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The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts

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The Milliken Bugatti T35A

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There is much more to the Milliken Bugatti Type 35A than just an incident at Watkins Glen.

By Pete Vack

According to Bill Milliken, the acquisition of his first sports car was simply elementary. While visiting New York City in 1946, he happened upon a shiny black MGTB, asked the owner if he’d like to sell, wired home for the $1500 necessary to title it in his name and drove it up to Albany.

At a time when the average price of a new American car was about $1200, the TB was a bit pricey, being a 1940 model and right hand drive. It was very similar to the later TC, with the same snazzy wire wheels, upright chromed radiator grille, and the same 54 hp engine, but only 379 TBs were made before the War stopped production at Abingdon.

Milliken was in seventh heaven; his previous transportation was a secondhand Chevy that was “…little more exciting than a grocery cart.” His thoughts of the early Duesenbergs and Millers of his boyhood returned to him and he found himself in a “machine that turned on all my senses and made driving a delightful experience….my childhood euphoria of driving had returned, and I was to never lose it.”
[Read more…] about The Milliken Bugatti T35A

La Jolla Concours

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Story and photos by John Wiley

Now in its 8th year, the La Jolla Concours d’Elegance returned to the theme of the first show by featuring Italian cars for the 2012 event, held on April 1st. Held in Scripps Park which draws its name from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the ocean front location provided a beautiful backdrop for a variety of Italy’s automotive creations. The weekend featured activities in and around La Jolla starting with a book signing Friday evening, a tour Saturday, a party Saturday night in Scripps Park, and the concours on Sunday.

Maserati-A6G-2000

The 1956 Maserati A6G-2000 Allemano s/n 2125 owned by Jonathan Segal, was awarded Reserve Best in Show next to the Best in Show 1925 Hispano-Suiza H6B Kellner Landaulet. The Maserati also collected Most Elegant Post War Car. Residing in Italy most of its life, s/n 2125 came to the U.S. in 2007 and was recently refinished in the correct original color. Before appearing at La Jolla, the car won Best in Class at Pebble Beach in 2011.

Lamborghini

Malcolm Barksdale’s1966 Lamborghini 350 GT Touring participated in Saturday’s tour and won its class for Italian Sports 1966 – 1985. Found in a small body shop in Marseille France, the car had sat for 25 years while it was debated how best to repair a small dent in the nose of the aluminum Touring Superleggera body. Restored by the Bobileff Motorcar Company of San Diego, the 350 GT now gets exercised regularly on driving events and shown in concours.

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Don’t Forget Enter The Drawing For “Inside the Paddock”

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CELEBRATING TEN YEARS OF VELOCETODAY!

Please help VeloceToday celebrate ten years of publishing weekly articles on your favorite cars by your favorite authors! Here’s a few ways you can keep VeloceToday coming your way.

Tell a friend about VeloceToday. If everyone just asked on person to subscribe for free and we’d double our subscriber numbers (which our advertisers would appreciate).
If you haven’t joined our Premium Subscription, PLEASE DO, so we can afford to keep our contributors like Graham Gauld, Michael Lynch, Roberto Motta and all of our other great writers and photographers!

Sign up for our Premium Subscription now to get a chance to win the hot, and hot off the press “Inside the Paddock”. We’ve extended the deadline to May 1st to enter the contest for this fascinating book on race car tranporters! To enter, send your name and address to vack@cox.net.
CLICK HERE TO BECOME A PREMIUM SUBSCRIBER

Can You Help With Information About Dubonnet?

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Gijsbert-Paul Berk, who wrote the biography of the French engineer André Lefebvre and the cars he created at Voisin and Citroën, is now preparing a new book. (Read our review)

The new book will be about André Dubonnet (1897-1980), another Frenchman who devoted his life to automobiles.

To complete his research Gijsbert wishes to contact Dubonnet’s family and / or descendants. Some of them could live in the USA. Because André Dubonnet’s second wife, Mrs. Xenia Howard Johnston (they were married on 9 march 1932, in Neuilly-sur-Seine near Paris, France) and his last wife Mrs. Elise Curtis (they were married on 28 June 1966, in Neuilly-sur-Seine near Paris, France) were both American.

