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VeloceToday for November 3, 2015

November 3, 2015 By pete

Keep those subscriptions coming…

This week Graham Gauld remembers Griff Borgeson. “In his prime, Griff was one of the truly great auto historians and he forged relationships with the people responsible for important and fantastic automobiles,” said ex-Automobile Quarterly editor Jonathan A. Stein. Borgeson had a great influence on Gauld as well, so don’t miss this exclusive VeloceToday article.

Making a replica Alfa sport racer is a dream we all have, but restorer Alex Bacon created a 50s-era Colli-like Alfa 6CM3000 from a delerict 2600. J.E. White describes how he did it (and how you can too!) in a three part article, Alfa Past and Present.

Artist Mark Stehrenberger is offering a Limited Edition Dino poster to celebrate its 50th anniversary. And, another fascinating As Found Classic. So, read, subscribe, (and note that we also offer two or three free articles every week) and we’ll keep great stories like these coming to you every week, as we have done for the past fifteen years.
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Graham Gauld Remembers Griff Borgeson

November 3, 2015 By pete

By Graham Gauld

I think if you do not have someone to look up to and respect, there is no incentive to improve. When it came to motoring journalism there were a handful of people I respected and one of the first to become a hero was American writer and historian Griffith Borgeson.

When I bought my first motor racing book in 1951, it was one of the soft cover booklets produced by Fawcett in the U.S.A. It was about Hot Rods and written by Griffith Borgeson and Eugene Jaderquist. Perhaps it was his depth of knowledge or his command of English that turned my head, but I was a fan for many years and eventually met him here in the South of France.

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Past and Present Alfa Romeo Part 1

November 3, 2015 By pete

Above photo by David Gooley

Creating a a stunning 50s-era Sports Racer from a derelict Alfa 2600

Alex Bacon grew up a student of automobile design. He cut his teeth as a teenager with a ground up restoration on his father’s ’63 Ferrari 250 GTE and fell willing victim to the allure of its sexy design, exotic engineering, and the quixotic addiction that comes from driving something you meticulously rebuilt piece by piece. He liked the car but he wanted less; less concession to creature comfort, less performance-robbing accessories, less overhead to wrangle through curves. An idea began to form, an idea about something light, fast and nimble, something simple but exotic: A purpose-built vehicle like the cars competing in the 1953 to 1961 Worlds Sports Car Championship. But first he had a skill set to acquire, experience to gain, time to refine a vision of just what that idea entailed. [Read more…] about Past and Present Alfa Romeo Part 1

As Found Classic Number Sixteen

November 3, 2015 By pete

A period photo of Richard’s Simca 8.Back of photo reads: 1951 Simca 8 Sport, 1100cc, 4 cyl Fiat based Gordini modified engine. Farina Envelope Aluminum body. Restored and owned by T.A. Glendening 1953-1955

Reader Richard Plavetich writes:

When you started the As Found Classics column on VeloceToday, I submitted photos of my Simca 8 Sport I bought a few years ago. (see above). Well, suddenly, the story has become much more interesting! [Read more…] about As Found Classic Number Sixteen

Order This Dino 246 Poster Now In Time For The Holidays

November 3, 2015 By pete

DINO 246GT LIMITED EDITION LITHOGRAPHS BY MARK STEHRENBERGER

Only 3,569 246 GT and 246 GTS Dinos were built, and today, their prices at auctions are going thru the roof, some hitting $300,000.00+.

BUT YOU CAN OWN NOT JUST ONE, BUT SIX FERRARI DINOS FOR A MERE $350.- (plus $15.00 s&h within the USA and Canada. Ask for international rates)!

This limited edition lithograph, (only 125 prints) sized 27 x 39” (70 x 100 cm), on heavy top-quality watercolor paper, comes numbered and signed by me, the artist, and is ready to be framed. I will even personalize it, if you give me the name of the lucky recipient!

So, who is Mark Stehrenberger? Read below to find out!
And, order the above poster at the end of the article. [Read more…] about Order This Dino 246 Poster Now In Time For The Holidays

VeloceToday for October 27, 2015

October 27, 2015 By pete

Peter Brock: Building the Daytona Coupes in Modena

October 27, 2015 By pete

Fifty years on, Peter Brock poses with Peter Brock and the prototype Daytona,

Fifty years on, Peter Brock poses with a photo of Peter Brock and the prototype Daytona. Our story deals with the first of five Coupes built in Modena. Courtesy Peter Brock collection.

By Peter Brock

As soon as the first Daytona Cobra Coupe, CSX 2287, was completed and tested successfully at Riverside Raceway on February 1st 1964, Carroll Shelby decided to build five more. He felt he had a score to settle with Enzo Ferrari and finally had the weapon to do it. The Daytona’s radical design had been so controversial within the Shelby organization that most of those employed there figured Shelby’s plan to race in Europe against Ferrari would evaporate as soon as the first Coupe was tested and found to be a failure. That resistant attitude changed dramatically as soon as test driver Ken Miles called from Riverside trackside to inform Shelby that he’d shattered the track’s lap record by 3.5 seconds!

Brock on the Grid with the six Coupes. Jonathan Sharp photo.

Brock on the Goodwood grid with five of the six Daytona Cobra Coupes. Jonathan Sharp photo.

