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The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts
By pete
By pete
This week we begin an exclusive seven part mini-series of memoirs written by Eric Davison, who, in 1949 at the age of 15 began to accompany his father Charlie to the races at Watkins Glen. Eric’s story is not only about the cars and racing that he witnessed at the Glen, but his relationship with his father, the growth of the sport in the U.S., and the effect it had on families. It is a story many of us can relate to and share, but as we will see, Eric’s experiences are above and beyond the norm.
On many occasions the Davison’s traveled from their home in Detroit to the Glen with their friend Harold Lance, who photographed the Glen street races in rare color film. Philippe Defechereux’s forthcoming “Waktins Glen, The Street Years”, uses this collection to great effect. Lance’s photos, along with Davison’s, are sprinkled throughout these memoirs. In addition, never before published images from the Frank Shaffer collection complement the Davison memoirs. Shaffer was then a twenty year old car enthusiast from Youngstown Ohio who used a BSA to get the Glen and a Leica camera to record what he saw, both on and off the track.
Also, catch Goodwood as seen by Hugues Vanhoolandt, the Circuits des Remparts event in France, Giro d’Italia is back, and the WRC is still wide open as the Mini gets a podium.
By Roberto
By Roberto Motta
Photos: Archive GGRM-Motta and Roberto Giro d’Italy Car-media
Giro d’Italia Reborn
110 years after the very first Giro d’Italia this classic event returns to the Italian peninsula, departing from Turin and reaching Rome after five days of competition and nearly 1600 kilometers. The Giro d’Italia will bring together the cars from both the world of rallying and track competition in a unique and grueling test.
[Read more…] about Giro d’Italia is Reborn, English and Italiano
By pete
VeloceToday’s Michael T. Lynch to speak at Watkins Glen
Two award-winning motorsports authors will be the featured speakers at the International Motor Racing Research Center’s October 8 celebration of the 50th anniversary of the first Formula One race at Watkins Glen. The talks begin at 1 p.m. Authors Michael T. Lynch and Gordon Kirby will discuss America’s World Champions, Phil Hill and Mario Andretti. Lynch, co-author of “American Sports Car Racing in the 1950s,” will focus on Hill, World Champion in 1961. Kirby will speak about 1978 champion Andretti, subject of his “Mario Andretti: A Driving Passion.” Several regional artists have been gathered to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first Formula One race in Watkins Glen at the International Motor Racing Research Center (IMRRC). On October 8th an art exhibit titled ‘The Art of Formula One’, will commemorate this occasion featuring the beauty and power of Formula One racing. The exhibit will spotlight images created by artists who have a unique personal history of attending the racing events at the Glen, bringing to life to the stories and the data that were part of this era of world class racing in Watkins Glen. The ‘Art of Formula One’ will open with an artist’s reception on October 8th from 4:00PM to 6:00PM and will remain on display until November 19th. For further information please contact Cynthia Hill or Jon McKnight, Director of Marketing at the International Motor Racing Research Center at (607) 535-9044 or by email, oldracerjon@gmail.comBy pete
So of course he sent it to us. After doing a bit of searching, we could find nothing definite. It was time to call in the real experts. We turned to Dino Brunori, author of “Enrico Nardi, a Fast Life”, who replied:
The car is a Fiat 1100 body by Carrozzeria Ala d’Oro from Reggio Emilia, built in 1948. Carrozzeria Ala d’Oro was founded in 1946 by Franco Bertani, a gentleman driver italian champion in 1938 1100cc class, and Officine Reggiane in Reggio Emilia.
Officine Reggiane was a small factory that grow up during the war, manufacturing parts for airplanes, mainly wings and cockpits, and therefor had nothing to do at the end of the war.
The workforce was rescued by Bertani with the set up of Carrozzeria Ala d’Oro. The Ala d’Oro bodied most part of the first Stanguellini production cars and several sports models, plus artisans cars and trucks. This 1100 was originally fitted with an hard top very similar to an airplane cockpit (see picture). The design was an in-house work. The car still exist in the hands of an italian collector.
Our thanks to Bill Spear for the question and Dino Brunori for the answer!
