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More Amelia Etceterini Entries

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Bill King in the 1100cc Bandini Siluro.

Here are the details of two more of the Amelia entrants in the Etceterini class. We will feature the remaining six in the next few editions of VeloceToday. Previously, we featured the Reuter Bandini and the Stanguellini.

By Cliff Reuter

1947 Bandini Fiat 1100 Siluro

This is the second Bandini made and it features a 65 bhp Fiat 1100 engine and weighs in at 1,100 pounds. Bandini himself raced it at the 1948 Giro dell’Umbria, Pescara, Ferrara, Senigallia, and the 1949 Mille Miglia. [Read more…] about More Amelia Etceterini Entries

The Essential Etceterini

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Why are we so fascinated by Ecterinis?
Because we don’t know much about them. Because they are so rare. Because they are so tiny. Because they are so cute. Because they raced the great races. Because they were built by artisans. Because they are like miniature Ferraris. Because they sound great. Because they represent an era we will never see again. Because they are Italian.

So, exactly what is an “Etceterini” anyway?
Broadly speaking, Etceterinis are tiny, jewel-like race cars from Italy with names that usually ended in a vowel. But today, with vastly increasing prices, limited availability, and international recognition, it might be time to definitively define the word, the class, the car. So we asked two who should know, Italian car historian John de Boer, and Stu Schaller, who reportedly coined the term back in the 1970s. [Read more…] about The Essential Etceterini

Book Review: Enrico Nardi, A fast life

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Enrico Nardi, A fast life
By Dino Brunori-Andrea Curami
Fondazione Negri, Brescia 2009
ISBN 88-80108-17-7
Hardbound, 198 pages, B&W and color
82.00 USD
Illustrations below by Attilio Cariati,
by permission of Nardi-Personal Spa

Order here

Review by Pete Vack

Enrico Nardi would probably be bemused at the attention he continues to receive some 43 years after his death in 1966. More at home in the shop than in social situations, money, fame, or gold watches did not impress him much. One day, a well-dressed foreigner arrived at Nardi’s tiny garage in Turin, condescendingly asking a mechanic in coveralls to speak to the master. [Read more…] about Book Review: Enrico Nardi, A fast life

Nardis in America..Where are They Now?

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Macdill AFB, Florida in February 1953. Paul Gougleman, left with his Nardi 750 and fans. Photo credit: Mark Brinker and Paul Gougleman Jr.

By Cliff Reuter

Nardis were some of the first Italian racing cars to be imported to America following World War II. The first three Nardis to come ashore were the Danese Alfa 2500cc cars, a coupe and two spyders with a cycle fendered “siluro” body.
[Read more…] about Nardis in America..Where are They Now?

Just for Fun–Nardi for Free

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Frank Shaffer photographed the Jim Pauley Nardi at Watkins Glen in 1950. Below, the full article about this famous Nardi can be ordered from VeloceToday.

Getting by with a lot of help from our friends

This week VeloceToday is devoted to Enrico Nardi, triggered by the publication of an important new book about the man and his cars. Here is the backstory: [Read more…] about Just for Fun–Nardi for Free

Nardi Today

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Big wheels keep on turnin’

By Pete Vack

I have in my hands a Nardi steering wheel. It is 380 mm, or 14.9 inches in diameter. The material for the rim is mahogany and the wheel itself is 4mm aluminum. There is a black inlay on the front side of the brown mahogany wood rim. The hub is slightly dished, 40mm 1.6 inches in depth, and the spokes are embossed with a cross hatch pattern similar to the wheels made for the Ferrari GTO in 1961-2. [Read more…] about Nardi Today

Bi-Turbo: The Car that Saved Maserati

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maserati biturbo

The Maserati BiTurbo just may have saved Maserati from extinction.

By Wallace Alfred Wyss

In the late 1970s, Alejandro de Tomaso came to America to find out what kind of car Americans want. He had been building the Pantera since 1971 (continuing even after 1974 when Ford ceased importing it to the U.S.) and bought Maserati yet he wasn’t sure what kind of car Americans really desired.

It was by happenstance he dropped by Dick Guldstrand’s shop and Guldstrand invited me over to talk to Alejandro about what I thought he needed to build. I mentioned the BMW 2002 to the Italian car builder and told him what a great car it was in its time. He left and not long after I heard about the Maserati Bi-turbo. [Read more…] about Bi-Turbo: The Car that Saved Maserati

From the Archives: A Look at the Citroen SM

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citroen sm

The SM; Advance, French, Italian and totally unique.

Story and Photos by Stephen Glenn

The reputation of the Citroen SM precedes most of our actual knowledge of the car itself. Frighteningly complex hydraulics, rusty uni-bodies, electrical gremlins and unobtanium parts all immediately come to mind when considering the car. While these descriptors can apply to many cars, they are particularly associated with Citroens here in the States.

It is only upon careful consideration of the SM, its historical place and technological sophistication that one begins to truly appreciate its qualities. [Read more…] about From the Archives: A Look at the Citroen SM

This Week, of Interest

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alfa-tin-and-card-2.jpg

This week, a little light, a little early due to the Thanksgiving holidays. We review Bruce Taylor’s second Montreal book, present a rare Fiat 500 brochure from 1960, and from our Archives, the birth of a Giulietta.

Be sure to order your favorite books in time for the holidays. Check our the VeloceToday bookstore for new titles; more are added on a weekly basis.

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