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Scuderia Brescia Corse Part 3: Rebirth

February 16, 2015 By pete

1973 Ferrari Daytona driven by Scuderia Brescia Corse President Ugo Beretta in the Varano circuit during the Mille Miglia Tribute in 2009. He won it.

Story by Dino Brunori

As we have seen in Part 2, Read Part 2 Scuderia Brescia Corse seemed to have died, but, as we mentioned, fire was smoldering in the ashes. One day in the spring of 1994 Dr. Belponer received a phone call from his first vice president, Ugo Gussalli Beretta. A group of friends who were active in historic racing had gathered around Beretta, who explained to Belponer the desire of these friends to revive the never-forgotten name of Scuderia Brescia Corse. Belponer was surprised and delighted of this request and gave his approval, leaving the name in the hands of these new/old friends, happy to see his badge up on the shields again until his death at 83, in 2009.

So in 1994 new blood was injected into the veins of the Scuderia and the transfusion worked perfectly. At the beginning they were just 30 friends active in historic racing, very proud of the lioness badge on their cars, but within a couple of years the requests of new gentleman drivers flocked in. The board then decided to keep the rule, as always in the past, of 100 members only.

1949 Stanguellini 1100 owned by Paolo Mazzoldi.

One thing was common to all of the new members: the passion for historic racing like regularity time trials, hillclimbs, formula racing, and even concours d’elegance. Not all the members are drivers, because in regularity the co-driver is as important as the driver, and over the years this helped to build very strong relationship in the crews, that often last longer than a marriage!

In the last 20 years the Scuderia has been very active on the Italian playground, but many important races abroad have also seen the cars with the white and blue badge on the bonnet. Just to mention a few of them: Le Mans Classic, Tour Auto France, Tour de Espana, Slovenia Classic Marathon, Liege-Rome-Liege, Ennstal Classic, Rallye des Alpes, Mil Millas Argentina, and the Monaco GP Historic. The results are also in line with the story: since the revival in 1994, Scuderia Brescia Corse has collected 164 overall victories, including 2 Mille Miglia, 4 Gran Premio Nuvolari, 1 Tour Auto France, 2 times Le Mitiche Sport, 1 Mil Millas Argentina and 4 Winter Marathon events.

Maria Vittoria Pasotti, daughter of 'PAM', with the trophies won by her father.

[Read more…]

A Look at the Ferrari 488 GTB

February 16, 2015 By pete

Ferrari's new 488GTB.

By Wallace Wyss
Photos courtesy Ferrari Media

It’s hard to believe that the 458 Italia, which seems so new to me, is already the “old model” and Ferrari is replacing it with a new model called the 488 GTB, essentially the Italia with many improvements and a turbocharged engine. They promise that the new berlinetta will offer more driving pleasure than the old one, in terms of “nimbleness and on-the-limit driving.” [Read more…] about A Look at the Ferrari 488 GTB

A VeloceToday Speciale Edition for February 13, 2015

February 12, 2015 By pete

Four Guys at Retro did a tremendous job for us despite the cold, crowds, deadlines and bad travel weather. We thank Alessandro Gerelli from Milan, who covered the Italian makes, Hugues Vanhoolandt from Belgium, who snapped the French cars, Jonathan Sharp from the U.K. who made art of art, and from the south of France, Graham Gauld at his most memorable.

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Four Guys at Retro: Vanhoolandt and the French

February 12, 2015 By pete

Everybody has heard about the sale of the Baillon collection of nearly 60 cars in desperate state for most of them. Here on the same picture, the most well preserved cars, the Maserati A6 G 2000 Frua coupé in the background, and the Ferrari 250 GT SWB California once owned by French actor Alain Delon, sold for an incredible $18.5 million.

Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt
Click on pics to enlarge

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Retromobile show in Paris. Over the years it became a must-see event that starts the classic car season on the European continent and it continues to grow in size and quality. The sale of the well-publicized Baillon collection attracted even more spectators, who had to queue for some time to access the hall where the barn finds were exposed.

The Maserati, which went to an American buyer for $2.2 million, is one of only four A6G 2000 bodied by Frua. It was the 1956 Paris Motor Show car and in the Baillon family since 1959.

Apart from the usual manufacturers and dealers displays, many themes were developed with a retrospective of the production of Spanish manufacturer Pegaso, a selection of cars from the collection of Corrado Lopresto from Italy, a gathering of Bugatti Royales, the production cars of Matra, etc.

