The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts
Great displays, missed opportunities.
Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp
I suppose it is not that unusual that when two or more people attended an event or a museum together, the conversation on the way home often turns to “What was your favourite car/display?” Returning recently from the British Motor Museum, it was no different for my pal and me.
Photo by Dave DeBrul
Below is an article first published in the August 5, 1985 edition of AutoWeek as a Escape Road feature, written by the Editor and featuring the Bandini 750 Sports, then owned by Dave DeBrul. Having gotten the reader suitabley reved up, we follow that with a description of the famous Offy-Bandini. It was known to many of us as “The Offy That Ran”, and seen in the June, 1957 edition of Sports Cars Illustrated written by Karl Ludvigsen. This Bandini has been restored and is now for sale.
By Pete Vack
Ilario Bandini’s main source of income was derived from owning and operating a thriving Lancia dealership in Forli, a small town whose main claim to fame was 1) being the birthplace of Mussolini or 2) the site of Nuvolari’s first victory with a Ferrari, or 3) a town through which the Mille Miglia was routed, depending on what history one chooses to read. [Read more…] about Bandini 750 Crosley and Offy/Alfa
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
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.
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.
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
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).
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
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
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
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.
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
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