Fast Car February 2021

IT’S HELLO FROM ME... AND GOODBYE FROM HIM... If you didn’t see last month’s mag, or if you simply skipped past this boring bit and got stuck into all the magnificent metal located elsewhere in this fine publication, then you wouldn’t have read Jules’ editor’s letter, and you may be wondering: “Who’s this at the front of my favourite mag?” Well, I’m Dan and I’ve taken over from the big man who usually steers the good ship Fast Car, as he has moved on become a big cheese in the publishing world. He’ll still be popping his head in from time-to-time and you will still be able to see his grinning mug on our Fast Car TV YouTube channel, so hopefully the withdrawal symptoms will not be too severe. As…

It’s only January and, if the latest crop of bonkers supercars are anything to go by, 2021 already looks set to be a wild year for car nuts! And there’s something for everyone too. Whether you like to get your petrol-fuelled adrenaline hit from driving on the street, the track or even off-road, there’s a suitable squillion-pound supercar out there with your name on it. We’ve picked our favourite three that we’d have in our dream garage to be able to burn rubber whatever the weather… or terrain. 1. ROAD – Hennessey Venom F5 Built to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Texas-based tuning outfit Hennessey, the 300mph+ Venom F5 is the firm’s latest and greatest creation. Priced at a cool $2.1 million dollars (excluding taxes and shipping!), just 24 ultra-exclusive…

These are words I didn’t expect and certainly wished I’d never have to write, but it’s with great sadness that I announce that Ricky Parker-Morris passed away last month. Tricky, as he’s known in these pages, will need no introduction to old-school readers, as he was the magazine’s main photographer and technical writer from the mid-nineties until the late noughties. For the new school? Well, just mention his name in car culture circles and you’ll be blessed with smiles and stories. I first met Trick back in 2002 when he came into Fast Car HQ to shoot the products. Being an aspiring photographer and long-time reader of the magazine, he was somewhat of an idol of mine, and I was genuinely nervous to meet him. Did I need to be?…

When you think of tyre-shredding performance saloons most of us get images of brutish Bavarian autobahn blasters springing to mind. Cars like BMW’s brawny M5 or Mercedes understated yet ballistic E55 AMG. But the obvious kraut cruisers aren’t the only options for obliterating the national speed limit or scorching the asphalt of your favourite circuit – for the more discerning hoonigans out there, such as Dale Masterman, the marketing mogul of detailing gurus Meguiar’s, there is another, more elegant choice, one that hails from our own green and pleasant shores. “To many people, the Jaguar S-Type is seen as a bit of an old man’s car,” laughs 32-year-old Dale. “The sort of thing you see wafting around the countryside on a sunny weekend with a grey-haired driver clad in string-backed…

The manual conversion isn’t the only clever box of tricks on Dale’s S-Type, as the JVC KW-M565DBT headunit is a smart as they come too. Not only does the double DIN touchscreen unit provide crystal clear music streamed directly from Dale’s smartphone to the car’s uprated speakers and slimline subwoofer system, but it can also tap into the parameters of the aftermarket ECU, allowing a host of features to be accessed directly from the unit, or via Dale’s phone. How cool is that!?…

ENGINE 4.2-litre, 8-cyl, 32v supercharged V8, custom hardpipe induction kit with Pipercross cone filter, uprated injectors, custom stainless steel exhaust system, Maxx racing ECU PERFORMANCE 500bhp+ 500lb ft+ TRANSMISSION 6-speed ZF manual gearbox conversion from a diesel S-Type, custom billet clutch and flywheel SUSPENSION Two-way custom racing suspension developed by Bilstein UK with Eibach springs BRAKES Standard calipers with uprated TarOx F2000 discs and pads WHEELS & TYRES 9x19in (front) and 10x19in (rear) custom Image wheels with 265/35/19 Nankang AR1 tyres (front) and 275/35/19 Nankang AR1 tyres (rear) EXTERIOR Full respray in British Racing Green with additional green pearl, gloss black mirrors, rear spoiler delete, badge delete, smooth bumpers, racing number in grill, custom rear arches using wider front wings, rear door handle delete, red tinted rear light clusters, custom…