pete

Arutunoff and the Lancia Appia Zagatos

January 31, 2017 By pete

Toly, number 29, getting by an Elan and a Ferrari at the Bahamas. With Dick Irish he would finish 39th in the Nassau Trophy race in 1964.

Story by Toly Arutunoff

In 1964 it seemed like I needed a companion in the garage for my Lancia Flaminia Zagato. The previous year, after our good finishes in the Targa Florio, Nurburgring 1000km, and Spa 500km, the factory offered me a straight swap for my car and one of the GTS Appia Zagatos, guaranteed for 117 mph. I turned the offer down, but later I saw an ad for an Appia Zagato in Rhode Island for $900. I heard it call my name and before I knew it we were on our way east from our lair in Oklahoma. [Read more…] about Arutunoff and the Lancia Appia Zagatos

Fiat Abarth Hope for Successful Rally Season

January 31, 2017 By pete

The Abarth 124 Rally of the ACI Team Italia; Fabio Andolfi with Manuel Fenoli on the Monte Carlo Rally.

Story by Roberto Motta
Photo by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles

On the tarmac, ice and snow of the French Alps, the new Abarth 124 Rally, driven by three private crews, demonstrated its competitiveness and excellent performance. Last weekend the Abarth 124 rally enjoyed a promising debut in the Monte Carlo Rally, the first event of the World Rally Championship. In South America, the Fiat Panda finished well in the Dakar rally. [Read more…] about Fiat Abarth Hope for Successful Rally Season

VeloceToday for January 24, 2017

January 24, 2017 By pete

From the archives, the cars of Pierre Duval and a mystery Stanguellini; Peter Darnall on Hans Ruesch; a Winter’s Night Rally in Amsterdam; Jonathan Sharp continues his series of articles on the National Motor Museum and Lord Montagu.

Hans Ruesch and the Alfa Tipo 8C35

January 24, 2017 By pete

Montage image from photographer Piergiorgio Bardi aka Häaden 2 Como, Italy

Story and Montage by Peter Darnall
Additional photos from the collection of Dale LaFollette

Alfa Romeo Tipo C #50013 . . . The Hans Ruesch Era

The 1936 racing season brought victories for the Tipo C Alfa Romeos against the German Silver Arrows at Penya Rhin, Milan, and Budapest. The new monoposto showed it could compete with the Teutonic rivals—at least on tight winding courses when pushed to the absolute limit by Tazio Nuvolari. Italian hopes were high as the cars lined up for the start of the Coppa Ciano on August 2, 1936. No one could have known at that time, but Nuvolari was about to put on a virtuoso performance which would rank as one of the greatest drives of all time. [Read more…] about Hans Ruesch and the Alfa Tipo 8C35

Pierre Duval: Engineer, Artisan and Racer

January 24, 2017 By pete

By Thomas Bromehead
Thanks to Pierre Abeillon for his help

First published in 2014 VeloceToday

Born in 1903, Pierre Duval was an engineer and as such, one the few privateers who built their own cars who could claim to have an engineer background. He started his career with Citroën and participated in the “Croisière Noire” of 1924, which was actually a cunning marketing exercise by André Citroën (who always had excellent advertising ideas to make his brand stand out) in which caterpillar tracks Citroën machinery crossed the Sahara on their way to the central colonies.

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The National Museum at Beaulieu: Cars A-L

January 24, 2017 By pete

This 1903 single cylinder De Dion Bouton is still a regular entrant in the annual London to Brighton Veteran car run. The car was purchased by the Montagu family from a tenant on their estate in 1913 and was one of the five original cars that launched the Montagu Motor Museum in 1952 when the cars were displayed in the entrance hall of the family home.

Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

Last week we mentioned that we would discuss the founder of the National Motor Museum, Lord Montagu. Here then, Jonathan Sharp does so as a prefix to Part 2 of the National Museum articles which will cover cars from A-L. Part 3 will show cars from L-Z and motorcycles. Part 4 will deal with the Land Speed Record Cars at the Museum. Ed.

Let’s get the elephant in the corner out of the room. In 1953 Edward, 3rd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu, together with two other gentlemen, was convicted of the then crime of a homosexual act with two other consenting adults, who turned Queen’s evidence. Lord Montagu served 8 months in prison. Such was the public’s disquiet as what was perceived to be the unfair victimization of a public figure and the criminality of sexual acts between consenting adults, that a public inquiry was finally set up which ultimately led to the law on homosexuality being reformed. Ok that’s out of the way. [Read more…] about The National Museum at Beaulieu: Cars A-L

The 100 Miles of Amsterdam

January 24, 2017 By pete

Roland and Astrid Kok coming from underneath the Rijks Museum.

