Get Your Calendar NOW and Here’s Why

Thanks to the Vintage Sports Car Club of America, (yes, we are members), we have a few of those most useful calendars to give away. Not exactly give away but we’ve opened the doors a bit to whom may receive a free copy including shipping:
To anyone who subscribes to VeloceToday for the $5 recurring charge via PayPal
To anyone who subscribes to VeloceToday via $60 per year via check or PayPal
To anyone who is already subscribed but would like to make a $60 donation to VeloceToday

Click here to see three ways to subscribe.

Yes, please, we do need the subscriptions in order to keep publishing VeloceToday. So far we have not had to raise the subscription rates, but the only way not to do that is to try to persuade the many folks out there who read VT every week but don’t support our efforts financially.

Now, here is why we like the VSCCA calendar, and we bet you will too…

Here at VeloceToday, we tend to receive a number of calendars every year. They are all nice, some spectacular, some small, some large. We use almost all of them in a variety of places around the house and office, from the kitchen to the library. But we have to admit, that perhaps the most unprepossessing of them all is the most useful, most interesting, and just the right size.

Being around since 1958, the VSCCA has a lot of old photos, and a lot of old stories. This year editor Jim Donick has searched the archives for the most interesting cover photos from the Vintage Sports Car club magazine and used them to illustrate the calendar. In our lead photo is the January selection, and probably our favorite. But in addition to the photo, each day of the month denotes a particular event, birth or death of an automotive hero (and heroines). Here are but a few examples.

Right off the mark, January is as interesting as the lead photo. There’s Ernest Henry, born on the 2nd, in 1885, the same day the first ALFA was introduced in 1910. Son of Malcolm Campbell, Donald Campbell died on January 4 during a record breaking water speed record. Our hero Charles Addams of the Addams family was born on January 7, 1912. An anomaly perhaps, SCH “Sammy Davis was born on January 9 1887 and died on January 8th 1981. Briggs Cunningham was born on the 19th in 1907 and Mike Hawthorn died on January 21, 1959, on the A3 Guildford bypass shortly after winning the World Championship.

February seemed a good month for breaking the Land Speed Record, at least for Malcolm Campbell. On February 4, 1927, he set the record at 174.833 mph; in 1928 on February 19 he upped it to 206.956 mph and then, in 1931 on February 5 he took it to 256.09 mph. Even earlier, Ralph DePalma captured the LSR on February 12, 1919 at 149.875 mph. And in February we found a few names that required Google; who was Finley Robertson Porter, Mike Caruso and Rene LeBegue? And, then one is reminded that next month on February 14, Ricardo Rodriquez would have only been 80 years old?

On May 1 Moss and Jenkinson won the 1955 Mille Miglia, and two years later on May 13 the final 1000 mile race was held. The Paris Madrid race was held on May 24 of 1903, the first Le Mans race was held May 26-27 of 1923, and a VSCCA event, the Hunnewell Hillclimb had its first event on May 30 1970.

Every month has its list of notable events, deaths and births. Skipping to the month of October we find that five important Italians were born that month: Orazio Satta, born on the 6th; on the 9th, both Piero Taruffi and Eugenio Castellotti celebrated their birthdays, Piero Dusio saw the light of day on February 13,1899, and Giuseppe Farina came to be on October 30, 1906.

Enough; you get the picture. Send me an email and say you want a copy. Don’t forget we need your street mailing address!