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The Insiders… The BMW 3.0 CSL E9 has always been one of my favourite road cars and I was astonished to see a pristine model for sale at Ј200k recently. I was fortunate enough to have one of the first left-hand-drive models to be delivered. The CSL handled beautifully on the road and on the track, well ahead of its competition. In 1972 I won the 6hr Touring Car race at the Nurburgring driving a Schnitzer 2.8CS with Rolf Stommolen, and I just loved the car. If a car handles well at the ’Ring it will handle well anywhere. When the CSL was announced later that year I knew I had to have one. Through various contacts I was able to secure an early production model, which I planned on picking up from Munich on Zoll plates. On the way there I stopped of in Cologne to see Michael Kranefuss, who’d taken over from Jochen Neerpasch as competition manager at Ford Germany after Jochen moved to BMW. Stuart Turner had suggested to Kranefuss that he take Gerry Birrell and myself on to drive the RS2600 Capris in 1973.

Abandoned Lancia Flaminia project restored. Epic Restoration… The Lancia Flaminia GT which languished, rusting, for two decades before a marque specialist worked its magic to resurrect it. Resurrecting a rare Touringbodied Lancia after 20 years of rot and neglect. ‘We had to skin it like a rabbit to get it done properly’ Lancia only made a dozen right-hand-drive Flaminia GTs, so Martin Clife snapped up this stripped, corroded example as a rarity. Two decades on, the restoration finally began. Words Nigel Boothman. Photography Charlie Magee.

Six steps to buying a Porsche 928. A Porsche within realistic reach? Yes, but this grand tourer is also mightily complex. Words Paul Hardiman. Photography John Colley.

Life Cycle The life story of a Citroën CX GTi This Citroën has hauled a family around, shared a garage with supercars, and gone from concours to barn find and back via some unusual twists of fate Words Sam Dawson. Photography Alex Tapley.