The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts
A half scale Ferrari 312T for children with a 2-stroke 50cc engine sold for 6900 pounds (11,238 USD).
Story and photos by Alessandro Gerelli
The Bonhams London auction on December 7th included about 80 cars and a great deal of memorabilia, with many books and magazines coming from the collection of George Horne. The cars were mostly English but there were a few Italian and three very rare French cars on the block.
[Read more…] about The Cost of our Passion at Bonhams
Last time we bought an Alfa GT, circa 1980, it cost $900. It was a hobby then.
Photos by Alessandro Gerelli
Since in these electronic pages we constantly discuss or present or otherwise dither about French and Italian classics, we should, from time to time, check to see what the price of our hobby actually is these days. As one reader pointed out, the price of most classics have escalated far beyond most people’s ability to purchase them. Witness above, the Alfa Giulia GTV which reached a bid of twenty three thousand dollars and yet remained unsold.
[Read more…] about The Cost of Our Passion: Italian and French at RM London
1962 Lancia Flamina Sport Zagato. Federico Alzona
A wonderful variety of Lancias parade for Alessandro Gerelli at this year’s Coppa d’oro delle Dolomiti.
[Read more…] about Lancias at Cortina 2009
Alfa Romeo 1900 sprint (1953). Samuel Barozzi
A view of some of the other entrants at this year’s Coppa d’oro delle Dolomiti , run September 4-6 2009.
All photos by Alessandro Gerelli. Names at end of captions are the entrants as listed in the program.
Read about the Lancias at Cortina 2009.
The most famous of all Amilcars is the 1926 C6. It almost dominated the 1100cc classes in France, using a DOHC supercharged six cylinder engine. A masterpiece of diminutive engineering, it was built as both as a customer car and factory team racer.
Correspondent Alessandro Gerelli goes French at the Nurburgringring Oldtimers. Also included are Maserati and Ferrari images so scroll down. All photos copyright Alessandro Gerelli. Captions by staff.
1970 Alfa Romeo Giulia GTAm–maybe. In any case, what does Am mean? The A was for ‘alleggerita’ (lightened) and the m was for ‘maggiorata’, (increase) in reference to the new larger 2 liter engine. The ‘m’ could also have meant ‘monobloc’. Readers comments welcome.
Correspondent Alessandro Gerelli goes Alfa hunting at the Nurburgringring Oldtimers. All photos copyright Alessandro Gerelli. Captions by staff.
[Read more…] about Nurburgring Oldtimers: Alfa Romeo
Did Ferrari coin the term “berlinetta”? If not, he certainly created many cars that defined the word. Here is perhaps the greatest berlinetta of all, 0026M, a 195 MM Ferrari driven to victory in the 1950 Mille Miglia.
All photos by Alessandro Gerelli
Story by staff.
This year, our photographer thought it might be interesting to concentrate his efforts on the Italian berlinettas which are so prevalent at this event. We thought so too, and decided write an etymology of the term “berlinetta” as applied to Italian two position coupes.
Part I will cover Alfa through Ferrari, Part II, Fiat through Siata.
In 1987, in an introduction to the book “Berlinettas: Classic coupes of yesterday and today”, Sergio Pininfarina wrote: “When Enzo Ferrari invented the word ‘Berlinetta’ to designate his Coupes, he meant to emphasize a particular set of qualities.” [sic]
[Read more…] about Bountiful Berlinettas: Mille Miglia 2009 PI
Hot on the tail of Alfa, Ferrari and Lancia, Fiat did their berlinetta act on the 1100, culminating in the 1947 1100S Mille Miglia model. It in turn was preceded by the absolutely berlinetta 1935 Balilla 508S.
Photos by Alessandro Gerelli
Story by staff
In this part, Alessandro Gerelli brings us the Mille Miglia berlinettas from Fiat to Siata. As we have related in Part I, Enzo Ferrari was implicated in the birth of the term berlinetta. But was this so, and if so, how?
[Read more…] about Bountiful Berlinettas: Mille Miglia 2009 PII
In the 1954 Mille Miglia, a 4CV Renault was driven by the team of Redele/Pons to victory in the Special Touring class, followed by two other Renaults.
All Photos by Alessandro Gerelli
A small selection of the French at the Mille Miglia this year. No matter how many times we cover the Mille Miglia, we are always amazed at the delightful variations on the theme of the automobile.
[Read more…] about Mille Miglia 2009 in French
Rounding Creg-ny-Baa en route to famous Kate’s Cottage (in reverse direction from the TT) with the roar of 16 tiny Bugatti cylinders. During the Manx TT super bikes round the Cottage corner with knee-down and descend this hill at 160 mph+.
Italophiles in the Emerald Isles
This is the Cranes we’re talking about here. When we did a tour if England and Tracy’s ancestral home on the Isle of Man, we borrowed an Alfa Romeo 164 for the trip. We started with a run up to Liverpool and took the Steam Packet (four-hour, deep water ferry) to the Island.
[Read more…] about A Car Life, by Larry Crane
Piero Ferrari sits in the record breaking Testa Rossa.
Story and Photos by Alessandro Gerelli
The third edition of the RM Maranello auction was held on May 17th, 2009. This important event has become a reference point for the world market of Ferrari cars.
[Read more…] about RM’s Big Day
Magnificent Lancia Aurelia B52 of 1952 with a coupe body by Vignale (design by Michelotti): one of the three built.
Cernobbio, Italy, April 24th-26th, 2009
Story and photos by Alessandro Gerelli
The traditional Concorso d’Eleganza held at Villa d’Este in Cernobbio on the lake of Como (Italy), has taken the opportunity this year to celebrate a few anniversaries; 80 years of the first Concorso, 100 years of Bugatti, and 80 years of BMW, one of the sponsors of the event.
[Read more…] about Villa d’Este 2009