The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts
Franco-American Love Story
By Philippe Defechereux © 2008
To read Part I, click here.
To read Part II, click here.
Our tale of the extraordinary love affair between a small French car maker, Deutsch-Bonnet, and an American father-son pair, tied to the birth and future success of the Sebring Twelve-Hours, concludes in this issue.
This year marked the 17th annual Ferrari event in Palm Beach hosted by John and Alicia Barnes. Entitled “A Convention of Ferrari Owners and Enthusiasts…†it delivered as promised with even more things to do this year than during any of the previous sixteen.
[Read more…] about Werner Pfister at Cavallino
By Pete Vack
On one hand, there is nothing quite so French as the Alpine.
The Alpine A110
On the other, there is something about the Alpine that lures the Italian car enthusiast to the make, yet not quite sure of what to think of it. Perhaps a sort of a French Abarth; tiny, with a light, tight attractive body, a superb overall design hiding or at least diminishing the prominent proprietary power plant hanging well south of the rear axle, an affectation most notably best-conceived for the Simca Abarths or perhaps the 1000 Monomille.
[Read more…] about The Alpine A110
Following up on the acclaimed history of D.B. at Sebring,
Philippe Defechereux tells us what became of the French Legends.
By Philippe Defechereux Copyright 2008
What Happened to Deutsch-Bonnet ?
Early in 1962, a partnership that had lasted over twenty years and won so many laurels came apart. Charles Deutsch found out that in December of 1961, René Bonnet had signed a secret agreement to drive for Renault; he would lead a Renault-backed team at the 1962 Le Mans 24-Hours; the cars would be called “René Bonnets.†When Charles Deutsch made Panhard aware of that, they were incensed. Quickly, they hired the betrayed engineer to put together a team of five cars, to be called “C.D. Panhards.†The clear goal was to beat Equipe René Bonnet at Le Mans that very year. The Deutsch-Bonnet company, which from the earliest days had been founded on the basis of verbal agreements and handshakes, was effectively no more. As footnote, the C.D. Panhards beat the René Bonnets fair and square at the 1962 Le Mans race, winning both the Index of Performance and the 850cc class.