Yes, there were Pegasos, but you missed them. Fortunately Hugues did not, and we'l present Hugues' Pegaso pics in depth in another issue of VT.

But first take a look to the sale that made the headlines and to some French rarities.

The Baillon collection was presented in a very dark environment, giving an ambiance of mystery to these cars coming to light for the first time since decades. Another highlight was this Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport by Saoutchik, already featured here in VT ( Baillon barnfind part 3). It went for $1.9 million.

This Talbot-Lago T150C was also a car owned by Baillon until 1979 when a first batch of cars went on public sale due to his transport business bankruptcy. 1936 French ACF Grand Prix, 1937 Mille Miglia, 1938 Le Mans 24 hours are just some of the races in which this car took part with various bodies.

[Read more…]

Four Guys at Retro: Gerelli at the Auctions

February 12, 2015 By pete

Iso Grifo A3/C stradale 1965 sold at RM Auction for 1036k euros.

Story and photos by Alessandro Gerelli
Click on pics to enlarge

All prices are in Euros: This week the U.S. Dollar equals .88 Euro, and 1 Euro equals .74 British Pound Sterling

During the first three days of the Retromobile, three auctions were held in Paris by Artcurial, Bonhams and RM, all held at different locations, causing one to travel from one to another.

However, all three auctions were big successes with only few lots unsold, and many cars sold at the maximum or over the estimated values.

The high point was the Artcurial with the Baillon Collection with all the cars sold; a Maserati A6G 2000 by Frua sold at 2010k euros and, incredibly, a Ferrari 250 GT SWB California (#2935) ex Alain Delon sold at 16288000 euros (all included) against an estimation of 9.5 to 12 million euros.

The Iso and Bizzarini sold with very good results, with a couple of cars going over million euros.

At the Bonhams auction, a few Abarth cars coming from the Violati Maranello Rosso collection will be of great interest to VeloceToday readers – please note the prices!

Of course at the Retromobile itself, there were many cars on show at the various stands of dealers and clubs, but I limited the photo gallery to few cars of the Lopresto collection which were shown for the first time in Paris.

We begin with the Abarths…

Abarth Osella PA1 Sport Prototipo 1973 (Maranello Rosso collection) sold at Bonhams for 110k euros.

Abarth Simca 1300 GT long nose 1965 (Maranello Rosso collection) sold at Bonhams auction for 129k euros.

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Four Guys at Retro: Sharp on Art

February 12, 2015 By pete

From the Baillon barn find, a Facel Vega interior.

Story and Photos by Jonathan Sharp
Click on pics to enlarge

It was whilst sitting in the comfort of a Eurostar train returning from the fortieth edition of what is arguably the best classic car show in the world that my pal and I got to reminiscing about our first trip to Retromobile around about 34 years ago.

In those days, circa 1981, we could not afford to take time off from work; we decided we would leave home on the Saturday evening to attend the show on the Sunday. No Eurostar or channel tunnel in those days, no Internet, and no great plan as to how we were going to actually get there. 6 pm arrives and we piled into my pal’s company Nissan Sunny and departed for Dover for the ferry. We parked the car on the top floor of the multi story car park, (I cannot remember why it was the top floor), and found out the time of the next ferry. We must have waited some time as the ferry crossing only took an hour and we arrived in France at about 2am. The next train to Paris did leave until 4am. It was not a high speed train unlike nowadays but a normal suburban train with bolt upright seats covered in vinyl and it seemed to stop at every station. I also think we had to change trains as I do recall being stuck on a cold dark French railway station in the middle of nowhere for an hour or so.

Anyway we finally pull into Gard Du Nord in Paris and work out how to use the Metro. As none of us spoke anything more than schoolboy French, this was quite a feat. The Metro is crowded and my pal nearly lost his wallet to a pick pocket but we finally arrive at the show. We must have been impressed with what we saw but all I can now recall is that I bought a model kit of the Ferrari Pinin which I must get round to building one day. At the shows end it was time to take the same journey in reverse. By the time we arrive in England my Nissan Sunny-driving pal is having to be kept awake by the combined efforts of the rest of us. I recall putting the key in my front door at 6am. Then it was back to work for 9am Monday morning.

