Lorenzo Montagner, Administrator and Custodian of the Tazio Nuvolari Museum, highlights Nuvolari’s achievements; Vanhoolandt at the Mille Miglia; Alfa mysteries come to light from the Temple photos at South Bend; Australia’s National Motoring Heritage Day. Don’t forget to become a Premium Subscriber!
Tazio Nuvolari
There have been many authoritative works documenting the extraordinary career of the great Italian race driver Tazio Nuvolari. The word “authentic” was used in this original article submitted by Lorenzo Montagner, who is the curator of the Tazio Nuvolari Museum in Mantua, Italy and could, therefore, be considered an authority on the subject of Tazio Nuvolari. Authentic, indeed.
Lorenzo Montagner writes from the perspective of an Italian enthusiast as well as a scholar. He takes pride in the history and the charm of the area which gave Nuvolari his epithet “The Flying Mantuan.” We chose not to change a single word of his manuscript.
– Pete Vack and Peter Darnall
By Lorenzo Montagner, Administrator and custodian of the Tazio Nuvolari Museum
Color photos by Gian Maria Pontiroli
Owned by the Automobile Club di Mantova, the Tazio Nuvolari Museum is situated in Mantua: the city is a small but wonderful peninsula surrounded by three artificial lakes located in the heart of the Po valley (Pianura Padana) between Milan and Venice. Mantua was the home town of the poet Virgil, a territory that blends together water, ground and sky. Under the duchy of the Gonzaga family, between the middle of 1300s and the beginning of 1700s, Mantua hosted renowned artists like Andrea Mantegna, Leon Battista Alberti and Giulio Romano who contributed to the transformation of the town in one of the gems of the Italian Renaissance. [Read more…] about Tazio Nuvolari
And How! Bob Temple at South Bend, 1951
And How! features open and innovative formats for notices, articles and posts.
As we mentioned last week, over the next few weeks VeloceToday will present photographs by Bob Temple, coming to us via the collection of Vintage Motorphoto’s Dale LaFollette.
Photography by Bob Temple courtesy Dale LaFollette
Story by Pete Vack
Recently, old friend Dale LaFollette sent me a group of scanned negatives, but he wasn’t sure of the locations, year, or event. Nor was I. Enter equally old mutual friend Jim Sitz. I knew Jim because he would fact-check my articles for R&T, AQ and Forza back in the last century. Dale and I sent the photos to Jim for identification. The event was so rare – an early SCCA regional in the Midwest – that even today there is no trace of it anywhere in magazines or the Internet (well maybe Motor Trend, says Jim). But, Jim doesn’t rely on the Internet. No. Jim Sitz has everything on index cards – a card filing system from the pre-computer era. [Read more…] about And How! Bob Temple at South Bend, 1951
National Motoring Heritage Day, May 21, 2017
Story and photos by Chris Martin
The National Motoring Heritage Day is held on the third Sunday of May every year and celebrates Australia’s motoring heritage in all forms, from veteran and vintage to modern classics, cars, ‘bikes and commercials. [Read more…] about National Motoring Heritage Day, May 21, 2017
Hugues Vanhoolandt’s Mille Miglia 2017
Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt
A few days ago, the Mille Miglia celebrated 90 years since its first edition in 1927.
It is also 60 years since the last ‘real’ thing happened.
For more than 30 years, a regularity rally has resurrected the glorious days of the Mille Miglia.
From Brescia to Roma and back, the long caravan of more than 400 classic cars goes through the old cities of Italy and the landscapes of Emilia-Romagna, Umbria, Marche and Tuscany to name a few. Here is but a small overview of this anniversary edition.
VeloceToday for May 23, 2017
And How! 5-23: The Bob Temple Negatives
And How! is a new regular feature in VeloceToday, just right for those stories which are too short or too little or news items that don’t qualify as full length articles.
Over the next few weeks VeloceToday will present photographs by Bob Temple, coming to us via the collection of Vintage Motorphoto’s Dale LaFollette.
