The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts
This Pinin Farina-bodied 1953 Ferrari 342 America Coupe, chassis 0246AL, (one of only six 342 America series constructed), was built to the order of wealthy shipping magnet Franco Fessio of Genova.
Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp
If having viewed last weeks visit to Salon Prive you were wondering where the Ferraris were? well as they were so good we decided to keep them for their own feature. [Read more…] about A Fine Fettle of Ferraris at Salon Prive
Lenny Hummel’s Highway Interchange Set with Alfas.
In December of 2018, we ran an And How! article that featured several green Alfas, the real car, a bubble gum card and a tinplate Alfa, of which we wrote: [Read more…] about And How! Alfa Highway Interchange Game
David Beaumont with his 15 year-old grand-daughter Emelda in the 1929 Amilcar Surbaisse.
Words by Doug Gordon
Photos by Roger Foster, Doug Gordon & Vince Johnson
The weather forecast for the southern coast and Fleurieu Peninsula of South Australia for the weekend of September 27, 28 & 29 was fine. Cool, but sunny with very little chance of rain. So what? You might well ask. These three days were set aside for the third running of the now familiar Tour de Fleurieu Rally for vintage and pre-war cars of French origin, very few of which are fitted with any form of roof or weather protection.
Readers had a lot of comments about the Alfa 2600 Zagato featured in last week’s VeloceToday. This is the editor’s 2600 Zagato in 1971.
We introduce this “Comments from our Readers” section because we realize that we get many interesting comments from readers which are posted to the article in question but then rarely seen, as the article and the comment section then go to the archives. Plus, we get many emails which are sent directly to the editor at vack@cox.net, but do not get posted under any particular article. Herein then, are some selected comments and emails we received in the past week that might have been missed. Feel free to comment at the bottom of this article!
Talbot Darracq (via email)
Recently I did a search to look up the Talbot Darracq and Jack Day and found some of the articles and photos in VeloceToday.com very interesting. [Read more…] about Last Week’s Comments From Our Readers
Making its World debut at this year’s Salon Prive was Bentley Motors re-created Cornich from 1939, originally conceived to be a high-performance version of the new Mark V saloon.
Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp
2019 marked the 14th annual Salon Prive concours, and to my mind it is an event that just keeps getting better and better. Held at Blenheim Palace on September 5-7, 20 motorbikes and 57 motor cars whose owners came from 16 countries were all displayed in the stunning surroundings of Blenheim Palace. [Read more…] about Salon Prive at Blenheim Palace, 2019
A Zagato for the Autobahn. Stefanie Schmidt photo
Story by Ralph Mantel
Photos by Stefanie Schmidt
Zagato cars always had and still have the potential to provoke strong opinions amongst car enthusiasts. Feelings vary between ugly to extremely beautiful. There is no such thing as common opinion or mainstream point of view on Zagato cars. You hate it, you love it, you might find them interesting or unusual, exciting or disturbing; there are many adjectives you could use. Some people just don’t know what to think when they see a Zagato. The mixture of lightweight and streamline, born from the race track, combines with a strong and striking design philosophy. The link between technical and aerodynamic needs and individual aesthetic character gave birth to cars with Zagato bodies. [Read more…] about Alfa Romeo 2600 S Zagato
Fiat Abarth 1000, aka the Abarth Monomille Bialbero. Sean Smith photo
Story by Sean Smith
Do the posters we hang on our walls as kids really influence us later in life? A poster featuring the design and beauty of a black Porsche Turbo inspired Mike Pinkus. Over the years, the poster may have disappeared, but the ideas of design and beauty lingered. After graduating from high school Mike was moving aimlessly from job to job. He was a busboy in a restaurant, he worked for a moving company, but he had no real direction. Then Mike discovered the concept of industrial design. It lit a fire in him. With this revelation, Mike immersed himself in a five-year program at Syracuse University and came away with a bachelor’s degree in industrial design in 1984.
Gianni Petta’s incredibile diorama of the 1970 Targa Florio.
Story and photos courtesy Gianni Petta
Upon seeing our articles about Clyde Berryman’s Grand Prix dioramas, Gianni Petta of Palermo, Sicily, sent us a note about his World Sportscar Championship diorama of the 1970 Targa Florio which he has designed and constructed. Here is Petta’s description of the project…
This diorama reproduces the day of the official tests of the 54th Targa Florio on May 3, 1970, in 1/43 scale. That year there were the major race car manufacturers on hand to compete for the World Championship: Abarth, Alpine Renault, Alfa Romeo, AMS, Chevron, Daren, Jerboa (both of which sprang from the Ginetta), Ferrari, Lancia and Porsche.
The Iso Lele, the last of the line.
Photos by Alessandro Gerelli
Story by staff
Last week Alessandro Gerelli sent us these photos from a small but interesting group of Isos gathered at the old Bresso plant on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the introduction of the Iso Lele. Looking for additional information, I resorted to my copy of Winston Goodfellow’s book, ISORIVOLTA, The Men, the Machines,* published in 1995 by Giorgio Nada. It brought to mind the years that shook the world of the automobile as we knew it. The ten years of Iso cars, from 1963 to 1973, witnessed enormous changes in the industry, and the history of Iso is a chronicle of those times. [Read more…] about Iso Lele, 1969-1974
Tour’2 France – celebrating 60 years of Renault’s Floride and Caravelle.
Story and photos by John Waterhouse
“I take this opportunity to invite you to the 60 years of the Floride next year.” Our friend Alain Traon’s email in 2018 came as a complete and delightful surprise. Alain had organised the Australian contingent at the 50th celebration of the Caravelle in 2012. The “Cara’Boucles” (Daisy Tour) event in France included some 30 Australian rear-engined Renault enthusiasts, most of us from the Renault 4CV Register of Australia. This was a huge gesture of hospitality from our French friends. Alain’s tour planned for this year in May was even more ambitious. [Read more…] about Renault Floride and Caravelle French Tour
Phil Hill and Dale LaFollette returning to pits in the 1902 D50 Napier.
By Dale LaFollette
Photos from the collection of Dale LaFollette
In 1980 Road & Track scheduled a day at the Portland race track where I worked so Phil Hill could test some vintage cars for articles he would be writing. On the appointed day several important old cars arrived including my favorite, a 1902 D50 Napier Gordon-Bennett racer that had been assembled from parts of the actual winner of the race. At the time the car was owned by the Harrah Collection. [Read more…] about Hot Laps with Phil Hill
Julian Majzub
Photos by Jonathan Sharp
A bit of the drivers, a focus on the Moss celebration, we can’t forget the Minis and the Beatles and Carnaby street now can we, and a goodbye kiss for D-Day.
Drivers
Katarina Kyvalova