GB
  
You are currently viewing the United Kingdom version of the site.
Would you like to switch to your local site?
LESS THAN 1 MIN READ TIME

Running on Empty

A career soldier and a born adventurer and explorer, Guy Deacon was barely 50 when, by then a colonel in the British Army, he was diagnosed with the incurable and crippling disease Parkinson’s. This account of his life before and after the diagnosis focuses on his attempt to drive 18,000 miles single-handedly from the UK and through Africa in aVW camper – soon to be televised as a Channel 4 documentary – both to challenge himself and to raise awareness of the disease. A gritty account that pulls no punches, it’s immensely inspiring without ever dipping into self-pity.

Unlock this article and much more with
You can enjoy:
Enjoy this edition in full
Instant access to 600+ titles
Thousands of back issues
No contract or commitment
Try for 99p
SUBSCRIBE NOW
30 day trial, then just £9.99 / month. Cancel anytime. New subscribers only.


Learn more
Pocketmags Plus
Pocketmags Plus

This article is from...


View Issues
Octane
May 24
VIEW IN STORE

Other Articles in this Issue


EDITOR’S WELCOME
The lengths we’ll go to
ASTON PARROTT MORE OFTEN THAN we would probably
FEATURING
JOSH SWEENEY ‘The BMW-Glas V8 has a distinctive
REGULARS
IGNITION
EVENTS + NEWS + OPINION
COMING UP…
Up and down the land, classics are coming out of hibernation to take part in rallies, tours, outdoor shows and race meets
Marcello Gandini b.1938
Octane’s Massimo Delbò – who met the maestro many times – pays tribute to a car design legend who passed away on 13 March
Dream GTO destination
Ferrari reveals special anniversary tour
NEWS FEED
London show gearing up There will be a
Your invitation to Sir Stirling Moss’s memorial service
100 Octane readers will be at Westminster Abbey in May
Arturo Keller
One of the world’s greatest car collectors, Arturo
Brian Angliss
Likely to be remembered as much for his
The devil all the time
For 20 years Peter Dietsch has been making supercars really earn their keep
Unhibernating a classic
It’s that tricky time of year: bit of
Lewis James
Third-generation CEO of family business Brian James Trailers, renowned for its high-quality enclosed car transporters
JAY LENO
The Collector
DEREK BELL
The Legend
STEPHEN BAYLEY
The Aesthete
ROBERT COUCHER
The Driver
Of Volvos and V8s
Letter of the month IN STEPHEN BAYLEY ’S
From six to two in seven
1971 SAAB 96 V4 & 1996 SUBARU IMPREZA TURBO
Going ‘modern’
1924 SUNBEAM 14/40 & 1926 DELAGE DISS
Coventry motor panelled
1965 TRIUMPH 2.5 PI
Doing it anyway
2004 BMW Z4 3.0i ROBERT HEFFERON IT WAS
The Porsche is all-white
1973 PORSCHE 911 2.7 RS DELWYN MALLETT HIP,
The off-road supercar: take 1
Other interesting cars we’ve been driving
The off-road supercar: take 2
2023 PORSCHE 911 DAKAR
Old World gameplay
2003 BENTLEY CONTI NENTAL R MULLINER
A bit more S in this SUV
2024 RANGE ROVER SPORT SV
John Henry Knight
He built the UK’s first petrol-powered ‘car’ – and promptly racked up the UK’s first motoring offence
The shipping container
It would take a train 44 miles long to transport a modern container ship’s load
Streatley on Thames, BERKSHIRE
Streatley is one of Berkshire’s most sought-after village
Why Omega’s Chronostop deser ves more love
Membership of a more iconic subgroup of Omegas might have made this watch significantly more valuable
Heuer 980.013
Great heritage, that ‘certain something’, and a bargain too
PH 3½ -2½ TABLE L AMP BY LOUIS POULSEN
In the autumn of 1925, workers were racing
VW BEETLE AND K ARMANN GHIA PRINTS BY MA XIMAGION
After completing his studies, graphic designer and petrolhead
