VeloceToday.com

The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts

Alfa Romeo Museo Storico Annivesary in Italia

By

A sight one does not normally see in other museums.

SOLO PER APPASSIONATI: Le macchine … e motori dell’Alfa Romeo Museo Storico.

Testo e foto di Roberto Motta

Il Museo Alfa Romeo di Arese ha compiuto i suoi primi 40 anni e per festeggiare ha esibito le proprie vetture con i ‘cofani aperti’ per consentire al pubblico di ammirare il suo “cuore sportivo”

Se passeggiate tra le stanze dei numerosi musei di automobili di tutto il mondo (o più semplicemente seguite VeloceToday!) avrete notato che tutti hanno una cosa in comune; tutte le auto hanno i cofani chiusi, e non ci si può avvicinare alle vetture per studiarne la meccanica. Questo è un peccato perché, a differenza dei motori di oggi, interamente ricoperti di plastica, molti propulsori del 20° secolo sono un vero concentrato di ingegneria hi tech, e sono delle vere opere d’arte.

Ma, purtroppo, sono spesso nascosti sotto il cofano delle auto esposte nel museo.
L’Alfa Romeo, ha sempre creato motori per auto da corsa e per vetture di produzione fin dal 1910, ed è quindi una delle poche aziende che può vantare una lunga e gloriosa storia nella progettazione di motori tecnicamente avanzati. [Read more…] about Alfa Romeo Museo Storico Annivesary in Italia

VeloceToday for January 3, 2017

By

crabbe-780

sub-780

featres

2016 was a great year for VeloceToday! This week we look back on four of the most popular articles published last year. Click on the photo icon to read the story.

Coming up in January, a new look at the Disco Volante, Beaulieu’s National Museum, Hoods Up at Arese, One Great Amilcar and more.

teresa

8v-fiat-hv-1

shakes-780

mystery

A VeloceToday Design Forum

By

new-forum

VeloceToday recently completed a two-part book review on the work of Marcello Gandini authored by Gautam Sen. We are also reviewing a book about the De Tomaso Mangusta, by ex-GM designer Dick Ruzzin. In October, author and collector Paul Wilson allowed us to spend some time with his Lamborghini Miura. The three are uniquely qualified, if not over-qualified (read bios at end of the article).

Also, we are offering FREE to VeloceToday readers, a PDF of the first 52 pages of “Gandini, Maestro of Design” (read review). This gives you, our readers, a chance to join in on the discussion and read the complete fascinating story of Gandini and Miura. Click here for details.

While discussing the Gandini book (in which he was quoted), Ruzzin offered some thoughts about the nature of the Miura design. “When an artist sits down to do his work, all of his lifetime experiences and values come to bear on what he is trying to create. This is inevitable and cannot be prevented, as art is a reflection of the essence of the artist’s intellect in the form of sculpture, music, painting, or car design.” Although no one is challenging Gandini’s role as the designer of the Miura, the images that Ruzzin sent along were nevertheless thought-provoking.

In short, Ruzzin presented this argument:

ruzzin-780 [Read more…] about A VeloceToday Design Forum

Free PDF: Marcello Gandini: Maestro of Design

By

free-pdf

Receive the first 52 pages of Gautam Sen’s fanastic two volume set about Marcello Gandini. In this PDF you’ll read about Gandini’s youth growing up in Turin; meeting Nuccio Bertone; going to work at Bertone just as Giorgetto Giugiaro was leaving; designing the Miura, which was his first project at Bertone; the controversy surrounding who actually designed the fabulous Miura; The one off Bertone Porsche and the strange Jaguar FT.

Then read what the author, ex-GM designer Dick Ruzzin and author/collector/owner Paul Wilson have to say about the design of the Miura and outside influences. And we’d like to hear your comments and opinions on the subject!

Finally, take advantage of Dalton Watson’s new payment program, which can be applied to Gautam Sen’s definitive work on Gandini.

The PDF can be obtained by clicking on the Subscribe button below; Offer for Premium Subscribers ONLY!

This content is for Premium Subscriber members only.
LoginSubscribe

Jack, John, and the 750 OSCA at Sebring 1960

By

John Bentley at the wheel of the OSCA S/N 769 which won the Index of Performance at Sebring, 1960. Co-driver Jack Gordon tells the story. Credit Jeff Allison.

John Bentley at the wheel of the OSCA S/N 769 which won the Index of Performance at Sebring, 1960. Co-driver Jack Gordon tells the story. Credit Jeff Allison.

Sebring 1960: John and Jack Win the Index
Originally published on September 9, 2009

By Jack Gordon

Jack Gordon continues his narrative of the Le Mans and Sebring events of 1960, in which he and journalist John Bentley competed in two different 750cc OSCAs. His first article covered the Le Mans event (read OSCA at Le Mans) which came after the Sebring race addressed here.

In 1957 I began to think seriously about driver schools and what to take to school, knowing that my 56 Healey’s handling and (un)reliability needed improvement. A friend of mine told me that John Bentley had a used Alfa for sale that ought to be suitable, so I went over and liked it as the Alfa already had the stock 4.1 axle changed to a 4.55, which is what you want for short or medium SCCA courses.

The next year I went down to Sebring as part of Bentley’s pit crew, he had a really crappy looking Elva MK.3 1100 set up with 4 Amal carbs and no paint on the body; in fact it was all lumpy. I said to myself who is this Ray Nichols guy who doesn’t know how to finish off a car? I kept doing driver schools and regional races and picked up a few trophies along the way. In 1959 the SCCA gave me a National ticket and I did one race at Montgomery airport but my drive-to-work Alfa was not competitive with the big boys from Cleveland and Chicago. It was about then that Bentley suggested we go halves on an OSCA for Sebring and we were off and running. [Read more…] about Jack, John, and the 750 OSCA at Sebring 1960

Adelaide Motorsport Festival, South Australia, 2016 Part 2

By

Stefan Johansson, Guido Belgiorno-Nettis, Ferrari F156-85, turn 7 entry, Wakefield Street Adelaide.

