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The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts

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Tales of the Tatra

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From our Archives, February 2012

Story and Photos by Karl Ludvigsen

Journalist Gordon Wilkins said that ‘although it has an impressive performance, it produces in the driver the uneasy exhilaration which may be got from shampooing a lion.’ Consumer advocate Ralph Nader called it the only car that was more dangerous than the much — oft unjustly — maligned Corvair. The German Army was said to have barred its officers from driving it, lest their numbers be diminished even more rapidly than World War II was already managing.

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The Champ and the Goggomobil

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The Goggomobil Dart photographed in 2007 at Classic Adelaide in Australia. It was running on the event but is a promotional car for the Australian insurance company Shannons.

The Goggomobil Dart photographed in 2007 at Classic Adelaide in Australia. It was running on the event but is a promotional car for the Australian insurance company Shannons.

Story and photos by Graham Gauld

From our Archives, October 2016

We all know about racing drivers who started out running the oddest cars in motor sport events, but I think the guy who really takes the biscuit is the legendary Jim Clark, two-time World Grand Prix Champion and the first British winner of the Indianapolis 500.

It was 1956, and the world had never heard of Jim Clark. He was still the farmer’s son running his Sunbeam Talbot Mark III in the odd rally and gymkhana. That year Europe faced the Suez Crisis when Egypt threatened to close the Suez Canal. This would have put Britain in dire straits when it came to delivering oil from the Middle East, so the British went to war. It was short and a political disaster in many ways but it brought in severe fuel rationing in Britain. As a result, many people turned to Germany where they were producing a new breed of Microcars. The BMW Isetta was the most popular with the Heinkel coming next. But who remembers the Goggomobil?

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A Porsche for Roy

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Along came a Spyder – but Roy Smith could not afford an original!

A story about a Porsche? Well wait up. Previously, we featured the RSKs that participated in our TT 59 coverage from Goodwood. This provided an opportunity for famous author (Alpine, Gordini, etc.) Roy Smith to talk about his street-ready Porsche RSK. You will enjoy! From the Archives, September 2019

Story and photos by Roy Smith

As a writer of few books on race cars including four about Porsche, I had the pleasure to meet one the great Porsche test and race drivers of the 1950s and 1960s, Herbert Linge, on several occasions.

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Alfa Romeo’s Car with No Name

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This fully restored Alfa Romeo 1750 Duetto began its life in South Africa before being imported into the UK via Ireland in 2018.

In a recent article about Italian cars at the London concours, we identified a 1750 Alfa Spider as a Duetto.

This apparently went over like a lead balloon. Reader Ken Carrington had this to say:

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Cartier Style et Luxe 2022

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VeloceToday’s favourite

Story and Photos by Jonathan Sharp

If you could come up with an International standard Concours event that had a more diverse list of classes than this year’s Cartier Style et Luxe held during the Festival of Speed on June 23rd, I would be surprised.

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24 Hours of Spa: Mercedes-AMG 1st, Ferrari 3rd

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US team KPAX Racing entered the Huracan #6 which set the fastest lap in practice but was then disqualified due to a technical infringement. Although forced to start from the 30th grid position, the car progressed through the field and took the lead after four hours. But two punctures relegated the #6 Huracan one lap down and the win was beyond reach. Final result was 11th overall.

Story and Photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt

With sixty six entries, this year’s TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa confirmed its status of world’s premier endurance race for GT cars.

Nine manufacturers entered at least one car in the 2022 edition: Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Ferrari, Lamborghini, McLaren, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche. [Read more…] about 24 Hours of Spa: Mercedes-AMG 1st, Ferrari 3rd

Bucciali the Bodacious

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From the VeloceToday Archives, May 2014

By Wallace Wyss and staff

In the Beginning there was Bucciali

The main impetus behind the Bucciali marque was Albert ‘Buc’ Bucciali, born in the city of Arras on the France in 1889, and was the second son to the musician and organ builder, Joseph Bucciali, who, most remarkably, was blind from childhood. Both Albert and his brother Angelo learned their father’s craft, and became talented craftsman as well as musicians. In an interview with Griff Borgeson, Albert Bucciali noted that organ building is “a remarkable school for learning the principles of physics and mechanics.”

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Why Are Italian Cars Beautiful?

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Marque et modele: Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Gran Sport Touring “Flying Star.” Chassis number 10814341

Story by Brandes Elitch
Photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt

About thirty years ago, someone gave me a copy of a book titled Touring Superleggera, by Carlo Felice Anderloni. It was published in 1983. I started to go through it and was overwhelmed by the staggering beauty of Mr. Anderloni’s creations. Even though I had been observing automobile design for many years previously, I had never seen anything like this before. At some point, I had to physically put the book down and take a deep breath. I had to revise my conceptions of automotive design.

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Lamborghini: At the Cutting Edge of Design V 2

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Forever Young and looking toward the future: The Lamborghini Lp1 800-4

Lamborghini: At the Cutting Edge of Design
By Gautam Sen with Branko Radovinovic and Kaare Byberg
ISBN 978-185443-317-6
784 pages, 2 volumes, hardcover, dustjacket, slipcase
1070 illustrations
U.S. $250

Review by Pete Vack
All photos from the book

Read review of Volume One

Review by Pete Vack

While you and I got old, Lamborghini, under Mimran, Chrysler and Audi, somehow managed to stay forever young. And thank goodness for that. Gautam Sen’s Volume Two of his epic Lamborghini, At the Cutting Edge of Design, leads us into unaccustomed territory, taking us from the Silhouette to the Terzo Millennio, from Mimran to Audi, detailing the models we’ve rarely thought about and introduces us to rare variations we never knew existed. Naturally, we are aware of the supercars and hypercars that were developed by Lamborghini in the 1990s to date. But not by any means too familiar; too many models, too many owners, too much money, too fast and too furious. [Read more…] about Lamborghini: At the Cutting Edge of Design V 2

Millers at Milwaukee

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1926 Miller 91 Front Drive

Story by Geoff Goldberg
Photos by Geoff Goldberg or as noted

Each year, on the weekend just after the 4th of July, a group of unusual cars gathers at the Milwaukee Mile, the country’s oldest oval track, hosting events every year since 1903 (aside from the WWII years). The cars are niche, front-engined Indy track cars from the earliest days of racing up to through the 1960s. Their owners share a healthy respect for speed, elegance in engineering, and an awareness of the history of racing in America.

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Cross Country in Two Miuras

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From the VeloceToday Archives, April 2016

Guy Anderson is a famous exotic car dealer from the South who has identified himself with some of the most exciting cars including Ferrari, Lamborghini and the Cobra. Along the way he has had many adventures, some of which were harrowing at the time but are a good laugh now. He shared one story after being prodded by Wallace Wyss.

Story and Photos by Guy Anderson

This tale begins with the purchase of a pair of Miuras. One was a 1966 P400 that was painted in white with red and blue accents. The slats, eyelashes, rockers, bumpers and grills were painted in either red or blue. It was bizarre to look at, kind of a “beater”. The second car was a pale blue 1969 “S” with the paint being considered flat, not very glossy.

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Personalities at the Festival of Speed

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Nigel Mansell and Charles Henry Gordon-Lennox, 11th Duke of Richmond.

Story and Photos by Jonathan Sharp

One of the privileges granted to accredited and fully insured (see last week’s article) photographers at the Festival of Speed is to be able to access the assembly areas in which the entrants in each group/class are gathered before being sent down to the hill start line. It is in the assembly area that I get my best chance of pointing my camera at some famous drivers and riders old and new.

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