More features and reports below!
Korean Grand Prix 2011
Race Report by Pete Vack
2 AM Eastern Daylight time. Last thing we needed to stay awake was a boring Grand Prix race, which Korea almost was. But just almost. Yes Vettel won and wrapped up the constructor’s Championship for Red Bull (for us who care more about engines than sugar drinks, that’s Renault Red Bull) and even Webber placed well in third to bolster the points for Renault Red Bull. But underneath and behind was a very palpable sense of frustration that was clearly evident among the drivers and made for an exciting race–at least for second and third places. [Read more…] about Korean Grand Prix 2011
Watkins Glen Memoirs Part 3: A Car for the Glen
Finding an SS100 for sale wasn’t an easy task. They surely weren’t listed in the classified sections of the local newspapers and, unlike today there was not much of a market for old sports cars. But, in the classified section of Motor Dad found one listed; a 3 1/2 liter, gunmetal gray, red carpets and red bucket seats. The price was just about what an MG TC cost at that time, about $1800. Because the car was in England that opened up a possibility for paying for it.
In 1949 the Garroway Jaguar SS100 appeared at the Glen. After seeing it, Charlie Davison decided that he had to have one but an SS100 was not easy to find. This is the Garroway (in passenger seat) SS100 at the Glen in 1950. Photo by Frank Shaffer.
My paternal grandfather had died in 1946. He had lived in London and had been widowed about three years earlier. He had survived the Battle of Britain and all the horrors and privations of the war. He was scheduled to come to America and to live with us. The struggle to obtain the permissions necessary to leave England became more and more protracted and he eventually just gave up and expired.
His estate wasn’t much, about 700 £ (something less than $3000) all went to Dad. He was an only child. The money sat in the Bank of England. Cash was not to leave the country. For England every farthing counted.
But, by working through the Royal Automobile Club Dad was able to find a way to use some of the money. Dad sent cash to the RAC from the US. He was able to transfer money from his Bank of England account to the RAC who then purchased the car and resold it to Dad and exported it to America. Complicated but it worked and the SS100 was on the way.
It came by boat to New York and was shipped by truck to Detroit. It was a rare warm February day when Dad arrived home with his prize. After dinner he pointed me to my coat and the garage with the statement “Let’s see what it will do!”
Charlie sitting in his pride and joy on the grid at Edenvale, Ontario, Canada in 1950. There, however, the pre-war Jag met up with two new XK120s, and he had to settle for third in his first race with the SS100. Harold Lance photo.
Driving the Type 135 M Delahaye
By Ed McDonough
Want a video clip of this drive? Send an email to pete@velocetoday.com.
A Chapron Delahaye
It seemed extraordinary to me doing the research for this series, reading a large number of period articles and reviews in notable journals, that many of these totally failed to mention who provided the body for some of the cars reviewed. Was it just a matter of routine that performance cars would have special bodies or could it have been that the reviewer didn’t know? After all, specialised car production was just that, and the history is complex.
Henri Chapron gets a few mentions in 1938, and when the Paris Salon V-12 car was sent to England in 1939, Figoni and Falaschi started to get some attention. But bodies for Delahayes had also been built, often to specific customer orders, by some intriguing people…a 1949 135M with a body built by Pennoch of the Netherlands to a design by Selborne of Mayfair, London. While Figoni and Falaschi may have executed some of the most ‘daring’ designs, bodies were also built by Saoutchik, Franay, Carrozzeria Motta, Carlton Carriage Company, Henri Labourdette, Letourneur et Marchand, and others.
Delahaye used Chapron for its more conservative designs but they were always effective.
Westchester County Concours 2011
Best of Show went to the 1961 250 TR/61 entry of Scuderia N.E. as did the People’s Choice Award. Yes, car # 10 is well known to the Tifosi. It is the very same Ferrari factory prototype car which Phil Hill drove to a 1st place in the 1961 24 Hours of Le Mans race in the same year that Hill also became the first USA racer to win the Formula 1 World Driving Championship! Unlike today, in those days, racing drivers were well rounded and raced anything on two and four wheels.
Text and Photos by Werner Pfister unless otherwise noted
Raging bulls, rampant horses, man eating snakes, poisonous scorpions and three pronged spears were very well represented at the 2nd annual Westchester Concorso d’Eleganza held on October 2nd. In keeping with the mission of the organizing committee of the Westchester Italian Cultural Center, attendees were educated and entertained with a comprehensive cross section of Italian cars, their exotic badges and other automobilia on display at this great event.
