VeloceToday.com – Page 162 – The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts

Chantilly Arts & Elegance 2016

September 20, 2016 By pete

This Peugeot 401 D is famous for its first owner, famous music hall singer “Mistinguett” who ordered this roadster body to a small coachbuilder called Crozier.

Story and Photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt

2016 Chantilly Arts & Elegance Richard Mille, September 3-4

For its 3rd edition, the Arts & Elegance Concours held in the beautiful gardens of the Chantilly Castle, north of Paris, attracted some 13,500 visitors, who were not discouraged by the cloudy sky, the strong wind or the morning showers.

The Concours was divided in two parts, with the Concours d’Elegance for concept cars presented in association with renowned fashion houses, and the Concours d’Etat for more than one hundred classic cars divided into 21 classes.

We will take a closer look of the five classes of the Concours d’Etat, classes named: A great Italian coachbuilder : Zagato (Post-War) Zagato Special Alfa Romeos, The Tour de France Automobiles, Tribute to the Pozzi Racing Team and Tribute to Jean Todt – Fifty years of an outstanding career.

This content is for Premium Subscriber members only.
Login Subscribe

Salon Prive 2016

September 20, 2016 By pete

Entered by Bruce Lavachek and David Cottingham, this Ferrari 500 Testa Rossa chassis 0614 MDTR played a major part in the Nassau and Cuban Sports Car races of the 1950s. The Ferrari won the Best of Show award.

Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

September 8th 2016
Just back from Woodstock; no not the pop festival Woodstock but Woodstock in Oxfordshire, the location for Blenheim Palace which has been the home of Salon Prive event for the past two years. John Churchill, the first Duke of Marlborough, had led his troops to victory against the French in the battle of Blenheim, a major battle in the war of Spanish succession on the 13th August 1704. To celebrate his victory, Queen Ann and a grateful nation gifted the 1st Duke the ruined Woodstock Manor and surrounding parkland together with £240,000 (about £36 million today) to build a palace. Blenheim Palace was designed by Sir John Vanburgh with construction commencing in 1705 and completed in 1733. The most notable date in the history of Blenheim Palace was the 30th November 1874, the birth date of Sir Winston Churchill. The estate itself extends to over 2000 acres. [Read more…] about Salon Prive 2016

MIchael T. Lynch: Art of the Car, 2016

September 20, 2016 By pete

The panel of the Meet the Legends presentation enjoys a story while I look at my shoes. From left to right: the author, Peter Brock, Bob Bondurant, Pat Bondurant, Steve Volk and Allen Grant. The image on the screen is Cobra Coupe CSX #2287, the first car completed. It was entirely built within the Shelby American shop. It is shown at the Bonneville Salt Flats where it set 23 world records, including 12 hours at over 150 mph. The car can be seen today at the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum in Philadelphia. Tom Strongman photo

Story by Michael T. Lynch

The Art of the Car Concours celebrated its 10th Edition this year. Since the show’s inception, it has donated well over one million dollars to the Kansas City Art Institute Scholarship Fund. At a time when student debt has surpassed consumer debt, the event is to be complimented for doing its part to ease the burden.

The weekend’s festivities began with Saturday morning’s traditional Entrants’ Breakfast at Tivol, Kansas City’s leading jeweler, located on the Country Club Plaza, which was the first auto-centric shopping area in the country. The Plaza was built in 1927 and takes its architectural theme from Seville, Spain. The block was closed and many entrants brought their show cars, allowing the public to get a free preview of the leading Concours between the two coasts. [Read more…] about MIchael T. Lynch: Art of the Car, 2016

VeloceToday for September 13, 2016

September 13, 2016 By pete

The team of Pete Vack, Hugues Vanhoolandt, Jonathan Sharp and Rachel Liebman have completed their first collaboration on a four part video presentation about the Goodwood Festival of Speed held in June. The team would like to hear your thoughts about these videos and how they can improve them. Email them at vack@cox.net.

Hugues Vanhoolandt at The Rolex Reunion

September 13, 2016 By pete

Two “Batmobiles” atop the corkscrew.

Photos and story by Hugues Vanhoolandt

100 years of BMW was the unmistakable theme of Monterey Car Week in 2016. And of course, it was also the case for the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion held at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on August 18-21. But BMW was not the only highlight as the Can-Am series were also celebrated as well as historic F1 cars and Trans-Am cars.

All in all, more than 550 cars were to be seen on track in one of the 15 races. For those who were too busy with the various other events during the main weekend, they could enjoy an already strong field of cars during the Pre-Reunion meeting held one week before the Reunion itself. We attended both days, and so the following images are from both events. [Read more…] about Hugues Vanhoolandt at The Rolex Reunion

Concorso Italiano 2016

September 13, 2016 By pete

Above, Hugues Vanhoolandt videoed Bowtie Ferrari author Randy Cook and Matt Stone discussing the Ferrari 0126A which was given a Chevy engine in 1958.

