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Race Cars at the British Motor Museum

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Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

The British Motor Museum, located in the rolling Warwickshire countryside (not to be confused with the National Motor Museum in Hampshire), opened in 1993 and tells the story of the British Motor Industry. The museum was established by the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust to house its collection of almost 300 vehicles and its vast motoring archive, which had outgrown the two original locations in Studley in Warwickshire, and Syon Park in London. The Trust’s mission is to keep the memory of the British Motor Industry alive, and to tell its story to all. [Read more…] about Race Cars at the British Motor Museum

Gaston Andrey, Part 3

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Described as having curly and unruly hair, quick bright blue eyes and a movie star smile, Gaston Andrey (circa 1957) was also a very serious, capable and versatile racing driver. Credit Fred Vytal www.gastonandreymotorsports.com

Story by Jeff Allison
Read Part 1
Read Part 2

Gus Andrey, The Team Manager

After his accident, Andrey turned his attention to managing Gaston Andrey Motorsports. The team prepared Tiga and Alba chassis, including engine prep or supplying the engines, for customers in the Camel Lights category. In 1986, Gaston Andrey Motorsports combined resources with Martino Finotto’s CARMA team racing a Ferrari-Alba. The Ferrari part was the two-valve, fuel-injected V8 engine from the Ferrari 308 that made around 460hp. Ferrari provided no support or assistance, so Andrey’s Oskar Feldman and CARMA’s Carlo Facetti developed a new cylinder head for the Ferrari V8, made a number of changes to the Alba chassis and won the Camel Lights category at West Palm Beach and Road America in 1986.

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Driving the Delage Bequet

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The Delage Bequet at Kop Hill, 2013. This car was originally built as a 2 liter V12. The car was rebuilt for Maurice Bequet and was fitted with a 12 Liter Hispano Suiza V8 aero engine in 1926. The runs are not timed but this did not seem to deter Boswell’s spirited run. Jonathan Sharp photo.

Those who have ridden as co-pilot say that a desire to survive is their dominant emotion.

By Alexander Boswell, owner, driver
From the VeloceToday Archives, November 2013

It’s an amazing experience to drive any car built for Grand Prix racing. One knows that relentless effort, concentration of resources, and usually a huge budget have contributed to the creation of something technologically remarkable. Despite its 90th anniversary, the 2LCV Delage still encapsulates all these elements. In 1923 this was the only entry from the stable of the Delage company, and therefore it represents the pinnacle of the technology of the time. This car was driven in the French GP by René Thomas, the Sebastian Vettel of his day.

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Gaston Andrey, Part 2

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It was in the Maserati T61 (2455) that Gaston Andrey is most recognized and remembered, running in 16 races from 1959-1961 and finishing in the top four 13 times and not finishing only once. Road America Archives

By Jeff Allison

Read Part 1

Andrey began 1961 with an excellent result in a GT car at the Sebring 12 Hours, combining with Allen Newman and Bob Publicker, finishing 12th overall and 2nd in class in a Ferrari 250 GT Spyder California (2015 GT).

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Paul Wilson’s 6C 2500 Roadster Part 6

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By Paul Wilson

To complete my Alfa’s body I still had to construct the center body, with the cowl and doors. But first I had to solve several aesthetic dilemmas. I was unhappy with the rear view, and I wanted to take care of it–at least improve things–before going on. The rear deck looked too wide and bland, and somehow I needed to incorporate a license plate and taillights into it. Making a suitably racy windshield would not be very hard. But a curved, downward-sloping hood line, to harmonize with the car’s aerodynamic look, was surprisingly difficult. [Read more…] about Paul Wilson’s 6C 2500 Roadster Part 6

Remembering Peter Helck

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By Dale LaFollette
From the VeloceToday Archives, June, 2018

On my way to the 1979 U.S. Grand Prix at Watkins Glen and I had been invited to stay for a couple of days with the 86-year-old artist Peter Helck and his wife Priscilla. Peter and I had been “pen pals” for several years but this was the first time we had actually met. I had traded one of my sculptures with Peter for one of his paintings and our mail discussions hinged on Art and turn of the century auto racing. Helck is seen in the lead photo above, walking toward Old Number 16. [Read more…] about Remembering Peter Helck

Ludvigsen Drives the Andrey Birdcage

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Photo by Irv Dolin

What was it like to drive a Birdcage in 1961? Below, Karl Ludvigsen graphically describes the feel, the noise, and the technique of driving the Magnificent Front Engined Birdcage. This article, originally published in the April 1961 issue of “Car and Driver”, has been republished here with his express permission. Originally published in VeloceToday November 2014.