By pete
Monterey’s Magazines and our Contributors
Every year, each of the events at Monterey produce their own high quality, ultra slick event magazines. The feature articles are of course the gems, surrounded by luxurious advertisements. Although VeloceToday correspondents have written for these publications in the past, 2011 seems to a banner year. Here are the articles written by VeloceToday contributors (in alphabetical order) that appeared at Monterey this year:
Karl E. Ludvigsen
Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance Program:
Moss, 722 and the 1955 Mille Miglia.
Michael T. Lynch
Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance Program:
The Last of the Grand Touring Race Cars: The Ferrari GTO
The Quail – A Motorsports Gathering Program:
A Playground for the City of Speed (History of Riverside International Raceway)
Reunion to Quail Run (Reprise of 2010 Event)
Pete Vack
Concorso Italiano Events Magazine:
Ferrari F50: The Essential Thinly Disguised Grand Prix Car
Wallace Wyss
Concorso Italiano Events Magazine:
Confessions of a (former) Barn Finder
There are six new in articles VeloceToday this week so scroll down…
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The Fairfield County Concours d’Elegance is scheduled for Sunday, September 18, Westport, CT. with a full day of programs on Saturday, Sept. 17. Three Cunningham C-3s will be on view at the show: a recently discovered Barn Find, a fully restored example owned by VeloceToday Contributor Chuck Schoendorf, and Briggs Cunningham’s car that is still in the collection of his family.
By pete
VeloceToday is a bit late this week due to Hurricane Irene, which left us without a/c, power, Internet, telephone and water for several days, reminding us of what the 17th century Williamsburg was really like. Our thanks to the members of Dominion Power of Virginia, who have done wonders to restore service in record time.
Our many correspondents have also been working overtime to bring you the following stories this week:
Eric Davison wrote the Belgian Grand Prix report. Eric is a contributor to VeloceToday, the author of the recent book “Snake Bit: Carroll Shelby’s Controversial Series 1 Sports Car”, and as we’ll see later on, attended Watkins Glen in 1948 and recorded those early events with a color camera. That’s over 63 years of watching and reporting on races! Quite a guy.
Hugues Vanhoolandt attended the Belgian Grand Prix for VeloceToday and returned with stunning exclusive photos to accompany Eric’s text.
Brandes Elitch begins our coverage of Monterey week with a view of a Lancia Flaminia at Concorso Italiano. Two more to come from Brandes and next week, as well as much more from our other correspondents who covered Holy Week for us.
Roberto Motta brings us the latest Rally results from Germany with many great action shots, plus the news of the Ferrari 458 Italia Spider.
Alessandro Gerelli brings us his views of the Italians at the Oldtimers Grand Prix at the Nurburgring held in August.
Now, who could ask for anything more?
By pete
6/22 Barry Morgan:“McQueen’s Machines.” IMRRC Raffle Tickets
6/29 Virgil Taylor: Wyss Artwork. 1964 Series II Ferrari GTO
7/6 Paul Jewell: Wilson “Giulietta Book.” Mascherina is the grille.
7/13 Gérard Gaud:“Nardi, a fast life.” Car in photo was a 1936 Morettini.
7/20 Richard Diver: Pena Rhin art. Four French Ferrari drivers retired in the race.
7/27 Rick Stephenson:“Rendezvous 458 Italia” poster. Ideas to improve VT.
8/3 Robert Rose: Schumacher print. Linda Christian last kissed Portago and was in “Tarzan and the mermaid”.
8/10 Kevin O’Malley: “The Art of the Poster”. Hank Ketcham was a resident, designed posters and a judge.
8/17 Ted Sechowicz: “Ferrari 250 GTO” GTOs have four Dzus on the nose and one for the oil filler flap located in the passenger side c-pillar.”
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Below, a summer re-run. We hope to be back with much much more next week, weather and hurricane Irene permitting.
By pete
This week we have another great prize, and just in time for Pebble Beach. Written by Robert T. Devlin, “Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance: The Art of the Poster” has 58 color plates of the Pebble Beach posters from 1950 to 2003. From the start, posters have been created to promote the Concours, and over time, these posters have become treasured works of art in themselves. Created by prominent artists, these posters not only document the history of the Pebble Beach Concours, they dramatically depict the importance of the automobile in our society and in our lives. Devlin discusses the art, the subject the times and the artists involved. We thank Dalton Watson for their contribution to our contest.