The photos are remarkable in themselves, portraits of cars and events that shaped the sports car movement in the U.S. during the post war years which include the Bugatti La Royale convertible when owned by Chayne. But they were particularly interesting for us, for the photos brought together an equally remarkable set of VeloceToday Contributors who each had story behind some of the images. [Read more…] about And How! 5-23: The Bob Temple Negatives
Build it, Sell it, Forget it. Then, 30 Years Later…
Story by Sean Smith
Historical photos courtesy the Eno DePasquale collection.
Eno DePasquale was a car guy from the word go. His father, a doctor, had a 1953 Jaguar XK120M that would occasionally see some late-night street racing at the hands of his son. Eno didn’t follow in his father’s footsteps; he wanted to work on cars, not people. His father would tell friends, “I think my son has gears going around in his head!”
In his high school years, with no formal training, Eno started to build cars for himself. He began by customizing a ‘36 Ford coupe, then moved on to a ‘32 three-window that he chopped, channeled, and built from the ground up. His final high school ride was a ‘40 Ford that he massaged into a custom machine.
[Read more…] about Build it, Sell it, Forget it. Then, 30 Years Later…1957 Ferrari Transporter in 1/18 and 1/43 Scale
What our readers said about this article, first published on November 30, 2011.
Roberto Prescelli: What can I say but GREAT
Nigel Miller: A ‘Transport of Delight’ – what an absolute stunner!
Paul Evans: Stunning, just stunning
Paul Turney: A truly wonderful model,looks like one can jump in and drive off!
Kenny Lombino: I had pre-ordered it over a year ago. I am happy to say it is on a UPS truck to me as I write this along with three CMC racing Ferraris to place on or around the transporter.
Jeff Downer : Extraordinary! Looks nicer than the real one they had at Monterey. Well done.
F. Biba: I can only hope that CMC doesn’t make a model for Alfa Romeo’s transporter. Off hand I can’t think what it looked like, but I’d have to get one in any event. And, geeze, three Alfa Formula 1 cars.
H. Almazan: Is there a way the transport comes in a model form so I could build it, I have been building models for over 25 years and enjoys the Revival models kit and would like to build a transport car.
Story and photos by Marshall Buck
I’m not sure exactly what it is, but there is something hypnotically attractive about vintage racing car transporters. I’m talking about the kind from the 1930s through the 1960s. Just like the rare competition cars they carry, old race transporters draw crowds anywhere they park. Especially the vintage European kind, of which there have been so very many types, configurations, and manufacturers of. Numerous magazine articles have been written, and even a couple of books have been published on them.
Old race transporters appear to be one of the next phases of collector vehicles within the vintage race car community. They are the “in” thing, and they are very cool. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if someday in the future, you find a special showing of these at one of the premier concours. Stranger things have happened.
Getting Interested in Motorcycles
Story by Brandes Elitch
Photos by David Fetherston unless otherwise noted
Read Part 1
Question: Are you optimistic about the future of the motorcycle?
Answer: “There’s a real romance to motorcycling, and this is always recognized by a certain type of individual who values adventure above security and comfort. Luckily, every generation seems to produce a surprising number of these people.” – Peter Egan
“The perfect man? A poet on a motorcycle.” – Lucinda Williams [Read more…] about Getting Interested in Motorcycles
VeloceToday for May 16, 2017
Brooklands Italian Car Day, April 29, 2017
Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp
This is the fifth year in a row that Jonathan Sharp has covered the Italian Car Day at Brooklands. And despite the narrow focus, there are very few repeats, as can be seen by Sharp’s photo selections over the years.
As Pete has said, I have covered the Italian Car Day at Brooklands for VeloceToday for the past 5 years but I have been attending the Italian Car Day in its various guises and locations for over 30 years. This year, as usual, Brooklands was groaning under the weight of Italian cars. But there seemed to be a higher percentage of newer cars, which would seem to indicate to me that those who currently buy new Italian cars also embrace the Italian life style and motoring heritage. Walking around the site I kept coming upon cars that I once owned, or have wanted to own – and I am not talking about the Ferraris and Lamborghini’s that were present in reasonable numbers. I get more of a buzz coming across an immaculate Alfa Sud or a Fiat 130 than I do finding a paddock full of 458’s and Aventadores. And, therefore, it is those types of cars that we present in this article.