VeloceToday.com – Page 100 – The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts

Baby Bugattis and the T52 Mystery

November 19, 2019 By pete

British Speed King Donald Campbell practices his craft in his Baby Bugatti. Campbell would set many speed records both on land and water but died in a speed boat record attempt in 1967. His father Malcolm, also a Land Speed Record holder, assists. Photo courtesy the Bugatti Trust.

From the VeloceToday Archives, March, 2011

Part I

By Marshall Buck

I can’t believe that the answer has been in front of me all these years. The answer to what you ask? The answer to the question I often ask myself: How am I ever going to afford a genuine vintage Bugatti? Simple answer…buy a ‘Baby’ Bugatti; a child’s car to be precise. I’m not talking about one of those cheapy Toys R Us plastic jobs. No sir, the one I have in mind is very special….one of the authentic half scale renditions of a Type 35.

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A Bit About VeloceToday’s Editor

November 19, 2019 By pete

Photo by Lisa Cummings

This article appeared in “Next Door Neighbor” magazine, published in Williamsburg, Virginia. Perhaps our readers would like to know a little about VeloceToday’s Editor.

Story by Narielle Living

“To do what you love doing while making people happy is extremely gratifying.” – Pete Vack

For Pete Vack, publisher of VeloceToday, an online magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts, the above quote embodies his approach to life and business. Pete’s unique skill set and experience with both cars and publishing made him the perfect choice to manage the magazine. “Since 1970, I was involved in the purchase, restoration and racing of classic cars, even working for Ferrari of Washington for a while as a mechanic. My experience with classic cars, racing and mechanics plus my knowledge of the Digital revolution, computers, writing and publishing, gave me the tools I needed to publish and edit VeloceToday,” he says. [Read more…] about A Bit About VeloceToday’s Editor

The Hobby of Beverly Hills’ Joe Lubin Part 2

November 12, 2019 By pete

Los Angeles, November 1959. The spanking new, just arrived Lubin Tipo 61 on display in Los Angeles. No, that is not actress Barbara Eden, but JoAnne Pickens, mother of Greg Wood, who supplied the photo. The others are unidentified. [Photo: Greg Wood Collection]

Story by Willem Oosthoek

Read Part 1

It is doubtful that Alfieri would have made the commitment to Lubin for a larger Birdcage engine so quickly if he had not already been in the process of enlarging the 2-liter unit into the 3-liter range. As a result, Lubin received the first Tipo 61 ever built, the 2.9-liter chassis 2452.

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Movie Review: Ford v Ferrari

November 12, 2019 By pete

Hollywood or Bust for Ford v Ferrari…(Photo copyright Merrick Morton, 20th Century Fox)

Our intrepid reporter, having been invited to a sneak preview of Ford v Ferrari shown on November 6th, filed this review. The movie opens in a theater near you on November 15th.

By Wallace Wyss
Photos copyright Merrick Morton, 20th Century Fox

Movies about racing cost a lot of money to produce, and it is likely that the audience could end up just being hard core race car nuts watching it over and over. McQueen had his film Le Mans yanked away from him for going over budget; RUSH didn’t do that well, (I feel it’s partly because the driver’s faces were covered and you couldn’t read their expressions) and it seems that most racing movies seem to have a robot-like interaction between the characters. [Read more…] about Movie Review: Ford v Ferrari

London to Brighton Run, 2019

November 12, 2019 By pete

This Fiat, an 1899 2 cyl 3.5 hp Vis a vis, is owned by FCA but displayed at the National Motor Museum Beaulieu and driven by Doug Hill and Ian Staplefield. This is believed to be one of the first Fiats produced and is one of only three known to survive.

Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

What a difference a day makes. The weather on Saturday had been terrible, with gale force winds and torrential rain for most of the day. It did not bode well for the London to Brighton Veteran car run taking place the next day.

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The Joys of Genevieve

November 12, 2019 By pete

This week we have a review of the movie Ford v Ferrari, and the story of a totally different movie, Genevieve.

