De Tomaso Book Review
DE TOMASO From Buenos Aires to Modena: The History of a Visionary in the Automobile Industry
By Dr. Daniele Pozzi
Translation from the Italian text by Andrea Cittadini and Alessandro Saettta Vinci
280mm x 310mm
240 pages
Over 200 images (drawings, historical photos, photos of car models)
Now Available!
Dalton Watson Fine Books 2015
Our Price: $79.00
Shipping Costs: FREE SHIPPING TO USA AND UK. Shipping to all other countries will be charged one flat rate for first item, additional books in the same order are shipped for no additional s/h charge.
Review by Pete Vack
All photos from the book and used with permission
This is a review of the latest book published about the De Tomaso legacy. There are only a few good books about De Tomaso and this is one of them; nicely packaged, well done and priced right at only $79.00 including shipping to U.S. and the U.K. And we can recommend it; there are a few mistakes, a couple of clumsy translated sentences but not anything to complain about aside from perhaps the unwieldy size of 11 by 12 inches and lack of notes, bibliography and index (all too common today). Anyone who owns any of the myriad of De Tomaso cars will want to add this book to their meager collection. So, there is no need to read the below review, just click here and get it while they last.
However, if you want to know why, despite this promising new book, we still know next to nothing about the successes and failures of one of the most enigmatic, dynamic, romantic motoring alliances in history, then continue. [Read more…] about De Tomaso Book Review
As Found Classic Number Nineteen
Of course there was the Gold Plated Cadillac (and Jaguar) but imagine finding this gold plated Alfa 6C2300 Pescara!
As Found Classic Number Nineteen
Dear Pete,
One of my favorite photos to share…my 1934 Alfa Romeo 6C2300 Pescara, S/N 700.610. It was your copy of “High Performance Italian Cars” that I had the good fortune to buy from you, which in turn led me to become a premium subscriber to VeloceToday!
Sincerely,
Robert Piltch
Robert Piltch with his fantastic Rometsch-bodied Alfa Pescara.
VeloceToday for December 29, 2015
Six of the Most Popular Articles in 2015
Click on images below to go directly to the desired article –
As Found Classic Number Nine
As Found Number Nine
Reader Dave Rex submitted these photos and here is his story:
In 1961 I bought a very nice 1956 Corvette from the original owner. It had dual quads, been bored to 283 cu in and a 1957 four-speed added by the dealer. My dream car!
I had a real interest in road racing after attending some of the races at Road America and was excited about getting a sports car that I could enter in some rallies and autocrosses.
A few weeks after I bought the Corvette there was an ad in the local paper for a Ferrari located a couple of miles from my house in Wilmette, Illinois. I answered the ad and went to look at the car. They were asking $1,800 for the car which is exactly what I had paid for the Corvette. The car needed some bodywork on the left front fender but that was not a deal-breaker. [Read more…] about As Found Classic Number Nine
VeloceToday for December 22, 2015
– Click on images below to go directly to the desired article –
Classic Cars, Vintage Planes: The Bonhams RAF Auction
Ferrari 308GTB Fiberglass, 1974. $152,360. Maybe I am getting cynical in my old age but isn’t it strange than when early 308GTBs were worth about £25k they were simply known as fiberglass 308s. Now that they are over £100k they have become 308 GT Berlinetta Vetroresina’s! Madison Avenue at it’s very best! This rare right hand drive 1976 example had been on static display at the Shikoku Automobile Museum since 1991. On the wall behind the 308 is the order of battle and operational availability board covering 7 RAF/RCAF bomb groups as of the 26th April 1945. But that is a mere hint as to the rest of the displays of cars with aircraft, such as the Spitfire, B24, and P51 as you will see in this article.
________________________________________________________________
From the Editor: I can’t imagine this happening at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museums. But somehow,on December 8th, Bonhams was again able to pull enough strings to be able to hold classic or auction at the RAF Museum in Hendon, U.K. and position the cars to be sold next to significant historical aircraft.
And of course, our intrepid Jonathan Sharp, who is as much of a car nut (he owns four Alfas) as a vintage aircraft enthusiast, surely wasn’t going to miss this opportunity to see and photograph both of his passions. (He comes by his love of aircraft honestly…his father witnessed the birth of the Spitfire in 1936).
