Motoring at the Manor

Celtic Manor classic fest blends concours finery and raucous rally action

Bizarre Martin F1-engined special surfaces for the first time

The inaugural Motoring at the Manor, held at the Celtic Manor golf resort in Newport, South Wales, combined a concours lawn on one side of the River Usk with a rally stage on the other. Attractions included some vintage-style stunners, including a one-off with a Formula One heart.

Charlton ‘MG’ Special

‘It’s the first time it’s ever been shown,’ said John Nutt of the unusual Charlton ‘MG’ Spyder-martin Special sports car for sale with his firm, Nutts Performance Classics.

‘It’s a bit misleading in a way – it’s badged as an MG, but only because it needed an identity for the DVLA. In reality there’s no MG in it – one of our customers, the late Alan Charlton, had it constructed around a Ted Martin V8, which was used in some 1966 non-championship F1 races, fitted to a modified Lotus 35. The engine wasn’t very successful in its original application, but it’s still a genuine F1 powerplant in a road car!

‘Charlton mounted it in the front of a Lotus Elan chassis, and mated it to a ZF five-speed gearbox and an Atlas rear axle, as used by some Ford rally cars. The bodywork is bespoke, created by an ex-aston Martin engineer in the late Eighties.

‘Sadly, Charlton died before it could be completed, so its various elements sat unseen in his garage for a very long time. We were approached and asked to finish it and get it on the road so it could be sold – this is the first time its engine has powered a car since 1967.’