The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts
Tribute and Photos by Don Hodgdon
We were saddened to learn this past weekend of the passing of a giant in the automotive world and one of the last true racing gentlemen. Gianpiero Moretti lost his long battle with lung cancer on Saturday, January 15th at the age of 67 at his home in Monza, Italy.
[Read more…] about Gianpiero Moretti: A Tribute
By Graham Gauld
I lost a good friend back in October when the 20th Earl of Moray, from one of Scotland’s older noble families, died at the age of 83. Though born in Africa he lived for most of his life at the family’s Scottish estates in Perthshire and Moray. So why am I talking about this man? Well, back in the 1970s when he was still Lord Doune, Douglas John Moray Stuart decided to collect motor cars that fascinated him. [Read more…] about BTW: The Lord’s Bugatti
Story by Michael Bayer
Photography by Ken Visser
The Body
As we have seen in Part 1 of the Fiat Dino Spider the stunning Pininfarina body was used for both the 2.0 Liter and the 2.4 Liter Fiat Dino Spiders. The overwhelming factor in either case is the body–prone to rust, as were most steel Italian bodies of the era, but no doubt one of the finest designs to have left the PF drawing boards in the 1960s. (ed.)
The coupe by Bertone worked, but not nearly as well as the Pininfarina Spider, which has to be on one Pininfarina’s finest designs ever.
Some eight years ago the Via Flaminia (rally) was born out of love for Italy and classic cars. Last year, Bart Kleyn set out to organize an all pre-war rally. He was hoping for an Alfa 6C or a Lancia Lambda but none entered. [Read more…] about 1914 Lancia Theta
Talmone was a chocolate maker who also founded a pastry restaurant in Turin. This is an ad for his products with a colorful look at the start of the 1907 Peking to Paris race.
By Pete Vack
Color photos by Mario Marchesini
The multi talented Ceirano brothers, Giovan, Giovanni, and Matteo virtually gave birth to the Italian auto industry. The three, apart and together, were responsible for the ingenious Welleyes, (which were the basis of the first Fiats) the SCAT, the Ceirano, and the subject of interest herein, the Itala. [Read more…] about The Most Famous Car in the World, circa 1907
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The “Ferrari Myth” Calendar Official Ferrari Calendar for 2012, can be purchased via David Bull Publishing for $89.95.
But last week VeloceToday also had a special drawing, an offer limited to our Premium Subscribers only. We thank the many who put their name “in the hat”. The winner of the Ferrari Myth Calendar is Joe Grealy from Kildare, Ireland.. Congratulations Joe, must be luck of the Irish!
If you want to qualify for next month’s giveaway (a copy of “Nardi, A Fast Life”) click here to become a Premium Subscriber.
Story by Pete Vack
Photography by Ken Visser
The Chassis
Fiat’s Dino Spider has been a classic since it was introduced at the Turin Auto Show in 1966. Like most true classics, the passage of time only increases its appeal.
It was the first Fiat with an engine with four overhead camshafts. The engine was produced by Fiat and “inspired in its general architecture by the Ferrari engine of the same name”, according to Quattroruote’s massive 1970 work, All the Fiats. It was also the same engine used in the Ferrari-made (but never labeled as such) Dino 206 and 246. And for Fiat, variants of the V6 were used in the Fiat Dino Coupe and finally, the Lancia Stratos. It was a remarkable engine, however many fathers claimed it.
The hereditary link with Ferrari, by way of Vittorio Jano, Franco Rochi and “productionized” by Aurelio Lampredi for Fiat has been well detailed elsewhere (Graham Robson‘s Fiat Sports Cars, and Doug Nye’s Dino, the little Ferrari).
This superb $89.95 Raupp Calendar for 2012 can be yours if you send an email to vack@cox.net and are a VeloceToday Premium Subscriber.
By Pete Vack
This month we feature “Ferrari Myth” the Official Ferrari Calendar for 2012, which can be purchased via David Bull Publishing for $89.95. We are also giving one away in a special drawing, an offer limited to our Premium Subscribers. Just send me an email with your name and mailing address, I’ll put them in a hat and choose the winner. You must be a Premium Subscriber by the time of the drawing on January 10th, 2012 in order to qualify. Click here to susbscribe.
The winner will be announced on January 11th. But first a little about the Official Ferrari Calendar. With all those choices out there, how does a car manufacturer like Ferrari choose who will create their official, and pricey, calendars? What makes them different? And who is Günther Raupp? We set out to find the answers.
[Read more…] about Win an Official Ferrari 2012 Ferrari “Myth” Calendar
Jeff Hill's neat, friendly 2012 Calendar is not available for sale, but free to anyone who subscribes now to our Premium Subscriber service.
…Or can we live without an analog calendar with space for a to-do list, are cars, calendars and girls forever inseparable (at least in our minds,) and wouldn’t you like a free copy of the “Ferrari Myth Calendar” by Raupp?
By now, traditional calendars should have gone the way of bison, elephantine cell phones, CRT tvs, newspapers, music stores, Oldsmobiles, Kodachrome and good movies. There is one on every PC, iPad, cellphone and Blackberry. But the ancient analog made-from-a-tree calendars still have a habit of hanging around, usually on garage walls, dens, and under phones in the kitchen. They are thrown out every January and magically renewed. Some habits die hard. [Read more…] about A Time for Calendars
By Pete Vack
Photos Copyright Alessandro Gerelli
Alessandro Gerelli has accumulated hundreds of photos from the many Mille Miglia events over the past few years. We thought we might use a few to help illustrate OSCA’s meeting with Porsche in the 1954 race. In addition to Alessandro’s photos, we are fortunate to have obtained permission from LMG Auto and the widow of Carlo Demand, to publish the image of the Hans Hermann Porsche Spyder as the occupants ducked under a rail crossing. The drawing was first published in “The Big Race”, in 1956. More of Carlo’s work can be seen, and ordered, from www.lmgauto.com.
Carlo Demand's work depicts some of the greatest moments in racing history, such as Hans Hermann's remarkable 1954 Mille Miglia.
