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The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts

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A Car Life, by Larry Crane

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Pro Drive


The Ferrari forecourt from reception.
The iron gate is in the distance. Could
that be the famous Crane Lancia B20,
right there in Maranello? A ride in a new
Testarossa awaits our Senior Editor.

The acrid smell of vaporized rubber wafted into the cockpit. Through its pale haze we watched the red Testarossa just ahead of us perform a slow pirouette. The driver had attempted a power-slide around an acute intersection and had been unable to catch it in time. In a moment of brilliance, he simply turned it into a great, smoking 180-degree spin and accelerated past us.

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A Death Forgotten

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Sheryl Greene is the driving force behind the Helle Nice Foundation.

Perhaps not, if the Helle Nice Foundation succeeds

By Pete Vack

As Renee Friderich’s lifeless body lay crumpled in the remains of the big Delage Sporte, (read Death by Delage) her friend and perhaps mentor, Helle Nice, went on to capture the fastest time of the Paris-to-Saint-Raphael rally that fateful day, February 22nd, 1932, in a car she knew well and drove better, a Bugatti T35C. But unlike Helle Nice, Friderich’s tragic death was never forgotten by her friends and family who mourned her.
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Delage D8 Sportes

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Delving further into the big Delage

Photos by Vince Johnson

As we have seen, Miranda Seymour was able to obtain a ride in a very nice Delage D8S while in Australia. She sent us a photo of herself in the car, but none of the great Delage itself.
We solved the problem by asking VeloceToday contributor and reporter Vince Johnson to run over to Antony Simpson’s place and take a few photos of the Delage. Despite the size of Australia, it seems that Vince lived only about 20 minutes away. Vince returned not only with the photos for this article, but a brief history of the Delage as related by Mr. Simpson. As noted by Seymour, Simpson’s Delage is similar to Renee Friderich’s, and has its own fine and perhaps happier history. The following is the owner’s description of his Delage and its history.
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Groundwork Laid for New Ferrari Museum

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fiat
Piero Ferrari, left, and priest at the benediction of the first stone. Photo copyright Mario Marchesini.

By Pete Vack

About 300 meters from the Maserati factory on Viale Ciro Menotti in Modena, there is a complex of old brick buildings; a small house and shop, hidden beyond an ancient grey brick wall and entrance. [Read more…] about Groundwork Laid for New Ferrari Museum

A Car Life, by Larry Crane

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fiat
Riding with Paul Frere in Ferrari’s F50 at Pista di Fiorano. Notice the side load on the front tire and the lean in the body.

A CONTINUING EDUCATION

A lap of Pista di Fiorano, Ferrari’s on-site testing facility for all production and F1 cars, lived in my head. My first laps there were in a 328GTB. I returned to experience the first Testarossa and again for the 512TR. Then, on the fiftieth anniversary of the marque we were given the opportunity to try the F50. [Read more…] about A Car Life, by Larry Crane

The Racing Fiats: Tiremarks on America PIII

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fiat Fiat 1100 powered Formula Juniors were popular at Watkins Glen in 1959 with three entered in the Seneca Cup–an unrestricted Formula Libre race contested by many large engine sports cars and specials as well as pre-war Grand Prix Maseratis.Walt Hansgen, driving the Cunningham Stanguellini Formula Jr., is greeted by race organizer and director Cameron Argetsinger after winning the race. Photo courtesy of Argetsinger family collection.

By Karl Ludvigsen

Read Part I, Part II

Getting by with a little help from its friends

The Fiat-based Cisitalias that made their racing debut in September of 1946 hit the post-war motoring world like an earthquake. They were developed from the 500 cc Fiat chassis and 1100 cc engine and refined with such niceties as a tubular frame. Designer-builders such as Alfredo Vignale and Pinin Farina helped give Cisitalia its reputation of being the car of tomorrow.
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A Car Life, by Larry Crane

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This is a face that might be hard to like, but easy to love. Lamborghini’s Gallardo Superleggera is, as CEO Winkelmann will enthusiastically, and repeatedly explain, “We do not make exotic cars, it is a super sports car.”

LAMBO LITE

A Lamborghini with attitude–no news there! No. I mean BAD attitude–like at the edge of rage. The Superleggera shares the Gallardo’s odd V-10 warble in its everyday traffic mode, but as it is allowed past 5000 revs, it gets angry (very angry!) inside and out. As the valve timing reaches near-contact overlap and the exhaust pressure finds the now well-established route around the baffles, it makes you want to pay attention. It also tempts you to pay something painfully close to a quarter of a million U.S. dollars for the pleasure of that entertainment. Worth it? Got it?
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The Racing Fiats: Tiremarks on America PII

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Part II brings us to mid-century, when Fiat was offering very sporting small displacement cars such as this rare 1100 S driven here by Tony Pompeo at Waktins Glen. Photo by Frank Shaffer.

By Karl Ludvigsen

Read Part I

The Saga of David Bruce-Brown

David Bruce-Brown, an 18-year-old prep-school lad whose mother was listed in New York’s social register, came on the scene in time for the American Grand Prize races. Driving Fiats for most of his brief but meteoric career, Bruce-Brown broke Willie Vanderbilt’s mile record at Daytona Beach in 1908. [Read more…] about The Racing Fiats: Tiremarks on America PII

French Classics, 2009 Techno Classica Essen

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1958 Radovitch. Based on the Peugeot 403 4-door saloon, it was built by a French coachbuilder from Reims (France). Only one known to exist.

Photos and Captions by Hugues Vanhoolandt

Bugatti celebrates 100 years, Talbots and oddities abound


1912 Bugatti Type 15. Built between 1909 and 1914, this is the first automobile launched under Ettore Bugatti’s name. It was an immediate success and the archetype for many later high performance sports cars.

[Read more…] about French Classics, 2009 Techno Classica Essen

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