VeloceToday.com

The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts

Retromobile 2018: The Abarths

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Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt

One of the highlights of the 2018 Retromobile show in Paris was the display of some 20 cars from the Abarth collection of Swiss Engelbert Möll. The collection of Mr. Möll, who is a former Abarth works racing driver, includes more than 40 Abarths as well as some engines that were also displayed in Paris.

This gathering was an opportunity to rediscover the extraordinary variety of the Abarth production as well as the ingenuity of this make to achieve great performances with small displacement engines.

It is interesting to note that the Abarth name is so famous that it was exhumed ten years ago by Fiat, like Renault did recently with the Alpine brand.
It is comforting to see that the great names never die.

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Retromobile 2018: Wimille and Company

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Story by Graham Gauld

There was a lot to talk about at Retromobile two weeks ago, particularly if you took a good look round some of the nooks and crannies, particularly in the upper floor of the exhibition hall.

For instance, Retromobile wanted to honor the great French racing driver Jean-Pierre Wimille who would have been celebrating his 110th birthday next week. Wimille was never truly appreciated outside his native France. Born in February 1908 he was immersed in motor sport from an early age as his father was one of France’s pioneering motoring journalists. Wimille took part in his first Grand Prix at the age of 22 in the French Grand Prix of 1930 held on the street circuit at Pau. He drove a Bugatti T37A and was immediately 5th fastest in practice but retired on the second lap when his supercharger broke. [Read more…] about Retromobile 2018: Wimille and Company

Retromobile 2018: Three Auctions

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Story and photos by Alessandro Gerelli

During the long weekend of the Retromobile in Paris, as usual three auctions took place: RM Sotheby’s, Bonhams and Artcurial have had their sales with good results. About 350 cars were auctioned, of which 25% were not sold. The total amount sold was about 70 million euros.

RM Sotheby’s sold three Bugattis, one old and two recent for a total amount of about 4,8 mln euros, while Ferrari, Maserati and Mercedes were at the top for Bonhams and Artcurial.

Here are our favorites from all three auctions: [Read more…] about Retromobile 2018: Three Auctions

The Lane Motor Museum in Nashville

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Story by Brandes Elitch
Photos courtesy Lane Museum

Last October I had a chance to visit the Lane Motor Museum in Nashville, which had been on my list of things to do for some time. With over 300 European cars displayed on two levels, it is likely the largest museum collection of European cars in the U.S. What I found compelling is that the Lane is full of the kinds of things I like: production cars or prototypes that are obscure, rare, technically advanced for their time, designs full of passion and creativity that fulfilled all the things a collector or historian would want, but not necessarily successful in the marketplace because of various eccentricities of design or presentation. At the top of that list for obscurity would be the Tatra, of course, and while the Lane lacks the Type 77, it has just about every other Tatra. [Read more…] about The Lane Motor Museum in Nashville

Graham Gauld at Retromobile 2018

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By Graham Gauld
Photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt

Graham Gauld has covered Retro for VeloceToday since 2012

Press day in Paris last Wednesday was quite chaotic as the heavens opened and dumped a load of snow turning this dramatic city into a winter wonderland. But the local taxi drivers seem to have forgotten what happens to a car if, you maintain your usual mad dash through the traffic. That evening taxis were bouncing off the tails of buses or hitting other taxis. So Retromobile had a lively start.

Retromobile this year was the usual mélange of cars we know and as always, hidden away, were one or two cars we had either never seen before or else had interesting histories. [Read more…] about Graham Gauld at Retromobile 2018

Interview with Giovanna Scaglione Part 4

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Franco Scaglione, “My Father” His Life in the Words of His Daughter Giovanna

As told to Robert Little, Renzo Carbonaro, Vladimir Pajevic and Ulrich Zensen
Copyright: 8 November 2017 All World Rights Reserved
Republished with permissions with changes to suit the format of VeloceToday.com

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Part IV: Scaglione Achieves His Dreams with Bertone

Nuccio Bertone, who truly appreciated Scaglione’s work, was generally inclined to leave Scaglione completely alone to work through the young master’s ideas and fantasies, but Bertone always bore in mind the necessity to achieve economic success through the mass production of his line of cars. He impressed upon the young designer the need to convert his design ideals to big production numbers.

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Barn Find: Abarth 1500 Bertone by Scaglione

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Story and photos by Rick Carey

This article originally appeared in VeloceToday in 2003.

