheel pivots (7) 15. Final stroke of the Otto four-stroke cycle (7) 16. Famous British sports, touring, and luxury car name, its fame came from 24 Hours of Le Mans sports car success in the 1920s (7) 19. Dodge compact car produced for five years in the late 1970s — hard to see it as a classic though! (5) 20. Automatic chassis-lubricating system used on several pre-war vehicles — the company is still around but operating in other engineering fields these days (5) 21. “Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is -----” wrote Henry Ford in his autobiography in 1922 (5)

Answers to September’s crossword Across: 4. Belmont 8. Esprit 9. Bennett 10. Points 11. Turcat 12. Scimitar 18. Puncture 20. Toledo 21. Zoller 22. Bavaria 23. Jensen 24. Fordson Down: 1. Tempest 2. Aprilia 3. Viotti 5. Electron 6. Monaro 7. Nathan 13. Topolino 14. Cutlass 15. Sebring 16. Monaco 17. Herald 19. Cooper