Size is everything
I CAN FORGIVE YOU if you are having a bit of a Bobby Ewing moment right now, waking up in the shower, rubbing your head and wondering what has happened to the size of your copy of Octane magazine. Again. Well, please allow me to elaborate. It’s fair to say that not every reader embraced last year’s change of size for Octane. While it’s true that some adored the new format – ‘airport friendly’ and ‘classic yet modern’ were a couple of comments that kept cropping up – others felt that the new size diluted the long, indulgent read that they relished luxuriating in.
Well, to those people we say ‘We have listened’ and, having now used up all the paper we pre-ordered in the smaller size, from this issue Octane returns to the format that you will all be more familiar – and hopefully happy – with. If this leaves an unsightly 13-issue wide dip on your bookshelf, sorry. Personally, I am considering fashioning a plinth, or folding some card to even up the peaks and troughs.
So, with the humble pie scoffed, what a great issue to mark our return to form(at). Our cover story, on the uniquely challenging restoration of an ex-Le Mans McLaren F1 Long Tail, is not just a fascinating tale beautifully photographed and presented. For me it epitomises what sets
Octane apart from other magazines. Only we have that level of access to that calibre of car, and long may it continue.
There are plenty of other reminders in this edition of what makes this magazine unique and helps retain its freshness. First there is the Angell Bentley, a car that on the surface might seem like a relatively unremarkable 3½ Litre. Yet this rather wonderful vintage beauty has such a rich history and oozes such astonishing originality that we fell in love with it instantly. And we are sure you will, too.
Similarly, every month we also strive to bring you something different from the wider world of transport. And this issue it is Martin Gurdon learning to drive Colleen the traction engine – well, strictly speaking, she’s a steam tractor. I will never tire of gazing at the photo on pages 114-115. At a blistering 4mph, it probably wasn’t the trickiest Paul Harmer has ever taken.