I’ve always admired the work of Franco Scaglione. Anyone who could create the B.A.T.s on the tall-engined Alfa 1900 chassis, who displayed such sympathy for airflow and was willing to challenge convention with shape and curve rather than embellishment and accoutrement, was an exceptional talent. And full credit also to Nuccio Bertone who gave Scaglione free rein to reinvent extravagantly.

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Interview with Giovanna Scaglione, Part 3

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Franco Scaglione, “My Father” His Life in the Words of His Daughter Giovanna

As told to Robert Little, Renzo Carbonaro, Vladimir Pajevic and Ulrich Zensen
Copyright: 8 November 2017 All World Rights Reserved
Republished with permissions with changes to suit the format of VeloceToday

Read Part 1

Read Part 2

To solicit employment in the early 1950s, Scaglione turned to calling design executives to initiate an appointment, as he learned it was better to speak personally, display his sketches and provide commentary about each one.

Scaglione would meet people such Balbo, Stanguellini, Pinin Farina, Bertone, Ferrari and others at various auto shows or at other venues, and then arrange to have a private meeting to present his skills and wide-ranging knowledge. Unfortunately, there were no letters from his job seeking years in Giovanna’s archives to examine.

In 1951 Scaglione moved to Torino and sought employment once again in the automobile design trade…far closer to the center of gravity of the automobile design trade. At first he and Luisa moved to Corso Matteotti, 29 and later to Via Osasco, 2.

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Adelaide Motorsports Festival, South Australia

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Story and Photos by Vince Johnson

The fourth Adelaide Motorsport Festival attracted record crowds in the South Australian capital on december 7-10. Perhaps it had something to do with the promotional video (https://www.adelaidemotorsportfestival.com.au/spectators/race-to-the-city), but more likely the event’s reputation now precedes it with a vengeance. Nine Formula 1 cars from the 80’s and 90’s vied for the lap record over the weekend, bringing back memories of the Grand Prix days on the Victoria Park section of the old circuit.

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And How! More Citroën for the Mullin

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And How! features open and innovative formats for notices, articles and posts

By staff, photos courtesy Mullin Museum

The Mullin Museum Expands Citroën Exhibit With New Vehicles Including 200mph SM
“Citroën: The Man, The Marque, The Mystique” expands with the addition of a 1931 C4G, a 1975 CX2200 Berline and a 1971 SM Bonneville Racecar towed by a custom SM pickup on a trailer equipped with Citroen hydropneumatics.

The Mullin Automotive Museum has expanded its internationally-acclaimed Citroën exhibit with the addition of three vehicles from the French automaker: a 1931 C4G, a 1975 CX2200 Berline, and a 1971 SM Bonneville Racecar. The cars represent the newest component of the museum’s “Citroën: The Man, The Marque, The Mystique” exhibit, which celebrates the quirky yet wildly innovative manufacturer. VeloceToday’s Brandes Elitch paid a visit and a compliment to the exhibition a few weeks ago in VeloceToday:
[Read more…] about And How! More Citroën for the Mullin

Against All Odds

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Story by Peter Darnall

We all know that Nuvolari won the 1935 German Grand Prix. What most of us didn’t know is that Tazio did it with a two speeed gearbox! Peter Darnall explains…

The Grosser Preis von Deutschland of 1935 was more than a motor race. The Nürburgring would be the setting for the German Grand Prix, the richest and most prestigious event of 1935 on the European racing calendar. Nationalistic fervor ran high as the Nazi government subsidized Silver Arrows faced off against a mixed field; the stage was set for a German victory on their home ground. [Read more…] about Against All Odds

Interview with Giovanna Scaglione Part 2

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Franco Scaglione, “My Father” His Life in the Words of His Daughter Giovanna

As told to Robert Little, Renzo Carbonaro, Vladimir Pajevic and Ulrich Zensen
Copyright: 8 November 2017 All World Rights Reserved
Republished with permissions with changes to suit the format of VeloceToday
Read Part 1

Franco Scaglione’s daughter Giovanna has chosen to share with you, the interested reader, her personal love and deep affection for her father and hopes you will become more familiar with him as she begins her narration of her personal glimpses of her father.

Aerodynamics Studies

Scaglione’s reserved and minimalistic personality compelled him to draw heavenly automotive shapes according to his own innate sense of form and creativity.

His dream was of an automobile that, like a falling drop of rainwater in the air, could glide along with only the slightest turbulence and with the least friction possible…a car that could travel quickly without disturbing the outside air or creating whistling noises inside the cockpit.

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