French News and Blues

By The Editor

Urgent! We need your help! We are looking for anyone who can verify that Ed Hugus relieved Masten Gregory for a stint behind the wheel at the 1965 Le Mans 24 Hour race. The Gregory/Rindt 275LM won the race, and it is believed that Hugus drove for a while as well. (yes, we've asked Hugus). Please contact me directly at pete@velocetoday.com if you can help.

Amusing to some, sad to others, a derelict Alpine A106. How many are still around?

Renault Alpine
For over 30 years, collectors, enthusiasts, dealers, hucksters and crooks have been searching out rare and unusual post war cars. In the US, we’ve already shipped most of the cars we imported between 1950 and 1965 back to their country of origin. What remains has been found, re-found, restored, and re-restored, exported and probably re-imported.

So it is refreshing, if often frustrating, to find a car which has escaped all of the above fates — such as the Biposto Abarth 1400 recently "discovered" in Connecticut. And we have another decomposing example of that breed. We’ll let the readers guess how many were made, and perhaps even more difficult, how many of Jean Redele’s Alpine A106s are left. Suffice to say, that Redele’s first Alpine is a particularly low volume and very interesting.

We aren’t going to tell you where the car is located. Or who the owner is. Said owner refuses to sell, and has been refusing to sell for a number of years. Which is why it is still here, unrestored, rotting, awaiting a sad and miserable end. Til death do us part, says the owner.

Bugatti Type 40

Better photos of this unheralded Bugatti later--maybe.

Perhaps 870 of the Bugatti Type 40 and Type 40 A were built between 1927 and 1930. Slow, never supercharged (aside from one made for Lydia Bugatti), it is nonetheless full of charm, and a real Bugatti. A three valve four cylinder, the T40/40A produced 45/50 horsepower, and at 2200 lbs., was no lightweight. A variety of coachbuilders graced the chassis, from boattail speedsters to exquisite little cabriolets. Rare in any country, particularly the US. But here is a 1927 Type 40, coachbuilder and serial number yet unknown. Located at the Car and Carriage Caravan Museum in Luray, Virginia, it is basically unrestored, and has a rather poor repaint. We hope to have more on this car in a future edition of VT.

Simcas (Barlow, that is)

Mrs. Barlow displays a photo of the Barlow Simca at Torrey Pines.

Paid a visit to Mary Barlow last week. Mary, pert and beautiful at sixty four, keeps the memory of her late husband Roger alive and well. Roger, who died in 1990, created and raced the Barlow Simcas, with a great deal of success, particularly in 1952. The Barlow Simcas were made with a high degree of quality, and made such an impression that 50 years later the name Barlow Simca evokes instant recognition among car enthusiasts. In 1952, Roger received a cup from the Simca company, honoring him for his string of victories in a Simca-based racecar.

Barlow was born Roger Kleinschmidt in 1912. His family changed their name during the anti-German nonsense in World War I. After two stints in the US Navy, where he learned photography, he made his way to California. He established a Simca dealership and constructed the famous race cars in his shop. Later, he turned to cinematography, gaining credits on three movies and many documentaries. A race car driver, constructor, hunter, writer, photographer and life-long car nut, Roger Barlow was one of those larger than life characters who will never be forgotten.