The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts
A hint of what was to come.*
Story and photos by Luc van Dobben
From the VeloceToday Archives, May 2021
Read The Search for the Perfect Ardea
The search is complete.
After two disastrous trips to Italy to find a correct Ardea, I came to the conclusion that an old Lancia for nice trips in the country should at least have some more legroom and sufficient power to move around. An Appia it had to be, but at least one with the lovely old type grille so I went for a second series.
Keynote speaker on the Thursday of the event was none other than Jackie Ickx, a very interesting speaker and a cool dude to boot. Here he is being interviewed by the Journalist Simon Taylor.
Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp
Thursday May 25th and it is off to the heart of London’s Mayfair for day two of the second Savile Row Concours. It has grown a bit with cars displayed not just in the home of British Tailoring, Savile Row, but also in the street outside the Royal Academy of Arts. The idea behind the event is to tie in the art of fine automobiles with the art of fine tailoring and to that end most of the tailors in the street had thrown their doors open to the public for presentations and exhibitions, and all of the vehicles entered were hosted by the tailors located nearest to their display spot. Being a free event and slap bang in the heart of London, it was crowded, but fine tailoring was very much in evidence amongst the attendees.
At first, a small group of famous drivers gathered for the cameras; Moss, Fangio, Dreyfus, Hill and Gurney.
Here is Dale LaFollette’s version of Heroes at the Long Beach Grand Prix of 1976. Please also read Larry Crane’s version (click here). Note the two photographers did not know each other at the time and didn’t know one was shooting the same scene from a different angle.–Ed.
Story and photos by Dale LaFollette
My May issue of MotorSport magazine arrived some time ago and as I thumbed through it, memories came flooding back as there was a story about a historic race in 1976 that I was quite familiar with.
In 1976, my closest friend Frank Fitch and I decided we needed to be at the first Long Beach Grand Prix, scheduled for March 28th. Frank was a service engineer for Mazda and a Formula B racer whose financial obligations had halted his racing program. I was three years into a career as manager of Portland International Raceway and I wanted to see how the folks in Long Beach would transform city streets into a racetrack overnight. Frank just wanted to see the race.
Heroes: International champions spellbound by their hero, Rene Dreyfus (in blue sportscoat), at the 1976 Long Beach Vintage Grand Prix.
Here is Larry Crane’s version of the same meeting. Note that Larry and Dale were not acquainted with each other; this was all pure coincidence. Click here to see Dale’s version:https://velocetoday.com/larry-crane-heroes-at-long-beach-1976/
Also, Larry still has prints to sell. An 11 X 14 inch signed copy of “Heroes” as seen above is available for $200 from Larry Crane at mailto:CasaVetturaProductions@gmail.com.
Story by Larry Crane
Joel Finn had been my host for nearly a week. We were assembling the pieces for his soon to be produced history of Ferrari’s 250 Testa Rossa. As I prepared my luggage for a next-day departure, he suggested I leave a little earlier the next morning to have time to stop in Manhattan for lunch at Le Chanteclair Restaurant and Bar on 18 East 49th, the legend-filled necessary stop for every one in the world of motor sport.
A sight one does not normally see in other museums.
Story and photos by Roberto Motta
It’s Hoods Up at the Museo Storico Alfa Romeo for the 40th Anniversary
From the VeloceToday Archives, January, 2017
Wander through the many automobile museums of the world (or just follow VeloceToday!) and you will quickly note that they all have one thing in common; the hoods are usually closed and if not, one can’t get close enough to study the mechanicals. This is unfortunate, for unlike today’s plastic-covered engines, many powerplants of the 20th century were hi tech engineering, awesome to look at, art in and of themselves, and designed to be easy to work on. Yet they are so often hidden under the hoods of museum pieces. Not so in Milan however!
Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp
The Villa d’Este concours on Sunday (May 21) shifts over to the nearby Villa Erbe, still on the lake shore, for the public day. Having spent a day and a half, mainly getting wet, at the FuoriConcorso I had decided that a visit to Villa Erbe could wait for another year so my wife and I decided just to take a walk along the lake shore to just watch the boats and sea planes and just enjoy the scenery. [Read more…] about Sharp at Ville d’Este, Villa Erbe
A Jag XK120, painted a color of which William Lyons never dreamed. The owner is at the right, which explains the paint color. Taken at the 4th of July, 2017 in Santa Fe. The color is very close to what northern New Mexicans think of as Taos Blue.
Story and photos by Charley Seavey
My father was a car geek and I inherited his interests. I mean, the guy owned a Stanley Steamer back in the day, and a Stutz Bearcat. He and I went to sports car races at Thompson, CT, and Beverley (MA) airport when I was a kid. I have vivid memories of watching a yellow Ferrari belching flames from multiple exhaust pipes as it slowed down for turn one at Thompson. As a photographer I’m also fascinated with small details as well as the overall car. Hence things like the V-16 grill ornament on the 1930 Caddy you’ll see below.
Has it come to this?
By Wallace Wyss
Photos courtesy Ferrari
Picture the following glimpse of The Good Life. You have a mountain cabin in Telluride, Aspen or some such but would never want to take your Ferrari GTC4 Lusso there because of coping with snow and ice. But with the Purosangue (“purebred”) Ferrari, a 4wd SUV, you can tackle winter and still enjoy a purebred Ferrari.
The Hellenic Motor Museum: An Athenian treasure trove of Italian cars from the ’60s and ’70s
Story and photos by Jackie Jouret
Athens is a city of museums, with some 80 institutions devoted to the art, archaeology, history and culture of ancient and modern Greece. Some are must-visit destinations on any trip to Athens, like the Acropolis Museum and the National Archaeology Museum, but all of us eventually need a break from marble statuary.
Baconin Borzacchini with the V4 Maserati: note the exhaust system for one of the two 8 cylinder engines. (Courtesy Donald Davidson Indianapolis Speedway)
Story by Graham Gauld
Everyone knows about the Ferraris or Ferrari-engined cars that have raced at Indianapolis but the history of Maserati at Indianapolis goes back far longer.
It all started in 1930, just four years after Maserati had produced their first racing car when not one, but two Maseratis raced at that year’s Indianapolis 500. One of them was a normal 26B Grand Prix car, but the second car was a new model known as the V4, of which only two were built and only one, chassis 4001, as a racing car.
The view from my window! (I wish.)
Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp
A holiday to Lake Como in late May for an old car enthusiast usually means you plan to attend the concours at Villa d’Este/Villa Erbe, but since 2019 there has been a third event to tempt you. The FuoriConcorso, held on the lake shore on May 20-21, was created by Guglielmo Miani to celebrate automotive culture both old and new. Curated by Andrea Luzardi and now expanded across three Lake Shore Villas, this year’s event celebrated the art of aerodynamics featuring more than 30 cars from the 1920s to today’s hypercars.
Fiat Abarth record car, outside for a change.