VeloceToday.com

The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts

Spa Francorchamps 24 Hour Blancpain GT

By

Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt

July 26-29

This year’s Blancpain GT 24 hours at Spa was won by Tom Blomqvist, Christian Krognes, Philipp Eng in the Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW M6 GT3. Alexander Sims, Jens Klingmann, Nicky Catsburg, Rowe Racing, BMW M6 GT3 took second and Kelvin van der Linde, Sheldon van der Linde, Jeffrey Schmidt, Montaplast by Land-Motorsport Audi R8 LMS finished third. But the race has a long, 70 year tradition of 24 hour motor racing that was featured at this year’s event.

The Spa 24 Hour race, which has now become the greatest endurance race for GT cars, was born in 1924, one year after the birth of the Le Mans 24 Hours. During a period from 1924 to 1953, the same type of cars were entered in both Le Mans and Spa, and wins were shared among manufacturers like Chenard et Walcker, Alfa Romeo, Mercedes-Benz, Aston Martin and even Ferrari. [Read more…] about Spa Francorchamps 24 Hour Blancpain GT

Italian Gentleman Drivers: Franco Martinengo

By

Story by Graham Gauld
Period photos courtesy ot Cesare Martinengo

From the Archives, August 8, 2012
Regular readers may remember my May 2012 article about the Monaco Historics in which I mentioned meeting Cesare Martinengo, whose father Franco was a typical Italian “Gentleman Driver” throughout the 1940s and ’50s. This sounded interesting and I had to find out more. Cesare then brought his scrapbooks to me in the South of France and I spent a fascinating day going back in time when people raced for the fun of it and enjoyed racing with their friends.

Cesare Martinengo, however, did some racing himself, mainly with small Italian sports cars. It was no surprise that thanks to his father’s long-time friendship with Elio Zagato, Cesare raced a double bubble Fiat 750 Zagato. (In the lead photo, Elio, left, with Franco Martinengo stand next to their Fiat 1100 Zagatos.) [Read more…] about Italian Gentleman Drivers: Franco Martinengo

Classic Car Advisor: Jonathan Sierakowski

By

Interview by Pete Vack
All photos courtesy Jonathan Sierakowski

Jonathan Sierakowski is a Classic Car Advisor. He provides advice – or as he puts it, “discreet counsel and facilitation” while offering a host of services related to the research, inspection, purchase, sale, and appraisal of classic cars.

That’s something you and I probably did not need in our heyday. Or if we did, we got advice from clubs, friends, mechanics, books, and magazines plus personal experience. But it’s a different era now, and Sierakowski, in his early 30s – is onto something. [Read more…] about Classic Car Advisor: Jonathan Sierakowski

Silverstone Classic, 2018

By

Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

Silverstone Classic, July 20-22, 2018

This year at Siverstone, there were 100,000 spectators, 1000 plus entrants spread over 21 races from F1 to endurance legends of the 2000s; a host of tin tops from hulking great American V8s to Mini Coopers. [Read more…] about Silverstone Classic, 2018

Ford at Le Mans: Hows and Whys

By

Ford vs. Ferrari 101: The ‘60s battle, in a nutshell for our younger readers. It was, after all, a half century ago.

By Wallace Wyss
Historic Images courtesy of Ford Motor Company

It started only after Henry Ford II, who wanted to impress his beautiful Italian wife by buying an Italian automaker, got the door slammed on his face by Enzo Ferrari.

Embarrassed by the failed offer, he vowed to set his minions to work making an all new endurance racer that could win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Europe’s most important race and defeat Ferrari in the process. It is a remarkable story of American will-power, teamwork (and of course money). [Read more…] about Ford at Le Mans: Hows and Whys

Bugatti Aérolithe Re-creation

By

Except for the very few who actually drove one…

Story by Pete Vack
Color photos by Dale Lafollette

There is a good reason Ken Purdy chose a photo of a Bugatti T57 Atlantic for the cover of his legendary book, Kings of the Road. For the dramatic Jean Bugatti-designed Atlantic (not to be confused with the T57 Atalante coupe) was indeed the King of the Road in the 1930s. All four of them. Or five. Or two.

