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Alfas and Alpines in a French Junkyard

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The Alfa Montreal bought by Gerard Gombert for junk and now steadily sinking into the undergrowth fetched $13,000 at the Osenat Auction on November 9-11.

Story and photos by Graham Gauld

From the VeloceToday Archives, November, 2016

Nothing much happens around this part of the South of France. The hot spots of Nice, Cannes and Monaco lie on the sunny Coast of the French Riviera but here, inland about twenty miles away, village life is about the same as it has always been. But on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of last week all that changed with one of the oddest auction sales I have ever attended. Here is the story.

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Building BAT Better Part 4

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Story and photos by Paul Wilson

To have any hope of finishing my BAT, I needed to take as many shortcuts as possible. An obvious one was to use parts from other cars if they were near-duplicates of the vision in my mind. The roof of a VW Karmann-Ghia, for example, was all but perfect. I couldn’t improve on the side window profile, and it was the right height and width. A windshield with more slope, and a rounded base at the cowl, would have been ideal. But making a custom roof, getting glass to fit, finding seals, just for minor improvements? It didn’t make sense. I got a K-G roof, which looks just fine. [Read more…] about Building BAT Better Part 4

Techno Essen 2023

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The German Fiat club exhibited this 1957 Fiat 1200 Granluce Wonderful, first shown by Vignale at the Turin Motor Show. It should be noted that it presents a Targa roof, seven years before Porsche invented it. Three to five cars of this type were built.

Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt

The 33rd edition of the Techno-Classica motor show, held in Essen, Germany, was once again the focal point of the international classic car scene with more than 1,100 exhibitors.
If the manufacturers’ stands are less grandiose than before, the quality of the vehicles exhibited by the many dealers and brand clubs allows the visitor to get his money’s worth. It also seems that some prices charged in the past have returned to more reasonable values, although there are many exceptions of course.

Finally, it seems that the German public is always fond of little Italians, which allows you to see rarities in this show that you don’t see anywhere else except perhaps in Italy itself. This is what I invite you to discover now. [Read more…] about Techno Essen 2023

Goodwood Members’ Meeting 2023

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Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

The weather prior to the event had been dire, March being a particularly wet month, and April was proving to be not much better. But on Saturday the 15th of April the sun was shining as we took up our various vantage points on what turned out to be probably one of the best Members’ Meetings yet. What a fine way to kick off the celebrations of the 75th anniversary of motor racing at Goodwood: Fifteen fantastic races from Pre WW1 monsters to 1980s Group 1 saloons with two Motor Bike races for good measure, high speed demonstrations by GT1 racers from the late 1990s- early 2000s, the 2003 Le Mans wining Bentley Speed 8, a fantastic selection of Porsche 911 racers, and a highlight for many, two Brabham BMW BT52s to celebrate the rumored sub 1 minute lap of the track during testing in period by Nelson Piquet. [Read more…] about Goodwood Members’ Meeting 2023

Antoine Prunet, Susan Dixon

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Antoine Prunet, seen facing the camera in this picture with former Renault Formula 1 Team Manager Jean Sage, was the author of many books on the history of Ferrari.

Text and photo by Graham Gauld

I was very sad to hear that the much-respected Ferrari historian Antoine Prunet died last week of cancer. He had been ill for some time and only a few weeks ago his wife passed away, so the end of his life was very tragic.

I knew Antoine for about fifty years as we often met at one event or another and emailed frequently. Those of us who knew him will testify that he was always approachable, and appreciative of any assistance and information one could bring to his massive archives. [Read more…] about Antoine Prunet, Susan Dixon

Sue Dixon and the Barn Find Alfa

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We recently learned that Sue Dixon passed away on February 20 of this year. With our sincere condolences to her friends and family, we republish the below story written by Sue Dixon and Keith Goring in 2013. It was part two of a three part series on the life of this Alfa Sprint.

The Alfa According to Sue Dixon

[Around 1977, the Editor found an Alfa Veloce in an old barn in Tidewater Virginia, and called Alfas Unlimited in Connecticut to ask if they wanted it. Sue Dixon picks up the story as they trade a Lancia for the Barn Find Alfa. -Ed.]

