David Smith’s Alfa S 11 Corto Spyder Speciale, described in VeloceToday’s 25 August issue, shows its final form at The Quail.
Story and photos by Michael T. Lynch
In our previews of the Alfa S 11 and the Bugatti Type 64, we promised you pictures of the cars when they appeared during Holy Week. In addition here are a few more Italian gems that caught this historian’s eye.
The cockpit of the Alfa S 11.
The Alfa S 11 has one of the greatest rear three quarter views in automotive history.
The Mullin Bugatti Type 64’s unpainted aluminum body shimmers in the bright sunlight at The Quail – A Motorsports Gathering last Friday. Note the buck for the body at rear. This car was covered in depth in the August 8th edition of VeloceToday.
The rear of the “Unfinished Symphony” Bugatti Type 64. The right rear fender panel has yet to be installed.
Roger Hoffman’s OSCA MT 4 is seen at the Quail. One of only four coupes of this model, it is also the only one fitted with a full 1500 cc engine. Designed by Michelotti and built by Vignale, the car was shown at the 1955 Turin Show. Fitted with its original three piece Swiss luggage set and tool kit, it is considered to be the most original OSCA extant.
Ken Roath’s Ferrari 250 Europa GT won Best of Show at the Concorso Italiano. This model is the first GT car to carry the Colombo-designed V-12 that dated to the beginning of the firm. After it was shown at the Brussels motor show in January 1955, an early owner was Belgian Leon Dernier, who raced under the nom de course of Eldé, a play on his initials. It is one of the first cars restored under the supervision of Ferrari Classiche to win major concours awards, including recognition at Villa d’Este and the Cavallino Classic. Roath has also driven it in the modern Mille Miglia. Pininfarina designs are sometimes criticized for being a bit bland, but this car is pure, understated elegance. The sea foam green and ivory are the original colors. Credit: Michael T. Lynch Archive.
The license plate tells it all. It is the serial number of Jim Glickenhaus’s Ferrari Spyder Corsa. This one dates from the very beginnings of the Maranello firm.
Bob and Ellen Cole’s Alfa 6C was in the special prewar Alfa class. It is one of thirteen Touring Superleggera coupes on this chassis.
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Once again, aficionado Lynch’s eye proves flawless. Yes, the rear three-quarters angle on the S 11 is peerless. But the 6C and the Bugatti 64 are close runners-up.
What I find surprising is that there is no mention of the 50th anniversary of Iso automobili or the nice Bizzarrini display. Not only was it the largest gather of cars, 27 total, Piero Rivolta and family were present. But, maybe it’s not surprising, VT has only written 2-3 articles about these great cars in the past ten years.
Our coverage of Monterey is not over, so we’ll see what we get it. Of course, we don’t have writers submitting a lot of articles about Bizzarrinis…help wanted sign is out.
This year was the first year I went to the Quail, but only as it was wrapping up (for some reason, they are exceedingly stingy with press passes). I could see that the main differance between it and Concours Italiano is that there is heavy sponsorship in the way of specific booths with their own mini-stages to show new cars, for instance for Bugatti, Porsche and Jaguar with representatives from the various auto-makers each there to answer any questions. I caught a few of the Bizzarrinis and Isos still on display and was impressed that some were restored so flawlessly–not easy because they weren’t built with the care of , say, Ferraris.
I missed the display of Italian food so don’t know what I missed there but overall I could see it is a different sort of event, a more private clubby atmosphere, though without seeing it at full song I can’t say if it’s worth four times the price of going to the Concorso Italiano.
I agree with Mike that it would be nice to see some coverage of the Iso and Bizzarrinis for a change.
As far as Wallace’s comment ” because they weren’t built with the care of, say, Ferraris”, I don’t know where that’s coming from. I’m currently restoring an Iso Rivolta and have seen a lot of them in various condition. Some of the panels were stamped by Bertone and some were made at the Iso factory. I’ve seen nothing that indicates that the build quality was any worse than any other cars of that period including Ferraris, Maserati’s, and Alfa Romeos.
Mike – Mycarquest.com has excellent coverage of the Quail event including a ton of Iso and Bizzarrini pictures.
VT – great pics of the other cars at The Quail event.
I am wondering if this 2900B chassis corto, is not the ex Ralph Lauren car, was iovry originaly, & I drove it often after looking after it when I worked for Ralph in Montauk.
I am disappointed,that if it is the very same car, it was refinished in black
peoples tend to over do the color choices, not in relation to the exact colors shames that were pupolar theses days!!
SORRY!
I have restored a few Iso’s and helped on a number of Ferrari’s/ Maserati’s and agree there is quite a difference in build quality between the two, Iso is much better, hands down. Not only was the construction better, but the engineering was much more advanced. The chassis’s were strong, the leather quality was much better than Connolly and the paint was flawless. Today in Italy you can visit Roberto Negri and see the type of high quality work that is still taking place by the original factory workers. Iso was not just a company it was a family and it continues today with Roberto’s restoration facility at 1000 bottegone in Clusone Italy.
Lincoln had a booth displaying Ray Crawford’s colorful Lincoln Carrera racer and their big-screen LED monitor was running the trailer for our Carrera Panamericana documentary on a continuous loop.
It was nice running into friends like Jim Glickenhaus and Mile Gulett who won awards and the inimitable Gary Wales with his pair of Rolls-Royce twins which never fail to draw a crowd.
We can’t possibly pour all the Monterey highlights into a single week. Besides, that wouldn’t be much fun! We like to roll it out a little at a time. Thanks for all the comments and suggestions though, it means a lot to us to know each and every one of you pay close attention to what we do and have a certain level of expectation from what we deliver. You can raise the bar all you like, it keeps us on our toes!