BMW’s Italian Designers Part 7
By Jackie Jouret
Photos courtesy The BMW Archive
As mentioned in our previous installment, the independent Turin-based Giovanni Michelotti began working for BMW in 1953, albeit indirectly. That year, working for coachbuilder Ghia-Aigle, he drafted the prototype for the 505 Diplomat sedan. In May of 1957, the BMW board offered him a contract for design consultation, and he began working directly for BMW that June, sketching the front of the 600 microcar. [Read more…] about BMW’s Italian Designers Part 7
Balduzzi, Alfa’s Fast Family, Part 2
GT Am at Balocco October 1970. Photo courtesy Centro Documentazione Alfa Romeo-Arese.
By James Lanoway
Balduzzi S.N.C. was involved heavily in motorsport from 1971 to 1975, and yet there is paradoxically very little organized information about Balduzzi cars and drivers either in print or on the internet. To help fill in some of the many voids about Balduzzi and his cars, it would be best to first look at the Alfa Romeo GTA to better understand Balduzzi’s GTA Juniors and GT Ams. [Read more…] about Balduzzi, Alfa’s Fast Family, Part 2
Brooklands New Years Day Classic Car Show
1933 Duesenberg Single Seater
Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp
I have just bought a new camera! Not that there was anything wrong with my old one, it’s just that technology has moved on in the 10 plus years I have been using it, and when shooting indoors, unless the room is well lit, is was, to put in mildly, a bit of a pain in the butt. So a new camera, but it is early January, and I have nothing to point it at! But wait, how about The Brooklands Museum New Years Day Classic car gathering? Ideal! [Read more…] about Brooklands New Years Day Classic Car Show
Fiats, Panhards, Pegaso, now Simca: The Stinkwheel Story
By Pete Vack and David Beare
From the Archives: It is fitting that exactly five years ago we published this interesting bio about David Beare just as his latest book, The Simca Story, 51 years of cars 1933-1984, is now in print and available. This great little history of Simca will be reviewed shortly.-Ed.
First the name; we have to explain the name for those of us unfamiliar with British jargon. “The name Stinkwheel derives from 1930’s slang amongst motorcyclists for small-capacity, feeble two-stoke powered cyclemotors and autocycles which buzzed noisily but slowly around in a cloud of blue oily smoke- a stinkwheel,” writes Beare. His first two books were histories of such cyclemotors- “The Stinkwheel Sagas.” Thus came the name of the publishing company, which is at the very least, unforgettable. How Stinkwheel went from cyclemotors to Hispano Suiza is another good question. [Read more…] about Fiats, Panhards, Pegaso, now Simca: The Stinkwheel Story
Balduzzi, Alfa’s Fast Family P1
Santino and Balduzzi workshop sign.
From the Balduzzi Archive (photographer unknown).
By James Lanoway
Two men with different last names, both sharing March 6th as a birthday, one unknowingly looking for a son, the other not looking for another father, came together in Lodi, in the Lombardy region of Italy, in 1958, some say by fate and many say by good fortune. Before the next two decades were out, the older would adopt the younger and give him his last name. With hard work, long hours, and a touch of genius, the younger would make that name one of the most revered in the mystic, esoteric world of Alfa Romeo tuners: Balduzzi. [Read more…] about Balduzzi, Alfa’s Fast Family P1
Sports Car Confidential
A young Pedro Rodriguez sits nervously in the Kjell Qvale #166 Genie MK VIII wondering what the chica joven voluptuosa de pelo grande quiere.*?
Story and photos by Allen R. Kuhn
October 13, 1963, Riverside Races. When I first met Lori Campbell I thought, now here is someone I would like to photograph. With the upcoming Riverside races that would be a great place to showcase Lori, who was a budding actress and model with a small uncredited, role in the John Wayne classic, McClintock. I would have her pose as, “Miss California Sports Car Magazines,” with some of our American and a few European drivers. It made a great story then, as it does now. And there was a kicker which occurred when a few of these photos were shown at Goodwood some 43 years later. Do read on. [Read more…] about Sports Car Confidential
Maserati’s 110 Years Exhibition at Autoworld Museum, Brussels
Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt
Established since 1986 in one of the palaces of the Cinquantenaire complex in Brussels, where the first motor shows were held at the beginning of the 20th century, the Autoworld museum is the most important automobile museum in Belgium. Each year, the end and beginning of the year period hosts a major temporary exhibition. [Read more…] about Maserati’s 110 Years Exhibition at Autoworld Museum, Brussels
And How! VeloceToday’s Most Valuable Assets
In addition to our comments section below each article, VeloceToday often gets very nice compliments, sent via email or included in a note with a subscription check. These comments rarely get published, but are meant as recognition of the work done by our contributors, who create the content that makes VeloceToday what it is. Magazines are nothing without good content, and therefore contributors are our greatest and most valuable assets.
They are historians, authors, editors, photographers, columnists, journalists, judges, drivers, restorers, artisans, collectors and constructors. They hail from the United States, Great Britain, Australia, Germany, France, Belgium and Italy. Here are the names of thirty-three whose contributions made the year 2024 one to remember.
Jeff Allison, Gary Axon, Giles Chapman, Bob Cullinan, Rodney Diggens, Joseph Duray, Brandes Elitch, Graham Gauld, Greg Glassner, Bob Harrington, Joe Hurwich, Stefan Ivanov, Vince Johnson, Jackie Jouret, Allen R. Kuhn, Dale LaFollette, James Lanoway, Frederic Levaux, Bernard Linck, Roberto Motta, Herb Miska, Chris Nugent, Willem Oosthoek, Paul Sable, Charley Seavey, Jonathan Sharp, Jim Sitz, Roy Smith, Sean Smith, Pete Vack, Hugues Vanhoolandt, Paul Wilson, Robert Young
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BMW’s Italian Designers Part 6
By Jackie Jouret
Photos courtesy The BMW Archive
When it emerged from the destruction of World War II, BMW got back into business, first with motorcycles (in 1948), and then with high-end automobiles (in 1951). That was a logical strategy given BMW’s particular circumstances, but it began to fail by the mid-1950s. Even as the German economy was improving, BMW’s full-size sedans remained too expensive for most buyers. Worse, the motorcycle market was tanking, as riders abandoned two-wheelers in favor of motorcycle-engined microcars, which kept their occupants dry and warm regardless of the weather. [Read more…] about BMW’s Italian Designers Part 6
Copenhagen’s Classic Collection
Story and photos by Bob Cullinan
You take the train from Copenhagen Central Station to the small suburban town of Lyngby, Denmark. From there, it’s a short walk to an automobile collection that’s unlike anything you’ve ever seen.