By Brandes Elitch
Photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt unless otherwise noted
Video clip by Hugues Vanhoolandt

The Concorso Italiano is a celebration of Italian cars, primarily for about a dozen car clubs, and without the hype, hoopla, and hysteria that characterizes many of the events surrounding the Monterey Car Week. There are other shows for Italian cars, but none this big, and none is such a celebrated destination. This year marks the 31st edition, and the eighth year since Tom McDowell brought it back to life. With roughly a thousand cars on the field, it has to be the largest exhibition of Italian collector cars anywhere. I include Italy in that statement, because the last thing an Italian wants to do is reveal their name, address, and the license plate of their Ferrari or Maserati to the tax police. [Read more…] about Concorso Italiano 2016

VeloceToday for September 6, 2016

September 6, 2016 By pete

Hugues Vanhoolandt gets up early to shoot the perfect Pebble Beach photography…

While Michael T. Lynch provides erudite commentary on the fantastic cars at Pebble Beach.

Video extras included: Brandes interviews Mark Ketcham, Vanhoolandt listens to Bugattis.

A bit of well deserved PR from the Mullin and Petersen Museums…

Please, we need your support and subscription.

Michael T. Lynch at Pebble Beach, 2016

September 6, 2016 By pete

Vicki and Michael T. Lynch, Pebble Beach, 2016.

Story and photos by Michael T. Lynch

The Capstone

The Pebble Beach Concours is the emotional finish of Holy Week on the Monterey Peninsula. Events continue into the next week, but none can match the feeling of climax that the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance provides.

If your pilgrimage is five days or longer, the fall days are losing enough sunlight that it seems one is leaving in the summer and returning home in fall. Certainly, it is clear that another year has passed.

In the old days that would bother me. I used to think of the missed opportunities of the year gone by. The fact that the car in the back of my roofer’s shop didn’t turn out to be a round-door Wombat that I could buy for a fraction of its market value; the fact that another year had slipped away without taking part in the Monterey Historic Automobile Races as a participant, etc. I also liked to bitch about how many of my old buddies from years gone by were priced out of attending, more every year. [Read more…] about Michael T. Lynch at Pebble Beach, 2016

Elitch, Vanhoolandt at The Quail

September 6, 2016 By pete

[Enjoy this superb interview with Stratos owner Mark Ketcham; please ignore the unfortunate background music that was impossible to avoid or eradicate. Ed.]

Story by Brandes Elitch
Photos and videos by Hugues Vanhoolandt

Although I have attended this event for the last four or five years, I am continually amazed and delighted by the overall experience and I generally don’t use such superlatives, unless it is for a really spectacular car, motorcycle, artwork, piece of music, or woman. Regular readers will remember my column on the Quail Motorcycle show held a few months back, and my interview with organizer Gordon McCall. [Read more…] about Elitch, Vanhoolandt at The Quail

Pebble Beach with Hugues Vanhoolandt

September 6, 2016 By pete

Sunday morning, 6 am, the cars are waiting to be placed on the Pebble Beach lawn. Here is another creation of Michelotti, also on Fiat 1100 chassis, and shown at the 1953 Turin Auto Show. The coachbuilder is Vignale. It was back at the Pebble Beach Concours 61 years after its first appearance here.

Photos and story by Hugues Vanhoolandt

In its 66th year, the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance was celebrating among other things the Ford GT40, Chapron, Delahaye, Bizzarrini and the centennial of BMW.

But the Concours is not just a gathering of cars on the 18th fairway of Pebble Beach Golf Links.
For the past twelve years there was also a Tour a few days before the Concours itself, where people can enjoy the cars in motion. Sadly, this year, the Tour had to be shortened due to the forest fires down Highway 1 towards Big Sur. Subsequently, the Tour was not counting for the concours and many cars did not show on Thursday.

Nevertheless, we can say that this year Concours was again of very high quality and we can’t wait to discover what will be celebrated at Pebble Beach in 2017!

[In his concurrent report from Pebble Beach, Michael T. Lynch discusses many of the below cars in detail…Ed.]

Fashionable French

Delahaye was one of the featured make and Chapron was the highlighted coachbuilder. That is why you have here a 1947 Delahaye 175 S Chapron Le Dandy cabriolet and 1949 Delahaye 135 M Chapron cabriolet, the last one listed in the Postwar Preservation Class.

Delahaye was one of the featured makes and Chapron was the highlighted coachbuilder. That is why you have here a 1947 Delahaye 175 S Chapron Le Dandy cabriolet and 1949 Delahaye 135 M Chapron cabriolet, the last one listed in the Postwar Preservation Class.

[Read more…]

Talbot Lago Awarded Best of the Best

September 6, 2016 By pete

SEE MULLIN’S “BEST OF THE BEST” WINNING 1937 TALBOT-LAGO AT THE PETERSEN

[The following is a press release from the Petersen Automotive Museum, but very much in accord with this week’s coverage of French Classics at Monterey–Ed.]

The Mullin Automotive Museum’s 1937 Talbot-Lago T150-C SS ‘Goutte d’Eau’, which was just honored as the very first recipient of the Peninsula Classics Best of the Best Award at The Quail, will be on public display in the Mullin Grand Salon at the Petersen Automotive Museum for the next 10 weeks. [Read more…] about Talbot Lago Awarded Best of the Best

VeloceToday for August 30, 2016

August 30, 2016 By pete

Don’t miss Peter Darnall’s exclusive interview with Peter Brock; Michael Lynch does Monterey, Brandes Elitch gets a sneak preview of a great new museum in Carmel and Jonathan Sharp contemplates cheap classics.