This year it’s an easy one hour drive to Ebbslfleet station and then a comfortable train seat for a few hours to Paris. A great show, an excellent dinner and a comfortable hotel for the night. Another morning at the show, lovely lunch. Then the same journey in reverse but this time it does have the added excitement of a bomb scare and controlled explosion at Gare Du Nord. Much improved, however, and easier on much older enthusiast.

I hope you will enjoy my look at the Art of Retro.

No comment necessary.

Grand Prix models

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Four Guys at Retro: More from Graham Gauld

February 12, 2015 By pete

This B52 Lancia with Bertone coachwork designed by Michellotti back in 1952.

Story and photos by Graham Gauld

Last week I talked about some of the cars lined up at Retromobile in Paris; I must admit that I mostly walk past the more obvious stands with spectacular cars and items but rather tend to keep an eye open for cars that I have either met before or have interesting back stories, so to speak.

This week I would like to continue with some more observations. Take, for example, the Alfa Romeo Tipo 33/2 long tail that was on show. This was one of the last 33/2’s built. Design work on the Alfa tipo 33 can be traced back to 1964 when Alfa started out to produce a sports racing car around the 1570cc engine they had developed for the Giulia TZ2.

The first real 33 was produced in 1967 and was called the “Periscopio” named after the high periscope air intake behind the driver. It won first time out on a Belgian hill climb. By now it was a 2 liter V8 developed by Carlo Chiti.

Alfa and Autodelta entered the World Constructors Championship the following year and the car shaped up well against Ferrari and Porsche opposition. At Daytona that year Ugo Schuetz and Nino Vaccarella finishing fifth in this actual show car behind three Porsche 907’s and Jerry Titus’s Mustang. More importantly it was ahead of the other two 33/2 factory cars of Mario Andretti and Mario Casoni. This same car was to finish 4th at Le Mans with Ignazio Giunti and Nanni Galli.

The Alfa Romeo 33/2 long tail Daytona named after its fifth place at the 24 Hour race.

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VeloceToday for February 10, 2015

February 10, 2015 By pete

Randy Cook’s Bowtie Ferraris chronicles the history of 71 Ferraris with Chevy V8 engines, Michael Lynch reviews; Gauld returns from Retro; Part 2 of Brescia Corse; Dumpster diving at Autodelta. Special Retro Edition of VT this Friday!

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Delahaye 135M by Guilloré, 1949. Single carburetor, good condition with strong underpinnings;could do with retrimming of seats. Half of the car has been polished up to show how good the paint still is underneath. The Cotal box is in working order. 0nly 3 or 4 estimated to have been bodied in this pontoon shape. 128 000€. Contact Tom Bromehead at: lesalfistes@gmail.com

An Italian rarity: One-off Fiat Osca 1600 GT bodied by Savio in 1964 (one of two). Same owner since the late sixties, recent full restoration including engine rebuild. Correct-spec Osca engine with forged crankshaft and alloy pistons. Price on demand. Contact Tom Bromehead at: lesalfistes@gmail.com

WANTED! Style Auto Many thanks to your readers for the leads! Location unimportant providing you will ship to the UK! I realize a full run is rare, willing to purchase a part/incomplete run of copies. The numbers I need are 3,6,7,11,15,16,18-19,20,29,34-35. Can you help complete the set?
Contact:willgrant@yahoo.co.uk

Rent a Race Car to drive in the 2015 Mille Miglia, Bassano, and other Italian Vintage events! Drive this rare Siata Daina Coupe, an A.C. Ace, or a Colli barchetta or others. This is an opportunity of a lifetime.
Don’t wait, these cars are rented out quickly for 2015!
Contact vack@cox.net for further details.

*$25 Ads for anyone who has something to sell, to giveaway, or to holler about. Ad will be placed above the fold and run for one month. Contact vack@cox.net .

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Scuderia Brescia Corse Part 2

February 10, 2015 By pete

'Pam' in the Scuderia Brescia Corse Alfa T33. Note the car is painted with the colors of Scuderia. Credit Centro Documentazione Alfa Romeo

Part 2 of Brunori’s Brescia Corse follows the action as the team has its most successful season ever.

In 1971 two other fabulous cars joined the Brescia Corse garage; an Alfa Romeo 33 and a Ferrari 512 M, both personal purchases of Belponer. As Belponer revealed the day of the delivery when announcing the new Scuderia’s acquisitions, it was the sole Ferrari 512 sold to a private individual at the remarkable cost of 27 million lira, tires excluded.