Story by Pete Vack
All photos by Wico Mulder

A few days before Christmas, the citizens of Haarlem and Amsterdam witnessed one of the most unusual rallies ever conceived, the 100 Miles of Amsterdam, open only to prewar classics. It was another brainstorm of rally wizard Bart Kleyn, a full time rally organizer who had previously studied Molecular Sciences at the Agricultural University of Wageningen and then obtained a PhD in Oncology/Hematology at the University of Virginia. [Read more…] about The 100 Miles of Amsterdam

VeloceToday for January 17, 2017

January 17, 2017 By pete

This week, Roberto Motta notes the debut of the new Abarth 124 Rally; we track the Alfa 8C35 serial numbers; Eric Davison concludes the Dale Powers story and Jonathan Sharp begins a series of articles on the UK’s National Motor Museum.

Alfa Romeo 8C35 Grand Prix Cars

January 17, 2017 By pete

The Editor Tracks the three 8C35 Alfas
Montage above by Peter Darnall

One might wonder why we are so interested in the Alfa 8C35 cars. An old saying goes that history is written by the survivors; and indeed, this is the case for the 8C35. But in addition to being survivors, the various and sundry 8C35s running today are examples of the only Grand Prix car to give the combined Silver Arrows a real run for the money. Given the might of the Mercedes and Auto-Union teams, the Alfa Romeo 8C35 had a brief but reasonably successful two seasons in Europe. Designed to be fitted with either a V12 engine, or an 8 cylinder, the 8C35 used a longer version of the famous Alfa 8C 2.3 engine, running almost concurrently with the initially unreliable V12 (12C36) while it was being developed. In 1936 Tazio Nuvolari drove the 8C35 to great victories at Coppa Ciano and the Hungarian GP. In our humble opinion, although Vittorio Jano’s V12 (actually designed by Bruno Trevisan) may have led to his downfall in October of 1937, the 8C and 12 C are underrated and much more successful contenders than results might render. And speaking of results, at the bottom of this article we’ve reproduced the Alfa racing results from the years 1935 to 1937 for your perusal.

As VeloceToday is currently publishing a series of short articles that often include these cars, (read A Most Unusual Meeting) we thought this an opportune time to provide a brief history of the 8C35 chassis known today.

Of the six 8C35s listed by Fusi, three can be determined to still exist in some form: [Read more…] about Alfa Romeo 8C35 Grand Prix Cars

The National Motor Museum at Beaulieu Part 1

January 17, 2017 By pete

Come on in, we are going to show you the neatest Museum in all of the UK.

Come on in, we are going to show you the neatest Museum in all of the British Isles.

Story and Photos by Jonathan Sharp

It’s funny; I have driven, and flown hundreds and sometimes thousands of miles to visit various car museums, shows and race meetings around the world, and yet I had not visited the National Motor Museum (also known as the Beaulieu) less than two hours west of my home on England South Coast, for nearly 20 years.

The National Motor Museum is located in Beaulieu Hampshire deep in heart of the New Forest. The museum was founded by Lord Montagu of Beaulieu in 1952; I will tell you a little bit more about Lord Montagu in part two. I have dim memories of visiting Beaulieu with my parents during the late 1960s before holidaying on the nearby Isle of Wight. Those memories are rather less about the cars then on display and more of the monorail built around the grounds and the replica veteran London bus that one could take a ride on, both of which are still part of the Museum today. [Read more…] about The National Motor Museum at Beaulieu Part 1

Abarth 124 Rally Debuts at the Monte Carlo Rally

January 17, 2017 By pete

Abarth 124 Rally was introduced at the ‘Auto Moto Epoca 2016’.

Story by Roberto Motta and Pete Vack
Photos courtesy of FCA

The new Abarth 124 Rally to debut in the 85th Monte Carlo Rally

The racing career of the new Abarth 124 Rally will start with the debut in the 85th Monte Carlo Rally, the first race of the 2017 Rally World Championship to be staged this weekend, from January 19 to 22. And as the lead photo indicates, Abarth will try to recreate the success of the original Fiat Abarth 124 Rally. And of course therein lies a story we can sink our teeth into.

We hit the reference books for information; in this case, our own Abarth Buyer’s Guide, from which we quote here liberally. Seems that Carlo Abarth wasn’t too keen on rally cars and only prepared two models in the early 1960s for rally events. In 1962 a team of Fiat 1500S Rally Berlinas was readied for the Trieste Rally but as they did not fare well, Abarth lost interest. In 1963 Abarth entered the Monte Carlo Rally with 850 and 1000 TC Berlinas, but it was the day of the front drive Minis and Saabs; Abarth & C. did not pursue. [Read more…] about Abarth 124 Rally Debuts at the Monte Carlo Rally

VeloceToday for January 10, 2017

January 10, 2017 By pete

Here’s a great way to start to the New Year! Peter Darnall weaves a story about Professor Porsche and the development of the 8C35 Alfa Grand Prix car; Roberto Motta at the 40th Anniversary of the Alfa Museo Storico; Part 3 of the cars of Dale Powers and from the archives, Graham Gauld writes about Mike Sparken.