Villa d’ Este 2026 Classes A-D
Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp
May 21-23 2026. It was the light that first struck me, My wife and I had arrived in Como the day before and it was hissing down but Saturday morning dawned bright and sunny and not too hot. Hotel Villa d’Este lies slap-bang on the shores of Lake Como about 2km from Cernobbio, and at the time I arrived all was quiet and serene with the sun glinting off the lake and the concours entrants parked mainly in the dappled shade of the trees. The Riva boats were bobbing gently in the hotel’s small marina, and parking an Alfa Romeo 2500 SS ‘Villa d’Este’ outside of the hotel’s gift shop…very classy. It was going to be a very good day. [Read more…] about Villa d’ Este 2026 Classes A-D
Villa d’ Este 2026 Classes E-H
Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp
So if you are think “I would like to do that trip” here is a run down of how my wife and I did it. The nearest airport for Lake Como is either of the two Milan airports, Malpensa or Linate, however the airline we prefer to travel with only flies to the Milan airports via Heathrow, or in the case of Linate, London City. [Read more…] about Villa d’ Este 2026 Classes E-H
Hugues Vanhoolandt at the Spa Classics
The undisputed star of this field, this Porsche 917 finished second in the 1970 24 Hours of Daytona and won the 1970 Spa 1000 km.
Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt
Since 2011, Spa Classic has been the unmissable spring event (May 22-24) for historic racing enthusiasts at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit. The other historic event on the Spa calendar is the well-established 6 Hours of Spa Historic, held at the end of September each year. Spa Classic is now part of the new Le Mans Classic Series, culminating in the next edition of Le Mans Classic this July. [Read more…] about Hugues Vanhoolandt at the Spa Classics
Valletta Concours d’Elegance
Mustang and Maserati pedal cars
Story and photos by Gary Axon
Due to an imminent Maltese Governmental general election, the traditional St. George’s Square location for the annual Valletta Concours (VC) — usually staged next to the Maltese Parliament building in the center of Valletta; Malta’s breath-taking UNESCO World Heritage capital — had to relocate to Triton Square for this year’s VC on 24 May.
Historic Valletta is the citadel city of the Knights of St John, constructed after the Great Siege of 1565 with its striking honeyed facades largely unchanged since then. One of the more recent additions though are revisions made to the 16th Century fortifications built by the Knights around Triton Square, notably renovated by globally renowned architect Renzo Piano who changed the city’s main entrance gateway where the 2026 VC was held from one to keep people out to one now welcoming them in. [Read more…] about Valletta Concours d’Elegance
Behind the Fence: Ferrari, 1959 Part 2
Ferrari Dino 246 F1 (Chassis 0004), United States Grand Prix, Sebring, Florida, December 12, 1959, jeff-allison
Story and photos by Jeff Allison
VeloceToday continues the series inviting readers to send in their photos to share with the readers. Jeff Allison continues his photographic journey – this time with part 2 of a two-part look at Ferraris photographed in 1959.
USAC/FIA 1000KM race at Daytona International Speedway on April 4-5, 1959
[Read more…] about Behind the Fence: Ferrari, 1959 Part 2
Road America, Circa 1958
A free year’s subscription to the first who can correctly identify this lovely lady.
Text by Robert Birmingham
Photos by Glen Glendenning
The 1957 NASCAR race weekend attracted a less than hoped for crowd and rightfully so. To put it bluntly, the two-race program was too short, and the large American cars were not interesting. Therefore in 1958 Road America returned to what by now had become known as the June Sprints and three months later, the Road America 500. [Read more…] about Road America, Circa 1958
Building the Birdcage
Giulio Alfieri at his desk in Modena. (Photo Grand Prix Library/Gauld)
Story and photos by Graham Gauld
The great Maserati engineer Giulio Alfieri was a studious and interesting man born in Parma, trained in Milan, and his first job was with Innocenti working on the original Lambretta scooters. As was often the case he was able to work on a variety of projects but one of them is rarely talked about these days, the Maserati Birdcage. [Read more…] about Building the Birdcage
The Magical Summer of a Maserati 6CM
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Photos by Jonathan Sharp
From the VeloceToday Archives, September 2019.
Count Trossi’s Maserati Summer of 1936
Lead photo: Ewen Sergison in the cockpit of Nigel Griffiths’ Maserati s/n 1532 at Goodwood, April 6-7, 2019. See below for much more.
Recently we republished an old story by Ed McDonough about Count Felice Trossi, which prompted a reply from Nigel Griffiths, who told us he owned the ex-Trossi 6CM Maserati and would be at the 2019 Goodwood Members’ Meeting in April with the very same Maserati, s/n 1532.
Now isn’t that coincidental, I said, as Jonathan Sharp would also attend and could he get some photos of 1532? Of course, said Nigel. Jonathan checked the program and found that the 6CM is car 58 entered into race 4 with practice is on Saturday morning, and the Parnell cup is the first race at 9am on Sunday morning. We are good to go. [Read more…] about The Magical Summer of a Maserati 6CM
Behind the Fence: Ferrari, 1959 Part 1
1958 250 GT LWB Spyder California (Chassis 1085GT), Twelve Hours of Sebring, March 21, 1959-jeff-allison
Story and photos by Jeff Allison
VeloceToday extends the series inviting readers to send in their photos to share with the readers. Jeff Allison continues his photographic journey – this time with part 1 of a two-part look at Ferraris photographed in 1959.
Anticipating the arrival of a new issue of SPORTS CAR ILLUSTRATED, my sports car buddy Jack Leete and I raced (well, it was in an MG TD!) to his house after school to check the mail. A new issue was there, and I remember it as though it was yesterday. There on the cover of the September 1958 issue of SPORTS CARS ILLUSTRATED was the one-off Ferrari 4.9 Superfast. Describing its acceleration, Stephen Wilder wrote, “Blasting once on the Marchal Stridor air horn, we fled the scene at full throttle, rending the air with not-so-quiet thunder and leaving a faint trace of abused rubber on the concrete.” This was possibly the moment I caught this unrelenting disease, and I’m sure many VeloceToday readers can tell a similar story.
Lancia Stratos Zero: The Eternal Futurist Reviewed
A touch screen instrument panel in 1970? Well, the idea of one anyway. The multi-jointed steering wheel and front entrance makes one wonder who at Bertone was driving a BMW Isetta…Photo by Evan Klein
Review by Pete Vack
Photos by Evan Klein/@evankleinfilms
Hard to believe, but apparently Lancia Stratos Zero: The Eternal Futurist by Gautam Sen is the only published book about the Lancia Stratos HF Zero, and the author is by far the best person to write it, with impeccable and impressive credentials. A Vice President with FIVA, Gautam Sen has authored several award-winning books: Marcello Gandini: Maestro of Design, Ballot, The Bertone Collection, Tom Tjaarda: Master of Proportions, Lamborghini: At the Cutting Edge of Design, Bugatti: The Italian Decade, and Alfa Romeo SZ Coda Tronca: The Art of Conservation, When Wedge had the Edge (all by Dalton Watson Fine Books).
WEC Spa 6 Hour, Hypercars
A day of glory at home for the Belgian team WRT, and for BMW, who achieved a fantastic double victory for the BMW M Hybrid V8 thanks to the #15 of Magnussen/Marciello/Dries Vanthoor, who finished second.
Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt
On May 7-9th, three weeks after the first round at Imola, the World Endurance Championship held its second event at the Francorcorchamps circuit in Belgium with the 6 Hours of Spa, the final rehearsal before the annual 24 Hours of Le Mans, which will take place on June 13th and 14th.