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The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts

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100 Years for Citroën at Retro

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Story and photos by Brandes Elitch

“Every automotive enthusiast the world over ought to go down on their knees at least once a year, preferably February 2, to give thanks for the birth of Andre Citroën…Citroën shows flashes of engineering genius so pure that you stop short and wonder why on earth car designers persist in doing things any other way.” – David Owen

This year Retromobile celebrated the centenary of the Automobiles Citroën. In this short space I can only highlight some of the history of the company and its products, but fortunately there is an enormous amount of material printed and on the web that you can find. [Read more…] about 100 Years for Citroën at Retro

Retromobile’s Italian Cars

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Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

Is it the quality of Retromobile that makes many of the European up market classic car dealers participate, or is it the participation of the said dealers that make Retromobile such a high quality event? I don’t know, but it works.

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Exotic Car Dealer: Max Girardo

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Story and photos by Sean Smith

As so many of us do, Max Girardo inherited the automotive bug from his dad.

His father was into rallying, but as an 18-year-old in Italy, his weapon of choice was limited to Fiat 500s; then an upgrade to an 850 coupe. The pinnacle of his father’s career was the Renault 8 Gordini. After that, an accident broke his ankle and sidelined him for a while… at that point he met his future wife, and never really got back into it.

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Chapron Citroëns at Retro

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Captions and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt

While Jonathan Sharp went after the Italians at Retro, Brandes Elitch did a Citroën biopic history, and Hugues Vanhoolandt told everyone he had dibs on covering the fantastic collection of Chapron DS models, the likes of which we have never seen before. Smart Guy. As part of the commemorations of the centenary of Citroën there were more than fifteen Chapron bodied Citroëns, all part of the same collection. Chapron exercised his talent mainly on the DS and each variation was present. Below, not only will you find out what wrath caused the damage to the lead photo, but Hugues did not forget some of the other outstanding vendors. [Read more…] about Chapron Citroëns at Retro

History at the Italian National Motor Museum

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Mariella Mengozzi, the new Director of the Italian National Motor Museum with Graham Gauld.

Story by Graham Gauld

I am sure that when most readers see the word “Museum” they shudder and move on. But wait a minute, times have changed and with modern communications, the whole concept of museums and how they should serve the public has changed enormously.

This is why the Italian National Motor Museum in Turin is justly proud of the fact that it is one of just 50 museums, of all types and persuasions, nominated by the London Times as one of the finest in the world. [Read more…] about History at the Italian National Motor Museum

Brandes Elitch at Retromobile

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Story and photos by Brandes Elitch

“Investissez dans votre plaisir!” (Invest in your pleasure)

About 25 years ago I first attended Retromobile with my friend Chris Dickel. We went three times together, along with simultaneous trips to Genoa Autostory and Essen Techno Classica. It was a fantastic experience. [Read more…] about Brandes Elitch at Retromobile

Graham Gauld: Le Mans, 1949

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Story by Graham Gauld

Everyone remembers that the first Le Mans race held after WWII was in 1949 and was won by Luigi Chinetti and Lord Selsdon driving a Ferrari barchetta. Usually that is where everyone’s recollections end; but that Le Mans race was fascinating not just as a spectacular event to take our minds off post-war austerity, but for some of the cars taking part. [Read more…] about Graham Gauld: Le Mans, 1949

Three Auctions at Retro

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Photos by Alessandro Gerelli

As everyone knows by now, the Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 B Touring was sold at 16.7 million euro by Artcurial. (1 Euro equals 1.13 United States Dollar) So we asked Alessandro Gerelli to shed some light on other Italian cars, sold or unsold, at Artcurial, Bonhams and RM/Sotheby’s.

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Sunshine for Enzo’s Birthday

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By Wallace Wyss
Photos by Rick Bartholomew

A good time was had by all for Enzo’s birthday at the Petersen on February 17th, especially with a break in the rain.

Somebody must have switched Los Angeles’ weather for Seattle because the normally sunny city had a few weeks of intermittent rains. The Ferrari Club of America Southwest Region were worried they would get rained out in their annual birthday celebration for Enzo Ferrari at the famed Petersen museum. [Read more…] about Sunshine for Enzo’s Birthday

Etceterinis in the Mille Miglia

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Story by Dino Brunori

Enrico Nardi, described by the Americans ‘the wiz who can squeeze more power from an engine than the official R&D of the factory’ is a name well known to all car enthusiasts. His career began in 1930 with Fiat as a test driver. In 1932 he went to Lancia where he became the pupil of Vincenzo Lancia, then in 1937 landed a job with Scuderia Ferrari with increasingly greater responsibilities, so much so that from 1940 he was Enzo Ferrari’s right-hand man. [Read more…] about Etceterinis in the Mille Miglia

Alfa Romeo and Lancia Zagatos

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Few of us were lucky enough to own a TZ1 or a SZ Coda Tronca. Al Morrison owned them both at the same time and would later own a Junior Zagato and a Fulvia Zagato. We present all four of his Spada-designed Zagatos in this feature.

Story and photos by Al Morrison
From the Archives, October 20, 2015 and from the archives February 12, 2019

Alfa Romeo GTZ 1

I first laid eyes on a new Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ 1 at the 1965 London International Motor Show when I was working in England as a very young architect. Right then I knew I wanted to own one someday. [Read more…] about Alfa Romeo and Lancia Zagatos

Ferrari 340 Mexico

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Below is an anecdote from Ermanno Cozza’s new autobiography, “Maserati at Heart” about the Ferrari team at the 1952 Mexican Road Race, combined with some rare photos from Chris Cooper of one of those rare Ferrari Mexicos, 0224 AT, which is also documented by Alan Boe in a related article in last week’s VeloceToday. (Read 0224 AT).

By Pete Vack
Photos by Chris Cooper

In his remarkable memoir, Ermanno Cozza tells the story of Antonio Reggiani, a skilled engineer and carburetor specialist who worked at Ferrari before coming to Maserati.

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