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Itala over the Alps: A Mystery Solved?

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Chivasso-Turin 9-9-05 September 9, 1905

The mystery is now 119 years old, as this story was first published in 2020. But we do have a solution, very thoughtfully provided by the Brooklands Museum. Which should give you a clue as to the ownership of the Itala, but we will wait until later to publish the findings. So, this week, let’s look again at what the fuss is all about.-Ed.

By Pete Vack with Dale LaFollette, Aldo Zana and Graham Gauld
Sidebar by Greg Vack

We really enjoy trying to solve automotive mysteries, but this is a real cold case… 115 years old, making it a daunting task.

The twelve photos below, all from 1905, came from the collection of Dale LaFollette, who tells the story of how they were discovered. “Dean Newton was one my partners in Vintage Motorbooks, the collectable book business that we formed in the late 1970s. (Logan Gray owns it today.) Newton found them in a desk drawer and surmised that they had been in a book…we would find all sorts of odds and ends in books we bought.” [Read more…] about Itala over the Alps: A Mystery Solved?

The Restoration of the Caswell BNC

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Isn’t that the ex-Caswell/George Lymber BNC? But it looks, well, restored!

Well, yes, it is, and yes, it was. The history of the little BNC with the flathead Ford was well-told in 2012 by the late Eric Davison. Since then, long time owner George Lymber II died in 2013, and the still unrestored BNC passed to vintage racer Peter McLaughlin*. He embarked upon a four year restoration, something that previous caretakers did not want to do, but if the BNC was to continue be driven, it was soon found that a complete restoration was inevitable. Recently, the restoration project manager, Bob Harrington, contacted us with the details of the rebuild. -Ed

By Bob Harrington

Some time ago, VeloceToday did an article on the BNC. A friend of mine bought the car and at first was just going to get it running, but decided it was too far gone to be able to drive it safely so it was decided to do a complete restoration, which I oversaw. [Read more…] about The Restoration of the Caswell BNC

Gauld on Klemantaski

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Louis Klemantaski with Peter Collins in the 335S Ferrari on the 1957 Mille Miglia, two Leicas round his neck. Gauld photo

Story by Graham Gauld

Those of you who regularly visit VeloceToday will have noticed that motor sport photography has been my interest throughout my life as a motoring journalist.

It has been an adjunct that has helped boost the income from articles and books I have written and though it has been a great passion I have always appreciated and admired certain photographers who have become outstanding in the field of motor racing.

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Gauld, Fiat Fish and an Abarth Goccia

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The Vignale “Goccia”. Gauld took this photo in 1957, only to find the same car at a motor show in 1999, plus the Fish and the Pinin. Read on!

From the VeloceToday Archives, March, 2017

Story and photos by Graham Gauld

As most of you probably know there was a motor show in Geneva last week, where all the attention appeared to be on supercars with weird and wonderful aerodynamics; it all looked terribly serious. Editor Pete asked me if I was going to attend the show, but had to admit that it has been about twenty years since I attended the big salons of Geneva and Paris..

I knew that Pete will have plenty of photos of the Geneva event from other correspondents so wasn’t too worried. However, Pete’s comments reminded me of an interesting show I attended in 1999. It was organized by the well-known Italian collector Franco Lombardi in his home town of Genoa and I knew I had to be there. I was not disappointed! So to get you into the Motor Show mood let me tell you about three of the cars there.

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Sebring 1960: The Final Hours

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Alan Connell in the Ferrari California [chassis 1603] he shared with owner George Reed. Connell flogged the car and ran as high as 3rd overall after ten hours, before the drivers had to settle for a 5th place at the finish.

By Willem Oosthoek
All photos taken by Bob Jackson [Willem Oosthoek Collection]


This gorgeous 250GT [chassis 1773] was entered by Luigi Chinetti’s NART for George Arents [here] and Bill Kimberly. They ended 7th overall, one of the six GT Ferraris finishing in the top ten. It showed the reliability of these cars.

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California’s Hillsborough Concours

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Star of the show.

Story and photos by Chris Nugent

June 23, 2024. It was beautiful at the Crystal Springs Golf Course. The sun was out, but the fog was hugging the coast so the temperature was ideal. It was the perfect California summer day. It had been many years since I’d been to the Hillsborough Concours d’Elegance.

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Goodwood FOS: French and Shadows

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1934/39 S.E.F.A.C. Parallel Eight, A one off Grand Prix car initiated by Emile Petit, and designed to take on the might of the Silver Arrows and to save French honour.

Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

Not a very high count for cars of French manufacture so I thought you may enjoy seeing again the Shadow Can Am cars which were joined at the event by the single seaters.

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Goodwood FOS: Best of the Rest

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Described as the car that was 90 years in the building. Auto Union Type 52. It is said that whilst working on their Grand Prix cars, Auto Union AG and the Ferdinand Porsche design office also planned a street legal sports sedan to be known as the Schnellsportwagen and was designed to be sold to customers to enter in events such as the Millie Miglia, or even Le Mans.

Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

Whilst I know that VeloceToday is supposed to be about French and Italian cars there was just so much other interesting machinery at the Festival of Speed that interested me, so I hope you will allow me one more indulgence of your time. I know there are a lot of Silver Cars in this piece but I make no apologies as I and the Editor have a thing for the Pre War Silver Arrows.

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Sebring 1960: The Race

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Ricardo Rodriguez in the NART-entered Ferrari Dino 196S [chassis 0776] that he co-drove with brother Pedro. The car ran well for the first five hours, occupying 5th overall. Then it began dropping back, to retire with clutch failure after 126 laps.

By Willem Oosthoek
All photos by Bob Jackson [Willem Oosthoek Collection], unless stated otherwise.

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A Look at Lugano

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Photo courtesy Nigel Matthews.

Story and photos by Paul Sable

After attending as a judge over 200 concours during the past 30 years, including 20 years at Pebble, 28 at Amelia plus a host of others, I have come to know many American and European cars. So, since I was invited to attend the 3rd Lugano Concours (held 17 May 2024) in Switzerland as a judge (with the added benefit of being a spectator at Villa d’Este), I accepted the invitation. [Read more…] about A Look at Lugano

Goodwood Festival of Speed: The Italians

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We’ll let you figure this one out…

Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

If you look at social media you would think that the main talking point at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed was the height of the straw bales lining the track. Yes, over the years they have got higher and wider; back in 1993 crowd safety was just a single line of straw bales and a bit of rope, but should something go wrong, and somebody gets hurt, then maybe no more Festival of Speed. And that would be tragic loss.

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Drivers at the Goodwood FOS 2024

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Tom Kristensen channels his inner Bernd Rosemeyer

Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

Due to my inability to be at two places at once (I will work on that) I was not able to photograph every driver, but the following are a selection of those that I did manage to catch. And something we note, happily, every year, in most cases, the drivers are smiling, joking, relaxed and in a great mood. Such is the magic that is the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

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