[Read more…]

Chassis History of the Six Daytona Coupes by Pete Brock

October 27, 2015 By pete

Cobra Daytona line up by Jonathan Sharp.

By Peter Brock

Brock updates the history of the Daytona Cobra Coupes for VeloceToday

Carroll Shelby built only six Daytona Cobra Coupes to contest the World Manufacturers Championship in 1964 and 1965. Its controversial body design was created by Shelby’s Director of Special Projects, Peter Brock. The first Shelby Daytona Coupe was built completely at the Shelby American race shop in Venice, California. The remaining five were partially-built (chassis) at Shelby’s but then were flown to Italy to have Carrozzeria Gransport in Modena build the bodies. A seventh semi-related car, the 427 “Type 65” Shelby Daytona Super Coupe # CSB3054, built on the later Ford designed MK II chassis, was planned to run in the Prototype Class in 1965. When the GT40 program was awarded to Shelby for 1965, the Cobra program was terminated, so the Type 65 was never officially completed by Shelby and is not included herein.

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CSX2287 Photo by Hugues Vanhoolandt

Chassis #CSX2287 was the prototype Cobra Daytona Coupe. It is the only coupe (chassis/body) that was built entirely at the Shelby American race shop in Venice, California. It has an extensive race history (7 races), competing at Daytona, Sebring, Reims, Spa Francorchamps, Oulton Park TT, Le Mans and Tour de France. It was driven by Chris Amon, Dave MacDonald, Bob Holbert, Jo Schlesser, Phil Hill, Jochen Neerpasch, Innes Ireland, André Simon, Maurice Dupeyron, Bob Johnson and Tom Payne. [Read more…] about Chassis History of the Six Daytona Coupes by Pete Brock

Vintage Collingrove Hillclimb, South Australia, 6 October

October 27, 2015 By pete

Richard Creasy, Amilcar G.

Story and photos by Vince Johnson
Click on Pics to ENLARGE

The first competitive hillclimb in South Australia, held in 1904 on the Norton Summit Road, was won by Ernest Rymill in his 15hp Darracq. The following year he made it two in a row. Sadly, Rymill’s Darracq wasn’t in the Barossa Valley this year for the Sporting Car Club of SA’s Vintage Collingrove, although the French were admirably represented by local stalwart Richard Creasy’s slightly younger Amilcar G.

Richard purchased the car in 1986 as the remains of a Morris powered special built in the 1960’s in Melbourne. It has been rebuilt with Amilcar components. The engine is a 1925 pressure fed 1985cc side valve and drives through its original 4 speed transmission. [Read more…] about Vintage Collingrove Hillclimb, South Australia, 6 October

VeloceToday for October 20, 2015

October 20, 2015 By pete

Our New Premium Service

Due to rising costs of maintaining a secure website as well as the normal costs of doing business, VeloceToday needs to charge a small amount for our exclusive content…stories and articles that do not appear anywhere else and are written for VeloceToday only.(However, we will continue to offer a selection of free articles each week.)

In order to continue to publish these articles every week, we need your help.

We have instituted a new paid (or premium) subscription service which allows us to cut the previous monthly charge from $9.95 to $5 per month. We kept it simple, so there is no yearly rate, just monthly, but it does include a recurring payment via Paypal. Cancellation is quick and easy. When you see the ‘Subscribe’ button in an article, just click and follow the instructions. We’ve made it as easy as possible! So please, don’t hesitate.

(Note that we previously had such a service but cancelled all recurring charges and subscriptions in May of 2015. All subscriptions should have since run out; if you have any questions just email me at vack@cox.net. We apologize for the inconvenience, but if you had subscribed to our earlier service, you will have to subscribe to the new service; we hope the reduced price will make it worth your while.)

Sincerely,

Pete Vack, Editor and Publisher

Zagato’s Fab Four

October 20, 2015 By pete

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-Zagatos in this feature.

Story and photos by Al Morrison

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.

Morrison sent this photo he took of the TZ as seen at the 1965 London Motor show. He was immediately smitten with the car and knew he’d own one someday, somehow.

Five years later in 1970, after seeing an ad in Competition Press, I decided this was my chance. A few phone calls to the seller and a couple of Polaroid pictures later, a friend and I flew from Atlanta, Georgia to El Paso, Texas armed with a box of tools and a full-purchase-price check in hand. Who but a young Alfa nut would forsake normal automotive due diligence before making such a risky purchase?

Atlanta-based Morrison went to Texas to pick up this Alfa TZ1 in 1970. It was in remarkably good condition and after a new battery, Morrison hopped in and co-drove it back to Georgia. The chassis number is 750038.

[Read more…]

A Very Good Year

October 20, 2015 By pete

Although the 254 articles published in the year 2013 was par for the course for VeloceToday, it was in many respects a very special year for us. For within our electronic pages one could find Denise McCluggage, Michael T. Lynch, Gijsbert-Paul Berk, Ed McDonough, Graham Gauld, Carl Goodwin, Roy P. Smith, Eric Davison, Judy Stropus, along with regulars Wallace Wyss, Hugues Vanhoolandt, Jonathan Sharp, Roberto Motta and Alessandro Gerelli. And you bet we’ve missed some! Below are icons (buttons) for all 254 articles during the year. Click on the icon to read the article. They are arranged by month beginning in December, so keep scrolling to January. It will take you a few minutes to scroll all the way through!

December

[Read more…] about A Very Good Year