Stefan Johansson, Guido Belgiorno-Nettis, Ferrari F156-85, turn 7 entry, Wakefield Street Adelaide.

Victoria Park Sprints, 19-20 November
Read Part 1

Story and photos by Vince Johnson

The F1s were back in Adelaide in November, recreating the sights and sounds of the glory days of 1985 – 1995, when the Australian Grand Prix had come alive in the streets of the South Australian capital. Shoppers and city workers on their lunch break found four of them displayed in the centre of town on the Wednesday before the festival. Alongside the Ferrari 156 turbo that Stefan Johansson had driven in the 1985 race and the Ferrari 412 T1 that Gerhard Berger scored second place with in 1994 were Ivan Capelli’s 1989 Leyton House March CG891 and the most powerful F1 car ever, Berger’s 1986 Benetton BMW. Johansson, Capelli and Minardi driver Pierluigi Martini were on hand, posing for photos and signing mementoes from Adelaide’s F1 decade. After the media interviews, the 412T1 was fired up for several minutes to give the public a taste of what was in store.

Christmas in the City.

Christmas in the City.

[Read more…] about Adelaide Motorsport Festival, South Australia, 2016 Part 2

Jack, John and the 750 OSCA at Le Mans, 1960

By

dfsdf

The OSCA factory mechanic makes some last minute adjustments on the Gordon-Bentley rent-a-ride. Note the NART shield on the OSCA.

By Jack Gordon with Pete Vack
Photos courtesy of Jack Gordon
Originally published in VeloceToday on June 24, 2009

Forty-nine years ago, John Bentley and John “Jack” Gordon bought OSCA 750, chassis 769, and entered it at Sebring, where they placed 12th overall and won the Index of Performance. On a roll, they decided to go to Le Mans and try to duplicate their amazing success at Sebring. Jack Gordon picks up the narrative here in this exclusive for VeloceToday.

With Sebring packed away it was time to plan the next move.
It was now late March and we were informed that all the entries for Le Mans were closed and they wouldn’t give us a late entry. It would have been nice to repeat the dual Index wins of de Tomaso.

[In 1958 Alejandro de Tomaso won the Index at Sebring with his wife Elizabeth Haskell, driving OSCA chassis number 760. Then he won the Index at Le Mans a couple months later, driving OSCA 750 chassis 762 with Colin Davis]. But in any case there was too little time to tear down and recondition our car for a 24-hour event.
[Read more…] about Jack, John and the 750 OSCA at Le Mans, 1960

Raymond Loewy and the Lancia Loraymo: A Review

By

cover-780

Lancia Loraymo And The Loewy Logic of Industrial Design
By Brandes Elitch
ISBN-978-0-9909214-1-7
Fetherston Publishing, 2016
Hardbound, 11.5 by 9 inches, 128 pages
$59.95 USD plus shipping Order from www.loewylancia.com

Review by Pete Vack

Well, it finally arrived. I had asked the author, Brandes Elitch, if he would send me a finished copy of his book, not a spiral bound proof copy; the hands on, touchy-feely experience of the final hardbound product is important.

And indeed it was. Elitch’s long-awaited book on Raymond Loewy and the Loraymo came in a very elegant but simple white cardboard box. When that was opened, the cover stared at me and said, ‘Finally, here I am’; Lancia Loraymo And The Loewy Logic of Industrial Design with an artistically grainy color shot of the fabled and often misunderstood Loraymo beneath the title. Nice; impressive.

It had been a long road. [Read more…] about Raymond Loewy and the Lancia Loraymo: A Review

RM Auction at Milan’s Autoclassica 2016

By

1959 Lancia Flaminia berlina series 1 estimate 4-6000 euro, sold 19040 euro

1959 Lancia Flaminia berlina series 1 estimate 4-6000 euros, sold for 19040 euros.

Story and photos by Alessandro Gerelli

RM Sotheby’s at Milano Auctoclassica, November 25-27 2016

An auction with 400 cars plus many motorbikes and bikes, plus few boats, engines, parts, signs, etc, is quite an event!

All the cars were presented without any reserve and with very reasonable estimates.(In fact the estimates must have been on the very conservative side). The success of the event was very great and everything was sold and, speaking about the cars, only around twenty have been sold below the maximum of the estimate. [Read more…] about RM Auction at Milan’s Autoclassica 2016

Adelaide Motorsport Festival, South Australia, 2016 Part 1

By

Standen-Coles Alfa Romeo 2600 Sprint, Corkscrew.

Standen-Coles Alfa Romeo 2600 Sprint, Corkscrew.

Classic Adelaide Rally, 17-19 November

Story and photos by Vince Johnson

The four day Adelaide Motorsport Festival in the South Australian capital combines Classic Adelaide closed road rally stages in the hills with circuit sprints at the original Formula One pit lane section in the city’s Victoria Park.

First run in 1998 the Classic Adelaide Rally rapidly gained an enviable reputation, particularly with overseas crews, for its challenging road stages in the hills surrounding the South Australian capital. It now forms part of the annual four-day Adelaide Motorsport Festival, along with the Victoria Park Sprints that celebrate when Formula 1 cars raced on the city streets. [Read more…] about Adelaide Motorsport Festival, South Australia, 2016 Part 1

MENU