[Read more…] about Westchester County Concours 2011
Our Features This Week, October 12th
Click on the image to go directly to the feature.
More features and reports below!
This Week, of Interest
Here’s a great event to attend at the end of this month. The Petersen Automotive Museum will have its first annual Automotive Authors Book Signing on Saturday, October 29, 2011 and several authors of particular interest to readers of VeloceToday will be present. The first is Wallace Wyss, who will be introducing his new suspense thriller, “FERRARI HUNTERS“, as well as signing some of his previous non-fiction books and art work. The second is Iso/Bizzarrini expert Mike Gulett, author of “European Style with American Muscle“. They will be accompanied by some other familiar names; Matt Stone, author of “McQueen’s Machines”, Michael Furman, “The Art of Delahaye”. Richard Addato, “French Curves” are among the confirmed authors so far. “Enthusiasts, historians, and gear heads will have the opportunity to meet their favorite automotive authors as they learn about the history of the automobile and its impact on our life and culture from a variety of perspectives. The event will be open to the public and included in the regular price of admission to the museum,” says the Petersen, so make plans now. More Info Here.
Watkins Glen Memoirs Part 2: 1949
By Eric Davison
For the 1949 event we were ready. My Dad and I had a cabin reserved at the Seneca Lodge and many of the Detroit Region were going to caravan to the Glen. There were but few sports cars, mostly MG TCs and the trip was planned so that passengers could be rotated and everyone could experience a ride in a sports car.
Delahaye: The Grand Touring Tradition
By Ed McDonough
Introduction
Like many Veloce Today enthusiasts, the UK-based American automotive writer Ed McDonough (and author of “The Ferrari 156 Sharknose”) has had a long-standing and more-than-passing interest in French automobiles as well Italian machinery which he has written about in numerous articles and books. He has owned an Alpine A110 and the occasional Renault, Peugeot and Citroen, and raced in several 24-hour events with a Citroen 2CV. He has been competing this year in a 1951 DB-Monomille…more of that later!
He has now discovered a rather unique collection of cars, many of which are housed in England, with others stored in France and New Zealand. The owner has kindly agreed to a series of articles and Ed will be testing most of this extensive and relatively unknown collection of cars. It includes over a dozen Delahayes, all of which have been painstakingly restored and are in superb condition. These are not so-called ‘barn-finds’ but cars on which the very meticulous owner has lavished much attention. We start this series with a 1948 135M with a charming coupe body by Parisian designer/coach-builder Henri Chapron, and some background information on the Delahaye firm.
14th Annual Trofeo Aido September 25, 2011
The fourteenth running of this classic charity event in Brescia.
By Charles Schoendorf
Photos by Dino Brunori
Give them umbrellas and it won’t rain. That was the strategy this year at Trofeo Aido. And it worked. Which is nice when most of the cars are open, not to mention the grueling mountain driving!
[Read more…] about 14th Annual Trofeo Aido September 25, 2011
This Week, of Interest
This week we begin an exclusive seven part mini-series of memoirs written by Eric Davison, who, in 1949 at the age of 15 began to accompany his father Charlie to the races at Watkins Glen. Eric’s story is not only about the cars and racing that he witnessed at the Glen, but his relationship with his father, the growth of the sport in the U.S., and the effect it had on families. It is a story many of us can relate to and share, but as we will see, Eric’s experiences are above and beyond the norm.
On many occasions the Davison’s traveled from their home in Detroit to the Glen with their friend Harold Lance, who photographed the Glen street races in rare color film. Philippe Defechereux’s forthcoming “Waktins Glen, The Street Years”, uses this collection to great effect. Lance’s photos, along with Davison’s, are sprinkled throughout these memoirs. In addition, never before published images from the Frank Shaffer collection complement the Davison memoirs. Shaffer was then a twenty year old car enthusiast from Youngstown Ohio who used a BSA to get the Glen and a Leica camera to record what he saw, both on and off the track.
Also, catch Goodwood as seen by Hugues Vanhoolandt, the Circuits des Remparts event in France, Giro d’Italia is back, and the WRC is still wide open as the Mini gets a podium.
Watkins Glen Memoirs Part 1: Prelude
The street years at Watkins Glen were magic to me. In our house the trip to “the Glen” was a yearly pilgrimage. The excitement, the fun and the life experiences that I enjoyed with my father are never to be forgotten.
[Read more…] about Watkins Glen Memoirs Part 1: Prelude