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The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts

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Rare Prototype Citroëns at Birmingham

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Citroën Quartet of Prototypes presented at Birmingham. C10, circa 1956.

We thought it appropriate to run this report with another Citroën article, even though it’s a bit late it is excellent. Read on. [Ed.]

Story and Photos by Simon Wright

To celebrate Citroën’s 90 years of car production, Citroën UK arranged for several rare prototypes to be shown at the Classic Motor show held at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham, England from the 13th to the 15th of November 2009. [Read more…] about Rare Prototype Citroëns at Birmingham

“Intermeccanica, The Story of The Prancing Bull”

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Hardback, 192 pages, 200 photos.
$79.95 USD, plus $20 Shipping
By Andrew McCredie as told by Paula Reisner
VelocePublishing Ltd.
Dorset, England
ISBN 978-1-845842-49-9
Order here through VeloceToday

The Irrepressible Frank Reisner and his Creations

By Pete Vack
Photos courtesy of the author and Veloce Publishing

I couldn’t help thinking of Frank Sinatra when I read Andrew McCredie’s book, “Intermeccanica, The Story of The Prancing Bull”. We all fall down and pick ourselves up and get back into the race, and we all think we do things our way, but Frank Reisner really, really did, even more than ol’ blue eyes himself.
[Read more…] about “Intermeccanica, The Story of The Prancing Bull”

The Intermeccanica Formula Junior: The Rest of the Story

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The Intermeccanica Formula Junior, Sam's place, June 2004.

By Pete Vack

As we have seen, after describing the car to a tee, author Andrew McCredie left us all hanging about wondering whatever happened to the one off Frank Reisner F Jr, from its last race in Canada to the present time, a gap of some 47 years. What happened to the car was Sam. Here is the story the book omitted.

Guys are incredibly insensitive sometimes, cruelly defining even friends not by who he or she is, but by what cars they own, as if the vehicle was more important than the owner. Contact begins with not “Hey Sam, how have you been,” but with “Hey Sam, you still have the Intermeccanica?” We are as guilty of this sin as anyone, and we all do it from time to time, I would guess. [Read more…] about The Intermeccanica Formula Junior: The Rest of the Story

Reappraising the Apollo

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The original lines for the Apollo were penned by Art Center graduate Ron Plescia. Il Maestro Franco Scaglione was called in to smooth out the details and prepare the body for production. Harold Pace photo

By Robb Northrup
Northrup is the president of the Apollo Owners Registry. Readers interested in the Apollo can suscribe to the group’s (somewhat) quarterly free e-newsletter by contacting apolloregistry@yahoo.com

The Apollo GT was one of the best marriages of Italian style with American muscle and reliability. Yet, many enthusiasts are unaware of this Ferrari contender, 88 examples of which were built by hand in Italy and assembled in Oakland, California during 1963-65.
[Read more…] about Reappraising the Apollo

Italians at the Clipsal 500, Adelaide, March 11-14

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Lambos upheld Italian honor at Clipsal. This is Dean Grant's Gallardo.


Story and Photos by Vince Johnson

It was left to Lamborghini to salvage some Italian pride in the Australian GT Championship races held in Adelaide recently. The 3.2 kilometre circuit around the streets of the South Australian capital comes alive each year in the early autumn with two enduro events for five litre Holden and Ford V8 Supercars. [Read more…] about Italians at the Clipsal 500, Adelaide, March 11-14

What Size Hope for F1 2010?

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Button's high sign. Another good year for the Brit? Courtesy Planet F1.

After the boring “Dustbowl” of Bahrain, the thrilling “Fireworks” of Australia. There’s big Hope for 2010.

By Philippe Defechereux

We’re now really off to the races.

The pre-season was highly exciting, with all those new teams, and the many driver switches –Jenson Button to McLaren and Alsonso to Ferrari being the top examples and, of course, the return of “Der Kaiser” (Schumi) after a three-year absence, but this time with Mercedes-Benz.
[Read more…] about What Size Hope for F1 2010?

Shared Enthusiasm at Rétromobile

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Lizzie Sexton accompanied her husband John to Rétro this year, but instead of hanging about at the show, she decided to explore the 15th arrondissement. “Not all of us are car fanatics,” she wrote. “But that’s not an excuse to skip the wonderful Rétromobile. Take advantage of the trip to discover a part of Paris with culture, food and fun.” Below, Lizzie shares her experiences with our readers.

Story and Photos by Lizzie Sexton

Rétromobile is housed in the Parc des Expositions at the Porte de Versailles, on the southwest border of Paris and at the base of the 15ième arrondissement. Nine of ten residents of the 15ième will rank the number 12 métro line to downtown as the best thing coming out of their area. But luckily I met Antoine, the one in ten who urged me to “Restez ici chez nous pour un peu!” (Stay here with us for awhile!). [Read more…] about Shared Enthusiasm at Rétromobile

Friends and Family Pay Homage to Hellé Nice

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Hellé Nice died in 1984, impoverished and alone. When she was interred, not even a headstone marked the site. Twenty six years after her death, Sheryl Greene is intent upon making sure the world does not forget this daring French woman who raced Alfas and Bugattis before WWII. Inspired by Miranda Seymour’s book “Bugatti Queen,” Greene, a car enthusiast from Atlanta, established the Hellé Nice Foundation to provide financial aid for young women with a passion to race. The Foundation’s inaugural project is raising money for the purchase of that missing gravestone or marker for Nice, whose real name was Hélène Delangle. After Greene visited the gravesite in France earlier this year, we asked her to update us on her efforts to secure a headstone for Nice.

Story by Sheryl Greene
Art by Larry Crane

From time to time I get messages from the author of “Bugatti Queen” Miranda Seymour; she passes along some bit of information or a contact I may find helpful for the Hellé Nice Foundation. In January, she sent an email that was a treasure. It began, “The last living relative of Hellé Nice, just surfaced …” [Read more…] about Friends and Family Pay Homage to Hellé Nice

From the Archives: Bugatti Queen Book Review

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Alfa Monza

January 2002, New Jersey. Miranda Seymour, a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and visiting professor at the Nottingham Trent University, climbed into the cockpit of a Bugatti Type 35C, then owned by noted car collector Oscar Davis. It was the first time the celebrated biographer of Mary Shelley, Robert Graves, and Henry James ever sat in a race car.
[Read more…] about From the Archives: Bugatti Queen Book Review

Amelia Etceterini Class a Smashing Success

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Jim Jenne's Stanguellini heads up an impressive line up of entrants.

By Cliff Reuter

The 2010 etceterini meet has come and gone and I must say that it far exceeded my expectations!

Three years ago when I first thought of such an event, the goal was to gather the best etceterini cars in America for a show but most importantly I wanted to get the etceterini ‘isti’ together. [Read more…] about Amelia Etceterini Class a Smashing Success

Abarth Guy

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An Abarth High in the Low Countries

Fiat Abarth 124 Rally cars in the Abarth Works Museum.

No one in the low countries quite compares to Guy Moerenhout, a enthusiast and garage owner with a distinct taste for things Abarth. In fact, there is probably no one in Europe with an Abarth inventory of parts, knowledge and cars under one roof, with 3500 square meters of space located in Belgium.

The official address is Guy Moerenhout Racing, Industriestraat 1-2500, Lier Belgium, between Antwerp and Brussels. We might add that there is a threefold purpose to Guy’s place–to sell cars, parts, as a garage and now, Guy is the proud owner of the “Abarth Works Museum” under the same huge roof in Lier. And if you are anywhere in the area, be sure to drop by–you will be amazed! [Read more…] about Abarth Guy

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