By Karl Ludvigsen

When you click home the ignition key on the sketchy dash of a Birdcage, a strong red light burns deep within the broad, thumb-sized starter button. To me that light became a symbol of the vast power lurking with this apparently ramshackle piece of machinery, like glowing coals in the crater of a slumbering volcano.
[Read more…] about Ludvigsen Drives the Andrey Birdcage

Gus Andrey, Part 1

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The cars raced by Gaston Andrey were painted in the white and red national colors of his native Switzerland, which included his personal logo—a white cross on a red background. He’s pictured here in the Ferrari 500 Mondial (0430 MD) he raced in 1957.www.gastonandreymotorsports.com

By Jeff Allison

Few drivers are more representative of sports car racing in the U.S. than Gaston “Gus” Andrey, who won five SCCA national class championships and one SCCA Trans-American Series title.

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An Interview with Jackie Ickx

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Left is Jacky Ickx, here with Uwe Meissner, head of Modena Motorsport.

Interview and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt
From the VeloceToday Archives, July, 2009

Jacques-Bernard Ickx was born into motor racing. His father was a famous Belgian motoring journalist and his brother was a successful motorcycle racer. Fathers, take heart; despite, or because of, being surrounded by cars and racing, young Ickx found it boring. [Read more…] about An Interview with Jackie Ickx

Got Shots? Visit the Tampa Bay Museum

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Story by Eric Davison
Photos courtesy Tampa Bay Automobile Museum

Website Opens June 1st, 2021

From the VeloceToday Archives, June 2017

Usually I am a sucker for any car museum therefore I can’t imagine how I missed the Tampa Bay Automobile Museum. But, I did. Inexcusable on my part.

But, a few months ago my friend Dale Powers asked if I wanted to go to Pinellas Park, about 35 miles north of my home in Anna Maria, Florida. He was looking for a home for his DB Le Mans and there was a French car museum in Pinellas Park that we might both enjoy

Off we went and, indeed there is The Tampa Bay Automobile Museum located in Pinellas Park and, yes, it is primarily French cars. And, yes, the pretty little DB eventually found a new home and is now on display amid some pretty wonderful and beautifully restored cars. [Read more…] about Got Shots? Visit the Tampa Bay Museum

Renault Muster Australia, 2021

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Saturday morning’s lovely display in a Yass Park.

Story and photos by John Waterhouse, National Coordinator, Renault 4CV Register of Australia

First Post-Covid (we hope) Australian 4CV Muster, Easter 2021

Every two years, the Renault 4CV Register of Australia meets over Easter in a country town in New South Wales at our “Muster”. They are delightful social events with no competitions! The Register welcomes all rear-engined Renault models that are derived from the post-war 4CV model and early R4s that used the same engine and transaxle. Naturally we are pleased to see other classic Renaults at our Musters and members often bring later front-drive cars from the 1970s and 1980s, and even younger cars.

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Ardea in Australia

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Upon reading of the Ardea adventures of Luc van Dobben, Australian John Pagan was prompted to tell us his own tales of purchasing an Ardea from Italy. He wrote, “The car is from 1951, I bought and imported it in 2017. The first outing was in 2018; the serious recommissioning and Castlemaine Rally were in 2019. Since then of course there’s been very little car club activity because of COVID, even here … I’m set to do Castlemaine again this coming October though!” Below is his Ardea story.

By John Pagan

One of the first things people ask me is, “Why an Ardea?” This is my fourth Lancia; like me, they’re getting older and slower. For those who don’t know, at 903cc the Ardea has the smallest-ever engine in a Lancia, developing only 30bhp or 22kW, and is flat out doing 110km/h under the most favorable conditions.

My previous Lancia, an Aurelia B10, was a very satisfactory touring car of endearing character. We did about 40,000 miles over ten years together, including trips to all the other States including Tasmania and Western Australia. Despite a deal of mechanical work done over that period to make it useable and keep it that way, however, it remained a well-used example, lacking that crispness of response that I’d loved in the Fulvias I owned before the Aurelia.

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