The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts
August 15th 2010. Hugues Vanhoolandt catches the Bug at Laguna.
By Werner Pfister
Is the new Bugatti fast enough to be at two places at the same time?
On August 15, at the Pebble Beach Concours, Bugatti debuted a new model of their very successful Veyron which had been developed in secret over the past year. [Read more…] about Record Breaking Doppelganger?
Mary Ann Dickinson, a long-time Alfa Romeo enthusiast is also the founder and Executive Director of the Alliance for Water Efficiency in Chicago. Mary Ann was part of the American contingent which traveled to France over the Labor Day weekend to participate in the Hellé Nice Commemoration, and returned with both a story and photos of this long anticipated and very successful event.
Belgian resident Hugues Vanhoolandt, while visiting the U.S. for Monterey Car week, was able to get inside the Mullin Automotive Museum on a day when there were no other visitors. Sorta like having Pebble Beach all to yourself. This week he shares with you his superb no asses or elbows photos of his visit. We would all like to thank the staff at the Mullin Automotive Museum for their help and kind cooperation.
Brandes Elitch, Gary Wales and Tina Van Curen (Autobooks in Burbank) should be familiar names to most of us. Elitch has served up an interesting but sad commentary on a California institution cancelled by organizer Van Curen. Wales, now famous (among many other things) for being on the cover of the recent book, “Rebel Rebel” lost a prize possession which precipitated the cancellation, and he’s not the only victim. Is this happening at other such venues? Let us know.
Get a ride in this 275 GTS.
Beautiful and permanent tribute to the Bugatti Queen, who also drove an Alfa Romeo. Both are included in the marker.
Story and Photos by Mary Ann Dickinson
A small but remarkable achievement…
On Saturday, September 4, 2010, under a beautiful sunny sky in the small village of Sainte-Mesme outside Paris, over 200 people gathered from three different countries to honor and commemorate the life of 1930s Grand Prix race driver Hellé Nice. [Read more…] about Hellé Nice Marker Unveiled at Sainte-Mesme, France
Carl's Siata Gran Sport (spider).
Jack's superb Pegaso--see it now!
Donohue by Linda Weldon; 512M by Richard Prince.
Michael Argetsinger to speak about Mark Donohue and the Ferrari 512M on September 4th in Watkins Glen
This week we review Michael Argetsinger’s books about Mark Donohue, who among many other things was responsible for setting up and driving the Kirk White Ferrari 512M at Sebring and Daytona. Of interest to our readers, Argetsinger will present an in-depth look at the legendary Penske Racing Ferrari 512M as raced by Mark Donohue, at the International Motor Racing Research Center on Saturday, Sept. 4. “No less a figure than Ferrari Chief Engineer Mauro Forghieri called this car ‘the finest prepared Ferrari I have ever seen,’” says Argetsinger. His talk – accompanied by many rare photographs will begin at 1 p.m. and is free and open to all and is located at 610 S. Decatur St., Watkins Glen. For more information: Mark Steigerwald, (607) 535-9044 or by email at mark@racingarchives.org.
Be sure to scroll all the way down for the five stories this week, posted from California to Virginia to Germany and find that photo of Donohue in a Bandini…
Click on image to see story..or scroll down
How to Find Great Articles on Your Favorite Subject
Finding the hidden car is often easy. Finding the article, well, read on.
Over the past nine years (VeloceToday is beginning our tenth year of continuous weekly publication) we have posted almost 1200 feature articles on cars, events, people, news, and lifestyles. Looking for these archived treasures—and finding them—is not always easy, but can be if you know what buttons to press.
There are over 483 articles in the VeloceToday archives published just since February of 2008 alone (in WordPress) and 690 between 2002 and 2007. This article will help you find what you’re looking for or just make it easier to browse through the archives. After they appear on the homepage for generally two weeks, each article is then placed in the archives. If you missed VT for a week or two, or if you are new to VT, you won’t be aware of articles which may be of interest to you, now hidden in the archives, not to mention the thousands of photos also resident within those articles. [Read more…] about Find VeloceToday’s Hidden Treasures
Do you know the way to Monterey? Or are you on vacation in Europe? Either way, we here at VeloceToday are still we here at VeloceToday. And this week the July Goodwood Festival is featured, thanks to a new correspondent by the name of Robert Neary. We hope to bring you more of his work in the near future. Carl Goodwin’s work on racing the Alfa Giulietta in America first published in 2007 was so good we thought it was time for a mid-summer rerun.
Dan Schaefer out in Minneapolis would like you to contact him if interested in attending their yearly event. He’s at 612 385 3111 or Dan@wheelsofitaly.com.
The now twice-a-year contribution drive is over but we’ll continue to remind you to send in what you can when you can. We thank all those who have contributed so far and their dollars have ensured that VeloceToday will continue to be here for all of you.
To wit: Please take the time to contribute and keep VeloceToday coming to your inbox every week. It’s easy and safe. Simply click here for details.
Remarkable Alfa scultpure at Goodwood.
Story and photos by Robert Neary
With a theme of VIVA VELOCE and a celebration of 100 years of Alfa Romeo, this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed was a truly wonderful event for the Italian car enthusiast. [Read more…] about Alfas Star at Goodwood, July 2-4, 2010
There's carbon on this sparkplug, the Alfa lady seems to be saying. Dunkirk 1958. Photo: Alix Lafontant.
By Carl Goodwin
A slow beginning
The Alfa Giulietta did not come on the sports car scene as Porsche did, with dramatic wins and startling performance. Instead, it kind of slid into the U.S. market, and began to race two years after its introduction in Italy. [Read more…] about Racing the Alfa Giulietta in America Part I
Following close: Detroit's Harry Constant in Alfa #84 is hounded by Chuck Stoddard in the #25 Alfa, with the rest of the Put-in-Bay field in the distance. Photo: Joe Brown
By Carl Goodwin
Stoddard Racing
Chuck Stoddard won national SCCA championships in 1959, 1961 and 1965 in Alfas. “The Giulietta didn’t get interesting,” he says, “until the Veloce was introduced. Bob Grossman was one of the first to run one. Max Hoffman was behind it – he pitted Porsche against Alfa. He would go to Porsche and tell them ‘The Speedsters are nice but the Giulietta is nicer.’ [Read more…] about Racing the Alfa Giulietta in America Part II
Jet black is one of the colors that make an old Allante look new.
By Wallace A. Wyss
Captions by Wyss
All photos courtesy of
Norman Penfield, President Allante Atlanta Car Club
Like a lot of other trends in the auto industry, it started with all good intentions—the creation of an American car with the added glitz of Italian styling and coachwork.
I speak of the Cadillac Allante. The Allante has a name which Cadillac picked out of the air. It is not an Italian word like Avanti was for the Studebaker Avanti (which means “forward” in Italian.) I always thought it sort of hinted at the mythical undersea town of Atlantis. But the car, like the fabled city , sunk beneath the waves….
The two-seater was in production from 1987 through 1993.
Cadillac had seen the success of the Mercedes 450SL (introduced as the 350SL in 1971) and the Jaguar XJS and hungered for their own two seater sporty car. I say “sporty” not “sports.” There’s a difference.
[Read more…] about The Allante: Ultimate Italian Cadillac