The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts
Story and photos by Alessandro Gerelli
RM Sotheby’s Auction, Villa Erba May 25th 2019
The RM Auction featured 69 items on sale with 46 sold for a total of about 19.8 million euro.
The top prices were a Ferrari 500 Mondial of 1954 for 3.7 mln euros, a 1957 Porsche 550 Spyder for 3.4 mln euros, an Aston Martin Volante of 1965 for 1.8 mln euros and a Fiat 8V coupè for about 1.8 mln euros.
Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt
The thirty-seventh re-enactment of the 1000 Miglia was staged from 15 to 18 May, along the classic Brescia-Rome-Brescia route, in four legs: from Brescia to Cervia-Milano Marittima; from Cervia-Milano Marittima to Rome; from Rome to Bologna; from Bologna to Brescia.
Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp
Arriving with this year’s invitation to the Heveningham Hall Concours was an additional invite to the Stonor Park Supercar Sunday event, held on May 19th, and which is now in its second year. With a location in a valley within the Chiltern Hills to the northwest of London, my wife and I felt it was worth a trip.
Story by Graham Gauld
Niki Lauda passed away just as we were going to press last week. Ironically, we were about to publish Graham Gauld’s 1993 interview with Lauda; his death made it even more relevant and we present it today as Graham wrote it a few years ago.
Niki’s Early Days
At a time when he is becoming one of the wise elder statesmen of Formula 1 in his role with Mercedes, it is perhaps appropriate to go back a while and think about how Lauda came from nothing to become one of the greatest racing drivers in the world.
For over 67 years, Graham Gauld has been attending motor racing events as a professional journalist. This week we feature a Graham Gauld Retrospective, beginning with one of his earliest experiences as a journalist in 1952, moving to 1956 as he writes about Eugenio Castellotti, to his time spent with his friend Henry Manny III in the 1960s, all from the archives. Finally, we post his latest article about Minardi Day at Imola and the Ecurie Ecosse Tour.
Story and photos by Graham Gauld
From the VeloceToday archives, October 2014.
The photo above shows David Murray’s Scuderia Ambrosiana-badged Ferrari F2 car that was to be driven by Bill Dobson. The distinctive Scuderia Ambrosiana badge can be seen just ahead of the rear view mirror whilst chief mechanic Wilkie Wilkinson is at the wheel.
Most people interested in Italian motor racing will no doubt have heard of Scuderia Ambrosiana, originally founded by Count “Johnny” Lurani back in 1936 but probably know little else about it. [Read more…] about Scuderia Ambrosiana
Story and photos by Graham Gauld
From the VeloceToday archives, March, 2014. Lead image: A close-up of Castellotti at Dundrod in 1955, concentrating hard while accelerating away from the hairpin in the Ferrari 850 Monza.
There are times when we can all be rather pretentious. I fell into that trap thirty years ago when I had the idea of writing a subjective book on the psychology of the racing driver. I have always had an interest in the variety of people who come into motor sport and what makes them tick. I had read a lot about psychology in general, then dropped the idea when I realized what a fool I might have made of myself. However, if Central Casting in Hollywood were ever asked for a “racing driver type” back in the 1950s, they would have to have chosen Eugenio Castellotti.
Story and photos by Graham Gauld
From the VeloceToday archives, November 2013
It’s funny how news reports remind you of old departed friends. A recent news report on the $52 million sale of Ferrari GTO 5111GT brought back a score of happy memories of times spent with American motoring journalist and raconteur Henry Manney III.
Henry Manney III may not be a familiar name to a modern generation, but back in the 1960s he not only sprung to prominence with his witty and amusing articles in Road & Track magazine but he actually created what we would call the modern “loose” form of writing about cars. He dispensed with the turgid prose of the regular motoring writers of the day and replaced it with colorful turns of phrase, even inventing his own words to express his feelings and mood. [Read more…] about Henry Manney III
Story by Graham Gauld
Photos by Graham Gauld unless otherwise noted
April 28-May 11, 2019
May is always my busiest month, as it is usually when the Grand Prix Drivers Club hold their annual general meeting, the Monaco Grand Prix takes place, and the Ecurie Ecosse Tour, in which I am deeply involved, taking place one on top of the other and this year was a real toughie.
It included flying to Venice, then taking the train from there to Bologna, on to Imola for the GPDA affair. This event was linked in with the Historic Minardi Day at this Imola circuit (April 28) organized by Grand Prix Drivers Club honorary member Giancarlo Minardi. This year was special as it coincided with the 25th anniversary of the death of Ayrton Senna. [Read more…] about Minardi Day, Ecurie Ecosse Tour
Story by Sean Smith
Lead photo by Sean Smith
Photos below courtesy Donald Osborne
Just a kid in Manhattan without a car
When you are growing up in Manhattan and Queens, your family doesn’t need a car to get around. This was the plight of Donald Osborne; not till the age of 12 did his family own an automobile.
That didn’t stop Donald’s older brothers from reading Road & Track and AutoWeek. Donald, already a voracious reader, would get a hold of them and consume everything between the covers. [Read more…] about Donald Osborne Interview
Story and photos by Clyde Berryman
Part four of the Clyde Berryman diorama series focuses on the Belgian Grand Prix. Links to all previous Grand Prix Dioramas can be found at the end of this article. Above, the 1963 Belgian GP: Jim Clark (Lotus) has just powered past Carel Godin de Beaufort (Porsche) under the driving rain, putting the Dutch driver a lap down.
The Spa-Francorchamps circuit has garnered near mythical status as one of the most challenging driver’s circuits over its illustrious history – both in its long 14 km. road course configuration and in its modern, more compact form. Rain is almost always mentioned in connection with Spa, so that too was going to factor into any diorama I would create. [Read more…] about Grand Prix Dioramas: Spa Francorchamps
Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp
May 4, 2019 Brooklands
Driving into the designated Alfa Romeo parking zone at the Brooklands circuit brought to my mind the long-term car park at Turin airport, except that the Turin long term car park nowadays is full of Kias and Volkswagens, not Fiats and Alfas.
Passing through the gate at Brooklands into the museum, this year we Alfa drivers had our own entrance, which avoided the queue at the Campbell gate. The Alfa section was 360 degrees of Alfas, so I placed my creaky old GT Blackline next to another GT. [Read more…] about Brooklands Italian Car Day, 2019