This content is for Premium Subscriber members only.
LoginSubscribe

Portland Art Museum: The Shape of Speed

By

By Pete Vack and Gijsbert-Paul Berk with photographs by Dale LaFollette
Thanks to the Portland, Oregon Art Museum and Ken Gross

When Dale LaFollette returned with the following photos and a wonderful brochure about the new show at the Portland, Oregon Art Museum, we were impressed with the selection and approach. “Shape of Speed…demonstrates how auto designers translated the concept of aerodynamic efficiency into exciting machines.” As our Senior Editor Gijsbert-Paul Berk has already covered this in detail via his four-part series on Concept Cars and Streamlining, there is little else to be said.

Or is there? [Read more…] about Portland Art Museum: The Shape of Speed

Goodwood Festival of Speed, 2018

By

Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

I never had a chance to visit the Steering Wheel Club in London, or the Tip Top Bar in Monte Carlo, but I just wonder if maybe a little bit of the after-hours atmosphere found in those two old racing driver haunts is also present in the assembly area of the Festival of Speed, without the booze and grumpy waiter of course.

This content is for Premium Subscriber members only.
LoginSubscribe

Gerelli at the Coppa d’Oro delle Dolomiti

By

Photos by Alessandro Gerelli

The Coppa d’Oro delle Dolomiti, Alessandro Gerelli, and the Editor are all 71 years old. While this is purely coincidental, Alessandro’s phenomenal coverage of the modern event is not. It is the result of years of dedication to his photography, his passion, and his ongoing and remarkable support of VeloceToday.com. He began reporting the event, a re-creation of the original race that began in 1947, sixteen years ago in 2002 when Phil Hill was an honored guest. [Read more…] about Gerelli at the Coppa d’Oro delle Dolomiti

Ben Tarlow, Alfa Romeos and the VSCCA

By

Story by Sean Smith
Photos by the author unless othewise noted

The car gene skipped a generation in Ben Tarlow’s family. Ben loved transportation, anything with a motor. Cars, trains, planes, boats, anything that moved. His granddad had a whale-tail 911, but his parents weren’t that into it.

Born in 1990, Ben grew up at the dawn of the internet; he learned about the wide world of machines at dial-up speed. At fourteen he started focusing on cars, because he knew in a couple of years he wasn’t getting his engineer’s or pilot’s license—he was getting his driver’s license. Things just went crazy from there. Ben got a bit nerdy about it. He wasn’t interested in studying all the latest hyper-cars; instead, he started researching the classics. At one point, his Dad did own a 1972 2002 BMW, so they became a passing fancy for Ben.

This content is for Premium Subscriber members only.
LoginSubscribe

Goodwood Festival of Speed with Hugues Vanhoolandt

By

Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt

Every year, the Festival of Speed celebrates anniversaries in the world of motorsport but last weekend (July 14-15), it was the Festival of Speed itself that celebrated its 25th anniversary.

Porsche was also put in the limelight, 70 years after its humble beginnings in 1948. The central sculpture in front of Goodwood House was dedicated to the Stuttgart manufacturer.

This content is for Premium Subscriber members only.
LoginSubscribe

Sharp at Heveningham Part 2

By

Photos by Jonathan Sharp

The Heveningham Concours has a bit of everything but aside from cars, it always attracts a good entry of propeller-driven airplanes. Last week our man in the UK Jonathan Sharp presented a few of the cars in the show, and this week he continues with cars, then a selection of dramatic night shots, and finally a few of the more interesting aircraft, such as a Messerschmidt built by Hispano Aviacion with a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine! We needn’t apologize for Jonathan’s excursions into the air – we always wondered where they got all the planes for the movie “The Battle of Britain”. [Read more…] about Sharp at Heveningham Part 2

MENU