908 T-SHIRT BY DEUS EX MACHINA
The Porsche 908/01 won few races but, for
SHWOOD x IRON & RESIN KENNEDY CITY GL ASSES
These handsome specs were designed to tick all
BL AUPUNKT POSTER BY HERVÉ MORVAN
In the years after World War Two, Blaupunkt
LEGO MCL AREN MP4/4
Ayrton Senna’s mount from 1988 is the latest
ROUTEMASTER THROW
The AEC Routemaster celebrates its 70th birthday this
McLaren, the Road Cars 2010-2024
KYLE FORTUNE, Schiffer Publishing, £59.99, ISBN 978 0 764367 31 1
Pontiac Firebird, the Auto-Biography
MARC CRANSWICK, Veloce, £35, ISBN 978 1 787118 04 1
Figoni on Delahaye
RICHARD ADATTO with DIANA MEREDITH, Dalton Watson Fine Books, £210, ISBN 978 1 956309 13 3
Jim Clark: Life at Team Lotus
PETER DARLEY, Coterie Press, 2007, value £250
The Complete Catalogue of the Austin Seven
JAMES TAYLOR, Herridge & Sons, £37.50, ISBN 978 1 914929 07 6
A Life in Porsche 911
FRANÇOIS BOUET, Les Cahiers de l’Edition, £70, ISBN 978 2 958602 32 1
1967 FERRARI 330 P4
1:18 scale
ACTION MAN JEEP
WORDS: ANDREW RALSTON IMAGE: VECTIS AUCTIONS
Record Florida sales results
…as RM Sotheby’s and Broad Arrow Auctions go head-to-head
2007 Aston Martin V8 Vantage
Broad Arrow Auctions, Amelia Island, Florida
AUCTION TRACKER PORSCHE 911 GT2 (993)
Handbuilt from 1995 to ’98 as a hardcore
Scheckter’s Championship winner
RM Sotheby’s, Monaco
One of a kind
Bonhams, Monaco
QUICK GLANCE
1997 Vauxhall Vectra SuperTouring 24V Manor Park
ALSO LOOK OUT FOR…
In 1916 the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company
AUCTION DIARY
Please confirm details with auction houses before travelling
1952 Jaguar C-type
POA from Fiskens, London, UK
Maserati Quattroporte IV
Often overlooked, so now is the time to re-assess this Italian rarity
Dean Butler
American entrepreneur who revolutionised high-street opticians in the US, then did the same in the UK by founding Vision Express
FEATURES
FLAMIN’ BRILLIANT!
This is the most extensive ever road test of the fire-breathing Schuppan-Porsche 962 CR. Octane puts Dickie Meaden behind the wheel of a road-legal, race-bred unicorn
Vern’s road racer
Back in the day, Ray Hutton had unique access to the inside story of Schuppan’s 962 LM and 962 CR road cars
Original Aussie grit…
There’s more to the man behind our cover car than meets the eye
Only the BRAVE
This monstrous Fiat 130HP was driven to victory by Felice Nazzaro in the 1907 French Grand Prix. Massimo Delbò dons his goggles and gathers his courage
Oliver Gavin
Le Mans’ own ‘Mr Corvette’, 51-time class-winning endurance racer Oliver Gavin has given up the driving seat to teach others how to follow in his tyre-tracks
The Hills are alive with the sound of …
…a big-block Chevy V8 stuffed inside a flamed ’32 Ford hot rod. Mark Dixon is given a tour of Beverly Hills by long-time resident (and even-longer hot rod enthusiast) Bruce Meyer
THE JOY OF
From its brand-new post-war home in Crewe, Bentley redefined itself with the prescient MkVI sports saloon. Glen Waddington drives the desirable HJ Mulliner six-light version
I’d drive 1000 miles for a camel…
Incredible scenery, superb roads, star drivers: join Robert Coucher for an unforgettable Arabian odyssey on the 1000 Miglia Experience UAE
UNSUNG HERO
Join Octane at Monsanto Park, Portugal, to drive the ex-Manuel Nogueira Pinto 1961 Jaguar E-type racer – the most successful of its era Words Richard Heseltine Photography Luis Duarte Archive images Edições Vintage Archive
THE GLAS CEILING
The zenith of car production by BMW’s near-neighbour could have been the flagship for all of Bavaria, says James Elliott
ADVERTISEMENT
Doris does Monaco
1954 DAIMLER CONQUEST
Chat
X
Pocketmags Support