But he didn’t just take great shots of the cars and planes. First, he lists the car information as provided by Bonhams. But then, he describes the aircraft in the background of each photo, carefully editing (for your convenience) the RAF’s history of each plane. While the descriptions might be a bit long, it is interesting to note that the lives of vintage aircraft often reflect those of vintage cars, including some of the same people who collected and or piloted both cars and aircraft (like Bob Tullius of Group 44 who owned the P51 Mustang photographed with the VW Microbus below). Some are barn finds, some bitsas, some are totally original, but all have great histories; if you like old cars, we guarantee you’ll enjoy old aircraft.
There is no correlation between the cars and the aircraft, although some seem to fit together quite nicely. Perhaps that could be the subject of another show or even auction—placing a Mercedes 540 with a German bomber, a Rolls with a Spitfire, a Lincoln Mark I with a Hellcat, Bugatti with a Bugatti aircraft engine, the possibilities are intriguing as the logistics are formidable.
Our sincere thanks to Jonathan Sharp, who put a lot of time and enthusiasm into this series of photos. We put the sales prices in USD next to the cars and they include buyer’s premiums.
Auction results can be found on the Bonhams site.
By Jonathan Sharp
Alfa Romeo TI Super, $59,946. This 1964 Alfa Giulia TI is generally accepted as being one of the three cars prepared by Autodelta for the 1965 Sebring 12 hour race and driven by works driver Tedoro Zeccoli to 6th place overall and third in class behind the winning Lotus Cortina of Jim Clark. [Read more…] about Classic Cars, Vintage Planes: The Bonhams RAF Auction
Giugiaro’s Mystery Car
Randy Leffingwell photographed the lost Porsche in ....Copyright Randy Leffingwell.
By Wallace Wyss
Of course, it is not really “lost.” Someone out there has it and my basis for thinking that is that I’ve seen pictures of it restored and resplendent in a recent Randy Leffingwell book.
I speak of the Giorgetto Giugiaro-designed Porsche 911 roadster, a one-off car that was built by Carrozzeria Bertone back in the first half of the sixties when Giugiaro was the main man on the boards at Bertone.
VeloceToday for December 15, 2015
– Click on images below to go directly to the desired article –
Ferrari Art by Alessandro Gerelli Part 2
Gallery: Ferrari Intake and Exhaust
Exhaust tubes (Maranello Ferrari museum, 2008).
Voiturettes Part 2: ERA to Talbot
ERA (English Racing Automobiles Limited, Bourne, U.K.)
Competitive years: 1934-1938 Horsepower Range: 180-225
While the MG, Alta, Riley and Austin 750 did remarkably well for Great Britain, the Raymond Mays/Peter Berthon ERA combined a production based supercharged Riley engine with a solid conventional chassis and to launch the best known British upright of all time. It was fast, mostly reliable, and attracted top notch drivers from the U.K. and one from Thailand. Prince B. Bira (for short) was a grandson of King Mongkut, the hero of the book and musical, “The King and I”.
Bira was encouraged and financed by his cousin, Prince Chula Chakrabongse, and the pair bought three ERAs, naming them Romulus, Remus and Hanuman under the White Mouse Stable.
Peugeot Museum, Part 3: Rally, Racing and then some
Photos and captions by Jonathan Sharp
In Part One and Part Two of the Peugeot Museum, Jonathan Sharp took us through the production car history of the long lived French automaker Peugeot. While it was not totally complete, it offered a good view of why this collection is both important and impressive.
This week, we wrap up Jonathan Sharp’s French excursion to Peugeot with odds and ends, trophies, rally cars, race cars, and a work called art that only the French can explain. For a conservative manufacturer, we are reminded that Peugeot has been enormously successful in many branches of racing and rallying. So, if, as Sharp suggests, you have some extra time while visiting the old Schlumpf museum, take in the Peugeot Adventure. Here is the website: http://www.museepeugeot.com/en/home.html
This Targa Florio trophy has an interesting history but too long to relate here. Suffice to say that in 1907 on April 29th, Jules Goux won the Voiturette single cylinder race with a Lion Peugeot. But look at this trophy compared to the 1985-86 World Rally Championship affairs.