VeloceToday.com

The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts

Tom Tjaarda

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Photo by Garrick Whitnah, inset by Matt Bradley

Tom Tjaarda, who needs no introduction to our readers, passed away last week at the age of 82. As well as a talented designer, he was always friendly approachable, kind and well liked. Below, we republish Professor Patricia Yongue’s article, “Tjaarda on Creativity”, from the January 5, 2016 edition of VeloceToday.

By Patricia Lee Yongue

“Creativity” is one of American auto manufacturers’ major deficits, asserted designer Tom Tjaarda, guest speaker at theItalianCarFest, Lake Grapevine, Texas, September 8-10, 2006.

In an after-dinner Q & A session, Tjaarda responded to audience lament over a current banality and imitativeness in American production car design. The attitude was hardly surprising, given that CarFest participants had just emerged from a full day of hot Texas sun and pure Italian style that momentarily occluded the view of Ferraris, Panteras, Lamborghinis, etc., as not exactly grocery store transportation. Still, Tjaarda made his point. [Read more…] about Tom Tjaarda

And How! Bob Temple at Palm Springs

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

March 22, 1952, Palm Springs California. I was there cheering Roger on — wearing my specially-made Simca T-shirt that had amused Barlow when I came to his dealership earlier that same year.This is the first of the two Roger Barlow Simcas, seen here with mechanic Bill Pringle behind the wheel. Pringle raced this car in the event, while Barlow himself drove the new Simca special, #62, with right hand drive. Pringle finished second and Barlow fifth in the main event. Al Coppel won the class in his MG special.

As we have seen, Studebaker designer and part time photographer Bob Temple recorded sports car events at the Studebaker Proving Grounds and the Press on Regardless Rally in the early 1950s. Temple also went out west, and was there with Kodachrome for the Palm Springs races on March 22, 1952. Most remarkably, Jim Sitz was there as well and recorded all the cars on his invaluable set of index cards. He was therefore able to identify and comment on the cars and the personalities at the race. Our thanks to both the late Bob Temple and the very much still alive Jim Sitz.

Photos by Bob Temple courtesy Vintage Motorphoto
Story and captions by Jim Sitz

I had the good fortune to attend the March 22, 1952 event at Palm Springs, California. The photographs were taken by Bob Temple. I also had attended earlier events there in April and October of 1951.

The April 1951 event featured Jim Kimberly’s Ferrari 166 Barchetta and a young mechanic named Phil Hill, who drove his old Alfa 2.9. What a car! What a sound! The memory of Hill’s Alfa prompted me to follow his career. Race fans also saw and heard a Ferrari V-12 for first time on west coast. [Read more…] about And How! Bob Temple at Palm Springs

VeloceToday for June 6, 2017

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Eric Davison visits the Tampa Bay Museum, then finds black and white photos of his father in the Bob Temple photos of the POR; Hugues Vanhoolandt brings us Villa d’Este in full color, Alessandro Gerelli picks 14 from the RM Auction, Graham Gauld interviews a modern GT builder. Please become a Premium Subscriber!

And How! Bob Temple’s Sports Car Rally Photos

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

“The Farago Fiat was a crowd stopper where ever it went. Paul was a pretty serious driver and as I recall the Michigan State Police had been advised of the event and were cooperative.”-Eric Davison. Bob Temple photo.

Photos by Bob Temple courtesy Dale LaFollette, Vintage Motorphoto

Last week we looked at the Bob Temple photos from a relatively unknown event at South Bend Indiana. This week, the Bob Temple photo file shows us another early and rare event, this time in rural Michigan called the Press on Regardless Rally. Here, we see three interesting items; another appearance of the Paul Farago Fiat 1100, the Chayne Bugatti, and, most remarkably, Eric Davison’s father with his Jag SS100. (See Eric’s article on the Tampa Bay Automobile Museum this week.) [Read more…] about And How! Bob Temple’s Sports Car Rally Photos

Tampa Bay Automobile Museum

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Story by Eric Davison
Photos courtesy Tampa Bay Automobile Museum

Usually I am a sucker for any car museum therefore I can’t imagine how I missed the Tampa Bay Automobile Museum. But, I did. Inexcusable on my part.

But, a few months ago my friend Dale Powers asked if I wanted to go to Pinellas Park, about 35 miles north of my home in Anna Maria, Florida. He was looking for a home for his DB Le Mans and there was a French car museum in Pinellas Park that we might both enjoy

Off we went and, indeed there is The Tampa Bay Automobile Museum located in Pinellas Park and, yes, it is primarily French cars. And, yes, the pretty little DB eventually found a new home and is now on display amid some pretty wonderful and beautifully restored cars. [Read more…] about Tampa Bay Automobile Museum

Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este 2017

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A car not designed for Concours d’Elegance … the 1935 Lurani Nibbio was destined to break records. Despite its 500cc Moto Guzzi engine, the car was capable of more than 100 mph. It received the Best of Show by public referendum at Villa d’Este, better known as Coppa d’Oro.

Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt

The Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este held on the shoreline of Lake Como is considered by many as the most exclusive and elegant classic car event in the world. Surely it is due to the unique backdrop constituted by the grounds of Villa d’Este and Villa Erba as well as to the tradition that stretches back to the year 1929 when awards were made to the most beautiful new cars of the time.

Today, the awards are sometimes given to the same cars, now considered as the most beautiful ‘old’ cars. But the selection made by the organizer committee also includes some racing or record cars never thought to parade in a Concorso d’Eleganza. Nevertheless they did impress the jury and the public as we will see below.

Below is our selection of the most interesting cars at the event on May 27, 2017. [Read more…] about Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este 2017

Fourteen Chosen from the RM Villa Erba Auction

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Interior of the Franay Talbot T26.

Story and photos by Alessandro Gerelli
Historic photo courtesy Jim Bandy

Alessandro Gerelli found fourteen selections of interest at the RM Auctions at Villa d’Este on May 27 to add to what Hugues Vanhoolandt selected in his report. We all found the ex-Jim Bandy Talbot T26 Cabriolet to be delightful, so we’ll lead off with the car.

Notable below are the number of not-solds. [Read more…] about Fourteen Chosen from the RM Villa Erba Auction

Graham Gauld: Creating a New Grand Turismo

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The Speedback GT prototype with David Brown at the wheel in the splendor of the Scottish Highlands last month.

Story by Graham Gauld
Kevin Emslie Photographer

I met David Brown for the first time almost exactly one year ago when he came on the Ecurie Ecosse Tour with his friend Philip Noble in Noble’s Ferrari 275GTB C. We got to talking in the bar one night and when I asked him what he did, he smiled and said he was in business creating a new British quality GT car.

The Speedback GT Brown spoke of had been shown at the Geneva Motor Show in 2016 and is now in production. For me it was a rare chance to sit down with someone who has not just produced a one-off car design, but has gone into full scale production.

David Brown is a charming, garrulous, Yorkshireman born in Harrogate who, like most Yorkshiremen, never takes no for an answer and is up front with his views about life, work and cars.

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VeloceToday for May 30, 2017

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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

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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

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

Bob Temple’s photo of the John Cuccio Alfa 2300, S/N 2111029, taken at the Studebaker Proving Grounds,
South Bend Indiana on June 23rd 1951.

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

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1947 Peugeot 202 Sedan.

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

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