VINTAGE PORTO

Akangaroo hop, accompanied by a detonation of sound. The hotted-up flathead V8 sounds angry; a prior briefing had outlined the car’s predilection for thermal radiation, a problem in period, and even the later addition of a cooling fan only does so much. To keep it happy, you need to be moving at quite a lick. Except we’re inching our way along kidney-rattling cobblestones. And roadworks lie ahead. Joy.

Once past the men wearing hi-vis jackets and looks of bewilderment, all doubts that this was a bad idea dissolve in floods of adrenaline. The road ahead is now paved with smooth asphalt, and poor impulse control prompts a less-thangentle prod of the throttle pedal. What follows is the rush of excitement, the absolute surrender that occurs when you get behind the wheel of a pre-war car that just gets better the faster you travel. Misgivings that the Edfor Grand Sport might be just another gussied-up Ford special dissipate instantly. Heavens above, it’s quick. That’s expected, but it’s so easy to guide, too. It doesn’t buck and weave. It doesn’t want to kill you. Just a few minutes behind