André Dubonnet flew in WWI a Hispano-Suiza powered SPAD S.VII fighter plane, and was part of the famous Escadron des ‘Cigognes’ (Storks). During the early twenties he raced quite successfully with Hispano-Suizas, Bugattis and Duesenberg. Later he became inventor and entrepreneur and was actively involved in the concepts of a number of rather fascinating prototype cars.Together with the French engineer Gustave Emile Chédru he developed the suspension system (covered by US Patent No. 2,054,063, filed on March 8, 1933), that was used from 1934 to 1939 by General Motors for the independent front suspension of their Chevrolet cars. He also sold the manufacturing rights of the Dubonnet suspension to Fiat, Simca and Alfa Romeo.
Between 1938 and 1944 Dubonnet created the impressive Hispano-Suiza engined and Saoutchik bodied Xenia II streamline coupé (with Dubonnet independent suspension on all four wheels). It is now part of the collection in the Mullin Automotive Museum at Oxnard, California.

If you can be of any help to Mr. Gijsbert-Paul Berk, please contact me at vack@cox.net. I will forward all correspondence.

Phillip Island Classic 2012, Australia

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Ferrari-500-F1

1952 Ferrari Tipo 500 Rick Hall, Turn 6 Phillip Island.

Story and Photos by Vince Johnson

It has been sixty years since Alberto Ascari won not only his first Formula 1 World Championship, but Ferrari’s as well. It was fitting that the car which gave him nine straight victories during 1952-53 should fire up in Australia a week before the start of the 2012 F1 season. This was not the first time this car had run down under.

After earning Ascari his second championship, chassis number 5 (0480) was sold to Australia’s first F1 driver, ex-WW2 Spitfire Squadron Leader Tony Gaze. Gaze’s debut in the 1952 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa on 22 June had also been the first outing for this very car. The factory fitted it with a new 3-liter 750 Monza engine for Gaze and it won races in South Africa and New Zealand. In 1956 Gaze sold it to Australian Lex Davison. The Ferrari continued its winning ways with six major victories, including consecutive Australian Grand Prix successes in 1957-58 before leaving Australia in the 60’s. Its return after five decades created a hive of interest in the pits and on the track at this year’s Phillip Island Classic held in March.

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This Month’s Drawing Winner

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The winner of this delightful book is Eduardo Prado! Become a Premium subscriber now to be eligible for next month’s drawing.

Please help support VeloceToday and our contributors by becoming a Premium Subscriber at one of three levels; $9.95 for one month, $7.95 per month for six months, or the best bet, $4.95 per month for one year ($59.40). Use the mediapass form found with each article to subscribe. If you need help, just email us at vack@cox.net.
CLICK HERE TO A PREMIUM SUBSCRIBER

For Premium Subscribers ONLY!!
The 2012 F1 season has just begun. Did you ever wonder how the team of David Hobbs, Steve Matchett and Bob Varsha do their magic on SpeedTV? Read this two part exclusive interview conducted by David Seibert with Speed’s F1 host Bob Varsha!

VeloceToday Interviews Bob Varsha
The F1 season begins soon, just in time to find out the real story behind SPEED coverage of the races. In an exclusive two part interview for VeloceToday, David Seibert talks to SPEED Formula 1 anchor Bob Varsha about life behind the SPEED cameras, and if Formula 1 will get another chance in the United States. Don’t miss this candid interview with a master Anchor.

VeloceToday Interviews Bob Varsha, Part II
In Part II of the Bob Varsha interview, David Seibert asks Speed’s top anchor about his favorite driver, Ayrton Senna. Varsha also reveals why it is so difficult to create content the typical VeloceToday readers enjoy, such as “Behind the Headlights” and the series “Victory by Design. He also explains why the BJ Auctions succeed in spite of the hype. Don’t miss this very revealing interview.

Tony’s Talbots

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Peter drives his first Talbot Lago, #110007, ex-Chiron. Courtesy Peter Giddings.

Hindsight is a good remedy for perceived mediocrity. Looking back on the 20-odd year run of the French Lago Talbot, it is easy to see that the cars of Anthony “Tony” Lago (born on this date in Venice in 1893)were not only were winners on the concours circuit, but significant winners on the Grand Prix tracks in the post war era. After five major Grand Prix wins, nine lesser ones and victory at Le Mans in 1950, Cyril Posthumus would write, “Lago, in his retirement years could look back on a remarkable chapter of accomplishment.”

On the day of his birth, we remember the cars of Tony Lago, thanks to VeloceToday reader and longtime vintage racer, Peter Giddings.

