VeloceToday.com

The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts

Techno Classica Essen Part 1

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Mille Miglia participant in 1955 and 1956, this Fiat 1100/103 TV was the sports variant of the popular Fiat 1100.

Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt

For the 35th time, the Techno Classica show was held in Essen, in the Ruhr Valley, in western Germany. Created in 1989, this show has become over the years the German equivalent of the Retromobile show in Paris or Auto Moto d’Epoca in Italy. Even larger than the Paris show, the Essen show contains fewer exceptional vehicles, with foreign dealers, particularly British ones, being less present. However, there are always interesting discoveries to be made there, and that’s what we’ll see below.

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Goodwood Members Meeting Part 1

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Freddies, as in Freddie March, located just in front of the Members Market at the event, the Members market being a food hall selling street food, all very Goodwood!

Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

We begin with shots from the ever-interesting Paddock, then move on to what we call the ‘Centenarian’ events. The only other time you see 100-year-old plus cars racing is at VSCC (Vintage Sports Car Club) events and Hill Climbs so racing these is probably a British thing. In fact, while some events in Europe and the U.S. have pre-WWII cars on their grids, it is much more common in the U.K. and pre-WWI cars are almost impossible to see elsewhere.

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Goodwood Members Meeting Part 2

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Star of the weekend, Frank Stippler and the Ferrari 206 Dino.

Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

There was lovely weather on Saturday at the Goodwood circuit for the 82nd Members Meeting, (April 12-13). Sunday was not as nice but no rain so one cannot complain. Nor can one complain about the superb races held at the Goodwood venue, and I would urge everyone to try to attend at least one Goodwood event.

This year, I witnessed what was perhaps the best race I have ever seen at Goodwood. It was the Gurney Cup (a 45 minute two-driver race for Sports Prototypes of a type that raced between 1963 and 1966) which started early on the Saturday evening.

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Gordon Barrett: A Tribute

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The late Gordon Barrett with the 1914 Grand Prix Sunbeam engine. It was a copy of the 1913 DOHC Peugeot Grand Prix engine that revolutionized the racing engine.

Story and photos by Geoffrey Goldberg

A good friend and a great car guy passed away in September 2020. There was little notice, but he was well known to a number of people as a very special person. The following is a memorial story about Gordon Barrett, one that was written back in 2021 but got sidetracked, and is now being published. May Gordon, and other good folks like him, not be forgotten.

Gordon and I first met in 1990. I had driven a Jaguar E type to the races at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, and was busy retorquing the head on its fresh motor. [Read more…] about Gordon Barrett: A Tribute

Jim Sitz: Road and Track

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The story of the early years of Road and Track, thanks to Jim Sitz.

Off to a great start: Bonneville, 1951. Road and Track, Hop Up, and Motor Trend staff members gather for the Bonneville Speed Week. Jerry Cheseborough is on the far left, that might be Oliver Billingsley on the other side of the MG. Motor Trend photographer unknown. Courtesy Jim Sitz.

By Pete Vack and Jim Sitz

From the VeloceToday Archives, April 2021

Ed. note: Most of the information below was provided by historian Jim Sitz, who was a witness to the early years at the magazine, via emails to me over a period of weeks in 2020. He also was in the possession of the rare photos taken at the Road & Track offices in 1951, obtained from the Billingsley collection in the early 1990s. We have not been able to determine who took these photos or under what circumstances. Any questions regarding these photos can be sent to the Editor at vack@cox.net.

You Bet Your Life

In 1952, while Groucho Marx was gambling his future on the new-fangled TV with a show called “You Bet Your Life”, a thirty-nine-year-old engineer in California with a bright, enthusiastic wife, a new son and a MGTC was betting that the sports car fad was here to stay. In fact he was betting his family’s entire future on a sports car magazine that was deeply in hock. It had been offered to other magazine publishers but turned down, and one wouldn’t even take Road and Track (no ampersand in the early days; the “&” in the title was introduced in 1954) for just the bills. But staff members John and Elaine Bond were determined to save the magazine and were fully aware of its potential of a magazine devoted to the growing sports car movement. They decided to take a huge risk. [Read more…] about Jim Sitz: Road and Track

Lex Dupont and F3s in America

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A Cooper at Waktins Glen. F3 cars were always rare in the US. Frank Shaffer photo.

Story by Pete Vack

Formula III (F3) was born in Britain right after World War II. It died there as well, with the advent of the 1100cc Formula Jr. in 1958. But in the intervening years, the formula was exported, particularly to the United States where the 500cc class found enthusiastic proponents-although motorcycle-engined racers could not be relied on to bolster the gate receipts in the land of cubic inches.

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Graham Gauld Chronicles Henri Julien

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Henri Julien in the garage behind his house in Gonfaron contemplates a rebuild of one of his first racing cars, the AGS Racer 500 ( Photo Gauld)

Story and photos by Graham Gauld

The village of Gonfaron in the Var section of Provence in the South of France is famous for two things: its Village des Tortues and the late owner of Automobiles Gonfaronnaises, Henri Julien. They are strange bedfellows because the Village des Tortues is a form of hospice and centre concerned with the care and breeding of tortoises.

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Paule Marrot: The Color of Renault

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Paule Marrot checking out different fabric for the Renault Floride.

By Giles Chapman, from his book, “Three Million Miles in a Volvo and Other Curious Car Stories“

When we received Giles Chapman’s latest book we thoroughly enjoyed the short bios and interesting stories that comprised “Three Million Miles in a Volvo and other Curious Car Stories.” These are just perfect for the VeloceToday format, and here is the fifth in a series.

Paintwork colour, at least for those not commissioning a bespoke car, seemed of little consequence to the car industry in the 1930s. Which was surprising, because General Motors established its Art & Color Section as long ago as 1928, with the forceful Harley Earl as its overlord. Engineer colleagues often derided its work – some called the staff there the ‘pretty picture boys’ working in ‘the beauty parlor’ – and in 1937 the name was changed to the Styling Section.

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When Allen Met Graham

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Carroll Shelby in John Edgar’s Ferrari 410S leads Dan Gurney in Frank Arciero’s Ferrari 375 Plus at Palm Springs on April 13, 1958. One of the many photos I shared with the Ferrari Archivist.

Story and Photos by Allen R. Kuhn
From the VeloceToday archives, March, 2022

I would like to start this series of short stories – they are not Galleries as before – by telling a true story about Graham Gauld, and how he saved our skin when we were in Italy/France in 2006 for our seven-week tour of the Continent. The story really began in Maranello, so bear with me….

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Jeff Allison: Head Shots Part 2

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The author next to the 1798cc Ford Escort RS 1600 MkI, which had just won the 1972 East Africa Safari Rally. BOAC 1000KM, Brands Hatch, England, April 16, 1972-dick-lees

Story and photos by Jeff Allison unless otherwise noted

Read Part 1
Part 2 continues “Head Shots” taken by Jeff Allison at races in the U. S., England and Monaco.

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