Graham Gauld gets the goods at Retro, Fiat Jolly, 600 and Spider brochures, Peter Darnall on Tazio, the turtle and d’Annunzio, Wallace Wyss on a roll with his fourth book on Barn Finds. Much more on Retro coming up!
Abarth
VeloceToday for February 7, 2017
VeloceToday for January 31, 2017
Fiat Abarth Hope for Successful Rally Season
Story by Roberto Motta
Photo by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles
On the tarmac, ice and snow of the French Alps, the new Abarth 124 Rally, driven by three private crews, demonstrated its competitiveness and excellent performance. Last weekend the Abarth 124 rally enjoyed a promising debut in the Monte Carlo Rally, the first event of the World Rally Championship. In South America, the Fiat Panda finished well in the Dakar rally. [Read more…] about Fiat Abarth Hope for Successful Rally Season
VeloceToday for January 24, 2017
VeloceToday for January 17, 2017
Alfa Romeo 8C35 Grand Prix Cars
The Editor Tracks the three 8C35 Alfas
Montage above by Peter Darnall
One might wonder why we are so interested in the Alfa 8C35 cars. An old saying goes that history is written by the survivors; and indeed, this is the case for the 8C35. But in addition to being survivors, the various and sundry 8C35s running today are examples of the only Grand Prix car to give the combined Silver Arrows a real run for the money. Given the might of the Mercedes and Auto-Union teams, the Alfa Romeo 8C35 had a brief but reasonably successful two seasons in Europe. Designed to be fitted with either a V12 engine, or an 8 cylinder, the 8C35 used a longer version of the famous Alfa 8C 2.3 engine, running almost concurrently with the initially unreliable V12 (12C36) while it was being developed. In 1936 Tazio Nuvolari drove the 8C35 to great victories at Coppa Ciano and the Hungarian GP. In our humble opinion, although Vittorio Jano’s V12 (actually designed by Bruno Trevisan) may have led to his downfall in October of 1937, the 8C and 12 C are underrated and much more successful contenders than results might render. And speaking of results, at the bottom of this article we’ve reproduced the Alfa racing results from the years 1935 to 1937 for your perusal.
As VeloceToday is currently publishing a series of short articles that often include these cars, (read A Most Unusual Meeting) we thought this an opportune time to provide a brief history of the 8C35 chassis known today.
Of the six 8C35s listed by Fusi, three can be determined to still exist in some form: [Read more…] about Alfa Romeo 8C35 Grand Prix Cars
Abarth 124 Rally Debuts at the Monte Carlo Rally
Story by Roberto Motta and Pete Vack
Photos courtesy of FCA
The new Abarth 124 Rally to debut in the 85th Monte Carlo Rally
The racing career of the new Abarth 124 Rally will start with the debut in the 85th Monte Carlo Rally, the first race of the 2017 Rally World Championship to be staged this weekend, from January 19 to 22. And as the lead photo indicates, Abarth will try to recreate the success of the original Fiat Abarth 124 Rally. And of course therein lies a story we can sink our teeth into.
We hit the reference books for information; in this case, our own Abarth Buyer’s Guide, from which we quote here liberally. Seems that Carlo Abarth wasn’t too keen on rally cars and only prepared two models in the early 1960s for rally events. In 1962 a team of Fiat 1500S Rally Berlinas was readied for the Trieste Rally but as they did not fare well, Abarth lost interest. In 1963 Abarth entered the Monte Carlo Rally with 850 and 1000 TC Berlinas, but it was the day of the front drive Minis and Saabs; Abarth & C. did not pursue. [Read more…] about Abarth 124 Rally Debuts at the Monte Carlo Rally
VeloceToday for January 10, 2017
Here’s a great way to start to the New Year! Peter Darnall weaves a story about Professor Porsche and the development of the 8C35 Alfa Grand Prix car; Roberto Motta at the 40th Anniversary of the Alfa Museo Storico; Part 3 of the cars of Dale Powers and from the archives, Graham Gauld writes about Mike Sparken.
VeloceToday for January 3, 2017
VeloceToday for December 20, 2016
Free PDF: Marcello Gandini: Maestro of Design
Receive the first 52 pages of Gautam Sen’s fanastic two volume set about Marcello Gandini. In this PDF you’ll read about Gandini’s youth growing up in Turin; meeting Nuccio Bertone; going to work at Bertone just as Giorgetto Giugiaro was leaving; designing the Miura, which was his first project at Bertone; the controversy surrounding who actually designed the fabulous Miura; The one off Bertone Porsche and the strange Jaguar FT.
Then read what the author, ex-GM designer Dick Ruzzin and author/collector/owner Paul Wilson have to say about the design of the Miura and outside influences. And we’d like to hear your comments and opinions on the subject!
Finally, take advantage of Dalton Watson’s new payment program, which can be applied to Gautam Sen’s definitive work on Gandini.
The PDF can be obtained by clicking on the Subscribe button below; Offer for Premium Subscribers ONLY!