Of note: Recently, an idea to get young people interested in our hobby has come to our attention. Click on the icon to read about the Little Red Racing Car Project. We recommend watching the short video which is fun, and spells out the entire plan.
At Last: Online Racing Documentaries for the Enthusiast
Above, Rick Rawlins, left and Host Harold Osmer at work on a new documentary.
By Pete Vack
We recently received an email inviting us to watch a new video presentation. Noticing the Harry Miller-Indy 1914 Peugeot connection we thought we’d better pay it some attention.
We are glad we did, for this is not your grandson’s YouTube. Forget YouTube. The videos presented on the site, “Where They Raced“ are right up our alley. The Peugeot episode, “The Holy Grail”, is the story of the seminal 1914 Grand Prix Peugeot and is an excellent, professionally produced, historical documentary that could well have been moderated by Griff Borgeson himself (here Rick Rawlins did the MC work). And just as good was a previous episode, Speed Demons in the City of Los Angeles, was done so well ala Ken Burns, that we were blown away. These are not one time flukes; there are three episodes so far and more are added weekly.
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Race Retro 2013
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
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.
PostCARds From Heaven Contest
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Our Features This Week, February 21 2013
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
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
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
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
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.
Our Features This Week, February 14, 2013
Graham Gauld at Retro
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.
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...