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The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts

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Race Retro 2013

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Team Vialle Alpine 110B Rallycross car was the most successful A110 in the FIA European Rally Cross championship.

Story and Photos by Jonathan Sharp unless otherwise noted.

The annual Race Retro show, now in its 10th year at Stoneleigh in Warwickshire, has always been considered to be a harbinger of the arrival of spring and the start of the new season of historic car racing in the U.K. This year spring had certainly been put on hold for the weekend. It was cold; the wind chill had been described by somebody more eloquent than me as being stiletto sharp, but the fun went on regardless.
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Australian Tour de Fleurieu

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Late last year, Angus Mitchell, an Australian who owns a delightful Amilcar CGSs (above) thought it might be a worthy idea to put on a rally for Pre-1938 French cars with a wider scope of entry than just open to Amilcars. But would this work? How many of these rare museum pieces would actually show up? We’ll let Angus take it from here.

By Angus Mitchell
Photos by Roger Foster

After I made the decision that I wanted to attract a wider range of interesting Vintage and Veteran cars to the beautiful surrounds of the Fleurieu Peninsula, I was very happy that a contingent of over 35 pre-1938 French vintage and veteran cars lined up to enter our Tour de Fleurieu event last November.

35 Pre War French cars assembled to participate in the Tour de Fleurieu.

The diversification proved to be a success with no less than 18 Amilcars, 5 Bugattis, 2 Salmsons, 3 Delages, a Le-Zebre, Hispano, Lorraine – Deitritch, Bedelia, Sizaire et Naudin, Hotchkiss and more. The owners of these wonderful machines agreed that it was great to see similar vehicles, from the same era together on the road. These are the sort of cars Museums die to get their hands on but these dedicated owners like to use them.

Don-Harrington's Hotchkiss AM Tourer.

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PostCARds From Heaven Contest

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There is still time to win the contest below; many guesses, none right!
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BONUS! NEW PREMIUM SUBSCRIBERS ARE ELIGIBLE TO WIN BOTH ABARTH BUYER’S GUIDE AND WATKINS GLEN CD! CLICK BELOW.

Our Features This Week, February 21 2013

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This week our thanks to Alessandro Gerelli (I), Jonathan Sharp (UK) Vince Johnson (AUS) and Erik Verhaest (F). Enter our PostCARds contest NOW for a chance to win!

The PostCARd Always Rings Twice

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By Pete Vack
All photos courtesy Erik Verhaest

After a few days of enjoyable email discussion about his postcard collection and helping to identify some cars in the gorgeous locations, Erik Verhaest, aka “M.carpedi”, reflected a bit on the fun we had guessing the cars. “What a wonderful hobby!” he said. We couldn’t have agreed more. Now we hope our readers will share the experience with us.
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STD Celebrates One Hour at 100 MPH, 100 Years Ago

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That's 103 miles done in ONE Hour at Brooklands. Ian Polson poses with the recreation of Percy Lanbert's Talbot.

Story and Color Photos by Jonathan Sharp

Saturday February 15, 1913 had dawned misty, not ideal conditions to attempt to set a record to drive a car for 100 miles in an hour. Not 100 miles per hour; that had already been done. But this record was to drive a car 100 miles in distance in one hour.

The scene of this attempt was the Brooklands motor racing circuit in Weybridge Surrey England. The creation of Mr. Hugh Locke King, a wealthy land owner, this huge banked speedway was opened in 1907 and was the ideal location for such record attempts. By 1908 the record already stood at 85 miles in the hour. In 1912 the record had been pushed to 97.59 miles in the hour. This was achieved by the French driver Victor Hemery driving his 15 liter Lorraine Dietrich.
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Carnevale, Adelaide South Australia, February, 9 2013

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Carnevale, Adelaide South Australia, 9 – 10 February 2013

Story and Photos by Vince Johnson

February in South Australia is high summer and the weather was perfect for this year’s ‘Carnevale’. Held at the Adelaide Showgrounds, south of the parkland which circles the state capital, the indoor pavilions and outside plazas were transformed into ‘Little Italy’ piazzas for the weekend. Traditional Italian culture, food, music, fashion parades and exhibitions set the scene for the Motor Show.
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Postcards from Heaven #1

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This week we are very happy to present the first of our series of postcards from the mcarpedi Collection. The man behind the collection is Erik Verhaest from France. We asked him to tell us about the above postcard, which is one of his favorites. Verhaest delights in the details. The location is Tougues par Chens (Haute Savoie), Hôtel Ecaille d’Argent. “Every postcard tells a story, some more than others. I liked the Alfa and the Citroën in the same photo, but looking closer, you discover that the Citroën DS (1956/57) has a ‘CC’ license plate, ‘Corps Consulaire’? Could it be the Italian consul with his body guards in the Alfa? The people on the terrace are ladies with nice hats and men with military caps. I can smell their food 60 years later. The hotel still exists. One day I will go there with the postcard and ask for a plate of spaghetti!” Click card to go to mcarpedi.com.

Graham Gauld at Retro

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Abarth-750

Europe is finally beginning to see an influx of the Abarth Allemanos.

Story and photos by Graham Gauld

It’s the first week of February, and to many that means Retromobile in Paris. This large motoring extravaganza is the meeting place of those who are in the know and looking for customers for their cars, as well as those who are there to drink in a truly diverse collection of cars, memorabilia and artifacts that never fail to produce some surprising items.

I tend to overlook the big historic car dealer stands with the major items that are generally covered in depth by most of the historic rags. I tend to look in the corners and on some of the smaller stands where you can find some really interesting stuff.

Stanguellini-Berlinetta

The Bertone-bodied Stanguellini berlinetta.

I have known the Stanguellini family for over fifty years, but this was the first occasion I have seen one of the 1100cc Fiat-engined berlinettas produced in the early 1950s. They were built as a short run of cars aimed at racing, with beautifully styled coachwork by Nuccio Bertone. As you can see from the photo it was very stylish for 1951 and at the Coppa Inter Europa that year, four of them took part, Manzini’s car finishing 8th in the 1100cc class. The one on show was on the Belgian Marreyt Classics stand with a price tag a shade over $180,000.

You had a choice of Cisitalia 202SC cabriolets on offer at Retromobile. This one was the Marryet car finished in blue/grey...

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On a personal note….

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mary decker vack

Your Editor and his wife Mary celebrated our 43rd wedding anniversary last weekend and found this fading photo hidden in the pages of an old book. The photo dates from 1969, shortly before we were married. The Alfa was but one of many; Mary was the one and only.

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