From the dramatic concours-winning Figoni et Falaschi coupes of late 1930s to the last-of-the-line Lago America coupes of 1956, Lago Talbots came on the scene with style and flair, making the most of a meager budget and limited facilities. In between the flashy sports cars were the real stars…the series of remarkable 4.5 liter Grand Prix cars that were campaigned primarily by privateers from 1939 to 1952.

Peter Giddings can claim to have been racing Lago Talbots for over thirty years. Although he recently parted with the ex-Etancelin car #110054 (which went to his good friend David Duthu), Giddings has an enormous amount of experience with the GP Lagos. He also owned and raced the ex Chiron/Whiteford French/Australian Grand Prix winning Lago Talbot #110007 for ten years. Like no one else, Giddings is the guy in the know.

The ex-Ron Smith Talbot-Darracq 150 which inspired Peter Giddings. Photo courtesy of David Venables.

[Read more…] about Tony’s Talbots

Enter NOW for a Chance to Win this Alfa Giulietta Book!

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In January Premium Subscribers were eligible to win an official 2012 Ferrari Calendar; in February we gave away a copy of Dino Brunori’s “Nardi, a fast life”. This month, for our Premium Subscribers only, we are having a drawing for one of the best books on Alfa Romeo ever written: Alfa Romeo Giulietta, tutto su tutti I modelli della Giulietta by Tito Anselmi and Lorenzo Boscaraelli. This is a second edition published in 1998 by Giorgio Nada Editore, (text in Italian). Shipping is free! If you are a subscriber or subscribe before March 26th, send an email to me at vack@cox.net. Drawing will be held on March 27th.

Please help support VeloceToday and our contributors by becoming a Premium Subscriber at one of three levels; $9.95 for one month, $7.95 per month for six months, or the best bet, $4.95 per month for one year ($59.40). Use the mediapass form found with each article to subscribe. If you need help, just email us at vack@cox.net.
CLICK HERE TO A PREMIUM SUBSCRIBER

For Premium Subscribers ONLY!!
The 2012 F1 season has just begun. Did you ever wonder how the team of David Hobbs, Steve Matchett and Bob Varsha do their magic on SpeedTV? Read this two part exclusive interview conducted by David Seibert with Speed’s F1 host Bob Varsha!

VeloceToday Interviews Bob Varsha
The F1 season begins soon, just in time to find out the real story behind SPEED coverage of the races. In an exclusive two part interview for VeloceToday, David Seibert talks to SPEED Formula 1 anchor Bob Varsha about life behind the SPEED cameras, and if Formula 1 will get another chance in the United States. Don’t miss this candid interview with a master Anchor.

VeloceToday Interviews Bob Varsha, Part II
In Part II of the Bob Varsha interview, David Seibert asks Speed’s top anchor about his favorite driver, Ayrton Senna. Varsha also reveals why it is so difficult to create content the typical VeloceToday readers enjoy, such as “Behind the Headlights” and the series “Victory by Design. He also explains why the BJ Auctions succeed in spite of the hype. Don’t miss this very revealing interview.

Post War Tatra 600

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Lightness prevails…

Photography by Don Hodgdon, text by Pete Vack

After months of digging through an unfamiliar subject, being assailed for mistakes I shouldn’t have made, assaulted for writing about a car which at one time was made behind the Iron Curtain and spending a great deal of time looking for Tatra books that don’t exist, we present below the fourth and final Tatra story.

That having been accomplished below, we can now sit back and take joy in the catchy, silly, enormously bad puns for titles foisted upon researchers by magazines around the world.

Just think what they had to work with…

Look, Vladimir, No Vladiator; Car, September 1973
Party Time..T603; Classic and Sportscar, July 1994
Tatra for Now; Custom Car, August 1973
Reach for your Czech Book; Classic and Sportscar, October 1992
Prague Uprising; Performance Car, July 1993
Czech Mate; Car Australia, December 1993
Czech Matey; Top Gear,May 1994
Bouncing Czech; Wheels Australia, August 1998

And the final blow, yet another article with the very same silly name, “Czech Mate”, from the good folks at Automobile Magazine in January of 2005.

But just one more; we almost forgot, “Czechmate of the Year”, Special Interest Cars, April 1987. Which leads us to our subject car, for that long ago article featured the very same car now owned by David Russel and photographed for VeloceToday by Don Hodgdon.

The T600 was a definitely a postwar car, refined, thought out, ready for mass consumption. It was similar to the ill-fated Tucker, but went into production in 1948 and continued until 1952.

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