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The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts

Barossa Vintage Collingrove Speed Hillclimb 2017

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Gordon’s Amilcar Grand Sport

Story and photos by Vince Johnson

Springtime in South Australia’s Barossa Valley wine district sees the Sporting Car Club of SA’s Vintage Section members in a weekend of pre-war action, centered on the club’s Collingrove hillclimb track near Angaston. Following a Friday evening welcome dinner, the leisurely tour of the neighboring Eden Valley region on Saturday morning left plenty of time for lunch and the annual dinner. On Sunday the competition warmed up after scrutineering, with timed runs up the 700 meter climb. [Read more…] about Barossa Vintage Collingrove Speed Hillclimb 2017

The Devil is in the Details

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Story and color photos by Philippe H. Defechereux

Speed demons of America, beware! You are about to be left in the dust!

This deceptively cute little egg-shaped machine, which just landed on U.S. shores at summer’s end, can hold its own against much more powerful cars, including exotics, on any race track our great country offers for trained racing drivers. The two words “race track” in the preceding sentence offer you the only good news: it won’t shame your speeding illusions on public roads, as it is FIA-equipped and approved, and not street-legal. It’s a pure-bred racer. [Read more…] about The Devil is in the Details

A Lifetime of Cars of a Lifetime

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By Brandes Elitch
From the archives October 14, 2014

Steve Snyder, a fixture in the American Lancia Club for decades, reprinted the club publication originally published in 1977 as “the Aurelia Issue.” Steve asked if I could deliver a copy locally, which took me to the residence of Mr. G., a long time Lancia owner who kindly invited me inside his home. When I asked about some Bugatti pictures on the wall, he related the history of his life with cars, and has agreed to share it with our readers, as follows. [Read more…] about A Lifetime of Cars of a Lifetime

Mille Miglia Moments, 1955 Part 2

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Fangio on the Mille Miglia. Note the Spica injection. Photo by John Bradshaw courtesy of Dale LaFollette.

Story by Pete Vack

Part 1 addressed the two main teams that participated in the 1955 Mille Miglia, Mercedes-Benz and Ferrari. No one else was even in the game for overall victory and with at least four entries each, one of the two was going to win the event.

Before we proceed, last week we noted that there were many 300SL Gullwings that were used for practice weeks before the event itself, which would be a victory for the Germans in all classes, including our own late John Fitch, who placed 5th overall with a Gullwing and won his class, a remarkable achievement. [Read more…] about Mille Miglia Moments, 1955 Part 2

A Visit to The Nicolis Museo

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Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

Museo Nicolis, Dell’Auto – Della Tecnica – Della Meccanica

Luciano Nicolis was born on the 19th of January 1933, the second of six children. At the age of 14, after school had finished for the day, he would cycle to Mantova to find and collect empty cement sacks discarded by the local stone masons. He would then resell them to the local cement company, sometimes carrying 300 empty sacks on the back of his bicycle.

It is no surprise then to learn Signor Nicolis went on to become a very successful industrialist in the field of paper recycling. Lamacart, the company he founded in 1963, is still a leading player in the recycling field today and remains family owned.

From an early age Luciano was fascinated by all things mechanical and technical, and he had a dream to one day open a museum dedicated to his fascinations. Luciano’s dream came true with opening of the Museo Nicolis in the year 2000. Located just a few minutes’ drive from Verona Airport in Villafranca, the Museo is a modern steel and glass structure housing Luciano’s private collection of 200 cars, 500 cameras, 100 motor bikes, 110 bicycles,100 musical instruments, 100 typewriters , 100 Formula 1 steering wheels, and on the roof of the building, three aircraft. Other than the aircraft most mechanical items still work. The cars are regularly maintained and are driven in many classic rallies and events.

Luciano died in 2012 but his passion lives on, His daughter Silvia is the president of the museum and the Nicolis family are very involved in the day-to-day running. During our recent visit, Luciano’s sister even served us a cafe Latta in the museum cafe. When asked about his collection Luciano would reply, “We are not the owners of all this, just the safekeepers for the future…”

Open from Tuesday to Sunday from 10.00 to 18.00

Viale Postumia – Villafranca di Verona (VR) – Italy – T. +39 045 6303289
info@museonicolis.com

Below are a few of the items we had a chance to photograph for our readers. As usual, cars are in alphabetical order.