From the VeloceToday Archives, November, 2015

By Pete Vack

Perhaps it is the lack of events and publicity that tends to keep the Veterans in the museums (ok, they are not very practical or streetable, but that applies to a lot of later cars as well). The ongoing successful Brighton run proves that enough people are interested to both participate and watch such events even in the usually cold early November dates. Without actually being there, another way to experience the excitement (of which there is plenty) of Veteran cars is to watch one of the best racing movies ever made, Genevieve. [Read more…] about The Joys of Genevieve

The Hobby of Beverly Hills’ Joe Lubin Part 1

November 5, 2019 By pete

A 1957 publicity photo, showing Bob Drake in Joe Lubin’s 1.5-liter Bobtail Cooper/Climax next to his wife Mary Davis. Mary is at the wheel of Bruce Kessler’s 2-liter Ferrari 500TR, a former Johnny von Neumann car. [photo: Joe Playan collection, courtesy Jerry Entin]

Story by Willem Oosthoek

Today only a few surviving California motorracing enthusiasts seem to remember the name of Joe Lubin. Yet, Lubin’s activities were a major part of the West Coast sports car scene from the mid-1950s to the early 1960s. After all these years it is pertinent to go back in time and revisit his contributions to the sports.

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Roger’s Models

November 5, 2019 By pete

Model of the Alfonso Hispano-Suiza made by Roger Jackson. Photo courtesy Dale LaFollette.

One day Dale LaFollette sent me a photo of a King Alfonso Hispano Suiza model to illustrate one of our articles. This was no ordinary model; I was struck by the sheer beauty of the model, it’s construction, color, simplicity and lightness. La Follette told me it was built from scratch by a friend of his in the U.K., and that he had many such models. Please tell us more, we asked, and here is the story of Roger’s models.

Story and photos by Dale La Follette

In the early 1960s, slot car racing was about to sweep the country, and as a total car guy, it captured my imagination. I met a couple of people that had built a track in a garage, and I joined them in informal evening races. Great fun, but the cars that were available at the time were of poor quality, and did not allow close racing. It was evident that we would have to build our own cars, but the basics like gears, wheels and tires were not available in in the U.S.

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Savonuzzi, the Designer, Part II: Ghia To Fiat

November 5, 2019 By pete

From the VeloceToday Archives, April, 2011

By Pete Vack

In Part I we described how Savonuzzi created the 202 Cisitalia, a new DOHC engine to power a new line of Cisitalia, designed a record-breaking motorboat and more. But his career had hardly begun. Part II takes him from Ghia to the exciting work with Chrysler Turbines to Fiat and retirement.

Going to Ghia

In 1953 Giovanni Savonuzzi went on to Ghia, which at the time was a hotbed of activity and anonymity. Chrysler was there; Boano had left and a series of freelancers were hired, including Michelotti and Frua. Everyone was doing something and individual accomplishments were somehow left behind, even Chrysler’s Virgil Exner’s. It wasn’t until David Burgess-Wise was doing research for his book on Ghia in the 1980s that it became clear that the famous Ghia Chryslers, in particular the gorgeous K models, were in fact Chrysler designs, handed to Ghia for their translation into metal. 1 It was, perhaps, the kind of environment Savonuzzi enjoyed, but it was not the place to polish his star. Ironically, he became more famous for his work at Ghia than for anything else, before or since.

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The GTO and the Hole in the Donut

October 29, 2019 By pete

Larry Perkins takes the GTO through Webster. Dave Friedman photo used with permission.

Story by Larry Perkins

We were off to the races.
And I had piles. [Read more…] about The GTO and the Hole in the Donut

The Cars of Giovanni Savonuzzi

October 29, 2019 By pete

From the VeloceToday Archives, February 2011

A Photo Portfolio by Hugues Vanhoolandt.
Captions and text by Pete Vack

In gathering these photos for this article we were struck by the vast differences in style that emerged before us. Giovanni Savonuzzi played a seminal role in the creation of the Cisitalia 202, one of the world’s most beautiful cars, a much lauded landmark design that changed the face of the post war automobile. Yet less than a decade later, he would be criticized for the Wilke Ferrari 410 Superamerica, also called ‘Super Gilda’. What happened? How could this be so?
[Read more…] about The Cars of Giovanni Savonuzzi