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The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts

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Cars and Chic Chicks

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By Patricia Lee Yongue

Cars and Chicks

From the most elegant of international auto salons, posters, publicity photos, and magazine ads to the sleaziest of car shows and rags, a fetching female posed by—or slathered over—an attractive automobile remains an icon of Western popular culture. Occasionally, a woman sits behind the wheel and smiles through the side window. Less occasionally, she is depicted actually driving the vehicle. At the fancier shows and salons, she may move with the car by means of turntable. She and the car are assuredly objects of the ‘male gaze.’

Of late, some manufacturers have trained attractive young women to demonstrate the technology and other normally “guy knowledge” of the cars, but pretty girls talking in business-like voice about camshafts, rpms, and torque somehow diminishes the sexual sell despite the “smart is sexy” pitch. In a retro move, Ferrari offered a silent, stiletto-shod blonde-tressed female with a yellow 458 Italia at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show. And, for the most part, whether in print or at show, the non-driving, contextually sexually well-bodied and well-dressed (or undressed) young woman decorating an eminently drivable, beautifully bodied car still drives the marketer’s and, presumably, the target consumer’s desire.

The association of decorative women and cars dates back to the very introduction of the automobile at show. The poster for the opening of the first Salon de l’auto, organized by the Automobile Club of France and held in the Tuileries Gardens in Paris in June, 1898, featured a gowned, wasp-waisted goddess of speed reigning over the exhibit. In a poster for the French constructors A. Teste Moret and Cie Lyon-Vaise, a winged young lady in fancy dress pilots a voiturette encircled by a swarm of speeding flies. [Read more…] about Cars and Chic Chicks

VeloceToday Interview: SPEED’s Bob Varsha, Part I

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Surprisingly SPEED’s Formula 1 anchor Bob Varsha was never a car enthusiast, race car driver, designer, engineer or mechanic: he graduated from law school and his first love was cross country running. Yet for over 20 years Varsha has reported on our favorite sport with great enthusiasm, in-depth knowledge and professionalism far above par. Unflappable, with a magnetic memory and smooth, even, assured delivery, he is an anchor’s anchor, rising above the noise and screams and conjecture whether at BJ Auctions or a Formula 1 race. It would be hard to imagine watching a Formula 1 event without Varsha at the helm.
[Read more…] about VeloceToday Interview: SPEED’s Bob Varsha, Part I

Murphy’s Missing Duesie

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Posed in front of a LeMans setting, the ex-Joe Boyer Duesenberg now rests at the Simeone Foundation in Philadelphia, PA.

Duesenberg’s win at the 1921 French Grand Prix at Le Mans was
significant for what it was as well as marking the gap that would follow. It was a landmark victory by an American car with an American team of drivers that would not be repeated until the Gurney/Foyt Ford GT 40 Mk IV in 1967, forty-six years later.
[Read more…] about Murphy’s Missing Duesie

Jon Shirley on Kids and the Nuvolari P3

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Interview with Jon Shirley, owner of the Nuvolari P3.


Jon and Mary Shirley at Pebble Beach 2008.
Photo by Hugues Vanhoolandt.

Jon Shirley developed an interest in cars when he was nine, driving an old truck on a farm. Later when in college, he attended races at Watkins Glen, Thompson and Lime Rock. Naturally he developed an interest in sports cars and racing–one that would last until the present time. [Read more…] about Jon Shirley on Kids and the Nuvolari P3

Death by Delage

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Miranda behind the wheel of the Delage.

In this exclusive article for VeloceToday, Miranda Seymour, author of “Thrumpton Hall: A Memoir of Life in My Father’s House” and “The Bugatti Queen,”visits Australia and finds a French legend.

The Adelaide literary festival takes place every two years. I flew out last year for the first time to talk about my book, “Thrumpton Hall.” Adelaide is a long journey from London; I planned to sleep in on my first morning, even though all the participating writers had been bidden to attend a breakfast in the gardens of Government House. Luckily, I woke early and changed my mind.

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The Hidden Faces of Venice

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venice 09

All photos copyright by Mario Marchesini

A semi-professional photographer, Mario Marchesini studied under the great Italian racing photographers, learning his craft at Monza in the 1970s. Today, very busy as a full time orthodontist, Marchesini still contributes images to a number of automobile magazines.

Years ago, we asked Mario to send us some images of Italy for a feature we called “Eye on Italy”. Some subjects had to do with cars, others just Mario’s Italy in general, including the Carnevale di Venezia, certainly the farthest thing from the automobile scene but nonetheless striking. For those who would like to share Mario’s Venice 2009 with him, we publish some of his best, a break from our normal four-wheel subjects.
[Read more…] about The Hidden Faces of Venice

Ellery Garfield and the 100 mph Renault

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By Patricia Lee Yongue

Photos Courtesy of VintageMotorphoto unless otherwise noted.

renault.jpg
Ellery Garfield in the 1920s.

As a professor of American literature and culture specializing in the Lost Generation expatriates, I am usually on the trail of American writers in Paris. The discovery of another sort of expatriate, one who enriches my knowledge of auto racing history, delighted me. I have, however, been able to ascertain only a few details of the short, hopefully happy life of Ellerv Irving Garfield. [Read more…] about Ellery Garfield and the 100 mph Renault

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