This week’s question: Name three reasons the creator of Dennis the Menace was important to the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
Email answers to pete@velocetoday.com by Friday Noon EDT August 12th.
Author and artist Wallace Wyss will be manning a booth at Concorso Italiano to introduce his new novel, “Ferrari Hunters.” We like our fiction to be fast and furious, and that’s what Wyss has achieved here. Michael Steadman, a part time detective and Ferrari hunter, an ex-Navy SEAL hired to investigate a murder and the theft of a $2 million prototype sports car. A great summer read and yes, we’ve read and it and couldn’t put it down. Wyss can be contacted at photojournalistpro@hotmail.com to place an order before August 19th. If you visit Wyss at his booth at Concorso, be sure to tell him VeloceToday sent you.
Our friend Dino Brunori, author of “Enrico Nardi, A fast life”, is helping to organize another event in Italy this September 24th and 25th. Called “Aido 2011” for short, it’s open to 80 red, white, green cars to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Italy. The event will take place in the region of Brescia, 220 km across hills, vineyards, Lake Iseo and two Alpine passes. Click here for a report on last year’s event. Get your entries in now and send an email to Dino at dbrunori@gmail.com.
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Last week’s contest was won by Bob Rose, who was one of many who correctly named Linda Christian as the woman who last kissed Portago at Rome during the 1957 Mille Miglia. Christian had a role in “Tarzan and the Mermaids” in 1948.
By Lynch
Lynch explains goals of the Collier Collection and the new Revs Institute at Stanford
By Michael T. Lynch
As an enthusiast, I’ve often wondered over the years where the automobile went wrong with Academia. Although the automobile has had a huge impact on many intellectual disciplines, little scholarly work has been written about it that wasn’t negative. Certainly cars have had deleterious effects on society – pollution, urban sprawl and fatal accidents among them — there have been positive aspects as well. When I left the Midwest to go to school in the Northeast, it occurred to me that in centers of intellectual inquiry like New York, Boston, New Haven and Philadelphia, these cities all had working mass transportation systems. Many people didn’t even own cars, simply renting them for occasional weekend excursions. Intellectuals operating in these public transportation hothouses could only see the evil in the automobile, not considering what a miniscule portion of our population is served by even minimally-effective public transportation. Certainly the automobile is positive in that a huge percentage of American workers could not get to their jobs without one and would have no ability to start a new job, if they lost one.
[Read more…] about Lynch on the Collier Collection and Revs Institute
By Lynch
Lynch previews key activities during this year’s Holy Week
By Michael T. Lynch
The Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion continues to refine its format in its second year. Maintaining the tradition of an honored marque, Jaguar will be the honoree. The focus will be on the 50th Anniversary of the E-Type but there will be an incredible range of other Jaguar models both on the race course and on the property.
[Read more…] about Rolex Reunion Features Jag XK-Es and GTOs on Track
By pete
Contest: Win a Ferrari F1 print signed by Michael Schumacher
Morry Barmak at Collector’s Studio in Toronto, Canada, has donated this 8.5×11.5 print of the Ferrari F2005 as driven by Michael Schumacher and signed by the seven time world champion. (See the new arrivals at Collector’s Studio.)
To Win: Answer these questions in an email address to pete@velocetoday.com by 12 noon EDT Friday August 5th 2011. Entrants with complete answers will be then drawn from a hat.
The famous womanizer Marquis de Portago was last kissed by who, when, where, and in what Tarzan movie did his last lover appear?
Last week’s winner of the Pena Rin poster was Richard Diver from Canada.
We also want to remind our readers of Automobilia Monterey 2011
The 9th Annual presentation of the serious collector’s “Candy Store”, with the only opportunity during Concours/Vintage Race Week to see these 40+ selected international dealers in a single venue!
Show hours as follows:
Tuesday, August 16, 2011: opens at 10am and closes at 6pm
Wednesday, August 17, 2011: opens at 10am and closes at 7pm
Located, as always, at:
The Embassy Suites, Seaside, CA
US 1 & Route 218, just north of 68 [Salinas-Monterey Highway]
Admission & Silent Auction, benefiting The Monterey Rape Crisis Center: Single day $15 ~ Two-day $20
For Questions: tony@automobiliamonterey.com