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The Disco Volantes by Serial Number

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Read about this sculpture below.* Photo by Jonathan Sharp

By Roberto Motta and Pete Vack
Photos from Centro Documentazione Storica Alfa Romeo, and Roberto Motta

In doing research for these articles, (Read Part 1) one of our goals was to do something very simple that to our knowledge had not been previously attempted; to put a serial number on each Disco that was in a contemporary photo. After all, there were only five cars built, four still exist, only one had a competition history, we had all the serial numbers and details, and most of the books and articles, access to the Alfa Museum. What could be simpler? But the more we looked, the deeper the mysteries. [Read more…] about The Disco Volantes by Serial Number

Bizzarrini

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This article originally appeared in VeloceToday on December 17, 2008

By Wallace A. Wyss

Bizzarrini Strada and America photos courtesy Funktionauto
Lead photo by Hugues Vanhoolandt

If ever I had a defining moment it was when I was a young lad. Not a defining moment of the caliber of those little girls in Mexico who saw the Virgin Mary, but it was defining enough that it changed my focus in life.

I was college-age, and in a library looking for books on poetry when I opened a magazine called Autosport and lo and behold there was a story on an odd Italian car called an Iso Grifo A3C. That car later became the basis for what was the Bizzarrini Strada. [Read more…] about Bizzarrini

Italian Car’s n Cannoli Car Club

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Matt Ligotti and a Ferrari Enzo.

By Philippe H Defechereux

In this new world of social media, local car clubs and their organizers are enjoying the benefits of easy access to groups of aficionados with a passion for specific brands or types of automobiles. This is exactly how an Italian sports car enthusiast named Matt Ligotti started his Italian Car’s n Cannoli Car Club only a few years ago. Matt is based in the New York City Metropolitan area on Staten Island, one of the outer Boroughs of New York City, close to New Jersey. [Read more…] about Italian Car’s n Cannoli Car Club

Loewy’s Lancia Loraymo

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Steve Snyder’s son with the Loraymo when found circa 1987.

Wait, haven’t we done this before? Well, yes, the editor reviewed this back in 2016. But along comes Gary Medley a Fiat enthusiast, good writer, not to mention son of Tom Medley, who created the famous Stroker McGurk cartoons for Hot Rod magazine back in the 1950s. And Gary, who also writes for FuelCurve.com website, loved Elitch’s book. And seeing a Elitch does a great deal for VeloceToday, we felt we could do something for him too. The book is still available. Get a copy.

By Gary Medley

Factory concept cars are a dime a dozen. Major manufacturers trot them out at major car shows to dazzle the attendees and boost a brand’s bone fides. Few ever make it into production. Most drive (or are trailered) quietly into the dustbin of automotive history. [Read more…] about Loewy’s Lancia Loraymo

Alfa Romeo Disco Volante C52

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In the summer of 1952, on July 19th and again on July 26th, there were both radar and visual sightings of “Flying Saucers” in and around Washington D.C., and throughout the summer there were similar incidents all over the world. From 1947 to 1953 there were 26 major sightings, from Washington to Brazil, Japan, Italy, West Germany and Sweden. The Unidentified Flying Objects generated headlines and inspired an entire genre of movies. Most UFOs could be explained but some remain a mystery to this day.
Meanwhile, in Milan…

By Roberto Motta and Pete Vack
Photos from Centro Documentazione Storica Alfa Romeo, and Roberto Motta

In Italy, there was another sighting in June of 1952, but this time it was real and tangible (as well as loud, no doubt) when the aptly named Alfa Romeo “Experimental Department” proudly put their own UFO on display for the press to view at Monza. The timing couldn’t have been better; as the new C52 1900 was called the “Disco Volante”.

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And How! How Much is a GTO Really Worth?

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By Wallace Wyss

An Illinois man has just bought what is probably Most Expensive Ferrari Ever. The 53-year old man is the founder of a company making automotive accessories called WeatherTech based in Downers Grove IL, but which has a branch facility in Parma, Italy. [Read more…] about And How! How Much is a GTO Really Worth?

Jamie Kitman and the Peugeot 205GTI

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Story and photos by Sean Smith

Was it genetics or surroundings that gave Jamie Kitman his love of cars? His grandparents on his father’s side didn’t drive. His grandmother on his mother’s side didn’t; his maternal grandfather drove, but badly. He was brought home from the hospital in an MGA, so there was enthusiasm on his parent’s part, but that came and went.

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London City Concours d’Elegance, 2018

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Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

June 8, 2018

Last year it was called the City Concours, but this year the name was changed to London City Concours because, as put by Octane magazine’s James Elliot, the original name “…did not quite do justice to the scale, reach or importance of the event to the whole of London.” Ok we got that. [Read more…] about London City Concours d’Elegance, 2018

Mille Miglia 2018

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Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt

Enzo Ferrari once reportedly called the reenactment of the Mille Miglia “the travelling museum that is unique in the world.” And it is remarkable that since the event was reconstituted in 1977, it is still going strong after 35 editions. This year, some 450 cars of 73 different manufacturers were due to cross 7 regions of Italy and over 200 locations of art and culture, from Brescia to Rome and back.

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Ferrari 458 Italia: Comments on Design

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By Wallace Wyss

This article originally appeared in VeloceToday August 6, 2009

The King is dead…long live the King. Wasn’t that what they always said in the old movies? Anyhow, the sneak shots of the Ferrari 458 Italia are out a couple of months before its official roll-out, at least enough photos to enable this design critic to form an opinion and submit it ever so humbly to the cognoscenti, i.e., you.

The Ferrari 458 Italia is a robust-looking car; to sum it up in one sentence: “it takes the bizarre out of the Enzo” yet saves enough of the old car to make an all-new shape that is reminiscent of the late Enzo but still its own design. Although it may replace the 430, the 458 might be considered an “Enzo light”.

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And How! Peter Helck and Old Number 16

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By Dale LaFollette

On my way to the 1979 U.S. Grand Prix at Watkins Glen and I had been invited to stay for a couple of days with the 86-year-old artist Peter Helck and his wife Priscilla. Peter and I had been “pen pals” for several years but this was the first time we had actually met. I had traded one of my sculptures with Peter for one of his paintings and our mail discussions hinged on Art and turn of the century auto racing. Helck is seen in the lead photo above, walking toward Old Number 16.

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Royal Enfield Flying Flea for D-Day

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It is June 5th, the day before D-Day, and we note the significant event by relating the story of the restoration of a Royal Enfield Flying Flea, a motorcycle designed to be parachuted out of an aircraft and used by British troops after the landing in France. In Part 1, Eric Davison recounted the joys of rebuilding the motorcycle his grandfather once wrote about. In Part 2, Davison has achieved the impossible; he’s gotten his Flying Flea running.
But will he ever be able to ride it?

Story by Eric Davison

The magneto came back from England and was installed. It generated spark but the bike would only cough.

About this time my brother and his wife came down for a visit. We tried to start the bike. Only coughs. We even tried bump starting it by pulling it behind my truck with brother Mark holding a rope. This was not only stupid but dangerous and ineffective. [Read more…] about Royal Enfield Flying Flea for D-Day

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