Do you believe in Magic? Sean Smith looks at seventy years of Alfas to see if automotive DNA is alive and well. You be the judge. Lancia dealership photos and ads from the 1960s; One Fast Fiat 125T and we review The Ed Hugus Story.
Testing DNA in Four Alfas
Four Alfa sedans representing almost 70 years of Alfa design; the 1950s with the Alfa 1900 Berlina, the Alfa 105 Sedan of the 1960s and early 70s, the 1990s with the 164, and today’s new Giulia Quadrifoglio. A wonderful display of automotive tradition, but do the genes really carry through? Does the latest Quadrifolgio have anything in common with the 1900? We’d like your opinions!
Story and photos by Sean Smith
Can you take cars that are 60 years apart and compare them? Is there any overlap? So much has changed over that time. So many improvements, so many refinements. Can a car company retain the imagination and passion it has from its past… can it transcend modernity and still retain the fire from bygone days? Comparing four Alfa sedans from disparate eras brings up interesting questions: Is there such a thing as automotive DNA and has Alfa succeeded reproducing desirable genes? Are designers, then and now, really passionate or corporate drones? Is Alfa different than, say GM? We’ll present the cars; you present your views.
Cobra Pilote: The Ed Hugus Story Reviewed
Ed Hugus poses with one of his early production Cobras. He was to install the Ford V8s and finish off the first few Cobra 260s for Shelby. Author Robert Walker tells the story in Cobra Pilote, The Ed Hugus Story.
Cobra Pilote: the Ed Hugus Story
By Robert D. Walker
Hard cover with dust jacket 280mm by 230mm
304 pages
328 black and white, and color photographs
12 MyRewards points with purchase
ISBN 978-1-85443-283-4
US $89 plu shipping
Dalton Watson, 2017 1-847-945-0569
Order Here
Review by Pete Vack
All photos from the book
Ed Hugus drove Alfas, Porsches, BMWs, Lotus, Ferraris and Coopers over his 15-year career as a race car driver. He also drove a Cobra at Le Mans in 1963, where it retired.
So one might wonder why his biography is entitled Cobra Pilote; the Ed Hugus Story. Probably because the author, who once lived close to Hugus and became a close confidant, is enamored with Cobras, and no doubt wanted make sure Ed gets the credit for being the first one to install a V8 into a production Cobra. In fact as Robert D. Walker tells us, Ed’s shop actually created about six or seven of the first Cobras, taking in the A.C. bodies from the UK and installing the Ford 260. Walker, for good reasons, wanted to set the record straight. It’s an interesting story, and never before told in such detail. [Read more…] about Cobra Pilote: The Ed Hugus Story Reviewed
A Life of Lancia: Lancia Import Nederland N.V.
Below, unpublished photos of a successful Lancia dealership in the 1960s and early 70s.
By Lucas van Dobben
The pictures taken are in the showroom of the Marel Lancia Importers circa 1966-68. Below the photos are series of advertisements I kept from the Marel Lancia dealership. In the first photo, a happy couple take delivery of a new Lancia Flaminia convertible by Touring. The rest are self-explanatory. For more information about the Lancia years and the Marel Lancia Dealership in Holland, read:
[Read more…] about A Life of Lancia: Lancia Import Nederland N.V.
And How! 4-25: Fiat Sedan vs Formula Cars
And How! is a new regular feature in VeloceToday, just right for those stories which are too short or too little or news items that don’t qualify as full length articles.
Boyle/Piercey Fiat 125T at Phillip Island, 2017.
We did a bit on Steve Boyle’s 1972 Fiat 125T in VeloceToday’s coverage of the Phillip Island Classic. but since then, we received a bit of on track footage from Boyle that puts a new light on the car’s abilities and have included it below. [Read more…] about And How! 4-25: Fiat Sedan vs Formula Cars
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VeloceToday for April 18, 2017
And How! features the Simca 8 Sport, Hugues Vanhoolandt celebrates 10 years with VeloceToday at Techno Classica Essen, we review the controversial new McQueen Le Mans book, and Part 2 of a Life of Lancias with Lucas van Dobben.
And How! 4-28: Life and Death of a Simca 8
And How! is a new regular feature in VeloceToday, just right for those stories which are too short or too little or news items that don’t qualify as full length articles.
Jerry Lehrer’s Simca 8 Sport at a New York car event sometime in 1951. Photo courtesy Jerry Lehrer.
Life, Death and Rebirth of a Simca 8. But is it the same car?
A Life of Lancias, Part 2
Lucas picked up this B20 in 1970 for 1300 Gulden. But there were TWO more B20s in the same deal!
By Pete Vack and Lucas van Dobben
Last week in A Life of Lancias Lucas wrote about his experiences working at the Lancia dealership and the Tulip Rally. Along the way, he naturally found many Lancias for himself. He had no less than FOUR B20s, “one with all the Nardi extras and Borani bimetal wheels.” [Read more…] about A Life of Lancias, Part 2
Techno Classica Show Essen, Germany, 2017
A year later, Gangloff also penned the body of this Type 57 C. The design has evolved to a more exuberant style, more usually seen on Saoutchik or Figoni creations.
Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt
“Techno Classica Essen, the entire classic world under one roof”. This was the motto of the German show now in its 29th edition and held from April 5-9.
The numbers speaks for themselves as the show attracts more than 1,250 exhibitors and 220 clubs and communities of interest, showing more than 2,500 collector cars. Needless to say that two days are a minimum to see the entire exhibition, still at a fast pace. We will therefore concentrate on some specials from France and Italy. [Read more…] about Techno Classica Show Essen, Germany, 2017
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VeloceToday for April 11, 2017
Dutch enthusiast Lucas van Dobben has led a life of Lancias and shares his experiences with us; And How! finds Pegasos in New York; Vince Johnson covers Phillip Island, and we review the latest and perhaps last book on the Alfa TZ-TZ2.