We had met Pete Vack in the mid-seventies when he and a bunch of his buddies were part of an informal car club in the Virginia Beach area. They had bought the leftovers of an old Alfa dealership and advertised the parts in Hemmings, as it was about the only places to sell anything sportscar related in those days.

We met Kyle Fleming, Bill Jones, John Sheally, and several others down there who managed to do stuff with cars, even though there were no major tracks close by. It was surprising how many Alfas, Lancias, Ferraris and other interesting cars could be found in Tidewater, no doubt because of all the military people who had brought cars over from Europe for next to nothing. [Read more…] about Sue Dixon and the Barn Find Alfa

Building BAT Better Part 3

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Story and photos (except as noted) by Paul Wilson

When designing and building my BAT, I started with the front fenders. I liked BAT 7’s fender profile, but not the enclosed wheels. So, what would it look like with full wheel openings? Starting with a photo of the original, I got to work with Photoshop. The result was an improvement, I thought, but a bit bland. A BAT should be radical. How about borrowing the Lotus Mark 9’s sweeping line, with an air exit behind the wheel for brake cooling? [Read more…] about Building BAT Better Part 3

The Magician of Rue Ettore Bugatti

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The plaque outside the workshop.

Story and photos by Graham Gauld

The village of Carpentras lies in northern Provence ten miles from Avignon and close to the river Gard that flows below that city’s famous bridge. It is like many French Provencal villages, with a history going back centuries. As a market town it was even visited by the Greeks and the Phoenicians and is famous for its sheep and honey. But there is one citizen there who is well known to Bugatti enthusiasts: Laurent Rondoni.

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8C Story Continues: Alfa 2.3 SN 2311229 Part 2

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Al Coppel’s wife Liz looks upon 2311229 in the early 1950s. (Joe Breeze Collection)

By Simon Moore

Read Part 1

We can now move on to the fate of Tom Bamford’s V8 engined car. I received the following email out of the blue on 25 March 2001: “Simon: My name is Lucas McCain, my father Chuck McCain and I recently acquired a very odd car. When we purchased the car, we were told by the previous owner that he was led to believe that the car could be dated as a circa 1937 Alfa Romeo; upon close examination, we discovered the chassis number on the side of the right frame rail, number 2311229.

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Bob Temple Photos, Indy 1950

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Story by Pete Vack
Photos by Bob Temple courtesy Dale LaFollette (Vintage Motorphoto)

From the VeloceToday Archives, November 2017

Reading and reviewing Aldo Zana’s book, “Monzanapolis,” I was reminded that Dale La Follette had previously sent along some photos taken at Indy in 1950 by Bob Temple. It seems that now is a good time to present these photos, which are not only excellent as were all of Temple’s photos, but many were taken during practice or qualifying and are of cars that did not make the race including a one-off Auto-Union-like mid-engine car reportedly finance by Howard Hughes.

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Building BAT Better Part 2

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By Paul Wilson

Enclosed wheels, fins, and teardrop shapes, the defining elements of the BATs, were the height of fashion in the early ‘50s. Even then, all were controversial, and no other cars took them to such extremes. We need to look at this design environment to appreciate how the BATs expressed their times. [Read more…] about Building BAT Better Part 2

Kuhn at Paramount Ranch Part 2

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Now here is a real American Hot Rod. It’s one of the greatest “Ford T-Buckets” to ever thunder around a corner. The 1924 “Bucket” got into Duffy’s hands from one Jay Chamberlain, a noted Lotus sports car driver and dealer, who got the parts from Emil Diedt. It was originally intended for short-track racing in 1950. Duffy put all the parts together, and they spelled “Eliminator” car number 184. The number 184 was to honor his Air Force Company Number. So was born what would become a true Legend, at least in Brock Yates’ mind.

Story and photos by Allen R. Kuhn

You might wonder why we {Pete} chose this particular image to lead off the Drivers Section of my Paramount Ranch report? Duffy (Frank) Livingstone has his own legacy with motorized vehicles, being the Godfather to the “Go Kart.” I would like to start this out by paying tribute to someone who is on everyone’s favorite list, Brock “Cannonball” Yates. Brock had a special affinity for Livingstone’s creation called the “Eliminator.” RIP Brock.

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