Fast Car

Sayonara. Auf wiedersehen. Caio. Au revoir. Goodbye. However you want to say it, this is certainly the end of an era. The last ever issue of Fast Car magazine. The magazine that started off a modified movement way back in 1987, that has weathered the storms that have sunken lesser titles along the way, and has stood as a unwavering talisman for modified car culture for over three decades, has finally come to an end. I’m sure a lot of regular readers will be shocked at the news, but the truth is that print is a tough mistress that’s getting harder every day. Sad times. On the flipside though, there is some good news, as although your favourite paper-based modified magazine is to be no more, all the cool car…

There’s an undeniable quality to the ethos of Rolls-Royce. That’s a point which is barely even worth making, we all know this – a company whose sole aim throughout its history has been to make the best cars in the world has created a brand image that speaks for itself. You can see why BMW wanted a piece of that action, buying out the company in 2003 and building a fresh new factory at Goodwood to continue the legacy in style. Just twenty Rolls-Royces are built each day at Goodwood, a carefully considered figure to balance exclusivity with volume demand. Every Roller in the world is built there, with 35% going to China, 35% to the US, quite a lot to the Gulf states… and every single one is the…

Within BMW circles (and broadly without as well), the S54 engine is kind of a big deal. The E46 M3’s S54B32 is essentially a development of the 330ci double-VANOS M54 motor, upgraded with a lightweight crank and graphite-coated aluminium pistons to allow it to rev to 8,000rpm. It has individual throttle bodies and drive-by-wire, and peak power of 343bhp arrives at 7,900rpm. As is characteristic of nat-asp sixes of this era, the torque is relatively low at 269lb ft, although this peaks at 4,900rpm so it’s very exploitable. Which is exactly what you want in a drift car.…

That’s right readers, unfortunately the digital world has finally caught up with the analogue world of a paper-based Fast Car product. The good news is, the brand lives on, for more information about that turn to page 130, but before you do, put your rose-tinted glasses on and let us take you for a trip down memory lane! I’m not crying, you’re crying! The 1980s was a great time for car culture, legends like the Ferrari F40, Sierra RS Cosworth and Audi Quattro were born. It was also the era that the hot hatch really took off with the likes of the Golf GTi, Fiesta XR2, Peugeot 205 GTi, Astra GTE and Renault 5 GTT. It was this movement of affordable performance cars, and the instinct of petrolheads all over…

1) Let’s start right at the beginning, with the first ever Fast Car cover! Who thinks we should go back to having cover men instead of cars then? No? Us neither. 2) Wheels were a big deal 30 years ago and that hasn’t changed today. 3) It wasn’t until issue 4 that we decided to have a dedicated cover car, and here it is, a rather mint Mk1 Escort. 4) In April 1990 Gravett & Gollop joined Team Fast Car. I’m not sure why we didn’t do a dedicated cover when Midge joined in August 2004? Anyway, we’re off to recruit Max and Lewis! 5) Five years on from the first issue and it was all about the Chevette Showdown. It’s about time we did another Chevette special – it’s…

IAN STRACHAN, AKA MONO “I edited Fast Car for three years, but it was my life for the best part of a decade. I have so many memories of my time there it’s impossible to highlight just one, but a lot of those memories are focussed on one place, Bruntingthorpe. Bruntingthorpe is a raggedy old ex-RAF base 11 miles south of Leicester. The 4.2 mile loop was covered in loose stones that could destroy a paint job in minutes, but at just under two miles long, the runway was the perfect place to rag the shit out of your car. We purchased some high-tech timing equipment to calculate acceleration and top speed figures, which was like opening a donut shop next to a police station; people were queuing up for…