The team of Ferdinando Latteri and Nino Todaro in the Scuderia Brescia Course T33 at the Targa Florio in 1971. Credit Archivio Scuderia Brescia Corse

Brescia Corse also signed an agreement with Autodelta to borrow the services of Carlo Facetti when he’s free from official engagements, to drive the Chevron B 19 of the Scuderia. Casoni, Pam and Facetti also shared the 512 in the World Interseries Championship, racing at Monza, Imola, Zolder, Zwelteg, Norisring, Hockenheim. Our little club from Brescia was the sole private team to enter such a championship against the official team. Fighting with giants! [Read more…] about Scuderia Brescia Corse Part 2

Inside Autodelta Part 5

February 10, 2015 By pete

Story and photos by Robert Little

(Read Part 1)
(Read Part 2)
(Read Part 3)
(Read Part 4)
(Read Part 6)
(Read Part 7)

Treasures in the Dumpsters and on to the Targa

“Welcome back to “Inside the Walls” Part Five. I hope you have been enjoying it as much as I have delighted in sharing it with all of you. Now it is starting to get even more interesting.

The year 1972 became the most exciting period of my entire automobile racing life…travelling to Autodelta and a short time later witnessing and participating in several of the great moments in modern day Alfa Romeo racing history; the Targa Florio – where we lost by a mere 17 seconds over about 490 miles of twisting, circuitous Sicilian countryside; the epic struggle to capture the 24 Hours of Le Mans; the secret preparation of the new 33TT12 at Balocco; the 12 Hours of Sebring, the Six Hours of Daytona and the 500 Kilometers of Imola at the Circuit Dino Ferrari. Whew! What a year!

But for now, let’s take a short and final look at another area of Autodelta…the customer vehicle area and prepare ourselves for the long drive from Milano to the shores of Sicily where the Autodelta team had already established itself in the tiny village of Cerda for early testing.

And next week you will be given a front row seat for the Targa Florio and Le Mans.”

“Alfa Romeo. Racing Since 1911”.

Andiamo!

Archive parts storage area and customer GTA and GTV Rally preparation area. Chiti's white Berlina and Ing. Garbarino's Berlina are pictured in this area where new vehicles were delivered from Arese for disassembly, all non-essential parts being removed here. Lots of interesting items in rafter storage - including sets of Firestone tires made outmoded by new Goodyear contractual obligations - but retained for eventual historical reconstitution of early cars at some later date. Some early T-33 chassis are seen stored away in the upper left corner of the photograph.

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Gauld at Retromobile

February 10, 2015 By pete

The Pegaso Le Mans Coupe on Gregor Fisken’s stand.

We’ll have a lot more from Retro, but here’s a sneak peak from the most senior of our correspondents at Retro this year….more from Gaul coming up as well! Ed.

Story and photos by Graham Gauld

Paris in February can really chill the blood and this year was no exception. However inside Retromobile – that truly great annual historic event – there were plenty of things to keep the blood warm and in my usual mooching round I came across a number of interesting cars and stories which in turn I hope will keep you warmly entertained.

Now, as my first journalistic efforts took place around 1952, the whole of the fifties saw me absorb everything, and one marque which really caught the imagination was a car made by a Spanish truck company called Pegaso. It was a sensation when it was introduced; it was designed by Wilfredo Ricart, formerly of Alfa Romeo, and just sixty-eight of them were made. The company was in business for just six and a half years as the cost of building them was greater than the income from selling them.

The Retromobile organizers went to a lot of trouble to gather together the largest display of Pegasos I think anyone has ever seen, as they had twelve in a special area that my colleagues will no doubt photograph for you. But, there was a thirteenth Pegaso at the Show, and to me the most interesting. It was my Scottish pal, Gregor Fisken,who had it on his stand and it was one that was raced.

Fisken holds open the trunk lid on the Pegaso to show the twin fuel tanks.

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VeloceToday for February 3, 2015

February 3, 2015 By pete

Scuderia Brescia Corse, Autodelta constructs the 33TT, Cavallino 2015.

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The Porsche 924 Carrera now available. Author of the four volume Alpine & Renault series, “Gordini-a true racing legend” and a VeloceToday correspondent, Roy Smith is photographed signing a limited number of copies of his latest book “The Porsche 924 Carrera”.
Order your signed copy from Veloce Publishing now.

*$25 Ads for anyone who has something to sell, to giveaway, or to holler about. Ad will be placed above the fold and run for one month. Contact vack@cox.net .