The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts
From the side, Mighty Mouse is recognizable as a Fiat 850 Spider by the long nose.
By Brian Winer
Photos by Mitch Schwartzburg
It sometimes happens that a man falls in love with a car. Not just “falls in love,” no that’s not a strong enough phrase; let’s say “passionately” in love. Because how else could you explain someone buying a $300 Fiat 850 and pouring over $32,000 into it?
Captured in Ann Arbor, a new Alfa Giulietta. Photo by Larry Crane.
The rear is chunky but distinctive. Photo by Larry Crane.
Larry Crane was in his old stomping grounds of Ann Arbor, Michigan recently, and what should he see but a brand new spanking Alfa Romeo Giulietta four door sedan, sitting in a local bank’s parking lot. Being the sharp kinda guy he is, he grabbed his digital camera and got off these shots.
So, is Alfa really coming to the U.S.? Well maybe. The presence of a test car seems to bode well for the possibility. Maybe we are something like half way there. Nice looking car though and distinctive. The Giulietta has been awarded the prestigious Euro NCAP five-star rating and an overall score of 87/100: an extraordinary result that makes it the safest compact ever. In Europe, the Giulietta is offered with three turbo gas engines, 1.4 liter with 120 hp, 1.4 with Multi Air and 170 hp, and a 1750 cc with 235 hp.
The very first street Series 1 R5 Turbo shown at the Geneva Motor show 1980. Photo Renualt.
By Wallace Wyss with Roy Smith
Somewhere it is written that all mid-engined sports cars have to be shaped like, well, sports cars.
Whoever wrote that is wrong.
[Read more…] about Renault 5 Turbo
Mazda Ute towing the Fiat 1100 Riviera in the Western Plains of Victoria, Australia.
Story and photos by Ean McDowell
“1965 Fiat Sedan, unable to get spare parts, is unroadworthy, so cannot be sold. I would give it to anyone who is interested in restoring old bodies. Has done approximately 40,000 miles. White in colour and quite dusty as it has been sitting in a carport for several years; Mrs Lorna Hansberry, Landt Hostel.”
The faded notice was in frail handwriting taken down from a noticeboard long ago. It was said the car was given away four times but no-one ever collected it and sadly Mrs Hansberry passed away in late 2009. [Read more…] about Mrs. Hansberry’s Fiat
Gauging a classic–Alex Vazeos hopes VeloceToday readers can be of some help in finding a set of proper instruments for his Giaur similar to those at left. If you can help, please contact him at alexfreda@hol.gr or us at pete@velocetoday.com.
This week, four short shorts stories by a variety of authors; Tina Van Curen, Carl Goodwin, Montague Gammon III, and a frustrated model builder, whose name we’ll not mention.
1939 Citroen Light 15 owned by Chuck Forward.
Story by Bettina Van Curen, Photos by Don Hodgdon unless otherwise noted
November 7, 2010
On a chilly but sunny early Sunday morning in Van Nuys, CA a handful of volunteers distribute signs and set out cones as the first of the Alfa Romeos, Fiats and Citroens start to roll in. All is chaos as my husband Chuck has the maps and he is about ½ mile down the road doing something under the hood of his 1955 Citroen Traction Avant. [Read more…] about Best of France and Italy, 2010
Paul Koo photo.
I hate these decisions.
If I weren’t so cheap I’d just go ahead and do it.
[Read more…] about You Tell Us–Box it or Build it?
Dr. Howard Moon in his Lancia B20, neither lost nor lonely. Pretty happy in fact. Photographer, time and place unknown. But a nice photo to illustrate Montague's story.
By Montague Gammon III
Hard on the brakes at well over the speed limit in the left lane of Route 13 on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, I spun the wheel of my slightly tatty Plymouth Horizon and screeched into the break in the median strip.
[Read more…] about Lonely Lancia
Lancia Appia Zagato third series. Photo by Carl Goodwin.
By Carl Goodwin
Once every fall, before the weather gets too cold, Dr. Ray Boniface stages a car show benefit for breast cancer research. It’s probably the most interesting show in the Cleveland area, with better cars and a nicer venue than the local British, Italian or German Car Shows.
[Read more…] about The Boniface Picnic
Well, yes, we do in fact. Not our business, really, but apparently we do ok anyway. Remember the Siata we had on the site a few months ago? Gone in sixty seconds. Here’s what Carl Goodwin just sent in, and we didn’t even have to twist his arm:
Thanks a million for your help in selling my Siata Gran Sport! Not only did Veloce Today find a person with the right automotive interests and the ability to buy a Siata but your web site attracted a lot of other inquiries and four other offers. In addition, I sold two Alfa Guiliettas earlier this year through an ad on your site. Amazingly enough, for the Siata, we didn’t even place a regular ad on the site; the Siata was simply featured as a one time news item on “This Week, of Interest”! This international sale is indicative of the growing audience and stature that VeloceToday has and that results from an outstanding editorial product.–Carl Goodwin
What Premium Membership means right now is, if you want to read any of the articles no longer on the homepage, you’ll be requested to join our Premium Member service.
At the same time, VeloceToday will continue to deliver three or more articles to our regular subscribers every week, absolutely free. But when those articles disappear from the homepage after a week or two, they will be put into the Premium Membership column.
But our Premium Membership program can’t just consist of archived articles. We have to give you something new and additional to justify paying that $4.95 per month. Therefore several times a month we will present exciting new feature articles offered to our Premium Members only. And that’s only fair, we think. And only the beginning.
There will be more benefits for those who choose the Premium Membership Service. It opens up a brave new world of options, such as free pdfs, merchandise, e-books, and more. We’ll take this a step at a time, beginning December 1st with an exclusive ‘premium’ story served in three installments.
Finally, let us repeat this again and again. VeloceToday will continue just as before providing excellent, exclusive reports, articles and images every week, free. You do not need to join the Premium Membership service unless you want to, and this will NOT affect your current free subscription.
That way everyone wins.
NOTE: There will be no VeloceToday next week due to the Thanksgiving holiday.
Fernando Alonso
By Erik Nielsen
Photos courtesy and copyright Ferrari Media
Vettel wins all
Sebastian Vettel became the youngest world champion in F1 when he drove a perfect and uneventful race on Sunday at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi. [Read more…] about Abu Dhabi Grand Prix November 14th 2010
Holiday Schedule
There will be no VeloceToday for the week of November 24th due to the Thanksgiving holidays.
There will be no VeloceToday for the week of December 29th due to the Christmas holidays.
New Premium Service is in addition to our normal free subscription:
VeloceToday remains FREE to all of our susbcribers
You may notice that you can no longer access many of our old archived articles without purchasing a “MediaPass subscription” to the view the archives. What is going on here?
The answer is a new “Premium” service VeloceToday will offer that includes all archived articles. The new service will also offer in-depth, exclusive articles, the key to all the archives, and down the road e- books and PDFs as well as exciting new offerings.
But let us be clear:
The new premium service is separate and optional. There is nothing you need to do if you don’t want the premium service. If you are currently subscribed to VeloceToday, service will continue as before, with three to six exclusive articles mailed to you every Wednesday, for free.
We are currently installing and beta testing the new system. If you have any questions, issues or problems, please email me directly at pete@velocetoday.com.