I was surprised to learn that the coachwork on this 1925 Alfa Romeo RM was by Zagato. The RM used mechanical and chassis parts from the more expensive RL model. Powered by a 4 cylinder engine derived from the 6 cylinder engine of the RL the RM was designed more for the family man than sporting motorist.

Supplied as a rolling chassis to Australia this 1923 Alfa Rome RL Normale is fitted with bodywork by Martin and King coachbuilding of Melbourne Australia.

This Castagna-bodied supercharged Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 GTC dates from 1931. The paint applied when restored was mixed with fish scales as would have been the case when the car was first constructed.

Castagna of Milan bodied this 1933 Alfa Rome 8C 2300 (no other info available.)

In 1853 a university teacher by the name of Giovanni Ansaldo returned to Italy after spending time in Northern Europe and decided to form a company to manufacture steam trains and ships. By the middle of WW1, the company Gio Ansaldo & Co decided to go into car production. This example however predates that decision. Built in the company’s workshop in 1906, based on a Peugeot chassis with a monocylinder Peugeot engine, chain drive, and wheels with wooden spokes.

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And How! The Villoresi Lancia Astura Spider

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

Could Gigi Villoresi have beaten the BMWs with this fascinating V-8 Lancia Spider? jonathan Sharp provides the color photos and information from the Museo Nicolis.

The 1937 Astura Spider shown in the Nicolis museum was prepared in 1939 by Carrozzeria Colli, by order of the Milanese Scuderia Ambrosiana, for one of the Scuderia’s top drivers, Luigi ‘Gigi’ Villoresi. [Read more…] about And How! The Villoresi Lancia Astura Spider

Gordini’s Pre-War Racers

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By Pete Vack
From the archives, April 4, 2013

As Graham Gauld has written, Gordini’s racing prior to the 1950s was both significant and interesting. Here we’ll take a look at a few of the prewar Simcas modified by Gordini.

While he had not yet given his name to his cars, Gordini’s modifications to the Balilla Sport, the Simca Cinq (Fiat Topolino) and the Simca Huit were very successful – in fact one might argue Gordini was almost as successful before the war as he was after!

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Mille Miglia Moments: 1955

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Kling’s 300SLR shortly after his crash. Photo by John Bradshaw courtesy Dale LaFollette.

Story by Pete Vack

Before the 1955 Mille Miglia, Enzo Ferrari was worried about the entry of the Mercedes-Benz 300SLRs so he opted to install a 4.4 liter engine in place of the regular 3.7 liter six into a lengthened Monza chassis.

Which was fine, except that he didn’t tell anyone, even the drivers. [Read more…] about Mille Miglia Moments: 1955

L’Affaire Bugatti

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By Peter Darnall

Imagine yourself a passenger in a Type 57SC Bugatti Atalante. The view through the windshield is stunning: a long tapering hood framed by delicately arched fenders. The snug interior of the coupe cabin fills with the incredible sound of the 8-cylinder Bugatti engine at peak revs as the siren-like scream of the supercharger adds its surreal note. The tree-lined scenery flashes by faster and still faster. The sensory overload is intoxicating.

Such was my introduction to the inner sanctum of the Bugatti mystique. [Read more…] about L’Affaire Bugatti

Belgian’s Most Important Car Show

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Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt

The Zoute Grand Prix, on the Belgian coast, has become one the most important European events featuring collector’s cars and dream cars. The amount of spectators increased from 7,000 in 2010 to 200,000 in 2016.

Five events are organized over four days: the Zoute Sale by Bonhams, the Zoute GT Tour for modern supercars, the Zoute Top Marques which presents in the streets of Knokke the newest models of 19 premium marques, the Zoute Concours d’Elegance and the Zoute Rally which is a regularity rally.

We will concentrate on these last two events. [Read more…] about Belgian’s Most Important Car Show

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