The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts
The way to go.
Story and photos by Luc van Dobben
Photos courtesy Berend van Straten and Luc van Dobben
It all started during a little Lancia outing to Zandvoort, some 20 miles from our place, while during a coffee break my friend Berend van Straten mentioned that he would like us to drive around in Italy with our two Appias. [Read more…] about Two Appias to Italy
From the 75 years of Ferrari class, Nick Mason’s 1953 250MM driven by Holly Mason Franchitti.
Story and Photos by Jonathan Sharp
With all the celebrations surrounding the 50th Birthday of BMW’s M division at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed (June 23-26) you could have easily missed an equally important anniversary that was celebrated at the event, namely the 75th Anniversary of Ferrari.
From the 40 years of Group C class, The Macaluso collection’s 1983 Lancia LC2 chassis 0003 in which Mauro Baldi, Bob Wollek, Riccardo Patrese won the 1988 Spa 1000km.
Story and Photos by Jonathan Sharp
Another interesting class for readers of VeloceToday was the ‘Lancia-20 Years of Dominance’ celebrating Lancia’s first World Rally title in 1972 and their final WRC triumph in 1992. But of course there were Italian and French entries across most of the other classes so what follows is a selection of track shots from those said classes.
Pandemonium on the Podium.
From the Archives, November, 2008
By Erik Nielsen
Photos by Ferrari Media
The title race went down to the last lap of the last race. Filipe Massa did everything that was asked of him this weekend by Scuderia Ferrari by finishing first in front of his home crowd, but it wasn’t enough to keep Lewis Hamilton from becoming the youngest F1 drivers champion ever. Hamilton needed to finish 5th or better if Massa won to bring the #1 graphic back to the front of the McLaren-Mercedes. [Read more…] about Massa’s Championship Minute
Story and Photos by Jonathan Sharp
Mathias Doutreleau’s Concours d’Elegance Suisse, held on June 18-19, 2022, will probably be the hottest Concours of the year. By hot I mean 36 Degrees centigrade (96.8 Fahrenheit) hot, and burning sun all day long. More of a laid-back garden party than a formal concours. the event is held annually at the Chateau Coppet located on the shores of Lake Geneva, about a 15-minute train ride from Geneva. [Read more…] about Concours d’Elegance Suisse 2022
Aston Martin by Bertone, 2013. Credit Bonhams Auction.
From the VeloceToday Archives, December, 2013
By Wallace Wyss
Sometimes it’s the odd one that appreciates the most…
At one time, race cars were fetching a lot more at the major auctions than car show one-offs. The idea was that if you buy a race car, if you’re lucky you get one with history. You buy a show car, a one-off what do you get? A momentary bauble. A flavor of the moment as it were. Designs that came and went, mostly forgotten.
Well this 1960 Aston Martin DB4 GT Bertone Jet coupe, chassis 0201L, Engine no. 370/-201/GT was sold at a May, 2013 Bonhams auction for the top dollar sum of 3,249,500 GBP ($4,928,697 USD) which is more than some Aston Martin DB4GT race cars go for even with some racing history.
John von Neumann is racing his Ferrari 860 Monza at Minter Field, now called Shafter Airport in Bakersfield, CA. on May 20, 1956. He finished second to Pearce Woods and his D-Type Jaguar. Enjoy.
Story and Photos by Allen R. Kuhn
As I pondered who or what might interest the readers of VeloceToday, a name popped into my aging mind. What about one of the pioneers of sports car racing in So Cal, the one and only John von Neumann? My first sighting of him was the third sports car race I attended. He was in his Porsche 550 Spyder at Glendale Airport in 1955; it was used in a previous issue of VT. He sounded like a good subject.
The treasures of the Mille Miglia are back on Piazza Vittoria, in Brescia, where it all started 95 years ago.
Story and Photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt
This 40th re-enactment of the Mille Miglia was a special edition as it marked a return to normality after two editions impacted by the pandemic. The foreign crews, mostly absent in 2020 and 2021, were back in number as well as the public along the roads and in the city centers.
Jackie at the wheel about to roll out on the grid for his first race in the car which he won by a country mile in the F3 Cooper. He would be reunited with this car last weekend at the Jackie Stewart Classic.
Story and Photos by Graham and Larch Gauld
Last weekend, June 18-19,2022, was a memorable one for me for two reasons.
The first was that I attended the Sir Jackie Stewart Classic held at Thirlestane Castle, around 27 miles due south of Edinburgh, and the second because it was exactly seventy years and four days since I had covered my first motor race as a journalist at the old WWII airfield at Charterhall about 20 miles away!
Editor’s Choice: Commissioned by Count Antonio Bruno Sterzi, this 1952 Vignale bodied Ferrari 225S is one of only six examples built.
Story and Photos by Jonathan Sharp
Popped up to London on Wednesday the 15th June to Savile Row in Mayfair, but not for a suit (I am more Marks and Sparks than Gieves & Hawkes) but for a new car event, ‘The Concours on Savile Row’ brought to us by Hothouse Media and the Pollen Estate. A blooming hot day but a nice setting for a concours.
1934 Lancia Astura.
Story and Photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt
For the world’s best regularity run drivers, the Mille Miglia is THE race of the year, not to be missed. This year saw the third victory in a row of Andrea Vesco, with co-driver Fabio Salvinelli, aboard a 1928 Alfa Romeo 6C 1500 Super Sport. This is the first time since 2000 that a driver managed to triumph in three consecutive editions. Below, we continue our presentation of the 2022 Mille Miglia, from Lancia to the French entries.
Mike Sparken, winning at Oulton Park in the rain with his trusty 750 Monza.
First published by VeloceToday in 2012.
In the 1950s, if you had talent and the necessary finances, you could become a successful racing driver as a private entrant. This is the story of one of them, a French-born racing driver by the name of Mike Sparken. We were working on this article when on September 21, 2012. Sparken died at his home in the South of France at the age of eighty-two.
By Graham Gauld
Mike Sparken, or Michael Poberejsky, to cite his proper name, was born in Paris in 1930 to a wealthy Russian family that had left Russia for Paris at the time of the 1917 Revolution.